daily courier february 19 2010

Man marks first day of freedom — Page 14 Sports Title pursuit East Rutherford hosted the semi-finals of the South Mountain Athletic Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Thursday.

Page 7

Friday, February 19, 2010, Forest City, N.C.

NATION

Jury finds Martin not guilty

By LARRY DALE Daily Courier Staff Writer

Plane slams into Texas office building

50¢

RUTHERFORDTON — Jack Meredith Martin on Thursday afternoon was found not guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

He was cleared in the shooting death of Jonathan Lehi Moore and in the woundings of Phillip Chiasson and Philip Salks on the night of May 27-28, 2005, at 919 Main St. in Chimney Rock.

Martin spent 56 months in jail or prison on the counts before being cleared in the retrial.

Proceedings in the second trial took nine days in court.

“Well, I feel good,” Martin said Thursday afternoon, minutes after being processed out of the Rutherford County Jail. “It was kind of unexpected. I’m always looking at the worst-case scenario, and I’m grateful for the way things turned out. I appreciate the verdict. I especially have a lot of praise for Mr. Kent Brown. If I had a million dollars I couldn’t have gotten a better lawyer.”

Brown, the defense attorney, and District Attorney Brad Greenway, the prosecutor, declined to comment after the verdict.

Kay Moore, the mother of the

It was kind of unexpected. I’m always looking at the worst-case scenario, and I’m grateful for the way things turned out. I appreciate the verdict.

— Jack Martin

Please see Martin, Page 2

Page 10

Panel eyes ideas for ag complex

VAN HITS TRUCK

SPORTS

By SCOTT BAUGHMAN Daily Courier Staff Writer

Tiger set to talk to the public at 11 a.m., today Page 7

GAS PRICES

Jean Gordon/Daily Courier

Low: High: Avg.:

$2.49 $2.59 $2.54

DEATHS

Jennifer Hamrick, 29, of Rutherfordton was injured Thursday morning when she failed to stop at a traffic light on U.S. 74A near Aldi’s Inc. Hamrick’s van collided with this Sara Lee truck driven

by Gregory Wayne Wall, 38, of Forest City. Wall was completing a delivery at the grocery store when the accident occurred. Charges are pending, said Sgt. Troy Scroggs of the Forest City Police Department. Hamrick was admitted to Rutherford Hospital where she is expected to undergo surgery. Also assisting at the scene were North Carolina Crime Control, Rutherford County EMS and the Forest City Fire Department.

ICC reviews building plans

By ALLISON FLYNN

Ellenboro

Daily Courier Staff Writer

Eva Pruette

Elsewhere

Mae Scruggs Page 5

WEATHER

FOREST CITY – Isothermal Community College’s Board of Trustees got a glimpse of what the future could hold for a new building on campus, should funding become available.

During Tuesday night’s quarterly meeting of the board, LS3P Architect Scott Baker presented the board with a blueprint of a proposed Allied Health and Sciences

Building. Plans for the building were drawn up as part of the college’s long-range planning process.

“Every community college had to do one, and as part of that, we did a master facility plan to identify about 20 projects on campus and prioritize the top nine,” said Isothermal Director of Marketing Mike Gavin. “If and Please see ICC, Page 6

RUTHERFORDTON — Planning for the Rutherford County Agriculture Complex is moving forward and at a Daniel Road Committee meeting Thursday, architect Chuck Hamrick listened to ideas on design.

“I have not been actively involved with the project except for early on when I worked with Steve Duckett, the previous county extension director, on the livestock arena and more on the farmer’s market,” said committee member Chivous Bradley. “But I think this is an important project.”

Plans call for three basic sections of the Ag Complex — itself one part of the Daniel Road Project.

The complex will include an office building section, a livestock arena and a farmer’s market. The market will replace the current county market on Fairground Road, while the arena will be a new addition to the county as a facility for showing cattle, goats and all manner of animals.

The office building would become a new home for the county’s Cooperative Extension but would most likely be built in phase two of the construction. But county officials in attendance were quick to remind the group that no construction was approved yet.

“It seems as if we keep spending money for things that could wait,” County Commissioner Margaret Helton said. “We’ve already spent $47,000 for planners from Charlotte and that is already gone.

I think it would be a better look Please see Complex, Page 6

Chase teen to be on radiothon

By ALLISON FLYNN Daily Courier Staff Writer

High

Low

54 30 Today, sunny.

Tonight, clear.

Complete forecast, Page 10

INSIDE Classifieds . . . 16-19 Sports . . . . . . . . 7-9 County scene . . . . 6 Opinion . . . . . . . . 4

Christina Queen

Contributed photo

Vol. 42, No. 43

Now on the Web: www.thedigitalcourier.com

FOREST CITY – Christina Queen is 18 years old, anxiously awaiting her high school graduation from Chase High and looking very forward to wearing a pale purple sparkly dress and her hair arranged in a curly updo for her senior prom April 30.

But unlike her other classmates, Christina doesn’t just get up and throw on her clothes and makeup and get ready for class. Her morning routine also includes removing a feeding tube, taking breathing treatments and putting on a vest that beats mucus from her lungs.

When she was just a year old, Christina was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract. It is one of the most common chronic lung diseases in children and

young adults, and may result in early death. Both Christina’s mom and her dad, Hank Queen, are carriers for the disease. Christina’s siblings, Bryan and Brooke, do not have the disease.

At first, said her mother, Angela Hudson, doctors diagnosed Christina with pneumonia.

“She couldn’t keep any milk down and kept having diarrhea,” Angela said. “Dr. Goode finally sent us to Asheville for a sweat chloride test, which confirmed it.”

Christina began making trips to Chapel Hill for treatment, but in recent years has been receiving care at Mission Children’s Hospital. It was at Mission Christina was asked to share her story this weekend as part of Kiss Country’s (99.9 FM) Radiothon to raise money for the hospital.

The event will feature other children who have been cared for at the hospiPlease see Teen, Page 6

2

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

Local Martin

A BIT WARMER

Continued from Page 1

With temperatures reaching 50 degrees Thursday afternoon, Luke Wilson, 3, (left) and his friend Jackson Smith, 4, were taken to Crestview Park by their mothers for outdoor playtime. Jennifer Smith accompanied Jackson and Holly Wilson accompanied Luke. Jackson’s older sister, Madison, 7 1/2 was playing nearby on the Jungle Gym. The next few days are expected to bring warmer temperatures.

Jean Gordon/ Daily Courier

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man who died in the shooting incident, said she was very disappointed, but added that the jurors did the best they could with what they had to work with.

Martin, representing himself at the first trial, was convicted on the charges in 2007, but the North Carolina Court of Appeals ordered a new trial because of an error in the first trial involving the way Martin was allowed to represent himself.

Martin said Thursday that the presence of Brown in the second trial was crucial.

“The difference was,” he said, “I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m not a lawyer. That’s the big thing.

I missed so many things in the first trial that Mr. Brown caught.”

In his closing argument on Wednesday, Brown emphasized problems with the forensic work by investigators, and Martin said that made a difference in the trial.

“I think the fact that the crime scene was distorted,” he said, “and it appeared to be rearranged.

There seemed to be a lot of sloppy forensic work.

And I think that had a lot to do with the outcome.”

Martin has for a long time expressed concerns about the involvement of Freemasons in his case and has said he felt there was a Masonic conspiracy to convict him. Motions in his second trial sought to keep Masons from being jurors.

When asked on Thursday if Masons were excluded from the second trial, Martin said, “I wouldn’t say that they were kept out. I think I have some good evidence that Greenway is a Mason, and a few other people still in the area. I talked about compassing, which went over the head of a lot of people. What that word means is to contrive, plot and scheme among themselves. That was going on during the first trial. At this trial there may have been some, but I didn’t see it.”

During pretrial motions on Monday, Feb. 8, Brown said that Martin was “brutally attacked in jail” on Aug. 12, 2009, by a jailer at the Rutherford County Jail. That, he said, showed “oppressive pretrial incarceration.”

Martin was asked during the interview Thursday to express his opinion about law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

“I think there needs to be some close scrutiny done,” he said. “I think somebody needs to come in, some fair-minded people, and make some radical changes. I think in this particular county, from what I can see, there seems to be a good old boy, is putting it one way, but I think there is a fraternal, and I would call it a symbiotic, relationship among different groups of people that have the same goal and agenda, which is power, control for themselves, and aggrandizement. And the unfortunate thing is, it translates into injustice for a lot of people — for the victim and for the one charged.”

Martin was asked if he felt bitter about the situation.

“Well, I have, off and on, over the last four years and eight months,” he said, “and a lot of it is related to the fact that people seem to look the other way about what goes on behind these walls — the jail walls and the prison walls both. There seems to be a lot of deliberate indifference and willful blindness about the whole system, and when I say that I mean judges and lawyers, primarily. Because they are looking the other way, nobody is looking closely at it.”

Concerning his future plans, Martin said, “Well, I’ll be 69 years old next month. I’ve got Social Security. I’ve got some relatives I will be staying with. I am an artist. There are things I can do. I’m a pilot. I’ll find something to do.”

The jury began deliberations on Wednesday at about noon. At 12:05 p.m. Thursday they asked the judge, “What if we can’t reach unanimous agreement?”

Judge Mark Powell told them to continue deliberations. They returned their verdict some 35 minutes after returning from their lunch break at 2 p.m.

Contact Dale via e-mail at ldale@thedigitalcourier.com.

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The Daily Courier

GREAT WITH COFFEE, AND PART OF YOUR MORNING!

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 — 3

Local

At Your Leisure Foothills Women’s Lifestyle Show

SPINDALE — The 2nd annual Foothills Women’s Lifestyle Show will be held Saturday, March 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the new Carolina Event & Conference Center in Forest City.

The center will be transformed into a festive hub of activity. More than 40 booths and interactive exhibits will fill the new facility including experts on health and wellness, fashion and beauty, business and finance, home improvement, recreation, giveaways and more.

The event offers free minimassages, facials and other beauty treatments, as well as participation in health screenings, workshops, presentations by presenting sponsors Rutherford Hospital and Rutherford OB-GYN Associates.

Admission is $3 per person, or $5 for mothers and daughters who attend together.

Visit www.foothillswomenshow.com for further details.

Sponsors are Rutherford Hospital, Rutherford OB-GYN Associates, TimeOut Management, King Law Offices, Medicine Box Pharmacy of Forest City, Carolina Chiropractic Plus, Smith’s Drugs, Foothills Bridal Magazine, and Rutherford Woman.

Children visiting KidSenses museum at 5:30 p.m. today can create a masterpiece with clay and Saturday, children will come journalist for the day.

Friday beginning at 3 p.m. children will work in the Creation Station as they make their signature art project with modeling clay that air drys quickly and can be painted with tempura paint.

Young artists can hand

sculpt the clay, use blunt modeling tools for detail, and add various embellishments to adorn the clay masterpiece.

Friday hours are from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission after 3 pm. is $3 Saturday is Future Journalist Day. When children enter the Museum they will receive interview sheets and the staff will help children interview their parents, friends, and even other children. Then head over to the TV station, WFUN, and “broadcast” it for the whole Museum.

Bring cameras and capture the moment.

Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Carolina Wrestling Superstars presents love and war on Saturday Feb. 20, at the old Mooresboro Gym. Doors open at 7 p.m. Bell 8 p.m. For more information call 828-205-9374.

Bandana will play Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the Rutherford County Moose Lodge, 548 US Hwy. 74 Bsn. 191 Prime, located at 191 N. Main St., Rutherfordton, announces the following entertainment: Feb. 27 — Gary Ray and The Heartwells Wednesdays — Tony Coccagna Thursdays — Grayson Saine Fridays — David Cook and The Trio Drinks specials Tuesday Friday every week.

Web site www.191prime. com.

M Squared Restaurant, 125 West Main St., Spindale, offers the following entertainment: Tuesdays — Closed Feb. 23 for private luncheon, opens

CMLC’s Run for the Hills set for May 2 FLETCHER — Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy is set to host its first annual Run for the Hills Fun Run at Fletcher Community Park May. Outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to support conservation efforts by signing up for the fun run. Registration is now open and all proceeds go toward CMLC’s mission to preserve mountain lands.

The Run for the Hills will begin at Fletcher Community Park in Fletcher. This event is designed to raise community awareness about local conservation and the Town’s Cane Creek Greenway.

This non-competitive race is 5K in distance, and will be followed by a finish line festival featuring various vendors and educational activities.

CMLC has worked with Fletcher and other partners since 2004 to create and expand the Fletcher Greenway system and improve water quality along Cane and Hooper’s creeks. Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy helps landowners protect local land and water resources vital to our natural heritage and quality of life. CMLC is helping to create a regional network of more than 20,000 acres of protected farm, forest, park and natural lands.

More information about Run for the Hills can be found online at www.carolinamountain.org.

at 5 p.m. for Soup/Sandwich Night, Alex Thompson on keyboard Wednesdays — Trivia at 8 p.m. (half price wine bottles) Thursdays — Seafood Night Friday — Alex Thompson on keyboard, $5 Martini Night Saturday — No entertainment Sundays — Brunch and Bloody Mary Bar (weekly) Web site www.msquaredrestaurant.com.

St., Spindale. Admission — members free, guest $5.

Saturdays from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. Each Thursday is ladies’ night and Karaoke from 8 to 11 p.m. Shagging every Friday night from 8 to 11 p.m.

Wagon Wheel Dance Club, W.E. Padgett Rd., Bostic, offers a variety of music for line dancing, partner dancing, swing and more. The following entertainment is announced: Feb. 20 — Broken Axle Band, 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Admission $7.

Concessions, game room, family entertainment. Dance lessons every Tuesday night from 7:30 to 10 p.m., $3 per person.

Web site www.wagonwheeldanceclub.com.

Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria, 115 W. Main St., Spindale, (no cover charge) announces the following entertainment: Feb. 19 — Scoot Pittman Feb. 20 — Laurel Ridge Feb. 24 — Spindale Music Mafia Feb. 26 — The Lone Derangers Feb. 27 — Tim Fast March 5 — Peace Jones March — 6 Matt Walsh March 12 — Alan Barrington March 13 — Hey Mama March 19 — Billy Gilmore March 20 — Ashleigh Caudall & Narrow Gauge March 26 — Jef Chandler Band March 27 — Alan Biggerstaff Web site www.barleystaproom.com.

Funeral services have not been exempt from societal concerns about carbon footprints and how we affect the world around us. A relatively new concept in the funeral industry is what has been termed “Green Burial”.

The concept of a “Green Burial” allows the body and any container that it may be placed in for burial to decompose as naturally as possible.

Therefore, there is typically no embalming and the container (casket) is made of materials that will quickly break down.

The containers are usually made of fiberboard, partial board, or perhaps wicker or bamboo.

There is also typically no outer container, vault, or liner used in grave.

The choice of “going green” does not effect having a funeral.

The only limitation, since there is no embalming, is that the body must either be placed in refrigeration until the service or the service must take place as soon as possible (usually within 24-48 hours) after the death.

If “Green Burial” interests you, I would be more that glad to visit with you about this new concept. Our firm has done extensive research in what is available in Western North Carolina so that we may meet your needs if this is your choice.

“Quality Service with Compassionate Care”

Harrelson Funeral Home 1251 hwy. 221-a, forest city, nc

(828) 657-6383

www.harrelsonfuneralhome.com

Union Mills Learning Center is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings to assist the community with its computer and printing needs. The gymnasium is also open Saturdays at 4 p.m. for pickup basketball games and shoot-arounds.

Web site unionmillslearningcenter.org.

LuLu’s Country Club & Karaoke has karaoke and dancing every week, Thursday - Saturday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Cover charge $3 on Thursdays, and $5 Friday and Saturday (BYOB). Ages 18 and up with valid ID. The club is located off Railroad Ave., at 156 Sunset Street in Rutherfordton.

Legal Grounds, 217 North Main St., Rutherfordton, offers the following entertainment: Feb. 20 — TATER and The Traveling Circus Feb. 27 — Rocky Yelton and The Hired Guns March 6 — Mountain Still with David Via March 13 — Sharkadelics March 20 — TRIAD March 27 — Moonshine Jenny Web site www.legalgrounds. net.

Black Pearls Farm in Bostic, a non-profit Equine and CSA Learning Center, announces the following events: Open horse lessons — Saturdays beginning at 10 a.m., (call ahead) Contact Barbara Henwood at 245-0023.

Web site blackpearlsfarm. com.

Positively Paper Inc., located at 121 East Main St., Forest City, offers the following classes in card making and scrapbooking.

Web site www.positivelypaperinc.com.

Free native plant symposium: The NC Native Plant Society, Asheville Chapter, will offer a free native plant symposium at the NC Arboretum Education Center, Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. 3 p.m. RSVP to Mitch at mitch@ncwildflower.org or 828-505-2476.

Limited space. For more information visit www. ncwildflower.org.

Off the Beaded Path, located at 120B West Trade St., Forest City, offers Try-it-Tuesdays (every Tuesday) which features brief jewelry-making

Club L.A. is a private club for members and guests, located at 319 W. Main

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Bo Eason’s Runt of the Litter: Friday, March 26, beginning at 8 p.m., at The Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon. Tickets held for the original performance (postponed due to weather) will be honored. For more information call 828-859-8322

Seams to Be Fabrics, located at 256 U.S. Hwy. 74 Bsn., (beside the Moose Lodge), offers a variety of sewing classes.

Web site seamstobefabrics. com.

Points To Ponder ––– funeraL director –––

demos. The following classes are also available: Feb. 22 — Wavy Knitted Bracelet, 6 to 8 p.m.

Feb. 23 — EZ Rivoli Medallion Pendant, 6 to 8 p.m.

Feb. 25 — Woven Wire Pendant, 6 to 8 p.m.

Feb. 27 — Bead Club, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Web site offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com.

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4

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

■ A daily forum for opinion, commentary and editorials on the news that affects us all.

Jodi V. Brookshire/ publisher Steven E. Parham/ executive editor 601 Oak Street, P.O. Box 1149, Forest City, N.C. 28043 Phone: 245-6431 Fax: 248-2790

E-mail: dailycourier@thedigitalcourier.com

Our Views Panel chairs have experience

E

rskine Bowles announced his plans to retire from his latest job — as president of the University of North Carolina system — and then he answered a call from President Barrack Obama to be the cochair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Bowles, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, will share the chair with former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson.

The 18-member panel will be tasked with developing plans to reduce federal spending and our ballooning national debt.

The bipartisan committee has a difficult task. They will be asked to tell the President and the Congress what federal spending should be cut.

You can bet the house that no recommendation they make will be universally accepted.

Bowles and Simpson both know the task ahead of them. Both men know how Washington works. It is how Washington works that makes the task before this committee so challenging.

Bowles and Simpson bring to the task a wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors which should prove to be a valuable asset in this undertaking.

