SHULER ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) ? At least they left the “W” keys. The transition of power between new U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-North Carolina, and the man he unseated, Charles Taylor, hit a road bump when Shuler’s staff complained that the office’s computers were stripped of their operating systems. “They’ve been just as difficult as…

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) ? A wild hog weighing 1,100 pounds, bigger than the near-mythical “Hogzilla” caught in rural south Georgia a few years ago, has been been shot and killed in a suburban neighborhood. William Coursey, an avid hunter who shot the hog in a neighbor’s yard in Fayette County in the suburbs south of…

DENVER (AP) ? A huge avalanche buried cars Saturday and may have pushed others over the edge on U.S. 40 near 11,307-foot-high Berthoud Pass, Colorado highway officials said. “Our crews said it was the largest they have ever seen. It took three paths,” said Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation. Seven people…

By Chuck Shepherd New York City has more than 400 soup kitchens but nothing else like the Broadway Presbyterian Church’s, where master chef Michael Ennes presides three days a week, turning leftover restaurant ingredients into gourmet meals. In fact, one pre-Christmas meal included octopus, as well as day-old bread from Le Bernardin restaurant. Ennes told…

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Bush?s plan to send more troops to Iraq is already running into trouble on Capitol Hill, with Republicans joining Democrats in raising eyebrows before the president even makes his case. Bush, who met on Saturday with his national security team, has tapped new military commanders to lead the war effort and…

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD Cole Stubblefield drives the baseline around a Trojan defender during Tuesday?s first half. It took an extra four minutes Tuesday night for the Boyd Broncos to defeat Monticello High School?s junior varsity team. Tyler Hillis scored 42 points, with seven of those points coming in overtime, as Boyd slipped past the Trojans…

By DUANE SHERRILL A local man faces shoplifting charges after his get-away vehicle drove off and left him, but only after he loaded his ill-gotten booty aboard the car. The suspect, who the accusers have identified as Lucky Hollandsworth, is charged with theft in warrants sworn out following the alleged incident at Big Lots this…

By DUANE SHERRILL An abbreviated 30-person arraignment docket was heard Tuesday morning by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross. Included in court action: ? Jason Hodges was handed an 11-month, 29-day probationary sentence and must pay $310 and attend conflict management courses for domestic assault ? James Armstrong was issued a six-month probationary sentence and must…

By LISA HOBBS Some people have a hard time keeping track of everyone in their family. What if the family had 159 to 220 members and all of them depend on one person to handle their paperwork? Sounds almost impossible without assistance, right? Well don?t tell Fredia Black that because she will argue the point.…

By DUANE SHERRILL The new year began in less-than-stellar fashion for several four-wheeler enthusiasts when they were cited, and one arrested, during a gathering in the Irving College area. The lone arrest, that of Darrell Wayne Newby, 30, came for third-offense DUI and possession of marijuana. Another nine riders were cited for various offenses, mostly…