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SATURDAY, May21,20n
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
Copyright The Courier-Times inc. 2011 All Rights Reserved
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Our 129th Year — No. 41
Roxboro, North Carolina
Three Sections — 38 Pages
Council
increases
business
privilege
license fees
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Roxboro business owners will soon
have to pay more for privilege licenses,
but the increase will not be as steep as
expected and businesses will be pro
tected from revealing their incomes.
City council members discussed
changes in the way the city charges
businesses to operate in Roxboro dur
ing the first work session for the fiscal
2011-12 budget this week, and voted to
increase the fees. After hearing from
business owners in a public hearing and
a special informational meeting, coun
cil members decided to set the base fee
for a privilege license at $75, up from the
$50 currently charged. Businesses will
pay the base fee for gross receipts up to
$1 million. Those who have receipts of
between $1 million and $3 million will
pay an additional $200, and the fee will
increase in $200 increments for every
additional $2 million in gross receipts,
up to a cap of $25 million.
Roxboro City Council held a public
hearing on possible increases in busi
ness privilege license fees during its
May regular meeting, and several busi
ness owners, along with the chairmen
of the Chamber of Commerce board
and the county Economic Development
Commission, spoke in opposition.
After hearing comments, members
of the council said they needed more
time to consider the points made during
the public hear ing, and to be gin work on
the city’s budget for fiscal year 2011-12,
which begins July 1, before making a
decision on how to charge for business
See COUNCIL back page
Lp The Courier=Tiines
This Week’s Question;
Do you think the
General Assembly
should approve
shortening the early
voting period prior to
elections from 18 days
to 11 days?
jYes, it is too long
■*now
jYes, it will save
money
iNo, the 18 days
"^are needed
jIt does not matter
“^to me
Cast Your Vote On-Line At
www.roxboro-courier.com
Results of our latest poll:
Will the escalating gas prices cause
you to alter your summer vacation
plans this year?
Yes, will have to alter plans - 34%
Yes, will have to cancel plans -16%
No, will not change plans - 32%
I am not sure yet - 18%
www.personcountylite.com
PCC GRADUATION
'We are in control of our lives'
Piedmont Community College's 41st commencement
exercises held Friday night at Person High School
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
For almost 600 Piedmont Commu
nity College students, Friday evening
was a celebration of hard work and
accomplishment, as they were awarded
degrees, diplomas and certificates dur
ing the college’s 41®^ commencement
exercises.
The Person High School football field
appeared to wear a blanket of forest
green as the soon-to-be graduates donned
their robes and listened to those who
commended them in their remarks for
the occasion.
Shirley Deal, CEO of Caswell Family
Medical Center, and the first recipient
of the PCC Alumni Partnership’s Alum
nus of the Year award, encouraged the
graduates to “serve, share and support”
PCC as they began their journeys after
graduation.
Deal said she started out as an LPN,
and had always wanted to get a degree in
nursing. While she was working fuhtime.
Deal said PCC gave her an opportunity
to earn an associate’s degree in nursing
18 years ago.
“Regardless of where you live,” Deal
said, “there will always be a connection
between you and PCC, the college that
gave you the opportunity to change your
lives.”
State Sen. Rick Gunn of Burlington
(R-Alamance, Caswell) was the featured
speaker for the event. Serving his first
Senate term, Gunn is the vice presi
dent of the commerce and insurance
committees, and is a member of the
appropriations on general government
and information technology, joint regu
latory reform, program evaluation and
transportation committees.
Gunn told the graduates they had
made a lot of people proud, and that he
hoped they had made themselves proud,
because they deserved it.
Photos by Richard Smith / Smith's Photography
WAY TO GO — State Sen. Rick Gunn (left) congratulates Charles Lam
bert for receiving his Piedmont Community College degree Friday.
Alumus of the Year recipient Shir
ley Deal encourages PCC gradu
ates to 'serve, share and support.'
Gunn remarked, “Piedmont Com
munity College, and the community
college system in general, to me, is the
most important institution in this whole
state, for this very reason, because what
Piedmont Community College does, and
what the community college system
does, creates avenues for success.”
He acknowledged that the students
came from “all walks of life,” and had
different reasons and motivations for
what they had done. He said that because
of “sacrifice, determination and dedica
tion,” each of the students had reached
a level of success they were being rec
ognized for Friday evening.
Gunn shared success stories of a
few of the graduates present, one being
Jonitta Davis, who as a single parent
earned a degree from PCC in computer
programming, and was named PCC’s
Academic Excellence Award winner
for 2011.
