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SATURDAY, June 18, 2011
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
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Our 129th Year — No, 49
Roxboro, North Carolina
Two Sectioihs — 22 Pages
www.personcountylite.com
Rep. Wilkins: 'In the end, we got 'er done'
Person County's 1% occupancy tax hike approved by Senate this week and is now law
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
“In the end, we got ‘er done,” Rep.
W.A. (Winkie) Wilkins, D-Person, said
Friday, after House Bill 518, raising
the hotel occupancy tax rate in Person
County, became law.
Wilkins, who was sidelined a couple
of weeks ago due to appendicitis, said
passage of the bill ended up as “a real
cooperative effort.”
Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, “looked af
ter” the bill in the North Carolina House
of Representatives while Wilkins was
hospitalized, Wilkins said yesterday.
This week, Wilkins said, he took the
local bill to the Senate State Government
Committee, where it was unanimously
approved on Tuesday On Wednesday, the
Senate Finance Committee voted in favor
of the bill, with just a few senators casting
dissenting votes, Wilkins explained.
On Wednesday night, said Wilkins,
state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange,
“handled” the bill on the Senate floor.
where it passed 35 to 13 on first reading.
The bill passed second reading, Wilkins
said, but the Senate had not posted the
final votes as of Friday afternoon.
He said the bill did not require the
governor’s signature, so, as of Thursday
night, “it became law.”
The bill increases the occupancy
tax rate for motels, hotels and bed and
breakfast establishments in Person
County by one percent.
Funds raised from the additional tax
will go to support tourism and travel in
the county.
According to the ratified bill, “Person
County shall on a quarterly basis, remit
See PERSON back page
Charter and
PCS officials
discuss
passage of
Senate Bill 8
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
Last week the General Assembly
passed a much scaled-down version of
Senate Bill 8, a bill that incited months
of debate with its long list of legislation
regarding charter schools.
While it is titled “No Cap on Number
of Charter Schools,” the bill dealt with
numerous other issues.
The final version of the bill removes
the cap on charter schools in the state
(previously set at 100); allows the state
board of education “discretion in grant
ing final approval of charter school
applications;” raises the “enrollment
growth cap to 20 percent; permits char
ter schools to charge the fees that are
charged by the “local school administra
tive unit;” strengthens “the standards
for retaining a charter for a charter
school;” and requires “the State Board
of Education to report to the General
Assembly on charter schools.”
The bill will go into effect on July
1.
Person County Board of Education
Chair Gordon Powell said he was “OK”
with the provisions of the final bill,
noting that legislators took out the
“problematic” sections that had caused
so much debate.
According to Powell, items on the
legislature’s agenda for the July session
includes local charter and education
bills. He said he is concerned that the
provisions taken out of the final version
of Senate Bill 8 could be brought back
to the floor. He added that if legisla
tion is titled “local” then the governor
couldn’t veto it. Powell said he hopes
SUMMER READING
Photo by Susan Bowen
LOTS OF LISTENERS — A large crowd of more than 150 people filled the Person County Public
Library this week for the first of five performances offered during the Summer Reading Program,
"One World, Many Stories."
BHCS meets
expected
growth in
EOG testing
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
State's unemployment rate
remains at 9.7% in May
INSIDE Saturday
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
See CHARTER back page
North Carolina’s unemployment rate
remained at 9.7 percent for the third con
secutive month, according to numbers
released Friday by the Employment
Security Commission (ESC).
Friday’s ESC release detailing the
state’s unemployment rate for the month
of May indicated that the state had real
ized a gain of 31,500 jobs in the private
sector since May of 2010.
ESC officials will release May unem
ployment rates for each of the state’s 100
counties on Friday, June 24.
The April unemployment rate for
Agenda A2
Classified B6-7
Court B5
Editorial A4
Guest Columnist A2
Lifestyle A9
NASCAR A8
Person County Reads B1
Sports A6-7
Me & My Dad Contest.... At 2
Churches/Religion B2-3
Commentary A5
Do You Know A3
Education A10-11
Legal Notices B7
Movies A2
Obituaries At 3
Realty Transfers B5
TV Listings B4
See STATE’S back page
4879 08696
According to unofficial results.
