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SATURDAY, June 11, 2011
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
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Our 129th Year — No. 47
Roxboro, North Carolina
Three Sections — 52 Pages
www.personcountylite.com
Commissioners agree to finalize budget
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
By the close of a third work session,
the Person Board of County Commis
sioners had come to unanimous ap
proval of a budget for the upcoming
fiscal year, which begins July 1.
At the end of Thursday’s budget
work session, commissioners instructed
County Manager Heidi York to draft a
budget ordinance for their approval.
As part of Thursday’s work session,
commissioners agreed to restore sev
eral county employee positions to 100
percent that had been recommended
for a reduction to 60-percent pay with
full benefits.
Those jobs included a maintenance
position with the Person County Rec
reation, Arts & Parks Department at a
cost of $14,743; an environmental health
position at a cost of $13,609; a position
with the Department of Social Services
at a cost of $16,904; and a code enforce
ment officer at a cost of $24,232.
Commissioners also opted to increase
the current fire inspector position from
a 60-percent slot to 100 percent and to
eliminate the now vacant fire marshal
position. Those two moves netted the
county a savings of $9,702.
Funding of $16,245 for the Roxboro
Development Group was also restored
in the budget Thursday night.
All of the aforementioned items left
commissioners with a budget deficit
of $76,031. Finance Director Amy Weh-
renberg then told the board she felt
“comfortable” in increasing anticipated
Emergency Management Services
(EMS) fees from $54,568 to $100,000,
which would provide an additional
$45,432 in revenue.
Once that figure was subtracted,
commissioners were left with an out-
of-balance deficit of $30,599.
See COMMISSIONERS back page
SCHOOL IS OUT!!!
Grey Pentecost / C-T
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER — Teacher Wendy Lee hugs a group of South Elementary School students
before they board the buses to head home Friday for the summer. Friday marked the final day of the
school year for Person County Schools.
Public hearing on city's proposed
budget slated Tuesday night
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Roxboro City Council will hold a
public hearing Tuesday on the fiscal
year 2011-12 budget ordinance.
The hearing will take place during
the regular June meeting of council.
Interim City Manager Tommy War
ren will present the $14,671,757 budget,
which holds the tax rate at its current
level of $0,614 per $100.
Although city residents won’t be
paying additional taxes in the upcom
ing year, they will pay three percent
more for water, and a storm water fee
of $1.50 per month. Also, commercial
garbage collection rates will rise by
two percent, and commercial water
customers will pay a $4.50 per month
storm water fee. Industries in the city
will pay $8 in storm water fees each
month.
The fees were approved by council
members to help offset the cost of the
city’s storm water program, which was
mandated by the state.
Businesses operating in the City of
Roxboro will pay for privilege licenses
based on gross receipts at a rate of $75
for the first $1 million in gross receipts
and an additional $200 for every $2 mil
lion or fraction thereof, up to $25 million
in receipts.
The budget funds the Roxboro De
velopment Group, the Roxboro Area
INSIDE Saturday
Agenda
Classified
Court
Editorial
Legal Notices
Looking Back
Inside NASCAR..
Realty Transfers,
TV Listings
. A2 Churches/Religlon B4-5
Commentary A5
Do You Know A3
Education B11-12
Lifestyle A9-10
A3 Movies A2
Obituaries A13
Sports A6-7
Chamber of Commerce’s Personality
festival, the Piedmont Community Col
lege Business Development Center, the
Roxboro Area Merchants’ Association
Christmas decorations and the Person
County Museum at the same levels as
the current year.
City employees will receive a two
percent Cost of Living Adjustment sal
ary increase.
Council members are set to approve
the budget following Tuesday’s public
hearing.
Also on the agenda Tuesday, council
members will hear a request for a sewer
line extension by Phillips Holdings, Inc.
from Flat River Church Road to the back
of the property where Roxboro MedAc-
cess is located.
Council members will also consider
a request by MCNC for the installation
of fiber optic lines in city rights-of-way
on portions of Ridge Road, Main Street
and Gordon Street.
