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Thursday, July 22,2010*4»^9nonand3niAS-“
Taylor Made
Business trainer Marilyn
Taylor wraps up her series on
Crucial Conversations.
See BUSINESS, Page 4
WWW.tvilletimes.com
TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTGEN
Local children make their way through the lunch line at Thomasville Primary School Wednesday to receive a free hot
meal. The meals are offered weekdays to children up to age 18.
Program keeps children
fed while out of school
BY ERIN WILTGEN
Staff Writer
T homasville City Schools
will continue its Federal
Btmded Summer Food
Service Program for an
other month-and-a-half,
providing Chair City children with
a hot meal free of charge.
The program, which began on
June 14, runs imtil Aug. 13 and
serves a free lunch to aU children
18 years of age or less.
“The goal is to feed the children
that may not be able to eat a nutri
tious meal during the day while
their parents are at work,” said
Brenda Watford, TCS child nutri
tion director. “We’re so glad that
we can do this.”
Summer Irmch serves hot lunch
es similar to those children would
receive in . school. Though Watford
doesn’t know exactly when Thom
asville began the program, she
says it has been around her entire
16 years with the school system.
And the program hasn’t gone un
used.
“We’re feeding about 900 to 1,000
children a day,” Watford said. “It’s
awesome.”
Last year, TCS expanded the
program’s reach, serving lunches
through a van delivery system at
major school bus stops.
“With the way the economy
is, some of the parents couldn’t
get their children here and some
couldn’t ride their bikes to come
and eat,” Watford said. “We just
wanted anyone' who wanted to
See SERVICE, Page 6
119th Year-No. 114 50 Cents
Leandro
funds save
schools
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Faced with an already difficult budget for the
upcoming year, Thomasville City Schools couldn’t
afford to lose any more money from the state. Deal
ing with discretionary cuts was one
thing, but losing more than half a
million dollars on top of that would
have put TCS behind the proverbial
8-ball.
Thanks to a joint effort from state
representatives and Davidson Coun
ty Schools, TCS will receive its full
allotment from the Disadvantaged
Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF),
a program that gives money to im
prove the education of at-risk students. DSSF was
created six years ago following the Leandro court
case that determined aU children m North Caro
lina have a basic right to a soimd education, and
TCS was one of the initial 16 school systems to re
ceive funding from the program, TCS is expected
to get $650,000 this year from DSSF.
“The hig hit was the work [House
Majority leader] Hugh Holli
man and others did with
saving the Leandro
money,” TCS Superin
tendent Keith Tobin
said. “We knew there
was a possibility of
losing around $1.4
million in this coun
ty alone if this DSSF
was taken away [Hol
liman] fought hard,
along with some oth
er folks to save that
See FUNDS, Page 6
Name here
Benefits may be extended to jobless
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Unemployed workers who saw their
checks stop on June 2 may be getting a
reprieve foUowmg a Senate vote to ex
tend unemployment benefits.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 60-40 to
move ahead on a unem-
ployment benefits exten
sion bill that could al
low thousands of North
Carolinians whose ben
efits expired last month
to continue drawing a
check from the govern
ment. Should the bill get
signed Into law by Presi
dent Barack Obama, it
would mark the eighth
tune imemployment ben- ~
efits have been extended
m the past two years. The
Senate wIU take a final
vote before passing the
bUl to the House of Representatives for
final approval.
“If you assume, and I’m not, that the
House passes it and the president signs
it, then yes there will be some benefits
to those people who are unemployed
here m North Carolina,” Andy James,
spokesman for the Employment Com
mission of North Carolina, said. “I’m
sure it wUl benefit somebody and m
terms of thousands, probably, but we’U
just have to see what the law says. It
would be like asking about the weather
tomorrow.”
James says that since July 2, 146,000
people have seen their
benefits expire, and
there are stUl close to
500,000 unemployed
workers across North
Carolina. An estimated
230,000 people in the
state are currently re
ceiving a unemploy
ment check, and are eli
gible to do so for up to 99
weeks.
“The maximum
amount of weeks to
receive benefits is 99,”
said James. “If you’ve
already received ben
efits for 99 weeks than this legislature is
not going to help you.”
In Davidson County, where the unem
ployment rate registered 11.9 percent in
May, the ESC has paid out $118,227,504
See BENEFITS, Page 14
'If you've already
received benefits for
99 weeks than this
legislature is not go
ing to help you.'
-Andy James
ESC Spokesman
Thomasville Police award
named in volunteer’s memory
BY ERIN WILTGEN
Staff Writer
Her time may have
been brief, but the impact
Meghann Murphy had on
the Thomasville Police
Department outlasted
her two days of volunteer
work and will continue
far into the future.
Thomasville City Coun
cil and TPD presented
Melanie and SherrU
Bumgardner, Miuphy’s
mother and step-father,
with a proclamation at
the council meeting Mon
day night, honoring then-
daughter, who died on
May 15, 2010, after years
of respiratory Illness.
TPD also presented
the Bumgardners with
a plaque for the new
Meghann Murphy Vol
unteer Service Award,
which wUl hang in the
department lobby
“She had an affection
for law enforcement,”
said Thomasville Police
Chief Jeff Insley “It was
something that she want
ed to do. But unfortunate
ly, Meghann succumbed
to a medical issue, and
she went home to be with
the Lord. We do sorely,
sorely miss her.”
Murphy developed a
had case of the flu at age
12, which progressed into
pneumonia and a staph
Infection.
See AWARD, Page
TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WIITGEI
Mayor Joe Bennett presents Melanie and Sherril Bum
gardner a proclamation in the their daughter's honor.
Community Sponsor
Thoirmsvill^ medical center
HmnarkabUf People. Remarkable Afetlicine.
Today's Weather
Mostly Sunny
95/73
Full Forecast Page 2
Weather 2
Focus 3
What's Business 4
Opionion 5
Obituaries 6
Sports 7
Classifieds 12
Inside
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