JUDGE REJECTS BID FOR CONCEALED GUNS AT NC FAIR: RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A judge rejected an effort on Monday to force the North Carolina State Fair to allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring handguns, saying it would be “unwise and imprudent” to let weapons into the event.
Wake County Judge Donald Stephens declined to grant a preliminary injunction to the group challenging the longstanding ban on guns at the fair, which starts this week. Grass Roots North Carolina argued that a recent change in state law made the fair’s ban illegal.
A small number of states allow concealed handguns at their fairs, including Florida and Texas.
“I do have a great respect for the constitutional right for citizens to possess and bear arms, but I do believe that it would be unwise and imprudent for firearms to be carried into the State Fair. And if there’s some way that I can interpret these statutes to prohibit that, I will,” said Stephens, adding that he retired from the U.S. Marines as a captain who had fired “every weapon in the arsenal.”
In denying the injunction, he said he didn’t think the lawsuit would prevail if it went to trial. He also said that while the laws cited by the group were “a quagmire,” he believes Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has the authority to keep handguns out.
Paul Valone, the president of Grass Roots North Carolina, said he was disappointed with the judge’s interpretation of the laws.
“We have seen a profound mischaracterization of the legislation that was passed,” he said.
TRUCK CONTAINING 36,000 POUNDS OF CRISCO STOLEN: ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A truck containing 18 tons of Crisco sticks headed to a grocery store chain distribution center was stolen in a Florida city.
St. Petersburg Police say that a tractor-trailer containing the 36,000 pounds of vegetable shortening was snatched Sunday morning.
The truck was destined for a Publix distribution center in Lakeland. Authorities said the stolen tractor was a 2005 red Volvo, with a Florida tag and had the business name of “NS Express LLC on both sides of the cab. The trailer was a white Hyundai.
Crisco can be used for frying or making baked goods.
NEW HAMPSHIRE LAWMAKER CALLS CONGRESSWOMAN ‘UGLY’ : CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Republican New Hampshire state lawmaker has called a Democratic congresswoman “ugly” and said the GOP opponent in her November re-election race is one of the most attractive women in politics.
Manchester Rep. Steve Vaillancourt called U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster “ugly as sin” in a blog post last week and compared her to a drag queen.
He wrote that he saw a poll saying attractive candidates are more likely to win than unattractive ones. He said Kuster’s opponent, state Rep. Marilinda Garcia, is “truly attractive.” He didn’t name the poll.
Kuster is seeking a second term. Her campaign has declined to comment.
Garcia has denounced Vaillancourt’s remarks as sexist. She says female candidates should be judged for their ideas, not their looks.
Vaillancourt has refused to say if he stands behind his comments.
POLICE: THIEF POSED AS CONNECTICUT WEDDING GUEST: WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — Police are looking for a man they say posed as a guest at a Connecticut wedding reception and stole gifts from the bride and groom.
They say the man fled the Longshore Inn in Westport on Saturday night with a birdcage filled with wedding cards, many apparently containing cash for the couple.
Police used dogs to try to track the man. They recovered the empty birdcage.
The wedding crasher was seen on video surveillance cameras. Police have released screen grabs in the hope somebody might recognize him.
PROPOSAL WOULD TOUGHEN FEDERAL TRESPASSING LAWS: NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. senator who says terror threats are at a high proposed a federal law Monday that carries up to five years in prison for scaling prominent national structures such as the World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty and Golden Gate Bridge.
Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said his state is the nation’s top terror target. His proposed maximum sentence of five years is a considerable jump from the one year in New York City’s trespassing law.
Recent incidents include a Russian tourist who climbed the Brooklyn Bridge, two German artists who claimed responsibility for replacing American flags with mysterious white ones atop the famed span that links Manhattan and Brooklyn, and three extreme-skydiving daredevils who leaped off 1 World Trade Center.
“With terror threats at a high, it must be made loud and clear to any would-be trespassers, adrenaline junkies or potential criminals that the federal government and the New York Police Department take trespassing on critical infrastructure and national monuments very seriously,” the Democratic senator said, standing near the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge with the city’s deputy police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, John Miller.
In New York, the maximum federal sentence of five years also would apply to the Statue of Liberty, various tunnels and the suburban Indian Point nuclear power plant north of the city — all considered critical infrastructures.