Bethel Hill Charter School (BHCS)
saw overall improvement in its End
of Grade (EOG) test scores and met
“expected” growth in the 2010-11 school
year.
The average pass rate increased from
87.7 percent last year to 88.1 percent.
Schoolwide, the reading percentage
increased from 83.6 to 84.9, while the
percentage passing in math decreased
from 92.8 to 89.2.
BHCS Principal John Betterton
said that while he was hoping for more
growth, he was pleased that the school
was able to “ improve a little. ” He added
that the results were “on par” with last
year’s.
Each of the grades tested (third
through sixth) showed a decrease in
math scores. All but the fourth-grade
increased its scores in reading. The
fifth-grade had the biggest increase over
last year in reading, with the pass rate
jumping from 82 percent last year to
95.7 percent in 2010-11. The sixth-grade
also improved by several percentage
points, going from 88.2 percent passing
to 95.8 percent.
Betterton said the improved reading
scores might be a result of the school’s
professional development focus on
reading over the past year. He said
next year the school will continue to
focus on reading, while also preparing
faculty for the adoption of common
core standards.
Betterton also pointed out that BHCS
j ust completed its second year using the
MAP (Measures of Academic Progress)
assessment program. He said the use of
the program is “beginning to show re
sults,” and he hopes that consequently.
See BHCS back page
Another suspect in
recent shootings jailed
Another suspect in a recent
shooting incident on Sunset
Drive was arrested by law en
forcement authorities Thurs
day.
Corey Lasalle Bailey, 21, of
4676 CunninghamRd. was jailed
under a $1 million secured bond
and charged with a felony count
of attempted first degree murder
in connection with the shoot
ing incident that took place on
May 30.
The arrest of Bailey marked
the fifth that has been made
since Roxboro police began in
vestigating the May 30 shooting
and also a shooting incident that
took place on Burch Avenue on
May 28.
Earlier this week, former
Roxboro resident Jeremy Eu
gene Bailey, 30, was arrested in
Granville County. Three other
people, Brentley Derrick Yancey,
23, Vernon Antwain Bailey, 23,
Corey L. Bailey
and Quamaine Cunningham, 17,
have also been arrested.
There were multiple gunshot
victims at the site of both shoot
ings last month.
Mayor Spencer: 12 have applied thus far
to serve as City ofRoxboro's next manager
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Roxboro City Council has
received 12 applications for the
position of city manager.
Mayor Samuel Spencer said
Friday that the advertisement for
the position would run until July
15 in the League of Municipali
ties’ newsletter. Southern Cities.
The advertisement has also run
m newspapers.
Spencer said, after the cut-off
date for applications passes, he
and council will begin looking
at the qualifications of the appli
cants and narrow the field down
to those they believe to be most
qualified.
The finalists will then inter
view with council members and
Spencer.
On Friday, Spencer told The
Courier- Times that he and council
believed it best not to look at any
of the applications until after
the deadline had passed. He said
the hiring process could be ham
pered by council looking at a few
applicants early on, and forming
opinions before seeing all appli
cations and qualifications.
Spencer said earlier that the
city was looking for experience
and relevant education in its
search for a manager.
“He must convince us that he
can get the job done,” Spencer
said.
He said the city would be “very
careful in looking at the qualifica
tions, to see if the applicant meets
the desires of the entire council.
We will try to get someone who
wants to come here and do the
job, and that we feel is capable,”
he said.
Jon Barlow, who served as city
manager for the past five years,
resigned in March to take a simi
lar position in Fuquay-Varina.
Since Barlow left on March 25,
Assistant City Manager Tommy
Warren has served as interim
manager.
Warren has been on staff with
the City of Roxboro since 1988. He
served as engineering technician
before moving up to the post of
assistant manager.
He has served two prior
terms as interim manager, each
of which lasted for about six
months.
Mayor Spencer, who served
13 terms on city council before
stepping up to fill the unexpired
mayoral term of the late Tom
Brown, has had a hand in hiring
six previous city managers.
Sam Spencer
Elections for city council
members and mayor are sched
uled for Oct. 11. Spencer said
Friday that he and council
“certainly” planned to hire a
new manager before or during
the month of October.