Hiker found dead
in Smokies trail shelter
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — A hiker has been found dead in a shelter on the Appalachian Trail.
Rangers found a man, about 50 years old, at the Tricorner Knob Shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park early Wednesday afternoon. The rangers were checking after a hiker was reported overdue at Davenport Gap in N.C.
A spokeswoman for the park said the name of the hiker was being withheld until his identification was confirmed and family members were notified.
The Swain County, N.C., Medical Examiner’s Office is assisting in the investigation. There is no indication of foul play.
A hiker left Newfound Gap on Saturday morning, intending to walk the 30 miles to Davenport Gap. A friend notified the park when he didn’t show up.

200 workers take buyout
at N.C. Goodyear plant
FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A union leader says the Goodyear plant in Fayetteville will not face layoffs after nearly 200 workers accept buyout packages.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said last year it needed to eliminate about 200 jobs at the plant by late November.
The reductions constitute about 7 percent of the plant’s workforce.
Darryl Jackson is president of Local 959 of the United Steelworkers of America and says the reductions are being made in several phases. Jackson says about 135 of the employees taking the buyout have been processed out of the plant.
The plant had more than 2,700 workers before the latest reductions.
The cuts are the largest since 2001, when the plant eliminated about 475 positions.

Preservationists identify
North Carolina’s oldest house
EDENTON (AP) — Preservationists have identified what they believe to be the oldest house in North Carolina.
The state Department of Cultural Resources says the one-and-a-half story house in Edenton dates to 1718 or 1719. That’s based on a study of the tree rings in the home’s
timbers.
The examination came after Steve and Linda Lane bought the house to turn it into a rental property. The house originally was believed to have been built in 1900, but the renovation exposed timbers and
other features that seemed much older.
The original owners aren’t known.
The house has historical significance because it’s an almost lost kind of home — one built for the average citizen.

N.C. man serves as Obama
stand-in at rehearsal
GREENSBORO — A Greensboro man has a very good idea of what it’s like to be President Barack Obama.
The News & Record of Greensboro reports that U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Serpico D. Elliott was selected to stand in as president this week during the walk-through of Obama’s Inauguration Day schedule.
Elliott, whose height and build resemble that of the presid
ent, even raised his hand for the swearing-in and waved at an imaginary crowd on the walk down the parade route.
While Elliott said he relished the role, he would rather talk about the servicemen and women supporting the commander-in-chief and the country’s 57th inauguration.
Elliott said he was surprised by media coverage of his stand-in duties. A picture of him pretending to be Obama reached his brother in Japan.