Tuesday, March 23, 2009, Forest City, N.C.

Chase fallsBurns upended Chase, 6-0, in an SMAC confer-ence girls soccer match on Monday ar Chase

Page 7

50¢

County in pilot school health program — Page 3

Health care stocks give lift to markets

Page 11

Low: $2.71High: $2.81Avg.: $2.76

NATION

GAS PRICES

SPORTS

Big men are giving Duke an extra push

Page 7

DEATHS

WEATHER

RutherfordtonBill HopperJames Watson

Golden ValleyDan Mason

ElsewhereSue ButtsDot LawsonArgel CanipeKermit Harris

Page 5

Today, mostly sunny. Tonight, clear.

Complete forecast, Page 10

Vol. 41, No. 29

Classifieds. . . 14-15Sports . . . . . . . . 7-9County scene . . . .6Opinion. . . . . . . . .4

INSIDE

High

63Low

41

Now on the Web: www.thedigitalcourier.com

Sports

By LARRY DALEDaily Courier Staff Writer

FOREST CITY — A number of vari-ables come into play when deciding whether to refinance a mortgage.

These variables are the difference between a winning or a losing situation for homeowners.

There are potential benefits to refinanc-ing, but there are also costs involved.

The Federal Reserve Board’s guide,

“A Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Refinancings,” notes, “It is not unusual to pay 3 percent to 6 percent of your outstanding principal in refinancing fees. These expenses are in addition to any prepayment penalties or other costs for paying off any mortgages you might have.”

The guide also says, “When you refi-nance, you pay off your existing mort-gage and create a new one. You may even decide to combine both a primary

mortgage and a second mortgage into a new loan. Refinancing may remind you of what you went through in obtaining your original mortgage, since you may encoun-ter many of the same procedures—and the same types of costs—the second time around.”

Unfortunately for many homeowners, at the same time that mortgage rates are falling, so is equity in their homes.

Please see Option, Page 6

Firefighters look into an attic after venting a fire at the home of Mark Padgett (far left) and his two children, Big Island Road at the Poor’s Ford Road intersec-tion Monday afternoon. SDO, Sandy Mush and Cliffside firefight-ers responded to the attic fire, that caused extensive damage to the Padgett’s home. Son, Joseph Padgett, dis-covered the fire when he came home for lunch. The American Red Cross also responded offer-ing emergency help to the family.

By JEAN GORDONDaily Courier Staff Writer

FOREST CITY — Two armed robberies Sunday at two retail stores have Forest City Police, Rutherfordton Police and Rutherford County Sheriff’s Deputies working together to locate suspects involved in the rob-beries.

The incidents are the second and third armed robberies in Rutherford County in the past nine days, a fact some officers can’t recall in decades.

“I do not remember three armed robberies like this,” said Assistant Police Chief Bob Ward in Forest City.

A clerk at Family Dollar, 428 Main Street, Ellenboro, told sheriff’s deputies someone came into the store at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday and shopped for laundry detergent. When they were pay-

Please see Robberies, Page 3

By SCOTT BAUGHMAN and JEAN GORDONDaily Courier Staff Writers

FOREST CITY — Hailed on one side as a victory and on the other as a crush-ing defeat for America, President Barack Obama’s health care bill passed a bitterly divided Congress Sunday. The outcome was also met with division in Rutherford

County.“I have no idea how I’m going to be able

to afford my health care now,” said Kyle Atchley of Union Mills.

“First, our health care,” said Rebecca Fountain of Forest City. “Then, our

food — like, Pepsi’s low-sodium, low sugar campaign. At what point, will we not have to make choices for ourselves? Sooner than we think.”

“I’ve not read the bill personally, but from other sources I think the only ones this bill helps are families and people that

Please see Mixed, Page 6

FIRE DAMAGES HOUSE

Refinancing option must be studied

Health care reactions mixed

At what point, will we not have to make choices for our-selves?

— Rebeccca Fountain

... I think the only ones this bill helps are fami-lies and people that can-not get insurance...

— Charles Miller

I think it’ll take a year to really work it all out. I was not happy it passed.

— Hunt Cowan

Editor’s note: This is the seventh part of The Daily Courier’s 10-part series on weathering the recession. The series will be pub-lished each Tuesday.

Two stores struck by armed robbers

See related stories on Pages 13 and 14

Jean Gordon/ Daily Courier

1/front

2 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

LocaL/StateREVITALIZATION MEETING TONIGHT

DRUGS TURNED IN

Contributed photoOperation Medicine Drop, an effort to dispose of unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medications, took in 17,021½ pills on Saturday in Rutherford County. The pills were dropped off by citizens from noon to 4 p.m. at the Forest City Fire Department, at Food Lion in Rutherfordton and at the Lake Lure Fire Department. Sheriff Jack Conner on Monday said he was very pleased with the large turnout and added that he hoped to hold such events every few months to safely dispose of potentially dangerous medications that could end up in the wrong hands. Shown here, from left, with some of the pills taken in at the Forest City Fire Department, are Karen Long-Moore of Drug Treatment Court in Rutherford and McDowell coun-ties, Detective Sgt. Kelly Aldridge of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, and Lt. Chris Lovelace of the Forest City Police Department.

Jean Gordon/Daily CourierResidents of Gypsy Street and prospective new homeowners are invited to a public meeting today at Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at New Bethel AME Zion Church, Forest City, to discuss a neighborhood revitalization process and owning a new home. This brick mason works on a Gypsy Street home, building an underpinning and crawl space for the home owner. Funds are available to build new homes and renovate others. The meeting is hosted by the Rutherford County Housing Initiative.

She’s informed. Are you? Read

GREENSBORO (AP) — Students at a North Carolina university have created a Web site that lets those who lived in Greensboro’s textile villages share their experiences.

The News & Record of Greensboro reported that stu-dents at the University of North

Carolina at Greensboro cre-ated the site called “Community Threads: Remembering the Cone Mill Villages.”

Former mill village residents are able to share their experi-ences and photos at a series of events that began last week and continue into April. One will be held Sunday afternoon at a read-

ing at First Friends Meeting.The textile project is in its sec-

ond year and is the work of a group of 10 museum studies stu-dents.

Greensboro had five mill vil-lages until 1957, when Cone Mills began selling the houses. Only one operates today.

From staff reports

FOREST CITY — Rutherford County has been named one of 16 counties that will pilot the “Healthy and Ready to Learn” initiative.

The North Carolina “Healthy and Ready to Learn” (HRL) Partnership will identify uninsured children who are entering kindergarten and are eligible for Medicaid or N.C. Health Choice.

“When our children enter public school, we need to ensure that they are healthy and ready to learn,” said North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue. “This ini-tiative will help us reach out to more young chil-dren across North Carolina to make sure they are receiving the care and coverage they need.”

Gov. Perdue has asked the N.C. Pediatric Society Foundation to lead the HRL Partnership, which is a coalition of physicians, school nurses, School Health Advisory Councils, state agencies, Local Education Agencies and community-based stake-holders.

Other key partners in the HRL initiative include: the School Nurses Association of North Carolina, N.C. Healthy Start Foundation, Action for Children, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Rural Health and Community Care, N.C. Healthy Schools, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, the Office of the Governor and the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians.

