Weekly Wrap: October surprise

The House and the Senate couldn't agree on what to put into a "technical corrections" bill, so grants for television and film productions and planning money for another state aquarium eventually made the list while money to help school districts cope with mandated smaller classes in elementary schools didn't. The bill also would ban Attorney General Josh Stein from farming out appeals on criminal cases to local district attorneys in the wake of cuts to his budget.

In addition to judicial redistricting that the House has been working on for months, lawmakers suddenly decided to scrap judicial primaries next year to give them more time for that process. Democrats said the move could result in free-for-contests for Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.

Lawmakers also overrode two of Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes: One bill sets aside some money to study chemicals in the Cape Fear River and repeals the ban on plastic grocery bags on the Outer Banks, while the other deals with environmental issues such as storm water control.