The Daily Dispatch - Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by The Daily Dispatch

CMYK Paper products drive benefits ACTS Our Hometown, Page 2A

MPMC bond rating improves Finance, Page 5A

Remembering the roots of Christianity Opinion, Page 8A

Duke easily handles Gardner-Webb Good Taste, Page 1C

Evangelist Oral Roberts passes away in California at age 91.

Nation, Page 4A

Sports, Page 1B

WEDNESDAY, December 16, 2009

Volume XCV, No. 294

(252) 436-2700

New Heritage Book being published

www.hendersondispatch.com

Well, bless my ‘sole’!

By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer

Plans have been announced for a 2010 edition of the Vance County Heritage Book. The book committee, cochaired by Mark Pace and Judy Stainback, announced a deadline of March 15, 2010, for stories, photographs and book orders. The book, scheduled to be published by late 2010, will contain stories by and about people and families of Vance County. The committee invites submissions from: • Residents of Vance County, • Former residents of Vance County, and • People with roots in Vance County. Each household is encouraged to submit up to 500 words. For those whose ancestors came to Vance County before 1881, up to 1,000 words may be submitted. There will be a charge of 10 cents a word over those limits. Articles may deal with ancestors who lived in Vance County or the person or family submitting the material. Photographs may also be submitted. Please see BOOK, page 3A

Index Our Hometown . . 2A,7A Business . . . . . . . . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 9A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1C Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 2C Classifieds. . . . . . 3C-5C

Weather Today Sunny

High: 47 Low: 27

Thursday Sunny

High: 48 Low: 28

Details, 3A

Deaths Creedmoor Betty E. Moss David L. Wilkerson, 72 Henderson Margaret B. Greenway, 83 Louisburg Kevin T. Ayscue, 24 Oxford Elizabeth T. Evans, 79 Anice Fields, 53 Annie M. Lyons, 83

Obituaries, 4A

50 cents

Corps hears from lake enthusiasts By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer

Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE

From left, Sgt. Shawn Spence, Sgt. David Diogo, Det. Marty Stewart and Lt. Marcus Barrow help load a pickup truck with confiscated shoes and socks for Chris Richardson and Mike Currin from the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford in the sally port at the Henderson Police Department Tuesday morning.

Seized shoes = gifts By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer

The sole purpose was to help the Jolly Old Elf bolster his distribution inventory. Stacked inside the Henderson Police Department’s sally port Tuesday morning were hundreds of seized knock-off shoes and boots. Worth thousands of dollars, they were ready to be presented to representatives of two agencies for distribution to needy children. Those representatives were Daycare Coordinator Tiffany Gray of the Vance County Department of Social Services and Assistant Administrator Chris Richardson and Athletic Director Mike Currin of the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford. “We have 848 children to serve,” Gray said. “They belong to more than 350 families.” Also on hand for the presentation was Assistant District Attorney Allison Capps, who had

assisted police in making the proposed event become a reality. The illegally manufactured and unauthorized merchandise that was on display included 158 pairs of shoes, 21 pairs of boots, 200 pairs of socks and several dozen hats. Detective S.R. Spence said the street value of the footwear ranged from $25 to $50 a pair. Over the last 18 months, he explained, the goods were confiscated from vehicles stopped on Interstate 85, from people selling the shoes out of their cars on city streets, and from some stores in Henderson. Spence said there were about six related criminal cases involving some of the merchandise that went through the court system in Vance County. At least three defendants were convicted as a result, Spence added. Send comments to awheless@hendersondispatch.com

Richard Snell said he came to the Army Corps of Engineers public scoping session about revising the master plan for the John H. Kerr Dam and Reservoir to find out about the potential impact on homes and properties. “We just want to make sure that what we have now doesn’t change too much or if it does that we have some say in what it changes to,” said Snell, who is from England and who retired after working in Goldsboro. Snell moved to Vance County to be next to the reservoir. Davis Snell said he is “fairly satisfied” with the way the reservoir is managed. “I think it’s a lovely lake and that the Corps of Engineers does a reasonably good job of keeping it the way it is and the way I’d like it to stay,” Snell said. Snell was one of more than 35 who attended the open-house style format Tuesday at Vance-Granville Community College. A session was held Monday in South Hill, Va., and another session will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the Clarksville, Va., Community Center. Vance County Tourism Director Nancy Wilson, who attended Tuesday’s session, said she hopes the Corps will leave the woody shoreline in place. “That’s what I’d like to see because it works the way it is,” said Wilson, who estimates the reservoir attracts anywhere between 1.4 million to 1.6 million visitors yearly on the Tar Heel side of the North Carolina-Virginia border. “It’s huge,” Wilson said of the economic impact. Wilson has been Vance County’s chief tourism official for 17 years. Please see LAKE, page 3A

Oxford public safety study results on hold — again By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer

OXFORD — Residents will not know the outcome of a months-long-awaited $40,000 study of public safety until January. In an e-mail Tuesday, City Manager Mark Donham said that sending the information to the city commissioners for a thorough review could not be accomplished and that it was decided to set up a meeting after the holidays. Oxford has seven commissioners who serve staggered four-year terms and four new commissioners elected Nov. 3 were sworn in Dec. 8. The commission’s Public Safety Committee was scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday to discuss the findings of the study. The committee is chaired by holdover Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Howard Herring, with holdover Commissioner Bob Williford and new Commissioner Danny Currin as committee members. Police Chief and Acting Fire Chief John Wolford is a non-voting committee advisor.

