CMYK Northern, Webb in hoops battle
Cokesbury Methodist publishes cookbook
American Profile magazine
Sports, Page 1B
Faith, Page 1C
Inside Today SATURDAY, January 23, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 19
(252) 436-2700
911 call leads to arrest See suspicious activity? Then notify police By DISPATCH STAFF
A 911 call led to the arrest Thursday of a Henderson man on a felony breaking and entering charge. Henderson police said that Freddaire Hargrove, 20, of 507 Hillside Hargrove Ave. is being held in the Vance County jail on a secured $10,000 bond in connection with the crime. The caller reported seeing a man break into the residence at 657 Charles St. around 7:34 a.m., police said. On arrival, officers saw a man running down Cherry Street removing items of clothing. After a short foot chase, the man was apprehended. Hargrove’s court date is Feb. 8. Henderson police encourage citizens to call 911 when they see suspicious activity in their communities. Callers may remain anonymous. Send comments to news@ hendersondispatch.com.
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4C Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5C Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8C
Weather Today Partly cloudy
High: 46 Low: 37
Sunday Showers likely High: 60 Low: 51
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson James A. House, 85 Sarah T. Pugh, 78 Vinso Small, 68 Kittrell James E. Winstead, 68 Oxford Evelyn W. Thompson, 78 Stem Mary S. Bowling, 84 Warrenton Edward Seward, 38 Lucille H. Thompson, 88
Obituaries, 4A
www.hendersondispatch.com
50 cents
Sheriff: Over $60,000 in bank bag Cash, checks make up tax office receipts missing since Dec. 17 By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
Vance County Sheriff Peter White on Friday released additional information about a missing bank deposit bag containing receipts from the County Tax Office. In response to questions asked by The Daily Dispatch, the press release from the sheriff’s department stated: • The total amount of funds missing is $60,607.61, which
includes $7,854.65 in cash and $52,752.96 in checks. • A particular county employee, not identified by name, has served for many years as Vance the courier to hires tax deposit county administrator, funds. Page 3A • No one has been disciplined or fired as a result of the disappearance of the deposit bag, due to the ongoing investigation and facts yet to be determined.
• After the loss was discovered, security measures were immediately implemented to prevent future losses. These funds are now transported accompanied by armed security, identified as deputies. The press release states: “No other security measures can be disclosed because of safety concerns.” White indicated that additional information will be released to the extent possible as the investigation progresses.
The deposit bag was first suspected to be missing on Dec. 17, according to Vance County Manager Jerry Ayscue. It was reported to the sheriff’s department on Dec. 28. The investigation has involved questioning and administering polygraph tests to a number of people. The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation. Contact the writer at dirvine@hendersondispatch.com.
The great snowstorm: 10 years later
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
A group of people use their feet to travel to a nearby convenience store as a trio of sport utility vehicles approaches in this Jan. 25, 2000, file photo. Weather forecasts on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2000, predicted a few snow flurries, but when Vance County residents awoke on that Wednesday, they found 17 inches of snow crippling the community for weeks.
Area expected flurries, not waking up to nearly two feet By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
S
unday marks the 10th anniversary of what some Henderson residents call “the great snowstorm.” No need to say more to long-time residents. They know exactly what you’re talking about. It was that last week of January 2000. The total snowfall of 20.3 inches at Raleigh-Durham airport for the night of Jan. 24-25 set a record for the most accumulation in a single storm, as well as a record for monthly accumulation. It was only the fourth time since the middle of the 20th Century that a single snowfall at RDU exceeded 10 inches. Snowfall in Henderson was reported at the time as at least 17 inches. Vance County Emergency Management Director Brian Short said the official total
finally amounted to 22 inches. Whatever the exact amount, activity in the area skidded to a stop. Vance County had been teased with a light snowfall, sleet and freezing rain the week before. Even as the snow clouds were forming for the big one, school officials were considering how to make up the two days already lost to the weather. Their plans soon had to be modified significantly. The great snowstorm began during the afternoon of Jan. 24 and continued through the night. The heaviest snowfall amounts occurred in a strip along the North Carolina piedmont that stretched from Anson County east of Charlotte and extended northeast through Wake County and Vance County into Virginia.
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
A city employee uses a front end loader to clean Garnett Please see SNOWSTORM, page 3A Street at Breckenridge Street in this Jan. 25, 2000, file photo.
Vance in line for federal rural development funds By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
The Henderson-based Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments will receive $119,942 in federal funding to expand rural and community development in Vance County. U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, who made the announcement Friday afternoon, said Kerr-Tar was among 43 recipients in 27 states selected to receive part of more than $4 million in grants. The funding is being provided by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program. The program helps finance new and existing businesses, as well as employment-related adult Etheridge education programs. Such funds can be used for start-up and working capital loans, building and plant renovations, transportation improvements, project planning and other business needs. “These loans mean jobs in our communities and are lifesavers
for local and rural businesses,” Etheridge said. “This announcement is good news for Vance County and puts USDA funds into communities that need them,” the congressman said Etheridge said the funding was authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the Obama administration’s stimulus program to help boost the weak national economy. Etheridge, 68, is a Democrat from Lillington who was first elected to Congress in 1996. He
represents most of the southern part of Vance County. Kerr-Tar, 1724 Graham Ave., is one of 17 regional planning and development agencies in North Carolina that administer federal programs and grants and help local governments identify and meet needs that improve the quality of life. Kerr-Tar is governed by local government members in Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person counties. Contact the writer at bwest@hendersondispatch.com.