Saturday, December 26, 2009 | 50¢ Send us photos from your Christmas activities
Recession tops all news for 2009
Man killed in shooting; police seek suspect A Salisbury man was killed in a shooting just after midnight Christmas morning, and Salisbury Police are searching for a suspect. Officers responded to a “shots-fired” disturbance at 1024 North Jackson St., according to a release Friday from Steve Whitley, deputy chief of police. Upon arrival, officers discovered a large party. Antonio Jermaine Allen, 27, was found wounded by a gunshot and he later died. Investigators worked throughout the early morning hours Friday and identified Antonio Marquell Jackson, 23, as the suspect in the shooting. A warrant for murder has been issued for Jackson, who is considered to be armed and dangerous. He is described as a black male, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 165 pounds. His last known address was listed as 1117 1-B Crosby St. Anyone with information about where Jackson is should call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333.
SHAVONNE POTTS/SALISBURY POST FILE PHOTO
Though times were bad for many, people like Earline Felts found ways to get by, such as attending this food distribution event sponsored by the Altrusa Club and Salisbury Parks and Recreation in September.
With recovery nowhere in sight, all other stories pale in wake of economic crisis They tell us the worst is over, the nation’s economy is on the road to recovery. But for local residents who watched their livelihoods evaporate, business owners forced to say goodbye to loyal employees, retailers who saw sales shrivel and agencies that provide help still overwhelmed by the need for their services, recovery is, for now, just a word. The effects of the nation’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s reached every corner of Rowan County and hit hard, and those effects will linger. That’s why the Post news staff voted the Great Recession the top local news story of 2009. At the end of each year, the staff chooses the top news stories. And readers can too. Log on to our Web site, www.salisburypost.com, to vote for the story you think was the biggest, had the most impact or was just the most interesting in 2009. Though we suffered through swine flu, Make your choice for watched county commissioners clash with the loyear’s top story on www.salisburypost. cal ABC Board over money and records, and even com. got a break from it all when our American Legion team made a run at a national title, the voting wasn’t even close here at the Post. The recession took top billing in a landslide. That’s not surprising. Though it started in December 2008, the recession really poured on the economic misery in 2009. Unemployment in Rowan reached levels not seen since the recession of the early 1980s, peaking in July at nearly 14 percent. The jobless rate dipped before climbing back above 13 percent in October, the last month for which the figures are available. All those job losses mean, of course, that businesses weren’t doing well. Freightliner, one of the county’s major employers, first announced plans to eliminate its second shift due to declining orders. Then the company reduced its first-shift workforce by a third. Performance Fibers announced it would cut employment here by 20 percent. More than 1,000 people lined up to apply for jobs at the new Olive Garden and Longhorn restaurants. And in November, W.A. Brown & Son, a century-old Salisbury company, locked the doors when its owners couldn’t secure financing. The hard times hit home. Foreclosures spiked in Rowan. Hundreds lined up for free food distributions at the Salisbury Civic Center. People in need poured into Rowan Helping Ministries and similar agencies. In February, 20,000 of Rowan’s 52,000 families were re-
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Man tries to blow up plane landing in Detroit Passenger jumps him as explosive device fails DETROIT (AP) — A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida’s instructions, set off an explosive device Friday in a failed attack on the plane as it was landing in Detroit, federal officials said. Flight 253 with 278 passengers aboard was 20 minutes from the airport when it sounded like a firecracker had exploded, witnesses said. One passenger jumped over others and tried to subdue the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to a front row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned.
SHELLEY SMITH/SALISBURY POST FILE PHOTO
See PLANE, 2A
W.A. Brown fell victim to the prolonged downturn in the economy, closing its doors for good in November after being in business since the early 1900s.
Plenty enjoying White Christmas
Top 10 stories for 2009 1. Recession 2. American Legion team's run 3. ABC Board 4. High Rock Raceway troubles 5. Swine flu 6. Alcoa vs. the state 7. Sheriff's office turmoil 8. Redistricting 9. Three plead in Boyd murder 10. Former Spencer mayor Alicia Bean’s standoff with police ceiving help from the Department of Social Services. Sandra Wilkes, Social Services director, told county commissioners demand on the agency was “absolutely at an all-time high.” The recession drove more people to libraries where they could borrow instead of buy even as the economy forced the county to cut back on library hours and all local governments to make tough budgeting decisions on personnel, pay and services. The phrase “furlough days” became part of the vernacular. And more drivers chose to keep their cars going instead of buying new, though the federal government’s Cash for Clunkers program provided a bright spot for auto dealers and deals for folks who could still afford a new car.
But it’s no easy task for many in Midwest trying to make it to grandmother’s house
JON C. LAKEY/SALISBURY POST FILE PHOTO
The Rowan County American Legion team supplied local baseball fans a burst of good news, making a run all the way to the American Legion World Series in Fargo, N.D. hard times by making an incredible — and some would say improbable — run to the American Legion World Series in Fargo, N.D. They got there by winning the state and Southeast regional titles, injecting a little drama into each. And they very nearly pulled off the most dramatic rally in Legion World Series history, coming up a run shy of completing a comeback against eventual champion Midland, Mich., after trailing 12-0. A large contingent of fans followed the team
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Residents across the Midwest and the Plains who made it home for Christmas were digging out on Friday after a fierce snowstorm while those who spent the night in airports and shelters tried to resume their journeys. Meteorologists warned that roads across the region remained dangerous. The National Weather Service said blizzards would hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin through Saturday. The storm had already dumped significant snow across the region, including a record 14 inches in Oklahoma City and 11 inches in Duluth, Minn., on Thursday. Slippery roads have been blamed for at least 21 deaths this week as the storm lumbered across the country from the
2. The boys of summer See TOP 10, 7A
For three weeks in August, the Rowan American Legion Team took our minds off the
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Contents
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Deaths Faith Horoscope Opinion
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Sunshine returns 54º / 33º Forecast 8C