CMYK Warrenton man indicted on rape charge
Poking the cobra
Northern soccer edges Southern, 2-0
Local News, Page 4A
Opinion, Page 10A
Sports, Page 1B THURSDAY, October 29, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 253
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
Pair argued over dog in yard before shooting in August
Faison ups offer for Southerland’s Mill Pond property
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Please see INDICTED, page 4A
By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . 10A Light Side . . . . . . . . 11A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-7B
Weather Today Low clouds High: 69 Low: 53
Friday Some sun High: 73 Low: 58
Details, 3A
Deaths Kittrell Charles F. Taylor, 68 Loretta J. Terry, 39 Richmond, Va. David H. Shearin, 70
Obituaries, 4A
imply, read my mind or anything else ... for him to submit bogus invoices.” The contradictions in testimony come as election board members are expected to decide Thursday at the close of an investigative hearing what actions to take, if any, against Easley’s committee and the state Democratic Party. The board could exonerate his campaign, order it to pay fines or refer the case to prosecutors for criminal charges. The ex-governor, a Democrat who left office in January after eight years, testified he told Campbell in 2005 to file an invoice for the campaign to advance him money to pay for expected
The counteroffer has gone up to $120,000 for the Southerland’s Mill Pond tract in the southeastern part of Vance County. State Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, submitted a bid at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday, with the deadline being at 5 p.m. the same day, City Clerk Pam Glover told the Dispatch. Another 10-day bidding process will start, with Glover saying an official notice is expected to be in the Dispatch by the end of this week. Faison’s bid puts him ahead of Henderson attorney Randall Cloninger, who on Oct. 13 bid $110,300. Cloninger placed his bid the same day the city received a bid of $105,000 by Faison, an attorney who in 2008 had considered running for governor. Cloninger on Sept. 28 submitted a $95,000 counteroffer for the property. That topped a $90,000 counteroffer by Faison, who had topped a counter- offer of $73,500 by Cloninger. Robert Southerland, a former city councilman whose family once owned the land, made the first offer with a $43,000 bid. Elissa Yount, a former city councilwoman, made a counteroffer of $50,000. Bier Haus made
Please see EASLEY, page 3A
Please see BIDDING, page 3A
AP Photo/Shawn Rocco, Pool
Former Gov. Mike Easley, during his testimony Wednesday before the state Board of Elections, looks over a copy of an invoice for flights billed to his campaign by McQueen Campbell. The board is gathering information on possible campaign violations by Easley and the state Democratic Party.
Easley contradicts pilot friend on flights, home repair billing By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH — Out of office for nine months, former Gov. Mike Easley appeared in public Wednesday to reject testimony from a friend and political ally about airplane flights and home repairs being investigated by the State Board of Elections. In more than four hours of testimony, Easley denied he told McQueen Campbell to use bills for campaign flights piloted by Campbell to hide thousands of dollars in reimbursements from campaign funds to pay for repairs Campbell took care of on the governor’s home. “I don’t know where he got that idea but he didn’t get it from me,”
Easley told the board. Campbell, a longtime family friend whom Easley appointed to the N.C. State University trustee board, testified Monday that the governor had suggested the idea to him and that he filed two false invoices totaling more than $11,000. The airplane flights, a car leased to the campaign and other issues surrounding Easley and his wife have drawn attention from state and federal investigators. Easley said Campbell, the board’s star witness, was wrong. “He never, ever mentioned anything about repairs to the house along with any invoices. They were all separate,” Easley told the board, adding there was no conversation “where he could
Reducing Framework laid for strategic plan school bus emissions Vision, purpose and Henderson-Vance Economic Development Commission retreat
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Index
50 cents
Bidding for tract goes on
Neighbor indicted in man’s death
OXFORD — A 30-yearold Granville County man has been indicted for voluntary manslaughter resulting from an Aug. 20 fatal shooting east of Stem. The grand jury decided Otis Perry must answer to the court for the death of Jimmy Champion. The grand jury met on Monday and the indictPerry ment was not yet logged into the county courthouse’s public computer terminals as of Wednesday afternoon, but the Dispatch asked a deputy court clerk, who answered in the affirmative. Perry, of 600 E. B St., Butner, was booked Aug. 28 after he turned himself in at the Sheriff’s Department after being contacted at his home, with bond set at $50,000, Sheriff Brin Wilkins has said. Perry was released on bond the same day, jail records show. Although Perry has a Butner address, Wilkins has said that Champion and Perry were neighbors and that Perry was upset with Champion about a dog in Perry’s yard off Little Pond Road. Emergency 911 received the call at 6:54 p.m. Aug. 20. Little Pond is just off Sanders Road and near the Interstate 85 overpass of Sanders.
