Four of the 12 students nominated to service academies by Congressman Howard Coble are from Moore County.

They are: Stephanie Sue Sexton, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Rebecca Kristine Zielinski, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.; Katlin Christian and Caitlin McArdle, both to the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.

Sexton is a graduate of Union Pines High School and is now a freshman at North Carolina State University. She is the daughter of Terri and Clarence Sexton of Whispering Pines.

Zielinski is a senior at Union Pines High School. Her parents are Janet and Martin Zielinski of Whispering Pines. Christian, a senior at Pinecrest High School, is the daughter of Diana and Eddie Christian of Jackson Springs. McArdle, daughter of Mary and Rich McArdle, lives in Pinehurst and is also a senior at Pinecrest.

VOTE -- Moore County's turnout for the Tuesday primary election was good but not a record-breaker.

The unofficial returns show that 23,455 of the county's 57,400 voters, or 40.86 percent, made their way to the polls this time.

The Board of Elections will convene Monday at 9 a.m. to consider provisional ballots. At 10 a.m., the board will conduct a recount of the Tim Lea-Tim Sloan election returns for the District 4 seat on the Board of Commissioners.

Once that's complete, the board will supervise a hand-to-eye sample count of one-stop absentee voting at the Agriculture Center and of the Pinehurst C and DHR precincts. The sample count is a legal requirement tucked into legislation establishing a new voting machine system across North Carolina two years ago.

The State Board of Elections determines which precincts will be chosen for the sample count in each county.

The board will convene again Tuesday for the canvass, results of which will make the Tuesday results official.

COBLE -- Congressman Howard Coble spoke on the U.S. House floor Tuesday in favor of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008.

He is the ranking Republican on the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over the nation's intellectual property laws.

"A comprehensive measure, it is not confined to making marginal improvements in the available civil and criminal authorities. Instead, it incorporates bold and urgently needed provisions that will permanently elevate the importance of intellectual property enforcement in future administrations," Coble said.

The 6th District representative said that U.S. losses from global copyright piracy and counterfeiting cost innovators and entrepreneurs up to $250 billion a year.

"And these losses are widespread," Coble said. "In communities across the U.S., 750,000 Americans who have already lost a job due to this illicit behavior are proof positive that these losses are not confined to New York and Los Angeles. Counterfeit goods threaten our product quality and consumer health and safety. Toothpaste, medicines, cigarettes and fake auto parts are but a small sample of the virtually unlimited supply of often unsafe counterfeit goods that can unknowingly find their way into the shopping carts and then the homes of consumers."

ENGLISH -- Congressman Howard Coble gets an A in English.

Coble was among the U.S. House members who were honored Thursday morning with an "A in English" award based on his votes and co-sponsorship of official English language legislation in the 110th Congress.

"I am pleased to present this award to Rep. Coble for his efforts to unite our diverse nation under the common language of English," said Mauro E. Mujica, chairman of the Board of U.S. English Inc. "Rep. Coble has been a strong supporter of official English policies during his time in Congress. At a time when there is renewed interest toward preserving what unites us as a nation, we are grateful to Rep. Coble for his dedicated and enthusiastic support of this issue."

The legislative score card included co-sponsorship of H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act, as well as a series of congressional votes on reducing multi-lingualism in government and allowing employers the flexibility to enact English-in-the-workplace policies.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.