News & Record Article Feed

Editorial: David Wray’s lawsuit

dshelton — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:51 -0500

As if it needed it, the long-roiling controversy surrounding the Greensboro Police Department has received a fresh gust of momentum: Former Chief David Wray is suing the city and City Manager Mitchell Johnson.

Wray's lawsuit alleges that Johnson stripped his authority, locked him out of his office and ultimately forced him to resign in 2006 because he is white and because he had been pressured to do so by a powerful black political action committee, the George Simkins Memorial PAC.

Panthers' playoff exam is pass-fail

import — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

CHARLOTTE -- Carolina's much-maligned secondary will be tested again Saturday night when the Panthers (12-4) host their first playoff game in three years, against the pass-happy Arizona Cardinals (10-7).

It will be a rematch of an October game in Charlotte in which the Cardinals' Kurt Warner threw for 381 yards. It was the most yards passing given up by Carolina until the final week of the regular season, when Drew Brees of New Orleans torched their secondary for 386 yards.

Brinks offers reward in guard's death

mgrossman — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:34:16 -0500

GREENSBORO - Brinks Inc. is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed a guard outside Old Navy last month, Greensboro police said today.

Juan Esteban Salado, 25, was shot Dec. 15 in a robbery outside the store at Friendly Center at 3000 Northline Ave. Salado, an armored truck guard with Brinks, was shot about 10 a.m. in an ambush-style robbery after picking up bags containing bank deposits.

Hagan sworn in to U.S. Senate seat

mgrossman — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:13:05 -0500

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kay Hagan officially became a U.S. Senator at 12:15 p.m. today, taking the oath of office from Vice President Dick Cheney on the Senate floor.

Shortly before noon, Hagan arrived on the floor, waved to her husband and children sitting in the gallery, and greeted other senators, including West Virginia's Robert Byrd.

In an interview just before the swearing in ceremonies, Hagan said she would be thinking of her uncle, Lawton Chiles, who served as a U.S. senator from Florida.

"I know my Uncle Bud would be proud," Hagan said of Chiles.

DA: Officers who tasered man acted appropriately

mgrossman — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:27:31 -0500

GREENSBORO -- Police officers involved in an April traffic stop that ended in the suspect's death acted appropriately and within the law, District Attorney Doug Henderson stated today in a news release.

On April 22, Greensboro police officer A.C. Bell stopped Paul Edward Thompson Jr., 24, for speeding. Bell noticed an open bottle of beer and marijuana in Thompson's lap. Thompson was ordered out of the vehicle and handcuffed.

DA: N.C. A&T officials won't be charged

mgrossman — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:15:26 -0500

GREENSBORO - Guilford County District Attorney Doug Henderson will not prosecute officials from N.C. A&T in connection with misused funds discovered in a 2007 audit of the university's finances, Henderson announced Tuesday.

Neither former A&T Chancellor James C. Renick nor Anna Anita Huff, a program manager who was fired in September 2006, violated any laws or enriched themselves with the misused funds, Henderson said. Renick left the university in 2006 to take a position at the American Council on Education in Washington

Editorial: Paydays still a wheel of fortune for some frazzled N.C. workers

dshelton — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:13 -0500

A new payroll system that bungled state workers' pay last spring and summer is still wreaking havoc.

The system, ironically named BEACON, has shed more confusion than light since it was adopted by all state agencies.

Some employees still complain that they aren't always paid fully for the hours they've put in. Other have discovered that they've been paid too much.

"Imagine, two days before Christmas and $800 of your paycheck is missing," Lauren Jacobs of Central Regional Hospital told The News & Observer of Raleigh. "No notification, no nothing."

Paul Krugman: Fighting off economic depression

import — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:38 -0500

"If we don't act swiftly and boldly," declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, "we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment." If you ask me, he was understating the case.

The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren't lending; businesses and consumers aren't spending. Let's not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression.

Dudley’s stars thrill crowd at Coliseum

mfuchs — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:57:13 -0500

GREENSBORO - P.J. Hairston could feel the heat.

