CMYK Mexican drug lords selling stolen oil to U.S. Tax hikes, more spending on legislative minds Tony Stewart wins delayed NASCAR race Business & Farm, Page 5A
Public Records, Page 8A
Sports, Page 1B TUESDAY, August 11, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 186
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www.hendersondispatch.com
State tells Vance Schools to cut nearly $1.146 million; out of exactly how much, nobody yet knows
Davis only council member to vote against demand for home-ownership By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/EARL KING
Parishioners of Union Chapel United Methodist Church take part on Sunday in the first service held in a new building, the construction of which was made necessary by an Aug. 10, 2007 fire that almost totally consumed the original church sanctuary, which dated to 1829.
Faith rewarded
Union Chapel congregation holds first service in new church; original 1829 building burned to the ground nearly two years ago to the day By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Betty and Jerry Stanton are witnesses to the past and the future of Union Chapel United Methodist Church. They were among nearly 150 people who sat down Sunday morning on gleaming, wooden pews and extra chairs that had to be set out for the first service inside the brightly lit new sanctuary which replaces the larger one destroyed by fire two years ago. The first sermon — delivered by the church’s new pastor, Rev. Dennis Gossett — was about renewal and the potential held by the reconstruction. “When I look at this new sanctuary, I see a seed that has been planted,” he said. “It is my goal for this church that we receive 100 new souls this year, Gossett vowed. “Welcome home!” he
Daily Dispatch/EARL KING
The Rev. Dennis Gossett preaches his first sermon Sunday inside the new Union Chapel United Methodist Church. “Welcome home!” he told the congregation, who had waited two years for construction after their original church was destroyed by fire. said to the colorful audience clad in an array of attire from suits and dresses to shorts or blue jeans. In one of several prayers, the pastor told God: “Lord, it’s just a wonderful thing. You said that if we had the faith of a mustard seed, we could move a mountain. Father, God, You have moved our mountain!”
The front page of the bulletin for the occasion displayed a color photo of a tiny green seedling sitting in planting soil held in a gardener’s cupped and grimy hands. The first hymn to be sung together by the congregation and the choir wearing blueand-white robes was “How Great Thou Art.”
Another special service — set for Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. — will focus on rededication. There will be an open house from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Several former pastors expected to show up that day include Rob Hammond, who guided the congregation through many of the rebuilding days. Invited to preside over the ceremony is Gray Southern, Durham District superintendent for the United Methodist Church. On Sunday morning, someone asked the Stantons for their opinions of the $600,000 building that had risen from the ashes since the ground-breaking last November, as a result of many contributions. “It’s just as pretty as it can be,” Betty said. The beaming, 74-year-old Kittrell resident kept looking around the sanctuary as if her eyes were 35-millimeter cameras. Please see CHAPEL, page 3A
Daily Dispatch/EARL KING
The new Union Chapel United Methodist Church on its first Sunday in service, Aug. 9, 2009.
Please see BEACON, page 3A
House drops jet purchase plan WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic leaders said Monday that they will not force the Pentagon to buy four new passenger jets used to ferry senior government officials. Democrats have been criticized for adding $330 million to the Air Force’s 2010 budget to buy the jets even though the Pentagon didn’t request the money. Two of the planes would be the C-37 — the military equivalent to the fancy
50 cents
Fuzzy math
Beacon Light compliance draws one step closer
The Henderson City Council on Monday evening approved documents drawn up to get the shabby former Beacon Light apartment complex into compliance with municipal housing codes. The council’s actions were unanimous, except for a document affirming a home-ownership provision, which received a lone dissenting vote from Mayor Pro Tem Lonnie Davis. City Manager Ray Griffin is now authorized to work with the property owner, Sharif Abdelhalim, to establish a “reasonable timetable” to bring the 318 Boddie St. location into code compliance as well as a conversion to home ownership. Griffin said Abdelhalim will have to present a letter of credit to the city in an amount of 1 1/2 times the amount of the city’s estimate to demolish and clear the property. Moving forward with a demolition would be stopped to give Abdelhalim a chance to comply, but if Abdelhalim does not comply, then City Code Compliance Director Corey Williams will be authorized to take the letter of credit and demolish the property. The terms provide a 45day window to work out a time schedule agreement. City Attorney John Zollicoffer said there would be an additional 30 days for Abdelhalim to produce the letter of credit. Additionally, the terms will seek to establish a partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regarding both the code enforcement and the home ownership provision. And if Abdelhalim does not come into compliance, Mayor Pete O’Geary and Griffin are authorized to seek a portion of Abdelhalim’s $1.29 million deposit with HUD to help pay for demolition and cleanup. Griffin said that he and Williams have talked with HUD and have concluded that, if the city is going to be able to utilize the specifics, then the city will need to go “straight to the top,” a reference to Henderson’s federal representatives. The terms also call for the city to seek any fire insurance proceeds Abdelhalim
Gulfstream 550 — and cost taxpayers $130 million at a time when lawmakers have made villains of bailed-out auto executives who rely on corporate jets to travel. “If the Department of Defense does not want these aircraft, they will be eliminated from the bill,” said Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat chairman of the panel that approved the additional spending.
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Public Records . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8B
Weather Today Scattered High: 98 Low: 69
Wednesday Similar
High: 90 Low: 71
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson Michael D. Bass, 34 David E. Watson Oxford Lawrence T. Waller, 54
Minerva H. Williams, 93 Vaughan Georgia A. Pegram, 52 Warrenton Suzanne V. Roy, 53
Obituaries, 4A
X, minus $1,145,863, equals … what, exactly? It’s the incomplete equation the State Department of Public Instruction handed sometime Monday to Superintendent Norman Shearin of Vance County Schools. Shearin, in turn, told the Board of Education Monday night that $1,145,863 is the amount Shearin the school system is supposed to cut from its initial allotment from the State for FY 20092010. The trouble is that X, Shearin explained, represents the initial allotment of funds for Vance County Schools, a figure that DPI has yet to disclose. In the meantime, Shearin said, he and his staff have so far identified about $800,000 worth of reductions that could be applied toward the known figure, that is, the amount needing to be cut from whatever the allotment is that the state hands down. The overall reduction in discretionary funds for all of the public school systems in the State is $225 million. Also Monday night, Shearin said the state plans to reduce funding for North Carolina’s public school systems by a total of $10 million for clerical personnel, custodians and substitutes Especially as far as substitute teachers are concerned, the reduction has the potential to significantly “hurt” the local school system, but the degree has yet to be determined, the superintendent added. The Department of Public Instruction informed Shearin that the total cut in State funds for bus transportation for all of the public school systems in North Carolina is $15 million. For miscellaneous projects, the State funds reduction will total $4.6 million for all of the public school systems. A total of 200 literary coaches throughout the public school systems in the State will be eliminated, according to DPI. Shearin said efforts will be made to find other positions in Vance County Schools for any literary coaches that are affected. At its meeting Monday night, the School Board went along with the Finance Committee’s recommendations to accept Maola Milk’s low bid of $455,290.50 to supply milk and Merita Baking Company’s low bid of $67,725 to supply bread. Please see SCHOOLS, page 4A