'Get Patriotic in Person' The Courier Times Weather Outlook TODAY; Hi 66 Lo 54 SUNDAY; Hi 62 Lo 36 See page A3 for info SATURDAY, March 5, 2011 Serving All of Person County Since 1881 Copyright The Courier-Times inc. 2011 All Rights Reserved MONDAY; Hi 54 Lo 30 TUESDAY; Hi 54 Lo 34 75c Our 129th Year — No. 19 Roxboro, North Carolina Two Sections — 24 Pages www.personcountylife.com Work begins on Farmers' Market structure on Madison Boulevard PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT C-T Staff Writer pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com Work began this week on the Person County Farmers’ Market structure on Madison Boulevard. Mick Clayton of Mick Clayton’s Butler Buildings in Hurdle Mills was pouring concrete for footings Friday morning in front of Person Industries, at 601 N. Madison Blvd., where the market will be located. The facility, which was first dubbed the Roxboro Farmers’ Market, will now be titled the Person County Farmers’ Market in order to distinguish itself from the farmers’ market that has oper ated in the City of Roxboro parking lot near Long Memorial United Methodist Church. Thenewfarmers’ market grand open ing was originally scheduled for last summer. Complications with a former contractor forced the date of the grand opening back, however. The market did operate last year, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but vendors sold their products from temporary tents in the parking lot. Person County Extension Director Derek Day told county commissioners at a recent meeting that the original contractor for the proj ect had been fired and that Clayton would now construct the building. Day said the opening date for the mar ket this year had been set for April 30. The grand opening. Day continued, will likely be held the second Saturday in June. “This will become a destination, not an afterthought,” Day told commission ers, adding that consumers will be guar anteed of the “integrity of the product” they purchase. “Everything there will be locally grown, within 75 miles,” Day added. The farmers’ market structure will be a 100-foot long by 45-foot wide building. The building will hold 10 spaces, each of which will be 10 feet long, where growers can sell their products. When the market opens this year, operating hours will be 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednes days. Phyliss Boatwright / C-T FINALLY — Progress can finally be seen at the location for the Person County Farmers' Market on Madison Boulevard. Crews began pouring footings for the structure Friday morning. State port authority aids in search for man missing at Mayo Lake By TIM CHANDLER Courier-Times Editor tchandler@roxboro-courier.com Tim Chandler / C-T STILL SEARCHING — Person County Sheriff Dewey Jones and other state and area authorities continued their search of Mayo Lake for the body of Chad Napier this week. Napier was reported missing on Jan. 31. Rescue crews continued their recov ery effort for the body of Chad Napier in earnest this week at Mayo Lake. Person County Sheriff Dewey Jones, reached via cell phone Friday afternoon aboard a boat at Mayo Lake, said Fri day’s search by the sheriff’s office was being aided by the North Carolina Port Authority and the Mecklenburg County (Va.) Sheriff’s Office. As part of Friday’s recovery effort, Jones said rescuers were using a robotic camera and had been, “running that all over the bottom of the lake.” Also Thursday and Friday, crews were using sonar above the water and under the water, according to Jones. The state port authority has been aid ing the search for the past three days and Mecklenburg County has been at Mayo Lake to assist in the search throughout the week. Multiple local, state and regional agencies have searched for Napier since he was reported missing shortly after noon on Jan. 31. As of Monday, total man hours spent on the search was nearly 1,700. Napier, 32, of 275 Crystal Springs Rd. in Timberlake had reportedly gone out for a canoe ride in the early morn ing hours of Jan. 31. He was reported missing by Alan Brent Foushee, 40, of 163 Anderbrock Dr. Foushee told authorities Napier yelled for help from the cold waters of Mayo Lake and that he swam out to try and save him, but was unsuccessful. Jones said earlier this week that with the exception of “a couple of days” when the weather would not permit a search, crews have been on the water See PORT page A3 'Chad isn't loss in the eyes of God' Friends and family gather Thursday night at Mayo Lake for candlelight vigil for Napier By GREY PENTECOST C-T Staff Writer greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com A large group gathered at the Mayo Lake boat landing Thursday night for a candlelight vigil held for Chad Napier, who was reported missing on Jan. 31. The crowd huddled close to a lighted picnic area, where there was music, prayer and a time when family and friends of Napier shared memories and condolences. As people assembled around 8 p.m., Napier’s mother, Linda Napier, thanked everyone for coming out. The Rev. Norman Talley then led the group in prayer. “Chad isn’t lost in the eyes of God,” Talley said before praying. He added, “Nothing in the universe will give you the hope that Jesus has.” Napier’s brother, Allen Napier, was among those to speak. He said, “I want to start off by telling everybody [who’s] here tonight, from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate you being here.” Allen said that one thing a lot of people didn’t know about his brother was that he “had a heart of gold” and See FRIENDS page A3 Grey Pentecost / C-T NOTE TO CHAD — An attendee at the candlelight vigil held for Chad Napier Thursday night signs the guestbook on a table set up by the boat ramp at Mayo Lake. Napier was reported missing on Jan. 31. Farmers facing dry conditions as planting season starts By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT C-T Staff Writer pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com Recent rains have been “nice,” but, according to Person County Cooperative Extension Director Derek Day, “we’re still very dry” Rains this week brought from a half inch to eight-tenths of an inch of pre cipitation to Person County fields, Day said, which “was OK,” but not enough to recover from a deficit created by an unusually dry winter. He said the first week of March should not present the dry conditions farmers are now facing. “Ponds are down,” Day said of water levels, and “it is rare when water evapo rates in winter.” Although the county had received higher than average snowfall this winter. Day said that it takes 10 inches of snow to equal one inch of rainfall. This week’s rain “freshened every thing up,” said Day, but didn’t wet fields enough to keep farmers from plowing and fertilizing. He added that tobacco growers had finished seeding in greenhouses and would start to work on tobacco fields next week. Farmers in the county are also busy See FARMERS page A3 INSIDE Saturday 'Po/fit /f7 tlmc' couHt seorches for county's homeless Agenda A2 Churches/Religion B2-3 # Classified Court Editorial Legal Notices.. Obituaries Realty Transfers.. .BIO-11 B8 A4 BI1 All B8 Churches/Religion TV Listings B9 Commentary A5 Do You Know A3 Education A10 Lifestyle A9 People A9 Sports A6-8 By GREY PENTECOST C-T Staff Writer greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com 4 8 7 9 0 8 6 9 6 The night of Wednesday, Jan. 26 was a cold, drizzly one in Roxboro. At around 10:30 p.m., a time when most people are settling down at home, volunteers in Roxboro and in towns across the country were out searching for those who had no place to call “home.” The volunteers were participating in the annual “point in time” count ad ministered according to the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The count has to be conducted each year in order for a county to receive fund ing from HUD. Person County has been participating for the past three years and now for the first time will be able to provide HUD-funded rental subsidies to homeless persons with disabilities through the Orange Person Chatham Area Authority (OPC). The assistance falls under the Shelter Care Plus pro gram, which requires clients to stay in a treatment program and pay 30 percent of their income toward rent and utilities anywhere in the county that will accept HUD subsidies. OPC sees that the rest of the housing expenses are paid with the grant money. Person County received seven vouch- See POINT page A3