Congressman Howard Coble was admitted to a Washington, D.C., hospital Tuesday afternoon with a respiratory illness.

Physicians told Coble that his sodium levels were too low and he needed to be admitted for treatment, according to a news release from his chief of staff, Ed McDonald.

Coble is expected to be hospitalized four to five days and will miss votes for the rest of the week.

McDonald said Coble had been fighting a head cold for the past week.

“His cold seemed much worse when he arrived in Washington last night,” McDonald said. “He requested a leave of absence on Monday because he did not feel well enough to vote after his flight to D.C. was postponed by more than six hours yesterday in Greensboro.

“When he did not feel any better today, he visited the attending physician at the Capitol, who made the determination to transport Congressman Coble to George Washington University Hospital for observation.”

McDonald said that doctors have detected no other concern other than low sodium levels brought on by his respiratory illness.

SPACE STUDY — More study will be pursued before a decision is made about the best use of the Courts Facility basement area to be vacated by the Moore County Sheriff’s Office late next year.

At a Friday meeting, the Moore County Courts Facilities Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the county commissioners conduct an inclusive study using data collected in a 2010 courthouse study. The study will also consider other facilities needs for county operations.

Rich Smith, director of county property management, is to develop a request for proposals for consideration at a regular commissioners’ meeting in January.

Committee members agreed that needs for the courts and county facilities are related as all available square footage and future growth is considered, according to a report from Laura Williams, clerk to the board of commissioners.

OPTIONS — In considering options for a longer term solution, Smith took note of the Comprehensive Space Needs Assessment of the county’s courts facilities conducted by Solutions for Local Governments Inc. in early 2010.

The Board of Commissioners authorized that study.

The Sheriff’s Office moved into the Courts Facility building almost 20 years ago for what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. Now the sheriff’s staff is working in severely cramped quarters, space that is also now needed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing court system.

Construction is under way on the public safety-detention center complex on land adjacent to the existing jail across the street from the Courts Facility building. The complex is to be complete by the end of 2012, at which time the Sheriff’s Department will be moved into the new structure.

The committee is charged with recommending the best use of the space vacated by the sheriff.

The freed-up space is not enough to meet all of the court needs, but the idea behind the committee’s work is to find the best way to alleviate those space pressures until a more permanent solution is determined.

PERDUE — Gov. Beverly Perdue has yet to decide whether to veto or sign a bill repealing the Racial Justice Act of 2009.

The state legislature approved repeal during a special session held late last month. Both Sen. Harris Blake and Rep. Jamie Boles voted in favor of repeal.

In the meantime the governor has met with both victims of the violent crimes affected by the act and with families of inmates on Death Row.

Perdue must take action by Dec. 29.

The Racial Justice Act was enacted as a tool to prevent the use of race as a factor in determining whether a defendant in a capital murder case should receive the death penalty. Supporters of repeal argue that the law is being misused and thus leading to a clogging of the appeals process.

The governor’s spokesman said this week that she will make her decision soon.