Raleigh News and Observer Politics

Gov. Sarah Palin has granted the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to one lucky turkey, but the video that shocked some viewers captured what was happening in the background.

President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as Treasury Secretary in a time of intense economic turmoil as he rounds out the upper echelon of his Cabinet, a senior Democratic official familiar with the deliberations said Friday. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in line to become Secretary of State, said through a spokesman that discussions were "very much on track" for her appointment but no final arrangement had been made.

Lawmakers say Detroit auto execs failed to prove they deserve a bailout. The private jets didn't help.

Lawmakers say Detroit auto execs failed to prove they deserve a bailout. Now, the CEOs of Detroit's Big Three have been given 12 days to return to Washington with a better sales pitch.

The N.C. Board of Transportation is pumping $270 million in road money into Fayetteville, the hometown of Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett and of a key legislative ally, weeks before Tippett leaves office.

Kay Hagan doesn't know which wooden desk she'll use in the U.S. Senate chamber, but after her introduction to the inner workings of Congress this week she knows generally where it will be.

The university's $2.5 billion endowment has lost 13 percent of its value, about $320 million, since July.

Tom Bonfield has been Durham's city manager only since August, but he is already stamping his brand on City Hall. On Thursday he announced his plan for reorganizing city government so it "can do the things it needs to do."

The long-shot odds of winning the Powerball are about to get much longer. Lottery officials insist that's good news.

Senate leader Marc Basnight said Thursday that he has told Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue that Lanny Wilson, a member of the state transportation board, would be a good pick for transportation secretary.

James Osberg, head of a team that oversees hospitals for the state Department of Health and Human Services, tells a legislative committee that the state mental hospital in Goldsboro has a history of punishing mentally ill patients rather than treating them.

The nation's economic crisis will delay work on the 18.8-mile Triangle Expressway toll road in Research Triangle Park and Western Wake County -- and it might reduce the project's land and construction costs.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the no-nonsense ally in President Bush's war on terror, was hospitalized Thursday after he collapsed during a late-night speech and lost consciousness.

Senate Leader Marc Basnight said he and House Speaker Joe Hackney will appoint a commission to study the potential benefits and risks of drilling for oil off the coast of North Carolina.

Senate leader Marc Basnight said he has told Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue that Transportation Board member Lanny Wilson would be a good pick for transportation secretary.

President-elect Barack Obama's likely pick for Homeland Security secretary, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, is no stranger to headline-making Washington scandals and controversies.

Although Sen.-elect Kay Hagan has not yet been sworn in, she was allowed to vote as part of the Senate Democratic caucus Tuesday. The question: Should Sen. Joe Lieberman be allowed to remain chairman of the Homeland Security committee?

The $25 billion rescue plan for the auto industry, desperately sought by Detroit's beleaguered Big Three, collapsed Thursday as Congress drew the line at one more bailout and Democrats said they wouldn't even consider it until the companies produced a convincing plan for rebuilding their once-mighty industry.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue will hold an economic roundtable in Charlotte Tuesday.

President-elect Barack Obama carried North Carolina in a squeaker. With all the provisional votes counted, Obama broadened his narrow lead over Republican John McCain in the state.