Our readers’ views Says people will know who the criminals are

Says consider adoption for the good of child

To the editor: You Know a Criminal if: Since Tuesday, Feb. 9, you have noticed someone you know with a new Wii Sports Gaming System; serial number LU54554307.

Maybe this person has a new black and silver shoulder bag purse or has given it to you. He or she may have a few new pieces of jewelry such as a gold ladies Bolivia wrist watch or a pin with a lady covered by a barrel that when opened she is still modestly covered, or a colored jewel ring resembling the U.S. flag.

To the editor: When life’s circumstances place us in a position with uncertain choices in all directions, God is there.

Almost two years ago, my wife and I adopted our daughter. The third child in our family, she came to us with as much of God’s miracle and grace as the other two. Although she came to us through a road less traveled, the reality of that road still exists.

There are more items on this list, but this is a good start to you realizing you know someone who is committing crimes of “Breaking arid Entering” in the Union Mills area.

I’m getting the word out on this particular crime of “Breaking and Entering” because first, I do not appreciate being offended or assaulted within my own home.

Second I want everybody committing such a crime to know not all of us are willing to sit back, and tolerate such behavior.

And finally I want you to know, if you planned on returning, a security system is now in our private home, so you might want to smile if you’d like a good picture taken.

While getting referrals from friends, family and businesses about the variety of systems available, we found several systems are being installed all over the area because of this and other person’s offenses against the law abiding, trusting, and hard working citizens that share this community with you and/or your criminal friend or friends.

All children must be given every opportunity to experience love, nurturing, acceptance, discipline and instruction. The true irony of all loving adoption stories is that they all begin with less than ideal circumstances. Through these situations, the birth family unselfishly gives the greatest of all gifts to that child. They give the child an opportunity.

Human nature often bends us to judgment, but through soulful contemplation we must all agree that a child in a stable, safe, and traditionally moral home is afforded a much greater opportunity. Often time’s other biological family members feel the need to assume a responsible role.

Although this is a noble gesture,

and can be done successfully, it often creates stressful situations within the child’s emotional development. With so many traditional mother/father structured families willing to adopt, the greatest support that can be given to that child is placement in one of these homes.

To anyone contemplating their role as an adoptive family or anyone torn with grief over the need to take the road less traveled, consider this not for you but for the greater good of the child.

In whatever way parenthood comes to you, it is still God’s miracle.

Rhett Beard Forest City

Letter Policy The Daily Courier would like to publish letters from readers on any subject of timely interest.

All letters must be signed. Writers should try to limit their submissions to 300 words. All letters must include a day and evening telephone number.

The editors reserve the right to edit letters for libelous content. All submissions should be sent to The Editor, P.O. Box 1149, Forest City, NC, 28043.

Letters may also be submitted via e-mail at dailycourier@thedigitalcourier.com or via our website at thedigitalcourier.com

Now it’s on your conscience, what will you do from this point?

Pamela Groves Union Mills

With diligence, we can make things work Sometimes the Internet can be a really great thing. And sometimes it can be a real pain in the neck.

On Thursday morning I was bopping around the County Annex and I found myself at a meeting about working with a film company to make some 60 second or so videos to promote the county and the towns around here. The good news there is the video company won’t charge the county any money because they make their cash by having local companies sponsor the films.

This works out to a page that has a 60-second video highlighting the particular aspect of the county and then the various sponsors are on the page with a link to their Web site and some-

Some Good News Scott Baughman

times a video about them.

Sounds like a win-win for the various companies and of course it’s always a good plan to promote the county more on the Internet.

But the net giveth and the net taketh away. In my case, Thursday was also a day that we had some REAL problems with our e-Edition on thedigitalcourier.com. If you tried to log on to the site and looked at the PDFs of the pages of the paper, you were met with Wednesday’s issue

instead. At least for most of the day, you were met with Wednesday’s issue. Later, you might have been able to find the front page of Thursday’s paper, but no other pages.

And then you might have seen page three, but no other pages. It went on like this for most of the afternoon as I was trying to figure out which page had the problem.

See, the basic premise is that you upload all 16 pages (or however many pages we have that day) at one time and then the computer automatically converts the document into a format that can be browsed via the Internet.

This works great 29 days out of 30. But ever so often, we have that one issue of the paper with some kind of ... well ... issue on a page that

makes the whole batch produce an error. This was what was happening on Thursday.

And it was happening over and over and over again.

You may have heard it said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

This is not entirely the correct quote, but having to go through the whole process over and over surely made me feel like I was going insane.

Eventually, I worked out that the problem was on page two of Thursday’s paper with a file that was not agreeing with the computer, and therefore not agreeing with the Internet in general. But in order to deduce which file on which page, I had to send one page at

a time (rather than all as a batch) and see which one got kicked out. Even with wonderful Internet service from Northland Cable, it isn’t the quickest process in the world. This especially seems to take a long time when you have other things to do — like design the comics page, cover various events, and of course write a column.

Well, this just goes to show that the net — like many things in life — is neither inherently good or bad. But with diligence, we can work together to make it a positive thing.

And that’s some good news.

Contact Baughman via e-mail at sbaughman@thedigitalcourier. com.

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

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5

local/obituaries/state

Panel fines liquor company Obituaries

RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina’s top alcohol regulators fined a liquor company $6,000 on Thursday following allegations it violated a gift ban when a company employee treated Mecklenburg County ABC board employees and leaders to an extravagant dinner in November.

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission approved unanimously the compromise with Diageo North America, which said it accepted the settlement without admitting wrongdoing.

The company treated the Mecklenburg County board chairman, the board’s chief executive officer, and nearly 30 employees, spouses and

others to a dinner that ultimately cost $12,700 with the tip. According to the restaurant receipt, the group feasted on lobster, crab cakes and steak, drank Crown Royal and Dom Perignon, and had creme brulee for dessert.

The state ABC Commission originally accused the Mecklenburg board, Diageo and marketing director Andy Iredale of breaking a state law prohibiting gifts of anything of value.

The local board repaid the company more than $9,000, and Mecklenburg chairman Parks Helms and CEO Calvin McDougal have since resigned — proof that the “local board has been held accountable,” state commission Chairman Jon Williams

Police Notes Two teens missing since Wednesday

FOREST CITY — Families and law enforcement officers are looking for two juveniles, missing since Wednesday afternoon.

Natisha Shaquan Hall, 15, was reported missing at 6 p.m. Wednesday by her father, Christopher Bernard Hall of 401 Wisconsin Street, Spindale. He told Spindale police she went to school Wednesday but did not come home. He said he believed she would be with Jodi Nelon, 16, who was reported missing by her mother Jessica L. Nelon, of Muntain Street, Rutherfordton.

Natisha Hall is a black female, 5’2’’ tall and weighs 115 pounds. She has medium black hair.

Det. Jamie Keever with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Dept. said Nelon’s mother told him Jodi left for school also Wednesday morning, but did not return home. She is a white female with brown hair/green eyes and is about 5’5 inch tall. She was last wearing blue jeans, a pink top and black jacket. Her mother believes she is with Natisha.

Both girls are students at R-S Central High School.

Driver arrested in hit and run crash

RUTHERFORDTON — Eric Ronald Waters, 40, of 134 Spencer Street, Caroleen, was arrested Wednesday evening after he was involved in a hit and run accident on Maple Creek Road in Rutherfordton.

Waters is charged with driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, hit/run, leave scene of property damage, fictitious information regarding registration and license tag, and no insurance. He left the scene of a motor vehicle accident and was arrested in Rutherford Hospital’s parking lot. He was taken to the Rutherford County Detention Facility where he was placed in jail under a $7,000 bond.

Waters was driving a 1993 Subaru on Maple Creek Road and was passing a car as Craig W. Douglas, 45, of Carpenter Lane was turning onto Mitchell Street, striking the Waters vehicle. Waters’ car then hit a 2007 Nissan head-on driven by Mark Skipper, 46, of Mill Spring.

Skipper and his son Corey Steven Skipper, 12, were taken to Rutherford Hospital emergency room where they were treated for injuries.

Sheriff’s Reports n The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department responded to 130 E-911 calls Wednesday. n Shannon Hines reported a burglary. n A Chase Middle School bus was reportedly vandalized. n Barbara Hutchins reported damage to a mailbox. n Thomas Harmon reported the theft of an automobile.

Rutherfordton n The Rutherfordton Police

Department responded to 18 E-911 calls Wednesday.

Spindale n The Spindale Police Department responded to 48 E-911 calls Wednesday.

Lake Lure n Lake Lure Police Department did not have any E-911 calls Wednesday.

Forest City n The Forest City Police Department responded to 57 E-911 calls Wednesday. n Shakita Goodlett reported an assault on a child under 12 years old. n Andrew Parker reported damage to property. n Lavonne Nancy Martin reported an incident of obtaining a controlled substance by forgery and fraud at Wal-Mart.

Arrests

n Perry Todd Conner, 22, of 401 Maple Creek Road, Rutherforton; charged with driving while license revoked; released from jail.

(RCSD) n Joni Lea Van Dyke, 20, of 161 Jonestown Road; charged with felony possession Scheduled II Controlled substance; released from jail.

(RCSD) n Clay Morgan Hudson, 30, of 598 Crow Woods Road; charged with unsealed wine/ liquor in passenger area; allow unlicensed person to drive; released on a $1,000 secured bond. (RCSD) n Nathaniel Emerson Gleaves, 29, Cove Road, Rutherfordton; charged with driving while license revoked; released on a $1,000 secured bond.

(RCSD) n Dustin Vernon Lawter, 27, of 161 Jonestown Road; charged with driving while license revoked; released on a $1,000 unsecured bond.

(RCSD) n Micki Lynn McSwain, 42, of 136 Garden Gate Drive; charged with surrender by surety/possession with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver Scheduled II controlled substance; surrender by surety/ possession drug paraphernalia, possession Scheduled IV, controlled substance; released on a $32,000 secured bond. n Marilyn Joy Fox, 301 Wyoming St.; charged with harassing phone calls; released on a written promise to appear. (RCSD) n Randy Lewis Edwards, 43, 1451 Jonestown Road; charged with failure to appear on misdemeanor, expired registration card tag and failure to appear on a misdemeanor driving while license revoked; released on a $5,000 secured bond.

(RCSD) n Kimberly Latoya Harris, 19, of 414 Oakland Road; charged with cyberstalking and communicating threats; released on a $1,500 unsecured bond. (RCSD) n Jimmy Orlando Littlejohn, 35, 555 Poors Ford Road, driving while impaired, driving while license revoked and habitual impaired driving; placed under a $30,500 secured bond. (NCHP)

said. An investigation and interviews show that local ABC senior management requested the dinner, the state commission said.

Two fines of $3,000 each paid by Diageo “demonstrate the commission’s commitment to hold the distiller appropriately accountable for their shared responsibility in this unauthorized event,” Williams said.

The penalties came the same day the General Assembly announced the formation of a study committee to examine potential ABC reforms — a panel brought on by reports of the Nov. 18 meal and that New Hanover County’s father-and-son store administrators got paid more than $400,000 combined.

Eva Pruette

Eva Bridges Pruette, 81, of Ellenboro, died Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, at Carolinas’ Medical Center in Charlotte.

A native of Rutherford County, she was a daughter of the late Tillman Crawford Bridges and Samantha Annie Doggett Bridges, and the widow of John Pruette.

She was a homemaker, a member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church, and a master seamstress, having received numerous awards.

Mrs. Pruette was also a graduate of Cool Springs High School Class of 1947.

Survivors include a brother, Gene Bridges of Simpsonville, S.C.; a sister, Nan Bridges Nation of Mt. Holly; a number of nieces and nephews; and greatnieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Oak Grove United Methodist n Ashley Leigh Reynolds, Church with the Rev. 20, of 540 Bostic Sunshine, David Hawkins officiating.

Hwy. second degree treapass- Interment will follow in the ing; released from custody; Bethel Baptist Church cemreleased on a written prometery. Visitation will be held ise to appear. (RCSD) one hour prior to the service n Kathy Faye Friday, 21, at the church. of 136 Floyd St.; charged Memorials may be made to with two counts with failure Oak Grove United Outreach to appear on misdemeanor Ministry, 1507 Oak Grove false report; placed under Church Road, Ellenboro, NC a $6,000 secured bond.

28040.

(RCSD) The Padgett and King n Shelia Diane Smith, 37, Mortuary is in charge of of 1568 Ellenboro-Henrietta arrangements.

Road; charged with misdemeanor child abuse; released Online condolences www.padgetton a $1,000 unsecured bond. king.com.

(RCSD) n Ronnie Logan, 48, of 159 Mae Scruggs Edgewood Drive; charged Mae Davis Scruggs, 86, of with assualt on a female; released after a 48-hour hold. Jefferson City, Mo., formerly of Cliffside, died Thursday, (RCSD) Feb. 18, 2010, at St. Mary’s n Marquis Barnette Health Center in Jefferson Holmes, 35, of 8945 City.

Charleston St. charged with She was preceded in death two counts failure to appear by her husband of 62 years, on misdemeanor larceny; Dan Scruggs, and her parplaced under a $25,000 ents Deck and Mary Davis. secured bond. (RCSD) Mrs. Scruggs was a member n Hayden Eugene Wilson, of Cliffside Baptist Church 50, of 5327 Painters Gap and later joined the First Road; charged with failure Baptist Church of Jefferson to appear on misdemeanor City. She retired from Cone assault on a female; placed Corporation with almost 50 under a $3,000 secured years of service. bond. (RCSD) She is survived by one n Owelinda Crawford daughter, Diane Heffner of Duncan, 43, of 129 Italy Way; charged with failure to appear on misdemeanor domestic criminal tresspass; released on a $500 secured bond. (RCSD)

EMS n Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services responded to 17 calls and 3 calls were dispatched to rescue crews Wednesday.

Fire Calls n Rutherfordton Fire Dept.

responded to a motor vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon on Maple Creek Road. n Sandy Mush firefighters were dispatched to a brush fire. n Forest City, Cliffside, Sandy Mush, Bostic, Ellenboro, Hudlow,Rutherfordton, County Fire Marshal Roger Hollifield and Assistant Charles Vassey all assisted at the Schneider Mills fire Wednesday and Thursday.

THE DAILY COURIER Published Tuesday through Sunday mornings by Paxton Media Group LLC dba The Daily Courier USPS 204-920 Periodical Postage paid in Forest City, NC. Company Address: 601 Oak St., P.O. Box 1149, Forest City, NC 28043.

Phone: (828) 245-6431 Fax: (828) 248-2790 Subscription rates: Single copy, daily 50¢ / Sunday $1.50. Home delivery $11.75 per month, $35.25 for three months, $70.50 for six months, $129 per year. In county rates by mail payable in advance are: $13.38 for one month, $40.14 for three months, $80.27 for six months, $160.54 per year. Outside county: $14.55 for one month, $43.64 for three months, $87.28 for six months, $174.56 per year. College students for school year subscription, $75.

The Digital Courier, $6.50 a month for non-subscribers to The Daily Courier. Payment may be made at the website: www.thedigitalcourier. com The Daily Courier is not responsible for advance subscription payments made to carriers, all of who are independent contractors.

Eva Bridges Pruette Eva Bridges Pruette, age 81, of Ellenboro, North Carolina, died Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at Carolinas’ Medical Center in Charlotte. She was a native of Rutherford County and a daughter of the late Tillman Crawford Bridges and Samantha Annie Doggett Bridges; a homemaker and member of Oak Grove United Methodist Church where she was a faithful member. She was also a master seamstress and enjoyed making and selling various crafts for which she has received numerous awards. She was a graduate of Cool Springs High School Class of 1947 and the widow of John Pruette. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her sisters, Mary Bridges, Hazel Bridges Sparks, and brothers, William C. Bridges and Joe Bridges.

Survivors include a brother, Gene Bridges and wife, Barbara of Simpsonville, SC and a sister, Nan Bridges Nation of Mt. Holly, NC. There are also a number of neices and nephews and greatneices and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at Two o'clock Saturday, February 20, 2010 at the Oak Grove United Methodist Church with Reverend David Hawkins officiating.

Interment will follow in the Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from One until Two o'clock prior to the service at the church.

Memorials may be made to Oak Grove United Outreach Ministry, 1507 Oak Grove Church Road, Ellenboro, NC 28040.

The Padgett and King Mortuary is in charge of arrangements and an online guest registry is available at: www.padgettking.com Paid obit

Jefferson City; one granddaughter; four great-grandchildren; a sister-in-law of Forest City; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cliffside Baptist Church with the Revs. Joel Cantrell and Larry Fleming officiating. The family will receive friends following the service.

Burial will follow in the Cliffside Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the children’s programs, Cliffside Baptist Church, P.O. Box 336, Cliffside, NC. 28024.

McKinney-Landreth Funeral Home is serving the family.

Online condolences www.mckinneylandrethfuneralhome.com.

Deaths Kathryn Grayson LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kathryn Grayson, whose beauty and lilting soprano brightened MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s including Anchors Aweigh, Show Boat, The Desert Song and Kiss Me Kate, has died. She was 88.

Grayson’s youthful ambition was to sing opera, but she wasn’t able to accomplish that dream until after her movie career ended. While still a teenager, she was placed under contract at MGM at a time when the studio was assembling a stable of musical talent that would dominate the era of great musicals.

Bill Gordon ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Astronomer and engineer Bill Gordon, who designed the photogenic radio telescope in Puerto Rico that spotted the first planets beyond our solar system and lakes on one of Saturn’s moons, has died in New York state. He was 92.

Gordon died Tuesday, according to Cornell University, where he served on the engineering faculty from 1953-66.

John Roy Hinson, Sr. John Roy Hinson, Sr., age 83 of Old Sunshine Rd, Bostic, North Carolina passed away on February 15, 2010 at the home of his son in Fredericksburg, Virginia. John was born on May 27, 1926 in Spruce Pine North Carolina and was the oldest of eight children born to Roy W Henson and Lizzie L.Young Henson.

John grew up in Spruce Pine and attended Harris High School before joining the Army in 1944 where he fought in WW II as a member of Company A, 61st Armored Infantry Division receiving numerous accommodations before being honorably discharged.

John married Pearl Barnett on February 7, 1945, adopted 3 children, lived most of his adult life in Virginia but moved back to his beloved Bostic, NC when he retired in 1990 and spent 19 of the happiest years of his life there.

In addition to his three children, he and his wife Pearl accepted foster children through Social Services into their home and over the years cared for 35 children and babies.

All who knew John called him a gentleman and a gentle man.

John was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Pearl B. Hinson, his parents, Roy and Lizzie Henson, his brothers James, Robert and Fred Henson, a sister, Brenda Henson.

He is survived by his daughter, Jo Ann H. Bell and husband, Tony; two sons, John R Hinson, Jr. and wife, Cindy and Paul A. Hinson; his sisters, Phyllis H. Barnett and Marie H. Buchannan; a brother, Ralph Henson as well as eleven grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren, two greatgreat granddaughters and numerous loving nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at Eleven o’clock Saturday, February 20, 2010 at Glenwood Baptist Church with Reverend Jason Toney officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery with military honors by the Rutherford County Honor Guard.

