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SATURDAY, May 7, 2011
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
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Our 129th Year — No. 37
Roxboro, North Carolina
Three Sections — 22 Pages
www.personcountylite.com
'Serial bank robber' faces more charges
Man accused of robbing local BB&T implicated in 2 crimes in Greensboro
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
A Reidsville man charged in connec
tion with the April 13 armed robbery of
the BB&T bank at 500 N. Madison Blvd.
now faces two similar charges.
Christian Poythress, 46, of Reids
ville, who remains in custody in the
Person County jail, was served with
two warrants this week charging him
with armed robbery in connection with
two bank robberies in Guilford County
in March.
The Guilford County robberies
reportedly took place on March 2 and
March 24.
On the new charges, Poythress, who
was already being held under a $1 million
bond, was placed under an additional
secured bond of $1 million.
Poythress was arrested at his Reids
ville apartment less than 24 hours after
the armed robbery at the Roxboro BB&T
location. Roxboro Police Chief Todd
Boycher said at the time that Poythress
might be charged with additional armed
robberies.
“This is one of those cases where ev
erything worked as it should,” Boycher
said Friday. “All law enforcement and the
citizens worked together as a team and
we were able to put a serial bank robber
in jail. We were able to take a dangerous
criminal off the streets.”
Boycher said Roxboro police continue
to work with other agencies in the region
in an effort to see if any further charges
could be pending against Poythress.
“If he has [robbed] three banks, there
is the possibility that he has done more,”
Boycher said.
Poythress entered the BB&T on Madi
son Boulevard just after 5 p.m. on April
13. He was arrested at approximately 2
p.m. the following day.
Poythress reportedly entered BB&T
just as a bank employee was locking the
door at the close of the business day
Wednesday. He then allegedly followed
the employee inside the bank, “produced
a [semi-automatic] handgun and an
nounced a robbery, ” according to a police
See SERIAL back page
Christian Poythress
Council to
consider hike
in privilege
license fees
Tuesday night
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Roxboro City Council will hold a
public hearing on possible increases in
business privilege license fees during
its May 10 regular meeting.
Under the current structure, busi
nesses in the city pay a flat fee to oper
ate in Roxboro, regardless of their size
or sales.
The changes council is considering
would have certain businesses charged
the $50 minimum fee while others would
be charged the $50 fee for gross receipts
up to $5 million and 50 cents for every
$1,000 over $5 million.
Interim City Manager Tommy War
ren said the city had collected $78,000 in
privilege licenses this year. The change
to a gross receipts collection method
would increase that revenue to about
$125,000 per year, he said.
Also during next week’s meeting,
Roxboro Police Chief Todd Boycher win
See POLICE back page
Grey Pentecost / C-T
LISTENING IN — In Piedmont Community College's technical education building, attendees of the Chick-fil-A
Leadercast listen to speakers broadcast live from Atlanta during Friday's event.
Leadercast brings national
conference live to PCC Friday
INSIDE Saturday
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
Agenda A2 Boatwright..
Churches/Religion B2-3 Classified....
Commentary..
Do You Know
Education
Lifestyle
Obituaries
Realty Transfers..
TV Listings
. AS Court
A3 Editorial
A9 Legal Notices
. A10 Movies
.All Person County Reads... B1
B5 Sports.. A6-8
... B4
A2
C section
B5
A4
C3
A2
4879 08696
Approximately 65 Personians at
tended a live broadcast of the Chick-fil-
A Leadercast at Piedmont Community
College Friday.
Roxboro Savings Bank, the Piedmont
Community College Foundation and
Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce
sponsored the event.
Bringing the leadercast to Person
County for the first time was the brain
child of Art Krueger of Roxboro Savings
Bank, who said he wanted to hold the
event here in order to increase Perso
nians’ enthusiasm by giving them tools
to use in their businesses and personal
lives, considering the current economic
challenges the county has been facing
over the past few years.
