CMYK Oxford Walgreens opens Friday
State school chief women’s group speaker Webb soccer downs Northern Vance, 3-0
Local News, Page 4A
Business & Farm, Page 5A
Sports, Page 1B THURSDAY, October 8, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 236
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Southern Vance soccer bus hit by car during road trip No serious injuries from accident, which causes postponement of game By ERIC S. ROBINSON Dispatch Sports Editor
A bus carrying Southern Vance High School soccer players to a match in Chapel Hill was rear-ended on Interstate 85 Wednesday. The blue Vance County bus was struck from behind by a Saturn, which became wedged underneath the bus. “In my 28 years of coaching, I’ve never been involved in anything like that before,” said Southern Vance soccer coach Mike Rotolo, who was driving the bus. “I’m so glad nobody got hurt.” Rotolo said it took a couple of hours, two tow trucks and flooring the bus accelerator to dislodge the Saturn from underneath the bus.
The wreck occurred on Interstate 85 South near the Redmill Road bridge, The (Durham) Herald-Sun reported. Rotolo said he was traveling about 55 mph, and had not applied the brakes before he heard the impact. “I didn’t know if we backfired, but I could feel a jolt,” he said. Rotolo didn’t realize the vehicle was stuck underneath the bus until he came to a stop and surveyed the wreckage. He said that a sheriff’s deputy, who heard the noise, reported to the wreck, and within a short time more officers, paramedics and a fire engine were on the scene. The driver of the Saturn was reportedly cited for a traffic offense. The soccer match against
Chapel Hill High School, which was scheduled to start at 6 p.m., was postponed and has been tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 15. Southern Vance soccer players returned to Henderson before 7 p.m., and were at the school before the conclusion of the Southern Vance-Durham Riverside volleyball match. Rotolo admitted he was “a little nervous” following the accident because his neck and back felt a stiff. “I’m definitely going to go get checked out,” he said. Southern Vance has a home soccer match with J.F. Webb scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m. Contact the writer at erobinson@ hendersondispatch.com.
Contributed photo
Southern Vance soccer players didn’t make it to their scheduled game in Chapel Hill Wednesday night because the driver of a Saturn passenger car rear-ended the bus on Interstate 85 in Durham.
LEAF to weigh 21 local projects
Troubled motel may reopen — with conditions Special use permit granted, but business will be monitored
$2 million in grant money on the line
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
The panel responsible for recommending projects for Golden LEAF Foundation grants totaling roughly $2 million will meet Oct. 21 to question the initial top-five applicants and hear 10-minute presentations from them. The scoring results from a process that members of the selection committee recently completed were presented to them Wednesday night when they met in the Civic Center at VanceGranville Community College. When they get together on Oct. 21, those on the panel will already have the written replies to specific questions answered in advance by the representatives for the projects. There is no guarantee that those who show up for the question-and-answer session will get anywhere close to what they are asking for, or even make the final cut when all is said and done. Many of the others on the lengthy list could still be in the running for some of the funding, depending on the outcome, according to Pat Cabe, vice-president of Programs/Community Assistance And Outreach with the foundation. Please see LEAF, page 3A
October mower
Sam Lewis cuts grass using a push mower along Chestnut Street Wednesday morning. The day started off cloudy and damp but quickly turned to clear skies, warm temperatures and gusty winds by mid-morning.
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Public Records . . . . . 4A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A
Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-7B
Deaths
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Please see MOTEL, page 3A
Jeremy Turner is city’s firefighter of the year From STAFF REPORTS
Fire Lt. Jeremy Turner is the Henderson Fire Department’s Firefighter of the Year for 2009. Nice Turner, an employee High: 77 of the city since NovemLow: 50 ber 2000, was honored Wednesday night at the Friday Obituaries, 4A department’s annual banquet. He started in fire service Mixed as a volunteer with the High: 85 LaCrosse, Va., VolunLow: 67 teer Fire Department. Details, 3A In Henderson, he was promoted on Jan. 27, 2005,
Butner Mildred L. Abbott, 71 Henderson James E. Norwood, 73 Newark, N.J. Johnny R. Cooper, 67
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
The Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a special use permit for the reopening of the former America’s Best Value Inn, with a list of extensive and strict requirements. And City Attorney John Zollicoffer said the motel operator would still have to obtain a permit from the building inspector and to receive the okay from the fire marshal. The board on Tuesday afternoon cast a 4-1 vote for the permit after taking a tour of the property at 200 Parham Road and after approximately an hour of discussion and questioning at City Hall. Board member Thomas Badger was the lone dissenter. Board member Ruxton Bobbitt, in leading the vote, said, “I’ve never seen anything like this,” a reference to his having served the past 12 years, except for an approximately 18-month period. “What I saw today is a very old building that could be brought up to code and they could legally reopen it, but for me to make a motion to approve, it would be based on a tremendous amount of conditions, none cosmetic,
because you can’t enforce that,” Bobbitt said. Those conditions are as follows: • The motel operator will provide air quality test results satisfactory to state health code levels. • A security camera system will be installed to monitor the entire facility. • The motel will be allowed to use the first floor, subject to an engineerapproved closing procedure of the second floor of the two-story building. The motel management said more time is needed to work on the second floor before a reopening. The top level had been closed off to all but the property manager and a couple of others after a fire. • The second floor will not be occupied or rented until the entire building is approved by the fire marshal, the fire inspector and Vance County’s code enforcement arm. • There must be documentation showing the property is cleared of building code violations by the county’s code enforcement arm. • There must be documentation of approval of the building and the swimming pool by county health officials.
to Fire Engineer. On May 1, he was promoted to his current position as Fire Lieutenant. Turner is also a firefighter with the Corinth Volunteer Fire Department in Granville County. An N.C. certified fire instructor, he also is a state certified paramedic. Turner and his wife Daphanie are expecting their first child in November. Send comments to news@ hendersondispatch.com.
Contributed photo
Henderson Fire Lt. Jeremy Turner, left, on Wednesday night was named the department’s Firefighter of the Year by Chief Danny Wilkerson, right.