CMYK Sotomayor takes oath for Supreme Court What should Oxford look like in decade?
Tiger surges, still trails Harrington
Nation, Page 7A
Local News, Page 8A
Sports, Page 1B
Protecting your dog’s immune system
Indoor glamour comes to great outdoors
Back-to-school special section
Showcase, Page 1C
Real Estate, Page 1D
Inside Today SUNDAY, August 9, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 185
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
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Weekly School board wishes criminal acts paid more garbage pick-up By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Oxford eyes cutting service to save money By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — A proposal to cut the cost of residential garbage service in Oxford and save $100,000 remains in the works, but the details are beginning to come more into focus. The main change would Cantley be to reduce garbage pickup service from twice weekly to once weekly and to have recycling as a trade-off. “Eventually, this city needs to do the right thing as far as recycling is concerned,” Commission Public Works Committee member Walter Cantley said at a Friday morning committee meeting. “And we’re going to have to do it, whether we want to do it or not, sooner or later,” Cantley said. City Manager Mark Donham at a committee meeting in June agreed to look into the matter.
Members of the Vance County Board of Education wish that finding, convicting and punishing criminals would pay more. There were some on the board who recently questioned whether the strapped-for-cash school system is entitled to more fines and forfeitures than it is getting from the courts and law enforcement agencies, especially concerning drug cases, and federal involvement in them. The school system received
Members wonder if county is getting all of its share of fines and forfeiture money from law enforcement
fines and forfeitures from Vance County and the City of Henderson in the following amounts in these fiscal years: • 2006-2007 — $472,693 from the County and $3,990 from the City. • 2007-2008 — $469,160 from the County and $4,360 from the City. • 2008-2009 — $438,963 from the County and $1,067 from the City.
During a June 26 meeting called to approve an interim operating budget, some of the school board members also talked about the Henderson Police Department, which has been conducting drug interdiction stops on Interstate 85, and the Sheriff’s Office, which has also been involved in various drug investigations in the County. Some of the board members thought the Henderson Police De-
partment was involving U.S. law enforcement agencies in I-85 drug cases so that federal laws would keep any related, seized property and funds from going to the local public schools. Also discussed in the board session was whether Vance County Schools receive all the fines and forfeitures the district is entitled to from the State courts. During the overall conversation, when someone asked whether the board could sue somebody if warranted, its attorney, Jerry
Please see SCHOOL BOARD, page 3A
Piranha kin caught in Kerr Lake Sewer upgrades,
radios for firemen in LEAF request Funding application on Henderson City Council agenda By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
The Henderson City Council will consider ratifying an application for funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation to help pay for sewer infrastructure upgrades and to purchase new two-way communications equipment for the Fire Department. Documents attached the council’s 7 p.m. Monday agenda show the municipal administration Please see OXFORD, page 6A is asking for a total of $942,214 from the Rocky Mount-based non-profit organization. According to the City Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Council’s agenda, there is Business & Farm. . . . 5A a request of $500,000 to Submitted photo Opinion . . . . . . . . . . 10A help pay for replacing the Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-6B ultraviolet lighting system Showcase. . . . . . . . . 1C While visiting relatives last Sunday, Jennifer Ragan of New Haven, Conn., caught this pacu, at the water reclamation Celebrate. . . . . . . . 2-4C a close relative of the piranha, around docks near Cedar Cove Road at Lake Kerr. The fish plant off N.C. 39 just north of Henderson. Light Side . . . . . . . 6-7C weighs nearly five pounds. Gov. Beverly Perdue A to Z Kids. . . . . . . . . 8C pulled back $1.5 million Real Estate . . . . . . 1-2D in environmental funds to Classifieds. . . . . . . 3-5D New Haven, Conn., reeled the water with a glove. Henderson to instead help By MEGAN REAVIS in the latest pacu on July Describing Ragan’s reacDaily Dispatch Writer close massive gaps in the 24 with help from her tion to the fish as excited, state budget and the city brother-in-law, Brian Neyhe says this was her first Fresh water catches has been unable to obtain Today lon, who lives on Cedar time fishing. Ragan, along federal American Recovery on Kerr Lake like large with Neylon and other mouth bass and catfish are Cove Road. and Reinvestment Act of Hot “I thought it was a family members went fish2009 funds. being joined by piranhas. High: 96 The city does have a turtle at first,” said Neying again that following In the last month, two Low: 70 $500,000 grant from the lon. “When it came closer evening. pacu fish, a close, harmN.C. Rural Center to help to the surface, I said ‘it’s “I think she’s a fisherless relative of piranhas, Monday one of those fish.’” man for life,” Neylon said. pay for this project along have been caught around with rehabilitation of Neylon says he pinned Ragan’s nearly five docks near Cedar Cove sewer mains. the fish against the dock Road in Henderson. Scorcher Please see PIRANHA, page 6A The city additionally and then lifted it out of Jennifer Ragan from
Index
Conn. woman landed fish with hot dog bait
Weather
High: 100 Low: 73
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson Marjorie J. Finch Stem Stephen J. Willis Sr., 56 Stovall Willie S. Cutts Warrenton Erman J. Edmonds
Obituaries, 4A
is looking at alternatives such as funding from the federal Department of Agriculture. Ultraviolet light is a disinfecting method for destroying disease-causing organisms in the effluent at a wastewater treatment plant. City officials say the ultraviolet lighting system has been beset by electrical failures, fires, leaks, outages and repair difficulties for years and cannot properly disinfect peak flows. Officials say the total project cost is nearly $1.95 million. There is a request of least $250,000 to cover a cost in the same amount for the sanitary sewer replacement project. And the city will be applying for additional funds from the Department of Agriculture and the Rural Center. Henderson is under a special order of consent with the state to reduce inflow and infiltration of lines, with city officials noting that failure to correct the problems could lead to both the state not allowing additional tap ons within the Sandy Creek Basin and a detrimental effect by hindering economic development. This project would consist of rehabilitating manholes, along with the replacement or repairs of mains. City officials said most of the mains are made of terracotta pipe, with numerous joints having become cracked or misPlease see AGENDA, page 6A
More than management woes plague HealthCo Poor handling of finances alleged; lawsuit for failing in pension plan payments By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
MANSON — The HealthCo health services complex in Soul City is closed temporarily. A notice posted at the facility explains that the operation is in “transition.” Dental services were inter-
rupted several months ago. Now, the entire operation has been suspended. Patients calling for information were greeted by an eardrum-piercing ring, followed by a recorded message, “You have reached a number that his been disconnected or is not in service.” HealthCo, part of Vance-Warren Comprehensive Health Plan Inc., is located at 986 MansonAxtell Road. It has provided medical, dental and related services to residents of Warren County and Vance County since 1972. Ernest C. Terry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VWCHP,
told The Daily Dispatch that the facility will remain closed until the board can find new management. Patients were given an opportunity to pick up their records during the last week in July so that they could obtain medical services elsewhere. But HealthCo’s closure may be due to more than a simple transition in management. Last year the organization lost funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. Federal funding had made up a major portion of HealthCo’s budget since 1972. Its most
recent grant covered the period from Dec. 1, 2001 through Nov. 30. 2008. HealthCo appealed the decision by HRSA not to renew its grant. The appeal was denied by the Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board in a report that criticized HealthCo’s financial management and board oversight, stating in summary: • “Vance-Warren failed to comply with requirements for financial management and control systems and oversight of its finanPlease see HEALTHCO, page 3A