TuesdayrNovember 2,2010
rtOMAl
THOMASVnJLE
Dr. David Lipschitz
discusses the
benefits of a good
night's sleep.
120th Year-No. 14 50 Cents
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mil Wiow. tvilletimes. com
HOMASVIL’ 27361)
Party chairs encourage voter participation
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
Come one, come all.
The 2010 General Elec
tion opens at poUs today,
featuring candidates for
local, state and national
races. Davidson County’s
more than 40 polls wUl
open at 6:30 a.m. and con
tinue to accept ballots un
til 7:30 p.m.
“It’s an American
right, everyone should
vote,” said Davidson
County Democrat Chair
Roy Hohnan. “It’s hard
to convince people. They
think their vote doesn’t
count, but it does. Some
times you can wm by just
a few votes. Everybody
should exercise the right
to vote.”
In early voting, 12,610
county citizens came out
to the polls said Ruth
Himeycutt of Davidson
County Board of Elec
tions, which totals about
11.6 percent registered
voters. In the Primary
Election held May 4,
about 20.5 percent of vot
ers cast ballots.
Huneycutt says the
numbers seem on par but
'The differences between the two par
ties have become much more ciear than
in the past, regardiess of which side
you're on.'
— Lance Barrett
Davidson County Republican Party Chair
a comparison isn’t exact
ly possible.
“I don’t have anything
to compare it to,” she
said, noting that the last
major election involved
a presidential candidate.
“You can’t compare it to
presidential elections.”
But despite the historic
low turnout in these so-
called off-year elections,
candidates and political
activities alike empha
size the continued impor
tance of every vote.
“It’s Important for ev
eryone to go vote so they
can make their voice
heard, regardless of
which side of the party
line they’re involved
with,” said Davidson
County Republican Par
ty Chair Lance Barrett.
“The differences between
the two parties have be
come much more clear
than in the past, regard-
. less of which side you’re
on,”
Himeycutt says she ex
pects about 32 to 33 per
cent turnout today, while
Holman hopes for closer
to 40 percent.
“This is an off election
somebody says,” Hohnari
said. “I don’t think so.,i
think every election 1^
very important, whethfeli
it’s the presidential elecr
Honor not.”
Holman says he thinks
Jason Hedrick, candidate
for County Cornmission-.
er, wlU draw a crowd given':
his name recognition and'
involvement in Extr^?^^;
Makeover: Home Edi|f(^
But both the Demi^lj;)
and Republican,
anticipate the most
motion aroimd the Hhgh
See VOTER, Pa^12
j
TMC events
to honor
veterans
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
Ever since 2002, when
less than a dozen people
braved a cold, wet No
vember morning, Thom-
asvUle Medical Center
has honored those who
served in the mOitary on
Veterans Day.
In the years that fol
lowed, TMC’s Veteran’s
Day tribute has grown
into the largest such event
in the Triad, attracting
servicemen and women
from all four branches of
the armed services. This
year, TMC also wUl honor
veterans with a special
presentation of “An Eve
ning of Music” where
aU the proceeds wUl go
toward helping mUltary
personnel a half a world
away.
“It’s really important to
us at TMC that we honor
our veterans,” Linda
See EVENTS, Page 6
INDEX
Weather
Health
Focus
Opinion
Obituaries
Sports
Classifieds
Today's Weather
2
3
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5
6
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10
Mostly cloudy, 57/40
UU £
TIMES PHOTO/LISA WALL
ML CHOiES
Joe Hubbard of Mendenhall Street in Thomasville gets a head start on some fall chores Monday afternoon by
clearing branches from tress and moving them to the curb.
County schools receives grant to
help lagging students graduate
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
LEXINGTON — Davidson County
Schools received the 2010 North Caro
lina Dropout Prevention Grant which
wUl be used to fund programs aimed
at getting lagging students back on
track to graduate.
The $175,000 grant will be used to
fund the Graduate With (your) Class
program, which serves students who
either lack the credits necessary to
graduate or have fallen behind the
class with which they entered high
school.
Budget cuts had threatened the pro
grams existence, but the grant money
wUl be able to continue to fund the
program.
“It helps to fray some things that
we’ve had with cuts in the budget,”
said Dr. Sandi Lee, assistant superin
tendent of public instruction. “We’d
be able to sustain that program.”
Graduate With (yoijr) Class puts
children in contact with one of six
student achievement coaches, one at
each of the county’s high schools. The
grant money wiU help fund a coach at
each of West, East and South David
son high schools.
The program hopes to reduce the
dropout rate to less than 4 percent for
the 2010-11 school year and less than 2
percent in four years.
And Davidson County Schools aren’t
too far off the mark.
In the 2003-10 school year, the system
had 258 dropouts for a total of 4.01 per
cent, although those statistics are un
official. That number was down from
See GRANT, Page 6
Carolina Canepi
Services lays ■
off three . i
employees J
BY ELIOT DUKE '
StaffWritef
Carolina Cancer Servic
es, citing difficult toan
clal time's, has lald^ff dfi
executive ^ectoj'is do'
nations for the nonprofli
have droppedpff.dramati
caUy m the past ygar.
Caron MyerjiCCis’ exec
utive director for the pdsi
year, and the' jionproflt’i
finance director ant
Spanish translator, wert
laid off recently while the
agency tries to continue
providing services to its
clients amidst the current
national recession. Like
many other, nonprofit
across the country, a lacl
of donations has forcec
CCS to make a choice be
tween maintaining steiff
or serving its community
“We just had to make
some changes, financial
ly” 'Mark Snyder, presi
dent of CCS’ board of dr
See SERVICES, Page 12
COURTESY PHOTO-
The Doctor is In?!
Doctors John McKinney and Sara Furr were in the Hal-"
loween spirit Friday as they, along with staff of Piedmont
Internal Medicine, dressed in costume for the day.
J Honoring Vetera^
I through this majt^
pro4uction!
ThomasvlW Medical Center Foundation presents
Afi *Emnhi^ Qf'Musio
Saturday 11/13 7pm • Sunday 11/14 3pm
Finch Auditorium, 406 Unity St., Thomasviite
Call to order tickets:
476-2526or
476-2881
Thomasville, North Carolina • Your Town. Your Times.