The study, conducted by the International City/ County Management Association, has been a subject of controversy, as evidenced by the previous commission’s 4-3 vote Oct. 13 for a budget amendment to pay a final $4,000 amount owed when the document is ready. Holdover Commissioner Walter Cantley prior to the vote unsuccessfully called for the rest of the then-commission to stop this “nonsense” until the board received a full length, unedited report. Donham told the thencommission the reason for the allocation was 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. “The final report has not been submitted,” Donham told the then-commission. “We’re still working on drafts.”

Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE

Marilyn Allen’s car sits in her father’s driveway after being involved in a four-vehicle collision on Raleigh Road Tuesday night.

Two hurt in four-vehicle wreck By DISPATCH STAFF

Two motorists were injured as four vehicles were involved in a chain-collision traffic accident on Raleigh Road Tuesday evening. Marilyn C. Allen, 35, of 836 E. Montgomery St., Henderson, and Katherine Brown, 21, of 30 Sterling Court, Franklinton, driving separate vehicles at the time of the accident, were taken to Maria Parham Please see SAFETY, page 3A Medical Center by ambulance,

treated and released, according to Trooper B.E. Pulliam. Also involved in the accident was Edith Garrett, 67, of 1528 Glover St., Henderson. She went to MPMC for treatment by private vehicle and was released. None of the three vehicles had passengers. The accident occurred when Brown, traveling south on Raleigh Road in a 2009 Nissan, allegedly looked down while driving and struck the

back end of a 1982 Chevrolet truck being driven by Garrett. The truck was knocked some 170 feet after the impact, striking the rear of Allen’s 1990 Ford Tempo. Allen, traveling in the same direction as Brown and Garrett, reportedly was making a left turn into her father’s driveway at 2506 Raleigh Road, when her vehicle, a 1990 Ford, was hit. Please see WRECK, page 3A

The Daily Dispatch

Local News / Nation Deaths

Kevin T. Ayscue LOUISBURG — Kevin Thomas Ayscue, 24, of 246 Julie Pearce Road, died Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009, at the University of North Carolina Hospital after a lengthy illness with cystic fibrosis. Born in Vance Ayscue County on Jan. 25, 1985, he was the son of Edward Thomas Ayscue of Kittrell and Cynthia Ayscue McGee of Henderson. He was a member of South Henderson Church of God and also attended South Henderson Pentecostal Holiness Church. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at South Henderson Pentecostal Holiness Church by the Rev. Frank Sossamon. Burial will follow in the Liberty Christian Church Cemetery. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his stepmother, Bonnie Lane Ayscue of Kittrell; a brother, Jonathan Ayscue of Henderson; his maternal grandmother, Christine Gupton Ayscue of Henderson; his paternal grandmother, Barbara Grissom Ayscue of Henderson; and his maternal great-grandmother, Rena Gupton of Henderson. The family will receive friends Thursday from 7-8:30 p.m. at J.M. White Funeral Home. At other times they will be at the home of Andy and Joette Short at 1613 Rocky Ford Road. Serving as active pallbearers will be Jonathan Ayscue, Gary Ayscue Jr., Chuck Bowes, Allen Lassiter, B.J. Ayscue and Willie Hill. Flowers will be accepted or memorial contributions may be made to COTA (Children’s Organ Transplant Association), 2501 COTA Drive, Bloomington, Ind. 47403. Arrangements are by J.M. White Funeral Home.

Elizabeth T. Evans OXFORD — Elizabeth Taylor Evans, 79, of 100 Leake St., died Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009, at her home. She was the daughter of the late James Taylor and Lula Jeffries Taylor. She was a former employee of the former Ideal Fastener Corp and a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church. She is survived by three daughters, Theresa Evans of the home, Pamela Evans of Charlotte and Angela E. Satterwhite of Raleigh; a son, Wayne Evans of Charlotte; a stepson, Roy Wright of Oxford; a sister, Bernice Steed of East

Orange, N.J.; two brothers, Thomas Taylor of Clermont, N.J., and William Arthur Taylor of Orange, N.J.; three grandchildren; and a greatgrandchild. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at Oak Grove Baptist Church by the Rev. Ray Allsberry. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The family will receive visitors Friday from 7-8 p.m. at Wright Funeral Home. Arrangements are by Wright Funeral Home.

Anice Fields OXFORD — Anice Fields, 53, of 108 Daniel St., died Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009, at her home. She was the daughter of the late Lonnie F. Fields and Elizabeth Bowden Fields. She was a former employee of Murdoch Center and Walmart and was also a member of Morning Star Baptist Church. She is survived by a daughter, Valerie Fields Jones of Oxford; three sons, Rodger Fields, Roderick Fields and Kentrell Fields, all of Oxford; four sisters, Deborah Fields of Henderson, and Emma Frances Edwards, Catherine Daniel and Bessie Mae Smith, all of Oxford; four brothers, Edward Fields, Jesse Fields, Toney Fields and Henry Fields, all of Oxford; and 11 grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Sunday at Wright Funeral Home by the Rev. Norris Trice. Burial will be in the Morning Star Baptist Church cemetery. The family will receive visitors Saturday from 7-8 p.m. at Wright Funeral Home. Arrangements are by Wright Funeral Home.

