McCrory gives parting gifts to advisers

A little more than 30 hours before leaving office, Gov. Pat McCrory appointed three of his close advisers Friday to positions on state boards.

Thomas Stith, McCrory's chief of staff, and Lee Roberts, his former budget director, were placed on the board of directors for Golden LEAF, the Rocky Mount-based foundation that doles out rural economic development grants from the money North Carolina receives from the national settlement with cigarette manufacturers.

Bob Stephens, McCrory's general counsel, was appointed to a position on the State Board of Community Colleges, along with former Republican state Rep. Brian Brown of Pitt County.

Meanwhile, Dr. Randall Williams, a deputy director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, was one of five people named to the Oil and Gas Commission, which has been defunct since McCrory won a lawsuit against legislators over appointments to state commissions a year ago.