A6 -Thomasville Times - Saturday, September 18,2010
FROM PAGE A1
DEBATE
From pageAl
have to understand that everyone
feels differently about different
items. It’s true there is pressure to
spend what you coUect, We keep a
rainy day fund and we’ve had to
go to that fund in the past to keep
things running. It’s important that
we keep an eye on the fact that ev
ery year is not the same.”
Brown pointed out that North
Carolina currently has the second
highest tax rate in the southeast
and trails only Florida when it
comes to a gas tax. Brown doesn’t
feel that this extra revenue is be
ing spent in the right places. Just
how this money is spent is often
based on politics and not need,
Brown said, referring to the fact
that North Carolina is divided into
seven regions with each region re
ceiving a certain amount of money.
Brown wants to see state money be
ing spent on needs and not wants.
“We have the same amount of
money going to regions who don’t
nearly have the same amount of
road traffic compared to other
places in the state,” Brown said.
“That’s just one way to save money
— fund your top priorities first and
safety is number one. We’ve got to
establish priorities.”
HoUiman countered by saying
North Carolina maintains more
roads than any state besides Texas,
and if not for the gas tax, the mon
ey would come from property tax
es, like it is in other states where
the counties pays for road mainte
nance.
“I’m taking my opponent to task
on this,” said Holliman. “Our gas
tax is probably the highest in the
southeast, but when you compare
taxes, you have to make sure you’re
comparing apples to apples. In this
case, it’s oranges to apples.”
Both candidates were asked about
whether they supported merging
Davidson County’s three school
systems into one — a motion that
is gaining steam in Raleigh. Holli
man said there are 115 school sys
tems in the state’s 100 counties and
some representatives are pushing
for a 1-to-l ration. Holliman added
that transportation and cafeteria
services already have been merged
in the county, but whether it’s a
good idea or not, remains to be
seen.
“The main thing to me is how weU
our schools are performing,” Holli
man said. “We have some troubled
schools who have improved and
gotten better. We’ve got to make
sure everyone understands that
we need to educate our students
no matter what the economy is.
We’re not going to tolerate poor
school systems. We have to make
sure that our administration un
derstands that we want schools to
grow and Improve. If we can best
do that with three school systems,
that’s fine.”
Brown is worried that a larger
school system wUl not be as effi
cient as students tend to perform
better in smaUer settings.
“The state is looking at merging
school systems because of finan
cial considerations,” said Brown.
“They feel efficiency is the main fo
cus and this is what I’m concerned
about. Studies have shown that
small school districts are where
students learn the best. Is it going
to be more efficient? Perhaps, per
haps not. That’s not the general
line of thinking. We need to look at
the fiscal part of it versus the well
being and the education of our
children.”
The general election is Nov. 2.
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be
reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvil-
letimes.com.
BOARD
From pageAl
to get 400. Our number
one priority has to be job
creation.”
Yates said a good way
to spim job growth is us
ing what the county al
ready has, specifically
Interstate 85. He also
complimented Hedrick
on “reading his website”
when it comes to improv
ing mfrastructime.
“Interstate 85 has
100,000 cars on it every
day,” said Yates. “We need
25,000 of those to stop m
Lexington. We do need
Infrastructure. Davidson
CANDIDATE'S FORUM
Find more information from Thursday's forum,
including sheriff and register of deeds
candidates, in Tuesday's Times.
County needs sewer to
our major Intersections
to get some retail busi
nesses there. We can do
that, and I think the citi
zens want us to do that.”
Kepley feels small busi
nesses are vital to David
son Cormty’s economy
and supporting them wUl
be a big step to economic
recovery Kepley said he
is a hay farmer who uses
his 100-acre plot of land
for a variety of purposes
that aU go toward helping
the local economy, wheth
er it’s by sawing lumber
or seUmg trees.
“The backbone of our
economy is small busi
ness,” Kepley said. “Ag
riculture is the number
one ranking business m
North Carolina, tourism
is second. I think agricul
ture wUl be the predomi
nant faction of the local
economy m the years to
come.”
Watford responded by
saying that whenever
any business comes to
the area, even If it’s not
directly in Davidson
County, the local econo
my benefits.
“Any new business that
comes in or around us is
good for Davidson Coun
ty,” said Watford. “Forty
percent of our workforce
leaves the county every
day to go to work.”
