Today’s Weather
East netters lose tough match to Black Knights.
THOMASVILLE
Times
See SPORTS, Page 7
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Partly Cloudy, 89/62
119th Year - No. 129 50 Cents
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Kate takes turn for the worse BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer On one of her good days, 5year-old Kate Thornton looks like a real life princess, straight from a Disney movie. Her big blue eyes, straight brown hair and caring smile is enough to touch even the deepest chambers of the human heart. Kate’s bad days, however, are spent in a hospital bed, tied to tubes amidst a battery of tests as doctors try to treat her acute lymphocytic leukemia, first diagnosed when she was only three. It’s hard to imagine any-
one standing up to the trials and tribulations associated with fighting such a deadly disease, but Kate managed to do just that for nearly half her life. Needing a miracle, Kate seemingly got one earlier this year when her brother, Jared, turned out to be a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. Up until a few weeks ago, everything was normal, as Kate’s body appeared to be accepting Jared’s bone marrow, bringing welcome news to the Thornton family. All that changed recently when doctors found Kate’s cancer had returned and the prognosis is not
good. “[Jared’s bone marrow] was a perfect match, but for some reason, her body rejected it,” Jerry Williamson, Kate’s grandfather, said. “Her little body just can’t take any more as far as radiation and chemo. They figure she probably has two weeks, maybe three. She’s coming home Friday and hospice will be involved. Up until last Wednesday, we were looking forward to her being in remission. But they did a bone marrow aspiration and found that her white blood cell count
See KATE, Page 3
Family fair promotes health
Commissioners approve school sewer line project
BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer A little of The Amazing Race fever has come to Thomasville. The Family Fit And Fun Fair will feature a team scavenger hunt this year, in addition to the usual live entertainment, activities and health information. In its fourth year, the event will take place Saturday at PACE Park in Thomasville from 4 to 8 p.m. Organization booths will distribute information on health and wellness in the midst of a festival-like atmosphere. Admission is free with the donation of canned food. “The fundamental theme of it is to get information out there about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and also all kinds of wellness, what all is involved in living a healthy, happy lifestyle,” said Billy Freeman, director of Thomasville Parks and Recreation, an organizer of the event. A variety of community agencies will be on hand to inform parents and children alike on a wide range of health issues. Hospitals will
BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer Davidson County Board of Commissioners approved the extension of sewer lines to StonerThomas School and the Davidson County Administrative Offices using funds left over from other sewer projects at its meeting Tuesday. Project costs for the Extended Day School and the Churchland Elementary School sewer lines – part of the county’s order to bring each school onto the sewer system – came under budget by $500,000 and $400,000, respectively. While change orders are still possible for the projects, the most likely case being the discovery of more rock than was originally thought and budgeted for, county staff and commissioners thought that the $900,000 excess was more than enough buffer for the $147,875 estimated construction cost to bring sewer to Stoner-Thomas and the county offices
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Children from last year’s Family Fit and Fun Fair enjoy spending time with each other coloring. The fair will be held on Saturday from 4-8 p.m. at the PACE Park. See FAIR, Page 12 Admission is free with the donation of a canned good.
See BOARD, Page 4
TPD requiring solicitors to purchase a permit BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Thomasville Police Department is now requiring anybody going door-to-door to solicit money or provide a service to acquire a permit in order to do so. A new ordinance enacted by Thomasville City Council makes it unlawful for any person to go door-to-door on public streets or private property for the purpose of soliciting or canvassing without authorized identification. The ordinance is intended to help ward off scam artists who may or may not be who they say they are. “If you go door-to-door with the purpose of soliciting money or providing a service you
must have a solicitor’s permit,” Maj. James Mills said. “The whole thing is designed to protect citizens from being scammed, especially the elderly.” Landscapers and individuals wanting to sell items such as home alarm systems or vinyl windows fall under the ordinance, but organizations like churches or Girl Scouts selling cookies do not. Any individual who comes to a homeowner’s door with the intent to solicit money or offer a service must have a photograph identification on their person. “You must be issued a permit which is a photo ID that you have to present to any homeowner,” said City Manager Kelly Craver. “It’s something that has been on the books
for a long time but we beefed up the ordinance in recent months. It didn’t have a lot of teeth in it before and didn’t require the badge.” In order to obtain a permit, an individual has to go to the Clerk of Courts Office in Lexington and have a background check done for $25. The person must then come back to TPD with the background check, get fingerprinted and fill out an in-house application, providing some basic information. There is a 10-day waiting period upon which a photo ID will provided. The fingerprinting cost $10 and the ID is $5, raising the final total for the permit to $40. The permit is good
VIEWPOINT
ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
Thornton family needs a helping hand The past several weeks have left me questioning why I decided to become a journalist. Reporting the news, both good and bad, is something I once felt was important, and in doing so gave me a lot of fulfillment at the end of the day. Lately, however, I have found myself wondering why? It’s definitely not for the money, as any reporter would know. It’s not for the glamor, as there is none. So, at 37, I have been feeling like I made the wrong career choice and am only a sentence or two away from being right back at Square One. I have been thinking a lot about why God has put me here, at the Thomasville Times, at this point in my life, wondering if there is a higher calling out there that is directing me in a way that is not so clear right now. All that changed Wednesday morning. I know now why I am here, at this particular time, and why God has given me the ability to write articles for a newspaper. For the past two years, our paper has published several stories about the struggles of one beautiful little girl named Kate Thornton, who has spent half of her short life battling leukemia. A couple of months ago, Kate’s diagnosis
See HAND, Page 4
INDEX Weather Opinion Obituaries Sports Crossword Mini Page Classified
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See PERMIT, Page 3
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