Former governor scored deal on coastal property

Reporters Jay Price, J. Andrew Curliss and Joseph Neff of The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) broke the story of how former Gov. Mike Easley and his wife Mary accepted a $137,000 discount on a coastal lot from a developer who had gotten key permits from the Easley administration. The story continued a string of exclusives that already has toppled a chancellor, provost and board of trustees chairman at N.C. State University and prompted a federal investigation of the former governor.