Annie M. Lyons OXFORD — Annie Mae Lyons, 83, of 1652 Jack Clement Road, died Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, at Granville Medical Center. She was the daughter of the late Junious Allen and Mamie Henderson Allen. She received her education in the Granville County school system and attended N.C. College for two years. Survivors include two sons, Alvin Lyons and Ricky Lyons; a daughter, Ceresa L. Latta; three sisters, Lillie A. Fitzgerald, Ophelia A. Williams and Lessie A. Bullock, all of New Jersey; six grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at Betts and Son Funeral Home by the Rev. Robert L. Harris. Burial will follow in Amazing Grace Ministry Cemetery. The viewing will be Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Arrangements are by Betts

Surviving are a daughMargaret B. ter, Jackie Rose Greenway, of Henderson; a son, Larry Greenway Thomas Greenway, and wife Gloria, of Henderson; HENDERSON — Martwo grandchildren, garet Boyd GreenBrian Greenway, way, 83, of 2810 and wife Tracey, and U.S. 158 Bypass, Mark Crowder, all Henderson, N.C., of Henderson; and died Monday, one great-grandson, December 14, 2009, Noah Thomas at her home. Born in Greenway. She was Vance County, she preceded in death Greenway was the daughter by a grandson, Brad of the late Marvin Lanning Greenway; and a Rubin and Gladys Elbrother, M.C. Boyd. lington Boyd. She was the The family will receive widow of Louis Lanning friends immediately folGreenway. lowing the service in the Mrs. Greenway was a church fellowship hall. All homemaker and retired other times, they will be at at age 80, from Greenthe home, 2810 U.S. 158 way Service Station and Bypass, Henderson. Greenway Auto Salvage. Serving as active pallShe joined Poplar Creek bearers will be John Capps Baptist Church at age Sr., John Capps Jr., Doug eight, sang in the church Owen, Bobby Boyd, Grey choir for many years, Boyd, Randy Ball, David taught Sunday School for Harrison, L.B. O’Neal, and 33 years, and held numerous positions in the church. Danny Guin. In lieu of flowers, She will be remembered as memorials may be made a loving and devoted wife, to Poplar Creek Baptist mother, and grandmother. Church, Cemetery Fund, Funeral services will be c/o Frances Brewer, 1755 held Thursday, DecemPoplar Creek Road, Henber 17, 2009, at 11 a.m., derson, N.C. 27537. at Poplar Creek Baptist Arrangements are by Church, conducted by the Flowers Funeral Home. Rev. Tony Evans. Burial will follow in the church Paid Obituary cemetery. and Son Funeral Home of Oxford.

Betty E. Moss CREEDMOOR — Betty E. “Lucy” Moss died Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. A native of Granville County, she was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William Enloe. She was retired from John Umstead Hospital and since her retirement she has been a homemaker. She was of the Baptist faith and had attended Tally Ho First Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband, Joe Edward Moss Jr.; two stepdaughters, Robbie M. Manning and Lynn Moss; brother, Charles D. Inloe; and sister, Shirley Smith. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Mary; brother, Ralph; and brother-in-law, Billy. Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Eakes Funeral Chapel in Creedmoor by the Rev. Willis Herman. Burial will be in Carolina Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 10-11 a.m. Thursday, prior to the service, at Eakes Funeral Home in Creedmoor. Arrangements are by Eakes

Funeral Home of Creedmoor.

David L. Wilkerson CREEDMOOR — David Lee Wilkerson, 72, of 1264 Turner Road, Creedmoor, died Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, at Durham Regional Hospital. He was the son of the late Richard Wilkerson Sr. and Dorothy Bullock Wilkerson. He was educated in the Granville County school system and was a brick mason for over 25 years. Survivors include his wife, Callie Wilkerson of the home; a son, William David Wilkerson of the home; three daughters, Brenda Williams of Kittrell, Betty Lyons of Oxford and Bobbie Wilkerson of the home; two brothers, James Wilkerson of Henderson and George Wilkerson of Oxford; a sister, Annie Fields of Henderson; and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Friday at Betts and Son Funeral Home by the Rev. Terry Taylor. Burial will follow in Big Zion A.M.E. Zion Church Cemetery. The viewing will be Thursday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Arrangements are by Betts and Son Funeral Home of Oxford.

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Oral Roberts dies in Calif. at age 91 TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Oral Roberts, who helped pioneer TV evangelism in the 1950s and used the power of the new medium — and his message of God’s healing power — to build a multimillion-dollar ministry and a university that bears his name, died Tuesday. He was 91. Roberts died of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach, Calif., according to his spokesman, A. Larry Ross. The evangelist was hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. Roberts rose from humble tent revivals to become one of the nation’s most influential preachers. Along with Billy Graham, he pioneered religious TV, and played a major role in making American Pentecostalism mainstream. He also laid the foundation for the “prosperity gospel,” the doctrine that has come to dominate televangelism. It holds that God rewards the faithful with material success. “In conservative Protestant culture, he’s second only to Billy Graham,” said Grant Wacker, a professor at Duke University’s divinity school. He credited his oratorical skills to his faith, saying, “I become anointed with God’s word, and the spirit of the Lord builds up in me like a coiled spring. By the time I’m ready to go on, my mind is razor-sharp. I know exactly what I’m going to say and I’m feeling like a lion.” Unity of body, mind and spirit became the theme of Oral Roberts University. The