AU four candidates op
posed merging the coim-
ty’s three school districts.
Candidates Don TrueU,
Jeff Switzer, Kevin WU-
liams and Ronald Swice-
good did not attend the
forum.
SURVEY
From pageAl
knowledge the county has never
participated m a study like this be
fore.
NHANES studies 5,000 people
nationwide each year. The survey
chooses individuals who best rep
resent the U.S. population, over-
sampling people Over 60 years old
as weU as African Americans and
Hispanlcs to give an accimate rep
resentation.
“Staff wUl go out and do the sur
veys at people’s homes,” Hames
said. “Then, when they do that,
they’U ask them to participate in
the screenings. Everything com
bined wiU be done by the middle of
November.”
The Interview process includes
questions on demographics, socio
economic status, dietary patterns
and health. Touch-screen comput
ers aUow respondents to answer
more sensitive questions m pri
vate.
The 1 examination component
— performed in mobUe centers by
a team of a physician, medial and
health technicians, and dietary and
health Interviewers — includes
medical, dental and physiological
components. Many staff members
speak both English and Spanish.
Since NHANES encourages
study participation, the organiza
tion offers transportation to the
examination sites If necessary and
provides compensation and a med
ical report to each participant.
The information coUected from
Davidson County participants wiU
be combined with that of the oth
er 14 counties to help determine
prevalence of major diseases, risk
factors for diseases and nutrition
al status and its association with
health and disease prevention.
Data also is used to form national
height, weight and blood pressure
standards.
Hames says that, according to the
study, each person surveyed stands
for about 66,000 people across the
country.
“If one person represents 66,000
people, it is kind of a neat thing to
go through and to be a part of,” she
said. “I know how people are with
surveys. You don’t want people
asking personal questions. But we
do encourage anyone who is con
tacted to go through with it.”
ABUSE
From pageAl
they can recover from
this.”
According to a national
survey conducted by the
Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMH-
SA), the use of illicit
drugs Increased between
2008 and 2009, rising from
8 percent of the popula
tion ages 12 and older to
8.7 percent. As far as al
cohol is concerned, the
number of adults con
suming more than five
drinks a day reached 23
percent in 2009, the high
est level in a decade, ac
cording to the Centers for
Disease Control.
But despite the high
number of individu
als suffering from drug
and alcohol addictions,
very few receive help. In
2009, about 9.3 percent
of Americans ages 12 or
older — or around 23.5
mUlion people — needed
substance abuse treat
ment. Only 2.6 million in
dividuals received it.
“It’s Important for aU
of our community —
young people, their fami
lies, adults — to be aware
of the resources that are
available and to celebrate
success,” said Mary Jane
Akerman, Thomasville
City Schools (TCS) well
ness coordinator who
also is Involved in the
Thomasville Coalition on
Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
“It’s Important for us as
a community to support
recovery”
Path of Hope celebrat
ed Recovery Month with
an open house on Sept. 3.
The United Way organiza
tion also took clients to a
kickoff m Greensboro at
the end of August and the
event in Winston-Salem.
An in-patient substance
abuse treatment center
not affiliated with a hos
pital or medical facility.
Path of Hope offers a 28-
day program following
the 12 steps of Alcoholics
Anonymous. House says
the organization sticks
with a 28-day program
as opposed to the more
common seven-to 14-day
program because it gives
patients more time to
come to terms with their
condition.
“In seven to 14 days,
their heads are not in
treatment,” House .said.
“After the first few weeks,
they start hearing.”
In that 28 days, patients
undergo group sessions.
Alcohol Anonymous
meetings, optional spiri
tual counseling and rec
reation activities such
as volleyball, softball or
walks around Fink Park.
“It’s just to get them off
the property as a group
to see that there is some
thing out there worth
while,” House said.
On the flip side of the
coin, Thomasville Coali
tion on Drug and Alcohol
Abuse focuses on preven
tion, educating the com
munity about the effects
of substance abuse.
“It’s part of the nor
mal, adolescent process
to explore boundaries,”
Akerman said. “There’s a
natural tendency toward
risk-taking in adolescent
years. If kids understand
the risks of drug addic
tion and the negative con
sequences and how drug
addiction works, I think
they’re better armed to
make better decisions.”