“I hope everyone will walk away with
a renewed vigor, in terms of how they
approach their own lives on a daily basis,
both at home and at work,” said Kruger
of attendees.
The theme of the leadercast was
“Voices of Change,” intended to help
attendees “demonstrate the power of
change through positive leadership.”
The speakers centered their presenta
tions on the voices of innovation, pur
pose, service, influence and hope.
PCC Foundation Executive Director
Beth Townsend said the conference
featured a “fantastic lineup” of lead
ers throughout the country. Speakers
included Seth Godin, entrepreneuer,
marketing expert and best-seUing author
of 12 books; Mack Brown, head coach
of the Texas Longhorns; Erin Gruwell,
founder and president of the Freedom
Writers Foundation; Robin Roberts, an
chor of ABC’s “GoodMorning America;”
and Muhtar Kent, chairman of the board
and chief executive officer of The Coca-
Cola Company
At PCC, local speakers included Glenn
See LEADERCAST back page
Grey Pentecost / C-T
OPENING DAY — Jane Bradsher (right) takes a look at the kale being
sold by Ashley Parker from Parker Farm and Vineyard in Hurdle Mills
at the Person County Farmers' Market during its opening day of
operation last Saturday. Within its first two hours of operating, the
market had seen around 165 customers. Market hours are Wednes
days from 3 to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon.
PCS one of 3 districts
in state to receive
STEM Blended Grant
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
Person County Schools was recently
chosen as one of three school districts
in the state to receive a STEM Blended
Grant from North Carolina Virtual Pub
lic Schools (NCVPS).
As a grant recipient, PCS, along with
Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Montgom
ery County school districts, will work
with NCVPS to teach blended courses at
Person High School, as well as develop
new courses.
Two new STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math) blended courses,
a mix of virtual and traditional face-to-
face learning, will be offered to incoming
freshmen at PHS next year for earth sci
ence and integrated math I. The courses,
said PCS Math and Science Program
Specialist Harriett Tillett, are designed
to be more “interactive and engaging,”
as they are geared toward students who
are having difficulty in science and math.
In each class students will have both a
PHS and NCVPS teacher, with part of
the class being taught on-site and part
online.
“This grant is important to PCS for
several reasons,” commented Person
County Board of Education Chair Gor
don Powell in a press release. “Primarily,
students will benefit from having the
most up to date curriculum in the fields
Stovall: N.C.
needs to
keep up with
Va. & S.C.'s
incentives
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Jim Stovall, chair of the Person
County Economic Development Com
mission, said the Tar Heel state is
“sandwiched between Virginia and
South Carolina, two very aggressive
states,” and should be doing more to
lure business and industry.
During this week’s meeting of the
EDC, Stovall said Virginia recently
outsmarted North Carolina to get Mi
crosoft to locate a $500 million facility
in Boydton, in Mecklenburg County.
The cutting-edge data center will
serve as the East Coast hub for Micro
soft’s online services, according to Data
Center Knowledge.
Virginia had a fund of $54 million
with which to offer incentives to indus
try, Stovall said, and recently added $57
million to the pot.
The North Carolina House of Rep
resentatives this week passed a budget
on to the Senate that will trim the One
NC fund from $30 million to $10 million,
Stovall told EDC members Tuesday
He encouraged the members to “let
it be known” to legislators and others
involved in the state’s economic devel-
See STOVALL backpage
eg The Courier=Times
This Week’s Question:
Should Roxboro City
Council approve
privilege license fees
for businesses in the
city as proposed?
JYes, as proposed
JNo
JYes, but at an
altered rate
lit does not matter
*^to me
Cast Your Vote On-Line At
www.roxboro-courier.com
Results of our latest poll:
Do you plan on shopping this season
at the new Person County Farmer’s
Market, which will be open each
Wednesday and Saturday on Madison
Boulevard?
See PERSON back page
Yes, I will shop frequently - 44%
Yes, I will shop some - 21%
No, I will not shop there - 21%
I am not sure -14%