Newspapers / Morrisville and Preston Progress … / Sept. 25, 1997, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Morrisville & Preston ItoWhty Wife of fired poiice officer driils chief, town manager BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS Donna Lynn Myers claimed that her husband was wrongfully fired from the Morrisville Police De partment and asked Town Manager David Hodgkins for an explanation during the public comments seg- Prestonwood drops Nike; seeks Seniors BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS Prestonwood Country Club has decided it will no longer be home to the Nike Carolina Classic, citing inconvenience to the more than 1,100 golfing members during the weekend of the event each year. But country club officials say they might be willing to inconven ience members if they could land a more prestigious golfing event, specifically a Senior Tour game. Prestonwood was instrumental in bringing the Nike Tour event to this area, and hosted it for four success ful years, raising more than $100,000 for Triangle area chari ties, especially the Wake County chapter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. “We decided with the member ship growing, that it wasn’t fair to the members to take up two golf courses,” said Vance Heafner, Prestonwood golf pro. When the tour started, there were only about 700 golfing members, he said. Now there are more than 1,100. “Out here we’ve changed so much, and changed so rapidly, it was just time to move on,” Heafner said. The Nike Carolina Classic is one of 30 events that make up the Nike Tour, which is a step below the PGA Tour. Two of the past winners of the Carolina Classic—Skip Ken dall and Michael Christie—now play on the PGA Tour. A Tournament Players Club course designed by Hale Irwin will be opening in Wakefield in North Raleigh in about two years, and agreements have been made that the Nike Carolina Classic can play there after that time. The Carolina Classic is looking for a temporary home until that time. “Prestonwood has been super to us,” said Marymac Webb, Tourna ment Director for the Nike Carolina Classic. “They had told us from the beginning that this was just for a few years. It had just run its course,” she said. Meanwhile, Prestonwood officials are hoping to attract a Senior Tour event. “It brings you a lot of national exposure,” Heafner said. “Next to the PGA tour, it’s the best you can get. We think that this area is ready for a Senior Tour event, and we may be able to work something out with them.” He thinks members would not mind having their weekend dis rupted for something that big. “We can raise a lot of money for the charities with a Senior Tour event. People can relate to the Senior Tour players because they’ve seen them on TV for 20 years. They can relate a lot better than they could to the Nike Tour players.” He hopes that a Senior Tour game could be played temporarily at Prestonwood until the TPC course is finished. “We’re still in the talk ing stage now (with Senior Tour officials),” he said. ment of the Morrisville Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night. “My husband has tried to deal with you on a one-to-one basis, and in a professional manner, but he has had inadequate responses from you,” she said. Meyers was terminated from his temporary, part-time position with the police department on Sept. 4. Commissioner Mark Silver-Smith has charged that he was fired be cause Police Chief Bruce Newnam suspected that Meyers gave his name to a state agency which talked with Newnam after he had a non-certified police officer direct traffic at two events. “I think this town should know there’s been a breakdown of lead- Police seeking more info in club thefts One young man has been ar rested, but Cary Police are still looking for other individuals who have stolen at least 12 sets of golf clubs and related equip ment from homes and cars in the Preston subdivision. The town is offering a reward See POLICE, page 2 . i ■ j h ....i ml» ^ , 4lOTMk.JSHBSv 1 . • RECORDING HISTORY—Esther Dunnegan says one can’t write the history of Shiloh without writing about the Shiloh Baptist Church. The grave of James H. Dunston, an early pastor of the church, is the only one on the church grounds. Of historical note Esther Dunnegan is preserving her father’s tales of growing up on a Shiloh farm. Ai church historian, she has gathered research over the years that paints a story of leadership, courage and generosity. BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS A love of history and a feeling that many old stories will die with older Shiloh residents led Esther Dunnegan to write a his tory of the community for her master’s thesis nine years ago. Now, she’s working on a book about her father, Nathaniel Mayo, titled Tell It Again, Pa Pa, de tailing his memories and his life growing up on a farm in Shiloh. Mrs. Dunnegan, a school sys tem administrator with the Wake County Schools, agreed to talk about her research in honor of the upcoming homecoming service at Shiloh Baptist Church, the third Sunday in October. She has been the church histo rian for many years, and said the history of Shiloh cannot be told without the history of the church. “The church and the community are still inseparable for the older generation here,” she said from her home off Kit Creek Road, which is rapidly becoming sur rounded by industries in the Re search Triangle Park. Much of the history can be traced to the third pastor of the church, James H. Dunston, who became pastor in 1882, Mrs. Dunnegan said. “We have had very good min isters, but none since him have been as involved