Unclear if NC Possum Drop
used live marsupial
RALEIGH (AP) — The organizer of a New Year’s Eve Possum Drop in western North Carolina kept folks guessing on whether he used a live specimen to ring in 2013.
Country store owner Clay Logan lowered an opaque padlocked box wrapped with photos of opossums at the stroke of midnight, not revealing what was inside.
“To be, or not to be?” Logan said, quoting the famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. “That is the question.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed suit earlier this year against the state Wildlife Resources Commission, which had for years issued Logan a permit to trap a wild opossum.
N.C. Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison ruled in November that it is improper for the state to issue such a permit. The commission has appealed in Wake County Superior Court for a review of the case, but no hearing has yet been scheduled.
Logan’s annual celebration draws thousands to tiny Brasstown, where in past years a live opossum was hoisted high in a see-through box before being gently lowered at midnight. The animals were
released back into the woods after the event.

Asheville official mulls
banning gun shows
ASHEVILLE (AP) — A member of Asheville’s city council is proposing a ban on holding gun shows at publicly owned buildings.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that Councilman Cecil Bothwell said Tuesday he’s interested in the idea in the wake of a shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 children, at a Connecticut school.
Asheville already has an ordinance prohibiting the possession of firearms on city-owned property. But gun shows have regularly been held at a city-owned agricultural center and U.S. Cellular Center downtown. One is scheduled at the agricultural center this coming weekend.
Bothwell says the law is clear and that the city should do whatever it can to stem gun violence.

3 killed after car crashed
into milk tanker truck
ASHEVILLE (AP) — Three people have died in a crash with a milk tanker truck near Asheville on New Year’s Day.
State troopers say a Volvo hydroplaned at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and slammed head-on into the tanker, which then dragged the car into an embankment.
All three people in the car died on impact. Investigators were still trying to figure out if speed or slick roads played a role in the crash.
Authorities haven’t released names of the people killed. Trooper P.C. Lord says the truck driver suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

McCrory to speak
at NC bankers forum
DURHAM (AP) — North Carolina Gov.-elect Pat McCrory will speak to bankers about what he plans to do for the state’s economy in 2013.
McCrory accepted the invitation to talk Wednesday to the 11th Annual Economic Forecast Forum. The event in Durham is presented by Wells Fargo and hosted by the North Carolina Bankers Association and North Carolina Chamber.
There also will be presentations about the economic outlook for the state, region and nation.
McCrory will be sworn into office on Saturday.