Gun in purse goes off in Wyo. Starbucks

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (UPI) -- Police in Wyoming said a gunshot reported at a Starbucks cafe was found to have originated from a juvenile's purse.

Cheyenne Police said officers secured the area after the bullet put a hole through a chair and a wall around 7 a.m. Monday and a girl with a hole in her bag told the officers, "I think my purse went off," KGWN-TV, Cheyenne, reported Wednesday.

Officers said the girl had and a small, Derringer-type, double-barrel .38 Special inside her purse.

The girl was issued a summons for possession of a firearm by a juvenile, which carries a $750 bond and a mandatory court appearance.

Police said the case is being reviewed by the District Attorney's Office and further charges are possible.

Texas college plates stir controversy

DALLAS (UPI) -- Some Texans are complaining about the growing number of out-of-state colleges and universities being represented on the state's license plates.

A franchise agreement with My Plates made a few years ago to aggressively market specialized license plates has resulted in nearly 30 different out-of-state schools having license plates offered in Texas at a price of $55 per year or $295 for a 10-year plate, and the objects have resulted in some strong opinions being posted to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Web site, the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday.

"To have anything other than a Texas team or school is just plane wrong and you as legislatures and members of the department of transportation should be tarred and feathered," one Texan wrote. If for no other reason than putting out an O.U. (Oklahoma University) plate you should be ashamed.

Another poster said, "It is beyond me why we would want to allow out-of-state colleges to display on Texas License plates. Where is our state pride?"

Tree decorated with 400+ travel souvenirs

FORT WORTH, Texas (UPI) -- A Texas couple said their Christmas tree is covered in more than 400 travel souvenirs they picked up during their globetrotting adventures.

Billy and Carolyn Caldwell of Fort Worth said they collected their first souvenir, a red stained-glass heart, on their honeymoon trip to San Antonio in 1979 and they have since collected more than 400 items while traveling the world in support of Billy's career as a geologist, the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The couple said their collection, which includes items from Australia, the Falkland Islands, South America, the Virgin Islands, Egypt and Israel, has grown to the point where it now takes about three days to set up their Christmas tree.

"Each one is individually wrapped, so when we take it out we are unwrapping a wonderful memory," Billy Caldwell said of the souvenirs.

"It can be a chore, but as long as I'm living, I like putting up my Christmas tree," Carolyn Caldwell said. Every time you take one (souvenir) out, you think about what a wonderful time you had and the great people you met.

N.J. officials want to know fate of skunks

AVALON, N.J. (UPI) -- New Jersey wildlife officials said they want to know what a borough mayor means when he says skunks are being put into "witness protection."

Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi declined to reveal what his borough is doing with relocated skunks after it stopped taking them to the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area when Upper Township Mayor Richard Palumbo complained in 2009, The Press of Atlantic City (N.J.) reported Wednesday.

"Within the last year we've taken about 80 skunks off the island. We're trapping them and putting them in the witness protection program. We don't know where they're going," Pagliughi said.

However, officials with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, which controls the relocation and euthanasia of wildlife in the state, said they want to know where the skunks are going.

"They do not have a permit and they should not be removing them," said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. They don't have the right to relocate a species. They have to talk to the Fish and Wildlife folks to assess that.

Ragonese said the borough has the right to relocate the skunks within its own borders, but the mayor has made it clear the skunks are being taken off the island.