Year one of HRL will begin with the pilot coun-ties and in year two expand statewide to all 4 and 5 year old children. The initiative is funded by a $678,210 grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in October 2009.

To identify uninsured children entering kinder-garten in Rutherford County Schools, there will be a place for parents to denote what type of insur-ance, if any, their child has on the kindergarten assessment forms, said Assistant Superintendent Janet Mason. School nurses will also be helping to identify children, she said.

The other pilot counties for HRL are Cleveland, Columbus, Cumberland, Davidson, Edgecombe, Gaston, Halifax, Harnett, Lenoir, Pitt, Randolph, Robeson, Vance, Wayne and Wilson counties.

County will be in pilot of school health program

UNC-G students do textile history

2/

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LocaL/state

ing for the detergent, they pointed handguns at the clerk.

Rutherford County Sheriff Jack Conner said the clerk told deputies two black males, wearing hoodie sweatshirts and clear tape across their faces to hide their identities, were each carrying a hand gun. When they approached the clerk, they demanded money from her cash drawer and then a second cash drawer.

While one suspect went outside of the store, the other demanded the clerk go to the store safe and open it. Conner said the clerk tried to delay opening the safe as long as possible, before handing over the cash.

When suspects left, they made the woman go to the back of the store. She was not physically harmed.

The Dollar General, W. Main Street, Forest City, was robbed at about 8:40 p.m. Sunday, Lt. Chris Lovelace reported. Officers were told a black male approached the cashier to pay for an item and then drew a handgun and robbed her. He also took the money from the safe.

Lovelace said the suspect is described as a black male, 6 ft. tall weighing 180 pounds, slim build and short black hair. He was wearing a black hat, orange shirt, black coat and a fur-trimmed hood pulled up.

The suspect made the woman walk out of the store with him. She was unharmed physically and was not made to go anywhere with the sus-pect.

Lovelace said officers are unsure if there was another suspect outside the store.

“There are similarities between the ABC Store robbery (March 12) and the recent two robberies,” Lovelace said. “We are still looking into that to see in fact, if we can show the same person did all three. There are simi-larities in the description.”

Ward said the suspect who robbed the ABC store was described as a black male who is 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall. He was wearing a dark coat with a hood, blue jeans and tan boots. The robbery occurred just before closing time, March 12, at 8 p.m.

Ward said another customer was in the store when the robber entered, so the suspect waited for that customer to leave before he walked up to the counter with a bottle, set it down and then came around the counter hold-ing a gun and took money from the two cash registers.

The two female employees who were in the store at the time were

told to leave the store and walk toward Oak Street. The robber then left in the direction of Hardin Road. They flagged down passing motorists to report the robbery.

Except for the need for cash, offi-cers aren’t sure of any other motives for the robberies.

Lovelace said the state of the econ-omy could be a factor. “The way the economy is, the past news, people are involved in crimes (who haven’t been before). More and more people are reverting to crimes and that is not the way to go,” he said.

Lovelace said Forest City, Rutherfordton and Rutherford County law enforcement agents met Monday morning to talk about the cases.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to contact the Forest City Police Department at 245-5555 or the Tip Line at (828) 245-7771 or mytip@forestcitypd.com or the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Dept.

Staff writer Larry Dale also contributed to this story.

Contact Gordon via e-mail at jgordon@thedigitalcourier.com.

Jean Gordon/Daily CourierThis Dollar General on W. Main Street in Forest City, was robbed at gunpoint Sunday at approximately 8:40 p.m. Earlier Sunday, Family Dollar in Ellenboro was also robbed at gunpoint. The two retail store robberies and an ABC Store robbery nine days ago in Forest City, are under investigation by Forest City Police and Rutherford County Sheriff’s officers. There are similarities in the cases, officers said.

RobberiesContinued from Page 1

FOREST CITY — Forest City Chief Jay Jackson suggests the following to all retail business clerks/employees in Forest City.

n If approached by these sus-pects, or any other suspects, cooperate with them so they will get out as fast as possible; so far the suspects have not displayed a use of force. Do whatever it takes to get them out.

n The manager should limit the access to the office or where the safe is located; this will limit the likelihood of the business being victimized again.

n If anyone sees a suspicious person in the store, call the police department immediately. Better safe than sorry.

Jackson also said in a proac-tive note for his department. “We will be going inside, not just the marked units, but the investiga-tive force and plains clothes staff on a regular basis. We will be keeping an eye on the business.”

Sheriff Jack Conner said any-one in retail stores should keep their eyes and ears open for any suspicious person or activity and report it.

What to do

Speed blamed for wreckMARION (AP) — Two North

Carolina men have been killed when their sports car slid into the path of another vehicle, injuring a Florida couple.

Multiple media outlets reported Monday that 23-year old Jeremy Bolick of Lenoir and 20-year-old passenger Charles Thomas Wright of Blowing Rock died Sunday near Marion. Blowing Rock Fire and Rescue said the men were volunteer firefighters attending a training course in McDowell County.

Highway Patrol Trooper Thomas Brewer says the two died at the scene on U.S. 221 when their speeding Ford Mustang slipped on wet pavement.

Brewer says Cynthia and Jeffrey Bassett of Flagler Beach, Fla., were in a car that struck the Mustang at the front passenger door.

One killed in chase crashCHARLOTTE (AP) — Charlotte-

Mecklenburg Police say one person has been killed in a crash after a brief chase by the Highway Patrol.

Highway Patrol Sgt. J.E. Brewer told The Charlotte Observer that the accident happened less than a min-ute after the chase started Saturday night.

Brewer said 25-year-old Latia Antoinette Winchester died when her car was hit by a second car driven by 41-year-old Eddie Bernard Ellison.

Brewer said Ellison’s car was being chased by a Highway Patrol car after it did a U-turn to avoid a license checkpoint.

Ellison and a passenger in his car were taken to a local hospital with injuries.

Winchester’s car hit the side of a house after the crash; Ellison’s hit a telephone pole.

MacDonald appeals againRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The sen-

sational murder case that spawned the book and TV miniseries “Fatal Vision” is back before a federal appeals court in Virginia.

It’s been 40 years since Army doc-tor Jeffrey MacDonald’s wife and two young daughters were slain in their home at Fort Bragg, N.C. MacDonald, who is serving three life

terms, has always maintained his innocence. He says four drug-crazed hippies knocked him unconscious and killed his family.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond will hear arguments Tuesday on whether MacDonald deserves a new trial. MacDonald claims he has new evidence, includ-ing DNA tests and sworn statements by two people who are now dead, supporting his claim of innocence.

Man loses lawsuitGRAHAM (AP) — A former execu-

tive for a private North Carolina lab-oratory that provided DNA testing in the Duke lacrosse rape case has lost a lawsuit challenging his firing.

The Times-News of Burlington reported that Superior Court Judge J.B. Allen Jr. on Friday dismissed the lawsuit by former DNA Security Inc. director Brian Meehan. The Burlington company said it terminat-ed Meehan in 2007 for “just cause.”

