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Why not liquor reform? Why not now?
S.V.’s Terry makes ‘Extra Effort’
Spry magazine — Inside Today
Opinion, Page 8A
Sports, Page 1B
Celebrating the vitality in all of us THURSDAY, January 14, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 12
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50 cents
Plant to be ready by summer
Candidate for sheriff Shalag ramping up in Granville in Granville By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Oxford policeman throws hat in ring By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Police Lt. Floyd Griffin is a candidate for Granville County sheriff. Griffin, 51, a Democrat, has been with the police department for more than 22 years. Griffin will face incumbent Brin Wilkins, Griffin 49, also a Democrat, in the May 4 primary. Griffin, when asked by the newspaper why he decided to run for sheriff, said that, “I’ve been thinking about it a good little while” and that he made the decision in August. Griffin said he believes that the sheriff’s department “needs a little more leadership” and that “I’m a qualified candidate to move the department forward.” Griffin said in prepared remarks that, if elected, he will incorporate an open policy administration with management by objectives and a high level of ethics. Griffin said he believes that, in the long term, given the space needs at the police department and at the sheriff’s department, consideration should be given to looking at constructing a public safety building to house both departments. Please see SHERIFF, page 4A
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8B
Weather Today Sunny
High: 53 Low: 29
Friday Mostly sunny
High: 57 Low: 30
Details, 3A
Deaths Oxford James G. Burnette Willie L. Winston Sr., 68 Philadelphia, Pa. Henderson Wilson, 70 Warren County Arcola A.C. Dunston, 95 Warrenton Willie J. Richardson, 97 Youngsville James R. Ross Jr., 40
Obituaries, 4A
OXFORD — Representatives of Shalag Industries will be in Oxford next week to begin transitioning the company’s future Granville County location to a manufacturing plant, County Economic Development Director Jay Tilley said. The Israeli-based Shalag hopes to be operational by early summer, Tilley said. “That’s a very aggressive timetable, but these are very aggressive people and I
suspect they’ll do it,” Tilley said. Tilley gave the update Tuesday evening as part of his quarterly report to Oxford Mayor Al Woodlief and the City Commission. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Oct. 12 announced Shalag’s intention to open a first-ever U.S. plant at 917 Oxford Loop Road S.E., which is just east of the Oxford city limits and near the Interstate 85/U.S. 158 interchange. The Granville County location was the warehousing portion of the adjacent former Lenox China plant. More recently, Santa Fe
Natural Tobacco Co. had been using the building to store tobacco. The Shalag plant will employ 42 persons. Shalag is a supTilley plier of non-woven fabrics in the hygiene and sanitary wipes markets. The fabric is used in the production of dry and wet wipes, diapers and personal hygiene products. In Granville County, the fibers will be thermo-bonded into non-woven fabric. Mayor Pro Tem Howard Herring asked Tilley when he
Celebrating the life of Dr. King
believed the community should know the kinds of employment credentials required to work for Shalag. Tilley said Shalag representatives will be meeting with Monica Satterwhite, who directs the local Employment Security Commission Office, and probably will be meeting with a couple of contract employer representatives. Tilley said information should be available after Tuesday. Tilley said Shalag representatives will be meeting with VanceGranville Community College to begin the process of setting up training opportunities. Please see SHALAG, page 5A
Oxford OKs ‘ridiculous’ license tax Cyber sweepstakes machines: $500 each By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Michael Stevenson, VGCC music instructor and MLK Choir director, plays his saxophone Wednesday morning while the choir performs during the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Celebration at the college. A listing of other King Day events will appear in The Daily Dispatch on Friday.