6 9 6
See CITY back page
Lifepoint CEO: Person Memorial Hospital
'is poised to be more than it ever was'
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Person Memorial Hospital’s board
of trustees signed a memorandum of
understanding last week for Duke Life-
point Healthcare to buy the hospital,
and this week, employees had a chance
to meet the people they will likely be
working for in a few months.
Both Bill Carpenter, chairman and
chief executive officer of Lifepoint
Hospitals, and Dr. William J. Fulker
son, executive vice president of Duke
University Health System, said Person
Memorial Hospital (PMH) was attrac
tive because it was a “good hospital, with
good doctors and a good staff”
Carpenter said that, during the day
Thursday, as he and others from Duke
Lifepoint met and talked with PMH staff,
he saw “committed employees who are
excited to work at this hospital.”
Carpenter went on to say that the
employees of PMH obviously wanted
the “stability that Duke Lifepoint can
bring to the hospital. ” He said his $4 bil
lion company would “be able to fund the
strategic growth we know is possible”
at the hospital.
PMH has “done a good job in the
past, ” he said, “and the hospital is poised
to be more than it ever has.”
Carpenter and Fulkerson said those
currently on staff at the hospital would
retain their jobs, and that more jobs
would likely be added once the acquisi
tion is complete.
Carpenter said Lifepoint Hospitals
was happy to be able to partner with
Duke on the venture. He said the clinical
skills and quality care provided by Duke
University Medical System had made
it “one of the preeminent medical and
academic institutions in the world.”
Fulkerson, who first visited PMH in
the 1970s as a medical student, said he
was impressed by the hospital then and
had continued to be impressed over the
years by the hospital’s “group of men
and women who are completely com-
Roxboro youth arrested in
connection with shooting
incident on Burch Avenue
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
Roxboro police arrested Quamaine
Cunningham, 17, of 202 Front St. Thurs
day on multiple charges in connection
with a May shooting incident on Burch
Avenue that injured two people.
One of the people injured in the
shooting reportedly suffered a gunshot
wound in the chest. Cunningham was
charged with felony counts of assault
with a deadly weapon with intent to
kill infiicting serious injury and going
armed to the terror of the public.
Inaddition, Cunningham wascharged
with a misdemeanor count of discharg
ing a firearm in the city limits.
Cunningham was jailed under a $1
million bond pending an upcoming
appearance in Person County District
Court.
Quamaine Cunningham
Three teens injured in
Wednesday morning
wreck on N.C. 57 North
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
Three teenagers suffered serious
injuries Wednesday morning in a two-
vehicle crash on N.C. 57 North.
The accident occurred just before 8
a.m., one mile northwest of Roxboro.
According to investigating North
Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper J.L.
Pointer, Jonathan Curtis Wfiliford, 18, of
315 Williford’s Point Dr. was operating a
2003 Ford southeast on N.C. 57 when he
crossed the centerline and struck a 1984
International truck, which was driven
by Warren Preston Dixon, 52, of 8290
Leasburg Rd., head-on.
Dixon was reportedly driving north
west on N.C. 57 at the time of the
crash.
Jonathan Williford, along with two
passengers in his vehicle — Brittany
Williford, 15, and Brittanie D. Evans,
13, — all suffered injuries in the acci
dent. The three were taken initially by
Person County EMS to Person Memorial
Hospital before being transported, via
medical helicopter, to Duke University
Medical Center.
Dixon reportedly did not suffer seri
ous injuries in the crash.
Trooper Pointer estimated the speed
of both vehicles at the time of the crash
at 45 miles per hour.
No charges were indicated on Point
er’s accident report; however the inves
tigation into the crash is continuing.
Damage to the Ford driven by Wil
liford was estimated at $5,000, while
damage to the truck driven by Dixon
was estimated at $4,000.
Our annual
graduation
edition is
included today!
Check it out!!!
■ 4 '■
See LIFEPOINT back page
Phyliss Boatwright / C-T
Bill Carpenter, chairman and chief executive officer of Lifepoint Hospi
tals, at right, talks with Person County Commissioner Sam Kennington.