‘Give us the bowl back,’ N.C. demands

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina has struck back at PayPal for canceling a planned expansion in the state to protest a law limiting protections for LGBT people.

The government demanded its bowl back.

The bowl, made from an oak tree struck by lightning last year on the Capitol grounds, was intended as a welcome gift for companies coming to North Carolina, Commerce Secretary John Skvarla told the Charlotte Observer.

“We reached out to them and said, ‘Give us the bowl back.’ That is a North Carolina artifact from the North Carolina state Capitol made by North Carolina artisans for companies that are coming into North Carolina,” Skvarla said.

The state made about 340 bowls from the fallen oak. Other bowls have been given to CSX, which recently announced plans to open a new terminal in Edgecombe County, and Charter, which has a large apprenticeship program.

In March, PayPal announced plans to open an operations center in Charlotte that would have added at least 400 jobs. However, PayPal canceled the expansion days after the passage of House Bill 2, which requires people to use restrooms matching their birth certificates in schools and many public buildings.

Skvarla said it took two calls to get the bowl back from San Jose, Calif.based PayPal. The bowl was then donated to a charity and auctioned off, he added.