SPORTS: Lee Christian downs Grace in men’s soccer • Page 1B
The Sanford Herald WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
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LEE COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL
HERALD FORUM CANDIDATES FORUM SET FOR OCT. 7 AT CIVIC CENTER Candidates for Lee County Board of Commissioner, U. S. Congress and N. C. House of Representatives have been invited to The Herald’s candidates forum, scheduled for Oct. 7. at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. The public is invited to the event, which will take place in the small auditorium at the civic center beginning with a catered reception at 5:45 p.m. The forum is scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. No admission will be charged, but attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable food staple or a canned good as a donation for The Salvation Army’s local food pantry for entry into the forum. Candidates invited are: ■ Lee County Board of Commission District 2 (incumbent Amy Dalrymple and challenger Charlie Parks), District 3 (incumbent Linda Shook and challenger Mike Womble) and District 4 (Butch Johnson and James Womack, who are seeking the seat of Jamie Kelly, who’s not seeking re-election). ■ U.S. House District 2 incumbent Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) and Republican challenger Renee Ellmers ■ N.C. House of Representatives incumbent Jimmy Love Sr. (D-Sanford) and Republican challenger Mike Stone The format for the forum will include questions submitted by Herald readers. To submit a question, e-mail it to news@sanfordherald.com.
WESLEY BEESON/The Sanford Herald
Toni, a chihuahua short coat mix was recently brought in to Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption after being rescued from the Lee County Animal Shelter. CARA officials are among the many happy to hear the county’s decision to shut down its gas chamber.
GAS CHAMBER SHUT DOWN Animal Control also to propose tethering law, ordinance overhaul By ALEXA MILAN SANFORD — The efforts of vocal community members who are anti-gas chamber euthanasia seem to have paid off. The Lee County Animal Shelter will no longer use the gas chamber as a method of euthanasia, opting instead for euthanasia by injection. The gas chamber broke in June, and Lee County Health Director Howard Surface decided not to repair it. The gas chamber will be demolished in October. “I thought, ‘If there is this much concern in the community, maybe this is an opportunity to make a change,’” Surface said. Euthanasia via gas chamber in animal shelters is legal in North Carolina, but it’s an issue most animal welfare activists oppose. Surface said the
OUR NATION
GUNMAN KILLS HIMSELF AFTER FIRING AT UT-AUSTIN A student wearing a dark suit and a ski mask opened fire Tuesday with an assault rifle on the University of Texas campus before fleeing into a library and fatally shooting himself. No one else was hurt. Full Story, Page 10A
COMING THURSDAY
TETHERING LAW
amilan@sanfordherald.com
Part of the proposed changes to the animal ordinance in Lee County includes a tethering law. The law would include: ■ Banning tethering (tying up) an animal for longer than 12 hours in a 24-hour period ■ Requiring that all tethers be at least 15 feet in length ■ Requiring that shelter and water are always within reach ■ Fines for pet owners who do not meet the requirements of the new law
community’s input played a major role in the decision to switch to euthanasia by injection. “We weren’t doing anything illegal, but you have to look at what the community standards are,” Surface said. “This is what they feel is safer and more humane.” In June, Sanford resident Keely Wood distributed a petition to ban the use of gas chambers at the shelter on behalf of the North Carolina Coalition
for Humane Euthanasia. The petition encouraged the shelter to euthanize the animals they can no longer keep by injection of sodium pentobarbital, the method most often used by veterinarians. Wood said she jumped for joy the night she heard the news that the Lee County Animal Shelter would switch from gas
See Animal, Page 6A
Dale Williams says he’s been banging his head against a wall trying to get Lee County Animal Control to investigate and follow through on abuse complaints he’s made against neighbors with dogs for months now. Upon hearing of the county’s plans to improve its code for animals on Tuesday, Williams said he was glad to hear about the effort, but as for his confidence that it will bring change ... “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said. Others are taking a more optimistic approach to news a new ordinance that will include a tethering law and new wording to define animal abuse in Lee County. On Thursday, The Herald will gauge the community reaction to the news and go further into the proposed changes.
SPENDING REVOLT BUS
DOWNTOWN SANFORD
Conservatives rally at the bus
Readers rejoice: Store for used books coming soon
By BILLY BALL bball@sanfordherald.com
SANFORD — Lower taxes. Less spending. That was the message from a group of conservatives — identifying themselves as Tea Partiers, Republicans and none of the above — rallying in a Sanford Kmart parking lot Tuesday. More than 50 locals, GOP civic officials and political activists gathered for what they dubbed the “National Revolt Spending Tour,” in which a handful of speakers plan to make a nationwide circuit espousing slashed government spending.
See Revolt, Page 6A
Vol. 80, No. 227 Serving Lee, Chatham, Harnett and Moore counties in the heart of North Carolina
By JENNIFER GENTILE jgentile@sanfordherald.com
WESLEY BEESON/The Sanford Herald
Herbert Hoover Rosser, flies his 1776 American Revolution Bennington Flag during the Spending Revolt National Bus Tour on Tuesday afternoon in Sanford.
HAPPENING TODAY Join Steele Street Coffee and Wine Bar at 120 S. Steele St. for a “Learn to Paint” class with artist Arianne Hemlein from 6-8 p.m. Enjoy wine and appetizers while learning to paint step by step so you can take home your own 16 in. by 20 in. masterpiece on canvas. Register by calling 630-6888. CALENDAR, PAGE 2A
SANFORD — Although it is hard to envision now, a vacant space in downtown Sanford is about to become a reader’s paradise. As of Friday, the building at 108 S. Steele St. will be in the midst of a makeover. When the clean out is complete and the transformation debuts in early November, Sanford will have its only free-standing used bookstore. The store, “Books at a Steal,” is a collaborative ef-
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fort between two non-profits — Lee County Partnership for Children and the Coalition for Families in Lee County. “This will really open the door to let people have affordable books available to them,” said Celeste Hurtig, outreach coordinator with the Partnership for Children. “We’re hoping it will enhance literacy here in Lee County.” Literacy is a mission cornerstone for both agencies. The Partnership sponsors the Imagination Library, which
See Books, Page 6A
INDEX
More Weather, Page 12A
OBITUARIES
R.V. HIGHT
Sanford: Ernest Adams, 70 Bear Creek: Mike Coore, 53; Joel Talley, 55 Carthage: Caden Murchison, 16 months
Thankful for the many great things that come with autumn in Central N.C.
Page 4A
Abby, Graham, Bridge, Sudoku............................. 6B Classifieds ....................... 9B Comics, Crosswords.......... 7B Community calendar .......... 2A Horoscope ........................ 6B Obituaries......................... 7A Opinion ............................ 4A Scoreboard ....................... 4B