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Our
129th year
Number 71
Two sections
22 pages
Copyright
2011
The Courier-Times Inc.
I rights reserved
Couricr-®mejr
Piedmont Community College sets new hours
Piedmont Community Col
lege (PCC) has announced new
campus hours for both its Person
County Campus and its Caswell
County Campus. The changes
are a part of the college’s com
mitment to campus safety for all
campus users.
The Person County Campus
hours are: Monday through Fri
day, 6:30 a.m. until 10:15 p.m.; Sat
urday and Sunday, 8 a.m. until 8
p.m.
The Caswell County Cam
pus hours are: Monday through
Thursday, 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.;
Friday, 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.; Satur
day, 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. (for class
only. Building P); and Sunday,
campus closed.
These hours will be subject
to change to accommodate class
schedules outside the college’s
normal operating hours.
“As part of our emphasis on
college safety, we find it neces
sary to establish hours of opera
tion,” said Dr. Walter Bartlett,
PCC president.
“We are the community’s col
lege, and we want the public to
take advantage of all that the
college offers them in terms of
learning, cultural, and recre
ational opportunities. We also do
not intend to block access to our
meeting facilities, the PCC Na
ture Trail or our new Rockness
Monster disc golf course. What
we do want to do is make sure
that our campuses are safe places
for all students, staff and visitors
who use our facilities.”
The college is in the process
of installing a gate at the Col
lege Drive entrance to the Per
son County Campus; that gate
will be locked when the college is
closed.
The college also is making oth
er changes to enhance campus
safety. Exterior lights have been
upgraded to save energy and pro
vide additional lighting in park
ing lots and exterior corridors.
PCC students now receive photo
identification cards and are re
quired to display them while on
campus.
PCC faculty and staff also will
have photo ID cards.
“We appreciate the cooperation
of the public in helping us make
PCC a safe and inviting place for
everyone,” said Bartlett.
City Lake, crops
beginning to
need some rain
BYPHYIISSBOAIWRIGHI
COURIER-TIMES STAEE WRITER
pboatwrlglit@roxboro-courier.com
Although farmers are feeling
the effects of a dry, hot summer,
the City of Roxboro is “nowhere
near” invoking drought restric
tions on city water customers.
Andy Oakley, Roxboro Public
Services director said City Lake
was about 24 inches low, the nor
mal point at which the city begins
pumping from Lake Roxboro,
which Oakley said was “running
full.”
He said the city was “in real
good shape” regarding water sup
plies, and added that, with “one
good rain” the pumping from one
lake to the other would be halted.
Person County received a
sprinkling of rain Friday morn
ing, but it was nowhere near
enough to help local farmers.
Derek Day, Person County
Cooperative Extension Service
director, said that, with tobacco
farmers now “about a third of the
way” finished with their harvest,
some measurable rain within the
next few days would be very help
ful.
“We need some showers on the
tobacco so it will ripen, and we
can go ahead and get it cured,”
Day said Friday.
He added that farmers were
not looking at “a stellar year” on
any crop, and said soybeans were
particularly vulnerable right
now.
“The beans need rain within
the next five to 10 days,” he said,
if crops were to be salvaged.
There is some hope on the ho
rizon, however, said Day He said
the tropical depression that was
spinning off the Gulf Coast Fri
day could bring some much-need
ed rain to the Piedmont area by
Tuesday.
The National Weather Service
on Friday was predicting a 60 per
cent chance of thunderstorms in
Person County on Monday and a
50 percent chance of showers on
Tuesday.
Day said Friday morning’s
showers covered much of the
county, but only brought about
three tenths of an inch of rain.
Although farmers here are
watching the skies and hoping
TIM [HANDLER I COURIER-TIMES
See DRY, Page 10
City Lake has dropped 24 inches below normal due to the dry conditions of late.
.•->■ ■ ' - ■ -l.,
TIM CHANDLER I COURIER-TIMES
Area tobacco farmers are hoping for rain to help ripen their crops.
Commissioners likely to make
deeision on VIPER tower Tuesday
Planning board recommends an altered text amendment
BYIIM (HANDIER
COURIER-TIMES EDITOR
tchancller@roxboro-courler.com
The Person Board of Coun
ty Commissioners will revisit
a proposed request from the
North Carolina State Highway
Patrol (NCSHP) to erect a 480-
foot VIPER (Voice Interoper
ability Plan for Emergency
Responders) communications
tower on county-owned land
off of Critcher-Wilkerson Road
near Roxboro Christian Acad
emy when it meets Tuesday
The commissioners’ meeting
is set to begin at 7 p.m. in their
boardroom in the Person Coun
ty Office Building on Morgan
Street. The meeting, normally
held on the first Monday of the
month, was moved to Tuesday
due to the Labor Day holiday
Last month, commissioners,
by a 3-2 vote, opted to have the
county planning board review a
proposed text amendment to the
ordinance restricting the height
of towers in the county before
giving its final approval on the
&■(? VIPER, Page 10
More than HfoofN.dspublic school staff eliminated since V8
Person County Schools has experienced a 13-percent employment reduction since 2008-09 school year
BY GREY PENTECOST
COURIER-TIMES STAFF WRITER
gteypeatecost@roxboto-courler.com
According to data recently re
leased by the North Carolina De
partment of Public Instruction,
North Carolina public schools
have lost about 16,677 positions
and laid off around 6,096 people
since the 2008-09 school year,
more than eight percent of staff,
due to state budget cuts.
Loss of positions and reduc
tions in force in Person County
Schools (PCS) account for 101 of
those cuts, as the number em
ployed with PCS has dropped
from 800 to 699, a 13 percent re
duction, since the 2008-09 school
year.
While the loss of jobs in educa
tion has been met with increased
student enrollment in the state
overall, enrollment in PCS is de
clining, said Schools Supt. Dr.
Larry W Cartner.
Looking at state totals, the
2011-12 year showed the largest
number of positions eliminated
(6,307.5) and the largest number
of layoffs (2,418.1). However, PCS’
year of the most employee and
position losses in that four-year
time period was 2009-10, when
the district or system lost a total
of 70 positions.
“That didn’t make it any easier
for us to lose 55 more this year,”
said Cartner, “but we had tried
to anticipate and go ahead and
make those reductions.”
While some of PCS’ reductions
over the years could be made
through attrition, some of them
meant that employees were laid
off, those numbers categorized as
“reduction in force (RIF).”
Cartner said made more re
ductions through RIF this year
(25) than in any of the previous
years. Next year isn’t looking
any more promising budget-wise.
The state reversion, or money
PCS had to send back to the state,
this year was $1.4 million. Cart
ner said the reversion would be
$1.6 million for the 2012-13 school
year, and that there was nowhere
left for PCS to make the cuts but
in employees. If the system has
to revert that amount next year,
he said, it would be “difficult and
painful.”
Cartner said the “tremendous”
gains PCS educators have made
over the last four years were all
the more impressive considering
the tough circumstances the bud
get reductions have created.
“This county has a real jewel
in its public school teachers and
administrators,” said Cartner.
He added, “I hope the public
knows that.”