The seats up for election in November are the No. 3 East seat, now held by Bette Starr; the No. 5 Salisbury seat, held by Vick Bost; and the No. 7 at-large seat, held by Bruce Jones.

The election is non-partisan and members are elected to four-year terms.

In another non-partisan race, the long filing period for Rowan County Soil and Water supervisor finally ends at noon July 7, with the election to be held Nov. 7.

Ed Church’s seat is available this year. He has filed for re-election. Bruce Miller also seeks the seat.

The filing period opened Jan. 3.

Game on: A Supreme Court decision earlier this week to hear the state’s appeal of the 12th Congressional District lines means that the November general election for congressional seats can proceed as planned, using boundaries drawn in 1997.

Those boundaries divide Rowan County between the 6th District, now represented by Republican Howard Coble of Greensboro, and the 12th District, now represented by Democrat Mel Watt of Charlotte.

The state has said the motivation behind the 1997 lines was political, not racial. Past court rulings have allowed congressional district lines to be drawn to give advantage to one political party over another, but the courts have struck down the 12th District’s configuration for relying too much on racial makeup.

“Gerrymandering should not be permissible under any circumstance,” said Chad Mitchell, the East Rowan High teacher who won the Republican nomination for the 12th Congressional District in May. “Hopefully, the Supreme Court will give sufficient guidance with the expected ruling that the state legislatures will not have any problem determining what is right and what is wrong with regards to drawing district lines.”

Mitchell said technology has reached a point where a computer could easily “and without malicious intent draw lines for our state.”

“One thing needs to be made perfectly clear,” Mitchell said. “Gerrymandering of any sort is not in the best interests of the people.”

Strong support: Sen. Jim Phillips, D-Lexington, says the state budget approved by the Senate last week is fiscally responsible and good for North Carolina and its families because of what it does for education.

On the local level, the budget would include $257,000 to Rowan County, $129,500 to Iredell County and $31,000 to Davidson County to help their schools teach children with limited English proficiency.

Phillips said other local items in the Senate budget include more than $24,000 for the Piedmont Mediation Center, which includes Davidson and Iredell counties. It also would give Davidson and Iredell counties an extra District Court judge and provide Teen Court funds to Davidson County.

Iredell County also would be given funds for a One Stop Permit Assistance pilot program and $250,000 for a workforce training program, under the Senate budget.

Jefferson Award: Food Distributors International honored Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., with a Thomas Jefferson Award for voting consistently “in support of sound fiscal policy, minimal government regulation and other free-market principles crucial to the health of the food distribution industry and our nation’s economy as a whole.”

Recipients of the Jefferson awards voted favorably on at least 75 percent of 14 selected votes during the 106th Congress. Coble was one of 200 congressmen to receive the Jefferson Award.

NFIB endorses Hayes: The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed Rep. Robin Hayes, R-Concord, in his re-election campaign against New London Democrat Mike Taylor.

The NFIB is the nation’s largest advocacy group for small business. It says Hayes registered a 94 percent NFIB voting record on key small-business issues since his election in 1998.