Visitation will be held from six until eight Friday evening at The Padgett and King Mortuary and an online guest registry is available at: www.padgettking.com Paid obit.

6

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

Calendar/Local ICC Continued from Page 1

Meetings/other Annual membership meeting: Saturday, Feb. 20, 3:30 p.m., Union Mills Learning Center, 6495 Hudlow Road, Union Mills; all UMLC members and prospective members welcome; call 287-2191 for information.

SAR meeting: (Sons of the American Revolution) will meet Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Genealogical Society of Old Tryon County, 319 Doggett Road, Forest City. Meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Prospective members welcome.

Dedication ceremony: Youth Empowerment, Inc. will dedicate the Burtchus R. Lathan Jr. Power Center at noon Saturday, Feb. 27.

Speaker, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.

The center is located at 182 Sparks Dr., Forest City. Reception afterwards. For information call 2881021.

Students/youth Rutherfordton Little League: Challenger Baseball sign-ups for special needs children ages 5-21(as long as they are still in school); Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Spindale House; $25 per player, $15 for each additional player in same family; for more information contact Brian or Angie Scoggins at 287-3183.

Miscellaneous Free food: Free food will be given away to those in need Saturday, Feb. 20, at Forest City Foursquare Church, from noon to 3 p.m, (or until food runs out).

Walk-in soccer registration: Spring recreational season; Saturday, Feb. 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at the Spindale House; bring birth certificate; $40 first player, $35 each additional sibling; call 286-0073 for more information.

Play/supper: Saturday, Feb. 20, Union Mills Learning Center auditorium; “Stand for Freedom,” a play on the American Revolutionary War, begins at 6 p.m.; cast of approximately 50 homeschool children ages 5-16; spaghetti supper 4:30 to 6 p.m.; adults $6; children under 12, $4; all you can eat.

Washburn Community Outreach Center will hold a half-price sale on all winter apparel through Saturday, Feb. 20. The store is located at 2934 Piney Mtn. Church Road, Bostic.

2nd Annual food giveaway: Saturday, Feb. 27, beginning at 11 a.m., Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Sandy Mush area; one box of food (per family) for those in need.

Fundraisers Fundraiser: Saturday, Feb. 20, begins at 3 p.m., Pearidge Community Center, 3365 Pearidge Road; soup and sandwiches, and hot dogs; $5 per person, all you can eat; sponsored by the Pearidge Ruritan Club; proceeds for community service projects.

Plate sale: Saturday, Feb. 20, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Doggett Grove AME Zion Church; chitterlins plates $8, includes dessert and drink.

Vegetable soup sale: The UMW of Spindale United Methodist Church will take orders for homemade vegetable soup through Saturday, Feb. 27. Concentrated soup ($6 per quart), freezes well. Pick up date March 6, from 9 a.m. until noon.

Chicken, fish sandwich sale: Saturday, Feb. 27, begins at 11 a.m., St. Paul AME Zion Church, 200 Lawing Road, Forest City; chicken sandwich $3.75, fish sandwich, $4, drinks 50 cents.

Soup dinner: Saturday, March 6, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.; High Shoal Baptist Church, Henrietta; soups, cornbread, sandwiches, desserts, drinks and more; adults $5; ages 6-12, $2.50; under 6 free; proceeds to the Needy Family Christmas Fund.

when North Carolina gets to the situation to issue a statewide bond referendum for facilities, we’ll have our ducks in a row.”

When built, the building would be approximately 50,000 square feet and would house not only the college’s nursing and health occupations course offerings, but also science labs for college transfer programs.

During the process of planning the building, Gavin said, science teachers, nursing program administrators and other were involved in talking about what types of things they’d like to see included in the building.

“We’ve evaluated it as ‘What do you see as a need?’” he said.

Contributed photo The plan calls for the building to ICC Trustees look at anarchitect rendering of a proposed Allied Health and Sciences be placed between the administrabuilding during their meeting this week. tive building and the library, with the building being one story from the campus side and two stories from the aware of a water seepage issue at The ity is on nine-month contracts and side that faces the lake.

Foundation building, which is being are only paid on a per course basis for “It would give us plenty of space for repaired. the summer months. the nursing programs and would get Campus assistance and security us out of some antiquated labs in the Isothermal President Dr. Myra would remain on a normal schedoldest building on campus,” Gavin Johnson presented a proposed ule and events, such as those at The said. schedule change for summer 2010.

Foundation, and courses, like truck Currently faculty and staff work driving or nursing assistant instrucThe building would also provide from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday tion, would continue on Fridays as additional space for occupational through Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. scheduled. training for area businesses, too, he to noon on Fridays during the sumsaid. mer semester.

Trustees approved the schedule “In recent years we’ve worked with The change would mean working change, which will be for the summer EDC on economic development prosfrom 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday semester, May 17 through Aug. 13. pects where questions have been through Thursday, with the college In other business, trustees also asked on our training facilities,” closed on Friday. approved the updated mission, vision Gavin said. “We were confident we Johnson told the board it would save and values statement of the colcould meet the challenge, but this the institution an estimated $20,500 lege and approved in advance a fee would help us accommodate that for the 14 Fridays during the semesincrease for LPN and A DN testing more.” ter and would save faculty and staff fees.

The building and grounds comtravel expenses getting to work.

The Isothermal Community College mittee made the recommendation Board of Trustees is scheduled to that trustees approve the plans for It would also provide a morale boost meet again May 11 at 5 p.m. the building. Trustees unanimously for staff, Johnson said, in light of froaccepted the recommendation, and zen salaries for two years. It would the plans will be filed with the state.

Contact Flynn via e-mail at aflynn@thenot impact faculty because the major- digitalcourier.com.

The committee also made trustees

Complex Continued from Page 1

out for taxpayers of Rutherford County to let them know we’re spending it wisely.”

Helton was concerned that floor plans were being discussed before any topographical maps were available on the project.

But Hamrick assured her that his firm was still in the idea phase and would proceed cautiously.

“This part of the process is just like a foundation of a building and is extremely important,” Hamrick said.

“In order for you to be able to tell me

Teen Continued from Page 1

tal. The radiothon is designed to bring a greater understanding of children’s healthcare needs and the importance Mission plays in ensuring that area children have needed care.

The goal is to raise $100,000 at this year’s event.

Christina will be interviewed live 12:35 today by Kiss Country personalities Eddie Foxx and Sharon Green.

She was also interviwed for a story song that will be played at 12:50 and 5:50 p.m. and again at 7:50 a.m.

Saturday.

During her “tune ups” – which happen twice each year for three weeks – Christina receives antibiotics and treatments to help remove mucus from her lungs. She always has

CEC Choir performance: Chase, East and Central high student choir will perform Saturday, Feb. 20, at Zion Hill AME Zion Church. Music begins at 6 p.m.

Simple Faith Trio will be in concert Sunday, Feb. 21, at Goodes Creek Baptist Church, off Ferry Road, Mooresboro. Singing begins at 6 p.m.

Cross Reference will be in concert Sunday, Feb. 21, at Sandy Level Baptist Church. Singing begins at 6 p.m.

Hamrick also said he was aware of budgetary constraints — whenever any construction projects were approved.

The committee decided to visit several similar facilities across the state to get ideas and learn more about their options.

They plan to visit Gaston County Park in Dallas, Haywood Livestock Arena in Waynesville, McDowell County Livestock Barn in Marion and Rocky Mount Multiuse Livestock Facility in Edgecombe County among

MRSA in her lungs, said Christina’s grandmother, Lois Johnston, but is not contagious to others unless she is running a fever.

“Some with cystic fibrosis have it real bad,” Lois said. “Hers is in between the stages of mild, moderate and severe right now. If it came down to it, she could have a lung transplant, but most don’t make it.”

Facing Christina’s mortality is something both Lois and Angela have dealt with. Last year, during a bout with double pneumonia, Lois said she was especially scared.

“She was turning blue and Rutherford Hospital wanted her to go to Asheville,” Lois said. “She didn’t want to go by ambulance so I drove her. She was hurting so bad, pain medicines weren’t even helping her.

“This past year she got hit back-toback being sick.”

others.

They also plan to visit several farmers’ markets including Piedmont Farmers’ Market in Greensboro and Durham Farmers’ Market in Durham.

“If we could have at least 20 to 25 spaces for the initial vendors at the farmer’s market we could possibly look at building the others at a later time to reach a capacity of 40,” Cooperative Extension Director Jan McGuinn said, “We not only have our existing farmer’s market vendors but also the group from Foothills Connect that will be networking with this market as well.”

Contact Baughman via e-mail at sbaughman@thedigitalcourier.com.

Christina, who is the only student at her school with the disease, doesn’t think about the fact she could die early. Instead, she’s focusing on prepping for college and spending time with her friends and boyfriend.

“I’d like to be a nurse or take care of special needs kids,” Christina said. She is planning on applying to Isothermal and possibly Western Carolina University and A-B Tech.

Once she turns 21, Christina will have to return to Chapel Hill for care.

But for now, she loves her doctors and nurses at Mission.

“She calls it her penthouse in the mountains,” Lois said. “She gets treated like a queen by them.”

“That’s why it’s my last name,” Christina said.

Contact Flynn via e-mail at aflynn@thedigitalcourier.com.

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Music/concerts Gospel Showcase: Friday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m., at Chase High School auditorium; featuring The Millwood Family, In His Glory, Mercy’s Touch, and the Golden Valley Crusaders; $10 at the door; all proceeds go to purchase of band uniforms.

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The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 — 7

Inside Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 9 Daytona Speedway . . . . Page 9

East Rutherford vs. Freedom Ga. prep star killed; was to play at Vandy POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) — A high school football star who had been signed to play at Vanderbilt University was shot to death Thursday by his mother’s ex-boyfriend, police said.

Officers heard gunshots as they arrived at the home where Rajaan Bennett, 18, lived with his mother, Powder Springs Lt. Matt Boyd said. Inside they found Bennett, a running back at McEachern High School, dead of a gunshot wound.

Boyd said Clifton Steager, 39, of Milledgeville shot Bennett and then killed himself. Bennett’s uncle, Taiwan Hunter, 32, was wounded and underwent surgery. He was in serious condition Thursday afternoon.

It was not clear what prompted the shooting.

“Rajaan was an extraordinary young man and an ideal fit for Vanderbilt University,” Vanderbilt football coach Bobby Johnson said in a statement. “Initially, our thoughts and prayers are with his mother Narjaketha and family members. I know he meant so much to them.”

Bennett, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., rushed for 1,857 yards and 28 touchdowns last season for McEachern.

He also earned three letters in track.

McEachern school officials held a news conference Thursday.

“We have a population of 2,200 kids, and when you’re Rajaan Bennett, you touch the lives of all 2,200,” principal Regina Montgomery said.

She said counselors would be at the school to help students with the grieving process, but, “We’re just trying to get through today together.”

McEachern football coach Kyle Hockman called Bennett, listed by Vanderbilt as 5-11, 210 pounds, “one of the best ever.”

Local Sports

East’s Devince Boykins, right, flies toward the basket for a slam dunk during the game against Freedom, Thursday. East’s head coach Brad LeVine, above, talks with his charges during a timeout as Ramone Snow (30) and his teammates listen to the instructions.

Garrett Byers/Daily Courier

Cavaliers upset by Patriots, 55-48 n No.

3 Burns upends No. 2 Shelby, 82-75, in semi-final

By JACOB CONLEY Daily Courier Sports Reporter

FOREST CITY — East coach Brad LeVine found the silver lining in his team’s 55-48 loss to Freedom in the SMAC semifinals.

“At least it wasn’t next week,” said LeVine. “We just had a bad night

that’s all you can say, but the kids never gave up and that’s encouraging.”

Freedom jumped out to an early 5-0 before the capacity crowd could settle in the bleachers, but East exploded on a 9-0 run capped by a pretty reverse lay in by Zach Price.

Ricky Wilkerson then converted an up-and-under move as the Cavs took an 11-9 lead at the end of the first.

After the Patriots tied the contest at 13-13 early in the second, neither squad could find the bottom of the

rim for the next three minutes of game action.

East netted six straight points from the foul line as the home team broke out on top 19-13.

Freedom found their shooting touch from beyond the arc as the visitors nailed two deep 3s in the latter moments of the half, en route a 26-19 halftime lead for the Patriots.

Following the break, the two teams Please see Tournament, Page 8

BASKETBALL 2009-10 SMAC 3A/2A Basketball Tournament Finals at Freedom High (Admission $8) 6 p.m. No. 2 Shelby vs. No. 1 Freedom (Girls) 7:30 p.m. No. 3 Burns vs. No. 5 Freedom (Boys)

On TV 3 p.m. (WYFF) XXI Winter Olympics Cross Country Skiing, Figure Skating. Cross country skiing: women’s 15km pursuit; figure skating: men’s Gold Medal final.

6:30 p.m. (FSS) Women’s College Basketball Boston College at North Carolina State.

7 p.m. (ESPN2) College Basketball Old Dominion at Northern Iowa.

8 p.m. (ESPN) NBA Basketball Dallas Mavericks at Orlando Magic.

8:30 p.m. (FSS) Women’s College Basketball Duke at Georgia Tech.

9 p.m. (ESPN2) Boxing Friday Night Fights. Russell Jordan (15-6, 10 KOs) vs.

Shawn Porter (12-0, 10 KOs), middleweights, 10 rounds.

9 p.m. (TS) NBA Basketball Atlanta Hawks at Phoenix Suns.

10:30 p.m. (ESPN) NBA Basketball Boston Celtics at Portland Trail Blazers.

12:05 a.m. (WYFF) XXI Winter Olympics Medals Plaza - Award Ceremonies.

Tiger Woods, right, jogs with an unidentified friend near his home Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, in Windermere, Fla. Woods will end nearly three months of silence Friday when he speaks publicly for the first time since his middle-of-thenight car accident sparked stunning revelations of infidelity.

Associated Press

Tour getting ready for a different Tiger show DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First came photos of Tiger Woods jogging. Far more compelling will be the sound of his voice.

Woods has not been heard in the 78 days since a magazine released a voicemail that he allegedly left one of the women to whom he has been romantically linked, pleading with her to remove his number from her cell phone.

That changes at 11 a.m. EST Friday when Woods makes his first public appearance since crashing his car into a tree outside his Florida home Nov. 27, sparking sordid revelations of infi-

delity.

The big question is what will he say?

The topic was intriguing Americans — Woods was a trendy subject on Twitter a full day before his appearance.

Almost as intriguing is which “friends, colleagues and close associates” will be in the Sunset Room on the second floor of the Mediterranean-style clubhouse at the TPC Sawgrass.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who made the clubhouse available and is offering logistical help, has said he would attend, and as many as four other members of his executive staff will be in the room.

A British bookmaker has set odds at 4-to-7 that Woods wife, Elin, will be with him. William Hill didn’t stop there, however. It offers 8-to-1 odds that Woods will announce he is getting a divorce, 12-to-1 odds that his wife is pregnant and 100-to-1 odds that he is retiring.

“While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between he and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him,” his agent, Mark Steinberg, said in an e-mail Wednesday. “He also let down his fans. He wants to begin the Please see Tiger, Page 9

8

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

sports

Scoreboard Portland Minnesota

OLYMPICS Winter Olympic Medals Table At Vancouver, Canada 32 of 90 total medal events Nation G S B United States 5 4 6 Germany 4 4 3 Norway 3 3 2 Canada 3 3 1 France 2 1 4 South Korea 3 2 0 Austria 1 2 2 Switzerland 3 0 1 China 2 1 1 Italy 0 1 3 Sweden 2 0 1 Netherlands 1 1 1 Russia 1 1 1 Slovakia 1 1 0 Czech Republic 1 0 1 Poland 0 2 0 Belarus 0 1 1 Japan 0 1 1 Australia 0 1 0 Estonia 0 1 0 Finland 0 1 0 Kazakhstan 0 1 0 Latvia 0 1 0 Croatia 0 0 1 Slovenia 0 0 1

Garrett Byers/Daily Courier

East’s Travis Flack (22) works his way past the Freedom defense during the basketball game at East Rutherford, Thursday.

Tournament Continued from Page 7

traded baskets until the five minute mark when Freedom went 7-0 run, thanks in large part to a technical foul on Devince Boykins for hanging on the rim after a missed dunk attempt.

Boykins redeemed himself moments later with a thunderous one-handed slam that seemed to energize the crowd and his teammates as East assembled a mini 4-0 run to end the quarter down by 10, 40-30.

East made a move in the fourth going on a 5-0 run, capped by a Price lay in. But moments later, Price was called for a technical foul and Freedom pushed the lead back to seven at 44-37 with 3:45 left.

Boykins had another dunk, off of a steal, to cut the deficit to five. Boykins then canned two free throws to make it 44-41 with 1:45 left.

But the game turned for good when Price was whistled for an intentional foul, which resulted in a four-point possession and Freedom salted the game away, winning 55-48.

Rob Gray and Boykins lead East to the basket, posting 11 points apiece.

The East loss was not the only upset on the night as Burns upended Shelby 82-75. The Bulldogs erased a 15-point halftime deficit to grab the win which sets up a Freedom-Burns final tomorrow at 8p.m., at Freedom High.

Top seeds, defending champ lose in Match Play

Tot 15 11 8 7 7 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct 33 18 .647 29 24 .547 20 33 .377 19 34 .358 5 49 .093 Southeast Division

W L Pct Orlando 37 18 .673 Atlanta 34 18 .654 Miami 28 27 .509 Charlotte 26 26 .500 Washington 18 33 .353 Central Division

W L Pct Cleveland 43 11 .796 Chicago 27 26 .509 Milwaukee 24 28 .462 Detroit 19 34 .358 Indiana 18 35 .340

Boston Toronto Philadelphia New York New Jersey

WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division

W L Pct Dallas 33 21 .611 San Antonio 31 21 .596 Houston 28 25 .528 New Orleans 28 26 .519 Memphis 27 26 .509 Northwest Division

W L Pct Denver 35 18 .660 Utah 34 19 .642 Oklahoma City 31 21 .596

GB — 5 14 15 29 1/2

L.A. Lakers Phoenix L.A. Clippers Sacramento Golden State

32 24 .571 13 42 .236 Pacific Division W L Pct 42 13 .764 32 23 .582 21 33 .389 18 36 .333 15 38 .283

4 1/2 23 GB — 10 20 1/2 23 1/2 26

Wednesday’s Games San Antonio 90, Indiana 87 Washington 108, Minnesota 99 Memphis 109, Toronto 102, OT Orlando 116, Detroit 91 Miami 87, New Jersey 84 Chicago 115, New York 109 Houston 127, Milwaukee 99 Utah 98, New Orleans 90 Dallas 107, Phoenix 97 Golden State 130, Sacramento 98 Atlanta 110, L.A. Clippers 92 Thursday’s Games Denver at Cleveland, late Boston at L.A. Lakers, late Friday’s Games Cleveland at Charlotte, 7 p.m.

