SATURDAY
UPTOWNE FACELIFT: The possible future of N. Main Street. SUNDAY
September 25, 2010 127th year No. 268
CHECK’S IN THE MAIL: School system wins grants for teacher incentives. 1B
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
PLAYOFF PAYOFF: High Point’s Drew Weaver posts pro win. 3C
50 Cents Daily $1.25 Sundays
Police probe homicide Suspect caught, charged with murder in shooting BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Police on Friday arrested and charged a man with murder in an early morning homicide. Officers responded to 1515 Larkin St. at 12:43 a.m. and found 18-year-old Colton Allen St. Louis dead, according
to the High Point Police Department. St. Louis had suffered a gunshot wound to the torso. Bennett Police announced Friday afternoon that detectives had obtained a murder warrant for Bobby Alander Bennett, who was described as a 34-year-old black male. Police said agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Task Force spotted Bennett Friday in High Point
2010 HOMICIDES
–
High Point police have investigated the following homicides in 2010: • Aug. 2 – Officers responded to 1205 Glenstone Trail and found that 12-year-old Ali Hafez had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Artez McRae, 18, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. • Sept. 24 – Officers responded to 1515 Larkin St. and found 18-year-old Colton Allen St. Louis dead of a gunshot wound. but he was able to elude capture. He caught shortly afterward, police said. The house where the
shooting occurred is in a residential neighborhood of older homes, about a block east of Johnson Street Glob-
al Studies Magnet School. A police report stated officers responded to the residence in reference to an assault with a deadly weapon/shots fired call and that suspects fled the scene on foot. Police on Friday weren’t releasing information about the circumstances of the shooting or a possible motive. Bennett was released from prison in July after serving 10 years for armed robbery and drug possession, accord-
HOMICIDE, 2A
WHO’S NEWS
----
Angela Whiteford, who has been in the mortgage business since 1991, joined First Mortgage Corp. as a home loan consultant. She has been in sales for the past 11 years and is currently a member of the High Point Board of Realtors.
INSIDE
----
PADDLE PARTNERS
NEW JOBS: Door, drawer manufacturer to expand. 2A OBITUARIES
----
SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE
What started out as a high school graduation gift for Rachel Schmitt (right) when she finished at Wesleyan Christian Academy, ended up being a gift for two. Father, Paul Schmitt, decided his daughter needed a paddling partner, so he purchased one for himself.
Housing authority names new leader BY PAT KIMBROUGH ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – The High Point Housing Authority has turned to a familiar face to lead the agency. The authority’s board of commissioners this week unanimously approved a two-year contract offer to Angela Grace McGill for the position of CEO, which she has accepted. A former assistant to her predecessor at the authority, Robert L. Kenner, McGill will begin her new position Nov. 1. Her annual salary will be $105,000. McGill beat out around 30 other applicants for the job following Kenner’s resignation in May after seven years as CEO. The board chose four
finalists who were brought in for interviews. McGill, the executive director of the city of Rockingham Housing Authority in Richmond County McGill from January until her resignation earlier this week, stood out for a number of reasons, board members said. “The board thought she had a good presentation. Also, since she’s worked here before, we felt like she could step in right away without any problem and go right to work,� said Chairman Bob Davis. During her previous stint with the authority, McGill rose from Kenner’s executive assistant in 2003 to the post
of chief operating officer six years later, which Davis said gave her experience in the authority’s daily operations from an executive level. She also served as a vice president, dealing with compliance, asset management and Section 8 matters. “She’s a right smart and industrious lady,� he said. “She knows the ins and outs of the High Point Housing Authority.� Denise Sullivan, chairwoman of the Rockingham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, praised McGill’s work there, noting she arrived with many challenges and has since brought the agency into federal compliance. She also established a resident advisory board and was credited with upgrading
the condition of public housing in Rockingham, undertaking several construction projects. In High Point, she will take over an agency with an $18.1 million budget and around 70 employees that administers about 2,680 public housing units and rental assistance contracts throughout the city. McGill served in the U.S. Army prior to attending High Point University, where she received a bachelor’s degree and an MBA. She grew up in public housing in the city and was honored earlier this week by the authority as one of its Pillars of Fame award winners, which are given to former residents. pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
August unemployment rates inch down BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TRIAD – Jobless rates in communities across the region and other parts of the state continue to creep downward, though the change may not be dramatically noticeable to people still seeking a steady paycheck. Unemployment rates declined from July to August in 82 North Carolina counties, as well as in the city of High Point, according to figures released by the N.C. Employment Security Commission Friday. Jobless levels dropped in the counties in the greater High Point area, as well as in all 14 of the state met-
,ABORÂŹFORCEÂŹESTIMATES !5'534ÂŹ #OUNTY
$AVIDSON &ORSYTH 'UILFORD 2ANDOLPH 3TATE
,ABOR FORCE
%MPLOYMENT
3/52#% ÂŹ. # ÂŹ%MPLOYMENTÂŹ3ECURITYÂŹ#OMMISSION
ropolitan areas, the ESC reports. Even with the decline in unemployment last month and through most of this year, jobless levels remain at higher-than-normal historical levels. “While the rates have lowered, current economic conditions continue to be a challenge for many com-
5NEMPLOYMENT
ÂŹ
0ERCENTAGE RATES
ÂŹÂŹ
-!29ÂŹ,%3,)%ÂŹ%.',)3(ÂŹ\ÂŹ(0%
munities across North Carolina, as the unemployment rate remains at 10 percent or over in half of the state’s counties,� said Lynn Holmes, chairwoman of the ESC in Raleigh. High Point’s unemployment situation reflects the gradual improvement, amid continuing difficul-
ties, with the job market. The city’s jobless rate declined from 11.1 percent in July to 10.8 percent in August, and the level is better than the 11.8 percent in August 2009. However, the last time the city’s monthly jobless rate was below 10 percent was 9.9 percent in January 2009. Prior to the current string of high monthly unemployment, the city’s jobless rate never had crossed the 10 percent mark since the ESC started keeping municipal jobless rates in 1976. High Point ESC Manager Ikel Williams said he continues to see gradual but steady improvement with the local job market. “We are still picking up
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
job orders and seeing more people going to work than last year. It’s just going to be a slow recovery,� Williams said. Private sector hiring remains sluggish in North Carolina, said John Quinterno, a principal with Chapel Hill-based research firm South by North Strategies. “Although the state gained 18,600 more positions than it lost in August, almost all of those gains were due to an expected rise in public education employment. After accounting for that development, the state netted just 4,800 positions,� Quinterno said. pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528
Lorraine Deadmon, 83 Johnny Hunter, 54 Burnice Owen, 85 Nelson Perras, 50 James Spangler Sr., 76 Madonna Snow, 92 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
----
Spotty storms High 88, Low 63 6C
INDEX ABBY 3B BUSINESS 5-6C CLASSIFIED 3-6D COMICS 5B CROSSWORD 4B DONOHUE 5B FAITH 5-6A FUN & GAMES 4B HOME 3D LOCAL 2A, 1B, 2D LOTTERY 2A NATION 1D OBITUARIES 2B OPINION 4A REAL ESTATE 1-3R SPORTS 1-4C STATE 2A STOCKS 5C TV 6B WEATHER 6C WORLD 3A
INFO Circulation Classified Newsroom Newsroom fax
888-3511 888-3555 888-3527 888-3644