SUSPECTS SOUGHT: Thomasville says vandals caused sewer spill. 1B
Chair City to get bus service
BUS, 2A
April 23, 2010 126th year No. 113
BOARD BUDGET: Guilford County Schools holds public hearing. 2A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
SPOTS AVAILABLE: Bud Kivett deadline extended to today. 1D
50 Cents Daily $1.25 Sundays
$$ for appliances
WHO’S NEWS
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Mary Wise will be promoted to associate vice president for academic affairs at Elon University, effective June 1. Wise joined Elon as assistant dean of academic affairs in 1997.
BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
THOMASVILLE – Thomasville residents could have the opportunity to utilize a fixed bus loop service as early as October. Rex Buck, Davidson County’s public works director, said the Davidson County Transportation Department currently is in the planning stages of creating a fixed loop bus service as a pilot project for the Chair City. This week, the Thomasville City Council gave the OK on a resolution in support of the concept. According to the current proposal, an 18-passenger bus will be used from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with a loop frequency every 30 minutes. Davidson County already has purchased the bus and the bus shelters are on order, Buck said. The High Point Metropolitan Planning Organization is funding the pilot project with $80,000 through stimulus funding, according to Buck. The public works director said the target date for the start of the bus service in Thomasville is Jan. 1, 2011, but the pilot project could be rolled out as early as October. “We have to negotiate easements for the bus shelters, and there is going to be some tweaking
FRIDAY
INSIDE
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SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Eloise Leonard (from left) and daughter Sharon Leonard get rebate paperwork filled out by Tammy Misenheimer for the refrigerator they purchased at Lowe’s on N. Main Street Thursday morning. Due to the large volume of sales, Lowe’s had different computer areas set up for different parts of the sales. By 8 a.m., there had been 165 sales, many were multiple appliances, as people took adavantage of the rebate program.
Appliance rebate program lures buyers BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Terrie Brown of Greensboro had long considered replacing her 20-year-old refrigerator. When the state’s appliance instant rebate program kicked in Thursday, she stopped thinking about it and did it. “It was kind of like, if I don’t jump on an opportunity like this now, it may die soon,” Brown said after she bought an Energy Star qualified refrigerator on Thursday at Sears in Oak Hollow Mall. “I wouldn’t have come out just to buy a refrigerator because of the program, but I know it’s a matter of time before my refrigerator runs out.” The North Carolina Energy Efficient Appliance and Replacement Rebate Program began Thursday, offering instant 15 percent rebates on Energy Star dishwashers, clothes washing machines, refrigerators and freezers at participating retailers. It runs through Sunday or until the $8.8 million in funding for the program runs out,
according to the state energy office. Lowe’s received reports from the state energy office around 5 p.m. Thursday indicating there was
‘I wouldn’t have come out just to buy a refrigerator because of the program, but I know it’s a matter of time before my refrigerator runs out.’ Terrie Brown Oak Hollow Mall shopper $5.5 million left in the program, said Daniel Kennedy, appliance department manager. About 50 people were waiting in line when doors opened at Lowe’s at 6 a.m. Thursday, he said. Sears manager John Capes said
the stream of traffic was “nonstop” on Thursday. “It definitely had the feeling of the day after Thanksgiving when we opened this morning,” Capes said. “We haven’t stopped since.” Aislynn Denny of High Point said she started to consider replacing several appliances when she heard about the program. “I immediately started thinking, ‘I have to replace this, and I have to replace that,’ ” said Denny, who also shopped at Sears on Thursday. “My husband and I just thought this was finally a good time to do it.” She said she probably would have waited until later in the year to buy a new refrigerator, but the program spurred her to shop on Thursday. Denny doesn’t mind taking advantage of a rebate from the federal government, either, she said. “I don’t know if our government can afford this, but I’m glad to take advantage of it,” she said. “People need all of the breaks they can get right now.” phaynes@hpe.com | 888-3617
TORNADO CLEANUP: City to resume normal yard waste pickups. 3A OBITUARIES
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Judy Bishop, 61 Robert Brun, 81 Doug Cheves, 53 D. Hollingsworth, 54 Yvonne Morgan, 56 Ralph Pardue Jr., 56 Soumphet Thavone William Wilson, 71 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
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Cloudy, warm High 72, Low 57 6D
Attorneys for murder defendant seek delay in trial Go figure As you may know, for many years, most newspapers published the volume (year) and number (issue for any given year), usually just under the nameplate at the top of the front page. More often than you would think, those numbers got jumbled. That happened with The High Point Enteprise. Examples: an edition published in 1886 had Vol. 10; an 1897 edition had VOL. XVI (16 years); an 1891 edition had VOL. XV (15 years) and a 1912 edition had Vol. 17. An Enterprise anniversary edition in May will set you straight.
BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – It could be another year before an alleged gang leader facing a capital murder charge gets his day in court. Attorneys for Keith Lauchon Jackson Jr. want his trial delayed until they can gather additional information about his case to determine whether to file a motion Jackson under the newly enacted Racial Justice Act. That law allows capital murder defendants to present evidence of racial bias in the decision to seek the death penalty against them. A motion filed by Jackson’s courtappointed attorneys, Jim Kimel and Robert McClellan, does not allege that race has been a fac-
LUCKY MART CASE
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Keith Lauchon Jackson Jr., 21, of High Point, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting of 21-year-old Joshua Matthew Sweitzer at what was then the Lucky Mart convenience store in south High Point. In October 2009, he was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for his role in a string of armed robberies in High Point and Davidson County. Federal prosecutors described him as a Crips street gang leader. tor in the case against disproportionately been Jackson, who is black carried out against blacks and is charged with first- in murders involving degree murder in the white victims and that Oct. 31, 2007, shooting blacks face a higher risk death of Joshua Matthew of wrongful conviction. Sweitzer. They also cited a 2008 But it claims that statis- Appalachian State Unitics, studies and patterns versity study that found show there has been gen- black defendants who eral racial disparity in killed white victims bethe state’s capital pun- tween 1999 and 2006 were ishment system – specifi- 14 times more likely to be cally that the races of vic- sentenced to death than tims and defendants are white defendants whose factors in whether the victims were black. death penalty is imposed The motion also argues in murder cases. that a delay is necesThe attorneys argue sary to allow time for the capital punishment has completion of a statewide
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
study by two Michigan State University law professors that is trying to determine whether race played a role in the decisions to pursue the death penalty in murder cases over the past 20 years. The study is expected to be complete in August. The attorneys also ask for discovery information from the state that could shed light on prosecutors’ decision-making process in the case. They argue they will need “a minimum of one year to research and obtain the types of evidence” that could be used when they decide whether to file another motion seeking to prevent the state from seeking the death penalty against Jackson. The motion has not been heard and a judge has not yet made a decision on whether to grant the attorneys’ requests. pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
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