RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue will address the first meeting of the North Carolina Education Cabinet today at 2 p.m. at Wake Tech Community College’s Northern Wake Campus.  This meeting is open to the public.

Who:              Education Cabinet includes:

                        Governor Perdue, Chair

                        Erskine Bowles, UNC President

                        Scott Ralls, Community College System President

                        June Atkinson, Superintendent of Public Instruction

                        Bill Harrison, State School Board chairman and CEO

                        Lanier Cansler, Secretary of Health and Human Services

                        Hope Williams, President of Independent Colleges and Universities

                        Howard Lee, Education Cabinet Executive Director

What:              Address to and first meeting of North Carolina Education Cabinet

Where:            Wake Tech Community College’s Northern Wake Campus

                         1st floor library of the Math and Science Building

                         6600 Louisburg Road (US 401N), Raleigh, NC

There will be a meeting of the North Carolina Education Cabinet chaired by Gov. Bev Perdue on Monday at Wake Tech Community College’s Northern Wake Campus at 2 p.m.

The meeting will take place in the 1st Floor Library of the Math and Science Building, 6600 Louisburg Road (US401N) in Raleigh.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama introduced former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as his nominee for Commerce secretary Wednesday, trying a third time to fill a key Cabinet post for a country in recession.

“I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone that we’ve tried this a couple of times. But I’m a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right. And Gary is the right man for this job,” Obama said, standing with the fellow Democrat in the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House.

The president’s two top earlier choices for the post dropped out – one a Democrat facing questions about a donor and the other a Republican who had a change of heart about working for a president from the opposite party – well before the Senate had a chance to confirm them.

Obama praised Locke, a Chinese-American, as a man who shares his vision for turning around the moribund economy, and as someone who is committed to doing what it takes to keep the American dream alive.

“Gary will be a trusted voice in my Cabinet, a tireless advocate for our economic competitiveness and an influential ambassador to American industry who will help us do everything we can, especially now, to promote our industry around the globe,” Obama said.

“I’m grateful he’s agreed to leave one Washington for another,” the president added.

In turn, Locke said he was committed to making the sprawling agency an “active and integral partner” in advancing Obama’s economic agenda, as the agency nurtures innovation, expands global markets, protects ocean fisheries and fosters growth.

“The Department of Commerce can and will help create the jobs and the economic vitality our nation needs,” Locke said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Locke would assume control of a large agency with a broad portfolio that includes overseeing many aspects of international trade, oceans policy and the 2010 census.

Prompting outcry from Republicans, the administration recently took steps to assert greater control over the national head count. It has deep political implications because it is used to redraw congressional districts and distribute federal money.

“Who oversees the census won’t change,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, adding that the director of it always reports to the Commerce secretary. “I think members of Congress and the White House both have an interest in a fair and accurate census count.”

Locke, 59, was the nation’s first Chinese-American governor, serving two terms in Washington from 1997 to 2005. He currently works for the Seattle-based law firm Davis Wright Tremaine on issues involving China, energy and governmental relations.

Obama initially tapped New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, for the Cabinet post, calling him “uniquely suited for this role” and “a leader who shares my values.” But Richardson withdrew in January, before Obama took office, after the disclosure that a grand jury is investigating allegations of wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts in his state.

A month later, Obama announced that Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire had accepted the job. The president said Gregg was “the right person” to lead the agency and someone would be “a trusted voice” in the Cabinet. But a week after that, Gregg stepped down, citing “irresolvable conflicts” with the policies of the Democratic president.”

Even after Obama made Locke’s selection official, his Cabinet still won’t be complete.

He still does not have a health and human services secretary; former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for that post amid a tax controversy. Among those under consideration to replace him is Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Locke still must get through Senate confirmation hearings to assume the post, and there are a number of issues over which he may face questions.

He was briefly linked to the scandal over foreign contributions to President Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign. Locke denied any wrongdoing, and he subsequently returned some checks tied to people implicated in the matter.

In December 1997, Locke’s political committee was fined a maximum $2,500 by state regulators after it admitted breaking campaign finance laws during two out-of-state fundraisers in 1996.

And in March 1998, state investigators cleared Locke of wrongdoing following complaints that he unlawfully took $10,000 in campaign contributions from members of a Buddhist church.

