This report from the Triangle Business Journal:

North Carolina's population increased by more than 142,000 people last year, tying it with Texas and Georgia as the fifth fastest-growing state in the country, according to new statistics released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state's population reached 8,683,242 in 2005, an increase of 1.7 percent between July 2004 and July 2005.

Over the past five years, North Carolina has added 636,751 new residents, a 7.9 percent increase in the total state population from April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2005. That growth ranks seventh nationally behind Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Utah and Idaho.

There has been some rumbling recently about a sane toll. The proposals are for the tolls to be placed at the Virginia/North Carolina border. The beauty of this location is that the tolls would target interstate drivers, probably crossing for travel rather than work. It evens has a discount for those travelling to their work. This reprt from the AP:

Virginia and North Carolina officials are working on a plan to collect tolls from motorists on interstates 95 and 85 near the state line south of Richmond, Va.

Diebold announced yesterday that they were dropping out of consideration for selling voting machines to North Carolina counties, citing their inability to meet the current transparency standards required by the State. Their claim is that they cannot reveal all of their code because some is owned by a third party; however, the company has never shown an effort to get the third-parties to allow release of the code to the State.

The decision of Diebold leaves only one company vying to sell equiptment in the state, Electronic Systems and Software. Now Counties are trying to get the laws changed. From the Durham Herald Sun: