Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 1

PLAN YOTIR Pakistan crisis not WHAT IS WCU'S FUTURE? 4 TAT TT AV l- 1 HOLIDAY JLy xi juxv abating Page Dl Page B8 ASHEVILLE High 68, Low 48 WEATHER, CG Wednesday November 14, 2007 VOICE OF THE MOUNTAINS CIT IN TODAY'S PAPER GUNS AND MONEY: Asheville will try to cut gang violence with $25,000 in public funding for a gun buyback program. PageA2 GOOD PARENTS: Local groups offer training to help people learn parenting strategies. Page A2 "iron no mim mm fis K8 Mountain Andrews Jl Blue Ridge jf QewlmjfTenn. Jf Parkwav Brevard 1 lk' 'Srtkl ThelQnts' SUV and The Bryants' horned (i I rr Irene Bryant's body In Horse Shoe. The Bryants' bank! Ga.

found in the Cradle of card used in Fostry In Pisgah I Ducktownjenn. National Forest. City cancels Dec. 31 event Downtown Countdown has low attendance' if. 1 '''It ft 1 able to reach them by phone or e-mail for two weeks.

Neighbors noticing newspapers piling up outside the Bryants' home also alert authorities. Morning, Nov. 6: Search for John and Irene Bryant begins. Nov. 9: Authorities determine couple's bank card used.

Nov. 9: Sixty-five people join another 40 already searching for the couple. Searchers find body, which is sent for autopsy and identification. 4 p.m. Oct.

21: Someone uses Irene Bryant's cell pfione to call 911. The signal is lost and the call never reaches an emergency call center. The provider is unable to lock onto a position using GPS. Oct. 21: Irene Bryant killed, authorities later say.

7:35 p.m. Oct. 22: Bryants' bank Bob Bryant, after Nov. 12: Search for couple suspended. Nov.

13: Police go f. 1:45 p.m. Nov. 6: traveling from home in Texas, finds his parents' Ford Escape on the side Road in Transylania CITIZEN TIMES AW public with DOUG MAYERCITIZEN-TIMES card used to mm withdraw from a machine at a Ducktown, SPECIAL TO THE on the bank card use, releasing photo from bank video. Medical examiner identifies body as that nf I ran a Rrvant GROCERIES FOR COWS: In a bid to help drought-stricken cattle farmers, Ingles Markets will chip in $7 toward each bale of corn fodder they buy from Henderson and Clay county farms.

Statewide, the drought has caused a shortage of 800,000 bales of hay, and farmers need help to make it through the winter. Page Bl MENTAL HEALTH OF VETERANS: The euphoria of a soldier's homecoming from Iraq often gives way to depression, stress and trouble dealing with family members during the first months home, a new Pentagon study finds. Page B4 WAR COSTS $20,990 PER FAMILY: The economic costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to total $1.6 trillion, according to a new report by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee. PageB5 INFECTIONS: Four transplant recipients are infected with the AIDS virus, underscoring the need for more information about organ donors. Page B8 Nov.

8: Law enforcement begins search of couple's financial records for recent activity. Nov. 2 or 3: Bob Bryarit tells the Henderson County Sheriff's Office his parents are missing after not being Search for couple turns into homicide information uAi i SPECIAL TO THE CITIZEN-TIMES R. BradleyCITIZEN-TIMES "We are still actively searching for him," Mahoney said. Mahoney said it is possible the killer of Irene Bryant, 84, kidnapped John Bryant, 79, and took Bryant with him to the bank, since a personal identification number Please see SLAIN on A5 Fill mill investigation after woman's body ID'd Department launched a homicide investigation into Irene Bryant's death as the FBI offered a $10,000 reward for mation leading to her killer's capture.

Someone used a bank card belonging to John and Irene Bryant to withdraw $300 from a bank in Ducktown, on Oct ROCKETS ON THE ROAD: The Reynolds football team has a long trip and a tough playoff opponent on Friday. Page CI SIGNING DAY: Top local high school athletes are officially signing scholarships to attend colleges. Page CI Pr'--t Asheville business bags defense deal By Tony Kiss ASHEVILLE It's news that only a Grinch could love the city has pulled the 'plug on its annual Downtown Countdown New Year's Eve Celebration, citing dwindling attendance. And the ongoing drought and a burning ban probably mean no fireworks at Saturday's Light Up Your Holidays kickoff celebration, though scheduled entertainment will go on as planned in front of City Hall. Downtown Countdown is being dropped because of declining audience, the chance of bad weather on New Year's Eve and continuing downtown construction on City-County Plaza.