The free-throw-shooting contest during the finals of last weekend's Pizza Hut Invitational had come down to him and Dudley's other most valuable basketball player, Helen Terry. No matter how many times Hairston made a shot, he just couldn't shake this girl a foot shorter than him. As the crowd of several thousand got louder with every shot, Hairston had only one direction for himself: No eye contact.

"I was afraid I'd start laughing," he said.

William Kristol: Israeli success in Gaza would strengthen U.S. hand on Iran

import — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

The Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza is going to be a replay, we're told, of the attempt to subdue Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006. And the outcome, it's asserted, will be the same: lots of death and destruction, no strategic victory for Israel and a setback for all who seek peace and progress in the Middle East.

Obviously, war is an unpredictable business, so I say this with some trepidation: I think the conventional wisdom will be proved wrong. Israel could well succeed in Gaza.

Nicholas D. Kristof: If this isn't slavery, what is?

import — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:19 -0500

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Barack Obama's presidency marks a triumph over the legacy of slavery, so it would be particularly meaningful if he led a new abolitionist movement against 21st-century slavery -- like the trafficking of girls into brothels.

Anyone who thinks it is hyperbole to describe sex trafficking as slavery should look at the maimed face of a teenage girl, Long Pross.

Update: Amber Alert out of Danville, Va., canceled

rseals — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:59:59 -0500

DANVILLE, Va. — Police called off an Amber Alert after two children were found Monday night and reunited with their grandmother.

Danville, Va., police said they arrested Jennifer Masters Westcott, the mother of the two missing girls, at about 9:35 p.m. Monday. Officers found Westcott and her two daughters in an apartment at 234 Beavers Mill Road. Neither girl was hurt.

Officers arrested Westcott, 43, on an outstanding warrant for parental abduction. She is being held without bond in the city jail.

Two from area fill state Cabinet posts

Brenda Hiles — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

GREENSBORO - Two Piedmont Triad residents are going to Raleigh to lead state departments in charge of bringing business to North Carolina and preserving the state's treasures.

Gov.-elect Bev Perdue continued naming leaders of state departments, which on Monday included Linda Carlisle of Greensboro as secretary of cultural resources and Asheboro's Keith Crisco as secretary of commerce.

Perdue also named Gene Conti, former chief deputy in the Department of Transportation, as that agency's new secretary.

Dear Sen. Hagan: Remember us in Washington

David Hurt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

Kay Hagan, you've got a big day today.

You'll place your hand on your own Bible, and with 20 members of your family and closest friends around you in the storied halls of Capitol Hill, you'll become the first U.S. Senator to ever come from Greensboro.

It's a big deal. But you know that. You did what was generally considered unthinkable a year ago.

You beat out four rival Democrats, and you toppled one of the biggest names on The Hill - Elizabeth Dole, a native North Carolinian, a known power broker and wife of a popular former senator.

Ex-deputy chief sues city for lawyer fees

Brenda Hiles — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

GREENSBORO - Former Deputy Police Chief Randall Brady has sued the city of Greensboro for a second time.

Brady, who retired in 2005, is asking Greensboro to pay his legal bills for civil lawsuits brought by two police officers, according to a complaint filed Friday in Guilford County Superior Court.

Former Police Chief David Wray also sued the city, citing the same issue. Attorneys for Wray and Brady argue that the city has a policy of paying the legal defense of employees and should not make an exception for the former chief and deputy chief.

District court judges sworn in

David Hurt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

GREENSBORO - Monday afternoon in Courtroom 1C was not a normal session of Guilford District Court. Visitors seated in the gallery were smiling, laughing, waving and hugging. On both sides of the courtroom.

The cause for levity was a ceremonial court session to swear in nine sitting and three new district court judges.

The judges are the first Guilford District Court judges to take their ceremonial oaths in a district courtroom. Before last year's courthouse remodel, only superior courtrooms were large enough for the ceremony.

