THOMASVILLE
Thursday, October 7,2010
Columnist Marilyn
Taylor discusses the
role of autonomy in
our 'Drive' to work.
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Cuts in road funds curb improvements
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
A large part of any citys’
funds for road maintenance
ironically comes from the sale
of gasoline. Anyone who has
taken the time to read the small
print on pumps while filling up
their gas tanks knows that a
portion of the money Is taxed.
The state then collects that
money and disperses it back to
cities in the form of Powell Bfil
funds to help care for roads not
maintained by the Department
of Transportation.
In another strange twist,
whenever the price of gasoline
goes up, especially during tough
economic times, the money cit
ies get actually comes down. In
the past few years, ThomasviUe
has seen these Powell BUI funds
dwindle substantially, forcing
city officials to make some diffi
cult decisions when it comes to
what roads get repaved.
“We’ve seen a steady decline,
and a very significant decline
of funds coming to us,” Thom-
asvUle City Manager KeUy
Graver said. “Gasoline is near
$3 a gallon and the economy is
depressed. Barrels of gasoline
have dropped, hence we’ve seen
a trending downward of Powell
BUI funds coming to the city to
maintain the same number of
streets and the same mUes with
vlrtuaUy the same population.”
Powell BUI funds not only
pay for repaving projects. The
money helps maintain the day-
to-day operations of Thomas-
vUle’s street department. Tak
ing away more than $100,000
from these funds is causing the
city to choose between paying
for potholes or paying employee
salaries.
“That has been a great source
of income for the City of Thom-
asvUle to help maintain streets,”
said Craven “However, we’ve
seen a decline from $661,000
this year where it was around
$830,000 three years ago. These
funds pay for salaries, and buys
trucks and asphalt. It’s our day-
to-day operating money as weU
as for repaving projects. It’s a
tremendous hit. Our cost of do
ing paving and buying asphalt
are based on petroleum prod
ucts and those prices are esca
lating and our doUars coming in
See CUTS, Page 6
Switzer outlines
priorities for
Davidson County
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
Jeff Switzer, a Demo
crat from Lexington, wiU
compete for one of four
spots for Davidson Coun
ty Com
missioner
in the No-
V e m b e r
election.
Switzer,
who also
ran for
commis
sioner four
years ago,
has decided to re-enter
the political game in an
attempt to move Davidson
County into the future.'
A large part of that fu
ture rests on economic
development, especiaUy
as the county pffils it
self out of the recession,
slowly but surely. And as
small and independent
businesses have over and
over again been heralded
Switzer
COURTESY PHOTO
Fulfilling the Bucket List
Friendship Elementary is excited about its new character education initiative for the 2010-11 school year. It
is based on the book, 'Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids,' written by Carol
McCloud. The theory of the bucket and the dipper is that everyone has an invisible bucket, which is constantly
emptied or filled, depending on what others do. It is an exceptional honor to be able to not think about yourself,
but in turn, think about other people's feelings. Pictured are bucket fillers from the week of Sept. 27: Evan Good
win, Grace Scott, Colton Hudson, Jacob Taylor, Abby Lane, Connor Wishon, Austin Wood, Sheldon Payne, Saman
tha Gordon, Ashley Jones, Evie Holt, Levi Dixon, Sila Luwate, Michael Daniello, Monica Looz, Megan Miller, Ryan
See SWITZER, Page 6 Woempner, Jennifer Tran, Noah Glover, Jason Petro, Rachel Martin, Brandon Fergerson and Emilee Scott.
Server crash
leaves TCS
staff without
e-mail access
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
So much of what people
do these days revolves
around the Internet, es
pecially when it comes
to sending and receiving
e-mails.
When phone calls fall,
e-mails are one of the
most reliable forms of
communication. For the
past week, employees
with Thomasville City
Schools have been left out
of the cyber-loop thanks
to a rare system-wide
computer failure that cut
off access to both e-mails
and documents.
During 'Tuesday’s
monthly meeting, TCS
board members were
told that efforts are being
made to restore e-mail
access to school system
employees following a
Sept. 27 server crash that
rekindled memories of
days before the Internet.
“We literally had a
hardware failure,” TCS
Technology Director
Mike Ingram said. “It was
aU Internal e-mails and
Internal documents. We
just have not had access
to e-maOs for a week.”
Ingram said a piece of
hardware called a blade
enclosure crashed and
the vendor failed to hon
or a four-hour warranty
that would’ve fixed the
problem that same day
Instead of replacing the
hardware, Ingram said
the vendor attempted to
send individual parts
that did not correct the
issue.
“They were making us
jump through aU sorts
of hoops,” said Ingram.
“They „ couldn’t live up
to the warranty. We just
finally said that’s it. I’m
See E-MAIL, Page 4
INDEX
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Focus
Opinion
Obituaries
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10
Creativity, passion earn English teacher award
Sunny, 78/48
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
LEXINGTON — Paul Piatkowski
felt at home from the first moment
he set foot in North Davidson High
School.
Fresh out of Appalachian State
University, Piatkowski came in 2004
to interview at North Davidson and
a school in Kannapolis, and the Da
vidson County vibe just seemed to
click.
“I just felt good here,” said Piat
kowski, affectionately called Mr. PK
by students and staff alike. “I felt
like there was an amount of freedom
for me to become the teacher I want
ed to be.”
Apparently that freedom allowed
the English teacher to soar. After be
ing nmner-up in 2009, Piatkowski re
ceived the Davidson County Schools’
2010 Teacher of the Year award.
“It was really kind of an over
whelming thing,” Piatkowski said.
“Davidson County is a big county,
but it seems kind of small. I feel like
it’s close-knit, and to feel everyone
sort of direct their attention at me
was a little surreal.”
Piatkowski, who teaches 11th-
grade honors English and senior
English, began teaching at North
Davidson in 2004. He graduated from
Appalachian State University and is
currently working on a master’s de
gree at UNC-Greensboro.
The Teacher of the Year award re
quires a number of steps. First, each
school votes on one of its own staff
members as school teacher of the
year. That teacher then prepares a
portfolio to be handed In to DCS over
See TEACHER, Page 4
Advanced technology
(and babies) delivered daily.
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
English teacher Paul Piatkowski stands in his classroom at
North Davidson High School.
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