CMYK N.C. cracks down on debt collectors
Prize is a vision for a better America
Webb, Southern split season series
Business & Farm, Page 5A
Opinion, Page 8A
Sports, Page 1B THURSDAY, October 15, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 241
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
Elections Board says Daye winner in At Large contest
County vetting its first choices
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/GLENN CRAVEN
A worker wearing face and ear protection walks by at the scene on Wednesday where city staff and employees from PSNC Energy were called to stem a natural gas leak that occurred at 302 Zollicoffer Ave. While natural gas is colorless, the leak creates a visible plume most likely by atomizing moisture in the soil or air as it escapes. Below, Henderson firefighters stand by while the leak is capped off.
Gas leak
No evacuation or injuries as crew contains accident By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
A leak in a two-inch line blew a geyser of natural gas into the atmosphere along Zollicoffer Avenue shortly before midday on Wednesday. The potentially dangerous situation was contained after a matter of a few hours. No one was injured. Henderson Assistant Fire Chief Steve Cordell said that situation did not require evacuating residents of the area. There was no fire, but a fire crew stood by as a precaution while a PSNC Energy Please see ECONOMIC, page 4A team stopped the leak,
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 9A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-7B
Weather Today Chilly
High: 49 Low: 42
Friday Breezy
High: 56 Low: 44
Details, 3A
Deaths Baltimore, Md. Thomas H. Christmas, 87 Henderson Sterling W. Ayscue, 69 Preston Mosely, 84 Heddie L.B. Roberts, 66 Oxford Doris E. Glasco, 62 Savannah, Ga. Edmond A. O’Brien, 52
Obituaries, 4A
50 cents
Ward 4 recount denied
Who’s to direct economic growth? Vance County will go back to the drawing board in its search for an economic development director if a “first-tier” applicant isn’t found among current candidates. Members of the Henderson-Vance Economic Development Commission got the message Wednesday when County Manager Jerry Ayscue told them the screening process underway has produced “a couple of different options.” It’s possible that someone could be placed in the position by the time the EDC holds its Strategic Planning Retreat Oct. 27-28, “but we’re still doing background checks,” Ayscue said. Jim Kearney, an EDC member who is participating in the interviews of prospective candidates, said he wished “we could have put a couple of them together.” About 50 people have been invited to attend the first day of the retreat session which take place from 7:45 a.m. to late afternoon at the Ambassador Inn & Suites. The second day will be spent at the Bank of
Cordell said. Angie Townsend, a spokesperson for PSNC Energy, said someone hit a two-inch gas pipe while digging. Workmen for the energy company had to dig down to repair the leak, a timeconsuming process. “We couldn’t just squeeze it off,” Townsend said. She added that two customers lost service, but late Wednesday afternoon the gas company was in the final stages of clearing the line so service could be restored. Contact the writer at dirvine@ hendersondispatch.com.
Public safety study debate heats up Cantley: ‘Fiasco’ has cost $36,000, but report still not ready By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — The City Commission on Tuesday evening voted 4-3 for a budget amendment to pay a final $4,000 amount owed for a study of public safety by the International City/County Management Association, that is, when the document is ready. Commissioner Walter Cantley prior to the vote unsuccessfully called for his fellow commissioners to stop this “nonsense” until the board receives a full length, unedited report. City Manager Mark Donham told the commissioners the reason Cantley for the allocation is because two $18,000 payments were made to the association in Fiscal Year 2008-09 and the $4,000 had to be shifted to this fiscal year so the association can be paid when the document is open for viewing by the commissioners and the public. “The final report has not been submitted,” Donham said, with the estimated time of completion being in December. “We’re still working on drafts.” And Donham said, “We feel that it’s in the best interest of the city to
make sure that we have a full and complete report before we make it public.” Voting for the allocation were Mayor Pro Tem and Public Safety Committee Chairman Howard Herring and Commissioners Paul Kiesow, Chance Wilkinson and Bob Williford. Voting no were Cantley and Commissioners Steve Powell and Bob Shope. Donham on July 23 told a joint session of four City Commission committees that he would be off for a week, but that he and Police Chief John Wolford had obtained a preliminary copy of the study and would sit down and discuss any errors or inaccuracies they found in the approximately 190-page document and ask the association to make the corrections. The Dispatch at the time asked Donham when he wanted to present details in a formal manner before the commissioners and the citizens. Donham at the time replied, “Probably what we’ll do is this: Probably we’ll spend August kind of going through committee and seeing how the committee wants to deal with it. And then probably in September we’ll bring something forward.” Donham, when asked by the Dispatch in an e-mail on Friday for an update, said, “It is looking like it will probably (be) released in December.” That additionally meant the study would not be made public until after the Nov. 3 municipal election. Voters will choose between Mayor Al Woodlief, two-time challenger Please see STUDY, page 3A
Candidate wants fire chief hired By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Frank Strickland is repeating his call for the hiring of a fire chief. During the public comment phase of Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting, Strickland, the lone speaker, said, “I’m probably the only person in this room that has experience as a public safety officer and Strickland I can tell you right now it doesn’t work.” Strickland, who is chief of police at Meredith College in Raleigh, added that if no one within the Oxford Fire Department can take charge as fire chief, then something is wrong. And Strickland expressed surprise that Mayor Al Woodlief has not advocated the hiring of a fire chief, citing Woodlief’s previous experience with the Fire Department. Woodlief retired as a captain after 25 years with the department and his on-line biography lists him as an honorary member. Please see CANDIDATE, page 3A
The Vance County Board of Elections on Wednesday told Ward 4 At Large City Council candidate Ranger Wilkerson his request for a recount was denied, meaning incumbent George Daye is officially the winner of the Oct. 6 election. “The basis was it did not meet the threshold in the statute,” Board Chairman Jim Kearney said of the reason Wilkerson was told no. State law says a defeated candidate has the right to demand a recount if the difference between the votes for the defeated candidate and the votes for the prevailing candidate is not more than one percent of the total votes cast. And the difference in Wilkerson’s case was more than 2 percent, with a canvassing of the votes on Tuesday showing Daye with 983 to Wilkerson’s 931. Daye could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. Wilkerson, when reached by the Dispatch, said he would consult with his attorneys and rely on their advice. “I had so many, many people to call me and beg me to please ask for a recount,” Wilkerson said. And Wilkerson said supporters continued contacting him on Wednesday, telling him, “I knew it was going to happen,” a reference to their belief that the recount was not going to occur. “I mean, I went out to Walmart this afternoon. Same thing,” Wilkerson said of the feedback he was receiving while talking with supporters there. And Wilkerson, noting he received bi-racial backing in the election, said of those who cast ballots for him, “They just want to be treated right. That’s all.” “And that’s the same thing with me,” Wilkerson said. “I don’t want to cause no problems whatsoever. I just want to make sure that I lost fair and square.” Wilkerson requested the recount on Monday. The Dispatch on Wednesday asked Kearney whether Wilkerson could do anything else legally. “It’s a matter of law,” Kearney said of the board’s decision. “I don’t think it’s appealable. However, I guess anything is reviewable. So, I don’t know what he might do.” Wilkerson, a former Henderson fire chief, had held the Ward 4 At Large position until being defeated by Daye in a 2007 contest in which four of the eight members of the then-council were voted out of office. Contact the writer at bwest@ hendersondispatch.com.