Denver at Washington, 7 p.m.

San Antonio at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Miami at Memphis, 8 p.m.

Chicago at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Indiana at New Orleans, 8 p.m.

Milwaukee at Detroit, 8 p.m.

Toronto at New Jersey, 8 p.m.

Dallas at Orlando, 8 p.m.

Atlanta at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Utah at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

Boston at Portland, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday’s Games Washington at Toronto, 7 p.m.

Oklahoma City at New York, 7:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago, 8 p.m.

Miami at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

Indiana at Houston, 8:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Milwaukee, 8:30 p.m.

Sacramento at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

GB — 15 1/2 18 23 1/2 24 1/2 GB — 1 4 1/2 5 5 1/2 GB — 1 3 1/2

GA 152 158 156 178 211 GA 153 158 166 186 189

TRANSACTIONS Thursday’s Sports Transactions

National Hockey League EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF New Jersey 61 37 21 3 77 162 Pittsburgh 62 36 22 4 76 195 Philadelphia 60 32 25 3 67 179 N.Y. Rangers 62 28 27 7 63 161 N.Y. Islanders 62 25 29 8 58 159 Northeast Division

GP W L OT Pts GF Ottawa 63 36 23 4 76 178 Buffalo 60 33 18 9 75 166 Boston 60 27 22 11 65 149 Montreal 63 29 28 6 64 164 Toronto 61 19 31 11 49 162 Southeast Division

GP W L OT Pts GF Washington 62 41 13 8 90 247 Tampa Bay 61 26 24 11 63 160 Atlanta 60 26 24 10 62 182 Florida 61 24 27 10 58 155 Carolina 61 24 30 7 55 168 WESTERN CONFERENCE

GA 146 173 164 172 203

Wednesday’s Games No games scheduled Thursday’s Games No games scheduled Friday’s Games No games scheduled

HOCKEY

GB — 1 1/2 9 9 1/2 17

Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF 61 41 15 5 87 199 61 33 23 5 71 170 61 28 21 12 68 159 62 28 25 9 65 163 63 25 28 10 60 166 Northwest Division

GP W L OT Pts GF Vancouver 61 37 22 2 76 194 Colorado 61 35 20 6 76 178 Calgary 62 30 23 9 69 156 Minnesota 61 30 27 4 64 171 Edmonton 61 19 36 6 44 153 Pacific Division

GP W L OT Pts GF San Jose 62 40 13 9 89 204 Phoenix 63 37 21 5 79 167 Los Angeles 61 37 20 4 78 185 Dallas 61 28 21 12 68 175 Anaheim 62 30 25 7 67 177

Chicago Nashville Detroit St. Louis Columbus

GA 144 179 160 169 194 GA 179 152 154 176 208 GA 177 182 194 177 194

BASEBALL American League CLEVELAND INDIANS—Announced the promotions of team president Paul Dolan to chief executive officer, general manager Mark Shapiro to team president and assistant general manager Chris Antonetti to general manager, effective after the 2010 season.

DETROIT TIGERS—Named Glenn Williams area scout for Australia and Steve Yoo area scout for Korea.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS—Agreed to terms with INF Erick Aybar on a one-year contract.

Atlantic League CAMDEN RIVERSHARKS—Signed LHP Josh Brey and LHP Jeremy Lewis.

Can-Am League SUSSEX SKYHAWKS—Acquired RHP Jordan Towns from Florence (Frontier) for a player to be named.

WORCESTER TORNADOES—Released OF/ RHP Alex Pena. Traded OF Carlos Sosa to Winnipeg (Northern) for INF Mark Minicozzi and INF Brent Metheny.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association CHICAGO BULLS—Traded G John Salmons and 2011 and 2012 second-round draft picks to Milwaukee for F Joe Alexander and F Hakim Warrick.

LACROSSE National Lacrosse League COLORADO MAMMOTH—Named Bob Hamley assistant coach.

COLLEGE HILBERT—Named David Vesneske assistant softball coach.

TRINITY, CONN.—Named Micheal Renwick associate director of athletics.

Bulls send Thomas to Bobcats for Murray, Law CHARLOTTE (AP) — The Charlotte Bobcats addressed coach Larry Brown’s biggest wish on Thursday, acquiring power forward Tyrus Thomas from the Chicago Bulls just before the trade deadline.

Charlotte sent a future firstround pick to Chicago, along with the expiring contracts of guards Flip Murray and Acie Law. The Bobcats have lacked depth behind starting power forward Boris Diaw, and they hope Thomas will provide needed rebounding and shot-blocking as they look for their first playoff berth.

The 6-foot-10 Thomas is averaging 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds and making $4.7 million in the final year of his contract. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer.

The Bobcats made another minor trade, acquiring veteran

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — The remaining top four seeds went down, and so did the defending champion.

The often-unpredictable Match Play Championship more than lived up to its reputation in a topsy-turvy second round at Dove Mountain on Thursday. An event already minus Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson sent several of the world’s best to an early exit.

Lee Westwood, Jim Furyk, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy — seeded second through fifth — were among the losers. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy was beaten by Colombian Camilo Villegas 2 and 1. Top-seeded Steve Stricker lost Wednesday in the first round.

The highest remaining seed is England’s Paul NEW YORK (AP) — The Casey at No. 6. Casey, the runner-up a year ago Cleveland Cavaliers hope they who won the World Match Play Championship in took another step toward keepEngland in 2006, swiftly dispatched Canadian ing LeBron James. The New Mike Weir, 5 and 4.

York Knicks are in better posiThe field was narrowed to 16 for Thursday’s tion for a run at him. third round on the sun-drenched desert course And they aren’t the only team near Tucson. Woods, obviously, skipped the event liningnumber up for a chance to become because of his woes, andplease Mickelson on phone pick uppersonal ad 1599739dc, addisthe a summer spender. vacation with his family.

828-287-3871 The Knicks acquired forIf that didn’t take enough luster off the tournament, news that Woods would make his first public mer scoring champion Tracy McGrady on Thursday in a statement on his sex scandal Friday certainly did.

big man Theo Ratliff from San Antonio for a second-round pick.

It was a day of two trades for four expiring contracts for the Bulls, who are hoarding salary-cap space for this summer’s highly touted free agent class. Chicago also acquired forwards Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander from Milwaukee for guard John Salmons.

The Bucks (24-28) and the Bobcats (26-26) are competing with the Bulls (27-26) for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

The 23-year-old Thomas was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft — taken right after Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan selected the disappointing Adam Morrison.

After spending just one season at LSU, Thomas has been inconsistent and far from dominant in the NBA. He missed seven

weeks earlier this season with a broken left forearm and was suspended for a game earlier this month for conduct detrimental to the team.

But he’s the kind of versatile, athletic big man Brown likes, and Charlotte hasn’t been afraid to make deals. The Bobcats have made seven trades involving 21 players under the tinkering Brown in the past 16 months.

Brown had complained about Charlotte’s lack of a true backup power forward for months.

Thomas, who was mostly a starter last season before coming off the bench this season, gives the Bobcats an athletic, rebounding big man that would seem to pair well with All-Star small forward Gerald Wallace.

The deal also clears up Charlotte’s logjam of guards that has kept rookie Gerald Henderson on the bench most of the season.

Tracy McGrady trade the big deal on deadline day

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three-team swap with the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings. The deal left them on the verge of being able to offer two maximum salary contracts to the 2010 free agent class that could be headlined by James.

Chicago, Washington and Sacramento all cleared enough salary in moves before the 3 p.m.

EST deadline to be able to afford

a max player.

The Cavaliers gave James more reason to stay home.

They acquired forward Antawn Jamison on Wednesday, a deal that could make the Eastern Conference leaders even stronger.

The Knicks can afford a run at James, or someone else in the class that could include Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

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sports

Americans retake medals lead VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — There were two crowns left to be awarded late Thursday night, with American contenders in both: Evan Lysacek in men’s figure skating and Kelly Clark in women’s halfpipe.

The United States remained comfortably ahead on the medals count, still boosted by Tuesday’s six-medal haul, its best day ever at a Winter Olympics.

The numbers: 15 total medals in 32 events, with five golds.

Germany is second in both total medals (11) and golds (four).

In nonmedal action Thursday, the men’s hockey team won again, this time with Summer Olympics golden boy Michael Phelps cheering from the stands, and the men’s curling squad lost again. Both women’s teams also were in action.

CURLING Associated Press

Lindsey Vonn of the United States crashes during the slalom portion of the Women’s super combined at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Thursday.

Vonn crashes; Maria Riesch takes supercombined gold medal WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) — Lindsey Vonn, her bruised shin “killing me,� lost her bid for a second Olympic gold medal Thursday when she missed a gate and fell in the slalom leg of the super-combined.

Maria Riesch of Germany won the event, helping to atone for her failure to challenge best friend and biggest rival Vonn in Wednesday’s marquee downhill race.

Vonn, who once worried that the injury would keep her from skiing at all in these Olympics, was fastest in the morning downhill run of the supercombined but was visibly in pain after the twisting slalom run on an icy course pressed her ski boot against the badly bruised shin. Last among the leaders to ski in the slalom, she was 0.07 seconds ahead of Reisch’s pace at the first checkpoint but fell behind by 0.18 seconds at the second checkpoint on the bottom half of the course, then missed a gate and lost her right ski before crashing to the snow. “It hurts so bad,� Vonn said. “It’s one thing to do the downhill, but the super-combined is really tough on my shin. I tried as hard as I could.�

She will get an off day on Friday before her next event, Saturday’s super-G, where she is an overwhelming favorite.

Riesch had a total time of 2 minutes, 09.14 seconds to beat Julia Mancuso of the United States by 0.94 seconds. Mancuso got her second silver medal after being runner-up to Vonn in the downhill. Anja Paerson of Sweden took the bronze, 1.05 behind Riesch.

Vonn struggled in slalom this season even before the shin injury. She has failed to complete a tworun race in four of seven World Cup events, and her best result was runner-up behind Riesch at the opener last November in Levi, Finland.

Attention everyone watching curling and thinking, “I can do that!� The U.S. team might need you.

Americans remained 0-forVancouver following a 7-6 loss by the men to Denmark. At 0-4, they are on the brink of elimination; they must win their remaining five matches to get to the semifinals. “Something magical would have to happen for us to make the medal round,� U.S. lead John Benton said.

MEN’S HOCKEY The U.S. squad will take a 2-0 record into their clash with Canada on Sunday.

Phil Kessel and Chris Drury scored first-period goals to get the Americans going toward a 6-1 win over Norway. The defense was so good that goaltender Ryan Miller needed to make only 10 saves.

Phelps sat four rows above center ice and tried to stay out of the spotlight. He wore a gray painters cap that was pulled down, a gray scarf tucked near his chin and he remained in his seat, applauding politely, while other around him roared following a U.S. goal. He left with 5½

Associated Press

Elena Hight of the USA compete in the women’s snowboard halfpipe at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thursday.

minutes remaining, just as the US scored to make it 4-1.

HOCKEY & THE OLYMPICS The head of the International Ice Hockey Federation is defending the lack of depth in the women’s field and practically begging NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to let pros play in the 2014 Winter Olympics. “We need you, Gary,� IIHF president Rene Fasel said.

NHL owners don’t like stopping their sport for two weeks so players can join their national teams and the league may not get much visibility in 2014 because the games will be in Sochi, Russia, with the time difference meaning hurting TV viewership.

As for the imbalance in the

women’s field, Fasel called the teams from Canada and the United States “on another planet� and urged the rest of the world to catch up.

SPEEDSKATING Christine Nesbitt earned Canada’s first speedskating gold, winning the 1,000 meters by a mere two-hundredths of a second.

HALFPIPE Clark, the 2002 gold medalist, finished second in qualifying, behind Australian Torah Bright.

Defending Olympic champion Hannah Teter and silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler also advanced, along with Spain’s Queralt Castellet and China’s Sun Zhifeng.

“‘Cause I’m A Pothole.�

Kurt Busch drives past the broken asphalt in the track, between the first and second red-flag periods, during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

Tiger Continued from Page 7

process of making amends and that’s what he’s going to discuss.�

Instead of going on “Oprah� or another national television show to break the ice, Woods essentially will be speaking to the lone camera allowed in the room. It will be televised live via satellite.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Three networks — ABC, CBS and NBC — will (AP) — Daytona International carry the statement live. ESPN will have it live on Speedway began repairs all its platforms, including Internet streaming, radio and mobile. The Golf Channel will start cov- Thursday to the damaged porerage at 10:30 a.m. — call it a 30-minute pregame tion of Turn 2 that forced two delays during the Daytona 500 show. totaling more than two hours.

Steinberg invited three reporters from wire services — The Associated Press, Reuters and Track president Robin Braig Bloomberg — and he turned to the Golf Writers said a team of engineers and Association of America to come up with a pool of asphalt specialists from North three reporters.

GWAA president Vartan Kupelian, who is retired American Testing Corp. decided a strip of pavement will be from The Detroit News and now contributes to pgatour.com, asked the group’s officers. That means Kupelian is going, along with second vice The Best in Adult president Bob Harig of espn.com. Kupelian said the first vice president, Mark Soltau, declined. ď€ is

Along with working for Golf Digest, Soltau the editor of tigerwoods.com. ď€ "

Associated Press

Daytona begins repairs on Turn 2 of Speedway removed and a reinforced concrete patch will be poured in the area where a significant pothole developed during Sunday’s race. “This is the correct course of action to repair the track,� Braig said.

The patch in the asphalt surface will be about 6 feet wide and 18 feet long, and should hold up until the 2 1/2-mile, highbanked superspeedway undergoes a $20 million repaving

scheduled for as early as 2012.

The current surface was paved in 1978.

Engineers decided that heavy rain, including a flood last year, and cooler-than-normal temperatures weakened the track surface.

The pavement ultimately couldn’t hold up to the stress caused by tires and some cars, set low for better aerodynamics, that bottomed out.

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10

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

weather/nation/state The Daily Courier Weather Weather Today

Tonight

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Sunny

Clear

Mostly Sunny

Partly Cloudy

Scat'd Rain

Partly Cloudy

Precip Chance: 0%

Precip Chance: 0%

Precip Chance: 5%

Precip Chance: 10%

Precip Chance: 40%

Precip Chance: 10%

54º

30º

59º 34º

57º 35º

51º 32º

51º 29º

Almanac

Local UV Index

Around Our State Today

Statistics provided by Broad River Water Authority through 7 a.m. yesterday.

0 - 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Temperatures

0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate, 6-7: High, 8-10: Very High, 11+: Extreme Exposure

High . . . . . .

Low . . . . . . .

Normal High Normal Low .

. . . .

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. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

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. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

.41 .16 .55 .28

Precipitation 24 hrs through 7 a.m. yest. .0.00" Month to date . . . . . . . . .3.52" Year to date . . . . . . . . .10.43"

Barometric Pressure

City

Asheville . . . . . . .48/26 Cape Hatteras . . .46/34 Charlotte . . . . . . .55/30 Fayetteville . . . . .55/31 Greensboro . . . . .52/30 Greenville . . . . . .54/31 Hickory . . . . . . . . . .51/30 Jacksonville . . . .55/29 Kitty Hawk . . . . . .46/34 New Bern . . . . . .53/29 Raleigh . . . . . . . .54/30 Southern Pines . .54/32 Wilmington . . . . .57/32 Winston-Salem . .52/31

Sun and Moon Sunrise today . . . . .7:09 Sunset tonight . . . . .6:14 Moonrise today . . . .9:32 Moonset today . . . .11:46

a.m. p.m. a.m. p.m.

Moon Phases

High yesterday . . . . . . .29.95"

Relative Humidity High yesterday . . . . . . . . .93%

First 2/21

s s s s s s s s s s s s s s

54/30 49/41 59/34 59/35 56/33 57/35 55/33 58/37 47/37 56/37 57/32 58/35 59/38 56/33

pc s s s s pc pc s pc s s s s pc

Weather (Wx): cl/cloudy; pc/partly cloudy; ra/rain; rs/rain & snow; s/sunny; sh/showers; sn/snow; t/thunderstorms; w/windy

New 3/15

Last 3/7

Full 2/28

Saturday

Hi/Lo Wx Hi/Lo Wx

North Carolina Forecast

Greensboro 52/30

Asheville 48/26

Forest City 54/30 Charlotte 55/30

Today

Associated Press

Kinston 54/29

Firefighters work on putting out a fire at a seven-story building after a small private plane crashed into the building that houses the Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Texas on Thursday.

Wilmington 57/32

Man angry at the IRS slams plane into office

Today’s National Map

Saturday

City

Hi/Lo Wx Hi/Lo Wx

Atlanta . . . . . . . .

Baltimore . . . . . .

Chicago . . . . . . .

Detroit . . . . . . . .

Indianapolis . . .

Los Angeles . . .

Miami . . . . . . . . .

New York . . . . . .

Philadelphia . . .

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Greenville 54/31

Raleigh 54/30

Fayetteville 55/31

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Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Across Our Nation

Elizabeth City 49/27

Durham 53/30

Winston-Salem 52/31

60/38 43/26 34/23 34/23 35/23 63/51 74/61 43/26 40/26 58/47 61/50 55/41 70/50 44/26

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Nation/State Today Roof collapses, kills one

Police capture zebra

CLINTON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say one person has been killed after the frame of a roof under construction at a North Carolina church collapsed.

Sampson County spokeswoman Susan Holder told WTVD-TV that two people also were injured when the roof collapsed Thursday afternoon.

Holder says the cause of the collapse at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Clinton has not been determined.

ATLANTA (AP) — Rush hour traffic in Atlanta came to a standstill Thursday afternoon when an escaped circus zebra galloped along a busy section of highway.

The animal made its way through downtown to the interstate highway that cuts through the center of the city. Police cruisers blocked off all southbound lanes and were able to herd the zebra over to the right shoulder and off an entrance ramp, Luck said.

NC representative faints

Ex-police-boss jailed

HIGH POINT (AP) — U.S. Rep. Howard Coble fainted and hit his head on a wall during a meeting in his North Carolina district and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

The 13-term Republican congressman representing the 6th District had been speaking at a Rotary Club of High Point meeting on Thursday.

Chief of Staff Ed McDonald said Coble bruised his head when he hit it against a wall after fainting.

McDonald said Coble was admitted to High Point Regional Hospital for observation and for additional testing on Friday morning. He said the initial tests by doctors indicated no problems.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was hailed as a hero after the Sept.

11 terror attacks and nearly became chief of Homeland Security, was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison.

Threat diverts flight SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — United Airlines says a threatening note that diverted a plane mid-flight to Salt Lake City on Thursday did not contain a reference to a bomb as officials reported earlier.

United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski says she can’t disclose the contents of the note. But she says the threat was considered credible.