Student ‘greatly encouraged’ by late civil rights leader By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Four competitors in a speech contest told a holiday-celebrating audience at Vance-Granville Community College Wednesday “What The Legacy Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Means To Me.” About 250 people packed an auditorium in the Civic Center to hear the winner, Shirlecia Hunt, say: “Dr. King’s determination, wisdom, courage and strength to do the impossible have greatly encouraged me.” Hunt, one of three contestants enrolled in the High School-Early College on the Warren Campus of VGCC, said King’s qualities have “taught me to always go for my dreams, no matter how big.” His legacy, Hunt added, “has taught me to look at people for
what’s on the inside and not on the out.” She said King’s words — “Faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future” — Hunt stick with her each and every day. ONLINE “When I think Shirlecia Hunt’s that I am unable MLK speech to do something, I will face my fears with courage,” Hunt said. “I will always remember the greatness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and how he has impacted my life, Cooper and yours.” For her effort, Hunt won $100. Michael-Jamal Cooper received $75 for second place. Third place
went to Bryon Hoadley, who won $50. Like Hunt, both are sophomores at the High School-Early College on the Warren campus. Calvin Boyd, a student in the Electrical/Electronics Technology Program on the main VGCC campus, received $50 for fourth place. The holiday celebration event in the Civic Center was sponsored by VGCC’s Global Awareness Committee. The judges for the speech contest were: • Leo Kelly, a retired dean of Adult Basic Education at VanceGranville. • Kelly Hundley, a Workforce Program monitor with the KerrTar Council of Governments. • Reverend Phillip Betts, who Please see KING, page 3A
Oxford man unhurt in Haiti earthquake Former police officer, Durham deputy now a police adviser By NEIL OFFEN The (Durham) Herald-Sun
OXFORD — A former longtime deputy with the Durham County Sheriff’s Office working in Haiti was unhurt in Tuesday’s devastating earthquake. The ex-deputy, William Black of Oxford, quickly jumped into relief mode, aiding the injured. “I am OK. I am not hurt and the phones and Internet have been down,” wrote Black in an e-mail to The Herald-Sun at 12:16 p.m. Wednesday. Black, also a former member of the Oxford Police Department who
has been working since February with the U.N. Mission to Stabilize Haiti, wrote that “I treated about 60 people where I lived with five different med kits and finally ran out at 1 a.m.” on Wednesday. He said he spent the rest of the night in the road in front of the hotel where he stayed. “Now I am stationed at the U.N. Log Base,” Black wrote. “We have a large host of international police and local Haitians” there. Black worked as a deputy with the sheriff’s office from 1986-1999 and again from 2002-2004. He worked with the Oxford Police
Department from 2000-2001. In Haiti, he is a police adviser at the Haitian National Police Academy, mentoring and teaching practical democratic policing skills to Haitian police and training Haitian police assigned to the Emergency Medical Corp in basic first aid and life-saving skills, among other duties, according to Black’s Web site, www.visualcv. com/wblack9071. Black has previously worked as a police adviser to U.N. missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Sudan, as well as with U.S. State Department anti-narcotics units in Baghdad from 2004-06.
OXFORD — The City Commission voted 6-1 to tax cyber sweepstakes machines in Oxford. The commission majority’s action came Tuesday evening after a dissent by a local businesswoman, Joetta Harb. She called the new annual $500 privilege license requirement per machine “ridiculous.” Harb “It don’t make any sense, Mr. Utility rates (Mayor Al )Woodincreased, lief. It really, rePage 5A ally don’t. It don’t,” Harb said. Harb called the $500 a “fine,” prompting Woodlief to correct her. “I hate it, but what can I do about it?” Harb, 48, said after the vote. “Oxford has nothing right now” compared to surrounding counties, including Vance, Harb said, noting the lack of a movie theater Please see OXFORD, page 4A
Men’s shelter opens Friday By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
A homeless shelter for men will open Friday in Henderson, according to Joel Rice, housing coordinator for Five-county Mental Health Authority, who has coordinated preparation of the shelter. The shelter occupies space in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church, which is located between Young Street and Church Street in Henderson. Entry to the shelter is from Church Street. Volunteers will direct interested individuals to the shelter entrance. Men seeking shelter for the night should register between 5:30 and 7 p.m. on Friday. The doors will close at 7. Occupants of the shelter will be required to leave by 6:30 a.m. the next day. Plans call for the shelter to continue to accept men for overnight stays for the foreseeable future. Contact the writer at dirvine@hendersondispatch.com.