NIP/TUCK/OOPS: Sign of the times: There is a veteran local news anchorman in Durham (WTVD) named Larry Stogner. He hadn't been seen on the air in several weeks, but nobody thought too much of it, since his role at the station was being reduced in favor of newer faces anyway.

The story came out recently that Stogner had been sidelined by a round of plastic surgery that had gone wrong. Stogner is back on the air now, but his left eyelid droops noticeably. He was quoted in the Raleigh paper being pretty matter of fact, saying TV is a young person's game, I was trying to buy a few more years, and shit happens.

I've had a soft spot for Larry Stogner ever since I saw him in the stands behind home plate at a Durham Bulls game about ten years ago, extra-large beer in one hand, cigarette in the other--presumably just a couple of hours before his 11 pm broadcast. (It could have been his night off, but that would ruin the story, wouldn't it?) Anyway, if this is typical of the pressure on-camera TV people experience in places like Durham , that's a sad commentary, as if any more were needed, on a vapid medium.

In other North Carolina gossip: David Miner is a Raleigh area state legislator who went down to defeat in a GOP primary election amid rumors about his sexuality. The N&O's Ruth Sheehan devoted today's column to defending Miner's integrity, saying isn't it a shame about the gay rumors, then in the next paragraph reporting that Miner had gone to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to lick his wounds. Jeez, Ruth, did he stop at Ikea to buy some track lighting on the way? Raleigh's leading multi-alt-media conglomerate Monkeytime (he blogs AND does community access TV) has more.