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Business & Farm

The Daily Dispatch

Chamber

Commerce

Addressing issues to help our local small businesses As we conclude 2009, jobs in North Carolina. needless to say, this has On a brighter note, been a trying year for busi- thanks to Pacific Coast ness in America, North Feather for their further Carolina and investment in especially Vance Vance County. County. There are 250In November, 300 more persons the Federal Rewho will have a serve chairman, brighter ChristBen Bernanke, mas because they stated the recesare now employed sion was over. He there. Also, ACS did not call me Health Managebefore he made ment Solutions Bill that statement. believes in our Edwards Small business employees and Henderson-Vance still generates has added 130 Chamber most of the jobs new positions to in the United their call center. States. Yet, in spite of Walmart gave our retail what you read or see in the store a new facelift and media, money is not flowas a result new positions ing to small businesses in were added there. There rural areas. In fact, many are other companies of our small businesses expanding here in 2010 had their line of credit and we are grateful for pulled and have been the opportunity to work struggling to renew or find with the Henderson-Vance new financing. Economic Development I spoke with several Commission and our of our local retailers who realtors and developers on stated they could sell more those projects. goods this year but they It is pleasing to see Hencan not find the funds to derson and Vance County buy them. I recently met working together to make with leadership in Raleigh us more business friendly. about this issue and hopeWe have a ways to go to fully our legislature will get permits and inspecconsider a funding mechations handled in a timely nism with less red tape or manner. We are trying to bureaucracy next year. incorporate the slogan “At Another issue that the Speed of Business” in needs to be addressed is all of our processes and are a form of health care or making some progress. health care pool for small The Chamber board business owners. I am and staff wish everyone pleased to say that a trial a Merry Christmas and a is in place at the Asheville Happy New Year. Chamber of Commerce and As you begin to think will be completed in 2010 about New Year’s resoluto see if there is a reasontions, please remember to able solution for us. “Shop in Henderson/Vance We are continually lobCounty in 2010.” That bying Raleigh for a lower helps our local economy corporate income tax. and keeps our citizens Virginia is almost one employed. percent lower than us Bill Edwards is presiand South Carolina is two dent of the Hendersonpercent lower. I believe Vance Chamber of Comthat situation hampers us in recruiting and retaining merce.

Dr. Blosser moving to California Dr. Anita Blosser, a physician with Henderson Family Medicine Clinic for 15 years, is moving to California. She will continue to practice medicine. Blosser came to this area from Ken- Dr. Blosser tucky in the fall of 1994. She joined the medical staff at Maria Parham Medical Center at that time and served on several medical committees there, most notably serving for 10 years on the Medical Specialty Service Committee until 2005. She also served on the

A DAY ON WALL STREET 11,000

Dec. 15, 2009

Dow Jones industrials

10,000 9,000 8,000

-49.05 10,452.00

7,000

MPMC bond rating rises by two levels

Fitch has upgraded the bond rating for Maria 2,400 Parham Medical Center Dec. 15, 2009 2,200 from BB- to BB+, which Nasdaq 2,000 represents an increase of composite 1,800 two levels, according to an 1,600 -11.05 1,400 announcement. A S O N D 2,201.05 Fitch Ratings recently High 2,217.63 Low 2,197.76 Pct. change from previous: -0.5% completed its annual review of MPMC’s 2009 financials 1,200 Dec. 15, 2009 1,100 related to its outstanding Standard & 1,000 2003 revenue bond issue. 900 Poor’s 500 800 Hospital administration 700 -6.18 said the rating upgrade 600 A S O N D 1,107.93 is a remarkable achieveHigh 1,114.10 Pct. change from previous: -0.55% Low 1,105.34 ment given a year in which SOURCE: SunGard AP the economy has not been healthy, not-for-profit healthMARKET ROUNDUP 121509: Market charts show Dow, S&P 500, and care bond rating downgrades Currencies & M etals Nasdaq; stand-alone; 2c x 4 1/2 inches; have outnumbered upgrades, 96 mm x 114 mm; staff and the credit crisis has Aluminum -$1.0273 per lb., N.Y. Merc spot NEW YORK (AP) — Key currency exEditors: All figures as of: 5:25:07 PM EST Thu. change rates Tuesday: made rating agencies, lendNOTE: Figures reflect market fluctuations after close; may not match other AP content Copper -$3.1364 Cathode full plate, U.S. ers, investors and others Dollar vs: ExchgRate PvsDay destinations. very conservative in their Yen 89.74 88.63 Copper $3.1210 N.Y. Merc spot Thu. Euro $1.4529 $1.4647 Lead - $2290.00 metric ton, London Metal outlook for the healthcare Pound $1.6256 $1.6304 Exch. sector. Swiss franc 1.0409 1.0322 Zinc - $1.0346 per lb., delivered. According to Fitch, this Canadian dollar 1.0615 1.0595 Gold - $1122.00 Handy & Harman (only rating upgrade “reflects Mexican peso 12.7150 12.7840 daily quote). Gold - $1122.40 troy oz., NY Merc spot Maria Parham’s significant Thu. Metal Price PvsDay strengthening of its balance NY Merc Gold $1122.40 $1123.40 Silver - $17.340 Handy & Harman (only sheet over the past three daily quote). NY HSBC Bank US $1123.00 $1125.00 NY Merc Silver $17.441 $17.326 Silver - $17.441 troy oz., N.-. Merc spot Thu. fiscal years, stable operating Platinum -$1437.00 troy oz., N.Y. (contract). Platinum -$1452.00 troy oz., N.Y. Merc spot performance, and sustained Nonferrous market presence.” NEW YORK (AP) — Spot nonferrous metal Thu. n.q.-not quoted, n.a.-not available r-revised prices Tuesday: The Fitch report added, “At fiscal year end (Sept. 30), Area Stocks Maria Parham had $25 million in unrestricted cash and Royal Bk Can 51.60 investments, amounting to Listed below are representative interRJR Tobacco 53.11 131 days cash on hand. Drivdealer quotations at approximately Revlon 19.28 ing the increased liquidity 4 p.m. Tuesday from the National Sprint 3.90 are improved earnings and Association of Securities Dealers. Sun Trust 21.00 cash flow, strong receivable Prices do not include retail mark-up, Universal 46.28 mark-down or commission. collections and moderating Verizon Comm. 33.01 capital expenses. Factors Vulcan 48.13 ACS 58.77 Wal-Mart 53.98 leading to the enhanced ATT 27.60 Wells Fargo 25.66 operations include effective Ball Corp. 51.93 Wendy’s 4.26 cost controls for supplies, BankAmerica 15.19 Establis Delhaize 77.92 lower contracted labor usage, BB&T 25.83 Pct. change from previous: -0.47%

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hospital’s board of directors and has been working to recruit physicians to the hospital since joining the Physician Recruitment Committee in 2006.

