CMYK Balloon boy goes bust
Repairs begin at Vietnam memorial
Vance-Granville kicks off hoops season
Opinion, Page 8A
Local & Nation, Page 8A
Sports, Page 1B THURSDAY, October 22, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 247
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
Call to Crime Stoppers led to wanted man
Police: Minors in sex acts on computer files
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
NCDOT eyes closing RR crossings A cyclist rides his bicycle along the Orange Street railroad crossing between Williams Street and South Garnett Street Wednesday afternoon. The North Carolina Department of Transportation will hold a Citizens Informational Workshop on Nov. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Henderson City Council chambers to answer questions and receive comments about the results of a traffic seperation study that was recently performed in Henderson. The NCDOT Rail Division conducted the study that included a railroad crossing analysis. The proposed project includes the closure of existing railroad crossings at St. Matthews Street, Spring Street, Orange Street, Winder Street, Rock Spring Street, Carolyn Court, Harris Street and Railroad Street. The proposed closure of these crossings is part of an effort to reduce the number of redundant and/or unsafe rail-highway at-grade crossings statewide.
Top four LEAF applicants chosen Review panel recommendations total $2.4 million in requests By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
After hearing presentations, a review panel voted Wednesday night to approve the top four project applicants seeking $2,461,456 in Golden LEAF Foundation Please see MURDER, page 4A grants. The amounts sought and the related applicants for the first three projects, in order, were: • $700,000 for Henderson/ Vance Downtown Development Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Commission and Gateway ComBusiness & Farm. . . . 5A munity Development Corporation. Light Side . . . . . . . . . 6A The money is for the Recreation, Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Economic, Development, EducaSports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B tion and Family (REEF) Project. Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B • $72,166 for Boys & Girls Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8B Clubs of North Central North Carolina. The grant is for the After School Program with a Smarter Fun in the Summer Today component. • $662,690 for Vance County Schools. The funds would be for Pleasant computers for The Innovative High: 76
Index
Weather
Low: 51
Friday Rain
High: 72 Low: 62
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson William H. Bullock, 74 Sandy Glover Jr. Shirley M.B. Hodnett, 70 Juanita W. Shearin, 66 Beulah M. Royster, 87 Macon Armelia B. Harris Oxford Rachel E. Faucette, 96 Larry Strater, 55 Rose L. Yancey, 87 Warrenton James Dunson, 85
Obituaries, 4A
50 cents
Granville teacher charged
Murder suspect arrested
Local law enforcment officers caught murder suspect Shamon Champion Wednesday after a Crime Stoppers tip led them to his location at the Lincoln Height Apartments. A first-degree murder warrant accusing the 23-year-old fugitive of the Aug. 23 shooting death of Robert Newsome was served on Champion Champion after he was taken into custody by members of the Henderson Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Section, Narcotics Unit and Patrol Division. He was placed in the Vance County Jail in lieu of bond, pending a Nov. 2 hearing in District Court. According to police, Champion is also absconder from Probation and Parole for a three-year suspended sentence for a 2008 conviction for felony breaking-and-entering and
Project (I’m Innovative. I’m Creative. I’m Competitive).” The total price tag for the top three applications is $1,434,856. The next two projects, rated No. 4 and No. 5, were combined into one application. Initially, No. 4 had amounted to $180,000 for Vance County’s Rural Fire Hydrant Program. Number 5 had come to $2 million for the Vance county Lifesaving and Rescue Squad, Emergency Services Communications and Water System. Once the two applications were put together with some reductions in proposed costs, the total amount sought was $1,025,600. The figure includes $648,000 for 360 fire hydrants and $377,600 for emergency communications equipment. Some cuts should be expected in the $2,461,456 being asked for, according to Pat Cabe, vicepresident of Programs/Community Assistance and Outreach with the foundation.
