Something of a theme.

First, news that the state of North Carolina wound up routing gas-tax money to to pay for lawyers’ booze, snacks, and first-class airfare. Don’t ask. Details here.

Then we have the Uptown paper getting half-way to the truth of all the legal bills CMS has been running up of late, including the cover-story that the $300K investigation into HS sports eligibility really only cost $100K.

Still no word, however, on just how big a separation package departed CMS legal counsel Regina Bartholomew received.