CMYK Digital mammography begins at MPMC Business & Farm, Page 5A
The waging of germ warfare Opinion, Page 10A
Inmate population to drop first time since '72 Nation, Page 12A
Ho-ho-healthy? Parents struggle to watch kid diets
Oxford’s 30-year utilities plan to get review Local & World, Page 13A
Tar Heels fall to Longhorns, 103-90
Loosening up: a decade in home decor and design
Sports, Page 1B
Showcase, Page 1C
Real Estate, Page 1C
SUNDAY, December 20, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 298
(252) 436-2700
Jobless rate falls back a bit
www.hendersondispatch.com
Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . 10A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-6B Showcase. . . . . . . . . 1C Celebrate. . . . . . . . 2-4C Books & Leisure . . . . 5C Light Side . . . . . . . 6-7C A to Z Kids. . . . . . . . . 8C Real Estate . . . . . . 1-2D Classifieds. . . . . . . 3-5D
Weather Today Partly cloudy
High: 39 Low: 23
Monday
$1.25
decision due in Morris case
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in November but hovered near its historic peak of around 11 percent for a 10th straight month, the state’s Employment Security Commission reported Friday. The unemployment rate in November dipped a fraction to 10.8 percent, from 10.9 percent in October. The monthly estimate has yo-yoed slightly above and below 11 percent since February. It peaked at 11.1 percent in May. “It’s almost a nonevent.” said John Connaughton, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “It’s where it was two months ago and three months ago.” Since the national recession starting in December 2007, North Carolina has lost 252,000 jobs. In the
Index
Winter’s no match for kids Death penalty
By EMERY P. DALESIO AP Business Writer
Please see JOBLESS, page 6A
January hearing could bring an announcement By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Kailyn Tran and Cade Conn get a push from Darby Long as the duo heads down the hill on their sled behind E.M. Rollins Elementary Saturday morning.
Storm could have been much worse, but black ice this morning’s concern By DISPATCH STAFF
The Tri-County area got its first real taste of winter in several years Friday night and Saturday morning, resulting in a few traffic accidents, closings and inconveniences. Between 2 inches and 6 inches of snow fell, weather observers reported, and, judging from the amount of precipitation that fell, the storm could have been much worse. After a brief appearance of large flakes Friday afternoon, a significant snowfall started around dusk and continued into late in the evening, eventually turning into a mixture of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow through the night.
The rain that came after midnight helped to melt some of the snow that had fallen as temperatures remained just high enough not to have resulted in more freezing rain. By noon on Saturday, the warnings and advisories for Vance and Warren counties had been cancelled and only Granville remained under an advisory. Black ice was anticipated to be a problem this morning for those areas where melting occurred and melted snow and slush may be freezing over. “Our roads in certain areas of the county may be more treacherous tonight than last night,” said Brian Please see STORM, page 6A
OXFORD — The question of whether District Attorney Sam Currin’s office will seek the death penalty against Scott Morris could be answered next month. Currin told the newspaper that while he and his assistant Currin district attorneys are discussing the matter, there is going to be a Rule 24 hearing, probably sometime next month. A Rule 24 hearing is one in which the prosecution is required to say in court whether or not the state is going to seek the death penalty in a first-degree murder case. Morris, 35, of 113 W. Church St., Creedmoor, is indicted for first-degree murder of his wife, Kelly Currin Morris, and the burning of the couple’s residence southeast of Stem. She was 28 when she vanished Sept. 3, 2008. Scott Morris has remained jailed without bond since Nov. 17, the day after his wife’s remains were found off Sam Moss Hayes Road. The grand jury met Nov. 30 and the true bills were made public the next day. A conviction on a charge of
first-degree murder is punishable by a life sentence or by death. The next Superior Court term is set to start Jan. 19. “So, probably we would know by then,” Currin said of announcing whether his office would seek the death penalty. If not, then an announcement would be made the following week as part of the court’s case management system, Currin said. The case management system is an administrative process designed with three settings in three successive months, Currin said. At the first setting, the accused receives what the state has compiled in the probe, along with a plea offer, Currin said. The accused can plead guilty at the first setting or at the next two settings, Currin said. If the accused does not does not enter a plea at one of the three settings, then the case is placed on the court’s trial docket, Currin said. Currin said his office still could accept a plea even after the case has gone through the case management system. Currin, while noting he cannot discuss this case, said his office intends to have this case declared as “exceptional” because of the seriousness of the crime. Currin said this would mean this case would be exempt from the case management system rules and it would be up to his office to present this case, Please see PENALTY, page 3A
Wish for drum set comes true for sixth grader
Mostly sunny
High: 40 Low: 20
Details, 3A
Deaths Apex Janice Faulkner Sharp Durham Willie Earl Jones, 57 Henderson Charles M. Barnett, 55 Calvin F. Boone, 76 Daisy R. Hunt, 77 Oxford Annie Mae Lyons
Obituaries, 4A
By DAVID IRVINE Daily Dispatch Writer
Wishes do come true. Just ask Amon Smith, 13, a sixth grader at Eaton-Johnson Middle School in Henderson. Amon wished for an electric drum set. But there is a story behind how that wish came true. It involves illness, hospital stays, his church and the love and kindness of family, friends and strangers. In January 2009, a large mass was found in Amon’s chest. It was identified as cancer. Over the next several months, Amon spent weeks in the Duke University Hospital receiving chemotherapy, returning periodically for more chemo. He now appears to be cancer free.
Amon’s parents had been divorced before he was born. He lives with his mother Tessie. But during those months in the hospital, all of Amon’s family supported him. His father, Fred Smith, spent long hours with him at Duke University Medical Center. Fred described his feelings of helplessness and guilt, and asked himself “Why?” Fred found that his son is a fighter, who showed his faith by the plans he made for the time when he would be better. The cancer “truly was a blessing in disguise,” Fred says. While Amon was in the hospital, father and son talked about how Fred’s job required so much travel. He is an Please see WISH, page 3A
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Amon Smith plays his electric drums in his room Thursday afternoon. Smith received his drums from the Make-A-Wish Foundation in early November.