59.06 31.76 17.65 69.17 9.39 15.75 0.561 29.02 128.49 64.74 26.09 2.93 6.14 24.00 3.27 60.99 19.70 62.12 41.51 4.67

High 10,499.31

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

and appropriately negotiated managed care plans with commercial carriers.” Fitch also noted the hospital’s modern facilities, stateof-the-art technology and effective executive leadership as strengths. Bob Singletary, MPMC CEO, said, “While small, rural, independent hospitals have tremendous challenges, the Fitch Ratings review underscores that Maria Parham is doing the right things from an operations, financial, and quality of care perspective. We have our employees, physicians, management team and board of directors to thank for this significant achievement during a difficult economy.”

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NC Briefs Governor had no role in recruiting company headed to Durham RALEIGH (AP) — Gov. Beverly Perdue didn’t play a recruiting role with a Louisiana-based consultant moving to North Carolina because her son had been working with the company. Mutliple media outlets reported Tuesday that Perdue recused herself from dealing with Innovative Emergency Management, which announced Monday it was moving to Durham County and bringing 430 jobs. That’s because Perdue’s son, Garrett, works at a law firm that helped represent the outfit. Governor’s spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said the Commerce Department handled the recruiting to avoid a conflict of interest. Pearson said the governor typically gets involved in trying to lure a company at the request of Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. The company could receive up to $9 million in state tax breaks.

NC community college re-examines campus ban on smoking NEW BERN (AP) — The tobacco-free campus policy at a North Carolina community college may be revised after complaints from neighbors that smokers are moving onto surrounding streets to puff away. The Sun Journal of New Bern reports that trustees at Craven Community College’s New Bern campus are meeting Tuesday to consider allowing a designated smoking area on the school’s grounds. College spokesman Sandy Wall said that people have been walking off campus to smoke in the neighboring woods or along the road where they’re putting themselves in danger from traffic. Trustees chairman Gary Baldree said some trustees want to keep the campus tobacco-free, while others want to create a designated smoking area. A statewide smoking ban takes effect in January.

ity rates for active duty Marines who served at the base during the years the water was contaminated. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry points out in its letter that it has the “responsibility to determine what public health studies and responses are warranted at Federal sites,” and that it is the Navy’s responsibility under the law to fund the studies. Earlier this month, North Carolina’s Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan were among four senators urging the Navy to fund the study. The Navy agreed in November to pay $92,000 for the reanalysis of a study looking at pregnancy issue like mean birth weight and preterm birth and almost $2 million for the completion of a water modeling project to determine how underground water flowed at the base and how toxins would have been introduced and spread.

More NC workers get fed subpoenas By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH — Federal investigators still want more answers about coastal real estate developments assembled by two brothers with ties to former Gov. Mike Easley and whether anyone made payoffs or gifts to state regulators. Three Department of Environment and Natural Resources employees have been subpoenaed to appear later this week before a federal grand jury, agency spokeswoman Diana Kees confirmed Tuesday.

CAMP LEJEUNE (AP) — The federal agency in charge of studying the effects of contaminated water on Marines and their families at a North Carolina base said critical gaps in funding still exist. The Department of the Navy and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have been fighting for months over the funding of a mortality study at Camp Lejeune. In a letter Monday, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry argued that the study is “the most-time efficient” and valid method of determining the health effects. The study will determine if there are higher mortal-

left office 11 months ago, hasn’t been charged with any crimes, although a local prosecutor is examining whether he or others broke state laws based on evidence uncovered in a weeklong State Board of Elections hearing in October. Federal prosecutors want the employees, who could arrive at the Raleigh federal courthouse Wednesday at the earliest, to provide any documents on four developments put together by businessmen Gary and Randy Allen. Easley and his wife bought a lot in one of the developments — Cannonsgate in Carteret County — in 2005.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking information similar to what it asked for from six other current or former department employees served with subpoenas last month. “We will continue to cooperate fully with the federal investigation,” Kees said in an e-mail. The subpoenas served Dec. 8 upon Kim Colson, John Dorney and Jeff Schaffer represent the latest in dozens served this year by prosecutors wanting more details about a wide range of activities surrounding Easley, his wife and associates. Easley, a Democrat who

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“The further we got into the White House, the more surprised we were,” Darden told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “My wife looked at me and I looked at her, and I said, ’You know, I don’t know if we’re in the right place.”’ They approached a White House aide with their concern that they had veered off course but were told to “just go with the flow,” Darden said.

testing the landing gear and the flaps, before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field about three hours later. Deteriorating weather brought the plane back to earth about an hour earlier than planned.