District Judge Stephen Robinson went well beyond federal sentencing guidelines, which suggested 27 to 33 months. He said the guidelines do not take into account “the almost operatic proportions of this case.”

Computers infiltrated SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Security experts have found a network of 74,000 virus-infected computers that stole information from inside corporations and government agencies. The find reflects the dangers of having computers with sensitive data connected to the open Internet.

More than 2,400 organizations, including financial institutions, energy companies and federal agencies, were infiltrated by the “botnet.”

Blakeley Jade Yelton

is the daughter of Derek and Miranda Yelton of Forest City.

Blakeley has a sister, Bryndle Reece Yelton.

Maternal grandparents are Spanky and Cathy Radford of Forest City.

Paternal grandparents are Rocky and Vicki Yelton of Rutherfordton.

Shop the Classifieds

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launched a suicide attack on the agency Thursday by crashing his small plane into an office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers running for their lives.

At least one person in the building was missing.

The FBI tentatively identified the pilot as Joseph A. Stack, 53. Law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still going on, said that before taking off, Stack apparently set fire to his house and posted a long anti-government screed on the Web. It was dated Thursday and signed “Joe Stack (1956-2010).”

In it, the author cited run-ins he had with the IRS and ranted about the tax agency, government bailouts and corporate America’s “thugs and plunderers.”

“I have had all I can stand,” he wrote, adding: “I choose not to keep looking over my shoulder at ‘big brother’ while he strips my carcass.”

The pilot took off in a four-seat, single engineer Piper PA-28 from an airport in Georgetown, about 30 miles from Austin, without filing a flight plan. He flew low over the Austin skyline before plowing into the side of the hulking, seven-story, black-glass building just before 10 a.m. with a thunderous explosion that instantly stirred memories of Sept. 11.

Flames shot from the building, windows exploded, a huge pillar of black smoke rose over the city, and terrified workers rushed to get out.

The Pentagon scrambled two F-16 fighter jets from Houston to patrol the skies over the burning building before it became clear that it was the act of a lone pilot, and President Barack Obama was briefed.

“It felt like a bomb blew off,” said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who was sitting at her desk. “The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran.”

Stack was presumed dead. Emergency crews have found a body in the building Thursday night, but Police Chief Art Acevedo declined to say whether it was the pilot. At least 13 people were injured, with two reported in critical condition.

Gerry Cullen was eating breakfast at a restaurant across the street when the plane struck the building and “vanished in a fireball.”

Matt Farney, who was in the parking lot of a nearby Home Depot, said he saw a low-flying plane near some

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apartments just before it crashed.

“I figured he was going to buzz the apartments or he was showing off,” Farney said. “It was insane. It didn’t look like he was out of control or anything.”

Sitting at her desk in another building a half-mile from the crash, Michelle Santibanez felt the vibrations and ran to the windows, where she and her co-workers witnessed a scene that reminded them of 9/11.

“It was the same kind of scenario, with window panels falling out and desks falling out and paperwork flying,” said Santibanez, an accountant.

The building, in a heavily congested section of Austin, was still smoldering six hours later, with the worst of the damage on the second and third floors.

The entire outside of the second floor was gone on the side of the building where the plane hit. Support beams were bent inward. Venetian blinds dangled from blown-out windows, and large sections of the exterior were blackened with soot. It was not immediately clear if any tax records were destroyed.

Andrew Jacobson, an IRS revenue officer who was on the second floor when the plane hit with a “big whoomp” and then a second explosion, said about six people couldn’t use the stairwell because of smoke and debris. He found a metal bar to break a window so the group could crawl out onto a concrete ledge, where they were rescued by firefighters. His bloody hands were bandaged.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said “heroic actions” by federal employees may explain why the death toll was so low.

The FBI was investigating. The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator as well.

In the long, rambling, selfdescribed “rant” that Stack apparently posted on the Internet, he began: “If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, ‘Why did this have to happen?”’

He recounted his financial reverses, his difficulty finding work in Austin, and at least two clashes with the IRS, one of them after he filed no return because, he said, he had no income, the other after he failed to report his wife Sheryl’s income.

He railed against politicians, the Catholic Church, the “unthinkable atrocities” committed by big business, and the government bailouts that followed. He said he slowly came to the conclusion that “violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer.”

Car Accident?

Call Dr. Burley, D.C., FACO Chiropractic Orthopedist

Rutherford County / Boiling Springs Chiropractic Center

828-245-2442 / 704-434-2911

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 — 11

Business/finance

THE MARKET IN REVIEW

STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS

u

NYSE

7,080.38 +45.18

GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg %Chg ZenithNatl 37.87 +8.96 +31.0 PEG pfDcld103.90+15.73 +17.8 GlimchRt 4.35 +.53 +13.9 CarrSrv 4.38 +.53 +13.8 TorchEn lf 4.36 +.46 +11.8 MSSPBw12 7.46 +.71 +10.4 Cryolife 6.98 +.62 +9.7 CapTr12 pf 2.50 +.20 +8.7 GenCorp 4.53 +.34 +8.1 FstAccept 2.16 +.16 +8.0

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg ClearwPpr 44.23 -9.08 AvisBudg 11.39 -1.92 Wellcare 27.91 -4.21 LumberLiq 22.57 -3.23 Cabelas 15.90 -1.85 Arbitron 22.80 -2.57 MLSPRt5-105.60 -.63 NavigCons 13.01 -1.35 LVSands 15.91 -1.55 MS DJ11 10.49 -1.01

%Chg -17.0 -14.4 -13.1 -12.5 -10.4 -10.1 -10.1 -9.4 -8.9 -8.8

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) Name Vol (00) Last Chg Citigrp 2655401 3.43 +.02 BkofAm 2126511 15.88 +.22 S&P500ETF1607431110.91 +.65 iShEMkts 590390 39.72 +.15 Pfizer 566687 17.73 +.06 SPDR Fncl 553350 14.38 +.09 DirFBear rs 532728 18.64 -.26 LVSands 523231 15.91 -1.55 FordM 516812 11.38 -.11 MGMMir 484090 10.80 -.83 Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume

DIARY

2,123 946 116 3,185 177 1 3,955,525,371

u

AMEX

u

1,869.38 +4.52

GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last VirnetX 5.09 PudaCoal n 6.90 Lannett 4.90 Arrhythm 6.00 DocuSec 4.18 MercBcp 2.45 EngySvc un 3.30 HeraldNB 2.80 TelInstEl 6.87 MagHRes 2.72

Chg +.80 +.67 +.47 +.56 +.36 +.19 +.25 +.20 +.47 +.18

%Chg +18.6 +10.7 +10.6 +10.3 +9.4 +8.4 +8.2 +7.7 +7.3 +7.1

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last EngySvcs 2.51 FiveStar 3.00 SagaComm13.29 IEC Elec n 5.78 AvalonHld 2.27 EstnLtCap 3.50 NwGold g 4.64 SL Ind 7.51 SalisbryBc 21.95 Flanign 6.92

Chg %Chg -.29 -10.4 -.32 -9.6 -.85 -6.0 -.35 -5.7 -.13 -5.4 -.20 -5.4 -.24 -4.9 -.38 -4.8 -.95 -4.1 -.28 -3.9

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE) Name Vol (00) Last Chg NwGold g 27606 4.64 -.24 RexahnPh 24998 1.18 -.15 VantageDrl 24572 1.35 -.05 NovaGld g 24557 5.87 -.12 Taseko 18127 4.55 +.05 MagHRes 17376 2.72 +.18 NthgtM g 15908 2.66 -.06 CFCda g 15266 13.40 -.11 GoldStr g 14373 3.18 +.01 NA Pall g 11671 4.10 +.09 DIARY

Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume

266 220 51 537 10 1 111,183,234

DAILY DOW JONES

HAVE YOUsoon?

REVIEWED YOUR retiring let’s talk.

10,440

NASDAQ

Dow JonesINSURANCE industrials LIFE LATELY? Close: 10,392.90

2,241.71 +15.42

Change: 83.66 (0.8%)

GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last SinoCkg n 8.80 PSB Hldg 3.79 Astrotech 3.31 RetOpp un 12.40 FPB Bncp 2.05 Pixelwrks 3.93 CobraEl 2.14 HghwyH 2.64 RuthsHosp 3.76 RoylBcPA 2.62

Chg +2.55 +.59 +.51 +1.90 +.30 +.53 +.28 +.34 +.47 +.32

%Chg +40.8 +18.4 +18.2 +18.1 +17.1 +15.6 +15.1 +14.8 +14.3 +13.9

Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume

10,000

10,729.89 4,265.61 408.57 7,471.31 1,908.81 2,326.28 1,150.45 755.91 11,941.95 649.15

Name

6,469.95 2,134.21 288.66 4,181.75 1,234.81 1,265.52 666.79 397.97 6,772.29 342.59

9,200

Dow Industrials 10,392.90 Dow Transportation 4,005.89 Dow Utilities 372.17 NYSE Composite 7,080.38 Amex Market Value 1,869.38 Nasdaq Composite 2,241.71 S&P 500 1,106.75 S&P MidCap 736.75 Wilshire 5000 11,527.63 Russell 2000 629.32

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PIMCO TotRetIs American Funds GrthAmA m Vanguard TotStIdx American Funds CapIncBuA m TOCKS OF OCAL NTEREST Fidelity Contra American Funds CpWldGrIA m YTD YTD American Funds IncAmerA m Name Div Yld PE Last Chg%Chg Name Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg American Funds InvCoAmA m AT&T Inc 1.68 6.7 12 25.24 -.16 -10.0 LeggPlat 1.04 5.3 26 19.59 +.11 -4.0 Vanguard 500Inv Vanguard InstIdx Amazon ... ... 58 118.08 +1.77 -12.2 Lowes .36 1.6 20 23.15 +.10 -1.0 Dodge & Cox Stock ArvMerit ... ... ... 10.59 +.23 -5.3 Microsoft .52 1.8 16 28.97 +.38 -5.0 American Funds EurPacGrA m American Funds WAMutInvA m BB&T Cp .60 2.2 23 27.25 +.03 +7.4 PPG 2.16 3.5 21 62.11 +.30 +6.1 Dodge & Cox IntlStk BkofAm .04 .3 ... 15.88 +.22 +5.4 ParkerHan 1.00 1.7 34 58.76 +.57 +9.1 American Funds NewPerspA m BerkHa A ... ... 35115000.00+500.00 +15.9 PIMCO TotRetAdm b Cisco ... ... 23 24.28 +.21 +1.4 ProgrssEn 2.48 6.5 12 37.92 +.11 -7.5 Fidelity DivrIntl d ... ... 71 29.18 +.40 -5.6 American Funds FnInvA m Delhaize 2.01 2.6 ... 77.60 +.11 +1.1 RedHat Dell Inc ... ... 19 14.43 +.32 +.5 RoyalBk g 2.00 ... ... 54.42 +.36 +1.6 FrankTemp-Franklin Income A m DukeEngy .96 5.9 14 16.33 +.15 -5.1 SaraLee .44 3.2 12 13.89 +.20 +14.0 American Funds BalA m Vanguard Welltn ExxonMbl 1.68 2.5 17 65.96 +.20 -3.3 SonicAut ... ... ... 9.80 +.10 -5.7 American Funds BondA m FamilyDlr .62 1.9 15 32.40 -.02 +16.4 SonocoP 1.08 3.6 20 29.63 +.78 +1.3 Vanguard 500Adml Vanguard TotStIAdm FifthThird .04 .3 17 11.92 -.13 +22.3 SpectraEn 1.00 4.7 16 21.49 +.11 +4.8 Fidelity GrowCo FCtzBA 1.20 .7 16 174.84 -.59 +6.6 SpeedM .40 2.3 ... 17.46 +.29 -.9 Vanguard TotIntl d GenElec .40 2.5 16 16.24 +.09 +7.3 .36 1.4 ... 26.16 +.07 +10.3 PIMCO TotRetA m GoldmanS 1.40 .9 7 155.73 -1.53 -7.8 Timken Vanguard InstPlus 1.88 3.3 26 57.17 -.34 -.3 T Rowe Price EqtyInc Google ... ... 27 543.22 +5.01 -12.4 UPS B ... Hartford CapAprA m KrispKrm ... ... ... 3.42 +.08 +15.9 WalMart 1.09 2.0 15 53.47 -.59 Pioneer PioneerA m Goldman Sachs ShDuGovA m Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars. h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. lf = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred. rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 Alliance Bernstein GrowIncA m percent within the past year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified price. s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the DWS-Scudder REstA m Hartford GrowthL m last year. un = Units. vj = In bankruptcy or receivership. wd = When distributed. wi = When issued. wt = Warrants.

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Mutual Fund Footnotes: b = Fee covering market costs is paid from fund assets. d = Deferred sales charge, or redemption fee. f = front load (sales charges). m = Multiple fees are charged. NA = not available. p = previous day’s net asset value. s = fund split shares during the week. x = fund paid a distribution during the week.Gainers and Losers must be worth at least $2 to be listed in tables at left. Most Actives must be worth at least $1. Volume in hundreds of shares. Source: The Associated Press.

Sales figures are unofficial.

YTD %Chg %Chg

+83.66 -1.73 +1.88 +45.18 +4.52 +15.42 +7.24 +4.61 +71.26 +4.49

+.81 -.04 +.51 +.64 +.24 +.69 +.66 +.63 +.62 +.72

-.34 -2.29 -6.49 -1.46 +2.43 -1.21 -.75 +1.39 -.18 +.63

12-mo %Chg

+39.20 +47.91 +8.09 +45.06 +38.32 +55.37 +42.08 +56.57 +46.12 +51.02

Total Assets Obj ($Mlns) NAV

Total Return/Rank Pct Min Init 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Load Invt

CI 120,690 LG 62,872 LB 57,210 IH 56,411 LG 54,252 WS 53,325 MA 48,112 LB 46,864 LB 46,604 LB 43,152 LV 39,228 FB 38,266 LV 37,278 FV 35,646 WS 31,178 CI 31,078 FG 29,974 LB 29,675 CA 29,617 MA 29,215 MA 27,900 CI 27,514 LB 27,342 LB 27,014 LG 26,376 FB 25,013 CI 24,642 LB 24,167 LV 15,084 LB 9,451 LB 4,142 GS 1,487 LV 1,193 SR 408 LG 176

-0.1 +14.1/C -2.6 +43.3/C -2.0 +46.3/B -3.1 +30.7/C -1.6 +38.5/D -5.7 +46.5/C -2.2 +36.6/B -3.1 +39.9/D -2.4 +43.6/C -2.4 +43.8/C -2.9 +54.2/A -6.1 +51.1/B -2.4 +36.7/E -5.6 +72.9/A -3.8 +48.6/C -0.1 +13.9/C -6.4 +48.3/C -3.1 +46.1/B -2.8 +43.1/A -1.3 +32.8/C -2.2 +31.5/C -0.4 +16.1/B -2.4 +43.8/C -2.0 +46.4/B -1.4 +48.0/B -6.6 +57.5/A -0.1 +13.6/C -2.4 +43.8/C -2.7 +53.4/A -3.7 +57.4/A -2.2 +40.6/D +0.1 +4.0/B -1.3 +32.1/E -1.1 +82.0/B -3.6 +39.4/D

10.91 27.04 27.43 46.91 57.39 32.56 15.32 25.64 102.17 101.50 96.28 36.63 24.48 30.86 25.05 10.91 26.77 32.36 2.03 16.31 28.71 11.88 102.19 27.44 68.60 13.86 10.91 101.51 20.96 30.32 35.62 10.37 2.95 13.71 14.81

+7.1/A +2.7/B +1.1/B +3.3/C +4.2/A +4.8/A +2.5/B +1.5/B +0.4/C +0.5/C -0.7/D +6.5/A +0.2/C +4.2/A +5.3/A +6.8/A +2.6/D +3.7/A +3.5/B +2.2/C +4.6/A +2.6/E +0.5/C +1.2/B +5.0/A +4.1/B +6.6/A +0.5/C +0.6/B +3.3/A +1.2/B +4.8/A -1.9/E +0.8/C +0.4/D

NL 5,000,000 5.75 250 NL 3,000 5.75 250 NL 2,500 5.75 250 5.75 250 5.75 250 NL 3,000 NL 5,000,000 NL 2,500 5.75 250 5.75 250 NL 2,500 5.75 250 NL 5,000,000 NL 2,500 5.75 250 4.25 1,000 5.75 250 NL 10,000 3.75 250 NL 100,000 NL 100,000 NL 2,500 NL 3,000 3.75 1,000 NL200,000,000 NL 2,500 5.50 1,000 5.75 1,000 1.50 1,000 4.25 2,500 5.75 1,000 4.75 0

CA -Conservative Allocation, CI -Intermediate-Term Bond, ES -Europe Stock, FB -Foreign Large Blend, FG -Foreign LargeGrowth, FV -Foreign Large Value, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, MB -Mid-Cap Blend, MV Mid-Cap Value, SH -Specialty-heath, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.

Manufacturing gains give stock markets a lift

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 83.66, or 0.8 percent, to 10,392.90, putting its gain for the week at 294 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 7.24, or 0.7 percent, to 1,106.75, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 15.42, or 0.7 percent, to 2,241.71.

Bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.80 percent from 3.74 percent compared late Wednesday.

The dollar mostly rose against other major currencies.

Gold rose, while crude oil rose $1.73 to $79.05 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Net Chg

MUTUAL FUNDS

S

%Chg -66.0 -32.1 -22.3 -20.2 -19.7 -19.4 -16.0 -13.9 -13.7 -12.7

1,552 1,072 160 2,784 99 11 1,988,588,535

NEW YORK (AP) — An increase in regional manufacturing pushed the stock market to its third straight advance and offset concerns about lower sales at Wal-Mart.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 84 points, bringing its gains for the week to nearly 300 points.

Treasury prices fell as improvements in some economic reports eased demand for safe havens.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its index of regional manufacturing rose to 17.6 in February from 15.2 in January. That follows reports the past two days that also pointed to a pickup in business at the nation’s factories.

The report lifted stocks of companies that process raw materials because increased manufacturing should boost sales. Newmont Mining Corp. and glass maker Owens-Illinois Inc. each rose more than 2 percent.

The market drifted higher in light trading volume so analysts cautioned against reading too much in to the latest gain. Light volume indicates that many investors with concerns about the market are staying on the sidelines.

The market’s gains were modest in the early hours of trading after Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s reported a drop in quarterly sales at its flagship U.S. stores and issued a disappointing forecast.

At the same time, the Labor Department reported that the number of workers seeking unemployment benefits for the first time rose 31,000 to 473,000 last week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast claims would fall. Unemployment is a major obstacle to a sustained recovery.

Investors have been buying stocks this week on growing evidence of improvement in the U.S. economy. They have stopped worrying, at least for now, about potential overseas troubles derailing a global recovery.

