Politics & Government

Voters in Durham County will decide on a half-cent sales tax designed to increase revenue for a future rail line in the Triangle. Commissioners voted unanimously last week to place a referendum on November's ballot. It would raise more than $18 million to fund Triangle Transit Authority's proposal for a train network connecting Chapel Hill to Garner. Wake and Orange Counties decided to put off referendums until next year. Durham commissioner Ellen Reckhow says it makes sense for the county to take the lead on the project due to its central location in the Triangle.

North Carolina's newly proposed Republican-drawn congressional districts would make it challenging for several Democratic incumbents to keep their seats.

Governor Bev Perdue has now made decisions on all the bills on her desk. Perdue vetoed four bills before last night's midnight deadline.

If you're keeping score, that's 15 vetoes for the Governor this legislative session. The latest group includes a bill that would have allowed more exploration of offshore oil drilling. It also would have allowed hydraulic fracking, a controversial method of natural gas extraction.

A state audit has revealed further details of financial mismanagement at NC Central University. The report shows that the director of the Historically Minority Colleges and Universities Consortium diverted more than a million dollars to a secret fund only she controlled.

The proposed move of a federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office in Cary is raising hackles among some residents. ICE officials want to move from a Cary business park to another location. One of the sites being considered is in a shopping center where a supermarket was housed. Susan Moran is a spokesperson for the town of Cary.

Susan Moran: "If the ICE facility were to relocate there and be more than 12 thousand square feet, and that building is 59 thousand square feet, it would absolutely violate the zoning conditions for that area."

Governor Perdue has vetoed a bill that would have required women seeking abortions to receive extensive counseling and an ultrasound before the procedure.