WEDNESDAY
September 28,2011
Roxboro,
North Carolina
www.personcountylife.com
75 Cents
TOUGH LOSS:
Rockets fall to
league foe Southern
Durham Monday at
hometA
NO EASIER:
Personfootball
team travels to Dur
ham Friday to take
on Hillside Wh
NEW NAME:
Lowes Foods is
undergoing a face
lift and a change in
name HZ
RELAY SLATE:
Schedule of events
for this weekend's
Relay for Life at
PHS Stadium A12
WHO WON?
Results of opening
week ofC-Fs annual
football contest 4
TIME TO VOTE:
Meet the contestants
for Fhe C-Fs latest
contest—Me & My
Grandparent B1
-]|
DEATHS
i[-
Hallie Harris Jay, 98
Rougemonl
Snowdream Ray Melton,
83
Roxboro
Lois Dunn New, 75
South Boston, Va.
H. Marion Perkins, 92
Fayetteville
James Russell Smith, 81
Stuart, Va.
Donna Howard Strickland,
69
Graham
Cathy Bradsher Whitfield,
62
Roxboro
Lester M. Wright, 67
Roxboro
-ItlTIiBir-
AGENDA
A3
BOAT WRITES
A2
CLASSIFIED
C SECTION
COMMENTARY
AS
DO YOU KNOW
A2
ENTERTAINMENT
B2
EXTENSION NOTES
A9
LEGAL NOTICES
C3
LIFESTYLE
B6
MINI PAGE
B7
MOVIES
A2
OBITUARIES
A13
OPINION
A4
SPORTS
A6-8
TV LISTINGS
B3
Our
129th year
Number 78
Three sections
26 pages
Copyright
2011
The Courier-Times Inc.
All rights reserved
Serving all of Person County since 1881
Couricr-®meji
Roxboro City Council hopefuls respond to questions
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Courier-Times,
as is the paper’s custom at each
election, posed a series of ques
tions to the candidates for city
council in the City of Roxboro’s
nonpartisan elections slated for
Tuesday, Oct. 11. All 10 candidates
for the five seats on Roxboro City
Council agreed to participate. The
responses of the candidates to our
questions are in their own words,
with minimal editing for clarity. The
answers are listed in alphabetical
order. Four of the 10 candidates
are incumbents. They include
James Allen, Ralph Clark, Henry
Daniel and Sandy Stigall. One can
didate — Mark Phillips — is a for
mer city councilman. The remaining
five candidates — Byrd Blackwell,
Dennis Daniels, Will Davis, Coleen
Love, and Patrick Walters — are
seeking to serve their first term on
council. Brief biographical sketches
of each of the 10 candidates will be
published in the Saturday, Oct. 1,
edition.
is clearly needed in the City
of Roxboro. If elected, what
strategies would you use to at
tract business and industry to
Roxboro?
Janies Allen: Availability of
buildings, good streets, parking,
the courthouse and city hall are
close by, good water supply, cham
ber of commerce and close by the
Raleigh-Durham area.
Byrd Blackwell: Support the
economic development and keep
taxes as low as possible.
1. Economic development
Ralph Clark: First, I think
that we have to evaluate what we
have as essential tools to attract
new economic ventures. I be
lieve that we have the necessary
strengths in the utilities with
Progress Energy and Piedmont
EMC as the electrical suppliers,
PSNC as the gas supplier and the
City of Roxboro supplying the
water and wastewater treatment.
All of these have the tools in
place to supply almost anything
that could be imagined. Next, I
look at the transportation system
and Roxboro and Person County
have access to major highways
within a reasonable time in the
Interstate 85 and 40 corridors.
While we do not have the 501 im
provements and it appears to be
a long time away, these connect
us north and south and east and
west. We have air service within
a reasonable distance in RDU and
Greensboro and our own local air
port. We have good quality of life
opportunities locally and nearby
in Durham, which could satisfy
most anything that one could ex
pect. We have reasonably priced
land and housing, along with a
large inventory and selection for
living and business opportuni
ties. We have a great education
system including public schools,
charter schools, and PCC. I think
that we have the right attitude to
encourage economic opportuni
ties and the right people in place
to make these things happen. I
recently read an article talking
about the rural population share
of the total population in our
country and that according to the
new census, it hit an all time low
of 16 percent. The article stated,
and I quote, “Many rural areas
can’t attract workers because
there aren’t any jobs, and busi
nesses won’t locate there because
there aren’t enough qualified
workers so they are caught in a
downward spiral.” If I look at a
single most important strategy,
I would focus on developing the
work force to be prepared for the
needs of economic opportunities
of today and I would look to our
education system to take the lead
role. I see this responsibility not
being totally on the education
system, but on each community
leader such to be there in sup
port and encouragement of this
effort. We have a valuable tool
in PCC and we must use it to the
fullest to accomplish a successful
economic development program.
Not to underestimate the value
of lower levels of the education
system which provide the basis
for those developing the skills to
live in today’s world. It is the re
sponsibility of all of us but most
importantly, the elected leaders
to provide the support needed for
our future generations.
