Antique car owners will soon have some new hoops to jump through. 

The state Division of Motor Vehicles is requiring owners of newly-purchased antique and custom-built vehicles to have them inspected and photographed by a DMV License and Theft inspector before receiving a title, Dan Kane reports.

The DMV announced the new regulations today, six months after allegations surfaced that former DMV Commissioner George Tatum had helped a friend get a replica titled as a vintage vehicle. The requirements also come after the DMV discovered it had a flawed process for tracking antique vehicles and catching fake titles.

A DMV report in October found that an Alabama company was behind hundreds of fake antique titles for vehicles that were used by owners to gain North Carolina titles.

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The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into how a longtime friend of a DMV director won an emissions specialist position over a state Highway Patrol mechanic who has been teaching people how to do emissions inspections for roughly a decade.

Hal Bunn, the patrol mechanic, said Tuesday that he was interviewed by an SBI agent about two weeks ago, Dan Kane reports.

"I had to go through the whole scenario, from my application right up through to the end of it," Bunn said.

The end of it for Bunn was a settlement with the state, in which he received $1,600 for his legal fees and $774, which equals a five percent bump in his current pay for the past several months.

The state Division of Motor Vehicles officials requested the investigation six weeks ago, after The News & Observer told them of the connection between the man who got the job, James Burgess, and DMV Director John Robinson Jr., who oversees the License & Theft Bureau. Emissions specialists work for the bureau.

The SBI recently finished a separate investigation into how a friend of former DMV Commissioner George Tatum had received a title for a vintage truck, when his vehicle was actually a custom-built replica, but the results have not been disclosed.

Tatum resigned shortly after the vintage vehicle episode.

The State Bureau of Investigation has finished its probe into a vintage vehicle title given to a friend of former DMV Commissioner George Tatum for a replica of a 1937 Ford truck built three years ago.

But it may take a while longer before the public learns what the SBI found.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said he received the SBI report about two weeks ago, but he is still reviewing it, Dan Kane reports.

He would not say whether the report indicates any wrongdoing. SBI reports are generally not public under state law.

The investigation began after The News & Observer learned earlier this year that DMV staff had been alerted that Tatum's friend, Robert Kinlaw of Fayetteville, was seeking the vintage title.

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Investigators have found nearly 1,000 vehicles misclassified as antiques.

A three-month review of the state Division of Motor Vehicles title files found roughly 900 vehicles with vintage titles from an Alabama company known for selling titles.

Misclassified vehicles can cost the state thousands of dolars because owners typically pay much lower taxes and fees.

"We have been victimized by titling services out of Alabama," said DMV Supervisor Brian Bozard.

The investigation was sparked by news that a 1937 Ford truck belonging to a friend of former Commissioner George Tatum was misclassified. (N&O)

Former Chief Superior Court Judge William "Bill" Gore Jr. of Whiteville will take over as the new commissioner of the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.

Gov. Mike Easley announced the appointment this morning. Gore replaces George Tatum, who resigned July 18, a week after The News & Observer reported that Tatum helped a friend get a replica of a 1937 Ford truck titled as the real thing. The report prompted an inquiry by the State Bureau of Investigation.

Gore, 55, was the senior resident Superior Court judge for a district that included Bladen and Columbus counties. He retired July 31.

"I am confident that he will continue to serve North Carolinians with the same standard of excellence in his new role as DMV Commissioner," Easley said.

Today, the Eight Ball takes on The Whiteville News Reporter.

The Columbus County newspaper reported today that longtime Superior Court Judge Bill Gore Jr. abruptly resigned his seat Tuesday.

He said he has not been offered another position in state government, but that didn't stop the newspaper from reporting this rumor:

There was much speculation Wednesday that Gore would be tapped by Gov. Easley to held the state's Division of Motor Vehicles, a post vacated two weeks ago by George Tatum's resignation.

Gore, who went to N.C. Central University's law school with Easley, used to play basketball with the governor back in the day.

The Eight Ball's verdict: "As I see it, yes."

State Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner George Tatum resigned today.

The resignation comes a little more than a week after The News & Observer reported an allegation that Tatum had helped a friend get a replica of a 1937 Ford truck titled as the real thing. The report prompted an inquiry from the State Bureau of Investigation.

Ernie Seneca, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, would say only that Tatum had resigned, reports Dan Kane.

As to why Tatum resigned, Seneca would say only that it's a "personnel matter that I can't discuss."

Seneca said that Mark Foster, the DOT's chief financial officer, has been named interim commissioner.

Gov. Mike Easley appointed Tatum DMV commissioner in 2003. He is a former register of deeds for Cumberland County.

Tatum could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

An assistant director at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles filed a whistleblower lawsuit today, saying he is being retaliated against after he reported that DMV Commissioner George Tatum had sought to help a friend get a vintage truck title for a replica.

Marge Howell, a DMV spokeswoman, said division officials had not seen the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.

Shortly after making the allegation last month in a DMV memo, Joey Gardner was interviewed about it by two internal affairs officers, reports Dan Kane. Later that day, two of Gardner's superiors told him he was suspended with pay and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation. They took his badge, gun and keys to his state car.

A deputy secretary at the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the DMV, reinstated Gardner before the day was over. But Gardner, who is a sworn officer in the DMV's license and theft bureau, still does not have his gun and is still being required to undergo the evaluation, said his attorney, Michael Byrne.

"This is just blatant abuse, not only of Mr. Gardner but of this policy, which is designed for genuine mental health emergencies," Byrne said. "This is something that reminds one more of the Soviet Union than of North Carolina."

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