NATION: Obama champions nuclear energy as bipartisanship • Page 10A
The Sanford Herald WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010
SANFORDHERALD.COM • 50 CENTS
QUICKREAD
SANFORD CITY COUNCIL
SPORTS
Hunters call for archery law Say urban deer population is getting out of hand By GORDON ANDERSON anderson@sanfordherald.com
SANFORD — Area hunters made a strong show in support of a proposed urban archery deer hunting season in the city limits at Tuesday’s Sanford City Council. City leaders are consider-
FORMER CAVS STAR ONE SHOT FROM HISTORY
Akeem Richmond hasn’t even played a full basketball season with the University of Rhode Island, and he’s already making history. The former Southern Lee star can surpass former Ram Tyson Wheeler for the most made 3-point field goals by a freshman in a single season in Rhode Island history.
ing opting into a state program which would allow bow hunting for deer inside the city limits in January and February. “We are on the watch for deer at all times,” said Willard Gary, a North Franklin Drive resident concerned about threats posed by deer herds in his neighborhood. “You rarely
see just one at a time. They’re accustomed to humans and they don’t scare very easily. Usually they just snort at me.” Gary was one of several residents and hunters who came to voice support for the proposal at a public hearing. The council
See Hunters, Page 7A
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should the city enact an urban archery law allowing for deer hunting within the city limits? Tell us what you think by emailing news@sanfordherald. com or vote at our poll within this story at www.sanfordherald.com.
MOVIE GALLERY CLOSING
LEE SCHOOLS
Short shelf life
Committee no fan of ‘pants on the ground’
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Group discusses stricter enforcement of dress code policy
TOYOTA RECALL
By CAITLIN MULLEN cmullen@sanfordherald.com
GOVERNMENT THREATENS, COMPANY CUTS BACK The government ordered Toyota to turn over documents related to its massive recalls Tuesday, pressing to see how long the automaker knew of safety defects before taking action. Toyota, concerned about unsold cars, said it would temporarily idle some production in three states. Page 9A
TRAVEL
ASHLEY GARNER/The Sanford Herald
Ken Cronch returns a rental to a Redbox kiosk on Tuesday at Lowes Foods. The popularity of Redbox and mail-order rentals like Netflix have led to the closure of “big box” movie rental stores like Movie Gallery, which is closing its Sanford location.
Rise of Netflix, Redbox and iTunes has led to the closing of box stores like Movie Gallery By BILLY LIGGETT bliggett@sanfordherald.com
TAKE A TRIP TO THE WINE COUNTRY THIS WINTER With harvest over and future bottles of wine resting peacefully in barrels and tanks, your chances of chatting with a winemaker when you visit a winery is higher in the winter Page 8B
STATE JUDGES GRILL ATTORNEYS
Justices on North Carolina’s highest court spent Tuesday parsing words and grilling attorneys about a decades-old law that could free several violent convicts because it may have defined a life sentence as 80 years Page 8A
TO INFORM, CHALLENGE AND CELEBRATE
Vol. 80, No. 38 Serving Lee, Chatham, Harnett and Moore counties in the heart of North Carolina
SANFORD — Getting in your car and scanning the shelves to find a movie just released on DVD? That’s so 20th Century. Americans’ preferences when it comes to movie rentals have shifted to the Postal Service (Netflix), $1 vending machines (Redbox), online (iTunes) and cable (OnDemand) in recent years. The result? Big box retailers like Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery are suffering. The latter announced last week it was closing its Movie Gallery store on Horner Boulevard in Sanford (plus locations in Siler City, Lillington, Raleigh and Fayetteville) after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 2. That same company owns Hollywood Video, which also has a Sanford location, and according to the company’s Web site, that store will remain open. Managers from both Sanford locations would
See Movies, Page 7A
HAPPENING TODAY n The CCCC course, “Small Claims Court” will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Presenters will be representatives from the Clerk of Courts, Magistrate and Sheriff’s office. Cost is $7 for the class and lunch. CALENDAR, PAGE 2A
The Movie Gallery located on South Horner Boulevard recently announced its closing, one of more than 700 stores nationwide to close after the company’s recent liquidation announcement. WHAT YOU’RE SAYING The Herald asked its Facebook followers to share their DVD and Blue Ray viewing habits in recent years. The majority of those who responded said they rarely use box stores like Movie Gallery or Hollywood Video for movie rentals. n Michael Griffin: Rental stores will diminish but can’t go away completely for years because not everyone will adopt new technologies. They will need additional revenue sources — perhaps like bookstores and coffee shops? n Saul Chernin: I think physical media is really unnecessary, and when the movie industry finally allows it, all movies/video should be available digitally and should be interoperable with all devices. n Sherry Warf: The best thing that I like about the Redbox is that you can reserve a movie at a particular box and then go and retrieve it. When you went to one of the “movie” stores, it was kind of hit and miss at what you might get.
High: 46 Low: 26
SANFORD — An ad hoc committee of the Lee County Board of Education met Tuesday at the Heins Building to discuss student and employee dress codes and decided to update the policies in place. Enforcing the district’s current dress policy isn’t easy: Principals at each school are usually left to make decisions on potentially questionable clothing. Committee members are hoping to specify and enhance the dress code to create universal standards for the district. Committee members discussed different facets of the dress code, like logos on clothing, piercings, skirt lengths and how “visible cleavage” could be interpreted. Committee Chairman Frank Thompson said he’d like to see greater enforcement of the policies already in place, but creating a strict uniform policy, “that’s not my big thing,” he said. “If we can enforce the sagging pants and the baggy clothing ... we’ll be OK,” he said. “I don’t know how they can even walk with some of these sagging pants or how these girls keep everything in.” Board Member Shawn Williams said he’d prefer to see a more universal dress code. He believes it’s confusing when
See Dress, Page 7A WHAT DO YOU THINK? Do you agree with the need for a stricter dress code policy in our schools? What needs to be changed most? Tell us what you think by emailing news@sanfordherald. com or vote at our poll within this story at www.sanfordherald.com.
INDEX
More Weather, Page 12A
OBITUARIES
R.V. HIGHT
Sanford: Rev. John Holder, 64; Thomas Jackson, 63; Mary McLean, 104; Edna Williams, 86 Cameron: Marie Lindsay, 94 Carthage: Bertha Frye, 76
A great staff at a local dentist’s office makes a scary visit more comfortable
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Abby, Graham, Bridge, Sudoku............................. 6B Classifieds ....................... 9B Comics, Crosswords.......... 7B Community calendar .......... 2A Horoscope ........................ 6B Obituaries......................... 5A Opinion ............................ 4A Scoreboard ....................... 4B