Outcome of climate talks unclear COPENHAGEN (AP) — The success of the U.N. climate conference hung in the balance Tuesday as China and the U.S. deadlocked over whether Beijing will allow the world to check its books and verify promised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Princes, presidents and premiers crowded into a vast hall for the formal opening of

Jetliner makes first test flight in Wash. EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing’s new 787 jetliner finally got airborne Tuesday, the long-delayed inaugural flight of the world’s first commercial plane mostly constructed from lightweight composite materials. The sleek jet lifted off from Everett’s Paine Field on a flight over Washington state, beginning an extensive testing program needed to obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification. The two-member crew performed a variety of basic system checks, including

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the largest summit ever held on climate change, but attention was on the leaders of the world’s two largest polluters — President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao — who plan to arrive for the final days of talks on a framework to control heattrapping gases. Negotiators who have been working for 10 days floated new draft documents on lesser issues. But they left open the vexing questions of emissions targets for industrial countries, billions of dollars a year in funding for poor countries to contend with global warming, and verifying the actions of emerging powers like China to ensure they keep their promises.

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Documents show the couple received a $137,000 discount on the lot. They also want the workers to give them any paperwork showing whether they gave or received remuneration from 19 individuals or businesses, including Easley, the Allens and McQueen Campbell, once Easley’s political ally who has said he piloted dozens of private flights for Easley. A lawyer for Gary Allen said last month the brothers did nothing like that and the projects received their required state permits in a lawful manner.

Nation / World Briefs

WASHINGTON (AP) — It wasn’t a state dinner, and they didn’t crash it on purpose. Still, a Georgia couple who showed up at the White House a day early for a tour somehow wound up at an Struggling NC invitation-only breakfast with President Barack Obama and symphony says the first lady. It left the White show will go on House once again explaining how people who were not on CHARLOTTE (AP) an event guest list wound up — Leaders of the strugbeing ushered into the presigling symphony in North dential mansion anyway. Carolina’s largest city say The improbable adventure of Harvey and Paula they’re certain the show Darden, Obama supportwill go on next year. The Charlotte Observer ers from Hogansville, Ga., reported Tuesday the Char- took place on Veterans Day, two weeks before Virginia lotte Symphony, once in jeopardy of shutting down, socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi infamously crashed the is now less than $100,000 Obamas’ state dinner for the away from its urgent fundraising target of $1.77 prime minister of India. The Dardens mistakenly million. showed up a day early for a The symphony’s executour scheduled through their tive director says if it can congressman. The White raise the final $100,000, House and Secret Service the nonprofit Arts & Sciboth said the Dardens went ence Council of Charlotte through the appropriate will come through with security screenings and were a $900,000 grant it had allowed into the breakfast as threatened to pull amid a courtesy because there were concerns about the orches- no public tours that day. tra’s viability. That explanation was Leaders say Wells news to Harvey Darden, 67, a Fargo’s $100,000 gift last retired pharmacist, who said week helped to boost local he and his wife never were confidence in the symtold about the breakfast. They phony. thought they were simply The symphony met its starting their tour until they yearly subscription ticket were ushered into the East sales goal of $1.3 million, a Room, offered a buffet spread $500,000 increase over last and told they’d be meeting the year. president.

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Community News

The Daily Dispatch

Schools recognized for Positive Behavior Support programs

Zeb Vance Elementary School and E.O. Young Jr. Elementary School were officially honored at the 59th annual Conference on Exceptional Children in November at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. Representatives of the two local elementary schools were presented banners from officials with the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) program through the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Zeb Vance Elementary received a banner in recognition of its selection as an “Exemplar School” for its outstanding use of school-wide PBS practices. Accepting the banner for Zeb Vance Elementary (above) at the conference were Sharon Hopper (left) and Tonya Moss (right). They are being presented the banner by Cory Watkins, regional director of the PBS program. E.O. Young Elementary was presented a banner as a “Model School” for its school-wide use of positive behavior reinforcement (below). Edna Bartley Hargrove, a teacher at E.O. Young Jr. Elementary (center) holds her school’s banner with help from teacher assistant Tiffany Brown (left in background) and two students. They presented their banner for review during the Nov. 9 meeting of the Vance County Board of Education. Zeb Vance and E.O. Young elementary schools have been selected for their recognitions based on their outstanding use of Positive Behavior Support in all aspects of the school setting, which includes while students are on school buses and at any time they are on school grounds both in and out of classrooms.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

High school students visit VGCC culinary program Students in the Culinary Arts program at Northern Vance High School got a taste of the next level of education in their field when they visited Vance-Granville Community College’s Culinary Technology program in November. VGCC’s two-year degree program, based at the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford, prepares students for entry-level professional positions in restaurants, hotels, catering operations, health-care facilities, schools and other institutions. Chef Ross Ragonese, head of the VGCC Culinary program, told the high school students about what the college offers. “There are many opportunities and paths available through the program, and it’s not limited to being a chef,” Ragonese said. “It’s a demanding but profitable field. There’s always demand, because everybody in the world needs to eat. And the more you know, the more you’re worth as a professional.” Students also heard from VGCC Dean of Business and Applied Technologies Bobby Van Brunt and from academic advisor Herbert Washington. Ragonese then led students on a tour of the kitchen, where they observed students in the Baking I class preparing pastries such as bear claws and beggars’ purses. They also sampled cinnamon buns the VGCC students had produced. The group of high school juniors and seniors, all of whom are in theirsecond year of culinary classes under the instruction of Julie Sokol, had the opportunity to ask questions of Ragonese and several VGCC students. NVHS students wanted to know

about the college students’ future plans, why they chose to go into the profession and the challenges of training in the kitchen. “When our students graduate, they are not yet chefs, but they are trained and on their way to becoming chef,” Ragonese pointed out. “There are no boundaries as far as opportunity in this profession, for both men and women.” He touched on the combination of science, art and passion that goes into cooking. Ragonese said that the VGCC program currently has 42 students, with approximately 10 students set to graduate next May.

