Tammy Holyfield
discusses how to
improve work
performance to help
avoid a layoff.
THOMASVILLE
Saturday, December 18,2010
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Thomasville Express gears up for ifinsport
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
Getting from point A to point B
just got a bit easier in the Chair
City.
Davidson County Transportation
(DCTS) will begin its new Thomas
ville Express fixed bus route on Jan.
3. With 36 stops, the bus — painted
white with an outline of a bulldog
— win run Monday through Satur
day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and wlU be
free to aU passengers.
“I’m weU satisfied the way it’s
going,” said Commissioner Don
TrueU, who has been working with
DCTS on the project for about six
to eight months. “It’s a win-win
thing. I hope people wUl take ad
vantage of it.”
The route beings at the Davidson
County Administrative BuUdmg
on Colonial Drive, loops around
down Randolph Street to WaMart,
over the railroad tracks and down
Salem to the park-and-ride lot and
back again. To keep the bus on
tune, TrueU says designers have
the route using the overpass and
the underpass to avoid crossing
railroad tracks.
The entire loop takes 40 min
utes, meaning If an individual gets
dropped off at 1 p.m. she can ex
pect the bus to return to that spot
at about 1:40 p.m.
“Our target was a turnaround
time less than an hoiu,” said
George Hodges, transportation
manager. “Studies have shown that
anything more than that, you see
negative returns in ridership.”
Fundingfor the bus came through
High Poult Transit Authority, stip
ulating the money be used m the
ThomasvUle-half of the county.
“ThomasvUle is part of the High
Poltyt Transit Authority’s Metro
politan Planning Organization,”
Hodges said. “They received some
stimulus funds, and we were able
See EXPRESS, PageA6
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE'
Commissioner DonTruell stands next to the Thomasville
Express Friday.
State ranked
No. 1 in jobs
lost in month
of November
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
North Carolina led the
country in job growth in
November, only it was on
the wrong end of the eco
nomic spectrum.
Statistics released by
the Employment Securi
ty Commission of North
Carolina Friday reported
the state’s unemployment
rate rose slightly to 9.7
percent m November. The
latest numbers show that
North Carolina ranked
first in the United States
m terms of job loss, as
the number of unem
ployed people across the
state increased by 4,886
workers.
“We’ve obviously had
better months this year,”
ESC spokesperson Larry
Parker said, “But this
is a snapshot of Novem
ber. We’re going to have
months where we lose
jobs. It’s going to hap
pen. Unfortunately for
See JOBS, Page A4
INDEX
Weather
A2
Focus
A3
Opinion
A5
Obituaries
A6
Religion
A8
Sports
B1
Business
B8
Mostly Cloudy, 42/30
^ ,3 uuz
TIMES PHOTO/ELIOT DUKE
Carson Myers from Quality Hardware on Randolph Street fills up a 100-pound propane tank as Wes and Don
Creasey look on. The price of propane is now $3.41 a gallon.
Bringing the Heat
Home heating costs on the rise, just in time for winter
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
With December shaping out to
be one of the coldest m recent
memory, Chair City residents
have started heating their homes
a little earlier than normal this
year.
Before winter officially be
gins on Dec. 21, Thomasville
residents can take a few steps to
ensure their home stays warm
while saving a few dollars m the
process. Doug Hunt, co-owner of
Palmer’s Heating and Air at 802
Bryan St., said one of the easi
est things a homeowner can do is
preventive maintenance, mean
ing having a professional check
out the house’s heating system to
see If everything is working the
way it should,
“It’s the number one thing
people can do,” Hunt said. “Also
make sure to get your duct sys
tem Inspected and checked for
air loss. That could save you
quite a bit of money.”
Hunt also recommends hav
ing a home’s insulation checked,
both imderneath and above the
house. For those with a little ex
tra money. Hunt said adding in
sulation inside walls is another
way to increase one’s savings
during winter months.
'For homeowners to
run the temperature
up and down is costing
them a ton of money.'
— Doug Hunt
Palmer’s Heating and Air
“Insulation is probably one of
the biggest money savers a hom
eowner can put into their house, ”
Hunt said. “It’s a little costly put
ting insulation in the walls, but
with the money you save, you get
paid back pretty quick.”
Keeping the thermostat set on a
comfortable temperature, rather
than changing it on a daily basis,
also wUl lead to savings on heat.
Hunt advises people to decide on
a temperature for the home and
leave it there. It’s also a good idea
to close aU crawl spaces and un
used vents, and replace air filters
throughout the home.
“For homeowners to run the
temperature up and down is
costing them a ton of money,”
Hunt said. “Especially with heat
pumps,”
Modern heat pumps are being
used in many of the new homes,
but some people stUl rely on oil
and propane. Wes Creasey spent
part of Friday afternoon at Qual
ity Hardware on Randolph Street
filling up the 100-pound propane
tank he uses to keep a guest bed
room warm in case of an emer
gency. Filling up the tank cost
Creasey $84.51, which was con
siderably higher than last win
ter. The price of propane jumped
from $3.19 to $3,41 a gallon in the
See HEAT, Page A4
Board tables
Farmland
Protection
Plan Tuesday
BYERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
LEXINGTON — Da
vidson County Commis
sioners voted to table
a proposed Davidson
County Farmland Protec
tion Plan for 90 days after
much criticism and de
bate at its Tuesday night
meeting.
The board voted 4-3 to
set the plan aside and
requested the Davidson
County Voluntary Agri
cultural District Board
— which developed the
Farmland Protection
Plan — to meet with
stakeholders and rede
sign a document more
specific to the area.
“I don’t see this as a
Davidson County plan,”
said Commissioner Fred
McClure, the key board
member in tabling the is
sue. “I think we need to
get the stakeholders that
are represented in this
plan already and we need
to get those stakehold
ers together and look at
what’s in here. We need
to focus this plan and
make it Davidson Coun
ty’s plan.”
Designed as a tool to
promote the county’s ag
ricultural and forest in
dustries, the Farmland
Protection Plan high
lights local conditions
and recommends actions
to improve the future of
those fields.
“One of the key rea
sons that the Voluntary
District Advisory Board
chose to develop the plan
is to improve the county’s
opportunity to obtain
funding and support for
projects that may provide
infrastructure for these
particular agricultural
industries,” said Andy
Miller of the Soil and Wa
ter Department. “There
are some gaps in the state
Right to Farm ordinance
that can leave producers
See PLAN, Page A4
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