Last

9,600

Last Chg 1.13 +.08 44.85 +.28 12.68 -.31 20.84 +.18 28.97 +.38 24.28 +.21 14.43 +.32 16.67 -1.17 24.52 +.34 6.67-12.93

DIARY

10 DAYS

10,400

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE)

Name Vol (00) SiriusXM h 1834658 PwShs QQQ572898 ApldMatl 448129 Intel 419536 Microsoft 419028 Cisco 406977 Dell Inc 368748 Nvidia 361156 Oracle 314625 XenoPort 307913

9,800

10,800

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg XenoPort 6.67-12.93 Unilife n 12.15 -5.75 PVF Cap 2.26 -.65 CardiacSci 2.29 -.58 Depomed 2.49 -.61 TricoMar 3.08 -.74 NightwkR 3.53 -.67 TidelndsBc 3.10 -.50 Entorian rs 3.03 -.48 FstPacTrst 6.16 -.90

10,120

STOCK MARKET INDEXES

52-Week High Low

In this Jan. 23 file photo, job applicants fill out forms at a job fair in Santa Clara, Calif. The number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly surged last week after having fallen sharply in the previous week.

Associated Press

Jobless claims up again last week WASHINGTON (AP) — Layoffs aren’t slowing as fast as some analysts had expected.

That was the message Thursday in a government report that the number of people filing firsttime claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week. Jobless claims rose by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000.

The increase followed a drop of 41,000 in the previous week. The earlier figure had raised hopes that the job market was improving steadily.

The four-week average for claims dipped 1,500 to 467,500, near the lows at the end of last year. The average smooths out week-to-week volatility. But many economists say the fourweek average would need to fall consistently below 425,000 to signal that the economy is close to generating net job gains. The economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

Further evidence that the pace of the economic recovery is slowing was a private research group’s forecast of economic activity. The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators rose for a 10th straight month in January, but the rate

of increase is easing. The index is designed to forecast activity in the next three to six months.

Many economists have raised concern that growth will stagnate this year as government support programs wind down and unemployment remains high.

The key message from the leading indicators is that the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s is plodding ahead — “stumbling at times, but it is moving forward,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Analysts say the closing of businesses and government offices last week because of snowstorms might have prevented some newly unemployed workers from filing their initial claims for unemployment benefits.

The figures were collected as the government also was gathering information for the February report on the unemployment rate and employer payrolls. The severe weather may distort those figures, too, economists said.

That could make it hard to get an accurate picture of the job market for several weeks.

Even so, some analysts said the latest figures are a cautionary

signal.

Manufacturing has been among the few pockets of strength in the economy. But many other industries in the much larger service sector remain weak.

“Strong manufacturing is not enough to support the labor market as a whole, it seems,” said Ian Shepherdson at High Frequency Economics.

A third report Thursday said wholesale prices shot up at double the expected pace in January.

But the surprising surge was viewed as a temporary blip and not a signal of sustained inflation. The Labor Department said wholesale prices rose 1.4 percent.

But most of the increase was due to a jump in gasoline prices, which surged 11.5 percent.

Core inflation at the wholesale level, which excludes energy and food, rose 0.3 percent. But that, too, was due mainly to a single volatile category: light trucks.

Over the past 12 months, core prices at the wholesale level have risen a moderate 1 percent.

Most economists say inflation is unlikely to become a threat any time soon because of downward pressures on wages and prices from layoffs and fear of further job losses.

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12

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

Nation

Obama meets with Dalai Lama

President Barack Obama stands with the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, Erskine Bowles, second from right, and Alan Simpson, right, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington where he signed an executive order creating the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Vice President Joe Biden is at left.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama for closely-watched White House talks Thursday, risking fallout in China over the get-together and Obama’s statement supporting preservation of Tibet’s identity and human rights.

“The president commended the Dalai Lama’s ’Middle Way’ approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said after the more than hourlong private meeting.

Speaking to reporters on the White House driveway, the Dalai Lama declared himself “very happy” with the session. The exiled Associated Press Tibetan leader said he support.

The Dalai Lama speaks spoke to Obama about But the executive commission is a weak substitute for what the the promotion of human to reporters outside the White House in president really wanted: a panel value, religious harmoWashington, Thursday, ny, a greater leadership Feb. 18, 2010, following created by Congress that could role for women around force lawmakers to consider a meeting with President the world and the conunpopular remedies to reduce Barack Obama. the debt, including curbing polit- cerns of the Tibetan ically sensitive entitlements like people. He said Obama was “very much supportive.”

Social Security and Medicare.

Obama’s largely symbolic meeting with the Dalai Lama was kept low-key by comparison to other Still, the panel has some bigvisiting leaders, out of deference to China. With name bipartisan backing.

Beijing considering the Buddhist monk a separatBowles, the president of the ist, Obama doesn’t want to overly anger China at University of North Carolina, a time when its cooperation is needed on nuclear served as Democratic President standoffs with Iran and North Korea, climate Bill Clinton’s chief of staff from change and other priorities.

1996 to 1998. Simpson, a senaSo Obama sat down with his fellow Nobel Peace tor from Wyoming from 1979 to Prize laureate in the Map Room rather than the 1997, was the No. 2 Republican and the top GOP member of the much-more-photographed Oval Office where presidents usually visit with international leaders.

Social Security subcommittee.

Their talks were held entirely out of view of camThe nation’s huge deficits are eras and the public. Instead, the White House only being caused by the impact of released just a single White House photo. a severe recession, which has Even the description the White House press trimmed the government’s tax receipts and raised spending on office gave reporters of the talks was done on such programs as unemployment paper.

All these gestures — small to many but imporinsurance and food stamps. The tant in the supersensitive world of diplomacy — deficits also reflect the billions were meant to tamp down China’s displeasure that of dollars being spent from the Obama was holding the meeting in the first place. $862 billion stimulus program “The optics of this thing are incredibly imporpassed in February 2009 and tant to the Chinese,” said Michael Green, former the $700 billion financial bailPresident George W. Bush’s senior Asia adviser. out program Congress passed in October 2008 to stabilize the “The Chinese government is preoccupied with protocol and how things look.” banking system.

Bowles, Simpson lead deficit panel WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday unilaterally creating a bipartisan commission to rein in unruly deficits after Congress rejected a similar body with considerably more enforcement power.

In making the announcement, Obama said that unless lawmakers put aside partisan differences, the continuing red-ink trend could “hobble our economy.”

The federal deficit hit a record $1.4 trillion last year and could grow larger this year as the struggling economy puts a big dent in tax collections.

“It will cloud our future and it will saddle every child in America with an intolerable burden,” he said before signing an executive order establishing the commission.

Obama signed the executive order a few hours before flying to Colorado and Nevada to help incumbent Democrats save their seats in the Senate. He’ll appear in Nevada for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Like Obama and other Democrats, Reid has been feeling the sting of the stunning electoral upset by Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts election to choose

a successor for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

At the White House event, Obama was flanked by Vice President Joe Biden along with former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senate Whip Alan Simpson. He chose Bowles and Simpson to lead the panel, which will be charged with reporting back by the end of this year on what steps Congress and the administration should take to get the deficit down to 3 percent of the gross domestic product, a level that economists believe is manageable.

Last year’s deficit equaled 9.9 percent of GDP, the highest point since World War II, and is projected to climb to 10.6 percent of GDP this year.

Obama said “everything is on the table” as the 18-member panel gets to work. In addition to Bowles and Simpson, Obama will appoint four members to the panel. Republican and Democratic leaders will each appoint six additional members.

Obama said the panel’s recommendations will require approval by 14 of the 18 members, assuring that the recommendations will have bipartisan

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The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 — 13

Nation

Dems not yet abandoning health care plan In this Feb. 3 file photo, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sebelius said Thursday that the insurance premium increases are 10 times higher than the increase in national health care costs.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House signaled Thursday that an aggressive, all-Democratic strategy for overhauling the nation’s health care system remains a serious option, even as President Barack Obama invites Republicans to next week’s televised summit to seek possible compromises.

The administration’s stance could set the stage for a political showdown, with Democrats struggling to enact the president’s top domestic priority and Republicans trying to block what many conservatives see as government overreach.

A senior administration official said Democratic congressional leaders have nearly finished efforts to reconcile two health bills, which the House and Senate passed separately last year with practically no Republican help. Obama will use their legislation to expand coverage to some 30 million and require most Americans to carry insurance as the basis for a proposal that the White House will post online by Monday, three days before the Feb. 25 summit, said the official.

For example, Anthem in Maine Obama says he is open to Republican ideas was denied an 18.5 percent for changing the health care system. But many increase last year and is now Democrats seriously doubt GOP leaders will suprequesting that state regulators port compromises that could draw enough lawapprove a 23 percent rise. Maine makers from both parties to create a bipartisan is home to Sens. Olympia Snowe majority. and Susan Collins, Republican If next week’s meeting does not break the logmoderates whose support jam, congressional Democrats will face a tough Obama would like to have for his choice. They can pass a highly diluted health care health care legislation. bill or nothing at all, which would send them into Michigan’s Blue Cross Blue the November elections with a high-profile failure Shield plan requested approval despite their control of Congress and the White for premium increases of 56 per- House. cent in 2009. And in the state of Or they can use an assertive and contentious tacWashington, rates for some indi- tic, known as reconciliation, to pass a far-reaching vidual health plans increased by health care bill in the Senate without having to up to 40 percent until regulators face GOP delaying tactics. Democrats lost their cracked down. ability to block filibusters when Massachusetts Other states cited in the report Republican Scott Brown won a Senate seat last were Connecticut, Oregon and month.

Rhode Island.

Both parties have used reconciliation rules in the past. But Republicans have practically dared The premium increases affect Democrats to do so on health care, citing polls the most vulnerable part of the showing significant opposition to the legislation. health insurance market, policies marketed individually to It’s unclear whether the House or Senate can customers buying their own muster the necessary votes. Democrats, who now plans. According to the Census hold 255 of the House’s 435 seats, drew only one Bureau, only about 9 percent of GOP ally when the House passed its health care Americans purchase coverage bill, 220-215, last November. Since then, one directly, while nearly 60 perDemocrat who voted for the bill has resigned, one cent are covered under employer has died and a third plans to leave office Feb. 28. plans. Family premiums for Moreover, changes meant to meet Senate demands those with workplace coverage could peel away enough liberals on one end, and rose 5 percent last year, even party centrists on the other, to cause the revised

HHS: Insurance rates surging WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers are facing budgetbusting increases in medical insurance premiums, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday, releasing a report the Obama administration hopes will tap public outrage and help revive its stalled health care overhaul.

People buying their own insurance in at least six states have been facing pressure from insurers to raise rates by as much 56 percent, the report said. Officials said the problem is likely to be more widespread, but data from individual insurers in different states is difficult to obtain.

“We think it shines a light on the urgency for health reform,” Sebelius told reporters.

The Democratic health care bills would lower costs for many consumers by offering government subsidies to most of those buying their own coverage.

Premiums would remain high, but insurers would face greater government scrutiny when they try to raise rates.

Proposed premium increases of as much as 39 percent by WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross in California set off a wave of

criticism and forced the company last week to announce a postponement. President Barack Obama seized on Anthem as Exhibit A to make his case for sweeping change before a bipartisan White House health summit next week. California officials said more than 700,000 households face increases averaging 25 percent overall and as high as 39 percent for some.

In a briefing for reporters, WellPoint executives blamed their rate increases on rising medical costs and a pool of customers that is gradually becoming older and sicker, as younger, healthier people drop coverage.

They insisted that their competitors are raising rates in much the same way.

“We understand this is a hardship,” said Brian Sassi, president and CEO of WellPoint’s consumer-business unit. “This is not something that voluntarily we choose to do.”

The HHS report found that the Anthem numbers are in line with increases sought by insurers in other states — at a time of robust profit growth for the companies and a lack of competition in most states.

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14

— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

State

Man’s first day of freedom is a whirlwind

DURHAM (AP) — For his first full day of freedom in more than 16 years, Greg Taylor woke up and hit the gym for the same upperbody workout he did every Thursday in his cell. Then he shook off the one thing he believes publicly branded him as a former prisoner: his eyewear.

After breakfast and a shower, he went to an eyeglass store in Durham to replace the thick, tortoise-shell frames given to prisoners with a pair of oval-shaped, chocolate-colored wire frames that more suit his long, narrow face.

It wasn’t just that the glasses were unfashionable, he said. It’s what they said about him and his conviction in the beating death of a prostitute in Raleigh in 1991. Three judges decided Wednesday he was innocent of that crime and released him from his life sentence.

“People can look at them and say, ’he just got out of prison,”’ Taylor said. “I want to get rid of these.”

Taylor spoke to reporters while holding the hand of his 26-year-old daughter, Kristen Puryear, who pushed a stroller carrying his 23-month-old grandson, Charles.

s

Greg Taylor, right, looks at family photos with lawyer Christine Mumma Thursday. Taylor was exonerated on murder charges by the N.C. Innocence Commission after spending 17 years behind bars, and was set free Wednesday.

Associated Press

He counted off all the loved ones he lost while behind bars: a grandmother, a sister, three uncles, a cousin, a dog and two cats. But it was when he discussed the happy events he missed that he choked up.

“Her 10th birthday party,” he said of his daughter.

“Her high school graduation was a big one,” he said.

“These are the things you can’t get back.”

Taylor also met with someone who was part of the chain of events leading to his exoneration: former state Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., who launched the study

panel that led to creating the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.

Taylor’s case was the first exoneration to result from the work of the commission, which is the only state-run agency in the country dedicated to proving a convicted person’s innocence.

If the governor grants Taylor a pardon, he can apply for compensation from the state Industrial Commission for $50,000 a year up to a maximum of $750,000.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind catching up to a world that changed quickly in the time he was locked away in Nash Correctional Institute.

In the gym, he found a spacious room with a wall of mirrors, banks of exercise equipment and state-of-theart weights instead of an outdoor space with a view of a guard tower.

Before a technician examined his eyes at the store in Durham, Taylor had to sign his name on a computer screen. “I don’t understand,” he said before figuring it out.

Although he has read numerous books on computer programming, Taylor saw the Internet for the first time Wednesday night when his daughter gave him a brief tutorial on her laptop.

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DURHAM (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday he expects to see growth in U.S. jobs and income in the months ahead, praising government leaders for “breaking the back of this recession” one year after his boss approved a massive stimulus bill.

Geithner said in a trip to North Carolina that officials have been successful in restarting economic growth and that it is now important to reinforce that process. He said the economy is starting to heal and will continue getting better.

“We’re going to start to see job growth increase and incomes increase for Americans in the months and year ahead,” Geithner said on the anniversary of President Barack Obama’s signing of a $787 billion stimulus bill.

The treasury secretary was in Durham as part of the Obama administration’s effort to restore demand in tax credits offered to those who invest in low-income communities. Interest in the tax credits has wavered during the economic downturn, with a federal report estimating that investments spurred by the New Markets Tax Credit program fell some 20 percent in 2009.

Geithner suggested that Congress make changes to the incentives program to spur more investment, such as allowing investors to use the tax credits to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax. He visited a business development in Durham that was partially funded through the program.

“Investment is like oxygen. Credit is like oxygen,” Geithner said. “One of the biggest problems that distressed communities face is attracting new investment.”

“Communities like these will be the engine of renewal in this country,” he said at a round table of local business and government leaders.

Last year’s stimulus package included an extra infusion of cash for the tax credit initiative. The administration’s proposed budget for next year also expands the program.

Geithner said he was also closely monitoring the details of a Thursday plane crash in Austin, Texas, in which a man angry with an IRS crashed a plane into an office building filled with employees from the tax-collection agency.

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His lack of knowledge about cell phones — he saw his first one this week — overwhelmed the sales clerk.

“Wow. I don’t even know where to start,” she said.

All the bright and shiny newness seemed to take a toll on Taylor. “Everything has been smell and see and hear — no thoughts,” he said.

He slept with a light on Wednesday night, not so much a reaction to brightly lit prison cells, but because he wanted to be able to see the new surroundings of his daughter’s house if he woke up during the night. And it felt strange to shower in his bare feet after wearing flipflops in the shower for so long.

“Do you wear shoes in the shower?” he asked two reporters.

Geithner sees job growth soon

DINING GUIDE

1

She updated his wardrobe with jeans, a black polo shirt and boxer-briefs, which he had never worn. He could only surmise that she didn’t know if he preferred boxers or briefs, so she split the difference.

When a friend tried to explain how a thumb drive would extend the storage space of his newly purchased digital camera, Taylor responded: “Oh, so it’s like film?”

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The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 — 15 SHOE by Chris Cassat and Gary Brookins

THE GRIZZWELLS by Bill Schoor

BROOM-HILDA by Russell Myers

DILBERT by Scott Adams

GIL THORP by Jerry Jenkins, Ray Burns and Frank McLaughlin

THE BORN LOSER by Art and Chip Sansom

ARLO AND JANIS by Jimmy Johnson

FRANK AND ERNEST by Bob Thaves

EVENING

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Ghost Whisp. Medium Å XXI Winter Olympics Ghost Whisp. Medium Å } ›› Meet the Fockers } ›› Meet the Fockers Nite Line Wis House Å Nightmares North Wash. Peo Explr Friday Night SmackDown!

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Man wears out his welcome

Dear Abby: I am a 29-year-old registered nurse who has never been married. Recently I bought a home, and soon after, an old boyfriend, “Gary,” started coming around. I was happy about it at first, but he’s been staying here at my place for two months now and hasn’t paid any rent.

Gary buys his own beer and has brought home a few grocery items from time to time, but nothing to speak of. He had the electricity turned off at his place so his expenses are minimal. He also brought along his cat, but never cleans out her litter box.

He does no housework and comes and goes as he pleases. I do not want him sharing my home without contributing anything. Is there a way to tell him without wrecking our relationship? — Joan Dear Joan: It appears that not only is the heat off at Gary’s house, the temperature at yours is cooling fast.

Tell him that if he can’t help you with the rent, household chores, groceries and the litter box, it’s time to turn up the heat at his place. And please don’t feel guilty about it. It’s called being assertive.

Dear Abby: I’m a freshman in high school who has trouble making friends. My grades are good.

I’m learning how to play a musical instrument, and I think I’m a nice guy.

Dear Abby Abigail van Buren

My problem is so many of my schoolmates judge others by their possessions — cell phones, iPod, laptop, etc. It matters what brand of clothing you wear and how much money you have.

If you don’t have those things or your parents aren’t rich, you’re treated as an outcast. Character or talent doesn’t matter, apparently — only money. This has started affecting my self-esteem. What do you advise? — Nice guy Dear Nice guy: You will be better off, and lead a happier life, if you stop looking for acceptance from shallow, immature kids who belong to tight, judgmental little cliques.

Join activities where you will meet others with values more like your own.

Some places to start would be special interest clubs at school, scouting, a sport, your church youth group, or volunteering if you have some free time.

