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HOOPS: Vanguards fall to Louisburg In Sports
TUESDAY, February 16, 2010
Volume XCVI, No. 39
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
50 cents
City wants equal share
GRANVILLE COUNTY
Needs continue despite lean times Dept. heads give long list of needs for 2010 By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
for 2008. Winston said the reason for the change is the city wrote off approximately $800,000 in old debt for assets taken out of the former wastewater treatment plant. Expenditures were $11 million for 2009 compared to $12.7 million in 2008. Winston said 22 percent of sewer and water expenses for 2009 resulted from
OXFORD — Although Granville County’s government continues to operate on a tight budget and is facing another dismal financial picture, the needs of the department heads continue. Sheriff Brin Wilkins has a list of needs that includes a new jail control switch panel at an estimated cost of $30,000. Wilkins Wilkins said that the jail recently received a high rating from an outside inspector, but the inspector said the panel must be replaced. Additionally, Wilkins said he needs 16 cameras at a cost of about $12,000 so the surveillance equipment in the older part of the county’s lockup will be up to par with the newer section. At the jail, “We have a bunch of overtime expense” because someone is out or someone quits, Wilkins said. “We need to really to add about $10,000 to that budget just for the jail to cover overtime there due to this,” Wilkins said. Wilkins made his statement this past weekend at the twoday annual County Commission retreat. Wilkins additionally said his department is going to need 10 new cars, along with storage room for documents and evidence. Across the street at the county’s judicial center, plans are to have a single, storefront entrance, with a manned metal detector. “I need eight men to help do the work at the courthouse because we’re running part-time men in the court system right now,” Wilkins said. Of the bailiffs, Wilkins said
Please see AUDIT, page 3A
Please see GRANVILLE, page 3A
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Henderson City Councilwomen Sara Coffey and Mary Emma Evans listen as City Manager Ray Griffin discusses joint funding Monday evening.
Council wants 50/50 split with county on ABC revenues, recreation and parks By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
The City Council on Monday evening agreed Vance County should contribute significantly more to the funding of joint projects and programs. The major proposal calls for changing the share from Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) revenues from the current 85 percent county/15 percent city ratio. The council agreed on a 50-50 amount for negotiation. Councilwoman Sara Coffey took the lead on the ABC matter, continuing to emphasize the Police Department
responds to calls at the new liquor store, which is off South Beckford Drive. Coffey, citing figures from other counties, said, “We’re getting about the lowest percentage.” Coffey said that Granville County gets 58 percent, followed by Oxford at 28 percent, Creedmoor at 10 percent, Stem at 2 percent and Stovall at 2 percent. And Coffey said that Person County gets 70 percent while Roxboro gets 30 percent. Councilman Garry Daeke proposed the 50-50. Coffey agreed, saying, “I mean, it’s just a lot of things that are in our favor right now that maybe wasn’t to begin with.”
Additionally, the council, as put on the table by Mayor Pro Tem Lonnie Davis, recommended changing the 55 percent city/45 percent county ratio for operating recreation and parks to a 50-50 split. The council has been discussing the joint funding matter since late last month. The city’s and the county’s intergovernmental affairs committees discussed the subject in detail on Thursday. Although a 78 percent county/22 percent city cost for non-municipal elections has not gotten much discussion, Councilman Michael Inscoe suggested scrapping Please see FUNDING, page 4A
Oxford gets clean audit for FY 2008-09 By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — The City Commission received a clean audit and words of praise from the local accountant who prepared the document for Fiscal Year 2008-09. Given the weak national economy, “I think the city did a good job of managing through that,” Jim Winston said. “I mean, it’s been a tough 18 months,”
Winston said, adding he believes there’s still a bit “of toughness left coming” before the situation settles. “We’re holding on our own,” Winston also said of tax collection rates. Oxford again received a certificate of excellence in financial reporting, which is awarded to only 3 percent of the governments in the U.S. and Canada. Oxford’s revenues were $11.76 million for 2009 compared to nearly $11.87 million
‘TO SAVE A LIFE’
theater bringing faith-based movie to town By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
The faith-based, teen movie “To Save a Life” is coming to Marketplace Cinema Friday and continuing through March 4. The film focuses on issues that many teenagers encounter in their high school lives, including problems related to in-groups and outsiders. It also includes what few — but still too many — teenagers experience in school: suicide of a classmate.
The movie’s plot focuses on athlete Jake Taylor, who seemingly has it all — a basketball scholarship, good looks, a cheerleader girlfriend and hangs with the in-crowd. But when a loner, an old friend from his past, shoots himself at school, his world is turned upside down and he seeks answers on how he could have made a difference. “To Save a Life” is meant to appeal to a wide audience. Which is part of the reason that the filmmakers aren’t making
too much of the fact that it is a faith-based film. “The real message of this film is to try and offer help to people that are in trouble,” Josh Weigel, who plays the role of a youth pastor in the film, said in a Los Angeles Times interview. “I don’t know what that kind of movie is called, movie with a purpose, a positive film, inspirational or redemptive film. It doesn’t really matter.” Marketplace Cinema General Manager Nancy Jo Smith said
the movie theater hopes to attract sponsorships from youth groups, churches and other organizations — both to spread the message contained in the film but also to give those groups an opportunity to raise funds for their activities. A sponsoring organization will receive 10 percent of ticket sales when a moviegoer mentions the organization before buying a ticket. The ticket price for all customPlease see MOVIE, page 3A
>> INSIDE TODAY <<
Index
Weather
Deaths
Our Hometown. . . . . . . . . . . . 2A Quick Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8B
Today
Henderson Mildred W. Johnson, 86 Raleigh Elizabeth F. Miravalle, 93 Silver Spring, Md. Carl Stevenson, 57
Sunny
High: 40, Low: 22
Wednesday
Sunny
High: 43, Low: 24
Details, 3A
Warrenton Vaughan Miami
Viola B. St. Sing
Louida M. Lee, 52 Ida L. Williams, 66
Obituaries, 4A
HUSBAND: PROF WENT TO RANGE BEFORE CAMPUS SHOOTING Page 8A