CMYK Friday Night Football Ticker … Franklinton 19, N Vance 10 … S Granville 32, S Vance 6 … Person County 28, JF Webb 14 … ‘Eat Smart, Move More’ mini-grants
N.C. court restores felons’ gun rights
Bishop T.D. Jakes counsels patience
Our Hometown, Page 2A
Local & Region, Page 4A
Faith, Page 1C SATURDAY, August 29, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 202
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
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Official: Cause of fire suspicious Hoops court forum
Building not occupied when blaze started By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
AFTON — An early morning fire destroyed a grocery store in southern Warren County on Friday. The fire at the Hautar Grocery began about 4:25 a.m., according to Warren County Emergency Services Director Chris Wright. The building is a total loss, Wright said. No one was in the building at the time. The store is located at 3305 U.S. Highway 401 South near the Franklin County line. Responding to the fire were the Afton-Elberon, Cokesbury, Warrenton Rural, Epsom, and Goldsand Volunteer Fire Departments. The building is owned by Laura Tyson and leased to a person she identified as Hautar. She was unsure of Hau-
Meeting called at troubled site on Belle Street By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
port school districts in all 100 counties, from $3.9 million for Wake County to $14,052 to Hyde County. Perdue made the announcement at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners in Hickory, where members gave her a rousing applause. The decision is another among others that shows Perdue “is committed to working with counties and really trying to form a partnership with counties,” association spokes-
OXFORD — A meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the basketball court off Belle Street. City Commission Recreation Committee Chairman Steve Powell said he wants to explain the dilemma at the hoops site. Powell additionally Powell said he wants to provide an open forum and to begin a galvanizing process to help ensure more accountability Wolford for the court. The meeting was set by Powell at a Friday morning session of the committee. The court has been a subject of concern because of disorders and loitering by illegal drug dealers. At the start of the session, Powell turned to Police Chief John Wolford, who said that, while the Police Department has had “periodic” issues hinging on illegal activities, the majority of those at the court are there to play basketball. “I don’t think, frankly, it’s in our best interest to close that basketball court down as we are regularly
Please see COUNTIES, page 4A
Please see HOOPS, page 3A
Daily Dispatch/EARL KING
Officials are investigating the cause of the fire Friday morning that desroyed this store at Afton in southern Warren County. No one was in the building at the time of the fire. tar’s first name, but people call him David, Tyson said. The Daily Dispatch was unsuccessful in locating the person leasing the property
to obtain a statement. Tyson told the Dispatch that she had recently made improvements to the property. The building was in-
sured, but “for very little,” she added, not enough to cover the loss. Wright indicated that the cause of the fire was
suspicious and is under investigation. Contact the writer at dirvine@ hendersondispatch.com.
Boy missing in rough Counties to get lottery surf caused by Danny money for construction By KEVIN MAURER Associated Press Writer
CAROLINA BEACH — People on the East Coast warily eyed the approaching Tropical Storm Danny, which reinforced the dangers of even a weakening storm after a young boy went missing Friday in rough surf. From the Carolinas to New England, forecasters called for a second consecutive weekend of choppy seas, dangerous rip currents and heavy rains as Danny was expected to pass to the east of the mainland today. Storm-agitated waters were already proving dangerous Friday along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where the Coast Guard and local authorities spent hours searching for a 12-year-old boy who disappeared while bodyboarding. The boy’s mother reported seeing him go
underwater off the town of Corolla and the board washing ashore without him. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. j.g. Scott Hembrook said the waves in the area weren’t that high, only about 4 to 6 feet tall. “What the storm is doing is creating a particularly strong undertow” that can pull swimmers to the bottom, he said. Undertow is created as water that’s crashed onshore rushes back out to sea. Farther north, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation announced that it will close beaches in five communities today until further notice. The agency also canceled all public ferry service in and around Boston for today, citing potential high seas, strong currents and heavy rain. State authorities urged boaters to have their
By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH — Gov. Beverly Perdue said Friday that county governments would receive nearly $38 million in lottery funds earmarked for school construction that she held back six months ago to manage the state’s budget woes. The money, generated from profits by the North Carolina Education Lottery, had been intercepted by Perdue along with several hundred million dollars from other dedicat-
ed pots of public funds to ensure she could pay state expenses. Perdue ended up having to close a $3.2 billion shortfall for the year ending June 30. “I had to turn over every stone to pay North Carolina’s bills — to pay teachers, to keep schools and other core services running,” Perdue said in a statement. Now that the books are closed on last fiscal year, Perdue said there was money left over so she could release the $37.6 million in construction funds next week to sup-
Please see MISSING, page 3A
Weather
Index
Today
Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-5B Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5C Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 6C Classifieds. . . . . . . 7-9C
Deaths
T-Storm High: 90 Low: 65
Sunday Some sun
Henderson Robert A. Newsome Sr., 30
Obituaries, 4A
Good news! The Daily Dispatch is printed on recycled paper.
High: 89 Low: 65
Details, 3A
California nightmare
AP Photo/Jason Redmond
A helicopter make a water drop Friday as firefighters battle the Station wildfire burning in the Angeles National Forest northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angles Sheriff’s Department says a voluntary evacuation is being urged for nearly 900 homes in the La Canada Flintridge area.