The lab’s initial report omitted the fact that evidence collected from the accuser matched none of the Duke lacrosse players who underwent DNA testing.

Meehan later testified the lab’s report was tailored to suit former District Attorney Mike Nifong.

Court hears ed rights caseRALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina’s

Supreme Court is again considering how much the state’s Constitution protects a student’s right to educa-tion.

An attorney for two former Beaufort County high school sopho-mores suspended after a fight argued Monday that their actions did not give the school district the right to strip them of access to education.

Viktoria King and Jessica Hardy were suspended for five months and denied access to an alternative school in the area.

An attorney for the Beaufort County Schools superintendent said the students temporarily forfeited their education rights through mis-conduct.

North Carolina’s top court ruled in 1997 that the state Constitution gives each child a right to a “sound basic education.”

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4 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

■ A daily forum for opinion, commentary and editorials on the news that affects us all.

Jodi V. Brookshire/ publisherSteven E. Parham/ executive editor

601 Oak Street, P.O. Box 1149,Forest City, N.C. 28043Phone: 245-6431 Fax: 248-2790E-mail: dailycourier@thedigitalcourier.com

In Rutherford County these days, it seems there are a lot of reasons for people to be gloomy, but not all

the news is bad.We just have to look around us to see

that during these difficult times, people are still trying to better their lives and to help neighbors in need.

Much of this upbeat spirit can be attributed to all those people who vol-unteer their money and their time to help others.

When food drives are held, people donate and others give time to help dis-tribute the aid.

When people need help on their homes, there are people willing to lend a hand.

These examples could go on, but the point is that people in this community are not ready to give up.

It is this spirit that we will need even more as we continue to try to rebuild our community.

We may be down, but we are not out, and that is a distinction that makes all the difference.

Our Views

Positive attitude will be critical

Our readers’ viewsSays people should try the Retro Cinema

To the editor:I am a movie fanatic and I have

been going to movies in Shelby and Spartanburg,

I decided last week to try the Retro Cinema in Forest City.

The picture and sound was very good, the place was clean, and the staff and owner were very friendly.

And to think of all that money I spent on gas, when we have an excellent theater in our own county.

People should give it a try. I am sure they won’t be disappointed. In fact, I was pleasantly sur-prised.

Besides, we should be spending the money in our own county, not someone else’s.

Gerald Melton Forest City

Urges people to take fire ants seriously

To the editor:In the March 5 story “Fire ant

threat continues to rise in coun-ty,” the newspaper discussed the recently updated fire ant quaran-tine.

The North Carolina Pest Management Association applauds the efforts of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture for taking the step of expanding a quarantine meant to suppress the movement of fire ants across the state.

Fire ants are a problem that continues to grow in our state, and they are the type of pest that

the average person cannot effec-tively treat on their own.

Fire ants build large mounds in the soil and near structural foun-dations.

These pests pose a problem to humans because they can cause multiple, painful stings when their nests are disturbed or threatened.

Fire ants are difficult to treat with home remedies because the entire colony must be killed, or it will simply move to another loca-tion.

Our association urges hom-eowners to call a professional pest management company when treating fire ant nests.

To find a qualified and trained pest management company, please contact NCPMA at www.ncpestmanagement.org.

Lee SmithN.C. Pest Management

Association

Thanks writer for his letter about lawsuit

To the editor:I would like to thank Roger

“Buck” Petty for his recent thoughts concerning the TJCA vs: RCS issue.

Buck deserves our gratitude and respect for a lifelong commitment to education in our County. I trust his knowledge and interpre-tation of this issue.

Tragically, greed may cause the elimination of Head Start, a pro-gram vital to many underprivi-leged in our County.

This is somewhat ironic in that TJCA’s namesake, Thomas

Jefferson, was chief among those of his day in championing rights of the less fortunate over those of the much more educated, well-born, rich or powerful.

Does anyone really believe that our third President would sup-port TJCA in this endeavor? I mean really TJCA? Really!

In closing, may I respond to J. Treehorn of Boiling Springs who doesn’t understand why his/her comments offend some in Rutherford County.

Although the sky is blue in both our counties, the sky doesn’t pay Rutherford County taxes.

In fact, neither does any-one from Cleveland County. I support your right to address any forum you wish, but you must understand that this is a Rutherford County issue.

Never would I have the audacity to interfere in a Cleveland Co. tax issue.

Ron AtchleyForest City

Bentonville and the ever changing lessons of history“It was the largest Civil

War battle fought in North Carolina and the last major Confederate attack on Union forces, but its importance is still under-recognized,” Civil War expert Fred Kiger told a group sponsored by the UNC-Chapel Hill Alumni Association visiting the Bentonville Battlefield last week.

Along with tens of thou-sands of other visitors, the Chapel Hill group watched several thousand “re-enac-tors” in the uniforms of Federal and Confederate sol-diers dramatically recreating a portion of the battle.

If you missed this amaz-ing production, you will get another chance in March 2015 on the occasion of the battle’s 150th anniversary.

In the meantime, the bat-tlefield, a State Historic Site, with excellent interpretive exhibits, is one of the best ways to confront our Civil War heritage.

Who, you may be asking, cares about such old history?

Lots of people.Ask folks at North

Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction what hap-pened when word got out that they were considering focusing 11th grade history on events beginning in 1877.

They learned that many North Carolinians think that study of the Civil War era is critical to an understanding our historic heritage.

Speaking to a group of Chapel Hill students recent-ly, the former British ambas-sador to the United States, Sir Christopher Meyer, said a familiarity with the historic experiences of Great Britain in Iraq and Afghanistan might have helped the lead-ers of his country and the

United States keep from making the same mistakes again.

What then are the lessons to be gained from a study of history? To a certain extent, it depends on who writes the history.

For instance, the Texas Board of Education has been in the news recently for its proposals to revise the social studies curriculum to put conservative ideas, leaders, and activities more positively and completely.

When liberals write history, their values have influence, too. The way they write his-tory suggests the lessons they want us to learn from it.

The narratives of history and its lessons also change to reflect the values and condi-tions of the times in which they are written.

We will be testing this assertion during the next five years as we celebrate—no, that’s the wrong word, we should say, commemorate—the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the Civil War.

I remember the centennial of that war back in the early 1960s.

Celebration was a big part of the remembrance. Robert Cook, author of Troubled Commemoration: The American Civil War Centennial, 1961-1965” says that it “celebrated the com-mon courage of northern and southern whites and derided Reconstruction as an ill-conceived attempt to impose racial equality on gallant ex-Confederates” while it “downplayed” events like “emancipation and Lincoln’s use of African American troops, which dominated the marginalized black folk memory of the Civil War.”

Cook also says that some southerners “sensed they could use the centen-nial to foster a distinctive Confederate memory that would bolster resistance to integration.”

So, a proper subject for today’s historians is how we commemorated the Civil War 50 years ago at the same

time the heated struggle for Civil Rights was dividing the nation again.

All these things make me wonder how the lessons of Civil War history will be different for us this time around.

North Carolina already has a Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee.

Its mission is to develop “activities to commemorate, in an appropriate and histor-ically accurate manner, the richness, diversity, and sig-nificance of the state’s par-ticipation in and contribu-tions to the American Civil War… and to transform the interpretation of the events for a new generation.”

