Jessica Jones

 The governor and Republican legislative leaders have reached an agreement on how to fund the State Health Plan.

 Governor Perdue vetoed a health plan bill last month because she wasn't happy with the idea of teachers paying premiums. Under that plan, all state employees would've had to pay premiums for the first time. But now the governor and Republican leaders have agreed not to charge healthy workers any premiums at all.

A top aide to former Governor Mike Easley has been sentenced to a year in prison for failing to report a thirty thousand dollar profit on his taxes.

 U.S. District Court Judge Terence Boyle sentenced 39-year-old Ruffin Poole to 12 months in prison. He must also pay a thirty thousand dollar fine. Investigators found that Poole used his position as the former governor's aide to speed up the environmental permitting process at a new development in Carteret County.

Many school districts are beginning to lay off teachers and other employees in anticipation of deep budget cuts by lawmakers. A budget plan approved by the state House would cut public education by almost a billion dollars. State senators haven't come up with a final plan yet, but Republican budget writers say they'd like to cut a hundred million dollars more than the House would. Jennifer Tuft is a kindergarten teacher in Randolph County who found out last week that her position will be cut. 

A legislative committee has approved a measure that seeks to limit abortions in the state. 

 House Bill 854 would require a woman seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours before undergoing the procedure. It would mandate counseling that would include information about the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the fetus. And it would require the medical professionals performing the abortion to give their patient an ultrasound at least four hours before the procedure.

State senators have passed a bill that would promote a controversial method of extracting natural gas popularly known as fracking. Senate Bill 709 would also open the coast to offshore natural gas drilling in conjunction with other states. Republican Senator Bob Rucho is the bill's main sponsor.

 State lawmakers have passed a measure that would make it harder for cities and towns to build their own Internet broadband systems. 

 The controversial bill passed the Senate earlier this week and returned yesterday to the House for concurrence. Supporters say it's not fair that municipalities don't have to follow the same regulations that commercial providers do. But a few Democratic lawmakers still fired whatever shots they could at the measure. Democrat Bill Faison represents Caswell and Orange counties. 

Lawmakers in the state House have tentatively approved a 19 billion dollar budget that makes deep cuts to education and health care. 

 Legislators debated the Republican penned budget for nearly ten hours yesterday. Republican representative Mitch Gillespie of Marion told colleagues it's the most responsible budget that could be put together in a slow economy. 

State senators have tentatively passed a bill that would make it more difficult for municipalities in North Carolina to build their own Internet broadband systems. 

 Right now a handful of municipalities across the state provide their own internet broadband services to residents at subsidized rates. But cable companies are wary of the do-it-yourselfers. They say it's not fair that municipalities don't have to follow the same regulations to set up broadband services.

State senators have passed a new bill that attempts to close a 500 million dollar shortfall in the state health plan. Governor Bev Perdue vetoed an earlier health plan bill two weeks ago, saying teachers weren't consulted about the premiums workers would have to pay, along with other costs. The new bill would also require workers to pay premiums, but with some changes. Republican Senator Tom Apodaca is the bill's main sponsor. 

Republican lawmakers have completed many spending recommendations that are part of crafting next year's budget.