SATURDAY
December 10,2011
Roxboro,
North Carolina
www.personcountylife.com
75 Cents
PORK SKINS:
T.R. Brady is cook
ing up old-fash
ionedpork skins in
Person County A9
TRAVELING:
Person County na
tive teaches abroad,
visits all seven
continents B7
GOOD KNIGHT?
Find out how the
Rockets fared in
basketball action vs.
Northern A6
SAPPONY:
Person County Mu
seum highlighting
High Plains Youth
Summer Camps B1
SPOTLIGHT:
North End Elemen
tary School is show
cased in this week j"
edition B3
—lEMaE—
Mary Bailey Walthall
Garrett, 87
Roxboro
William Lawrence Gentry,
65
Roxboro
Madeline Tapp Grimes, 86
Jacksonville, Fla.
Bettie Walker Harris, 82
Roxboro
John Alva Harris, 83
Roxboro
Joyce Chambers Reed, 87
Winston-Salem
See page A9
-iDiEsar-
AGENDA
A2
ARRESTS
B7
BUSINESS
A3
CLASSIFIED
BlO-11
COMMENTARY
AS
COURT
B6
DO YOU KNOW
A2
EDUCATION
B2
FAITH & WORSHIP
B4-5
LEGAL NOTICES
Bll
LIFESTYLE
B8
MOST WANTED
A3
MOVIES
A3
OBITUARIES
A9
OPINION
A4
REALTY TRANSFERS
B6
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
B3
SPORTS
A6-8
STRAIGHTAHEAD
A2
TV LISTINGS
B9
WORD ON THE STREET
A2
Our
129th year
Number 100
Two sections
22 pages
Copyright
2011
The Courier-Times Inc.
I rights reserved
Serving all of Person County since 1881
Couricr-®meji
New-look city council to be .sworn in Tuesday
BY TIM CHANDLER
COURIER-TIMES EDITOR
tchnniller@roxboco-courler.com
The look of Roxboro City
Council will change Tuesday
night.
Roxboro City Council will
meet in regular session Tuesday
at 7 p.m. in council chambers at
city hall.
Shortly after Mayor Sam Spen
cer opens the meeting, he will
hand the gavel over to Merilyn
Newell, who was unopposed in
her mayoral bid in October.
Spencer is stepping down af
ter a lengthy political career. The
former career educator did not
see re-election in October to the
post he assumed last year follow
ing the death of former Mayor
Tom Brown.
Prior to becoming mayor, Spen
cer was successfully elected to 14
consecutive terms on city coun
cil. Spencer first gained election
to Roxboro City Council in 1983.
The council that will be sworn
in by Chief District Court Judge
Mark Galloway Tuesday will in
clude two incumbents, one for
mer councilman and two politi
cal newcomers.
Current councilmen James
Allen and Ralph Clark were un
successful in their bids for re-
election in the non-partisan mu
nicipal election in October.
Among the council newcomers
is Will Davis, 22, a Roxboro busi
ness owner, who led the balloting
in October with 397 votes. Davis
will likely be tabbed mayor pro-
tem, a position that has tradition
ally been reserved for the leading
vote getter in the local municipal
balloting.
Mark Phillips, 52, a former
member of council, was sec
ond in the balloting in October
with 355 votes. Phillips formerly
served three terms on council
and was an unsuccessful candi
date for mayor in 2009.
Incumbent Councilman Sandy
Stigall, 73, was third with 313
votes. Stigall will be beginning
^eeMEETINGj/fag-e 10
MIKE FLOYD I COURIER-TIMES
Visiting with Santa Claus
Juliann Whitfield spends some time with Santa Claus during the Jingle on Main event Thursday night in Uptown Roxboro.
Heart disease eontinues to be leading
eause of death in Person County
BY TIM CHANDLER
COURIER-TIMES EDITOR
tchan(ller@roxboro-tourlet.tom
Heart disease continues to
be the leading cause of death
in Person County, accord
ing to the 2011 Community
Health Assessment, which
was recently released by the
Person County Health De
partment.
Cancer, stroke, chronic
lower respiratory disease
and unintentional non-motor
vehicle injury follow heart
disease as the leading causes
of death among Personians.
Mortality data reflected in
the Community Health As
sessment is from 2005 through
2009. The rankings for these
five leading causes of death
have not changed since the
previous assessment, which
was conducted in 2007.
Diabetes, on the other
hand, moved up from the
seventh to the sixth leading
cause of death in the most re
cent assessment.
For all deaths combined.
Person County males have a
46.1-percent higher mortal
ity (death) rate than Person
County females. Male mortal
ity is significantly higher es
pecially for non-motor vehi-
SeeiTMVt.PagelO
USPS
changes
won’t affect
in-county
C-T delivery
BY TIM CHANDLER
COURIER-TIMES EDITOR
tclian(lier@roxboro-courler.com
The unprecedented cuts announced this
week by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will
not affect postal service hours locally or the
in-county distribution of The Courier-Times, ac
cording to Roxboro Postmaster Mark Griffin.
Griffin, who said he was not at liberty
to discuss the $3 billion in reductions an
nounced this week by the USPS, did say, how
ever, that the hours at the Roxboro Post Office
were not being trimmed back.
Griffin also said this week that same-day
delivery of The Courier-Times to residents in
Person County would not be affected by the
changes.
USPS officials announced Monday they
would be seeking to close 252 mail process
ing centers and slow first-class delivery next
spring.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the
cuts are part of $3 billion in reductions
aimed at helping the USPS avert bankruptcy
next year.
The cuts, according to an AP report, would
virtually eliminate the chance for stamped
letters to arrive the next day, a change in
first-class delivery standards that have been
in place since 1971.
An estimated 28,000 jobs are expected to
be eliminated nationwide as a result of the
closures.
The AP reported that USPS vice president
David Williams stressed the move was nec
essary to cut costs as more people turn to the
Internet for email communications and bill
payment. After reaching a peak of 98 million
in 2006, first-class mail volume is now at 78
million. It is projected to drop by roughly
half by 2020.
SeemiL,PageJO
New heating
installed at
system being
BHCS gym
BY GREY PENTECOST
COURIER-TIMES STAFF WRITER
gteypentecost@roxboto-courler.com
Bethel Hill Charter School
(BHCS) began installing a new
gas pack heating system in its
gymnasium Friday, replacing a
furnace that was over 60 years
old.
According to BHCS Principal
John Betterton, the old gym fur
nace was unreliable, and after
the April tornado caused roof
and other major damages to the
gym, the school decided to take
the opportunity to replace the
heating system while making
other repairs.
Betterton said the school had
looked at several options, includ
ing a heat pump, gas furnace and
geothermal system.
The geothermal system, which
would involve digging wells to
take advantage of the earth’s
underground heat, was an ap
pealing option, said Betterton.
He liked that it would cut the
school’s dependency on fuel, and
would lower the school’s heating
expense in the long term, but said
the up-front cost was too high.
BHCS decided to go with the
gas pack system because, said
Betterton, the up-front cost was
less than that for the geothermal
system, and it would be reliable
and provide “good heat.”
The system will initially run
w* % ^ I. ,w.,i
■ i» *■ MBmiii -
Y PENTECOST I COURIER-TIMES
SeeBHCS, Page 10
Installment of Bethel Hill Charter School’s new gas pack heating system began Friday.