Observing how that “trans-formation” of our interpre-tation of Civil War history takes place might turn out to be even more interesting than last week’s activities at the Bentonville Battlefield.

Martin is host of UNC-TV’s North Carolina Bookwatch.

D.G. Martin

One on One

The Daily Courier would like to publish letters from readers on any subject of timely interest.

All letters must be signed. Writers should try to limit their submis-sions to 300 words. All letters must include a day and evening telephone number.

The editors reserve the right to edit letters for libelous content. All submissions should be sent to The Editor, P.O. Box 1149, Forest City, NC, 28043.

Letters may also be submitted via e-mail at dailycourier@thedigital-courier.com or via our website at thedigitalcourier.com

Letter PoLicy

4/

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010 — 5

LocaL/obituaries

Bill HopperBarney “Bill” Hoover

Hopper, 81, of Rutherfordton, died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at the VA Medical Center in Asheville.

A native of Rutherford County, he was a son of the late James Otto and Vada Jenkins Hopper.

He was a member of Kistler’s Chapel United Methodist Church, where he was a member of the choir, taught the adult men’s Sunday School class, and was a church lay leader. Mr. Hopper worked at the for-mer Union Trust Company in Forest City. He was also a U.S. Postal mail car-rier for Forest City and Rutherfordton, and worked at North State Gas Company as well.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Hopper of the home; one daughter, Lisa Hopper Epley of Columbus; one son, Mike Hopper of Villa Rica, Ga.; and two step-grandchil-dren.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Kistler’s Chapel United Methodist Church with the Revs. Ad Hopper and Ricky Johnson officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with mili-tary honors accorded by the Rutherford County Honor Guard. The family will receive friends Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at McMahan’s Funeral Home.

The family will be at the home, 900 Hopper Road, Rutherfordton.

Memorials can be made to Kistler’s Chapel UMC, Building Fund, 3060 Poors Ford Road, Rutherfordton, NC 28139.

Online condolences www.mcmah-ansfuneralhome.com.

Kermit HarrisHenry Kermit Harris,

83, of Boiling Springs, died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at Cleveland Regional Medical Center.

A native of Cleveland County, he was a son of the late Bonner and Ester Bridges Harris, also preced-ed in death by his wife, Edith Branch Harris.

He was a member of Trinity Baptist Church, a Navy vet-eran of World War II, and retired from Fiber Industries.

He is survived by one son, Kenny Harris of Boiling Springs; three daughters, Cheryl Harris-Cole and Angela Schena, of Kings Mountain, and Denise McKee of Boiling Springs; one brother, Jerry Harris of Boiling Springs; one sis-ter, Walda Allen of Boiling Springs; 13 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Graveside services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Cleveland Memorial Park with the Rev. Dennis Hester officiat-ing. Military honors will be accorded by the Rutherford County Honor Guard. Visitation will follow the ser-vice at the graveside.

McKinney-Landreth Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences www.mckin-neylandrethfuneral home.com.

Dot LawsonDorothy “Dot” Terry

Lawson, 74, of 1025 Sam Lattimore Road, Shelby, died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at White Oak Manor, Kings Mountain.

A native of Rutherford County, she was a daughter of the late Gaither and May Erwood Terry, and also pre-ceded in death by her hus-band, Glen Green Lawson.

She was a homemaker.She is survived by three

sons, Wayne Lawson, Scott Lawson, and Andy Lawson, all of Shelby; one daugh-ter, Barbara Jenkins of Ellenboro; and three grand-children.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday at The A.C. McKinney Memorial Chapel of McKinney-Landreth Funeral Home. Burial will follow in The Morrow Family Cemetery. Visitation is

Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the funeral home.

At other times, the fam-ily will be at the home of Barbara and Bryan Jenkins, 171 Solomon Trail, Ellenboro.

Online condolences www.mckin-neylandrethfuneralhome.com.

James WatsonJames Watson, 62,

of Rutherfordton, died Monday, March 22, 2010, at Rutherford Hospital.

Arrangements are incom-plete and will be announced by McMahan’s Funeral Home.

Dan MasonDan Lee Mason, 48, of

Jonestown Road, Golden Valley, died Monday, March 22, 2010, at Main Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Tex.

Arrangements are incom-plete and will be announced by Washburn & Dorsey Funeral Home.

Sue ButtsSue Butts, 48, of Pineland

Road, Walterboro, S.C., died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at the Trident Hospital in Summersville, S.C.

Arrangements are incom-plete and will be announced by Harrelson Funeral Home.

Argel CanipeArgel Morrison Canipe, 71

of 280 Barnes Road, Union Mills, formerly of 326 St. Paul Church Road, died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at Hospice House in Forest City.

Born in Cleveland County, she was a daughter of the late Johnnie Franklin Morrison and Bessie Walker Morrison.

She retired from Hoechst Celanese and was a mem-ber of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, D.H. Canipe.

She is survived by two sons, Bobby Canipe and Jerry Canipe, both of Lawndale; a daughter, Rita O’Brien of Union Mills; two brothers, Donald Morrison of Vale, and Carmie Morrison of Rhodhiss; a sister, Leonia Bradshaw of Lawndale; two step-grandchildren; and a step-great-grandchild.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, Lawndale, with the Revs. Scott Owen and Jackie Price officiating. Burial will fol-low in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Rutherford County, P.O. Box 336, Forest City, NC 28043.

Stamey Funeral Home, Fallston, is in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences www.stamey-funeralhome.com.

Frederick Heineman RALEIGH (AP) — Fred-

erick Heineman, a law enforcement veteran who served as Raleigh’s police

chief for 15 years before being elected to Congress, died Saturday. He was 80.

Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue announced Heineman’s death in a news release Sunday morning.

A U.S. Marine Corps veter-an, Heineman served on the New York City police force for a quarter-century before becoming Raleigh police chief in 1979, according to his congressional biography.

Heineman retired as chief in 1994 to run for the 4th District House seat. The Republican won, squeaking past four-term Democratic Rep. David Price by 1,215 votes. However, Price ulti-mately won back his seat in the Democratic-leaning dis-trict in 1996.

“His work in law enforce-ment helped make the Capital City one of the best places in the country to live and raise a family,” Price said in a statement Sunday. “His colleagues in Congress well understood his com-mitment to public safety; he was known on Capitol Hill as ‘The Chief.’

Stweart UdallSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) —

Stewart Udall, an elder in a famed political family who led the Interior Department as it promoted an expansion of public lands and helped win passage of major envi-ronmental laws, has died at the age of 90.

During his 1961-1968 ten-ure as interior secretary, Udall sowed the seeds of the modern environmental movement. He later became a crusader for victims of radiation exposure from the government’s Cold War nuclear programs.

President Obama praised Udall’s service.

Udall, brother of the late 15-term congressman Morris Udall, served six years in Congress as a Democrat from Arizona, and then headed the Interior Department from 1961 through 1968 under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. His son Tom and nephew Mark also became congressmen, then both were elected to the Senate in 2008.

