CMYK Embers burn slowly in N.C.
Schools to open two hours late
Alabama, Texas meet for BCS title
Opinion, Page 10A
Local News, Page 12A
Sports, Page 1B FRIDAY, January 8, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 7
(252) 436-2700
Arrest in area vehicle break-ins By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Law enforcement officers arrested a 24-year-old Henderson man on local felony charges Monday in connection with an area investigation of numerous vehicle breakins. Henderson Police charged Torrey Rossell Kersey of 458 Swain Drive Kersey with four counts of: Crime • Traffickalert, ing stolen Page 3A identifications. • Possession of stolen goods. • Financial transaction card theft. He was placed in the Vance County Jail in lieu of $230,000 secured bond, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 18 in Vance County District Court. The charges stemmed from a joint investigation by the police departments in Henderson, Raleigh and South Hill, Va. After serving a search warrant at Kersey’s residence on Oct. 28, detectives with the Henderson Police Department and the Vance County Sheriff’s Office discovered computer equipment and identity cards in the residence. As a result of the search, charges were also placed against Kersey in connection with eight cases of breaking-and-entering a motor vehicle in Wake County.
www.hendersondispatch.com
50 cents
Currins awarded custody of child Scott Morris declines to testify at hearing By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Full custody of the 6-year-old daughter of slain Granville County woman Kelly Currin Morris was granted Thursday to the woman’s father and stepmother. Chief District Judge Daniel Finch signed an order saying
Haley Morris could continue living with Pat and Juanita Currin. Finch acted after hearing testimony, including from the couple. Pat and Juanita Currin were temporarily granted custody of the girl Nov. 20, three days after the girl’s father, Scott, was booked and jailed without bond on a charge of first-degree murder of Kelly Currin Morris, who had
been missing since Sept. 3, 2008. The couple had obtained emergency custody of the child before Scott Morris was picked up by law enforcement officers. Morris Scott Morris, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, was present for Thursday’s hearing and was called to the stand by Pat and Juanita Currin’s attorney, Tom Currin. Scott
Morris, acting on the advice of his attorney, Jerry Clayton, declined to testify. Scott Morris cited his constitutional right not to answer questions because any responses might tend to incriminate him. Haley Morris was not in the courtroom. Tom Currin’s first witness was Juanita Currin, 52, who is a registered nurse and who is director of surgical services at Duke RaPlease see CURRIN, page 12A
Third annual ‘Dream on Drafting’
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Designs by Northern Vance High School drafting students Adam Daeke, Aaron Daeke, Andy Goodwin and Josh Ball of a 1952 Corbitt truck hang in McGregor Hall along with a photograph of a 1952 Corbitt truck during the “Dream on Drafting” show Thursday evening. The third annual show highlights work by students in the school’s drafting program. During the show, the school’s Jazz Band performed and refreshments were served. To view or purchase photos, visit us on the Web at www.hendersondispatch.com.
Contact the writer at awheless@hendersondispatch.com.
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . 10A Light Side . . . . . . . . 11A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8B
Weather Today Mostly sunny
High: 32 Low: 18
Saturday Mostly sunny
High: 33 Low: 16
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson Tommie Anderson Jr., 51 Clifton L. Bennett, 43 Percella J. Campbell, 92 Dorothy B. Floyd, 83 Judge E. Hargrove, 62 Rome, Ga. Paul B. Hoyle, 55 Warren County Reverend W. Edwards, 81 Warrenton Rodger Arrington, 81 Sarah F. Neal, 64
Obituaries, 4A
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Northern Vance drafting student Katie Childers, left, talk about her project “Winter Approach” with Ken Roll during the “Dream on Drafting” show in McGregor Hall at the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library Thursday evening. To view or purchase photos, visit us on the Web at www.hendersondispatch.com.
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
A catapult design created by Northern Vance drafting student Geno Bulluck was on display during the “Dream on Drafting” show in McGregor Hall at the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library Thursday evening. To view or purchase photos, visit us on the Web at www.hendersondispatch.com.
Lone speaker, GHS chief, boosts hospital upgrade By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Granville Health System Chief Executive Officer Lee Isley said the hospital at Oxford needs at least a $20 million expansion and upgrade in part because the emergency room is too small to meet today’s demands. “Over the last three years, we’ve increased our volume in the emergency department from
14,000 to over 18,000 patients,” Isley said. The emergency room, which dates back to 1985, was built to serve approximately 8,000 patients, Isley Isley said. Granville Health System wants to increase the emergency department from 3,200 square feet to 18,000 square feet and from five beds to 14 beds. The expansion
and upgrade would include having four observation beds, Isley added. And plans call for expanding the lobby, the laboratory and surgical services, Isley said. Plans additionally call for a new central energy plant building. Isley was the lone speaker during a Monday evening comment period of the County Commission meeting, with the comment period regarding the overall idea of the county financing $13.5 mil-
lion for the project. County Manager Brian Alligood told the commissioners that the county had not yet received a financing proposal and that plans called for meeting with the Local Government Commission (LGC). The LGC is staffed by the state treasurer’s office and has helped cities and counties with their finances since the Great Depression. Please see GHS, page 8A
Longest-serving N.C. lawmaker indicted in shooting By EMERY P. DALESIO Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s longest-serving lawmaker was indicted Thursday on a charge of shooting a former client authorities said kicked in the front door of the lawmaker’s home last summer. A grand jury on Thursday indicted state Sen. R.C. Soles,
D-Columbus, on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. The indictment alleges Soles “unlawfully, willfully and feloni- Soles ously” shot Thomas Kyle Blackburn with a handgun on Aug. 23. Authorities have said Soles, 75,
shot Blackburn after two intruders kicked in the front door of the lawmaker’s secluded Tabor City home. Blackburn, 22, wasn’t badly hurt. Soles did not return a call seeking comment Thursday. His attorney, Joe Cheshire, said Soles “was acting in defense of himself and his home” when he shot Blackburn. The felony charge carries a
maximum of two years and seven months in prison if a defendant has no prior criminal record. The state constitution would disqualify Soles from public office if he is convicted of the felony. Soles is a Democrat who represents Columbus, Brunswick and Pender counties and has spent 41 years in the General Assembly, Please see SOLES, page 8A