Members of the HendersonVance Economic Development Commission agreed Wednesday on the framework for a strategic plan set for approval as a document at the Nov. 18 meeting. If that happens, the proposed plan would then have to be adopted by both the county’s Board of Commissioners and the City Council. On Wednesday, the second day of the EDC’s retreat, Chairman Sam Watkins suggested that the organization’s marketing efforts be funded through five percent of any new tax base revenue it produces. A lot of the foundation work for the frame of the roughed-out plan was accomplished Tuesday by representatives of numerous stake-holder organizations in the community, as well as by members of the EDC Board, the City Council and the Board of Commissioners. On Wednesday the EDC members approved a list of strategic objectives, complete with action steps for each. 1) Create And Retain Jobs. • Develop existing business programs. • Develop and implement a strategy to serve existing businesses. • Make on-site visits to businesses, and create inventories of their needs. • Develop a business incubator.
mission statements are hammered out By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Proposed vision, purpose and mission statements — as well as some core values — were hammered out on paper Wednesday by members of the Henderson-Vance Economic Development Commission. Vision — “To be the most economically vibrant and socially responsible rural community in North Carolina, with widely shared prosperity. Purpose — “The EDC will be a facilitator and catalyst for business and value-added investment job-creation opportunities.” Mission — “To provide Please see VISION, page 12A
• Acquire high-speed rail. 2) Market The Community. • Develop a marketing strategy of the community. • Update websites. • Improve community appearance. • Alignments with Research Triangle Region, the Hub and
commerce. • Develop marketing to the community and stress the positive over the negative. • Establish a marketing budget. 3) Improve Education. • Partner with schools and work force development. • Develop education support programs. • Practical trade skills. • Explore on-the-job-training. • Innovative approach. • Academic support programs for disadvantaged youths. • Partnering with Work Force Development Board and the Hub to explore options. 4) Enhance Pro-business Environment. • Move at the speed of business. • Fast-tracking permits. • Board development and selection. • Teach employees to be customer-friendly to business. • Shovel-ready, move-in. • Incentives and financing. 5) Improve The Quality Of Life. • Market to ourselves, to our own community. Understand the history of cultural diversity. Understand your own history in order to overcome it. Understand who we are as a county and have honest action. • Partner with law enforcement and the juvenile system to address crime issues.
Please see FRAMEWORK, page 12A
Vance will retrofit 29 vehicles with help from stimulus funds By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
The Vance County Schools district has received a grant of $46,000 to retrofit part of its school bus fleet to reduce exhaust emissions. Transportation Director Clay Owen told the Daily Dispatch that the funds will be used to retrofit 29 of the district’s older buses. These are buses that will remain in the fleet for the next few years. Seven buses that are due for replacement next year will not be retrofitted. “I don’t want to spend money to retrofit a bus that’s going to be replaced,” Owen said. The 29 buses represent about one-third of the school district’s fleet of 88 buses. Owen said some of the buses not being retrofitted are already in compliance with air quality standards. Owen said the district hopes to let a contract in the near future so that work on the buses can begin after Thanksgiving. The grant to Vance County Schools is part of a $344,000 grant Please see EMISSIONS, page 3A