Sokol said that the high school students benefit from classes that are practical and out of the ordinary, while also learning to take on the responsibilities involved in running a culinary operation. Students operate a café at Northern Vance that is open to the public for lunch once a week, similar to The Vanguard Café operated by VGCC students. Sokol thanked Ragonese for his hospitality and expressed hope that the two schools can work together closely in the future. For more information about the culinary program, call Chef Ross Ragonese at (919) 690-0312.

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Opinion

The Daily Dispatch

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Editorial Board: James Edwards, Publisher jedwards@hendersondispatch.com

Don Dulin, News Editor ddulin@hendersondispatch.com

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Daily Meditation The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse. Matthew 1:1-5

Our Opinion

Budget cuts are hurting mentally ill The demand for services is increasing — the same services that are now limited or simply not available. It’s a recipe for disaster, and a disaster it is for many citizens who are mentally ill, addicted to drugs, depressed and abused in the Tri-County area and across our state. Mental health services were already reeling after a gross misuse of funds led to reductions in state funding. The state’s current fiscal crisis has made the situation go from really bad to even worse. The Five County Mental Health Authority — overseers of the providers of mental health services in Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Halifax counties — is working with $2.5 million less in state funds this year. Published reports indicated this year’s budget approved by the legislature cut about $40 million, or 12 percent, in mental health treatment for people without other insurance. The FCMHA saw the state reductions coming in their budget preparation and tried to respond by giving priority to people with the most severe needs, making reductions that would have the least impact on essential services, and increasing the monitoring or organizations that provide services in order to maximize the use of resources. Those steps were probably helpful, but the funding cuts have been so severe, locals say there is now a longer waiting list for “consumers,” the name used to describe the people who need the services, and, they say, some services are simply not available now. Valerie Hennike, FCMHA director, said the local providers whose services are most needed are laying off workers and cutting salaries. When the misuse of state funds derailed the overhaul of how mental health services were delivered, the response was the drastic reduction of funding for community support services. Those services are an essential part of treatment and recovery, an employee of one of the mental health providers told the Dispatch recently. Anita Toney of Triumph, a provider with two offices in Henderson, said there are 33,000 recovering drug abusers, mentally ill patients and others in North Carolina in need of community support as they struggle to readjust to their communities. It’s not clear what support they are receiving now, if any. Triumph’s chief executive officer, Paul Campbell, said the response to the current economic crisis has been political, leading to those in need missing valuable clinical services they should be receiving. The result is an increase in hosptal emergency room calls for what are nonemergencies, more people entering the criminal justice system and, probably, more homeless people on the streets. Last year, the Five County Community Collaborative, an umbrella group for local human services organizations, was able to distribute $133,000 to more than two dozen schools, counseling agencies and organizations working with children and families. This year, the group has no money to distribute. The community support side of mental health services can have a tremendous effect on keeping people with severe mental illness out of the hospital, off the streets and out of our jails and court system. We need for Gov. Perdue and the General Assembly to act quickly to meet the needs of these most vulnerable citizens.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Good riddance to uh-oh’s A few days from now and not a moment too soon, we say farewell to the Ohs. Once upon a time, it was common to debate names for this first decade of the new millennium. We’d seen the Gay ’90s, the Roaring ’20s, the Swinging ’60s, we’d endured the Me Decade, the Greed Decade, The War Years, and people wondered what nickname should be attached to the Ohs. Maybe you will agree it’d be fitting to call them the UhOhs. As in that interjection you mutter when the excreta hits the ventilation device, that word you whisper when the wheels come off the bicycle, that thing you say when things fall apart. The Ohs were a whole decade in which things fell apart — things you’d thought were built to last, things you depended on without having to think too much about them, things that were the very bones and core and soul and sinew of who we are. Or at least, of who we thought we were. Then democracy fell apart in a blizzard of hanging chads, a presidential election whose winner no one really knows to this day, a decision by the

Supreme Court that chose our 43rd chief executive. Our sense of security fell apart, foreign terrorists bringing their grievances to our shores in a spectacular fashion never seen before, proud towers disintegrating, an iconic building pierced, smoke rising above a Pennsylvania field, 3,000 Leonard people Pitts gone. American Tribune Media exceptionServices alism fell apart, our understanding of ourselves as history’s white hats and good guys crumbling under revelations of torture and malfeasance starkly at odds with that benign and reassuring self-image. Can-do fell apart, civilization fell apart, New Orleans drowning and its trapped people turning feral and mean while those whose job it was to rescue them bungled, bickered, pointed fingers and otherwise acquitted themselves with all the smooth efficiency

of the Keystone Kops. The economy fell apart, wealth disappearing, jobs vanishing, surplus shrinking to deficit, the nation in hock to China to bail out banks too big to fail and brother, can you spare a dime? Journalism fell apart, the very idea and ideal of authoritativeness and indisputability lost in a static of Tweets and blogs, of newspaper deaths, fair-and-balanced bias and competing truths. The world fell apart, glaciers turning to icebergs, icebergs turning to ice water, dire predictions of irrevocable change due to planetary warming caused by human behavior, the snows receding on Mount Kilimanjaro. On Nov. 19, 2004, basketball player Ron Artest ignited arguably the worst brawl in U.S. sports history when he went into the stands after a fan who’d pelted him with a cup of liquid. The resulting riot — players charging into the stands, fans rushing onto the floor, punching, stampeding, trampling — was so bad referees had to cancel the last seconds of the game. Five years later, it seems an apt metaphor for the age:

civilization suspended, words failing, angry people crossing lines never crossed before to fight one another just because. And yet, we’re still here, still standing. There is something to be said for that; it is no small feat to still be standing in times so tumultuous, times when the very bedrock of your identity wobbles like Jell-O. That was the Uh-Ohs and the best thing you can say about them is that they are almost over. We are people of an astounding capacity for resilience, redemption, renewal, reinvention. Change is our birthright — for proof, look no further than the new guy in the White House. So this era of hardship is finite by definition. This too shall pass away. Something to remember in the last minute of Dec. 31 as the clock ticks relentlessly toward the new, the next. A toast to give when you raise your glass high. Here’s to better days. Leonard Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla., 33132. Readers may contact him via e-mail at lpitts@miamiherald. com.

