MARCH MADNESS: Get the rundown from Day 1 of the tournament • SPORTS
The Sanford Herald FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010
SANFORDHERALD.COM • 50 CENTS
CUMNOCK HOUSE FIRE
LEE COUNTY
Gov’t tweets coming soon Lee Linked program using Facebook, Twitter to connect to county residents ONLINE To take the survey, go to www. leecountync.gov and find the social media icon on the home page.
ASHLEY GARNER/The Sanford Herald
Firefighters clean up at the scene of a large house fire in Cumnock that began Thursday morning. According to neighbors, the home belonged to Kay and Winfred Wicker.
‘Total loss’
QUICKREAD JOBS BILL
Officials: House fire apparently started in kitchen while family was away; nobody injured
By CAITLIN MULLEN cmullen@sanfordherald.com
OBAMA SIGNS HIRE ACT, BUT HEALTH CARE LOOMS
The White House held a ceremony Thursday in the Rose Garden where Pres. Obama signed into law a $38 billion jobs bill containing a modest mix of tax breaks and spending Page 8A
FILM REVIEWS
ONE POTENTIAL CLASSIC AND ONE STINKER The Herald’s Neil Morris reviews Roman Polaski’s “The Ghost Writer” and “Repo Men” starring Jude Law Page 10A
CUMNOCK — A fire Thursday morning left a couple’s home completely destroyed. “It’s a total loss,” said Shane Seagroves, director of Lee County Emergency Services, of Kay and Winfred Wicker’s home. Family, friends and neighbors surrounded the Wickers as they stood watching the house burn Thursday morning; many were in tears. West Sanford Fire Department, Northwest Pocket Volunteer Fire Department, Northview Fire Department, Goldston Fire Department and firefighters from Tramway responded at about 9:30 a.m. to the fire at 879 Cumnock Road, Seagroves said. Central Carolina Advanced Life Support also arrived to assist the Wickers, who were vi-
N.C. NATIVE SMOOT TO MAKE WHITE HOUSE FUN
CHAPEL HILL — The Sanford Herald took home the most North Carolina Press Association awards in the newspaper’s history at a ceremony held at UNC’s Dean Dome Thursday night. The Herald won 14 awards, topping last year’s record of nine. The newsroom was up for a 15th award — general excellence — but the results were unavailable as of press time Thursday. Each year, The Herald com-
TO INFORM, CHALLENGE AND CELEBRATE
Vol. 80, No. 64 Serving Lee, Chatham, Harnett and Moore counties in the heart of North Carolina
fire started. The fire appeared to have started in the kitchen/ porch area of the home.
See Fire, Page 3A
SANFORD — County residents soon may be able to receive Facebook or Twitter updates from Lee County Government offices. Lee Linked is a social media initiative to keep residents in touch with Lee County Government offices, said Dwane Brinson, director of the Lee County Tax Office. County officials can connect with residents using Web sites like Facebook and Twitter. “Everybody is doing it,” he said. “People use these social media channels daily, and they may not go to our Web site. ... There’s so many possibilities with this program.” Many other local government offices have already started programs like Lee Linked, Brinson said, from small cities to larger entities like CharlotteMecklenburg County. “Maybe sometimes those people feel like they can’t contact us during normal business hours,” Brinson said. This gives those people an opportunity to send a Facebook message, for example, to connect with a Lee County offical at a time that’s convenient for them, he said. “We’re capitalizing on that and providing better service for these customers,” Brinson said. Brinson brought the idea before the Lee County Board
See Linked, Page 6A
Herald wins record 14 state awards From staff reports
Page 7A
sually emotional as their house burned to the ground. Seagroves said the Wickers had left for Sanford and were not at home when the
cmullen@sanfordherald.com
NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION
STATE
Of all the gushy things that fans of North Carolina native Julianna Smoot have to say about the Obamas’ new social secretary, the most telling may be that she could make even “the ask” seem fun
ASHLEY GARNER/The Sanford Herald
Onlookers show their emotion as the home of Kay and Winfred Wicker of Cumnock burned to the ground Thursday.
By CAITLIN MULLEN
HAPPENING TODAY Temple Theatre’s production of Jason Petty’s “El Paso” begins at 8 p.m. “El Paso” details the performing life of Marty Robbins and pays tribute to Robbins’ heroes such as Gene Autrey and Hank Williams Sr. For tickets, call the Temple box office at (919) 774-4155, visit www.templeshows.com. CALENDAR, PAGE 2A
Hight
Owens
petes with more than 20 other newspapers in North Carolina with circulations of 15,000 or less. Judges from other states choose winners in a number of categories, ranging from news writing to design, and the winners are announced
during NCPA’s Winter Institute. “It’s always special to be recognized by your peers in the industry, Zureick but this year is extra special,” Herald Publisher Bill Horner III said. “The 14 awards The Herald received is the most ever in a single year from the NCPA and certainly ranks us as one of the best newspapers of our size in the state.
High: 72 Low: 44
What’s as significant about the awards, though, is that so many of our staff were recognized in such a wide variety of categories. Our newspaper is as strong and relevant as ever.” Of its 14 awards, The Herald won three first-place awards Thursday. Special Sections Editor R.V. Hight won first place in “news feature writing” for his story last year on military families who formed a support group for those who lost loved
See Awards, Page 6A
INDEX
More Weather, Page 12A
OBITUARIES
SCOTT MOONEYHAM
Sanford: Mark Godfrey, 40; Dempsey Jones Cameron: Anthony Leach, 57 Durham: Polly Stevens, 88 Lillington: Caroline Castle, infant
State law treats public workers differently than private comapnies, but it shouldn’t
Page 4A
Abby, Graham, Bridge, Sudoku............................. 6B Classifieds ....................... 9B Comics, Crosswords.......... 7B Community calendar .......... 2A Horoscope ........................ 6B Obituaries......................... 5A Opinion ............................ 4A Scoreboard ....................... 4B