Other than the preven
tion programs, TCS also
has partnerships with
treatment facilities to re
fer students in case of an
addiction situation.
“It’s part of good pre
vention planning to know
who to contact and what
to do and have those part
nerships m place,” Aker
man said. “But I’m not
aware of a single Inci
dent where we’ve identi
fied a young person with
an addiction issue, which
is terrific, arid I hope that
means that the preven
tion education is work
ing.”
But whether prevention
or recovery, turning away
from substance abuse re
quires an act of wOl.
“Recovery won’t work
If you don’t want it to
— you have to want it,”
House said. “We put our
heart and soul in what we
do here. We believe in it.
I think that every month
should be Recovery
Month. They should keep
making people aware of
recovery,' that there is
something else out there
besides drinking and us
ing.”
Staff Writer Erin Wilt-
gen can be reached at 888-
3576 or at newsdesk@tvil-
letimes.com.
OBITUARIES
Allgood
Index
Lexington
Marie Link, 79
Woody White, 68
Other areas
Connie T. Allgood
Connie T. Allgood
ASHEBORO — Con
nie Thomas Allgood, of
Asheboro, passed away
on Friday, Sept. 17,2010.
Funeral
service
win be held
Sunday at
2 p.m. at
First Pres
byterian
Church
with the
Rev. Brian
Gawf and
the Rev. Connie Weaver
officiating. The family
will receive friends fol
lowing the service at the
church and other trines at
the home of Timothy All
good, 960 Edge Court, in
Asheboro. Family burial
will be held at Floral Gar
den Park Cemetery in
High Point on Monday at
10 a.m.
Mrs. AUgood was born
on June 25, 1928, in High
Point, the daughter of
William Floyd and Bea
trice Yates Thomas. She
was a longtime employee
of the Baptist Children’s
Home, where she cared
for hundreds of chfi-
dren ranging in age from
Infant to 5 years. Mrs.
AUgood was a member
of First Presbyterian
Church in Asheboro and
a former member of First
Baptist Church in Thom-
asvUle, where she was a
choir member and Sun
day school teacher. She
was preceded in death by
her husband of 55 years,
Elmo Sanford AUgood,
and a brother BiU Thom-
%
Fiineral Directors
Since 189S
Our Family serving your family
forte generations
122 W. Main St.
Thoniasvaie,NC 27360
472-7774
10301 North N.C. 109
Winston-Salem
WaUburg Area
769-5548
as, of High Point,
She is survived by sons,'
David L. AUgood and his
wife, Cheryl, of Wilson,
Timothy R. AUgood and
his wife, Kim, of Ashe
boro, John T. AUgood, of
Greensboro; grandchU-
dren, Lynn and Laura
AUgood, of Wilson, Bai
ley and Carter AUgood, of
Asheboro; sister. Daphne
Jones and her husband,
Lonnie, of High Point; 8
nieces and nephews.
The famUy would like
to acknowledge its appre
ciation to CarUlon Assist
ed Living, Crossroad Re
tirement Center, Clapps
Convalescent Nursing
Home and Hospice of
Randolph.
Memorials may be
made to Baptist ChU-
dren’s Homes of North
Carolina, P.O. Box 338.
Arrangements by Pugh
Funeral Home, Asheboro,
and online condolences
may be made at www.
pughfuneralhome.com.
Marie Link
LEXINGTON — Marie
Cecelia Tremblay Link,
79, of Fairview Drive,
Lexington, filed Friday,
Sept. 17, 2010, at Hinkle
Hospice House.
Memorial service wiU
be held at 3 p.m. Sunday
at Piedmont Funeral
Home Chapel.
Woody White
LEXINGTON — WU-
11am Woodrow “Woody”
White Jr., 68, died Wednes
day, Sept. 15, 2010, at his
home in Butner after a
long battle with cancer.
Funeral service wUl be
held at 1 p.m. today at the
Davidson Funeral Home
Chapel with burial in For
est HUl Memorial Park.
The famUy wiU receive
friends 11;30 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. prior to the service
at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, do
nations to the PaUiative
Care Program at Durham
Regional Hospital are
appreciated. Online con
dolences may be made at
WWW davidsonfuneral-
home.net.
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