FRIDAY
BRIGHT FUTURE: Thomasville, county leaders hear status report. 1B
September 3, 2010 127th year No. 246
LABOR DAY CLOSINGS: Banks, library and post offices observe holiday. 2A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
THEY’RE BACK: Meet the Seniors returns for another year. 4D
50 Cents Daily $1.25 Sundays
EARL SMACKS COAST
WHO’S NEWS
----
Florence Gatten was named chairwoman of the War Memorial Commission in Greensboro, becoming the first female to head the board in the organization’s 52-year history.
INSIDE
---AP
Waves generated by Hurricane Earl battered the already storm-damaged Frisco Pier in Frisco, N.C., on Thursday.
Hurricane relief: Local company produces, prepares buses for crisis situations
Storm weakens, remains powerful
BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Inside...
ARCHDALE – When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast five years ago, Ed Sartin saw there were no emergency vehicles being produced that were capable of treating patients on-site in the middle of a mass crisis. Now, when a storm like Hurricane Earl threatens coastal towns, vehicles produced in Sartin’s own facility in Archdale rush to the scene. Five medical ambulance and evacuation buses, as Sartin they’re formally called, rolled into Sartin Services on Old Mendenhall Road on Thursday for routine checks and preparations as Hurricane Earl approached the North Carolina coast. Sartin, owner and founder of the company, began producing the buses in 2006. He refers to them as “emergency
Some ride out storm. 2A
----
BY MIKE BAKER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
DON DAVIS JR. | HPE
Buses from state EMS services are prepped at Sartin Services before heading to the coast during hurricane season. rooms on wheels,” and he said they’ve filled a void in the bus industry. “It’s a real niche market,” he said. “We’ve seen a huge increase in demand for them. We just had an order from Chicago (Wednesday) for six of the buses.” To create the vehicles, the company, a manufacturer and installer of specialty vehicle products, renovates school buses to resemble the inside of a medical facility. Stretchers that attach to the walls like bunk beds line the interior, which also is equipped with a huge stock of
medical supplies and a germand virus-resistant floor. Oxygen tanks and a generator capable of powering the bus for days at a time are stored in the cargo area. “If this thing is in a disaster site, we could run it and power up four other things at the same time,” he said about the capability of the generators. “It’s really helpful to (emergency services personnel).” Sartin said he became passionate about making the vehicles after reading about a group of nursing home residents on the Gulf Coast who died during Hurricane Katrina because
they weren’t evacuated before the storm hit. “I said to myself, ‘We can figure out a way to get those people out on time if it happens again,’” he said. Buses from Guilford County, Wake County, Mecklenberg County and New Hampshire were among the ones serviced Thursday as their medical teams prepared to deploy to areas at risk of being hit by Hurricane Earl. The company performs the routine service checks at the beginning of every hurricane season. “If any of those storms hit land, the government or FEMA could call them up,” he said about the buses. phaynes@hpe.com | 888-3617
BUXTON – The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 110 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most destructive stop on the storm’s projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard. The first bands of heavy rain hit the long ribbon of barrier islands Thursday night. The downpours started in several bursts as the storm’s rain shield whirled into the southeasternmost tip of the Outer Banks. Hurricane Earl’s winds were slowing, from 140 mph early Thursday to 110 mph, Category 2 strength, by 8 p.m. But forecasters warned
DAVIDSON COUNTY – Davidson County commissioners will apply for additional federal stimulus funds to build a new middle school in the northern part of the county. Commissioners voted unanimously to apply for the low-interest Qualified School Construction Bonds that were authorized by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With $50 million remaining in QSCB, the county had between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8 to apply. Davidson County could be eli-
gible for up to $10 million in federal stimulus bond funds, according to Assistant County Manager Zeb Hanner Jr. “They are interest-free bonds,” Hanner told commissioners Thursday. Commissioner Billy Joe Kepley called the potential of the county receiving additional bond money a “godsend.” If the county receives the bond money, the deadline for bond issuance was originally set for Dec. 31, 2010. Hanner said the he learned through the N.C. Department of Public Instruction that under extenuating circumstances, the county could get an extension.
