CMYK Ex’seeding’ expectations
Annual Relay for Life kick-off event
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Librarian receives Rotary Club award
Our Hometown, Page 2A
First lady Michelle Obama’s White House Garden is more than a plot of land. It’s also a soapbox to talk about obesity.
Public Records, Page 7A
Dems feel heat over Kennedy seat Opinion, Page 8A
Where to put the TV?
Webb boys, girls beat Warren County
Showcase, Page 1C
Sports, Page 1B
Real Estate, Page 1D
SUNDAY, January 17, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 15
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
$1.25
Vance ranks third in teen pregnancies Report for 2008 shows rate in county is almost double that of state By LUKE HORTON Daily Dispatch Editor
Daily Dispatch/AL WHELESS
HPD Officer of the Month Jeremy Pearce and Jax.
K-9 handler HPD Officer of the Month
Vance County’s teen pregnancy rate is almost double that of North Carolina, a report by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina says. Vance was ranked No. 3 in the state for teen pregnancies in 2008, the most recent year data is available. The county recorded
182 pregnancies in women ages 15-19, which equals 107.3 teen pregnancies per 1,000 15-19 yearolds. The state’s rate per 1,000 was 58.6. Granville County recorded 107 teen pregnancies and Warren County saw 36 teen pregnancies in 2008, according to the report. Vance’s state ranking is down from 2007, when 184 teen pregnancies occurred. The county was ranked No. 1 in the state in 2007,
and No. 2 in 2006. Tyrrell County and Edgecombe County came in a No. 1 and 2 on the list in 2008. Orange County had the lowest ranking with 15.8 pregnancies per 1,000. Fifty-one of Vance’s teen pregnancies were repeats, meaning the teenager had been pregnant before. The county also recorded three pregnancies to females ages 10-14. Amanda Barker, public health
officer for the Granville-Vance District Health Department, said several factors contribute to the county’s high rate. “A lot of that comes from poverty levels, education levels, unemployment — all of that puts teens at risk of becoming pregnant,” she said. “Although Vance’s teen pregnancy rate has decreased 18 percent since 1995, it has been an Please see PREGNANCIES, page 3A
She’s N.C.’s Exceptional Children’s Teacher
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Change is the only constant in life. Ask Jax, a 5-year-old Dutch Shepherd whose relatively new handler, Jeremy Pearce, is the Henderson Police Department’s Officer of the Month for December. Pearce was chosen to team up with the K-9 after his previous handler, Officer III T.W. Long, left the force last June. However, before that Please see OFFICER, page 3A
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-6B Celebrate. . . . . . . . 2-4C Books & Leisure . . . . 5C Light Side . . . . . . . 6-7C A to Z Kids. . . . . . . . . 8C Classifieds. . . . . . . 3-5D
Weather Today Rain likely
High: 49 Low: 35
Monday Partly cloudy
Daily Dispatch/Luke Horton
LEARNING TO LOVE LEARNING — It’s probably the most important subject that Ruby Booth, North Carolina’s Exceptional Children’s Teacher for 20092010, is teaching to her class at Pinkston Street Elementary School. Members of the Vance County Board of Education took time at their meeting Monday night to recognize the 57-year-old Kittrell resident for her accomplishment. This is Booth’s 10th year at Pinkston.
‘Big numbers’ for police budget Oxford retreat focuses on needs of city departments By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
High: 54 Low: 32
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson Hilda A. Ball, 83 Clifton Burwell, 50 Perry A. Faulkner Jr., 67 Oxford Christine M. Jones, 82 Jerry W. Wilson, 54 Zelma B. Wortham, 88 Warrenton Emma Lee Alston, 65
Obituaries, 4A
OXFORD — City Commission Public Safety Committee Chairman Howard Herring told Police Chief John Wolford to prepare a budget request for this coming fiscal year showing his department’s most pressing needs, including replacing aging patrol cars. “We can say we don’t have moneys for this or moneys for that, but, at some point, if we don’t keep up with our vehicle rotation, it’s going to cost us more down the road,” Herring said. Herring, stating his belief that public safety should be the top item when preparing the municipal budget, told Wolford, “From your desk, from this committee, you need to put forward what you need.”
“Yes-sir,” Wolford quickly replied. Herring’s remarks came near the end of an approximately 3 1/2-hour municipal governmental Herring retreat Thursday afternoon in which department heads made informational presentations to a City Commission that includes four new members. Wolford A yet-to-bescheduled session will focus on setting priorities. Wolford, in presenting the police department’s issues, said a department strategic plan dating back to 2007 included replacing vehicles. “If we followed it, we’d be in
pretty good shape, but we haven’t been able to do that from a funding point of view,” Wolford said. “So, when we get into this budget, you’re going to see some big numbers,” at least when the department’s request is presented, Wolford said. The commission will have to have the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 budget in place by July 1. Wolford additionally said he would like to see the police department have a succession plan for leadership and management. He said manpower and the need for volunteers always remains an issue at the department. The police station, which is at 204 E. McClanahan St., dates back to 1978 and has sinking spots, as evidenced by a decline in Please see OXFORD, page 6A
New Warren high school to be ready for opening in fall By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
WARRENTON — Innovation has been the hallmark of Warren County schools over the past few years. Now a visible sign of that innovation is being erected beside Highway 158 Bypass. It’s a new school to house the Warren New Tech High School, which was created a little more than two years ago. Showing little more than excavation and foundation footings as 2009 ended, it is expected to be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2010. When WNTHS began operation in the fall of 2007, it used “borrowed” space in the Warrenton campus of Vance-Granville Please see WARREN, page 10A