Today’s Weather
Thomasville battled the Bears on the gridiron Friday night in Mt. Airy.
THOMASVILLE
Times
See Sports, Page B1
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Mostly Sunny, 86/59
119th Year - No. 130 50 Cents
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EPA postpones change in ozone standard BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer
Years ago a hiker scaling North Carolinas’ Great Smoky Mountains found a spectacular view at the peak, one stretching for miles. Over the past 50 years, however, visibility has decreased by 80 percent, according to the National Park Service. The culprit — ground level ozone produced by man-made pollution and natural gases that not only obstructs gorgeous scenery but also is detrimental to public health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has strived over the years to keep the air clean, regulating air pollution by setting ozone level standards. The agency has proposed to lower the current standard of
.075 parts per million to between .060 and .070 ppm – but has delayed the change yet again. Originally set for August, the lowering date has been extended for another six months. “We just found out earlier this week that the EPA will not be meeting that deadline for setting the standard,” said Hanna Cockburn, planning program manager for the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. “We’re expecting to see something in December or January.” Ground-level ozone – a highly reactive form of oxygen that forms when nitrogen oxides (NOx) from vehicle and industrial emissions mix with heat, sun light and volatile organic compounds from trees and plants – was identified in the Clean Air Act
of 1971 as an air pollution affecting public health. The peak ozone season lasts from May to September or October. The EPA first set air quality standards on ozone in 1997. In 2008, the agency lowered the standard but not quite as low as scientists had recommended at the time. The EPA began talks about further restricting ozone emissions in September 2009, but it wasn’t until January 2010 that an official announcement was made. Although Davidson County is in attainment with the current standard, a tightening of ozone levels would push the area over the edge. “We have addressed and improved our ozone,” said Davidson County Planning Director Guy Cornman. “The federal govern-
See CHASE, Page A3
See DROP, Page A6
Staff Writer
INDEX Weather Focus Opinion Obituaries Religion Sports Classifieds
A2 A3 A5 A6 A8 B1 B6
TIMES PHOTO/DAVID YEMM
Crews work to clean up the crash site after a car chase ended in a two-vehicle accident at the Big Chair. same jurisdiction. The car and the tag were reported as stolen in different counties.” Hunt drove over the stop sticks, causing one of his front tires to rupture, but he kept traveling south, towards the intersection of Salem and Main
Staff Writer
Street, in front of the Big Chair. Officers tried to re-direct traffic, but when Hunt went across the railroad tracks, he slammed into a white utility van. Police surrounded the Explorer and
See STANDARD, Page A4
BY ELIOT DUKE
a kidnapping. He has quite an extensive history in other jurisdictions. Some of the charges are breaking and entering and robbery with a dangerous weapon and everything else. All of our school resource officers are sworn deputies and have the
BY ELIOT DUKE
Davidson County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in July, showing signs that people are slowly beginning to find work. According to statistics released by the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina on Friday, the unemployment rate in Davidson County fell to 11.7 percent in July, a .4 percent decrease from June as the number of employed people rose by 118 workers to 66,801. In Thomasville, the unemployment stayed at 11.5 percent, but the number of people employed increased by 18 from June to 10,508. The unemployment rate dropped in 86 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, but only 46 reported rates that were at or below the state rate of 9.9 percent. “Unemployment has dropped in the majority of the state’s 100 counties in July,” ESC Chairman Lynn Holmes said. “However, over half of our counties had unemployment rates over 10 percent. Local communities continue to be challenged by the current economic conditions. Our staff across the state continues to provide assistance to those seeking unemployment benefits and those seeking employment opportunities.” Despite the minimal job gains, the labor forces in Thomasville and Davidson County continues to shrink. In July, Thomasville reported a labor force of 11,877 workers compared to 12,468 a year ago. Since March, the labor force in Thomasville has dropped by more than 200 workers, as people have either
Car chase ends with wreck at Big Chair A man suspected of breaking into a Wallburg home led area police on a chase down N.C. Highway 109 that ended with a crash near Thomasville’s Big Chair. Thomasville Police Department and Davidson County Sheriff ’s Office joined efforts in apprehending Joseph Daniel Hunt, 41, of 1719 Pea Ridge Road in Ellenboro, Thursday afternoon after the man refused to stop for a school resource officer in the Ledford community following a call regarding a possible home break-in. Sheriff David Grice said a relative of a homeowner at 6992 N.C. Highway 109 called police to report a home breakin. A school resource officer in the area was dispatched and attempted to stop a black Ford Explorer near Old Greensboro Road that was spotted leaving the scene. The suspect, however, fled, leading police on a chase that came through Thomasville, down Salem Street. Deputies called TPD for assistance where officers laid down stop sticks in an effort to disable the vehicle. Grice said that the Explorer and the vehicle’s tags were stolen. “We’ve already connected [Hunt] to two break-ins in the county and there may be more,” Grice said. “He is also wanted on a warrant and a failure to appear, one of which I think is
Unemployment rate sees drop for month of July
Kimberly-Clark gives helping hand to spruce up property BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer Lynn Isaacs’ shed lay in ruins. The roof caved in, doors hung limply on crumbling hinges. Widowed at about age 30, the 80-somethingyear-old woman had lived in her Davidson County house by herself for nearly 40 years, filling it with treasures she had collected throughout her life.
When someone broke into the building a few weeks back, Isaacs feared for her belongings. And given her near-blindness, there was little she could do on her own. Kimberly-Clark came to the rescue. As part of United Way of Davidson County’s Week of Caring, employees of the Kimberly-Clark Lexington mill traveled out to Isaacs’ property last week at the request
of Davidson County Senior Services. They painted her roof, built and installed new doors, and weeded around the yard. “She’s just had a hard road,” said Kristie Hege of United Way, one of the coordinators for the Week of Caring. “She was so, so thankful. She just kept coming outside and thanking the Kim-
See SPRUCE, Page A4
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A trio of men from Kimberly-Clark patch up the side of a building at the home of Isaacs.
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