According to the PPP, Governor-elect Bev Perdue’s appointment of Gene Conti is a good sign.

WASHINGTON, N.C. – A former state legislator, Cabinet secretary and founder of WITN television in eastern North Carolina has died at the age of 90.

Bill Roberson Jr.’s funeral was slated for Monday afternoon at First Presbyterian Church in Washington, N.C. Paul Funeral Home said Roberson died Saturday at his home. A funeral home spokesman had no information on the cause of death.

Roberson helped put WITN on the air in 1955. He was the station’s chairman and chief executive for 30 years.

Roberson also served in the Legislature for eight years. Then-Gov. Jim Hunt appointed him as state transportation secretary in 1981. He served until 1985.

Survivors include his son, daughter, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue is rolling out more of her Cabinet picks.

Monday she announced cabinet secretaries and leadership appointees to help direct North Carolina’s economic development departments.

Among the appointments were Secretary of the Department of Transportation and other Department of Transportation leadership positions, Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Cultural Resources, and Chair of the Employment Security Commission.

“Each of the leaders who joined my administration today will play a key role in our efforts to create jobs and grow our economy,” said Governor-elect Bev Perdue.

As with her previous cabinet appointments, during the press conference Perdue gave each appointee an order to report back to her in 60 days with the five most pressing problems facing their agencies. She also set four firm standards of excellence expected from all her appointees: high-expectations for the performance of state government and employees, hands-on leadership, early disclosure of new problems or incidents, and accountability to the public by providing quality customer service and wise spending of tax dollars.

The nine appointees are:

Eugene A. Conti Jr., Ph.D. – Secretary of Department of Transportation
Brigadier General James H. Trogdon, III – Chief Operating Officer, Department of Transportation
Susan Coward – Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, North Carolina Department of Transportation
Terry R. Gibson, PE – Director of Highway Administration, North Carolina Department of Transportation
Anthony W. Roper – Deputy Secretary for Administration and Business Development, North Carolina Department of Transportation
J. Keith Crisco – Secretary of Commerce
Dale Carroll – Deputy Secretary, North Carolina Department of Commerce
Linda A. Carlisle – Secretary of Cultural Resources
Moses Carey – Chair, Employment Security Commission
The outgoing lieutenant governor has already named leaders for the departments of correction, juvenile justice, and crime control and public safety. There are seven more Cabinet spots left to fill, including in the departments of transportation and health and human services.

Perdue’s inauguration as governor will be Saturday.

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s probation system chief won’t keep his job in Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue’s administration.

Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said Friday that Robert Lee Guy will not remain as director of the Division of Community Corrections when Gov. Mike Easley’s leaves office.

Perdue announced several of her appointments during a press conference Friday.

When asked if the state’s probation head Robert Guy would stay on, Perdue simply said exempt employees in all agencies have been asked to tender their resignations.

Guy received criticism in 2008 following the slaying of Eve Carson, the student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The two young men charged in Carson’s killing were on probation at the time of their arrests.

Among Perdue’s appointments were Secretary of Correction, Chief Operating Officer of Correction, Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, Chief Deputy Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, and Secretary of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Colonel Al Keller was appointed as the Department of Correction Secretary, with Jennie Lou Lancaster serving as his Chief Operating Officer.

“People who are being placed on probation will have to understand that there are adverse consequences for not following the conditions of their probation,” said Col. Keller.

The five appointees are:

Reuben F. Young – Secretary, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
Major General Gerald A. Rudisill, Jr. – Chief Deputy Secretary, Department of Crime Control and Public Safety
Colonel Alvin Keller, Jr. – Secretary, Department of Correction
Jennie Lou Lancaster – Chief Operating Officer, Department of Correction
Linda Wheeler Hayes – Secretary, Department of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention 

Young has served as legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley for the past eight years and will spearhead the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

“I know the department and the people who work there. And I also know that they, as I am, are committed to reducing crime, enhancing public safety and assisting victims throughout North Carolina,” said Young. 

Major General Gerald Rudisill will serve as Deputy Secretary.

Lastly, Linda Hayes was named Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

And Perdue didn’t waste any time.

She’s already putting her appointees to work. 

