SATURDAY
TAPPING GROWTH: Trinity sewer expansion sets stage. SUNDAY
November 21, 2009 125th year No. 325
RABIES CASES: Guilford County reports 11th incident. 1B
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CLOSE CALL: High Point Central hangs close with Dudley. 1D
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4th teen arrested in store shooting Stephens was placed in the Guilford County Jail under a $550,000 bond. HIGH POINT – A fourth Antonio Del Rio Gutierteen has been arrested by rez, 17, of Fountain Grove police in connection to the Drive, Robert Emmanuel Wednesday shooting of a Napper, 17, of Montlieu Stephens Napper Gutierrez Stephenson Avenue, and Gregory LeHigh Point store clerk. Bradley Antwaine Stemar Stephenson, 18, of N. phens, 18, of Crestline day with attempted mur- kill inflicting serious in- Rotary Drive – all three Drive, High Point, was ar- der, assault with a deadly jury and robbery with a Southwest Guilford High rested and charged Thurs- weapon with the intent to dangerous weapon. students – were charged BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Wednesday evening with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill inflicting serious injury and robbery with a dangerous weapon. The three teens were placed in the Guilford County Jail under a
SHOOTING, 2A
High-tech giving Salvation Army adds credit card feature to some red kettles
INSIDE
UPGRADE: Money for city courthouse included in county plan. 1B OBITUARIES
---- Patricia Adragna, 57 Effie Cash, 84 Baldos Deaton Jr., 60 Louise Hall, 70 Lorrayne Kennedy, 87 Nell Koontz, 99 Mary Payseur, 93 Victor Richardson, 79 Mary Rollins, 86 Thomas Salmons, 80 Leroy Smith, 60 Obituaries, 2B
WEATHER
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Bell ringer Gary Porter mans one of the Salvation Army’s new collection points, which is equipped with a cardreader for cashless donations.
Business wants sewer link to add jobs BY DARRICK IGNASIAK ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TRINITY – For one business owner in Trinity, sewer service would mean his company could add jobs. Jorge Laugerala, owner of Trinity Furniture, has made requests to the Randolph County Board of Commissioners and the Trinity City Council that the two boards approve resolutions in support of his attempt to seek federal and state grants for sewer. Laugerala’s requests both boards to contribute $25,000 toward a project that would provide sewer to his business on Kennedy Road in Trinity. The Trinity City Council already agreed to contribute $25,000 toward the project and be the administrator for the grants.
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Jorge Lagueruela, president of Trinity Furniture, shows how easy it is to remove the covers from this chair to wash or replace with a different color. Randolph County commissioners will consider the request next month. Laugerala is seeking the grants because he is currently in violation of health department codes.
Guilford County Board of Education member Nancy Routh was named by the North Carolina School Boards Association to the honorary All-State School Board. Routh has served on the Guilford County school board since 2002.
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BY PAM HAYNES ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
TRIAD – The familiar, seasonal red kettles of the Salvation Army are receiving a modern makeover this year. While paper money and change donations traditionally filled the buckets, accompanied by bell ringers at various retail locations, the organization revealed a kettle with an attached credit card machine at its annual Piedmont Red Kettle Kick-Off on Friday. “A lot of people don’t carry cash anymore. Especially with the younger generation, many people only carry debit cards,” said Capt. Tony Perez of the High Point branch at the event. “This new method makes it easy to make a difference.” The credit card machine was demonstrated for guests at the kickoff event, held at the Shoppes at Friendly Center in Greensboro. The machine accepts credit and debit cards and prints a receipt for the donor once the transaction is complete. Four kettle locations in High Point offer the credit card feature, including the Super Wal-Mart stores on N. Main and S. Main streets. The average cash donation is about $2, where as the average credit or debit card donation is about $15, Perez added. In an especially trying year for non-profit organizations that are seeing increased needs from members of the community, Maj. Terry Israel of the Winston-Salem branch said the credit card machines were needed more than ever this year to allow for increased donations. “We’ve tried to come up with a variety of ways for people to give as creatively and conveniently as possible,” Israel said. The organization also revealed statistics displaying greater needs in the community this holiday season in areas of rent, utility and food assistance. Maj. Paul Egan from the Greensboro office said the organization had experienced a 47 percent increase in Christmas assistance applications. He said there also is a significant increase in the number of people applying for assistance for the first time. “We ask for donations unabashedly because we believe in the needs and know the need is up this year,” Israel said. “Come Dec. 25, we believe we’re going to have raised every penny we need to serve every person we need to serve.”
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While the Randolph County Health Department limits Trinity Furniture to 55 to 60 workers, the company currently employs about 80, Laugerala said. “We have work,” Lauger-
ala said. “That’s the thing we have been blessed with. I’m already in violation with the number of people I have in the building right now. I’m beyond what the system was designed for, and what (sewer) will allow us to do is have more people to be able to work at Trinity Furniture.” If approved for the grants, Trinity Furniture would add 10 jobs. The total cost for the sewer project is $680,000, with Trinity Furniture contributing $310,000. Aside from Trinity and Randolph County’s contributions, the rest of the of the project would be funded by grants. In 1984, Laugerala and his next-door neighbor, John Kennedy, who retired in 2002, invested $1,000 to establish Trinity Furniture. Trinity Furni-
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ture, which manufactures case goods and upholstered products for government buildings, military bases, universities and medical offices, has grown to be a $13 million a year company, said Harry Lane, Randolph County Economic Development Corp. existing business and industry coordinator. “By hopefully having a good clean safe work environment, which we try to create in Trinity Furniture, the hope would be with continued opportunities that we would be able to sit there and grow in the future,” Laugerala said. “I think there will still be some growth there, assuming we can keep up with the requirements of having a place to manufacture it.” dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
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