CMYK Vance commissioners handle business
Beacon Light hearing today at 3:30
Phillies try to stave off Yankee series win
Local News, Page 3A
Business & Farm, Page 5A
Sports, Page 1B TUESDAY, November 3, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 257
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Oxford Mayor: Frank Strickland Al Woodlief (i) Oxford City Commission: Jim Branch Ron Bullock Alice Currin Danny Currin Vivian Edwards David Frazier Calvin “C.J.” Harris, Jr. Sue Hinman Bill Johnston David Kimmons Eddie McCoy Jackie Sergent David Wicker Please see GRANVILLE, page 4A
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Tri-County. . . . . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . 8-12B
Authorities ask for help in finding David Lee Hargrove By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Zeb Vance principal Anne Garrison is surrounded by a group of fourth-graders Monday morning inside the school. Garrison is Vance County Schools’ principal of the year for 2009-2010.
Local principal of the year leads the Zeb Vance ‘family’ Anne Garrison named district’s top school administrator By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
The striking thing about standing in the hallways of Zeb Vance Elementary School Shortly before 11 a.m. on Monday was the lack of noise from 520 children in pre-K through the fifth grade. “They’re so calm and collected,” said their leader, Anne Garrison, who was recently named Vance County Schools’ Principal Of The Year for 2009-2010. ”The children are well-behaved and focused, and we have a great staff,” Garrison added during an interview. In addition to all of the students at Zeb-Vance, Garrison said, her “family” at the school is a 70-member team that includes teachers, teachers’ assistants, cafeteria workers, custodians and bus drivers. She credited her staff with making it possible for her to win the award. Garrison was chosen for the honor over three other principals who were finalists in the district. They included:
Today Mild
High: 68 Low: 38
Wednesday High: 60 Low: 42
Details, 3A
Deaths William A. Carroll, 49 Charles S. Fletcher, 49 Maryland Lendward Terry, 50
• Sherri Bowers of Southern Vance High School. • Dr. Harold Thompson Jr. of Carver Elementary School. • Carolyn Harris of New Hope Elementary School. The winner for 2008-2009 was Brian Creasman, principal of Northern Vance High School. Garrison, who is 38, is in her sixth year as principal of Zeb Vance. She said her teaching experience, which included seven years at Pinkston Street Elementary, has been a big help in her current job. She was named “Teacher Of The Year” at Pinkston for 19981999. Garrison was the lead teacher for curriculum there for the two years just prior to coming to Zeb-Vance in 2004. Before Garrison joined Vance County Schools in 1997, she and her husband, Glenn, were in Greensburg, Pa. A 1993 graduate of nearby Seton Hill University, Garrison majored in elementary education and psychology. Afterwards, she worked for two years as a substitute teacher in seven or eight school districts
in the Greensburg area. During the next two years in the same location, Garrison was a teacher’s assistant in an elementary school. It was in 1997 that Garrison answered a Vance County Schools ad for teachers on the Internet, after hearing about it from her mother. Garrison “got the job on the spot” after an interview with Celeste Brown, who was the principal at Pinkston Street. Glenn, who had a degree and background in art, got a job as an art teacher at Southern Vance. During the first year, Garrison taught fourth grade for a short while, and then moved to the third grade. Seven years later, Garrison said, “I had a hard time leaving Pinkston because it had developed into a family. That was my life, really.” At the same time, she explained Monday, “I knew that opportunities are good things to take. They don’t always come knocking.” Please see PRINCIPAL, page 4A
Kittrell, Middleburg voters make choices today
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Cooler
Henderson
50 cents
Disabled man gone missing
Races galore for Granville electorate Voters in Granville County today will be going to the polls to choose leaders in all five municipalities. There are major contests in Oxford, with Mayor Al Woodlief facing a third consecutive challenge from Frank Strickland, but additionally facing opposition this time from departing City Commissioner Steve Powell, who is conducting a write-in campaign for the top position. And 13 candidates are seeking to fill four commission positions being vacated by the departures of Powell, Paul Kiesow, Bob Shope and Chance Wilkinson. In Stovall, Mayor Janet Parrott is unopposed, but two incumbents and one candidate are competing for two Town Commission positions. In Stem, Mayor Jack Day had said he would not run again, but he changed his mind. Day will square off against three candidates, including Nancy Alford, who is making her third consecutive run for the top position, and including Town Commissioner Kevin Rumsey. Additionally, there is competition for three Town Commission positions. In Creedmoor, Mayor Darryl Moss is unopposed, but there is competition for two City Commission positions, with one of the commission positions being vacated by the departure of Larry Robinson. In Butner, which was incorporated in 2007 after being a staterun municipality, Mayor Tom Lane is facing opposition, while there is competition for the six Town Council positions. Here is a complete listing of the candidates on the ballot in each municipality:
