CMYK Hot Sauce Festival in Oxford on Saturday Shootings, theft ‘Crimes of the Month’ Local News, Page 4A
New baseball facility for Henderson
Local News, Page 7A
Sports, Page 1B FRIDAY, September 11, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 213
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
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On 9/11, Two arrested in bank robbery day of Carter Bank on Dabney hit service by gunmen But some fear remembrance will grow smaller
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
By SUZANNE MA Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans planned beach cleanups, packages for soldiers and save-the-tree fundraisers along with familiar remembrances in three cities to mark eight years since the attacks of Sept. 11, the first time the anniversary was named a national day of service. “Instead of us simply remembering the horrible events and more importantly the heroes who lost their lives on 9/11, we are all going to turn into local heroes,” said Ted Tenenbaum, a Los Angeles repair shop owner who offered free handyman services Thursday and planned to do so again Friday. Similar donations of time and labor were planned across the country after President Barack Obama and Congress declared the day would be dedicated to service this year for the first time. Some Americans are suspicious about the new commemoration, though, fearing it could overshadow a somber day of remembrance for nearly 3,000 people killed aboard four jetliners and at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and a field in western Pennsylvania. “When I first heard about it, I was concerned,” said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the American Airlines pilot of Please see 9/11, page 3A
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . 10A Light Side . . . . . . . . 11A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-5B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Classifieds. . . . . . . 7-9B
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Saturday
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Henderson Police officers stand guard on Wilkins Lane Thursday afternoon after suspects in the robbery of Carter Bank & Trust abandoned their car near Skenes Avenue and fled into the woods.
School locked down as police search for robbers By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
It was 12:05 p.m. Thursday when 911 notified Principal Clarence Hicks that L.B. Yancey Elementary needed to go to lock-down while law enforcement searched for two armed men in the area. Using the intercom, Hicks announced what was going to happen to secure the building, and said it wasn’t a drill. Because it was lunch time, some children remained behind in the cafeteria. Teachers took the rest of the 400 or so pre-K through fifth-grade students to classrooms. Doors were locked. Lights were turned off. Everyone was told to sit quietly in the
dark. As for Hicks, he and members of his staff locked all of the exit doors and stood by them. Green cards were slid under classroom doors to send outside the message that everything was all right inside. It went to Vance County Sheriff’s deputies and Hicks who searched the hallways twice. The ordeal lasted 30 to 45 minutes. After it was over, Hicks told the teachers, the staff and the students that he was pleased with the way they had responded. Contact the writer at awheless@hendersondispatch.com.
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
A car passes Carter Bank & Trust after a robbery just shortly after noon Thursday.
Shortly after two masked gunmen left Carter Bank & Trust on Dabney Drive Extension in a stolen car early Thursday afternoon, Henderson Police officers arrested two suspects who had been walking on Skenes Avenue. Amils Drew, 22, of 1054 N. Pinkston St. and Ahmad Burwell, 20, of 637 Marshall St. are accused of being the pair wearing black clothing who used Burwell a stocking cap and a bandana to hide their faces when they entered the bank building only minutes after noon, pointed Drew handguns at tellers, took the undisclosed amount of money handed to them, and stuffed some of it in their pockets. Only one customer was in the bank at the time. Lieutenant C.O. Pulley said some investigators and officers were riding in their cars near the bank Please see BANK, page 3A
Oxford wants $850,000 Demolition by neglect, grant for street upgrade nuisance laws adopted By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — The municipal government is taking the first steps to seek an $850,000 Community Development Block Grant for housing and infrastructure improvements along Raleigh Street between Front Street and Industry Drive in the southeastern part of the city. Eight to 12 residences could be impacted, with $150,000 additionally available for other improvements in the area, City Manager Mark Donham told the Dispatch. Asked to be more specific about the other improvements, Donham said, “This is very general. We are looking at some options, but nothing has come together yet.” The City Commission conducted a required public hearing on
Tuesday evening and will conduct a second required, more detailed public hearing at 5:45 p.m. this coming Tuesday, with the grant application deadline being Sept. 30. There was neither dissent from citizens nor the commissioners at the Tuesday evening meeting. Commissioner Chance Wilkinson, while supportive of the grant application, wanted to know why the representative of the architectural firm of Hobbs Upchurch & Associates of Lexington intended to notify impacted persons after the second public hearing. “Shouldn’t we get ‘em in here before we decide we’re going to do it?” Wilkinson asked at one point. The question came up after Commissioner Walter Cantley asked about whether the property Please see OXFORD, page 4A
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Two municipal regulations Mayor Al Woodlief called long overdue are now in place. A demolition by neglect ordinance and a criminal nuisance abatement ordinance were approved by the City Commission on Tuesday evening. The demolition by neglect ordinance means the city can take action against delinquent property owners in Oxford’s College Street and Main Street historic districts, with the city required to receive two complaints to start the process. The criminal nuisance abatement ordinance means the municipal administration can go get court orders prohibiting the
removal of evidence from such properties, banning criminal activities at such properties and seizing such properties. The details of the ordinances were presented by City Manager Mark Donham at a July 23 meeting of commission committees in which five members of the full seven-man commission were present. Police Chief John Wolford at the July 23 meeting said he already has a process to deal with properties that are criminal nuisances and that what Donham proposed would provide one more “’This is it’ kind of tool” when dealing with landlords. “There’s a number of procedures that we go through to identify what that nuisance may be. And then it’s an accumulation Please see LAWS, page 3A
Warren OKs financing for construction projects
...sunny High: 83 Low: 64
Details, 3A
Deaths Soul City Frank Hill, 57 Norlina Walter Yates, 98 Warren County Robert L. Cheek Jr., 70
Obituaries, 4A
By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
WARRENTON – At a special meeting on Wednesday evening, the Warren County commissioners approved an agreement with Southern Bank to finance four construction and renovation projects. Total cost over 15 years will be $906,559.71. The projects approved include: • Construction of two Emergency Medical Services satellite facilities at a combined cost of $340,000. Commissioner Ernest Fleming questioned why the cost was higher than when the facilities were first discussed. Facilities
Manager Charles Ayscue responded that costs had risen, but by doing the jobs “in-house” the cost will be about 60 percent of contracting for private construction. • Renovation of the former library building at a cost of $59,000. • Renovation of the former Mental Health building at a cost of $70,000. • Renovation of the former National Guard Armory at a cost of $200,000. County Manager Linda Worth reminded the commissioners that the total cost of the project is $1 million and that the balance of the cost will be paid by an $800,000 grant from the
Golden LEAF Foundation. The county had solicited bids from eight lending institutions. Four responded with bids. One bid was not considered because it was submitted with incorrect terms. Of the three remaining bids, that by Southern Bank was the lowest. Southern Bank’s bid offered an interest rate of 4.56 percent on the total of $669,000 for 15 years. Total interest cost will be $236,559.71 and fees will be $1,000. At a public hearing prior to the special meeting, Roland Beauchaine of 222 Whispering Pines Drive in Macon objected to the use of installment purchase financing,
pointing out that it did not require a referendum of the voters. The commissioners scheduled two public hearings. A public hearing on financing the construction of the New Tech High School was set for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 28. It will be followed at 9:45 by a special meeting to finalize the agreement with Southern Bank. A second public hearing was scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 5, prior to the commissioners’ regular monthly meeting, to hear citizens’ comments regarding the Rural Operating Assistance Program. Contact the writer at dirvine@hendersondispatch.com.