Henry Daniel: As a city coun
cilman, I have always worked
closely with the city and county
Dennis Daniels: In my years
running large companies, I have,
on many occasions, utilized
state, county and city incentive
packages to make determina
tions as to where I would locate
business facilities. I would use
these experiences to help the
city form plans in concert with
the economic development team
to attract businesses to the Rox
boro area — plans that would
target the corporations’ needs,
while generating the maximum
See ELECTIONS, Page 10
COURIER-TIMES EILE
Attendees of the 2010 Person County Relay for Life event prepare for the Survivors’ Walk. This year’s Relay for Life event
wiil be held Friday night and Saturday at the Person High School Stadium.
Relay for Life begins Friday
SUBMITTED BY KAREN LONG
EDITOR’S NOTE: A schedule of
events for Relay for Life can be
found on page A12 of today’s
edition.
Person County Relay for
Life 2011 will be held Friday
and Saturday at the Person
High School stadium.
This year marks the 22nd
consecutive year for the
American Cancer Society
fundraising activity. Through
2010, approximately $3,460,000
has been contributed from
county residents toward the
fight against cancer.
Thirty-three teams have
been holding a variety of
fundraisers throughout the
summer. Thirty vending sites
will be set up along the track
for Relay Friday.
The theme for this year’s
Relay is Color for a Cure.
Food sales begin Friday at
5 p.m. Entertainment starts
at 4:15 p.m.
Relay for Life officially be
gins at 6:05 p.m. At 6:10, the
2012 Caregiver award will
be presented. The recipient
will be recognized as a win
ning personal caregiver. The
nominees for this award are
recognized for the love and
devotion they have demon
strated in caring for someone
battling cancer.
Next will be the presenta
tion of the Maudie Day Shin
ing Star Award. This award
will be presented to someone
from the community who has
See RELAY, Page 14
Turnout remains
light in early
voting for eity
eleetions
BY PHYLISS BOAIWRIGHT
COURIER-TIMES STAFF WRITER
pbootwriglit@roxboro-touriet.com
Early voting for slots on Roxboro City
Council and the mayoral position has been
light so far.
At about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, Bren
da Whitlow, director of the Person County
Board of Elections, said 77 votes had been
cast over the first four days of early voting.
Last Thursday was the first day of early, or
one-stop, voting.
There are 4,708 registered voters in the
City of Roxboro, according to the board of
elections.
The early voting period for the city elec
tions will extend through Saturday, Oct. 8, at
1 p.m.
Hours of operation for the remainder of
the one-stop voting period will be from 8:30
a.m. to 5 p.m. this week, through Friday, Sept.
30; from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3 un
til Friday, Oct. 7; and Saturday, Oct. 8 from
8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The municipal election will be held on
Tuesday, Oct. 11. City of Roxboro residents
who are registered to vote and do not choose
early voting may cast their ballots on Oct. 11
from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. at city hall, lo
cated at 105 S. Lamar St.
Merilyn Newell, currently serving as may
or pro-tem, is the lone candidate for mayor.
She has served four terms on council.
Incumbents running for another term on
city council include James Allen, currently
serving his 17**’ term; Sandy Stigall, now on
his second term; Ralph Clark, who was ap
pointed to council last year; and Henry Dan
iel, who is serving his fourth term.
Mark Phillips, who previously served
three terms on council, is running again this
year.
Newcomers challenging Phillips and the
incumbents are Byrd B. Blackwell, William
Davis, Dennis E. Daniels, Coleen Love and
Patrick Walters.
Personian David Torian among World War II veterans
who partieipanted in reeent Triangle Flight of Honor
BY GREY PENTECOST
COURIER-TIMES STAFF WRITER
greypentecost@roxboto-courler.com
Triangle Flight of Honor has
flown over 500 Triangle-area vet
erans to Washington, D.C. to visit
memorials created in their hon
or, at no cost to veterans. On Sept.
14, World War II Navy veteran Da
vid Torian of Person County was
happy to count himself among
them.
Torian, 84, was sponsored to
go on the trip by Piedmont Elec
tric Membership Corp. (PEMC).
The group of about 100 veter
ans flew out of Raleigh-Durham
International Airport (RDU), and
once in D.C., set about visiting
various war-related museums
and memorials.
Speaking with The Courier-
Times after the trip, Torian re
called all of the white stones in
Arlington Cemetery, and the sec
tion dedicated to the soldiers lost
overseas.
As a Navy veteran, Torian
enjoyed the ship replica and pic
tures of the USS Hancock (the
ship he was stationed on during
the war) that he saw at a muse
um. He was also impressed with
the World War II Memorial that
was erected in 2004, and said he
wished everyone could see it.
Torian was inducted into the
United States Navy on Jan. 3,
1945 at the age of 18. He said he
was drafted from Hillsborough at
the same time as another Hills
borough man and two Chapel
Hill men. The four were togeth
er throughout Torian’s service,
until he was discharged on the
points system on March 22,1946.
Torian went through training
at Bainbridge, Md. He boarded
his assigned ship, the USS Han
cock, at Pearl Harbor after the
attack. Torian recalls most of
the damage having been cleared
and the Hancock still undergoing
N?!? TORIAN, Page 14
David Torian