At the Feb. 8 hearing on the Currituck County Airport dispute, Judge Howard Manning raised an issue first written about by Don Carrington. Manning noted that if Gov. Easley thought the airport property was only 160 acres, not the 535 acres that Currituck officials claim, under what authority did the governor deed over an additional 45 acres? Easley’s attorney, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell, agreed that Easley probably did not have authority to deed over additional land. Manning is expected to rule on the case within a few weeks. Sen. Marc Basnight has sided with Currituck County