"We want to take a break from it this year and really examine the factors that are contributing to low attendance, and if this is something that the community wants at all," said Debbie Ivester of Asheville Parks and Recreation, which produced the event. Last year's Downtown Countdown was a washout because of rain that prevented a Battle of the Bands event from happening and Please see EVENT on A5 expensive units they're using, they're not allowed to leave them behind because of the higher cost. With our unit, it's in the disposable range, and they can leave it behind, so this allows them greater flexibility and safety." U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, announced the federal appropriation, which is for product testing, and inserted the measure in the fiscal year 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, which awaits President Bush's signature.

Nodine said the testing would take about nine months. A design house for blasting initiators, Duke Pro relocated to Asheville four years ago from Atlanta and employs five people. The contract will add two senior engineering positions and a high-level administrator, Nodine said. A production contract, if awarded, would benefit numerous North Carolina companies that would produce the LORI's parts. i SUSAN REINHARDT: While at a book signing, I was approached about the need for a column about vacuum cleaners.

I am delivering. Page Dl of Yellow Gap County. 22. the day after the couple disappeared after gding on what investigators believe they planned as a hike. Investigators think Irene Bryant was killed Oct.

21, Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney said. Searchers have been unable to find John Bryant. Ay ri V' than the touch-and-go training schedule on the natural rivers such as the Nantahala and Tuckasegee. The center has already been host to major national races including the U.S. National Whitewater Slalom Championships and the USA CanoeKayak Team Trials.

At team trials in April, Carolina Day School graduate Jim Wade, 21, and former Bryson City resident Zuzana Vanha, 24, both made the U.S. team, bringing them both closer to a chance at competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team next spring. Citizen-Times Specialties Editor Karen Chavez contributed to this report. By Andre A.

Rodriguez BREVARD Investigators on Tuesday identified a body found in the Pisgah National Forest as that of a hiker missing for three weeks, saying also she died from a blow to the head. The Transylvania County Sheriff's THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHARLOTTE The U.S. National Whitewater Center says it will ask local governments to cover an estimated $1.7 million loss in its first year of operation. The center expected to lose money, but only about $405,000. Center officials told the Charlotte City Council they thought more rafters would use the facility.

More people visited the center than expected, but not as many paid to raft. Entrance to the facility is free. Six area governments in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties had already pledged up to $12 million to cover losses for the first seven years. The center opened to the public in the fall of 2006. Rafting IOSCS 4L1 1 mm JOHN Construction of the U.S.

National Whitewater Center takes place in 2006 In Charlotte. The center plans to ask governments to help cover a $1.7 million shortfall after one year of operation. NOT COOKING FOR Find a list of local restaurants that will do the job for you. Page D4 NeWSPoll at TODAY'S POLL Where will you eat Thanksgiving dinner? Go to and vote. We asked our readers how they would rate this year's leaf season.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, they said: Prettyasever 26.9 Above average 23-3 Not as vibrant as usual 39-6 One of the worst ever 10.2 Total votes 472 By John Boyle ASHEVILLE An Asheville defense contractor has secured a $1.4 million contract to test a sophisticated device that remotely detonates roadside bombs, the most common means of attack against U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Duke Pro Inc. makes the radio-controlled device, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, called a Long Range Initiator, or LORI.

Duke Pro officials say they can make a set of five receivers and one transmitter for about well below the $35,000 price tag for the current system, which is made in New Zealand. That could translate into lives saved. "When an explosive ordinance team has to deal with an IED (improvised explosive device), they have approximately five minutes to render the IED safe before they begin taking sniper fire," said John Nodine, Duke Pro president. "With the more "9m Along with its Whitewater rapids, center attractions include a climbing tower, a restaurant, bike trails and a conference center. The center, which cost $35 million and took nearly six years to build, was this country's answer to an elite, Olympic training center for Whitewater athletes.

The hope was to put them on equal footing with the dominant European teams, which all train on artificial courses. Most of the elite athletes who lived and trained with the Nantahala Racing Club in the Bryson City area moved to Charlotte last year to be able to train every day, year-round, on the artificial course, rather Index BUSINESS Bl-3 NATIONWORLD B4-53 CLASSIRED CUM CROSSWORD cu obhuares 7 DM OPINION B6-7 Cl-6 AS SPORTS UV1NG LOTTERIES MOUNTAINS A8 A2 STATE MOVIES B2 TOUR NEWS D3 2007 I A GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOL 138-1 NO 318 44 pages CIRCULATION QUESTIONS? CALL (800) 672-2472 GOT A NEWS TIP? CALL (828) 232-5883 O) CZ UVJ (828) 681 233 Airport Road 8811 1 it'Vt'sMr1-.