There is nothing “wrong” with you.

Many people develop their social skills and blossom after high school.

Parent takes Dr. Gott to task Dear Dr. Gott: My father called and told me about your views on picky eaters. You said not to let them rule you. How arrogant could you possibly be? Have you ever treated a child with autism? They would rather starve than eat offending foods. And, if you were to force them to eat it, most likely they would vomit like my daughter. You need to have a reality check, doctor. Your post has just given hundreds of family members ammo to belittle us moms with special-needs children who have food aversions. Shame, shame, shame on you.

Dear Reader: I must confess I have never personally treated a child with autism, and I respect the additional care and attention parents and caregivers must provide. I am sure that you do everything within your power to keep consistency in each day if things are to remain on an even keel, and part of that consistency is likely mealtime.

PUZZLE

Ask Dr. Gott Dr. Peter M. Gott

Looking back on my original column, I think you may have been unnecessarily offended. The child I wrote about was 3 years old and did not have any medical conditions. Rather, he preferred a diet of Cheerios, Ramen noodles, chocolate cake, ice cream, wieners, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, cashew nuts, sausage and cheese pizza, pancakes and PediaSure. His parents and grandmother were concerned enough to write me because they didn’t know how to deal with him regarding better eating habits. He clearly had the upper hand. I responded by indicating they could be facing problems such as diabetes and obesity.

IN THE STARS

Your Birthday, Feb. 19;

In the year ahead, you are likely to be far luckier than usual in financial dealings.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You’re on a profitable roll so press forward on matters.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) — Your ability to judge others accurately is quite astounding.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Lucky you, because there will be several persons working on your behalf.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Wishes can become realities if you go out into the world and start to make things happen.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Remember the saying, “We get to heaven leaning on the arms of those we help.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Some good relationships can be developed with several people who would be nice to know.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Offer your abilities and expertise if what you know can be used to improve others’ lives.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.

22) — People will find you to be an agreeable person with whom to make deals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) — Be on your toes for opportunities to get ahead in personal projects.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — This is a betterthan-usual day to make amends with people who have caused some recent problems.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — Instead of waiting to be asked or told what to do, take the initiative and resolve what you think needs resolving.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — It shouldn’t be too difficult to get others to join your efforts to do something nice for someone in need.There isn’t likely to be too many who will turn you down.

16— The — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010 16 Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, FRIDAY, February 19, 2010

nation/world

World Today Bomb kills 29 in Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb blast at a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt killed 29 people including some militants Thursday, underscoring the relentless security threat here even as Pakistani-U.S. cooperation against extremism appears on the upswing.

The attack in Khyber tribal region came as U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, the capital. It also followed revelations that Pakistani authorities have been picking up Afghan Taliban leaders on their soil, and as the U.S. staged its latest missile strike in Pakistan’s northwest.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks with media during his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday.

President Ahmadinejad said Iran is installing more efficient centrifuge machines in its uranium enrichment facilities.

Associated Press

Soldiers storm presidential palace DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Renegade soldiers in armored vehicles stormed Niger’s presidential palace with a hail of gunfire during broad daylight Thursday in an apparent coup attempt in the uranium-rich West African nation.

Military music played on state radio later in the evening — the same music that aired after two previous coups in the late 1990s — and the strongman president’s whereabouts was unknown. Government officials could not be reached for comment.

Smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and the echo of machine-gunfire for at least 20 minutes sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country’s downtown boulevards at midday.

Dubai accuses Mossad DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai’s police chief accused Israel’s spy agency in the methodical stalking and killing of a Hamas commander, saying Thursday he was nearly “100 percent” certain the Mossad directed the alleged hit squad.

It marked the first time Dubai authorities have directly implicated Israel in the case, which has now spread across several continents with investigators probing possible credit card links to U.S.-based banks and European officials grilling Israeli envoys over fraudulent passports.

Interpol also added 11 members of the alleged murder squad to its most-wanted list.

Dubai police on Monday unveiled 11 suspects — 10 men and one woman — who apparently traveled to Dubai on European passports with real names and authentic data, but possibly altered photos.

The names released by Dubai matched at least seven people living in Israel — six dual IsraeliBritish citizens and another Israeli-German.

They all deny any connection to the killing and are apparently not under investigation.

13 killed in attack in west Iraq BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide car bomb exploded Thursday outside the gate of the main government compound in the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, killing at least 13 people, including four police, a health official said.

The attacker detonated his explosive-packed car at the compound housing the governor’s office, police headquarters and courts in downtown Ramadi.

Nuclear agency fears Iran already working on warhead VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday said it was worried Iran may currently be working on making a nuclear warhead, suggesting for the first time that Tehran had either resumed such work or never stopped at the time U.S. intelligence thought it did.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency appeared to put the U.N. nuclear monitor on the side of Germany, France, Britain and Israel. These nations and other U.S. allies have disputed the conclusions of a U.S. intelligence assessment published three years ago that said Tehran appeared to have suspended such work in 2003.

The U.S. assessment itself may be revised and is being looked at again by American intelligence agencies. While U.S. officials continue to say the 2007 conclusion was valid at the time, they have not ruled out the possibility that Tehran resumed such work some time after that.

Iran denies any interest in developing nuclear arms. But the confidential report, made available to The Associated Press, said Iran’s resistance to agency attempts to probe for signs of a nuclear cover-up “give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.”

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, told the official IRNA news agency that the report “verified the peace-

ful, nonmilitary nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.”

But in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the findings were consistent with what Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been saying “on our ongoing concerns about Iran’s activities.”

The language of the report — the first written by Yukiya Amano, who became IAEA head in December — appeared to be more directly critical of Iran’s refusal to cooperate with the IAEA than most of those compiled by his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei.

It strongly suggested that intelligence supplied by the U.S., Israel and other IAEA member states on Iran’s attempts to use the cover of a civilian nuclear program to move toward a weapons program was compelling.

“The information available to the agency ... is broadly consistent and credible in terms of the technical detail, the timeframe in which the activities were conducted and the people and organizations involved,” said the report, prepared for next month’s IAEA board meeting.

Iran is weathering three sets of Security Council sanctions meant to punish its refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment program. It’s recent rejection of a plan meant to strip it of most of its enriched stockpile plus its belated acknowledgment that

it had been secretly building a new enrichment facility has increased sentiment for a fourth set.

The U.S., Britain and France support such a measure, with Russia undecided and fellow permanent Security Council member China — which depends an Iran for much of its energy needs — opposed.

Listing suspect activities known to it, the agency said it sought information on high-precision detonator and other explosives experiments; studies on setting off explosions high in the atmosphere; “whether the engineering design and computer modeling studies aimed at producing a new design for the payload chamber of a missile were for a nuclear payload,” and other nuclear activities with a possible military link.

“Addressing these issues is important for clarifying the agency’s concerns about these activities ... which seem to have continued beyond 2004,” said the report.

The allegations build on material provided to the IAEA by U.S. intelligence from a laptop computer that reportedly was smuggled out of Iran. In 2005, U.S. intelligence assessed that information as indicating that Tehran had been working on details of nuclear weapons, including missile trajectories and ideal altitudes for exploding warheads.

CLASSIFIEDS Contact Erika Meyer to place your ad!

Call: 828-245-6431 Fax: 828-248-2790 Email: emeyer@thedigitalcourier.com In person: 601 Oak St., Forest City DEADLINES: New Ads, Cancellations & Changes Tuesday Edition.............Monday, 12pm Wednesday Edition......Tuesday, 2pm Thursday Edition......Wednesday, 2pm Friday Edition...............Thursday, 2pm Saturday Edition................Friday, 2pm Sunday Edition......................Friday, 2pm

Please check your ad on the first day that it runs. Call us before the deadline for the next edition with corrections.

We will rerun the ad or credit your account for no more than one day.

*4 line minimum on all ads HOME HEALTH NURSING McDowell Home Health Agency is accepting applications for two case management-nursing positions.

Minimum requirements are an A.D.N. plus two years of professional nursing experience, current N.C. RN license, CPR certification and valid NC driver’s license. B.S.N. is preferred.

Applicants must submit a current resume and state application (PD 107). Applications can be obtained from our website at www.rpmhd.org/hr/employment or from the following address:

RPM Health Department Attn: Personnel Department 221 Callahan-Koon Rd • Spindale, NC 28160 (828) 287-6488 These positions will remain open until filled.

1 WEEK SPECIAL

Run ad 6 consecutive days and only pay for 5 days*

2 WEEK SPECIAL

Run ad 12 consecutive days and only pay for 9 days*

3 DAY WEEKEND SPECIAL

YARD SALE SPECIAL

Run a 20 word yard sale ad Thurs., Fri., & Sat. for ONLY $20.

Additional words are only 75¢ each. Deadline: Wed. at 2 p.m.

*Private party customers only! This special must be mentioned at the time of ad placement.

Valid 2/15/10 - 2/19/10

Apartments

Apartments

Homes

Homes

Homes

Richmond Hill Senior Apts. in Rfdtn 1BR Units w/handicap accessible units avail.

Sec 8 assistance avail.

287-2578 Hours: Mon., Tues., & Thurs.

7-3. TDD Relay 1-800-735-2962 Equal Housing Opportunity.

Income Based Rent.

1 & 2BR in Rfdtn, FC and Bostic. Refrig., stove, total electric, water incld. $300 $385/mo. 429-3100

For Sale

For Rent

For Rent

1BR/1BA Cent. h/a, 2 out buildings. Owner financing with $2,000 down & $300/month.

Call 657-4430

3BR/1BA Brick home in Chase area. $725/mo. + dep.

Call 828-748-8801

2BR/1BA House in FC. Cent. h/a, range, refrig. No pets! $500/ mo. + ref’s. & sec. dep.

Call 245-9247

3BR/2BA single level town home, with attached garage, great neighborhood, conveniently located inside Rfdtn city limits.

Call 828-447-3233

No pets! 828-429-4288

Arlington Ridge

Spacious 1 & 2BR Some utilities paid by landlord.

Winter special: 1 mo. rent free w/1 yr. lease!

Sell or rent your property in the Classifieds! Call 245-6431 today to place your ad!

DARLING 3BR/2BA HOUSE in Sunnyview, Polk Co. Ready for your pets and ready for your garden! Great backyard including work sheds! $139,000 Riverbend Realty and Lands 828-625-5263 or 828-779-2254

SUBSCRIBE

2BR/2.5BA home on 64/74 1 mile from Lake Lure Beach, Chimney Rock and Ingles. Lake Lure view. $600/mo.

Also, 2BR/2BA on 2 ac. in Rumbling Bald Resort, washer /dryer, cen. h/a. $750/mo. Call Eddy Zappel 828-289-9151 or Marco 954-275-0735

3 Bedroom/1.5 Bath Brick Ranch Cowan St. in Spindale Call 540-562-2371 3BR/2BA in Rfdtn w/ lg. living room, hdwd floors, giant yard. $900/mo. 2BR/1BA duplex in Rfdtn. $450/mo. 625-5554

CALL TODAY

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, FRIDAY, February 19, 2010 — 17 NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having qualified as Ancillary Administrator of the Estate of Lewis Hines a/k/a Louis Hines, deceased, late of Union County, New Jersey, this is to notify all persons, firms and corporations having claims against said estate to present them, duly verified, to Shermetta Watkins, 5925 Prescott Ct., Charlotte, NC 28269 and/or c/o Joseph B. Henninger, Jr., Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman, 6832 Morrison Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina 28211, on or before the 12th day of May, 2010 or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate settlement with the undersigned.

Having qualified as Co-Administrator CTA of the estate of ALICE AVANT GREENE of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said ALICE AVANT GREENE to present them to the undersigned on or before the 19th day of May, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.

All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 19th day of February, 2010.

Robert Michael Newton, Co-Administrator CTA 117 Carver Lane Forest City, NC 28043

This the 12th day of February, 2010.

Todd Avant Newton, Co-Administrator CTA 516 Smith Grove Road Forest City, NC 28043

Shermetta Watkins Ancillary Administrator

North Carolina, Rutherford County

Homes

Mobile Homes

Business

Help Wanted

For Rent

For Sale

Services

3BR/2BA DW on 1/2 acre in Bostic Owner financing with down payment. $64,900 Call 657-4430

Overnight Nanny Max. stay 1 wk. Exc. ref’s. nannyservices2010@ gmail.com for info

We need part time RN’s for every other weekend. Apply in person at Fair Haven Nursing Home 149 Fairhaven Dr., Bostic, NC 28018

1, 2 & 3 BEDROOM

HOUSES & APTS. FOR RENT! $285/mo.-$750/mo.

Rentals Unlimited

245-7400 Homes For Rent or Sale 2BR/1BA Beautiful country cottage on 3.5 ac. on Hudlow Rd. $500/mo. 704-376-8081

For Rent

to Rent

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Tameko S. Mosely and wife, Sherry A. Mosely to Robert L. Mebane Atty At Law Trustee(s), which was dated October 28, 2004 and recorded on November 1, 2004 in Book 0813 at Page 0559, Rutherford County Registry, North Carolina.

3-4BR in nice area, preferably in RS Central district. $400$600/mo. 828-748-7581

Mobile Homes For Sale

Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Brock & Scott, PLLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on February 24, 2010 at 01:00PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Rutherford County, North Carolina, to wit: Situate, lying and being in Cool Springs Township, Rutherford County, North Carolina and lying Southeast of the intersection of West Haven Street with Franklin Street and being Lot No. 4 of the Frank Hall No. 2 Subdivision as shown on Plat Book 6, Page 142, and being the same property as that described in Deed Book 510, Page 184, and being described in accordance with a new plat of survey done by Professional Surveying Services dated 11-17-92 as follows. BEGINNING at a new iron pin located Southeast of the intersection of West Haven Street and Franklin Street, said beginning iron pin being located South 47 degrees 49 minutes East 33.5 feet from a manhole set in the centerline of the intersection of said street running thence from said beginning new iron pin along and with the Southern right of way edge of Franklin Street South 85 degrees 13 minutes 37 seconds East 100.00 feet to an existing iron pin, said pin marking the common Northernmost corner of Lot 4 and Lot 3; thence leaving the Southern right of way edge of Franklin Street and running along and with the Lot 3 boundary South 05 degrees 05 minutes 43 seconds West 206.39 feet to an existing iron pin located in the Bradshaw boundary, Deed Book 374, Page 696; thence leaving the Lot 3 boundary and running along and with the Bradshaw boundary North 85 degrees 12 minutes 37 seconds West 99.99 feet to an existing iron pin located on the Eastern right of way edge of West Haven Street; thence leaving the Bradshaw boundary and running along with the Eastern right of way of West Haven Street North 05 degrees 05 minutes 31 seconds East 206.36 feet to the point and place of BEGINNING and containing 0.47 acres, more or less. Tax Map 2482-32.

Being the same identical property conveyed by Charlie Ray Renfro and wife, Barbara H. Renfro, to Alphaeus M. Cornelius and wife, Dale Diane Cornelius, by deed dated June 29, 1999, and recorded in Deed Book 735 at Page 90, Rutherford County Registry. Being the same property as that described in Deed Book 800, Page 232, Rutherford County Registry.

Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as: 232 Westhaven Street, Forest City, NC 28043 Third party purchasers must pay the excise tax, and the court costs of Forty-Five Cents (45¢) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) pursuant to NCGS 7A-308(a)(1). A cash deposit (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance "AS IS WHERE IS." There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Tameko S. Mosely and wife, Sherry A. Mosely.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days' written notice to the landlord. The notice shall also state that upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Jeremy B. Wilkins, NCSB No. 32346, 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No. 09-10051-FC01, 665059 2/12, 02/19/2010

Single Wides, Double Wides and Modulars.

We’ve Got you covered!

Plus Receive $6,500 - $8,000 for purchasing a home.

Call 828-433-8455

Mobile Homes

Want NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 09 SP 593

Homes R Us

3BR/2BA in Rfdtn!

RENT TO OWN! Will Finance!

No Banks! Hurry!

You pay no lot rent, ins., taxes or interest!

Neg. $99 wk. + dep.

704-806-6686

One acre with a fixer-upper mobile home. Owner financing. 287-7038

(2) 2BR/1BA 1 near FC, 1 Harris, private lot. $75/week + $200 dep. Call 245-6312

DW with 8 acres $99,900 Owner financing w/down payment. 657-4430

Spring Time Specials!!

Spring is on the way.

Call 828-433-8412 and be in a new home by Spring. Use your Taxes as Down Payment Plus Get $6,500-$8,000 back to move in

3BR/2BA Mobile Home for sale or rent in park in Gilkey.

Call 429-6670 2BR/2BA on Taylor Rd. in Rfdtn. Washer/ dryer, stove, refrig. $350/mo. + $350 dep.

No pets. Call 287-2511

828-433-8412

Find what you are looking for in the Classifieds!

New listings every Tues.-Sun.

CARPENTER DESIGN, INC. 217 Belt Court, Rutherfordton, NC 28139 PALLET MANUFACTURER AND WOOD GRINDING APPLYING FOR NC AIR PERMIT MODIFICATION TO ALLOW THE ADDITION OF 1 GRINDER.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Executor of the estate of VIRGINIA P. WALKER of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said VIRGINIA P. WALKER to present them to the undersigned on or before the 19th day of May, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 19th day of February, 2010.

Cristina N. Byers, Executor 348 Leonard Lane Ellenboro, NC 28040

Daycare Harris/Shiloh area has openings for 1st & 2nd shift M-F. USDA equal opportunity provider and employer Call 245-8733

For Sale

Help Wanted

Freezer refrig. 17.6 cuft.

10 yrs. old, good. cond.

Claddaugh Home Care is now accepting applications for NC licensed CNA’s in the Rutherford/Marion areas. Must have valid NC driver’s license.

Hours vary according to assignment.

Contact 828-288-3833 Full time Small Engine

Tech Minimum 2 yrs. experience on 2 Cycle and 4 Cycle engines.

Computer skills needed. Benefits include: insurance, vacation, holiday pay and retirement plan.

Mail resume to: PO Box 1001 Forest City, NC 28043 Attn: Small Engine Tech

Heritage Classic Wovens, LLC has an immediate need for an experienced tie-in person. Weaving experience and Uster tie-in machine experience a plus.

Must be available to work any shift. We offer paid holidays and an excellent benefit package. Please apply in person at 155 Westerly Hills Dr. Forest City, NC 28043 Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm. No phone calls please. EOE. Full time Diesel Technician Minimum 2 yrs exp. Computer skills needed. Benefits include: Insurance, vacation, holiday pay & retirement plan.

Mail resume to: PO Box 1001 Forest City, NC 28043 Attn: Diesel Tech

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE TOWN OF RUTHERFORDTON The Town of Rutherfordton Board of Adjustment will hold a public hearing meeting on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. at Rutherfordton City Hall located at 129 North Main Street.

1. Request. The applicant, Rodney Russell is requesting a special use permit to use a building and property as a Pawn Shop and retail sales.