Udall helped write several of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation, includ-ing the Wilderness Act of 1964, which protects millions of acres from logging, mining and other development.

More than 60 additions were made to the National Park system during the Udall years, including Canyonlands National Park in Utah, North Cascades National Park in Washington, Redwood National Park in California and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail stretch-ing from Georgia to Maine.

Sheriff’s Reportsn The Rutherford County

Sheriff’s Office responded to 229 E-911 calls Saturday and Sunday.

n A member of Henrietta First Baptist Church reported burglary and forc-ible entry; $500 in building materials were taken.n William Robert West

reported damage to property.n Anthony Roberson

reported the theft of a moun-tain bike, valued at $150.n Jeremy Walters reported

damage to property.n John Pitts reported a

breaking and entering; elec-tronics were taken.n Monica Mauney reported

a broken window.n Ellen Emory reported a

breaking and entering to an outbuilding.n Jenny Harbin reported

the larceny of several items, valued at nearly $3,000.n Elsie Brackett reported a

burglary/forcible entry; near-ly $500 in items were stolen.

Rutherfordtonn The Rutherfordton Police

Department responded to 77 E-911 calls Saturday and Sunday.n William Thomas

Stallings Jr. reported the theft of money.n Dennis Ray Yelton Sr.

reported an animal com-plaint.n Keela Denice Blanton

reported an assault with a deadly weapon.

Spindalen The Spindale Police

Department responded to 53 E-911 Saturday and Sunday.

Lake Luren The Lake Lure Police

Department responded to one E-911 call Saturday and Sunday.

Forest Cityn The Forest City Police

Department responded to 95 E-911 calls Saturday and Sunday.

n An employee of B&D Thrift and Loan reported an incident of obtain property by false pretense.n Rodney Grantt reported

an incident of fraud.n Wilford McDowell

reported a breaking and entering and larceny.n An employee of Hibbett

Sports reported a larceny. (See arrest of Wilkins.)n An employee of Dollar

General reported an armed robbery and assault by point-ing a gun.n An officer of the Forest

City Police Department reported an incident of found property.n Tammy Scalf reported an

incident of lost/stolen prop-erty.n An employee of Drop-in

No. 3 reported a larceny.n An employee of Mario’s

Restaurant reported a lar-ceny.

Arrestsn Travis Eugene Miller, 27,

of Melody Lane, Forest City; charged with driving while impaired and left of cen-ter; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (FCPD)n Demetrius Devon

Wilkins, 26, of Hardin Road, Forest City; charged with lar-ceny; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (FCPD)

n Brian Eugene Whitener, 41, of Rock Corner Road, Forest City; arrested on a warrant for attempt to obtain property by false pretense and larceny; placed under a $1,500 secured bond. (FCPD)n Sherry Lynn Causby, 45,

of 122 Cedar St.; charged with failure to appear and obtain property by false pretense; placed under a $15,500 secured bond. (FCPD)n Joshua Scott Green,

34, of 191 Woodchip Lane; charged with speeding and driving while impaired; released on a $1,000 unse-cured bond. (NCHP)n Ryan Kristopher Jones,

32, of 10 Fairview St.; charged with possess/ sell

nontax-paid alcoholic bev-erage, simple possession of schedule II controlled sub-stance, carrying a concealed gun, driving while license revoked, failure to stop for stop sign/ flashing red light and exceeding posted speed; placed under a $3,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Lisa Ann Six, 45, of 241

Weeping Willow Court; charged with carrying a concealed gun, driving while impaired and possession of open container of alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of a motor vehicle; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Johnathan Lee Robinson,

25, of 661 Hopper Road; charged with probation viola-tion; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Jeffrey Scott Buff, 47,

of 323 Puzzle Creek Road; charged with assault with a deadly weapon; placed under a 48-hour hold. (RCSD)n Becky Ann Cook, 45,

of 323 Puzzle Creek Rod; charged with assault with a deadly weapon; placed under a 48-hour hold. (RCSD)n Travis Kevin Ledford, 23,

of 120 Mockingbird Lane; charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Gregory Alan Whitaker,

45, of 1277 Business U.S. 74; charged with simple assault, communicating threats, sur-render on shoplifting/ con-cealment of goods, assault on a government official and resisting a public offi-cer; placed under a $4,500 secured bond. (RCSD)n Angelica Joan Whitaker,

30, of 166 Fleece Lane; charged with simple posses-sion of schedule IV controlled substance, simple possession of schedule III controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and mis-demeanor larceny; placed under a $3,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Misty Dawn Holmes,

25, of 105 Neely Ave.; extradition/ fugitive from other state; placed under a $100,000 secured bond. (RCSD)n Jacob Tyler Buchannon,

19, of 114 Southern Pines Drive; charged with resisting a public officer and consume alcohol by 19/20; freed on a custody release. (RCSD)n Donna Green Cobb,

44, of 444 Edward St., Rutherfordton; charged with misdemeanor larceny, possession of schedule IV controlled substance and possession of drug parapher-nalia; placed under a $2,000 secured bond. (RPD)n Travis Eugene Miller, 27,

of 137 Melody Lane; charged with driving while impaired and drive left of center; placed under a $1,000 secured bond. (RPD)n Earl Jerome Lilly, 25, of

201 Maple St.; charged with breaking and/or entering and larceny after break/enter; placed under a $30,000 secured bond. (SPD)

Citationsn Demetrius Devon

Wilkins, 26, of Hardin Road, Forest City; cited for larceny; released on a written prom-ise to appear. (FCPD)

EMS/Rescuen The Rutherford County

EMS responded to 44 E-911 calls Saturday and Sunday.

n The Volunteer Life Saving and Rescue, Hickory Nut Gorge EMS and Rutherford County Rescue responded to 30 E-911 calls Saturday and Sunday.

Fire Callsn Bostic responded to a

brush fire.n Cliffside responded to

three motor vehicle crashes.n Hudlow responded to a

carbon monoxide leak.n Rutherfordton responded

to a power line fire.n SDO responded to two

motor vehicle crashes and to a brush fire.n Shingle Hollow respond-

ed to a brush fire, assisted by Green Hill.n Union Mills responded to

a motor vehicle crash.

ObituariesPolice Notes

Deaths

5/

THE DAILY COURIER

Published Tuesday through Sunday mornings by Paxton Media Group LLC dba The Daily Courier USPS 204-920 Periodical Postage paid in Forest City, NC.Company Address: 601 Oak St., P.O. Box 1149, Forest City, NC 28043.Phone: (828) 245-6431Fax: (828) 248-2790Subscription rates: Single copy, daily 50¢ / Sunday $1.50. Home delivery $11.75 per month, $35.25 for three months, $70.50 for six months, $129 per year. In county rates by mail payable in advance are: $13.38 for one month, $40.14 for three months, $80.27 for six months, $160.54 per year. Outside county: $14.55 for one month, $43.64 for three months, $87.28 for six months, $174.56 per year. College students for school year subscription, $75.The Digital Courier, $6.50 a month for non-subscribers to The Daily Courier. Payment may be made at the website: www.thedigitalcourier.comThe Daily Courier is not responsible for advance subscription payments made to carriers, all of who are inde-pendent contractors.