Oxford Joyce M.C. Clayton, 61 Mabel E. Hanks, 88 Robert H.B. Nugent, 89 Warren County Churchwell B. Curtis Jr., 78
Obituaries, 4A
From STAFF REPORTS
Voters in Kittrell and Middleburg today will be heading to the polls in their respective towns to choose their elected representatives, but the only contest is for Kittrell’s top position. J. Howard Wynne said he declined to file for a re-election bid as mayor by the July 17 qualifying deadline because he intended to resign, citing disagreements among residents as among the reasons. That leaves voters to choose between candidates Sandra Hubbard and Jerry Joyner. And in the contest for the trio of Kittrell Town Commission positions, there are only three on the ballot: Incumbent Gene Pulley and candidates Jack Ball and Betsy Watkins Simpson. Longtime Commissioner Millard Grissom declined to seek re-election for health reasons. The other commissioner, Tex Finch, announced he would not seek re-election, either. In Middleburg, Mayor Ray Bullock is unopposed. And in the contest for the trio of Mid-
dleburg Town Council positions, there are only three on the ballot: Incumbents Annie Fudge and Ruth Macon Nance and candidate Gary Plummer. The third council position is being vacated because William C. Abbott Jr. declined to seek re-election for health reasons. Kittrell and Middleburg did not have One-Stop Early Voting, mailed absentee balloting or same day registration. Vance County Elections Director Faye Gill said documents in February were approved by U.S. Department of Justice to discontinue these for cost reasons. There are 123 voters in Kittrell and 95 voters in Middleburg, Gill said.
Polling stations • KITTRELL: Fire Station, 54 W. Main St. • MIDDLEBURG: E.O. Young Elementary School, U.S. Highway 1 North Polls are open from 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Send comments to news@hendersondispatch.com.
Henderson Police and a state agency are searching for David Lee Hargrove, a mentally disabled, 59-year-old man last seen about 4 p.m. on Oct. 27 in the 400 block of Chestnut Street. Hargrove, who lives alone at 119-B Hamilton St., was reported missing Oct. 29 by Jackie Hawkins, a relative who lives on Ridge Road in Henderson. On Monday afternoon, “A Child Is Missing” — an organization with the North Carolina Center of Missing Persons — did a mass phone-call hunt for Hargrove in the local area. Investigators said Monday that no foul play is suspected in Hargrove’s disappearance. He was described as black, 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, medium complexion, with grayish-black hair, including a thin beard around his face. Hargrove was said to have been wearing a burgundy jacket with a gray liner, blue jeans and black sneakers. Authorities do not have any photos of Hargrove. The missing man usually “walks the city,” according to police. They said he often spends his mornings “hanging around” Sunrise Biscuit until it closes about noon. Hargrove then goes to the thrift shop across Garnett Street from the Henry A. Dennis Building. After visiting the Perry Library for awhile in the afternoon, Hargrove heads for home on a typical day, detectives said. Contact the writer at awheless@ hendersondispatch.com.
Warren voters go to polls today By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
WARRENTON — Warren County Board of Elections Director Debbie Formyduval says municipal elections are just as hectic as the general election was in 2008. “You still have the same level of accountability,” Formyduval told the Daily Dispatch. Early voting ballots and absentee ballots must be counted, along with ballots filled out on Election Day. A number of Warren County residents took advantage of early voting. For the rest of the electorate, today is Election Day. Although off-year elections often have a relatively low turn out, municipal elections in Warren County will determine how three towns are governed for the next two years. For that reason, today’s election is important locally. Warrenton residents will cast their ballots today at the Senior Center or at the Warrenton Rural Fire Department. Macon residents can vote at Town Hall. Norlina residents can vote at the Norlina Fire Department Annex. Contact the writer at dirvine@hendersondispatch.com.