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Balancing the beauty of nature and the needs of our communities can be one of the most challenging jobs for our state leaders. One example concerns the proposed new state regulations that aim at keeping our water along the coastline, safer, and cleaner. Today I went to our state capitol, and found out why some groups here in the east are protesting the effort.

"The storm water rules as proposed are tremendously flawed," said Joe McClees.

Representatives of our state's Inner and Outer Banks counties brought that message to the capitol.

"If these rules pass in the state they're in, they'll decimate the 12 coastal counties," McClees said.

They lobbied lawmakers, such as Senator Jean Preston, who's worked on environmental issues for more than 15 years.

 “I’m from Carteret County.  We probably have more shellfish waters than any other county in the state,” Preston said.

She says the new rules may keep people from building after they've already bought property.  And they'd require expensive improvements, and discourage building of new, more affordable housing, while the need's growing.

“What we're worried about particularly with the military coming in, going to give us, what, 26,000 military plus the families, these will be low housing, and they can't afford houses on the beach,” Preston said.

Community leaders worry about lost opportunities.

 “We're now beginning to get some attention from developers; that adds to our tax base and allows us to provide services for our citizens,” Washington County Manager David Peoples said.

However the North Carolina Coastal Federation supports the new rules, saying they'd protect water quality, and wildlife and shellfish habitats. The more strict regulations take effect in august, unless state lawmakers vote against them.

Tuesday at 6 p.m. we introduced you to Dick McNeil -- the Jacksonville attorney who has been appointed to represent Cesar Laurean once he's extradited back to the US.

Nine On Your Side's Philip Jones has more of that exclusive interview, including McNeil’s thoughts on whether the Marine Corps may get involved in prosecuting Laurean.

Long before Maria Lauterbach ended up burned and buried in Cesar Laurean's backyard, she accused him of raping her while they both worked on base at Camp Lejeune.

“Just because you have a Marine defendant doesn't mean that the military's involved,” McNeil said. “However, in this case, as you know and everybody knows, there's a lot of potential investigation involving the victim and Cpl. Laurean about what did or did not happen.”

The Marine Corps says it's investigated those claims, but questions still remain about what role the military might play in prosecuting Laurean when he's extradited to the US.

“Obviously, that is a concern,” McNeil said.

And while he says he doesn't have all the answers, McNeil says at this point, he doesn't think the Marine Corps will get involved -- especially when it comes to the first degree murder charge.

Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson had to take the death penalty off the table to get Mexico to agree to extradition -- and McNeil doesn't think the federal government would risk ruining relations with Mexico just to execute Laurean if he were found guilty during a military trial.

“My hunch is the United States of America would be concerned about relationships with Mexico, and not want to interfere with them regarding any particular case,” McNeil said.

He spent 16 years as a lawyer in the Marine Corps -- and he believes that's a big part of why he was chosen to represent Laurean.

McNeil isn’t sure when Laurean will be extradited back to the US, but he's confident this case will go to trial without any plea deals being made.

The first day of the General Assembly's session brought a group protesting changes to storm water regulations. The group representing eastern North Carolina counties came to the Capitol, to press state representatives and senators to fight against coastal storm water rules changes. They say the changes will hurt businesses and homeowners, and not protect the environment. They praised the efforts of Senator Jean Preston who represents Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties and works on environmental issues for the state.

"A lot of people can't build their little homes, and we're talking about modest sized homes too, and of course the storm water system that would have to be installed is extremely expensive," State Senator Jean Preston said.

 On Eyewitness News 9 at 11 p.m. we'll tell you how the issue could affect tens of thousands of new residents.

Investigators say they're connecting a weekend shooting to another shooting that happened last month. Pitt County Deputies are looking for a group of men who shot Salvador Moreno in the back as he sat in his car last Saturday night. Moreno is in stable condition. Investigators say the suspects match the description of those tied to a shooting outside Barnhill Contracting Company last month. If you know anything about either shooting, call CrimeStoppers at (252) 758-7777.

Questions are still flying about the fate of Cesar Laurean -- the Marine corporal who was caught in a small Mexican town about a month ago.

He was on the run for three months after being accused of murdering pregnant Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach at his Jacksonville home back in December.

Laurean's new state-appointed defense attorney has plenty of questions and concerns, too -- which he talked about Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Nine On Your Side's Philip Jones.

“You know, it's certainly a challenge, but again -- I’ve been doing this for some 30 years,” Dick McNeil said. “That's why you put your suit on.”

McNeil is no stranger to high-profile murder cases here in the east. Most recently, the Jacksonville-based attorney scored two hung juries during Vaughn Jones' first two double-murder trials in Pamlico and Craven counties, and he's gearing up for a second re-trial that's set to start in August.

He's also now assigned to defend one of the country's highest-profile murder suspects -- Cesar Laurean.

“You know, I think you treat it like any other case, you just have to be prepared for the onslaught of the publicity,” McNeil said.

And while he's prepping for the attention this case will draw, he says in some ways he's having a hard time preparing for the case itself.

The language barrier and Mexico’s layered justice system are making it hard for him to contact Laurean and the team of Mexican attorneys who are handling his extradition.

Given the publicity surrounding this case, once Laurean is extradited to the US, McNeil says he'll certainly consider pushing for a change of venue.

“I'm sure that will be considered,” McNeil said. “I mean, the publicity was pretty unprecedented in my opinion. Nationally, I’ve never seen a case in this area get that kind of national publicity.”

McNeil says that after Laurean is extradited, his number one priority will be working to convince both the public and potential jurors to keep an open mind.

“That's probably one of the primary functions early on, is to try to get the message out: ‘Hey, let's have the presumption of innocence and let's let the process go forward and see what the evidence is,’” McNeil said. “But certainly it's something we're concerned about.”

McNeil says because he hasn't had much communication with Laurean's team of attorneys in Mexico, he's not sure when extradition will be complete.

Once it happens, though, he expects it will take another one to three years before the case goes to trial.

We'll have more of this exclusive interview tonight at 11 on the Eyewitness News Nine Nightside.

One middle school here in the east has $10,000 extra tonight.

Hundreds of students at New Bridge Middle School in Jacksonville gathered this afternoon to see the school get a $10,000 check from Goody's clothing stores.

The grant is part of the “Good Deeds” program. The school will spend the money on technology -- things like laptops, LCD projectors and video cameras.