Dorothy “Dot” Terry LawsonDorothy “Dot” Terry Lawson,

74, of 1025 Sam Lattimore Rd. Shelby died Sunday, March 21, 2010, at White Oak Manor, Kings Mountain.

A native of Rutherford County she was a daughter of the late Gaither and May Erwood Terry.

Besides her parents she was preceded in death by her hus-band Glen Green Lawson.

Dot was a homemaker.She is survived by three

sons; Wayne Lawson of Shelby, Scott Lawson of Shelby, Andy Lawson and wife Connie of Shelby; one daughter, Barbara Jenkins and husband, Bryan of Ellenboro; and three grand-children, Bryan Jenkins Jr. Keith Lawson and Stefanie Lawson.

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at The A.C. McKinney Memorial Chapel at McKinney-Landreth Funeral Home. Burial will follow in The Morrow Family Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday March 23, 2010 at Mckinney -Landreth Funeral Home, and at other times at the home of Barbara and Bryan Jenkins, 171 Solomon Trail, Ellenboro.

M c K i n n e y - L a n d r e t h Funeral Home is serving the Lawson family.

PAID OBIT

6 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

Calendar/loCal

cannot get insurance because of sick-ness or disability,” said Charles Miller of Forest City. “For every other tax-payer it is just another monthly pay-ment regardless of whether you buy insurance or pay the fee. I think small business owners will be hit the hard-est, so I am against this.”

“We came down here from the north,” said Jeanne Deloach, “And fortunately we have very good health care. I just hope this will help the people who can’t afford health care and can’t buy insurance.”

“I think the bill is the finest piece of legislation since Social Security,” said Ray Crawford of Rutherfordton. Dorothy Hutchins, a senior citizen, said, “I’m still undecided. It is very complicated. One day I’m for it. The next, I’m not.”

Small-business owners chimed in with pros and cons for the much debated bill.

“One part says it is a slight tax cut for small businesses and in another part it says it is a tax increase for small business,” said Hunt Cowan, owner of Cowan’s Tire and Battery in Rutherfordton. “Right now I already offer insurance for my employees

so our guys that work here have the opportunity to be insured. The prices are going to change, but I don’t trust anything I’ve heard from Washington yet because it is all just a sales pitch. I think it’ll take a year to really work it all out. I was not happy it passed.”

Barbara White and her husband Keith own Forest City Paint Supply and they offer their employees health insurance.

“This will destroy us. Tax wise this is going to kill us,” she said. “I am scared to death. Government has no business getting into this. Medicaid and Medicare is in a mess, why would this be any better? We need reform, but this is not what we need.”

Tommy Lamb, pharmacist at Medical Arts Pharmacy, Forest City, said Monday afternoon he wishes more time had been taken on the bill that could radically change America’s health care for the “good” or “bad.”

Lamb, who has owned the phar-macy 35 years said, “We’d like to see what the bill actually states. I don’t think anyone has heard all the provi-sions. It doesn’t apply to the small business unless they have 50 people. And remember, this is the same group of people who brought you Cash for Clunkers.”

Both of Rutherford County’s con-gressmen voted against the bill.

“This vote means the President will sign federal funding of abortions, the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, 19 tax increases and $500 billion in Medicare cuts into law,” said 10th District Republican Patrick McHenry. “His so-called health care ‘reform’ plan raises premiums, ignores lawsuit abuse and adds billions to the federal deficit. This is an anti-jobs bill. Instead of helping businesses cre-ate jobs it will increase federal spend-ing, raise taxes and slow economic growth.”

The 11th district Democrat Heath Shuler said, “There is no question that our current health care system is bro-ken and that we need to make signifi-cant reforms to improve it in an equi-table, fiscally responsible and sustain-able manner. In my opinion the bill as written does not meet those criteria. I voted against the bill because I felt that we could do better. Now that it has passed and will become law, I look forward to working with my col-leagues to address specific areas that need improvement. I assure you that I will continue to work as hard as I can to fix our nation’s health care system in a fiscally responsible and compas-sionate way.”

Contact Baughman via e-mail at sbaugh-man@thedigitalcourier.com.

Meetings/otherSAR monthly meeting: Tuesday, March 23, 7 p.m., at the Old Tryon Geneaology Society Library, Doggett Road, Forest City.

Regular meeting: Rutherford-Polk-McDowell District Board of Health will meet Tuesday, March 30, 7 p.m., Rutherford County Health Department, 221 Callahan-Koon Road; open to the public; con-tact Brenda Green at 287-6101 for more information.

NA/AA meetings: Every Monday at 7 p.m., at New Life Christian Fellowship Church of God, 601 E. Main St., Spindale; contact James Keeter at 247-4681 for more infor-mation.

Miscellaneous Spring Fling: Saturday, April 3, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Forest City Foursquare Church, 178 Cornwell St., Forest City; arts, crafts, yard sale items, breakfast and lunch; women’s speakers — Amy Torvinen at 9 a.m., Pat Evans at 10 a.m., Carol Deaton at 11 a.m.

FundraisersYard sale: Saturday, March 27, begins at 7 a.m., at 1491 Centennial Church Road, Union Mills; large variety of items; sponsored by Centennial UMC; proceeds for church projects.

Country ham, chicken pie supper: Saturday, March 27, begins at 4:30 p.m., Mt. Vernon Clubhouse; adults $8; ages 6-12, $5; ages 5 and under free; all proceeds go toward the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church children/youth programs.

Breakfast buffet: Saturday, March 27, 7 to 10 a.m., Long Branch Road Baptist Church, 621 Long Branch Road, Forest City (Shiloh com-munity); no set price, donations accepted.

Fish fry: Saturday, March 27, 4 to 7 p.m., Temple Baptist Church, Henrietta, (beside the post office); no set price, donations accepted; all proceeds go toward the Haiti mis-sion team.

Annual barbecue: Sponsored by Forest City Lions Club; Saturday, March 27, 4 to 7 p.m., at First Baptist Church, Forest City; adults $8; children $4; under 6 free; bag lunch ($5 each) 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 4-H small fruit sale: The Rutherford County 4-H Program and Cooperative Extension Service will sponsor a small fruit plant sale on Thursday, March 25. Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, grape and muscadine plants, and apple trees are available. Call 287-6080 for more information.

Poor man’s supper: Thursday, April 8, 4 to 7 p.m., Providence United Methodist Church (Chase Middle community); adults $5, chil-dren $3, under 6 free; proceeds will go to the Feed the Hungry ministry; bake sale proceeds go toward pur-chasing of a musical keyboard.

Music/concertsThe Dixie Melody Boys will be in concert Sunday, March 28, at Crestview Baptist Church, Forest City. Music begins at 6 p.m.

Singing: Sunday, March 28, 6 p.m., Bostic Missionary Methodist Church; featuring The Lamberts.

Trojan Concert Series: “New Fire Youth Rally”; Saturday, March 27, 7 p.m.; Chase High School audi-torium; $5 per person; speaker, Steve Collins, South Mountain Christian Camp; worship music by Restoration Praise Band; for more information call 245-1716, ask for Mr. Henderson.