The property is located at 159 North Main Street and West Court Street.

Tax Map 50 Block 6 Lot 9. (Formerly Jim Bright’s car lot). This is a permitted use in a C-1 Downtown Shopping District.

2. Request. The applicant, Vic Ellenburg is requesting a special use permit to use a building and property as a Pawn Shop and retail sales.

The property is located at 440 Charlotte Road. Tax Map 97 Block 1 Lot 44. (Formerly Link Medical). This is a permitted use in a C-2 Highway Commercial District.

If you have any questions please call 828-287-9508.

Don Hutchins Zoning Administrator Town of Rutherfordton

2 Burial Plots Sunset Memorial Park, Mem. Garden 1, Lot 322.

Call 336-407-0468 General Electric Top

$100 obo 286-9736

Want To Buy

I PAY CASH FOR DIABETIC TEST STRIPS Up to $10 per 100 ct. Call Bob 828-577-4197

Trucks Parting Dodge trucks 73 & 74 360 fair and real good 318 engines Call 828-289-8990

Pets Boston Terrier Pups 8 wks old. 2 females & 1 male. $300 each Call 828-625-1579

Lost Male Gray & white cat with black stripes. Lost 1/26 on Brooks Rd. in Sunshine area. Family misses him! 429-0803

Found Black/brown Female Rottweiler with collar.

Found 2/13 Chase High school area.

Call Julie 245-5501

Yard Sales Gilbert Town Follow signs Sat. 8A-11A Vera Bradley, name brand girls clothes sizes 6, 7, 8, 10 winter and spring.

HUGE INDOOR 3 FAMILY 621 Long Branch Rd. (off Poors Ford) Sat. 7A-until Kids, adult, teen name brand clothes, toys, household & lots more!

HUGE YARD SALE Ellenboro: 680 Race Path Church Road Sat. 7A-til Household items, uniform scrubs all sizes and colors, tanning bed, kids toys and much more!

INDOOR MOVING SALE Rfdtn: 121 West 7th St. Sat. 7A-until Furniture, hunting, twin beds, toys, washer/dryer, clothes, household and more!

Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Feb 17th, 18th & 19th 8A-until Big variety and bake sale items. 397 Mt. Pleasant Ch. Rd., FC Rain/shine!

Yard sales are a great place to find a deal!

NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE’S FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY 09 SP 599 Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in that certain Deed of Trust, dated May 11, 2007, and recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Rutherford County, North Carolina, in Book 956 at Page 180, and because of default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness secured by said Deed of Trust and failure to do and perform the stipulations and agreements therein contained, and pursuant to demand of the Owner and Holder of the indebtedness secured by said Deed of Trust, the Substitute Trustee, Seth Mullinax, will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash the property therein described, to wit: See attached Exhibit A incorporated herein by reference.

EXHIBIT "A" Situate, lying and being in Chimney Rock Township, Rutherford, North Carolina being all of Lot #2 of the Breen/Esselink Minor Subdivision as shown on Plat duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Rutherford County, NC in Plat Book 27 at Page 111, to which reference is hereby made for more full and complete description.

Present Record Owner: James M. Betsill and Jessica P. Betsill The terms of said sale are that the real property hereinbefore described will be sold for cash to the highest bidder and that the undersigned may require the successful bidder at the sale to immediately deposit cash or a certified check in the amount of five (5%) percent of the last bid or $750.00, whichever is greater. Any successful bidder shall be required to tender the full balance purchase price so bid in cash or certified check at the time the Substitute Trustee tenders the bidder a Deed for the property, or attempts tender of such Deed. Should the successful bidder fail to pay the full balance of the purchase price bid, the bidder shall remain liable as provided in N.C.G.S. § 45-21.30(d) and (e). The owner and holder of the indebtedness secured by the Deed of Trust may make a credit bid.

The real property described in the attached Exhibit "A" will be sold subject to any and all superior liens, including taxes, special assessments, right-of-ways, and restrictions of record. The property, together will all buildings, fixtures and improvements thereon, is being sold "as is, where is" without warranty.

The Owner and Holder of the Note and Deed of Trust reserves the right to withdraw this Notice of Sale, without cause, until the date and time of final transfer of the property.

The sale will be held open for ten (10) days for upset bids as by law required.

Date and hour of sale: February 24, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.

Place of sale: Rutherford County Courthouse Steps, Rutherfordton, North Carolina.

This the 26th day of January, 2010.

By: /s/Seth Mullinax Seth Mullinax Substitute Trustee 450 Windswept Ridge Rd. Canton, NC 28716 POSTED BY: Marin DATE: 1/26/10

18 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, FRIDAY, February 19, 2010 North Carolina, Rutherford County

912.0000980 09-SP-587 NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 10 SP 3

Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Edward J. Barneman, Jr. and wife, Colleen G. Barneman to Western North Carolina Service Corporation Trustee(s), which was dated May 23, 2006 and recorded on June 6, 2006 in Book 902 at Page 501, Rutherford County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Brock & Scott, PLLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on February 24, 2010 at 01:00PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Rutherford County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING KNOWN AND DESIGNATED as Lot 32 (Revised) as shown on the Map entitled "Golden Valley Estates, Phase Two Revision of Lot 32 and Lot 33", as recorded in Plat Book 26, Page 178, in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Rutherford County, North Carolina, reference to which is hereby made for a more particular description.

Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as: 445 Mountain Lookout Drive, Bostic, NC 28018 Third party purchasers must pay the excise tax, and the court costs of Forty-Five Cents (45¢) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) pursuant to NCGS 7A-308(a)(1). A cash deposit (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance "AS IS WHERE IS." There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Edward J. Barneman, Jr. and wife Colleen G. Barneman.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days' written notice to the landlord. The notice shall also state that upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE'S FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER AND BY VIRTUE of the power and authority contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed and delivered by Katherine M. Ozburn and William B. Ozburn (wife and husband), dated October 18, 2005 and recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Rutherford County, North Carolina, recorded on October 20, 2005, in Book 866 at Page 564; and because of default in the payment of the indebtedness secured thereby and failure to carry out and perform the stipulations and agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the indebtedness secured by said Deed of Trust, the under-signed Substitute Trustee will place for sale, at public auction, to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at Rutherford County Courthouse, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, that parcel of land, including improvements thereon, situated, lying and being in the City of Rutherfordton, County of Rutherford, State of North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Situate lying and being in Green Hill Township, Rutherford County, North Carolina and being that 2.32 acre tract as shown on plat of survey done by Professional Surveying Services dated February 2, 2001 and recorded in Plat Book 22, Page 43, Rutherford County Registry, to which reference is hereby made for a more full and complete description.

Part of Deed Book 754, Page 772, Rutherford County Registry.

Tax Map 583-1-11.

Address of property: 727 Lattimore Road, Rutherfordton, NC 28139-0000 Present Record Owners: Katherine M. Ozburn and William B. Ozburn The terms of the sale are that the real property hereinbefore described will be sold for cash to the highest bidder. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. In the event that the Owner and Holder or its intended assignee is exempt from paying the same, the successful bidder shall be required to pay revenue stamps on the Trustee's Deed, and any Land Transfer Tax. The real property hereinabove described is being offered for sale "AS IS, WHERE IS" and will be sold subject to all superior liens, unpaid taxes, and special assessments. Other conditions will be announced at the sale. The sale will be held open for ten (10) days for upset bids as by law required.

If the Trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the Trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the Trustee, in his sole discretion, if he believes the challenge to have merit, may declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Additional Notice Where the Real Property is Residential With Less Than 15 Rental Units:

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days’ written notice to the landlord. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Jeremy B. Wilkins, NCSB No. 32346, 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No. 09-25535-FC01, 665058 2/12, 02/19/2010

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a bona fide lease or tenancy may have additional rights pursuant to Title VII of 5.896 - Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act which became effective on May 20, 2009.

North Carolina, Rutherford County NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE 10 SP 011 Under and by virtue of a Power of Sale contained in that certain Deed of Trust executed by Brian C Williams and Lori L Williams married to each other to Susan S. Barbour at McGuire, Wood & Bissette PA, Trustee(s), which was dated December 15, 2005 and recorded on December 16, 2005 in Book 876 at Page 663, Rutherford County Registry, North Carolina.

Default having been made in the payment of the note thereby secured by the said Deed of Trust and the undersigned, Brock & Scott, PLLC, having been substituted as Trustee in said Deed of Trust, and the holder of the note evidencing said indebtedness having directed that the Deed of Trust be foreclosed, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at the courthouse door of the county courthouse where the property is located, or the usual and customary location at the county courthouse for conducting the sale on March 3, 2010 at 01:00PM, and will sell to the highest bidder for cash the following described property situated in Rutherford County, North Carolina, to wit: BEING all of Lot 365 as shown on survey by R.L. Greene, PLS entitled "Greyrock Subdivision Phase 2B as recorded in Plat Book 26 at Page 123, said plat being one of a series of plats recorded in Plat Book 26, Page 119 through 123 of the Rutherford County, NC Registry, reference to said recorded plats being made for a more particular description of said Lot 365. TOGETHER WITH AND SUBJECT TO all easements, restrictions and rights of ways of record and a nonexclusive appurtenant easement for ingress, egress and regress is conveyed over and upon all private subdivision roads for GreyRock at Lake Lure as shown on the above-described plats and the plats for Phase 1A as shown on plats recorded in Plat Book 25, at Pages 188 through 192; Plats for Phase 1B as shown on plats recorded in Plat Book 25, at Pages 205 through 208 and Plats for Phase 2A as shown on plats recorded in Plat Book 26, at Pages 114 through 118 and to the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for GreyRock as recorded in Book 858, at Page 122 of the Rutherford County, NC Registry and also being recorded in Book 3827, page 764 of the Buncombe County, NC Registry. BEING a portion of that property conveyed to LR Buffalo Creek, LLC by deeds recorded in Deed Book 855, at Page 816 of the Rutherford County, NC Registry and as recorded in Deed Book 3793, at Page 665 of the Buncombe County, NC Registry.

Save and except any releases, deeds of release or prior conveyances of record.

Said property is commonly known as: Lot 365 on Buffalo Shoals Road, in Greyrock Subdivision, Lake Lure, NC 28746 Third party purchasers must pay the excise tax, and the court costs of Forty-Five Cents (45¢) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) pursuant to NCGS 7A-308(a)(1). A cash deposit (no personal checks) of five percent (5%) of the purchase price, or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, will be required at the time of the sale. Following the expiration of the statutory upset bid period, all the remaining amounts are immediately due and owing.

Said property to be offered pursuant to this Notice of Sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance "AS IS WHERE IS." There are no representations of warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at, or relating to the property being offered for sale. This sale is made subject to all prior liens, unpaid taxes, any unpaid land transfer taxes, special assessments, easements, rights of way, deeds of release, and any other encumbrances or exceptions of record. To the best of the knowledge and belief of the undersigned, the current owner(s) of the property is/are Brian Williams and wife, Lori Williams.

An Order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold. Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days' written notice to the landlord. The notice shall also state that upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

If the trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reasons of such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the confirmation of the sale and reinstatement of the loan without the knowledge of the trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge to have merit, may request the court to declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

Substitute Trustee Brock & Scott, PLLC Jeremy B. Wilkins, NCSB No. 32346 5431 Oleander Drive Suite 200 Wilmington, NC 28403 PHONE: (910) 392-4988 FAX: (910) 392-8587 File No. 09-25857-FC01, 666744 2/19, 02/26/2010

Dated: February 3, 2010 David A. Simpson, P.C. Substitute Trustee Attorney at Law Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC Attorneys for the Substitute Trustee 704-442-9500

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTH CAROLINA SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION RUTHERFORD COUNTY 10 sp 16 IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY RALPH J. JONES AND CORDELIA T. JONES DATED AUGUST 16, 2004 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 803 AT PAGE 679 IN THE RUTHERFORD COUNTY PUBLIC REGISTRY, NORTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF SALE Under and by virtue of the power and authority contained in the above-referenced deed of trust and because of default in the payment of the secured indebtedness and failure to perform the stipulation and agreements therein contained and, pursuant to demand of the owner and holder of the secured debt, the undersigned substitute trustee will expose for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at the county courthouse of said county at 1:00 PM on March 3, 2010 the following described real estate and any other improvements which may be situated thereon, in Rutherford County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows: Lying and being in Colfax Township, Rutherford County, N.C., and being a portion of the 9-1/2 acre tract as described in Deed recorded in Deed Book 602, page 533, Rutherford County Registry, and described hereinafter by metes and bounds according to survey by Lattimore & Peeler Surveying, D. Dobbins Lattimore, R.L.S., dated March 4, 1998, as follows: Lying on the North side of Campfield Church Road (State Road No. 1784), BEGINNING at a railroad spike in the center of Campfield Church Road, said beginning point being the northwest corner of the Hicks Toney and wife, Virginia Toney property as described in Deed recorded in Deed Book 334, Page 607, and from the beginning running thence with the line of Danny H. Toney Deed Book 625, Page 512, North 15 degrees 39 minutes 05 seconds West 216.70 feet to a set iron pin; thence South 86 degrees 09 minutes 22 seconds West 136.94 feet to a new iron pin; thence a new line South 15 degrees East 247.60 feet to a PK nail set in the centerline of Campfield Church Road; thence with the centerline of said road North 73 degrees 08 minutes 50 seconds East 136.88 feet to the point and place of BEGINNING, containing 0.722 acres according to survey referred to hereinabove.

And Being more commonly known as: 319 Campfield Church Rd, Ellenboro, NC 28040 The record owner(s) of the property, as reflected on the records of the Register of Deeds, is/are Ralph J. Jones and Cordelia T. Jones.

The property to be offered pursuant to this notice of sale is being offered for sale, transfer and conveyance "AS IS, WHERE IS." Neither the Trustee nor the holder of the note secured by the deed of trust, being foreclosed, nor the officers, directors, attorneys, employees, agents or authorized representative of either Trustee or the holder of the note make any representation or warranty relating to the title or any physical, environmental, health or safety conditions existing in, on, at or relating to the property being offered for sale. Any and all responsibilities or liabilities arising out of or in any way relating to any such condition expressly are disclaimed. This sale is made subject to all prior liens and encumbrances, and unpaid taxes and assessments including but not limited to any transfer tax associated with the foreclosure. A deposit of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), whichever is greater, is required and must be tendered in the form of certified funds at the time of the sale. This sale will be held open ten days for upset bids as required by law. Following the expiration of the statutory upset period, all remaining amounts are IMMEDIATELY DUE AND OWING. Failure to remit funds in a timely manner will result in a Declaration of Default and any deposit will be frozen pending the outcome of any re-sale.

SPECIAL NOTICE FOR LEASEHOLD TENANTS: If you are a tenant residing in the property, be advised that an Order for Possession of the property may be issued in favor of the purchaser.

Also, if your lease began or was renewed on or after October 1, 2007, be advised that you may terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. You may be liable for rent due under the agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

The date of this Notice is February 10, 2010.

Grady Ingle Substitute Trustee 8520 Cliff Cameron Drive, Suite 300 Charlotte, NC 28269 (704) 333-8107 http://shapiroattorneys.com/nc/ 09-121382

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— The

Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, Friday, February 19, 2010

Nation/world

NATO holds key roads around Taliban stronghold MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S.-led forces control the main roads and markets in the besieged Taliban stronghold of Marjah, a Marine general said Thursday, even as fighting raged elsewhere in the southern farming town.

Marines and Afghan soldiers encountered better-fortified Taliban positions and more skilled marksmen on the sixth day of the assault, indicating Taliban resistance in their logistics and opium-smuggling center was far from crushed. A British general said he expected it would take another month to secure the town.

NATO said four service members died Thursday, bringing the number of allied troops killed in the offensive to nine NATO troops and one Afghan soldier. The international coalition did not disclose their nationalities, but Britain’s Defense Ministry said two British soldiers were among the dead.

No precise figures on Taliban deaths have been released, but senior Marine officers say intelligence reports suggest more than 120 have died. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.

Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of U.S. Marines in Marjah, told The

ern Afghanistan, British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, told reporters in Washington via a video hookup that he expects it could take another 30 days to secure Marjah.

NATO has given no figures on civilian deaths since a count of 15 earlier in the offensive. Afghan rights groups have reported 19 dead. Since those figures were given, much of the fighting has shifted away from the heavily built-up area, where most civilians live.

Associated Press

U.S. Marines with NATO forces keep vigil as Marines and Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers setup a joint military base in north of Marjah, city of Helmand province, Thursday.

Associated Press that allied forces have taken control of the main roads, bridges and government centers in Marjah, a town of about 80,000 people located 360 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

“I’d say we control the spine” of the town, he said as he inspected the Marines’ front line in the north of the dusty, mud-brick town.

“We’re where we want to be.”

As Nicholson spoke, bursts of heavy machine-gun fire

in the near distance showed that insurgents still hold terrain about a half-mile (kilometer) away.

“Every day, there’s not a dramatic change, it’s steady,” he said, noting that fighting continues to erupt.

ing civilians.

Plans call for NATO to rush in a civilian administration, restore public services and pour in aid to try to win the loyalty of the population in preventing the Taliban from returning.

But stubborn Taliban resistance, coupled with restrictive rules on allies’ use of heavy weaponry when civilians may be at risk, have slowed the advance through the town. The NATO commander of troops in south-

The offensive in Marjah is the biggest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, and a test of President Barack Obama’s strategy for reversing the rise of the Taliban while protect-

The troops have to go to great lengths to distinguish insurgents from civilians.

Marines detained one man Thursday as he left a compound they had taken fire from. He had no weapon but a quick test found gunpowder residue on his hands — sufficient grounds to arrest him.

Soldiers tied the suspect’s hands behind his back and covered his face with a shawl while he sat cross-legged on the ground waiting to be hauled away.

Throughout Thursday, U.S. Marines pummeled insurgents with mortars, sniper fire and missiles as gunbattles intensified. Taliban fighters fired back with rocket-propelled grenades and rifles, some of the fire far more accurate than Marines have faced in other Afghan battles.

WHO: Add swine flu to regular vaccine LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization is recommending that swine flu be added to regular flu vaccines next season.

The swine flu pandemic virus, or H1N1, emerged too late last year to be added to the regular flu vaccine, and a separate vaccine was needed.

For this year’s northern hemisphere flu season, however, the two vaccines should be combined, WHO flu chief Keiji Fukuda said Thursday after the agency met this week to decide which strains should be recommended to

drug makers for vaccines.

But including protection against swine flu in the usual vaccine doesn’t mean the pandemic has ended. The WHO expects swine flu will remain a significant threat.

“The recommendation to put the (swine flu) virus into the vaccine for the fall and winter is really a separate issue from whether the pandemic is over,” Fukuda said.

Other experts agreed. “I wouldn’t write the obituary for H1N1 just yet,” said Michael Osterholm.

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