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Thursday, October 21,2010 -laais Hdioawr: n
THOMASVILLE
Misti Boles Whitman
receives Thomasville
Civitan Citizen of the
Year Award.
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...vsviLLE, Nc ,120th Year ■
No. 9 50 Cents
WWW. tvilletimes. com
Swicegood
looks to bring
fresh ideas
to board
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
Ronald Swicegood, a
Democrat from Lexing
ton, will compete for one
of four spots for Davidson
County Commissioner in
the November election.
Running primarily be
cause he thinks that the
county could use some
change in leadership,
Swicegood says that a dif
ferent point of view wiU
yield positive results.
“We’re just going to
have to get in there and
look through everything
and see what kinds of
new ideas new members
can bring to the board,”
he said. “1 think we’re
going to have to try
some new things that we
haven’t tried before.”
With a sluggish eco
nomic recovery, bringing
more jobs to the area re
mains top of every poli
tician’s mind. Swicegood
says he is no different,
naming economic devel
opment one of his top
priorities. But he says
the Davidson County
Economic Development
Commission needs some
work.
“We need to go in and
look at economic devel
opment and go through
them with a fine-tooth
comb,” he said. “They’ve
made a few improvements
here lately, but the last
few years they haven’t
been up to scratch.”
An important aspect
of stimulating the local
economy involves en
couraging the growth of
small business, ' Swice
good says.
See IDEAS, Page A6
INDEX
Weather
A2
Focus
A3
Opinion
A5
Obituaries
A6
Sports
B1
Comics
B4
Classifieds
B6
Today's Weather
%
Sunny, 75/41
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Maj. James Mills of the Thomasville Police Department will retire on Jan. 1,2011, after 30 years of service to
the department.
BIG SHOES TO FOX
Maj. Mills to retire after 30years of service at TPD
BY ELIOT DUKE
StaffWriter
ThomasvUle Police Depart
ment Maj. James MUls consid
ers himself a novice historian.
There are few places around
town where MlUs doesn’t know
an interesting fact or tidbit that
dates back well before he joined
TPD as a young police officer in
1981.
After spending the past 30
years writing his own history
at TPD that saw hihi rise all
the way to second m command.
Mills is ready to start on the next
chapter of his life. Effective Jan.
1, 2011, Mills is retiring, feeling
the time is right to pass the torch
to a younger generation.
“I was told early in my career
that a police department is a glad
iator’s arena that is best fought
'In my heart, I'll al
ways be a cop. It's just
time to turn a new
chapter...'
— Maj. James Mills
Thomasville Police Department
by young gladiators,” MUls said.
“In my heart, I’U always be a cop.
It’s just tune to turn a new chap
ter and let the young gladiators
handle it.”
MUls came to TPD in 1981 af
ter serving in the Air Force,
and would spend the better part
of three decades ascending up
the ranks. He served as a shift
patrol sergeant, shift lieuten
ant, district watch commander,
community policing coordinator
and TPD’s training director. He
worked under four different po
lice chiefs — Don TrueU, Larry
Murdock, Ronald Bratton and
current chief Jeff Insley — and
can remember a time when offi
cers actuaUy had to share radios
and write out their own police
reports.
“I never thought I would see
the day I carried around a Black
berry,” MUls joked. “I feel like
I’m the last of the dinosaurs. I
take being a public servant liter-
aUy and I foUowed that phUoso-
phy I tried to deal with one per
son at a time and I tried to treat
people like I would treat my own
mother or sister.”
Now that MiUs has decided to
See MILLS, PageA6
TCS program reducing teen pregnancies
BY ELIOT DUKE
StaffWriter
Teenage pregnancy is an issue
thousands of young people across
the country deal with every year.
Thanks to Increased awareness
and prevention programs, the
rate of teenage pregnancy has
steadUy declined over the past
two decades, especiaUy in North
Carolina.
In 2009, the teenage pregnancy
rate dropped to aU-tlme low in
the Tar Heel State, according to
statistics compUed by the North
Carolina Department of Health
and Human Services. New data
shows that teenage girls between
15-19 had 1,256 fewer pregnancies
in 2009 from 2008, as the rate feU
from 58.6 to 56 percent per 1,000
girls.
“It’s very exciting,” Mary Jane
Akerman, weUness coordinator
for ThomasvUle City Schools,
said. “It’s not just women, it takes
two.”
TCS and Communities in
Schools of ThomasvUle have part
nered with North Carolina Public
Health have found great success
Implementing prevention pro
grams that have lead to a 16.6 per
cent drop in Davidson County’s
teen pregnancy rate. Programs
such as Teen Pep Peer Education
and the Making Proud Choices
curriculum Inform ypimg stu
dents about the choices they make
when it comes to their bodies and
the impact those decisions can
have. In 2009, T'CS received a state
wide award for recognition as one
of the state’s top school systems
when it comes to addressing teen
age pregnancy
“I’m very proud m the fact that
we have one of the strongest preg
nancy prevention programs in the
state,” said Akerman. “We have a
very broad comprehensive pro
gram m our schools. We try to get
the kids to realize the impact of a
chUd born to a teen, whether it’s
financial or emotional”
TCS starts out educating middle
school students about puberty and
age-appropriate programming
continues throughout high school.
Teen Pep is a course for credit that
junior and seniors at ThomasvUle
High School take to become edu
cators for other students. The pro
gram is in its fourth year and was
the first one to be implemented in
North Carolina.
“It’s a powerful model because
See PROGRAM, PageAG
Yates
Small business
development
at top of
Yates' agenda
BY ERINWILTGEN
StaffWriter
With more than two
decades worth of busi
ness experience under
his belt, Todd Yates has
certainly
felt the ups
and downs
of the
economy.
He’s navi
gated gov
ernment
regulation,
endured
the grow
ing pains and celebrated
the thrUls of expansion.
Now, the Republican
from Lexington hopes
to put that hard-earned
knowledge to good use
as he competes for one of'
four spots for Davidson
County Commissioner in
the November election.
Owner of three com
panies — Yates Disposal,
Yates Paving and TCB
BuUders — Yates says
smaU businesses are cru
cial to the local economy
“They’re the backbone
of Davidson County,”
Yates said. “We’ve got
to work together with
the businesses to make
it more smaU business-
friendly It’s a tough job.
I’m m business and have
been for 25 years, and this
is one of the worst years
I’ve seen.”
And Yates says govern
ment’s role in helping
these companies make it
through the rough econo
my is simply to stay out.
“We’ve got just too much
government control over
the smaU businesses,” he
said. “It’s putting them
out of business.”
See YATES, PageA4
Book signing to
raise funds for CIS
Phyllis Stump, award
winning author and
playwright, will have a
book signing of her most
recent novel “The Story
of a Mountain Midwife'
at Monkeez Brew, 32 E.
Main St., today from 4
to 7 p.m. Signed copies
cost $14, and $5 from
each book sold will be
donated to Communi
ties in Schools of Thom
asville.
For more information,
call (336) 474-4233 or
(336) 474-4245.
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