FRIDAY MORNING EDITION ... IN WHICH BAPTISTS SANCTION DIVORCE, EASTERN N.C. GETS COVERED IN HOG FECES, AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS ILLUMINATED

1. The last remaining "marriages" between N.C. Baptists and higher education have "chafed" to the point that divorce is now not only inevitable but being sanctioned by the denomination itself as a good thing. Wake Forest University and Meredith College severed their ties to the Baptist State Convention years ago. Now Campbell University in Buies Creek, Chowan University in Murfreesboro, Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, and Wingate University in Wingate will follow that course. Rev. Allan Blume, Boone megachurch pastor and president of the convention's executive committee, put a happy face on this development, while muttering under his breath, "Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!"

2. Thought the state had a moratorium on industrial-sized hog farms? Well, we do, but the moratorium had enough exceptions written into its language to yield us a net increase of 73 new hog farms, 25 expanded hog farms, and four reactivated hog farms. Showing a remarkable ability to state the obvious, the director of the NC Sierra Club said, "The moratorium isn't working."

3. It's finally dawned on us why Boone developer Phil Templeton is so pissed off. He's mad because the Mayor would not accept his cash. It's a rare political moment when an elected official is viciously criticized for not profiting from the office.