CMYK Vance OKs application for Julia Avenue grant From Page One, Page 3A
Stabilization program to benefit 8 city, county neighborhoods Local News, Page 4A
‘The usual suspects’ and plenty of them Opinion, Page 8A N. Vance’s Hannah Thompson spikes ball in 3-0 loss Tuesday to Cardinal Gibbons
Durham, Memphis in Triple-A National Championship Taste, 1C
Sports, Page 1B
Sports, 1B
WEDNESDAY, September 23, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 223
(252) 436-2700
Multiple charges, hefty bail Allegations include probation violation, firearm possession By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
www.hendersondispatch.com
Health forces Gupton out of council race By GLENN CRAVEN Daily Dispatch Editor
Bobby Gupton, a former Henderson councilman who launched a bid to regain his Ward 2 at Large seat from incumbent Mike Inscoe, has been forced out of the race by personal health concerns. Gupton notified Jason Feingold, editor of Homeinhenderson. com, and told the Dispatch in a phone interview Tuesday night that he would officially notify
the Vance County Board of Elections of his decision in the morning. Gupton’s name is already on the ballot along with Inscoe’s and another challenger’s, Lowell Gupton West, and early voting has already begun. “Matter of fact my wife and I voted last week,” Gupton told the Dispatch. Gupton said a case of vertigo
has worsened, changing his mind about his preparedness to handle another term in office. “I’ve had this problem for awhile,” Gupton said. “... I’ve been through every doctor in town, it seems, and through Duke ... and ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctors in Wake Forest.” Gupton said that in the past he had suffered “occasional spells” of dizziness and queasiness due to the ailment. He would sit or lie down and sleep for a couple
of hours and usually felt better afterward. But the candidate said a recent bout of vertigo that “lasted for a couple of days” was a warning sign that serving in office was now probably neither in his nor the community’s best interests. “My wife and I discussed it and decided ... I’m 71 years old now, and I didn’t want to spend my last days on the City Council, I
Investigators with the Vance County Sheriff’s Vice/Narcotics Unit have taken a 22-year-old Henderson man into custody on three court orders and a number of drug charges. Kaleb Rashed Hicks of 240 Crowder Lane has secured bonds totaling $132,000 and court dates of Oct. 2 and Oct. 19. A Superior Court order involves charges of felony probation violation and felony robbery with a dangerous weapon. One District Court order is for charges of no operator’s license and window tint violation. Another is for a charge of noise ordinance violation. Secured bond for all of those charges was set at $81,000. An Oct. 2 court Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE date was set. Narcotics officers seized Tessa Webb-Lewis teaches a class at Henderson Middle School Monday morning. Webb-Lewis is the Vance County Teacher 14 marijuana plants durof the Year. ing the investigation. Hicks was charged with: • Manufacture of a controlled substance, Schedule Please see CHARGES, page 3A
50 cents
Please see GUPTON, page 3A
‘Spirit of Murder’ in area Evans complains about the crime in joint meeting By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
At a joint meeting Tuesday night, Councilwoman Mary Emma Evans complained to her fellow board members and County Commissioners about “the spirit of murder” in Henderson and Vance. Evans said she was concerned about murders “popping up everywhere” unpredictably across the city and the county. She called about a math opening at Henderson for both gov- Evans Middle School. She became one of erning bodies the school system’s “lateral entry” and other teachers, those who do not come groups in the community through the traditional route of to “come together” to help teacher preparation. solve the problem. Now, as an eighth-grade math The others Evans teacher, Webb-Lewis is making her referred to included mark. Her students have consisorganizations such as the tently done well on tests and other NAACP, elected officials, indicators of academic achievement. parents and law enforceShe thinks her management trainment officers. ing and experience have been major Just about every week assets as she segued into her role as or so, someone is murdered teacher. She points out that in the and a large funeral is held classroom a teacher must manage a in a school or other place number of diverse factors, including able to accommodate a big her own time, the students’ time, crowd, Evans explained. social interactions and conduct of inThe councilwoman, who dividuals and groups, to name a few. is a minister, said she is Please see TEACHER, page 3A involved with the proceedings. “After it is over, we go home and wait for the next one.” City Manager Ray Griffin mentioned that the public safety committee August with a fourth grade only, will address the issue of adding a grade each year until it crime during a work sescontains grades four through eight. sion Monday night after Questioned about what happens the council concludes its to the students after grade eight, Sanchez said the staff and the board regular business meeting which begins at 6 p.m. hope to apply to the State Board He said Henderson of Education to extend the school through grade twelve. If that doesn’t Police Chief Keith Sidwell happen, the school will offer followwill be present to take part up as the students move to other in the discussion. schools. The police department Carice Cantelupe, co-founder of has been “working night the school, described the curriculum and day” to reduce crime, and requirements students must the city manager added.
Math lover ‘Teacher of Year’ From business world to the classroom for middle school’s Webb-Lewis
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 6A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 2C Classifieds. . . . . . . 4-7C
Weather Today T-storm High: 85 Low: 63
Thursday T-storm High: 87 Low: 63
Details, 3A
By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
“I always loved math,” Tessa Webb-Lewis said in an interview with the Daily Dispatch after she had been named the Vance County Schools Teacher of the Year for 2009-2010. “As a teenager, I thought that one day I would be a teacher.” But hers has been a circuitous route to that goal. A native of Guyana in South America, Webb-Lewis migrated to the United States as a young adult. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in accounting, she went to work for Xerox Corporation in New York City. She held increasingly responsible positions with Xerox, eventually moving into management. A few years ago, while visiting
Crowd learns more about charter school By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
Deaths
Fifty people, including board members and some students, met in the Farm Bureau meeting room of H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library on Tuesday evening to learn more about Henderson Collegiate, the Obituaries, 4A proposed charter school for Vance County. Board Chair Nancy Jo Smith introduced Eric Sanchez, Henderson Collegiate School Planner, who sketched out the nature of the school. Henderson Collegiate will be a free public school that is open to
Henderson Laurie S. Ball, 83 Leslie A. Wright, 18 Oxford Patricia W. Colenda, 81 David L. Eckenrode, 64
friends in Henderson, she went to a party at Satterwhite Point on Kerr Lake. “Something about the water soothed me,” she said. When Xerox transferred her to its Raleigh office, she and her family settled in Henderson and she commuted to her job. Meanwhile, her husband Nelson continued his career as an electrical engineer with ConEdison in New York, making the long commute in that direction. Eight years ago, according to Webb-Lewis, her “teaching instinct” kicked in. “I also wanted to have a greater role in the education of my own children. I called the Department of Public Instruction and asked them, ‘What do I need to do?’” She contacted the Human Resources Office of Vance County Schools, and two or three weeks later got a call
all children. State funds will support the instructional program but not capital expenditures, he said. The board is raising funds from private sources to obtain a facility and to support transportation. The school will focus its outreach on students from low-income families. However, students will be accepted regardless of family income. If fewer than 110 students apply, they will all be accepted. If more than 110 apply, a lottery will be held. The goal is for the student body to represent the population of Vance County Schools demographically. The school plans to open next
Please see CHARTER, page 4A
Please see MURDER, page 4A