He also spoke about Charles Lambert,
who dropped out of high school but went
on to earn his GED. During Friday’s
commencement Lambert received his
associate’s degree in business, and
has been accepted to the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro for the
fall semester.
Gunn also mentioned Lisa Wiley, a
widowed, full-time mother and student,
who received an associate in arts degree
yesterday evening.
Gunn noted that he had read the Hites
project that Wiley had led the Phi Theta
Kappa honor society in completing (as
its president). With the project, the
participants talked to students about
what community college had meant to
them, and produced a booklet from the
information gathered.
Gunn said the project “does make a
difference,” and that he had shared it
with the state Senate.
See PCC’s page A12
Number of days for early voting
may be trimmed from 18 to 11
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
“If [House Bill 658] does pass it will
affect the voters of Person County,” said
Elections Director Brenda Whitlow, re
garding the state legislature’s move to
shorten the early voting period.
“I don’t really know if we can start
early voting any earlier than the speci
fied time on this bill if it does pass, ” said
Whitlow. “I do know that the voters in
Person County love one stop voting and
this would mean less time for them to get
to a one stop location and vote.”
The North Carolina House of Repre
sentatives last week narrowly passed a
measure that would reduce the current
See NUMBER page A12
Water rate
hike to be
discussed by
city Monday
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
On Monday, Roxboro City Council
will meet a second time to consider the
fiscal year 2011-12 budget.
Interim City Manager Tommy War
ren presented a proposed budget at the
regular May meeting last week, but
council members asked for minor revi
sions to be made before they considered
adopting the budget.
Warren did not propose giving city
employees a cost of living adjustment
(COLA) but council member Ralph
Clark said he would like to see a two
percent raise included in the budget.
Clark also opposed Warren’s sugges
tion to raise water rates by 14 percent
and sewer rates by two percent.
“We’re living in a society where
times are tough on people,” said Clark,
“and we don’t need to add to it.”
Mayor Samuel Spencer said, “With
the figures presented” in the budget
proposal, “I don’t see the wisdom of
looking at a COLA at this time.”
Mayor Pro-tem Merilyn Newell
suggested finding “a happy medium”
on Clark’s suggestion to not increase
water and sewer rates.
Regarding the COLA, Newell said,
“I’d like to find” the funds to give city
employees a raise, “but I want to make
sure we’re not setting ourselves up for
problems in five to 10 years.”
See WATER page A12
r •
Check out the
C-T's Area
Restaurant
Guide in
today's edition!
INSIDE Saturday
Agenda
Classified
Court
Editorial
Inside NASCAR...
Lifestyle
Movies
Pentecost
Realty Transfers..
Sports
. A2 Churches/Religion B2-3
. B6-7 Commentary
B5 Do You Know..
A4 Education
A9 Legal Notices.
..All Looking Back.
A3 Obituaries
Person County Reads ...B1
Restaurants C section
AS
A3
AID
B7
A3
A13
A2
B5
..A6-8 TV Listings..
..B4
4879 08696
Timberlake man sentenced to approximately 5 years
on over 160 sexual exploitation of minor charges
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
Rickie Music
A Timberlake man pled guilty this
week in Person County Superior Court
tos three counts of failing to register
as a prior Internet sex offender and to
over 160 charges of third degree sexual
exploitation of a minor.
Rickie Music, 45, of Timberlake was
sentenced to between 57 and 69 months
in prison after he pled guilty to the
charges Wednesday as part of a plea
arrangement.
The 160 charges of third degree sexual
exploitation of a minor were linked to
photographs of child pornography re
portedly found on Music’s computer.
Music, who has a prior for possessing
photos of child pornography, was also
required by law to register as an Internet
sex offender before creating Internet
accounts such as Facebook, MySpace
or having an e-mail address.
According to a press release from
District Attorney Wallace Bradsher,
Music did have online accounts on Fa
cebook and MySpace, but “these social
networking sites were not used by the
defendant to download or distribute
child pornography.”
According to court records, the charg
es against Music stemmed from the fact
he possessed “visual representation” of
children between the ages of two-years-
old and 13-years-old involved in various
sexual activities with adults.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Music
in March after receiving information
from the North Carolina State Bureau
of Investigation’s Internet Crimes
Against Children Task Force that Music
reportedly had child pornography on a
computer in his residence.
“Based on the defendant’s prior
record and our structured sentencing
laws, the judge [Wayne Abernathy]
would have had the discretion to give
him probation,” Bradsher said. “I could
See MUSIC back page