Chef, developer planning ritzy restaurant downtown

David Hurt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

GREENSBORO - One of the city's most popular chefs and one of its best-known developers will team up to open a new, white-tablecloth restaurant downtown.

Avenue will be the centerpiece tenant on the first floor of Center Pointe, Roy Carroll's $40 million rehab of the old Wachovia building on North Elm Street.

Carroll, who was out of town Monday, has not released an opening date for the luxury condo project but has said the first tenants will be moving in "in a matter of days."

City finalist for national skating event

David Hurt — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0500

GREENSBORO - The city's championship resumé for hosting major sporting events could grow in 2011 if the city gets to hit the ice with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Greensboro and Kansas City, Mo., have been named finalists to host the six-day event in January or early February 2011 - with the winning city anticipating a $30 million boost to its economy.

Controversial NBA star Josh Howard lends name to tourney

mfuchs — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:33:25 -0500

GREENSBORO - It's been a rough year to be Josh Howard - or at least Josh Howard's public image.

After a 2008 in which the NBA star from Winston-Salem spoke up for marijuana, spoke out against the national anthem and got ticketed for street racing, he'll open 2009 by attaching his name to a high school basketball showcase.

The Josh Howard Foundation will be the presenting sponsor of the seventh annual N.C. Scholastic Classic, a six-game event held on the Martin Luther King holiday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Greensboro convenience store robbed

John Newsom — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:15:10 -0500

GREENSBORO — A man looking to buy cigarettes stole money from a local convenience store early Monday.

Greensboro police said a man entered the Circle K at 2810 Pinecroft Road shortly before 6:30 a.m. Monday and asked for six cartons of cigarettes. The man put other items on the counter and started pacing the floor.

Police said the suspect then reached over the counter and grabbed money from the register. The man ran out of the store and drove off in what police said might have been a red Maza Protege.

School system sued for denying pacifist

John Newsom — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:17:31 -0500

NORTH WILKESBORO (AP) — The ACLU is suing a North Carolina school system it says has denied access to a pacifist who wants to talk to students about alternatives to the military.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Sally Ferrell represents North Carolina Peace Action and says Wilkes County schools haven't allowed her to present her message, even though military recruiters get time with students.

Ferrell wants to recruit for such groups as AmeriCorps, while also presenting information that might convince students not to choose the military.

Pizza delivery person robbed in Burlington

John Newsom — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:30:13 -0500

BURLINGTON — A man making a delivery for Papa John's Pizza was robbed Monday night by two men.

According to police, the driver was making a delivery at 305 Trail 3 at 9:28 p.m. when two men approached him. One of the suspects pulled out a handgun and ordered the delivery person to stop. The delivery person dropped the pizzas and ran off. The suspects grabbed the pizzas and ran off in a different direction.

Police did not identify the delivery driver, who was not hurt.

City's annual MLK breakfast is Jan. 19

John Newsom — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:02:17 -0500

GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Human Relations Commission will hold its annual memorial breakfast for the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 19.

The event will start at 7:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel At Four Seasons. Tickets are $20 each and will not be sold at the door. Call the City's Human Relations Department at 373-2038 for tickets.

High Point to discuss sex offender ban

mfuchs — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:04:07 -0500

High Point's public safety committee is expected to discuss a proposed ordinance to ban registered sex offenders from public parks at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Committee Chairman John Faircloth believes a recommendation to the city council may be made.

The city is considering the ordinance after the state Supreme Court upheld a similar law in Woodfin. Greensboro banned registered sex offenders from its parks last September.

The Wednesday meeting will be held in the manager's conference room on the third floor of the city municipal building, 211 S. Hamilton St.

Cost of water cleanup plan worries Elon

mfuchs — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:19:23 -0500

A state-mandated water cleanup plan with an $850 million price tag is sparking debate in local governments across Alamance County, the Town of Elon among them.

At Monday night's Board of Aldermen agenda session, board members discussed the possible long-term ramifications of the Jordan Lake Rules, established by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources in response to federal regulations requiring the reduction of nutrients (primarily phosphorous and nitrogen) in rivers and basins across the country.