Singing: Sunday, March 28, 2 p.m.; Harris Baptist Church; featuring Point of Life from Pickens, S.C.

religionRevival: March 28-31, Pleasant Hill Baptist Church; guest speaker, Evangelist Frank Walker; special music each night; Sunday services 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m.; MTW, 7 nightly; William Swink, pastor; church located 5 miles west on Hwy. 108, turn right on Pleasant Hill Church Road.

Sunday School program: Sunday, March 28, 3 p.m., New Life Christian Fellowship Church of God, 601 E. Main St., Spindale; guest speaker, Rev. James Lowrance of Tryon.

Revival: Through March 28, 7 nightly, Pleasant View Community Church, 129 Michael Dr., Forest City; Sunday service 11 a.m.; guest speaker, Evangelist Jared McKinney; music by Free Indeed from Chillicothe, Ohio.

Old and New Testament pro-gram: Sunday, March 28, 3 p.m., Bible Way Fellowship Church, 1107 Ledbetter Road, Spindale.

The Wall Street Journal cited that problem in an article this month.

“Falling home prices have left many owners with little or no equity, mak-ing it harder to qualify for refinanc-ing,” wrote Nick Timiraos in the March 3 paper. “Moreover, stricter lending standards and higher fees by banks and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and declining incomes have made it tougher and less attractive for borrowers to seek new loans.”

In fact, he writes, about a quarter of all mortgage holders are “underwa-ter,” meaning they owe more on the house than it’s worth.

For those who can do it, however, refinancing a mortgage could save a considerable amount of money in the long run.

The Web site eHow advises watch-ing advertised mortgage rates and comparing them to your current rate. The site notes, “If you can lower your mortgage by at least half a point, it may be time to refinance your home mortgage. If you can reduce it by two points, then it is almost assuredly time.”

Doing the math is vitally important in deciding whether to refinance.

How long you plan to reside in a home is one factor to be considered. The site eHow notes, for example, that if you are planning to stay in the residence less than two more years, it is not advisable to refinance because

you may pay more in closing costs than you will save on monthly pay-ments.

Christine Shaw, corporate commu-nications manager for Wells Fargo, which owns Wachovia Bank, writes, “Even though a drop in interest rates makes it seem like an easy decision, borrowers shouldn’t consider any sin-gle variable on its own. Homeowners need to think about how long they plan to stay in the house, the cost to refinance their mortgage and how refinancing could support their over-all financial goals.”

The eHow site also notes other matters to ponder. Are you looking to lower your monthly payment, or do you want to pay the loan off in 15 years instead of 30? Do you want a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage?

A fixed-rate mortgage offers more stability in monthly payments, but the site eHow says that you might want to take advantage of the low introducto-ry rate of an adjustable-rate mortgage if you plan on refinancing your home before the promotional period ends and the adjustable rate rises.

Shaw, of Wells Fargo, notes, “Homeowners benefit from refinanc-ing in a number of ways:n First, reducing the term of a loan

can lower interest expense signifi-cantly. This forces a borrower to pay off more principal each month, there-by reducing the interest paid over the life of the loan.n Lowering the monthly payment

can free up cash for other expenses.n Homeowners with an adjustable-

rate mortgage can switch to a fixed-rate to reduce the risk of increased monthly payments if interest rates rise.n If a borrower has built up enough

equity in their home, one may elimi-nate the monthly premium required for private mortgage insurance.”

She adds, “Knowing your break-even point can help determine what refinancing option is right for you. To find your break-even point, divide the total cost of a new loan (points and closing costs) by the net monthly pay-ment reduction to know how many months it will take to pay off the cost of refinancing.”

The Federal Reserve Board’s guide offers yet another option when paying for your home.

“Refinancing is not the only way to decrease the term of your mort-gage,” the guide says. “By paying a little extra on principal each month, you will pay off the loan sooner and reduce the term of your loan. For example, adding $50 each month to your principal payment on the 30-year loan (cited) above ($200,000 at 6 percent for 30 years) reduces the term by three years and saves you more than $27,000 in interest costs.”

As with all financial decisions in life, knowing the pros and cons is cru-cial to making the right decision.

The Federal Reserve Board’s guide, “A Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Refinancings,” is available at www.federal-reserve.gov)

Contact Dale via e-mail at ldale@thedigi-talcourier.com.

MixedContinued from Page 1

AdministrationJodi V. Brookshire/publisher . . . . . . . . . . .209Steven E. Parham/executive editor . . . . . .210Lori Spurling/ advertising director . . . . . . .224Pam Dixon/ ad production coordinator . . . 231Anthony Rollins/ circulation director . . . . .206

NewsroomScott Bowers, sports editor . . . . . . . . . . . . .213Jean Gordon, features editor . . . . . . . . . . . .211Abbe Byers, lifestyles editor . . . . . . . . . . . . .215Allison Flynn, editor/reporter . . . . . . . . . . . .218Garrett Byers, photography . . . . . . . . . . . . .212Scott Baughman, reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216Larry Dale, reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217Bobbie Greene, typesetting . . . . . . . . . . . . .220Virginia Rucker, contributing editor

Circulation

David Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208Virle Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Business officeJessica Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202Cindy White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

AdvertisingChrissy Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226Jill Hasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227Jessica Hendrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228

ClassifiedErika Meyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

MaintenanceGary Hardin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222

An operator will direct your call during business hours, 8 a .m . to 5 p .m ., Monday-Friday . After business hours, you can reach the person you are calling using this list . As soon as you hear the automated attendant, use your Touch Tone phone to dial 1 and the person’s extension or dial 3 for dial by name .

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today please call 245-6431 and ask for circulation.

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Phone: 245-6431 Fax: 248-2790 www.thedigitalcourier.comE-mail: dailycourier@thedigitalcourier .com

Tommy Lamb, phar-macist at Medical Arts Pharmacy in Forest City, at the pharmacy and store he has owned for 35 years on W. Main Street in Forest City. There is still a lot of confusion about the Health Care Reform Bill, he said, and believes it will change the health care of the American people.

Jean Gordon/ Daily Courier

optionContinued from Page 1

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The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010 — 7

Inside

Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . Page .8College .hoops . . . . . . . . Page .8Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page .16

On TV

Local Sports

ECU .hires .Lebo . . . . . . .to .coach .basketball .

GREENVILLE (AP) — East Carolina has turned to former Auburn coach Jeff Lebo to lead its long-struggling men’s bas-ketball program.

The school announced Monday it had hired Lebo to replace Mack McCarthy, who spent three seasons on the side-line for the Pirates before step-ping down to take a fundrais-ing job in the school’s athletics department. Lebo had spent the past six seasons at Auburn, going 96-93 overall before he was fired earlier this month.

The 43-year-old coach played at North Carolina under Dean Smith in the late 1980s and had coached at Tennessee Tech and Chattanooga previously.

The school has scheduled a news conference for Lebo on Tuesday.

Lebo inherits a difficult job at East Carolina, a Conference USA school located in the shadows of instate Atlantic Coast Conference programs Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. The program hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since mak-ing a surprise run to win the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in 1993 and hasn’t had a winning record since the 1996-97 season.