“I think it gives us another option for funding,” Commissioner Fred McClure said. “I don’t have a problem with it.” According to Hanner, Davidson County already has been appropriated $3 million in QSCB for construction of the middle school. Estimates have the cost of a new middle school between $16 million to $24 million. Hanner said staff will be reviewing how the entire project could be financed, either through the general fund or borrowing money, before a proposal is submitted to commissioners. “I am personally committed to building that school because we
are very overcrowded up there,” said Max Walser, chairman of the Davidson County Board of Commissioners. “I think everybody is.” Serving the Ledford/North school districts, the 137,000-squarefoot school is proposed to be located on Midway School Road near the Hoy Long Road intersection. Commissioners agreed to buy 133 acres in April at a price of $2.35 million for a new middle and high school. The Davidson County Board of Education last month approved a preliminary design and floor plans for the new middle school. dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
City to inspect fire stations for mold BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – All city fire stations will be checked after what officials termed minor mold problems were recently discovered at one facility. Fire Station 12 at 4538 Barrow Road was closed Aug. 27 after two forms of mold were confirmed on the dormitory side of the building, according to the city. The station’s personnel have been assigned to other locations while crews clean the facility and prepare it to re-open, possibly in the coming days. Mold growth in buildings can occur in areas where heat and high hu-
Inside...
----
Manager defends city’s response to issue. 1B midity combine with moisture when air conditioning temperatures are lowered. Mold can pose health hazards, such as upper respiratory congestion, coughing and headaches. Two other fire stations were checked in response to complaints about possible mold there, but nothing was found. The remaining 11 stations will also be evaluated for the presence of mold.
“I asked (city officials) to investigate each of our other fire stations for possible mold problems, just to be sure,” said City Manager Strib Boynton. “A third party came in and also looked at it. Sometimes a different set of eyes might be helpful. They advised us we’re doing everything we could do.” Contractors began cleaning up the Barrow Road station last weekend, and have replaced flexible air ducts and acoustic ceiling tiles. Surface cleaning of the entire area was performed and air scrubbers were used to treat the air in that part of the station. The results of air and surface samples could be known today, and
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
OBITUARIES
----
Odine Adams, 82 Pauline Floyd, 92 Janis Gundy Daniel Idol, 78 Audrey Johnson, 83 Mable Leonard, 87 Robert Pruitt, 38 Irvin Rogers, 72 Theodore Williams, 61 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
----
EARL, 2A
Davidson seeks funds for new middle school BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
CUTTING COSTS: County department merger talks coutinue. 1B
if they are negative, the station could then be re-opened. One of the station’s ladder trucks was taken out of service after the closing last weekend. It was put back in service at station 10 on Whites Mill Road on Monday. The other facilities checked so far include station 13 at 2414 Ambassador Court, where stained ceiling tile was reported. Crews found rusted air vents in a shower, which will be replaced with a different kind of vent for that space. Air samples have been taken but no evidence of mold had been reported as of Thursday. pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
Sunny, hot High 98, Low 65 6D
INDEX ABBY 3B BUSINESS 5-6D CLASSIFIED 3-6C COMICS 5B CROSSWORD 2C DONOHUE 5B FUN & GAMES 2C KIDS NEWS 6A LIFE&STYLE 1C LOCAL 1B LOTTERY 2A NEIGHBORS 4B NATION 5A, 6B, 6D OBITUARIES 2B OPINION 4A SPORTS 1-4D STATE 2A, 2-3B STOCKS 5D TV 6B WEATHER 6D WORLD 3A
INFO Circulation Classified Newsroom Newsroom fax
888-3511 888-3555 888-3527 888-3644