SPORTS: Cavs duo perform well at state golf tourney • Page 1B
The Sanford Herald WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010
SANFORDHERALD.COM • 50 CENTS
QUICKREAD
LEE COUNTY SCHOOLS
TEENS
OIL SPILL
Parents to LCS: Don’t leave ‘gifted’ behind
Lee County 8th in state for teen pregnancies
BP EXECS TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS
Local nonprofits continue efforts to lower county’s stats
Congress called BP and its drilling partners to account Tuesday for a “cascade of failures” behind the spreading Gulf oil spill, zeroing in on a crucial chain of events at the deep-sea wellhead just before an explosion consumed the rig and set off the catastrophic rupture
By BILLY BALL bball@sanfordherald.com
Page 9A
WORLD
ASHLEY GARNER/The Sanford Herald
CAMERON TAKES OVER AS UK’S PRIME MINISTER Conservative leader David Cameron became Britain’s youngest prime minister in almost 200 years Tuesday after Gordon Brown stepped down and ended 13 years of Labour government. Page 10A
NATION
PEOPLE WERE WARNED OF STORMS’ POWER Days before deadly tornadoes raked the Plains, forecasters warned people that big storms were on the way and that they would be large and powerful. Scientists even predicted almost to the hour when the twisters might strike. Page 12A
Donna Kirik, a parent of an AIG student in Lee County Schools, speaks about the cuts to the program during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
Parents, teachers, students want district’s three-year AIG plan to undergo revisions using their input By JONATHAN OWENS owens@sanfordherald.com
SANFORD — Parents, teachers and even students turned out in bunches Tuesday to voice their concerns over ongoing changes to Lee County’s Academic and Intellectually Gifted program at the Lee County Board of Education’s regular meeting. During the public comments portion of Tuesday’s regular meeting at the Lee County Government Center, the concerned parties told the board they feared changed the program was detrimental to the opportunities offered by the district. At issue was a plan, adopted by the board in 2009 and meant to last through 2013, to change the way AIG is structured to save money. The changes include using regular teachers not certified in AIG to teach classes and the elimination of “pullouts,” where those students identified as “gifted”
SANFORD — Kamilah Davis remembers a day in January 1999 as the day life, as she knew it, stopped. That was the day that Davis, a well-respected, 16-year-old junior with college plans, found out she was pregnant. Davis isn’t the only local girl with such a story to tell. In fact, state data indicate that Davis’ story of teen pregnancy is all too common in Lee County. Recent figures from the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics pegged Lee as having the eighth highest teen pregnancy rate out of 100 counties in the state in 2008. “Fear, all the way around fear,” Davis said of that fateful moment. “I knew that things were going to change.” Davis, a Sanford native, wanted to transition directly from Lee Senior High School to study journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “I was on the very straight and narrow,” she said. “Everybody knew that I was going to college. Everybody knew that I had a good head on my shoulders.” But the baby, conceived
See Pregnancy, Page 7A Lee County Schools teacher Gail Smith speaks out about cuts to the AIG program during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
Teen Pregnancy in 2008 County No. of
No. of
Rank
pregnancies* births**
spend a portion of their school day with a specialized teacher working on advanced materials. Instead, AIG students would attend the same classes as other students. Parents and teachers want the plan to be revised, or at
YOUR THOUGHTS
See AIG, Page 6A
How do you feel about Lee County Schools’ AIG program and the cuts the district says have been forced upon them? E-mail your thoughts to Editor Billy Liggett at bliggett@sanfordherald.com.
Lee 90.8 Harnett 62.0 Chatham 8.0 Moore 44.9
174 267 92 125
8 46 75 82
* Rate based on number of pregnancies per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 years old ** Number includes births, abortions and miscarriages after 20 weeks girls ages 15 to 19 years old. Pregnancies for girls below the age of 15 are not included. Source: N.C. State Center for Health Statistics
STATE SYMPHONY MUSICIANS AGREE TO PAY CUT The musicians of the North Carolina Symphony have agreed to pay cuts that will save the financially strapped orchestra $1 million in each of the next two years.
CRIME
PROJECT LIFESAVER
Drug bust nets $40K in cocaine
North Carolina Project Lifesaver stopped by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday to present an award as they honor Lee County officers killed in the line of duty during National Law Enforcement Memorial Week.
By BILLY BALL bball@sanfordherald.com
Page 8A
EDUCATION MORE STATES SHUN CHARTER SCHOOLS Idaho and several other states also put strict limits on the number of new charter schools. Another 11 states don’t allow charters at all. Page 8B
Vol. 80, No. 110 Serving Lee, Chatham, Harnett and Moore counties in the heart of North Carolina
SANFORD — Investigators from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Sanford Police Department netted a major drug bust Tuesday. The joint operation led to the arrest of two men, 35-yearold Jonathan Wayne Arnold of 1611 Phillips Drive in Sanford and 27-year-old Jermaine Derrell Petty of 416 Dudley St. in
ASHLEY GARNER/ The Sanford Herald
See Bust, Page 7A
HAPPENING TODAY n The Central Carolina Small Business Expo will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center in Sanford. Nationally known speaker Tom Shay will help you “make more money” at the “Business Before Breakfast” beginning at 8:15 a.m.
High: 84 Low: 67
INDEX
More Weather, Page 12A
OBITUARIES
R.V. HIGHT
Sanford: Margaret Adams, 82; Guyion Angell, 87; Alice Holder, 93; George McLean, 74; Frederick Shudra, 59 Cameron: John Timms, 79
It’s strawberry picking time again in Central North Carolina
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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