On Thursday afternoon, Chief Harry Dolan was on his way home when he was flagged down by a woman parked in front of the city municipal building.

It turns out she’d locked herself out of her car, which contained all the material she needed to testify at a public hearing that was taking place in City Hall.

After hearing of her plight, the chief could have called another one of his officers to assist.

Instead, he parked his cruiser, opened the trunk and pulled out a device known as a “Slim Jim” which is used to open locked cars so they can be towed away.

In a matter of a few moments, the chief had opened the grateful woman’s door.

After he drove off, a reporter asked the woman if she knew who just helped her.

“No,” she said.

Informed it was the chief of police, the woman was surprised.

“He did that for me,?” she said, and walked away shaking her head in amazement.

As Dragnet’s Joe Friday would say, “Those are the facts Ma’am.”

Many people went out of curiosity.

"I'm from Philadelphia so they don't do those kind of things," said Lindsey Brun.

Others wanted to avoid big city celebrations.

"We wanted to skip the Raleigh crowd and figured this would be something different and fun we could do," said Laurin McMichen of Goldsboro.

And for many people from Mount Olive, a town with about 5,000 people, it's a source of pride.

"It's the only one in the world," said Jarvis Odom of Mount Olive.

A computer programmed the pickle to drop seconds before 7 p.m., which is midnight in Greenwich mean time.

That's a perfect time for many in the town.

"Nobody is going to be out here at twelve o'clock," said Aaron Sutton.

Strong winds threatened the pickle filled with light bulbs. And the cold might have kept some away.

But hundreds of others celebrated the New Year and got home by bedtime.

The company asked people who attended to make donations to a local food bank.

As chief mascot for the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Mr. Crisp, an 8-foot tall pickle, is the mascot of the event. He watches as a giant pickle is lowered into an antique, wooden pickle barrel. A few years back, the pickle entered the barrel a few seconds to early. So now, the pickle promoters take precautions.

Deep inside the pickle barrel, there are dry runs now before the actual drop. And the special New Year's Eve pickle is preserved until just the right moment.

"The official pickle, which is hiding at present being rested up for tomorrow night, will be computer controlled," explains pickle protector Ray Joyner.

The public pickling didn't start that way. Back in 1999, it was just as a little ceremony for a few Mt. Olive employees.

"The next year, we opened it up to our plant employees and their families, so we went from eight people to about 50," explains Lynn Williams who is the company's pickle drop expert.

Some might think in a small Eastern North Carolina town of about 5,000 that a pickle drop would have a pretty limited regional appeal. But it turns out; folks from all over are pretty "juiced up" about it.

"We were lucky enough to be named in the Top 10 of America's Quirkiest New Year's Eve celebrations by Trip Advisor.com," said Williams.

The pickle drop is more than entertainment. It also helps the Mt. Olive Company to give something back by collecting items for the North Carolina Food Bank.

"For folks who bring canned food donations we provide a door prize ticket," said Williams. "Last year we collected a half a ton of food. This year, we are shooting for a full ton."

And Williams notes, all the food collected eventually finds its way back to outlets in Wayne and Duplin counties; the two areas that supply the pickle company with its raw material.

The buck rose up, knocked Goodman down and attacked him with his antlers in what the veteran hunter called "15 seconds of hell." The deer ran a short distance and went down, and died after Goodman fired two more shots.

Soon Goodman started feeling dizzy and noticed his vest was soaked in blood.

So he reached his truck and drove to a hospital, where he received seven staples in his scalp and was treated for a slight concussion and bruises.

Jonathan Dennington, 36, and Rachel Dennington, 31, were living in Parkton at the time of the June 15 accident.

They were heading home from Goldsboro when a car, driven by 17-year-old Cassie Carter, crossed the center lane and collided head-on into the Denningtons' Ford Escape, authorities said.

All of them were taken to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Jonathan Dennington was unconscious for three weeks.

"They didn't know if I was going to have full function of my brain, if I was gonna be able to walk again," Jonathan Dennington said.

He was released from the hospital on July 25.

Rachel spent 4½ months in the hospital and recently got out of a wheelchair.

The couple's three children - Heather, 10; Sebastian, 6; and Garrett, 4 - were not in the car that day, but their cat, Jerry, and dog, Daisy, were.

"Our pets were never just pets," Rachel Dennington said. "They have personalities. They're loved."

Sylvia Mintz lives along U.S. Highway 13 northeast of Fayetteville, not far from the accident site. During the summer, she said her cat, Chloe, got a new companion.

"I just thought that it was a stray because we have them occasionally," Mintz said.

Mintz said never encouraged the cat to stay and often tried to send him away. The cat got into a routine of running and hiding whenever Mintz showed up. But the week before Thanksgiving, the cat didn't run away.

"It was just sitting on the porch and it just kind of let out this long meow, like it was trying to tell me something," Mintz said.

With the help of Fayetteville Observer newspaper columnist Bill Kirby, the Mintzs tracked down the Denningtons, who have been living in Goldsboro with Jonathan's parents since the accident.

On Saturday, the Mintzs reunited Jerry with the Denningtons.

"I bawled," Rachel Dennington said. "They let me pull him out of the cat carrier and I just cried."

Mintz and her co-workers at Sandhills Direct Care have offered to sponsor the Denningtons this Christmas.

The Denningtons said they can only hope Daisy, their brown, white and black beagle, found a good, safe and loving home.

In the ruling filed Tuesday, a judge said Jeannie Holleman had provided enough support for her claim for compensation. Read the full report.

At a fundraising event in Hawaii in 2005, Holleman says Aiken's bodyguard grabbed her and pulled her from a chair she was seated in next to Aiken.

Holleman wrote a book, "Out of the Blue ... Clay it Forward - How One Man & His Fans Are Changing The World." Holleman said Aiken's mother and family friends conspired against the book, calling it untrue and disparaging it on fan sites.

“Turtle Lady” and “Turtle Dude” are raising dozens of turtles in their home, thanks to their dog.

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The National Society of Paranormal Investigation and Research showed visitors how to conduct their own paranormal investigation and learn a little more about hauntings in Raleigh.

"The presentation tonight was to inform the public what paranormal investigation is all about and some local haunts that we know about that we thought they'd be interested in hearing about," said George Matthis, president of NSPIR.

In order to conduct a successful investigation, one must have the right equipment and know what to look for. And some say the real thing is a lot spookier than old ghost stories.

"I've been interested in this kind of information," said Alison King after the presentation. "I watch some of the shows that are on TV about it, so I thought I'd come and check it out."

Attendees got to listen to clips of audio that were taken by NSPIR investigators. In one clip a voice is believed to be heard saying, "I wish I could walk". To listen to Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) recordings, click here.

Local places Matthis says are believed to be haunted:
• State Capitol
• Mordecai House
• Crybaby Lane
• Executive Mansion
• Oakwood Cemetery
• City Hall
• Millbrook High School
• NCSU

NBC17 will join investigators as they walk through Battleship North Carolina.

Got a question for a paranormal investigator? E-mail them to us at wncnwebcontacts@wncn.com and we'll get them answered.

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The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that Hunter won a blue ribbon in this year's crafts and hobbies competition by making his own coffin.

Hunter wanted to improve on store-bought caskets, so he installed three inches of foam at the thinnest point, rising to 12 inches at the head to place his body on an incline. The case has hard-rock maple and Brazilian cherry. He also routed his signature into the wood.

On the inside of the lid, Hunter plans to pin pictures of his son, daughter and grandchildren, so he can take those with him.

Hunter has even lined up pallbearers for his funeral, and he's writing his own eulogy.