North Carolina stayed out of the incentive game for decades. The state paid millions to Dell Computer to open a manufacturing plant near Winston-Salem. Now the plant is closed.

A debate has erupted over whether putting scores of Guantanamo detainees into rural Illinois jails would be good for the rural economy. Federal officials were in northwest Illinois Monday inspecting a largely vacant maximum security prison (above) in Thomson. The perfect home for 100 possible terrorists. And, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin, both Democrats, claimed this move would create about 3,000 jobs around the town. 

The Ds are picking up this line — and it's an old one: the economic benefits of prisons.  "At a time when Illinois is facing recession ... this is a lifeline. This is an opportunity," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Monday. "These people deserve a fighting chance to save their communities ... and this project will give them that chance." Durbin called it a "competition" to see which community would house the prisoners. 

Republicans scoffed, saying he prison would only create 500 jobs, and warned of trouble ahead for any rural town that housed the prisoners. "By moving the Al Qaeda core to Thomson along with 1,500 U.S. troops, the United States will publicly brand Illinois as the new Gitmo," said Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican. According to Fox News, "Kirk and other Republicans warn that Thomson could become a terrorist target and say the economic benefits would be relatively slight." 

The Justice Department announced in August that it planned to investigate various parts of the agriculture industry to determine if there were violations of antitrust laws. The DOJ made the pledge at the annual meeting of the Organization for Competitive Markets. (Story here, picture above.)  The federal officials said the investigation would begin with a series of workshops where the government could collect stories and evidence.

The DOJ has announced the dates, places and subject matter for these hearings, and the sessions will last all of 2010. The first workshop will be held in Ankeny, Iowa, on March 12 and will cover "issues of concern to farmers." The next workshop will be in Normal, Alabama, on May 21 and will deal with the poultry industry (grower contracts and "concentration and buyer power"). The next workshop will cover the dairy industry and will be held June 7 in Madison, Wisconsin. The livestock industry (beef and hog) will be covered in a workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 26. 

The last workshop will be December 8 in Washington, D.C. "This workshop will look at the discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid by consumers," according to the Justice Department. The Justice Department is also asking for comments prior to the workshops. To get details on the meetings and on how to comment, go here. 

The Universal Service Fund, set up 75 years ago to get phone service to rural communities, may extend funding to rural broadband and other new communications media.