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thomasville public l 14 RANDOLPH STH. Ledford's Brian Connolly signs with UNC-Asheville. See SPORTS, Page B1 Saturday, April 17,2010 Inside Today Baptist Children's Homes dedicated new Aging Ministry Building at Mills Home. See Page B8 119th Year - No. 84 50 Cents WWW.tvilletimes.com United Furniture bringing 150 jobs to county BY ERINWILTGEN Staff Writer LEXINGTON — Even Lexington Mayor John Walser didn’t know the extent of the good news until Friday morning. When writing out his speech for the press con ference announcing the commitment of a manu facturing company to a plant in Lexington, Walser left a blank line for the company’s name. And when he found out it was United Furniture In dustries NC, LLC, he just couldn’t believe it. “I can’t get this smile off my face,” he said. “This is the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time.” United Furniture Indus tries NC, LLC — a nation al manufacturer of uphol stered affordable living room furniture such as so fas, chairs, recliners and sleepers — has pledged to create 150 jobs and invest more than $3.3 million in Lexington over the next three years. The company is a wholly-owned subsid iary of United Furniture Industries, Inc., headquar tered in Okolona, Miss. Other than the new plant in Davidson County, the company has five oth er locations, three in Mis sissippi and two in North Carolina. The North Caro lina sites are in Archdale and Glenola, in Randolph County, and together em ploy about 400 people. “We are glad to be in Davidson County,” said company President Larry George. “It has been a long road, a process. We are looking forward to being here to create some jobs. I hope that we can add to the community.” United Furniture will See JOBS, Page A3 TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE Thomasville City Schools Superintendent Keith Tobin serves some fruit to children at Thomasville Primary School Friday. Below, TPS children work in the school garden area. Food for Thought Thomasville Primary awarded for child nutrition BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Staff and students at Thom asville Primary School enjoyed a moment in the spotlight Fri day afternoon as local, state and federal dignitaries visited the campus to recognize a special achievement that culminates years of hard work and dedica tion to nutrition. During a special ceremony in the cafeteria, TPS was formal ly recognized as a 2010 USDA Healthier School Gold Award winner for its outstanding nutri tion environment and dedication to fighting childhood obesity TPS is one of 654 schools across the United States and one of five in the state to receive such rec ognition. “I’m pleased to recognize TPS for achieving Gold-level status,” Jane Mandell, branch chief of the chUd nutrition division with the USDA, said. “The Healthier US. School Gold Award is one of the highest honors a school nu trition program can achieve and reflects a strong commitment to provide students with additional healthy food options throughout the school campus, and to em phasize nutrition education and physical activity in the school curriculum.” In order to receive gold sta tus, TPS, led by Brenda Watford, Thomasville City Schools child nutrition director, had to vm- dergo two and half years of fol lowing strict USDA guidelines. Participating schools had to submit their entire menus for a See FOOD, Page A6 DCS calls on county to increase 2010-11 budget BY ERINWILTGEN Staff Writer Davidson County Schools faces the classic 2010 catch-22 — how to improve a system with ever-dwindling funds. But even in the face of a po tential funding cut from the state, the Davidson County Board of Education has set new goals. And to reach them, the board turns to the county, ask ing the Davidson County Board of Commissioners for a 3.5 per cent inci-ease in the local budget for the 2010-2011 school year. “Our goal, the superinten- 'We need teachers. We have students, we have to have teachers. So we have to have money to pay them.' — Pam Sink DCS Chief Finance Officer dent’s goal, for 2010-11 is to re duce the class size back to the 2008-09 year to enhance the quality of literacy instruction,” said Pam Sink, chief finance of ficer. “And to save jobs.” The local budget—the amount not covered by state or govern ment funds — would total $25 million if the commissioners approved the request, up from the $24 million of the current school year. Besides decreasing class sizes to improve the teacher-to-stu- dent ration — 2008-09 figures were 21.7 students per teacher at the elementary level, 25.5 per teacher at the middle school level and 23.9 per teacher at the high school level — the in creased budget wUl also go to wards other basic needs. Sink said the cost of utilities will go up, and the school system hopes to update computers and software. Other cost increases are more complicated and link to the $11 million decrease in state budgetary funds last year. With that cut, the state also did away with five staff devel opment programs, and local governments now must pick up See BUDGET, PageAB itty Bitty Kiddie Festival offers information, entertainment BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer Smart Start of Davidson County, a local non-profit organization committed to providing opportuni ties for young children, is offering parents a chance to see what programs are available to them this weekend while their kids are off playing. With support from Da vidson County Local In teragency Council and Thomasville Medical Cen ter, Smart Start is spon soring the 11th annual Itty Bitty Kiddie Festival at the Davidson County Fairgrounds today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise awareness about the many services the agency offers families with young chil dren. Admission is free with a canned or boxed food donation that will benefit Fairgrove Family Resource Center of David son County “We try and do some thing a little different every year,” Linda Leon- WANTTOGO? WHAT: Itty Bitty Kiddie Festival WHEN: Today, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. WHERE: Davidson County Fairgrounds ard, executive director of Smart Start, said. “This is a great family day for people. It’s a great op portunity to let families know about the services we offer the community Our organization not only delivers services but also funds services out in our community. So many of the services are free.” Smart Start of Davidson County offers readiness programs for children up to five years old in an ef fort to help them reach their potential by improv ing child care, parenting resources and access to health care. More than 30 agencies will be attending the fair, which has grown exponen tially over the past decade. In its first year, the festival attracted less than 1,000 people, compared to 2009 when more than 3,000 at tended. While parents are learning about programs dealing with school readi ness, occupational thera py, human and preschool services, child care and scholarships, kids will have access to a variety of See FESTIVAL, PageAB Community Sponsor Xhomasville) medical center RmnutrhmM* Today's Weather Weather A2 y/. What's Focus Opinion A4 A5 ' 1' Partly Cloudy Inside Obituaries Sports A6 B7 75/41 Comics B3 Full Forecast Page 2 Classifieds B6 in n M O p in in O Thomasville, North Carolina • Your Town. Your Times.
The Thomasville Times (Thomasville, N.C.)
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April 17, 2010, edition 1
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