in the role of the church as it relates to the com munity.” Dunston taught his people to save money and buy homes. He would loan money to people or co-sign deeds so they could have See SHILOH, page 3 Newlyweds’ mishap has ‘precious’ end BY ROXANNE POWERS After a three-month separation from their cat, “Precious” owners Jason and Krista Chem feel that their four-year-old silver Persian has truly earned her name. The separation from Precious was just one piece of an amazing con glomeration of good luck and bad for the young newlyweds. The good news was that when the young couple made the decision to move to the area from Fort Lauder dale, they both found jobs immedi ately. The bad news was that in the pro cess of moving, Jason, who was driving their Ford Explorer, fell asleep at the wheel and flipped the vehicle over onto its side, scattering their more delicate valuables down the highway, Jason said Krista, who was driv ing the moving van ahead of him. was unaware of the accident. After a few miles of not seeing him in the rear-view mirror, she pulled over and waited for him to catch up. When a busload of teenagers stopped to check on him, Jason sent them to alert his wife. Meanwhile, Jason began the search for their cats, Zoey and Pre cious. He found Zoey almost im mediately, still in the over-turned See NEWLYWEDS, page 3 ership in our community,” Mrs, Meyers said. “You as town man ager are responsible for the whole town. If you cannot handle the town’s leadership, you should step down as town manager,” she said. Commissioner Leavy Barbee asked that a personnel committee meeting be held with the town manager and the police chief, but backed down after Hodgkins said such a meeting would be inappro priate. See WIFE, page 2 Lawsuit alleges disparity at PD; Town hall mum By MARY BETH PHILLIPS A former Morrisville police offi cer filed a lawsuit on Aug. 29, charging discrimination in his 1994 firing by Police Chief Bruce Newnam. The suit could not come at a worse time for Newnam, who is seeking the mayor’s seat in mu nicipal elections to be held in No vember. Gregory F, Cade, who was em ployed by the police department between March 12, 1990 and Aug. 31, 1994, said he was never pro moted during those years and that there was a disparity in his treat ment and that of white police offi cers. Cade was terminated from his job after a minor white female, who is unidentified in the lawsuit, alleged that he had made harassing tele phone calls to her. According to the suit. Cade re sponded to a police dispatch con cerning suspicious activity involv ing the same minor white female on Aug. 18, 1994. A few days later, without being informed of the allegations against him. Cade was directed to tele phone the Cary Police Dispatch, “and upon the plaintiffs so doing, the white female alleged identified plaintiffs voice and named plain tiff as perpetrator.” The lawsuit states that a prelimi nary hearing on the charge was held Aug. 30, 1994 and a discipli nary hearing on Aug. 31, 1994, and his employment was terminated immediately following the discipli nary hearing. “The plaintiff was questioned concerning the alleged incident, but the female at issue was not required to substantiate the allegations made by her,” the lawsuit states. “The allegations made by the mi nor white female against the plain tiff were never proven as factual, and the investigation conducted by the town was not sufficient to war rant discharge of the plaintiff from employment,” the lawsuit states. The minor white female never filed a criminal or civil complaint against the police officer in any court of justice in North Carolina or elsewhere, according to the suit. The suit goes on to say that Cade was never given the option of res ignation and that on a report sub mitted to the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, the reason for the separation from the police depart ment was given as “conduct unbe coming to a police officer.” According to the lawsuit. Chief Newnam checked the boxes on the back of the form that stated that the Morrisville Police Department would not consider the individual for reappointment and that “this agency would not recommend em ployment elsewhere as a criminal justice officer.” As a direct result of this, Cade has not been rehired anywhere as a police officer, according to the suit. The suit also alleges that, “At See LAWSUIT, page 2 Four Oaks police chief says dual offices a plus BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS The police chief of Four Oaks, who is also a town commissioner, has found the dual role to be an asset, for him and for the town. “It’s worked out real good,” said Danny Toppings. “As police chief I’m here every day. I see what’s going on. I'm not just a hit-and- miss commissioner. Most of the other commissioners have a full time job somewhere else. The only time they are connected with town business is if they are connected with a project, or if they are called on a complaint, or when they attend board meetings. “I’m working here every day; I’m in constant contact with people. I see the problems that arise, and most of the time I am more in formed on situations than the other See FOUR OAKS, page 2 DANNY TOPPINGS Bulk Rate Postage Paid Morrisville, N.C. Permit #23 Delivered expressly to the residents of Morrisville and Preston : SAFE AT HOME—Jason and Krista Chern are happy to have their cat. Precious, back home after she was lost for several weeks.
Morrisville and Preston Progress (Morrisville, N.C.)
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Sept. 25, 1997, edition 1
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