Josef Walker explains
how to get the most of
your church experience.
THOMASVILLE
Tuesday, September 14,2010
• Habitat dedicates
new home, Page 4.
• Dr. David Lipschitz
discusses robotic
surgery. Page 3
119th Year-No. 137 50 Cents
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Animal control policies top council agenda
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
ThomasviUe City Council wiU
consider the approval of ani
mal control officer policies and
procedures permitting such
officers to carry a gun “while
on duty at its regular meeting
Monday. -
The Department of Animal
Control educates the public on
animal issues and enforces lo
cal ordinances and state laws
regulating the keeping of ani
mals and treating them as hu-.
manely as possible.
The department policy, would
allow non-sworn animal control
officers to carry a gun in per
formance of their duties or for
the purpose of animal control.
ThomasvUle currently has only
one animal control officer.
“This would allow the officers
to be armed,” said City Manag
er Kelly Craven “In cases where
the use of force is needed, this
would expedite things Instead
of calling for another police of
ficer.”
AH animal control officers
must qualify to carry a weapon,
and officers won’t be permitted
to carry the grm on school prop
erty or while off-duty.
Currently, animal control offi
cers use mace to subdue uncon
trollable animals. Guns may
only be used in a life-threaten-
Ing situation or one with immi
nent danger of serious bodily
injury to humans or animals.
“The goal is to make the po
sition safer for the officers,”
Graver said, “And so we lessen
the likelihood of an individual
citizen being hurt by an ani
mal.”
The council also wUl consider
the request for a taxi franchise
by Catalina Iraheta Orellana,
of ThomasviUe. ThomasviUe
Police Department conducted a
series of criminal background
and driving checks and ap
proved her to the coimcU.
OreUana intends to start
Taxis Katy, as her business wUl
be caUed, with one taxi avaU-
able 24 hours a day, seven days
a week, with plans to expand
See AGENDA, Page 10
TPS program
to engage
children in
reading
BY ELIOT DUKE
StaffWriter
ThomasviUe Primary School
principal Paula Gaylord had
the microphone Monday night
and made a plea for involve
ment to aU the parents in atten
dance for the first PTO meeting
of the new school year.
“We need you to help us.”
With the school year in fuU
swing, Gaylord told students
and parents that state stan
dards have been raised and
that if TPS is to meet Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) expecta
tions also must go up. TPS came
close to reaching AYP last year
but came up a little short in a
few subgroups. With an empha
sized focus on reading and more
parental involvement, Gaylord
feels her school can not only
meet state standards but exceed
them.
“We came close but close is not
enough,” Gaylord said. “We’vfe
got a job ahead of us this year,
but we can do this. Reading is a
big part of our school improve
ment plan. We’re starting in the
preschool with reading com
prehension and it moves aU the
way up the grades.”
Expectations are not only go
ing up at TPS, they are lofty
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Angela Uren and daughter Julia look over the books and materials provided Monday night as part of the
Backpack Program at ThomasviUe Primary School..
Gaylord said she would like
to see 71.6 percent of students
reading at or above grade level
and 88.6 percent of students
proficient in math. One of the
school’s latest initiatives is
its new backpack program.
Parents were introduced to
the Initiative Monday night
and told what was expected of
them. Students wiU take home
a backpack with five books ev
ery weekend and parental in
volvement is key to making the
program a success. Parents are
expected to read with their chU-
dren and help them remember
what they’ve read to increase
their understanding of the ma
terial.
“We’ve got get everybody
ready for the next grade so
they’U be able to handle aU the
skiUs,” said Gaylord; “We can’t
wait untU third grade to worry
about If a student is on grade
level.”
First, second and third grad
ers wUl start taking the back
packs home as soon as this
weekend. TPS has more than
600 backpacks for its students,
ensuring they wlU aU have new
reading material every week-
See READING, Page 6
EBONY
FEST
The Martin Luther
King Jr, Social Ac
tion Committee
held the first Ebony
Fest on Saturday at
Myers Park, At left,
Kiandra and Tristan
Harda\«ay share a
moment during a
break in the rain.
TIMES PHOTO/
LISA WALL
County fair has history
of heiping chiidren
BY ELIOT DUKE
StaffWriter
For the better part of a century,
the Lexington Kiwanls Club has
reached out to underprivUeged
chUdren in an effort to improve
their quality of life.
Every summer, the club holds
its annual “Kiddie Kamp,” where
chUdren interact with each oth
er, play games, eat healthy and
generaUy have a good time for a
week. ChUdren are selected by
social services and their stories
of broken homes and abuse keep
Kiwanis Club members and vol
unteers eager to come back year
after.year.
In order to pay for the “Kiddie
Kamps,” the Lexington Kiwanis
Club sponsors one of the larg
est fairs in the state, and has
ever since 1945. On Sept. 20, the
Davidson County Agriculture
Fair (DCAF) returns to the Da
vidson County Fairgrounds for
its annual event where aU the
proceeds wiU go toward provid
ing “Kiddle Kamps” for under
privUeged chUdren. An average
of 180 chUdren attend the three
different summer camps each
year.
See FAIR, Page 6
Local church
to welcome
minister,
Elvis’ bro.ther
BY ERINWILTGEN
StaffWriter
Rick Stanley has lived
a turbulent life — a rags
to riches storyline, by his
own words.
Abused in foster care
one day, the next he found
himself half brother to
Elvis Presley and wel
comed into the life of
rock and roU. But after
his brother’s death in
1977, Stanley found God
and became a Christian.
He has spent the last 40
years of his life traveling
the country, preaching
his story and the glory of
the Lord.
And at 7 p.m. on Sat
urday, Oct. 9, Stanley
wUl bring that message
to HUlside Park Baptist
Church.
“He is very inspira
tional,” said Pastor Dr.
Steve Chipps. “He’s got
a great testimony in and
of itself from the kind of
life he used to live to now
being a great servant of
the Lord.”
Chipps contacted Stan
ley about traveling to
ThomasviUe, remember
ing when he heard the
minister at a different
parish. Chipps says that
Stanley’s message not
only conveys a moving
story but his connection
to Elvis naturaUy in
trigues people.
“That’s what everyone
wants to know — what
was Elvis like growing
up,” Chipps said. “One
of the things I remember
him saying was, ‘Every
one said that my brother
was the king, but let me
introduce you to the real
king, Jesus Christ.’ He’s
coming to basicaUy do a
famUy crusade. We’re do-
See MINISTER, Page 10
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