Remembering the roots of Christianity on Holy Day As Christians look forward to celebrating Christmas, they can look to the life of Jesus as a model for their own lives. His life provided an example of what he expected of his followers, then and now. As a Jew, Jesus honored the Law of Moses, but he chastised the Pharisees, who placed the Law above charity. He made the hero of one of his parables David a SaI felt the way families must Irvine have felt back in the 1940s. They maritan, someone Daily Dispatch joined together in front of the a Jew Writer radio while performers painted would not vivid pictures in their imaginatouch. tion. Throughout his ministry, We enjoyed the old radio Jesus reached out to those who shows for a while. were overlooked or rejected We coaxed our grandmother by the community — lepers, into telling us stories of what sinners, nonbelievers. Jesus Christmas was like when she reached out to them and, was a child. more, embraced them. My mother got us to sing The Christmas season gives Christmas carols. us a chance to follow that exThe snow gave us humility. ample and reach out to others, Once humbled, the confinement not only by giving where there that had agitated us on the is need, but also by honoring drive to my aunt’s house had traditions that may be differallowed a serenity we forgot was ent from ours. Many of those traditions possible. share a common history with As our economy sputters, Christianity. The Christian, our families struggle and our Jewish and Muslim faiths all politicians seek to reshape our institutions, humility is what we sprang from Abraham. That single faith diverged later, and need most. the branches now celebrate Here’s a great place to start: their traditions and beliefs in * “God, grant us the serenity different ways. to accept the things we cannot In some instances, these change, the courage to change celebrations occur almost the things we can, and the wissimultaneously, as do Hanukdom to know the difference.” kah, Kwanzaa and Christmas. And so it is that I’m praying By recalling our common for a white Christmas. roots, can we Christians make certain that our Holy Day * The prayer mentioned is celebration does not inadveroften attributed to Reinhold tently minimize the imporNiebuhr. tance of those other traditions and beliefs? Tom Purcell, a humor columContact the writer at nist for the Pittsburgh TribuneReview, is nationally syndicated dirvine@hendersondispatch. com. exclusively by Cagle Cartoons.

Praying for a White Christmas The snow started coming down hard a few hours after we’d arrived. It was Christmas Eve 1976. We were 20 miles from home, visiting my mother’s sister at her home in the country. Earlier that evening, my mother, father, grandmother and sisters had piled into the station wagon to begin our trek. I was 14 then. My sisters and I were getting older – growing up. Only our youngest sister still believed in Santa Claus. Teenagers don’t much enjoy being stuck in a car together and the annoyance was clear. My father was in an unpleasant mood. His mother had died on New Year’s Day a few years earlier. He’d lost his father when he was only 3. The merriness of Christmas, which had come so easily when we were tots, was absent. Fortunately, when we arrived, there was a festive spirit in the air and holiday cookies — that always lifted my spirits. My mother had three sisters and two brothers. They had 26 children among them. My young cousins filled the house with excitement and joy. I joined my father and uncles, who talked about football, the automobile tires and the weather. I joined my mother and my aunts, who laughed aloud as they related stories about their children or their father or longlost relatives. Then the snow began. It came on thick and fast and my father, worried, soon urged us to get our things and get in the car. By the time we got onto the highway, the roads were blanketed and few cars were out. The thick snow deadened the sound of the tires.

It was as though we were in a sleigh gliding silently through the snow-covered countryside. The snow brought calm over us. Snow always does that. We humans like to think we have more control over our world than we do. The fact is we have very little control over most things. The snow makes us remember this. The snow makes us realize Tom how small we really are Purcell – how small Tribune Media our worries Services often are. My father turned on the radio and tuned in old-time radio broadcasts that one station plays every Christmas. Don Ameche and Frances Langford were performing “The Bickersons,” a 1940s show in which a married couple got into hilarious arguments. I remember one line in which the wife asked if he’d had breakfast and he said he just ate the oatmeal on the stove. “That isn’t oatmeal!” she said. “I’m wallpapering.” We laughed heartily at the performance – my father’s booming laugh most prominent of all.

What’s your opinion?

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DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our 80s. For many years we used to entertain during the holidays. Now we wonder where all our former guests have disappeared to. Our annual parties grew to include more than 80 friends. Dinner was prepared by a chef; we had a bartender and a pianist. People said they looked forward to those gatherings year after year. We never expected anyone

DEAR ABBY: I work at a public library and live not far from where I work. A lot of people who use the library live in my apartment building and I run into them often. These people never hesitate to stop me when I’m clearly off the clock to ask me a slew of library questions. I confess I’m a bit of a doormat, and I’m afraid to ask them to leave me alone. Is there a way to tell those people to quit harassing me when I’m not working? I’d feel so much better about myself if I learned how. — THE ANSWER LADY DEAR ANSWER LADY: Look the person in the eye and say, “That may take some researching, but I’ll be glad to answer that when I’m at the library. Ask me then.” However, if you can’t find the courage to say this, then what you need more than an answer from an advice columnist is assertiveness training. A psychologist can give you a referral or some pointers. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

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