During the press conference, Perdue gave each appointee an order to report back to her in 60 days with the five most pressing problems facing their agencies. She also set four firm standards of excellence expected from all her appointees: high-expectations for the performance of state government and employees, hands-on leadership, early disclosure of new problems or incidents, and accountability to the public by providing quality customer service and wise spending of tax dollars. 

Perdue says she expects to announce her appointees for the seven other cabinet-level departments early next week.

Perdue takes the oath of office Jan. 10.

CHICAGO – Nearing completion of his Cabinet, Barack Obama has selected California Rep. Hilda Solis as his labor secretary and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. trade representative, officials said Thursday.

The president-elect planned to formally announce the Solis and Kirk selections soon, perhaps as early as Friday, along with that of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary.

On Thursday, Obama named three veteran regulators to help clean up financial debacles. Amid a year-old recession that’s still deepening, Obama blamed much of the nation’s economic troubles on government regulators who “dropped the ball,” and he called for a return to ethics and tough enforcement.

The officials who disclosed the Solis and Kirk selections spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss selections that had not yet been announced.

Solis, a Democratic congresswoman who is the daughter of Mexican and Nicaraguan immigrants, has focused on immigration and environment issues while in the House. Kirk, a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based powerhouse law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins, was the first black to be elected Dallas mayor.

Obama is trying to get most of his major appointments out of the way before heading to Hawaii for a holiday vacation, and has held a news conference each day this week to unveil top positions. He has yet to announce senior intelligence positions, and numerous sub-Cabinet posts remain unfilled.

Standing before reporters on Thursday, Obama named Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Mary Schapiro as chairwoman of that agency, former Treasury official Gary Gensler to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and law professor Daniel Tarullo to fill an empty Federal Reserve seat. All three will need to be confirmed by the Senate next year.
 
In making the announcements, Obama pointed to Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff, under investigation in an alleged $50 billion fraud, and said the scandal underscored the need for tougher regulators. The scandal “has reminded us yet again of how badly reform is needed,” he said.

The president-elect said his new team will help put in place new rules that will help “crack down on the culture of greed and scheming.”

“There needs to be a shift in ethics on Wall Street,” he said.

As Obama spoke in Chicago, the White House said it is considering “orderly” bankruptcy as a way of dealing with the desperately ailing U.S. auto industry. President George W. Bush, asked about an auto rescue plan during an appearance before a private group, said he hadn’t decided what he would do but also spoke of the idea of bankruptcies organized by the federal government as a possible way to go.

Obama did not immediately comment on the idea.

But he wouldn’t weigh in on whether he would support a decision by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to tap the second $350 billion installment of the $700 billion financial bailout program. Major auto companies are pleading for emergency aid, which could come from that pot.

“I think it’s important that the Treasury, the Fed and all of us do whatever’s required to make sure that our financial system is stable and secure,” Obama said. But he added: “We cannot afford a collapse of our financial system. Main Street can’t afford it.” He said he would evaluate any Paulson signals about what is necessary.

More broadly, Obama blamed regulators for the financial debacle, saying that they, along with congressional committees, “have been asleep at the switch.”

Americans, as they watch their investments tank, are frustrated that “there’s not a lot of adult supervision out there,” Obama added.

Schapiro, who would be Obama’s top Wall Street regulator and investor protector, said that investor trust “is the lifeblood of financial markets.” She called for tough enforcement action by incoming regulators.

If confirmed by the Senate:
      -Schapiro, who served as an SEC commissioner in Republican and Democratic administrations and is currently the head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, would take over an agency that faces growing criticism for its failure to protect investors and detect trouble brewing on Wall Street.

As the scandal involving Madoff continues to stun the financial world, revelations have surfaced that staff at the SEC repeatedly failed over the course of a decade to fully investigate credible allegations against him. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox on Tuesday ordered the agency’s inspector general to investigate what went wrong.
      -Gensler, a former Treasury official in the Clinton administration, would lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is an independent agency created by Congress to regulate trading in the commodity futures and option markets.
      -Tarullo, a Georgetown law professor who also worked for President Bill Clinton, would fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve board in Washington.
 
All the present Fed board members, including chairman Ben Bernanke, were picked by Bush. Tarullo would fill one of two vacant seats on the seven-member board. A third seat also will become available.