Police: Boy drove stolen SUV

RALEIGH -- An 11-year-old boy has been charged after authorities in North Carolina's capital city say he was driving a stolen vehicle.

Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue said Tuesday the boy was taken into custody after the sport utility vehicle he was driving pulled into a high school parking lot.

Sughrue said the 2002 Ford Expedition was stolen from a convenience store early Tuesday morning.

The 11-year-old, along with 16-year-old passenger Deandre Jacquaris Woodin, are charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and with resisting, delaying or obstructing a law enforcement officer.

The 11-year-old is also charged with operating a vehicle without a license.

Authorities did not release the boy's name because he was under 16 years old. Officials at the Wake County Detention Center had no information on Woodin.

Perdue gearing up for 2010

RALEIGH -- North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue has been staying off the gas pedal as she gears up for the thrust of the new year.

Perdue has spent most of the time since Christmas in her hometown of New Bern.

Communications director Chrissy Pearson is careful in not calling any of Perdue's down time a vacation.

Pearson said Tuesday that Perdue spent much of last week with her family and has been working on state business this week from her New Bern home.

She's doesn't intend to hold her next public event until next week.

Perdue's low-key schedule contrasts to her nearly constant statewide travel since the Legislature adjourned in August. Perdue has said she wants to be a hands-on and engaged governor.

State to be energy lab

RALEIGH -- The National Governors Association hopes North Carolina will become a laboratory for finding the best ways to make state buildings more efficient.

The Washington-based public policy organization said Tuesday that North Carolina and five other states will help refine the most cost-effective ways to update public buildings to make them more energy efficient.

The measures will be used to help states design larger-scale building retrofit programs.

Also Tuesday, Gov. Beverly Perdue's office announced that eight small towns will share more than $330,000 in federal stimulus funds to help with energy efficiency efforts. The grants are the first distribution of the money, with a second round coming before spring.

A second round of grants is expected to be awarded during the first quarter of this year.

Nine counties seek disaster aid

BOONE -- Nine counties in the North Carolina mountains are asking for help paying for damages caused by two winter storms.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that the counties are seeking help from state and federal agencies to cover expenses from a Dec. 18 snowstorm and a Christmas Day ice storm. The counties are: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell and Watauga.

The state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety says damage assessment teams will visit those counties next week.

Other counties may be added later.

Steve Sudderth, Watauga County's emergency management director, estimates the two storms cost the county roughly $4 million in damages and expenses.

The storms caused widespread power outages.