WEDNESDAY
LOCATION, LOCATION: Property owner seeks to fill vacant dealership. 1B
September 15, 2010 127th year No. 258
MORNING ATTACK: Man remains in hospital after stabbing. 2A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
WESTWARD BOUND: Wake Forest readies for California trip. 1D
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SHERIFF VS FELONS
WHO’S NEWS
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Law enforcers support bill to keep felons out of office
Kelly Krantz joined First Mortgage Corp. as a home loan consultant. She has 17 years of experience in the mortgage industry.
BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
LEXINGTON – No felon has been elected a sheriff in North Carolina in the modern era, and a group of law enforcement officials are campaigning this fall to make sure it never will happen. Sheriffs from across Grice the Piedmont gathered at the Davidson County Governmental Center Tuesday to proclaim their support for a state constitutional amendment referendum issue that would prohibit a felon from serving as a sheriff. Voters will decide the issue in the Nov. 2 general election. “History will be made Nov. 2 when the voters approve this. The bottom line is if you’re a felon, you shouldn’t be a sher-
SHERIFF, 2A
INSIDE
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COURTESY WXII
Several sheriffs from the Piedmont attend press conference backing the no felon for sheriff constitutional amendment referendum issue.
REFERENDUM VOTE
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Voters will decide on a state constitutional amendment referendum issue in the Nov. 2 general election that would prohibit felons from being elected or serving as a county sheriff in North Carolina. The issue must be put before the voters because the office of sheriff was established through the North Carolina Constitution and requires an amendment to change the requirements for service.
COURTESY WXII
State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, (left) accepts resolution of appreciation for sponsoring the no felon as sheriff legislation from Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page (right) and Davidson County Sheriff David Grice.
If approved by the voters, the referendum issue would change Article VII, Section 2, of the state Constitution. The amendment would add language stating that anyone convicted of a felony would be ineligible to serve as sheriff whether or not his or her citizenship rights were restored.
GUILFORD COUNTY – School district officials decided Tuesday to take a few more weeks to decide whether to build a new autism facility on the shared property of Falkener Elementary and Hairston Middle schools in Greensboro. The Board of Education also will have to decide how to handle a projected $1.4 million construction shortfall. By consensus, the board
decided to table Chairman Alan Duncan’s motion to accept the site and to reconfigure project budgets to build the school. The board voted last December to cut the number of autism wings that would be built onto schools from the three approved by voters in the 2008 bond referendum to two. The school board decided to continue with plans to build one $14 million wing at Ragsdale High School and to consider other locations for the second wing. The suggested site off
OBITUARIES
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Sources: North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association; N.C. Department of the Secretary of State
Board delays decision on autism facility BY DAVID NIVENS ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
THAT’S A WRAP: Pre-Market comes to an end. 1B
Franklin Boulevard in Greensboro was selected over sites considered at Dudley High School and the McIver special education school in Greensboro, which serves 130 students. “There are a lot of opportunities for a safe and secure area at the chosen site,” said Andy LaRowe, the school district’s interim chief of operations. The two wings could serve up to 204 students. The programs serve children who have communication, cognitive and behavioral needs requiring costly supplies and equipment.
The district serves approximately 97 percent of students with disabilities, including 95 percent of students with autism, in traditional schools. Board members briefly debated whether the inflation margins included in the project costs would cover the potential shortfall of $1.4 million. “Moving money makes me nervous,” said board member Garth Hebert of High Point. “I have visions that we may not fund all the bond projects.”
Frances Cook, 73 David Davenport, 53 Margaret Ellington, 99 Mary Godbolt, 80 Charles Lamar, 88 Betty Miley, 89 Darrell Reavis, 65 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
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Sunny, hot High 90, Low 62 6D
dnivens@hpe.com | 888-3626
INDEX
Effort to curb hunger earns volunteer honors BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Gerald Payne’s humanitarian efforts have won him legions of admirers in High Point and his fair share of awards. Tonight, he’ll receive another accolade. Payne will be honored with a hunger-fighter award for his volunteer efforts raising money for the CROP Hunger Walk from Church World Service, the national sponsor of the walk. Payne has raised more than $30,000 for the walk over the past 15 years. “Gerald does not ask you to sponsor him; he tells you,” joked Steve Key, director of Open Door Ministries, which receives a portion of the money Payne raises and provides meals with it. “Typically, if we have somebody who raises $50 or $100, we think we’re doing pretty good. But he’ll raise about
SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
Award was given to Payne by Open Door Ministries. $2,000 by himself each year. He’s just an inspiration to all of the people who do this.” Payne can’t read, write or drive a car, and his disabilities have left him without the use of his left arm and limited use of his left leg. Despite this, he spends weeks every year hitting the pavement seeking donations for the walk from anywhere and everywhere. “He has networks on top of networks of people who
know him and are familiar with the causes he works for and are regular givers,” said Doug Clark, a former Enterprise associate editor and longtime friend of Payne’s. “He also will just get on the bus and ask riders to give or go to the library and ask people or visit shops up and down Main Street.” Payne, 54, credits fellow members of First Presbyterian Church with turning him on to the Crop Walk. He said he sees the need for hungerrelief in the community all the time, especially through his volunteer efforts at Open Door Ministries’ shelter. “I just thought I would help out the best I could,” Payne said. “Some people give me $20. Some give me $50.” His efforts extend to the actual day of the walk itself, which this year will offer 1.5and 3-mile walks Oct. 10 at High Point University. “I try to walk all the way,” he said.
SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
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Gerald Payne holds award from the Rotary Club. The walk is aimed at mitigating hunger locally and globally, with a portion of the money raised going to Church World Service, which works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. Payne’s community service has brought him awards from the likes of Rotary International
and Open Door Ministries. “He’s got a real warm, outgoing personality, and he understands really well where all the money goes after it’s raised,” Clark said. “For all the tough times he’s had, I’ve never heard him speak ill about anybody or get mad at anybody.”
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