MOCKSVILLE -- The Davie County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Monday night supporting an amendment to the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
State law already says that a valid marriage is one "created by the consent of a male and female person."
A bill has been filed in the N.C. General Assembly asking that the state constitution be amended to ban same-sex marriage. State legislators haven't yet acted on the bill.
Thirty states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, according to the resolution. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled last week that not allowing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, and the state legislature in Vermont today overrode Gov. Jim Douglas's veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry.
The Midway Town Council in Davidson County passed a similar resolution last month.
Knight resigns as Davie commissioner
MOCKSVILLE -- Longtime Davie County commissioner Bobby Knight resigned Monday night because of health issues.
Knight, 73, was first elected in 1998 and has served as chairman of the Davie County board.
The commissioners will hold a special meeting at noon Thursday to consider a recommendation from the Davie County Republican Party on who will serve the rest of Knight's term, which expires in 2010.
House panel approves sex-ed bill
RALEIGH -- North Carolina legislators have proposed giving parents a third choice in how public schools teach adolescents about sex -- allowing them to opt out of the curriculum.
Yesterday, the House Health Committee approved legislation that would expand sex education beyond the abstinence-until-marriage focus, which has been the center of the curriculum since the mid-1990s. It would allow parents to decide whether their children also learned about contraception in grades seven through nine.
The committee decided yesterday to give parents a third choice -- no sex education for their child. Children whose parents make no choice would be taught under the contraception curriculum.
The legislation next heads to a vote by the full state House.
Brunswick goes after nude sunbathers
BOLIVIA -- Sunbathers in Brunswick County may no longer be able to avoid those tan lines.
Officials are trying to stop sunbathers from flaunting it all on Bird Island. The island near Sunset Beach has long been a gathering place for those who want to bask in the nude.
A local doctor recently complained about the nudity after a sightseeing trip with his children. County Commissioner Marty Cooke says he did some research and found that Bird Island was not an official nude beach and that the full exposure is against state law.
Cooke says he will work with the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office to come up with a sign banning nudity on North Carolina's part of the island. The western part is in South Carolina.
Bill would change open-records law
RALEIGH -- A government agency that illegally withheld public records or documents would have to award reasonable legal fees under a bill introduced in the state House.
Beth Grace, the executive director of the N.C. Press Association, said yesterday that the bill can prevent people who fight city hall from going broke even if they win their case.
Judges can now order government officials to pay legal bills, but they are reluctant do so.
The bill introduced by Wake County Democrat Deborah Ross would create an Open Government Unit in the attorney general's office that would mediate disputes before they went to court. A similar plan passed the state Senate last summer, but it died in the House.
Ex-official pleads guilty to kickbacks
RALEIGH -- A former North Carolina transportation official has pleaded guilty to extortion for taking nearly $30,000 in kickbacks in exchange for awarding state contracts.
U.S. Attorney George Holding said yesterday that former N.C. Department of Transportation district engineer Dalton Alligood Jr. entered his plea Monday. He faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines when sentenced July 6.
Prosecutors said that Alligood was in charge of bridge maintenance in Pitt and Beaufort counties when he was approached by the owners of an excavation company in 2004. He agreed to take 10 percent kickbacks, in cash, on contracts given to the company.
Officials said that Alligood awarded contracts totaling $300,000 through 2006. The scheme was revealed when the company's owners and other department officials were arrested.
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