CMYK Vance native to get philanthropy honor
Residents will help pay to pave street
Vanguards fall to Southside Virginia
From Page One, Page 3A
State & Nation, Page 10A
Sports, Page 1B THURSDAY, November 12, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 265
(252) 436-2700
www.hendersondispatch.com
50 cents
Teens held Veteran, 89, quit college to join Navy in assaults, Creedmoor resident recounted experience for Veterans Day observance burglaries By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — The Veterans Day gathering at American Legion Post 90 featured World War Henderson Police arII Navy veteran John rested two young suspects Shearin, who was one of on unrelated burglary and the personnel on a vessel assault charges early Tues- that carried Allied soldiers day morning, after they and equipment to Omaha were apprehended behind Beach on D-Day 1944. the bread store on Dabney Shearin, 89, of CreedDrive. moor, grew up on a cotton A 15-year-old juvenile and tobacco farm in and Jawara Hargrove, 16, of 1441 Perry Ave. were picked up shortly after police responded at 1:49 a.m. to Hargrove an attempted break-in on Cypress Drive. The 57-year-old victim, Jason Strange, told investigators two black males wearing dark clothing ran away on foot after trying to break the sliding glass door of the residence. Twenty minutes earlier, John Willis, 52, of Buckhorn Street told officers two black males wearing masks entered his home by breaking a glass window. Willis said one of the burglars was armed with a large knife and the other had a pipe when they awakened him and demanded money. When he told the intruders he had no money, Willis A man crosses Jeannette said, he was struck in the Avenue, above, while walkhead by the thief with the ing along Garnett Street pipe. in Henderson in the rain The two males then Wednesday morning. At left the residence on foot, right, drivers maneuver according to Willis, who through a flooded street did not seek medical treatin Charlotte. The National ment. Weather Service has isPlease see TEENS, page 3A sued flood watches and warnings for most of North Carolina as the remnants of Hurricane Ida bring heavy rain across the state. BeOur Hometown . . . . . 2A cause of the Veterans’ Day holiday, many workers and Business & Farm. . . . 5A school children could stay Light Side . . . . . . . . . 6A home and out of the rain. Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Classifieds. . . . . . . 6-8B By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
Halifax County and his wife, Lucia, is a native of the Mountain Creek part of northern Granville County. After the war, Shearin taught school at Oak Hill, with his career including having worked as a chaplain at the state prison in Raleigh and with his career ending as a schoolteacher in Henderson. “Now, I’m not claiming to be a great war hero. I never have been, but I was
privileged to serve in the Navy,” said Shearin, who was a pharmacist’s mate and who noted he lost a brother in the Allied invasion to retake France from the Nazi Germans. Shearin said he quit college to join the Navy. And Shearin drew chuckles from the audience when he said he was seeking to avoid having to serve in the Army. Shearin said that after boot camp, he was called
More...
High: 54 Low: 48
Friday ...rain
High: 55 Low: 50
Deaths
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Obituaries, 4A
Investigators have named a floor space heater too near combustible plastic bags of clothing as the probable cause of a bedroom fire that killed two children Monday night at 132 Elizabeth St. The parents, June and Ayana Lewis, had been away from the house when the blaze broke out about 9:40 p.m., according to fire officials. Henderson Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson stressed Wednesday that the small heater did not appear to have malfunctioned. He explained that combustible materials should always be at least three AP Photo/Davie Hinshaw, The Charlotte Observer feet away from any type of heater. Wilkerson said the probable cause came from Matt Bivins, who is with the State Bureau of Investigation. Both the SBI and the a temporary turnaround. Henderson Arson Task The commission, which Force had been involved met on Tuesday evening, in probing the fire scene decided to refer the matter where one-year-old Joshua to the commission’s PropChase Lewis and his erty Committee, which is 12-year-old sister, Abria, chaired by Bob Willihad been trapped and ford, who additionally said killed. the Planning Board needs Their 16-year-old to go back and rethink brother, Devante, ran out this. Williford lives along of the house in only his unPine Cone Drive. derwear and got help from The Pine Cone resitwo next-door neighbors. dential area is northeast Bernice Davis said she of the city center and and her 22-year-old son, Randell Malone, ran to the Please see PINE CONE, page 3A fire scene. According to Davis, Malone said he went inside the dark residence, heard 8-year-old June Micah Lewis walking around in a baseboard near an electribedroom, grabbed the boy cal panel in the kitchen. by the arm, and led him to Wilkerson added that safety. the electrical panel apPeople who know the peared to be intact, and did family said most of their belongings were ruined. not have any fire damage. Because Ayana Lewis The house was valued at had been a team captain $14,400 and the contents last summer, Vance Couny were said to have been Relay For Life began a worth $5,000. Both were drive Tuesday to collect for lost. the two children and their
Legal questions delay Pine Cone project Plan for streets not clear to city By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
OXFORD — The City Commission held off considering approval of a five-lot subdivision off Pine Cone Drive because Details, 3A Mayor Pro Tem Howard Herring said City Attorney Tom Burnette and City Man-
Henderson Maddie Allen, 83 Mattie A.G. Cheatham, 95 Tony E. Pendergrass, 28 Christine C. Riggan, 89 Norlina William H. Green, 72 Oxford Stephanie R. Johnson, 14 William M. Pruitt, 86 Raleigh Edison L. Forsyth
John Shearin
Officials say it was too close to plastic bags
Index
Today
Please see VETERAN, page 3A
Heater cause of fatal fire
Soaked
Weather
in and told he would be sent to the Marines. And Shearin said he ended up going to South Carolina for training. Shearin said a sergeant major later called him in and told him, “You ain’t fit to be a Marine.” “I said, ‘Thank you, Lord’,” Shearin said, to laughter from the audience. “I said, ‘You got any
ager Mark Donham said there are legal questions needing to be answered first. Specifically, Burnette said there is a question about whether a proposed street illustrated in documents will dead end or whether the proposed street will extend all the way through “and if it is, whether or not that in fact can be done.” Another issue is whether the proposed street needs to be at least 26 feet wide, rather
than 20, Burnette said. The matter involves approving the five-lot subdivision as a final plat. City officials in documents said the proposed subdivision is part of the original subdivision recorded in documents in 1960. The Planning Board is recommending approval of the subdivision. The developer, Neil Gresham, would be required to pave the proposed street, install sewer and water lines, add a fire hydrant and include
Booth Avenue house destroyed by fire Heat melted siding on home next door By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
A fire of undetermined origin destroyed a rental house at 250 Boothe Ave. Tuesday night while the tenant wasn’t home. The occupant, Shrhonda Hargrove, is a meter
reader for the City of Henderson’s Finance Department, according to Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson. He said Hargrove returned to her home while members of his department were fighting the fire which was reported at 6:35 p.m. The one-story, woodframe structure that was destroyed Tuesday night was owned by Henry
Falkner of 925 Meadow Lane. Falkner is also the owner of the house next door at 252 Boothe Ave. Wilkerson said heat from the nearby fire caused about $1,500 damage to the vinyl siding. According to the chief, the cause of the fire at 250 Boothe Ave. had yet to be determined Wednesday. He said the blaze appeared to have started in some
Contact the writer at awheless@hendersondispatch.com.
Please see FATAL, page 3A