Congressman Howard Coble will have a representative in Moore County on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, beginning today.

Coble announced Tuesday that he will dispatch one of his staff members to Southern Pines twice a month to conduct congressional office hours in the new Southern Pines police station at 450 West Pennsylvania Avenue. The hours are 10 a.m. until noon and 1 until 3 p.m.

Lindsay Morris, who normally works in Coble's Greensboro office, will travel to Southern Pines on those Wednesdays to be available for constituent inquiries or services.

"We are grateful to our friends in Southern Pines for making this space available for these regular office hours," Coble said. "Since we do not maintain a full-time office in Moore County, we decided to try these office hours on a regular basis to see if citizens there would like this additional service. Of course, our offices in Greensboro and Washington can also assist residents of Moore County with any requests they may have. We just thought that having a regularly scheduled office visit would bring an additional level of service to Moore County."

Morris will return to Southern Pines on July 21.

UTILITIES - Utilities will command the attention of the Pinehurst Village Council and the Moore County Board of Commissioners when they meet jointly Thursday.

The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. in the Pinehurst Village Hall.

County Manager Cary McSwain will review the status of current utility projects in the village, and the two panels will discuss upcoming utility projects. This will be followed by a discussion of possible processes for managing utility projects and customer expectations in the future.

ADJOURN? - Adjournment by late Friday or early Saturday is in the sights of the N.C. General Assembly.

An update of the state ethics law is under consideration in both the House and the Senate, but the two chambers may face some obstacles in reconciling their two versions before the end of the week. Other issues that may or may not be resolved before adjournment include a ban on sweepstakes games that resemble video poker, an update in election laws to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to collect DNA samples from suspects arrested for felonies.

State Rep. Jamie Boles says he is hopeful that the bill establishing a Moore County school system's campus police force will be passed before adjournment.

The legislature passed the budget bill late last week in time for the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1. That was the principal purpose for the 2010 "short" session.

BLAKE - State Sen. Harris Blake returned to the legislative halls late last week after a leave of 10 days while he traveled to China on official business for the county and Pinehurst.

Blake was in Raleigh Tuesday morning for a committee meeting on a controversial measure involving the former Alcoa aluminum plant in Badin.

Both the Senate and the House were scheduled to reconvene for general sessions at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

SCC BOARD - Joe Clendenin has been reappointed to the Sandhills Community College Board of Trustees.

The county commissioners made the appointment during a June meeting.

The commissioners also reappointed Nancy McNiff to the Sandhills Center Board of Directors and reappointed David Byers, George Little and Kelly Miller to the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Scot Brooks was reappointed to chair the Local Emergency Planning Committee, and Sarah Foster and Robert Wittmann were reappointed to the committee.

At the same meeting, the board reappointed Emi Allen to the Human Resources Appeals Committee. Patrick Coughlin and Kay Thomas were reappointed to the Pee Dee Region Workforce Development Board.

The board appointed Frank VanArsdale as the extraterritorial jurisdiction member of the town of Vass Board of Adjustment and appointed Betty Sapp as the ETJ member of the village of Pinehurst Planning and Zoning Board.

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