hpe10042009

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SUNDAY

BRAGGING RIGHTS: “Double D’s” win chili cook-off again. 1B

Funds mean work

October 4, 2009 125th year No. 277

CLOSER TIES: U.S. soldiers live in the midst of Afghan residents. 1F

www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.

DEACON DRAMA: Wake Forest holds off N.C. State. 1D

50 Cents Daily $1 Sundays

STIMULUS

WHO’S NEWS

Allison S. Grose recently was appointed new postmaster of Kernersville. Grose, of Trinity and postal employee for 11 years, replaces Linda Trogdon, who retired.

Triad projects get go-ahead Before you read...

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Eight months after it was passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress at the urging of President Barack Obama, the federal stimulus remains a point of contention. The High Point Enterprise looks at the local impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the debate that surrounds the monumental, $800 billion effort. BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

TRIAD – Ray Lomax’s perspective of the $800 billion federal stimulus comes down to the magnitude of a single contract for his construction company. Lomax Construction Inc. serves as the general contractor for an American ROAD R e co ve r y TO RECOVERY? and Reinvestment Stimulus Act project funding in the to build a Triad new fire ■■■ station at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The more than $4 million project represents about 15 percent to 20 percent of the total dollar amount of contracts that the Colfaxbased company should handle in an average year. “It’s very significant to us,” said Lomax, vice president of the business. “Obviously, if we weren’t committed to this work, we would have been bidding other work. And it’s impossible to say how successful we would have

INSIDE

– SONNY HEDGECOCK | HPE

Crews work on the site of the new fire station at Piedmont Triad International Airport, a stimulus-funded project. been at replacing it.” Work on the airport fire station began in June and should be completed in March or April of next year. At peak construction, Lomax and its subcontractors could have 30 to 40 workers on site each day, he said. PTIA wouldn’t have been able to fund the new fire station without the stimulus, said airport Assistant Director Kevin Baker. The city of High Point has received $11.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding out of $36.3 million it has requested this year, City Manager Strib Boynton said. If not for the stimulus, the city wouldn’t have had an opportunity for any of the federal funding, with the possible exception of $404,000 in Byrne Justice Assistance Grant money for the High Point Police Department, Boynton said. All of the city stimulus appropriations involve projects or initiatives that local officials had planned to do at some point, but no money currently was available, Boynton said. In some instances, Boynton said the city declined seeking stimulus money because it would have involved future commitments – and possible local tax increases – to support the programs once federal funding expired. That’s the reason the city didn’t

Process has friends, foes

AT A GLANCE

High Point has received $11.3 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or federal stimulus, so far this year. The money includes: • $5.9 million in transportation project funding, which includes resurfacing part of Lexington Avenue from Main Street to Montlieu Avenue, realigning Deep River Road at Eastchester Drive, widening part of Burton Road and improving parts of Clinard Farm Road. • $2.6 million for housing and community development, including capital grants for the High Point Housing Authority • $1.4 million to replace obsolete sewer lines in nine neighborhoods • Nearly $1 million for energy efficiency measures • $404,000 for the High Point Police Department

BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

SERIES BREAKOUTS

pursue American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding with strings attached for extra police officers or firefighters, Boynton said.

TRIAD – One point TODAY: Funding makes that supporters and Triad projects possible, critics of the stimulus though program still has can agree on is that the supporters and detractors. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act MONDAY: Judging involves significant overall impact of stimulus amounts of money. program will prove tough, So far this year, $39.6 economists say. million in stimulus money has been received or committed in Davidson County, $33 million in Randolph County and $155.2 million in Guilford County, according to the NCRecovery.gov Web site coordinated through Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue’s office. Reflecting the scope of the stimulus, the federal money to counties is split into 22 categories on NCRecovery. gov, from food stamps and extended jobless benefits to road projects and support for law enforcement agencies. As of late September, the state of North Carolina had received 2,325 separate awards totaling $4 billion, according to the White House-maintained Web site Recovery.gov. Advocates for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act say local projects and spending incrementally have helped and will assist the economy as it recovers from the worst period since the Great Depression. Detractors of the stimulus, proposed by President Barack Obama and passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress at the first of the year, say the funding hasn’t turned around the economy and has only added to the massive debt burden on future generations. Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th, who voted against the stimulus, remains skeptical of the promises of better days because of the spending. “Overall, if it’s done any good, it’s very limited,” the congressman said.

pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528

PROCESS, 2A

SOURCE: CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE

Thomasville agencies offer their support BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER

THOMASVILLE – The uncertainty of the economy caused Douglas and Jodi Knight to attend an event Saturday aimed at helping those who are struggling due to the economy. “Anything can happen to me, too,” said Douglas Knight, who has a manufacturing job in Thomasville. “My (employer) has laid off people and I can’t say whether I am going to have a job or not. I’m laying on a limb just like everybody else. My job is real slow. It’s slow everywhere. We are not guaranteed.” During the Keeping Thomasville Strong event, the Knights were among the first 50 to attend the event held at the

Tom A. Finch Community YMCA. The event, sponsored by the YMCA, provided the opportunity for residents who are struggling to talk to agencies that offer a variety of resources and information. “It was the idea of the mission development committee,” said Tommy Hodges, Tom A. Finch Community YMCA chief executive officer. “We looked at trying to do an event we had not done before to try to reach as many people as we could in the community. It’s one of those things where quantity is maybe not the measure of it. If a few families come in and get access to services that they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, I think it’s a success.” Keeping Thomasville Strong allowed

EVENT, 2A

25 YEARS: Lexington church honors its longtime pastor. 1B OBITUARIES

Joan Dixon, 50 J.A. Grout, 77 Randall Johnson, 84 Byron Lovern, 81 Betty Ridge, 74 Wilma Shaw, 78 Bridgett Way, 58 Robert Willard, 19 Obituaries, 2-3B

WEATHER

Sunshine High 75, Low 48 8D

INDEX ADVICE 2-3E, 6E, 8E ARTS | ETC. 3-4F BUSINESS 1-2C CLASSIFIED 3-8C CROSSWORD 2F FOCUS 1-2F FORUM 4D HOROSCOPE 2E LIFE&STYLE 1-8E LOCAL 2A, 1B LOTTERY 2A MILESTONES 6-7E MOVIES 4F NATION 6-7A, 6F NOTABLES 8A OBITUARIES 2-3B OPINION 6-7B REAL ESTATE 1-6R SPORTS 1-8D STATE 2-3A, 3-4B TV 5F TRAVEL 4-5E WEATHER 8D WORLD 4-5A

INFO Circulation Classified Newsroom Newsroom fax

DON DAVIS JR. | HPE

Blair Maddox checks Ever Mejia’s blood pressure at the Keeping Thomasville Strong event on Saturday.

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With more than 350 physicians representing over 30 specialties, High Point Regional Health System offers an ever-widening array of quality services. Not just care, Total Care. For more information, call 336.878.6888 www.highpointregional.com 487141

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