September Top Cop among ‘a rare few’ By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Since the Henderson Police Department’s Officer of The Month program began more than a decade ago, W.B. Harris — the Top Cop for September — is among “a rare few” who have won the award while still in Harris training. The description of the 32-year-old former truck driver’s achievement came from Capt. Tony Clark, commander of the Patrol Division. Clark should know, since he founded the recognition event. He said the reasons back in the
late 1990s were “to boost morale and to give officers a pat on the back for doing a good job.” The end of September was when Harris completed his 12 weeks of supervision by a field-training officer and began riding by himself in a patrol car. A few days after he finished Basic Law Enforcement Training at Vance-Granville Community College in early May, Harris put on a city uniform for the first time. He then began his on-the-job education in a mobile classroom with his teacher about two feet away in the front passenger seat. Asked what he thought might have contributed to
The vice-president said the most she has seen funded is $2.25 million. Cabe, who has been with the organization for six years, explained that the board usually approves grants totaling about $2 million. The review panel for the 21 project applications that would have cost more than $10 million decided to meet again Nov. 18. The top four project applications have to be completely filled out and submitted to the foundation by Jan. 2. At some point in December, Cabe said, representatives of the four top projects and the review panel will be asked to meet with some of the foundation’s board members to explain why their entries should receive grants. The board will meet Feb. 4, and will make its funding decisions, Cabe said.
OXFORD — A 43-year-old Northern Granville Middle School teacher is charged with 10 counts of felony third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and is suspended from his job. Larry Wayne Morgan, of 105 Seaman St., turned himself in Monday at the Oxford Police Department after a probe by police and the State Bureau of Investigation. Law enforcement officers Morgan had received information that Morgan allegedly may have been in possession of computer files and discs depicting underage youths engaging in sexual acts, police said in a statement. Discs and computer files, along with computer hard drives belonging to Morgan, were taken and analyzed at the SBI forensic laboratory, where an analysis allegedly supported the charges, police said. Police emphasized the probe did not conclude Morgan had engaged in any physical contact with any student of the Granville County Schools system nor with any other underage person. North Granville Middle is located at 3144 Webb School Road just north of Oxford. Morgan, whom police said had been teaching seventh grade at the school, was released at the county magistrate’s office on $20,000 bond. The case is on the court docket for Oct. 26. County Schools Associate Superintendent Allan Jordan told the Dispatch that, as soon as the school district heard the probe was occurring, “We immediately issued that suspension.” Jordan said that he did so on Oct. 7 and emphasized that, “Our
Contact the writer at awheless@hendersondispatch.com.
Please see TEACHER, page 4A
Oxford mayor candidates pledge working relationship with county By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — Two of the three candidates for mayor, when asked, made clear that promoting harmony with Granville County, with the other four municipalities in the county and with the surrounding counties would be a top priority. City Commissioner Steve Powell and Frank Strickland, participating in an approximately hour-long debate Tuesday at the Senior Center, outlined what they would do if they were elected on Nov. 3 to serve a two-year term. Mayor Al Woodlief declined to participate in the debate. Strickland said he Please see COP, page 3A wants to establish a work-
ing relationship with the county. Powell said a collaborative effort already is one of the Powell pillars of his campaign. Strickland, speaking first on the subject, said Oxford citizens own Strickland what the county owns as taxpayers and that, “We should be cooperating with that county.” Strickland said he has the skills to go before the County Commission and say, “‘This is what Oxford needs’ and ‘You tell us what you need from
Oxford.’” And Strickland said the surrounding communities need Oxford’s help and Oxford’s needs their help. Additionally, Strickland urged cooperation with the two local legislators, state Rep. Jim Crawford, DGranville, and state Sen. Doug Berger, D-Franklin. Powell said although he and his wife, Yolanda, were welcomed when they moved from Washington, D.C., to Oxford in 2003 and were told Oxford is a different kind of place and were told there is no place like Granville, “I don’t know that that’s true because I haven’t been everywhere. “But, I do know that, in order to exist to the best of Please see OXFORD, page 3A