Goodell .plans .to .meet .with .Roethlisberger

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he plans to meet with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger about the star’s off-field problems.

Goodell already has spo-ken with team owners about Roethlisberger, who is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old college student in a Georgia nightclub on March 5. Roethlisberger’s attorney says the quarterback committed no crime.

Goodell says the league “takes this issue very seriously,” and that he is “concerned that Ben continues to put himself in this position.”

Roethlisberger also is being sued by a woman who claims he raped her in 2008 at a Lake Tahoe hotel. He denies those allegations.

BASEBALLFreedom at R-S Central 7 p.m.Burns at Chase 7 p.m.Madison at Thomas Jefferson 7 p.m. (Crowe Park)

SOFTBALLFreedom at R-S Central 4 p.m.Burns at Chase 4 p.m.

MEN’S TENNISR-S Central at Shelby 4 p.m.

TRACKChase at East Rutherford 4 p.m.

1 p.m. (ESPN) MLB Pre-season Baseball Atlanta Braves at New York Mets. 7 p.m. (ESPN) College Bas-ketball NIT Tournament, First Quarterfinal: Teams TBA. (ESPN2) Women’s College Basketball NCAA Tourna-ment, Second Round: Teams TBA. (TS) NHL Hockey Boston Bruins at Atlanta Thrashers. 7:30 p.m. (FSS) NHL Hockey Carolina at Tampa Bay. 9 p.m. (ESPN) College Bas-ketball NIT Tournament, Second Quarterfinal: Teams TBA. (ESPN2) Women’s College Basketball NCAA Tourna-ment, Second Round: Teams TBA.

By JACOB CONLEYSports Reporter

HARRIS — The Burns Bulldogs scored three goals in the first half, turned the same trick in the second, and beat Chase, 6-0, in a girls’ soccer match, Monday.

The Burns defense limited Chase to only two shots on goal for the contest.

Burns made a bid to get on the board early in the contest, but Chase goalie, Alexis Nix, made a diving stop to her right to keep the game score-

less. The Bulldogs went on to find the

back of net in the fourth minute on a penalty kick after the Trojans com-mitted a foul in the box.

Burns made the score 2-0 moments later on a breakaway when the ball was knocked past a diving Nix who came out of goal to try and make the stop.

The visitors tacked on another goal just before half when Nix made the initial stop, but the ball was put in on

the rebound. Chase’s best opportunity to score in

the opening frame came when Sarah Wurzbach was awarded a free kick just outside the box.

The Burns defender was able to clear the ball away to leave the score 3-0 at the halftime.

The Bulldogs used an offensive bar-rage in the second half, scoring three goals in the first 10 minutes to break open the game, and the Trojans never seriously threatened.

Lady Bulldogs shutout Lady Trojans

Chase’s Jenae Miller (8) rushes to advance the ball up field against the Burns defense Monday during the soccer game at Chase High School.

Garrett Byers/ Daily Courier

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — The record book is pretty clear when it comes to Bristol Motor Speedway: Kurt Busch is good at the bullring, Jimmie Johnson is not.

So of course Busch had Sunday’s race circled as a place to make up ground on Johnson, the four-time defending NASCAR champion.

And Johnson, most likely, figured his annual Bristol frustrations would con-tinue.

Both were wrong.Johnson grabbed his first career win

Sunday at Bristol with a masterful final 10 laps, denying Busch a victory in a race he had dominated.

“To pour my heart and soul into this race to beat (Johnson), I was trying to hit my marks every lap. I feel exhausted, I feel disappointed,” Busch said.

Johnson knocked Bristol off his to-do list by plowing from sixth to first in just three laps. His previous best finish in 16 starts was third, and nine of his finishes

Please see Bristol, Page 9

Johnson finally has Bristol win

Big men are coming to the front for Duke

DURHAM (AP) — Duke’s “Big Three” handle most of the scoring. It’s the big men doing the dirty work underneath who have helped the Blue Devils advance to the round of 16.

What was considered a serious liability for Duke — a lack of reliable size in the paint — has become an unsung strength. The Blue Devils are better equipped to deal with the off nights that sometimes plague teams that thrive on 3-point shooting.

Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith combine to average 67 per-cent of the team’s points. But in years past, a cold shooting night by any of them might have led to an early exit from the NCAA tournament.

That hasn’t been a problem this time. Not with center Brian Zoubek dominating the lane, gritty senior Lance Thomas playing with unmatched emotion and 6-foot-10 brothers Miles and Mason Plumlee filling valuable roles off the bench.

“This team has so much talent and so much potential. Every game, somebody steps up, and that’s the exciting thing about this team,” Smith said after a second-round win against California. “We might not shoot good every game, but we play defense and play hard, and any game, somebody is going to surprise you.”

Lately, that’s been Zoubek — well, at least to outsiders, anyway.

The 7-foot-1 senior had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the win against Cal, and he’s reached double fig-ures in rebounds in six of the last 12 games of his late-season surge.

But his value to the No. 1 seeded Blue Devils (31-5) can’t be measured solely by his stat line. His presence in the paint and his knack for cleaning up misses from Singler and Scheyer has given the team an added weapon, with coach Mike Krzyzewski calling him one of the team’s unsung heroes.

The Hall of Fame coach said in the preseason that this was his biggest team in three decades at Duke, and Zoubek is making that claim mean something.

Scheyer was 1-for-11 against Cal, but Zoubek helped make up for that

cold spell with his rebounding and his 6-for-6 shooting performance from his low-post comfort zone. Thomas added nine rebounds.

“It was a really tough game inside, a lot of elbows thrown, a lot of con-tact,” Zoubek said. “Both teams were playing hard, and we knew that the rebounding was going to be an essen-tial part of the game, so both teams were fighting for it. I know that (Cal’s Jamal) Boykin and (Markhuri Sanders-Frison) were really being physical underneath, and I know that, for me, without Lance being just as physical or more physical than them, I wouldn’t have gotten a lot of rebounds, and I wouldn’t have gotten a lot of stuff.”

That steady play in the paint has Please see Duke, Page 9

Associated PressJimmie Johnson tosses a loaf of bread in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Food City 500 auto race at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday,

Associated PressDuke’s Brian Zoubek (55) and Lance Thomas (42) start celebrating during the second half against California Sunday.

7 SPORT/

8 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

SportS

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

EASTERN CONFERENCEAtlantic Division

W L Pct GBBoston 45 24 .652 — Toronto 34 34 .500 10 1/2New York 25 45 .357 20 1/2Philadelphia 24 47 .338 22 New Jersey 7 63 .101 38

Southeast Division W L Pct GBx-Orlando 50 21 .704 — Atlanta 45 24 .652 4 Miami 37 34 .514 13 1/2Charlotte 35 34 .507 14 Washington 21 47 .309 27 1/2

Central Division W L Pct GBy-Cleveland 56 15 .789 — Milwaukee 38 30 .559 16 1/2Chicago 32 37 .464 23 Indiana 24 46 .343 31 1/2Detroit 23 47 .329 32 1/2

WESTERN CONFERENCESouthwest Division

W L Pct GBDallas 46 23 .667 — San Antonio 41 27 .603 4 1/2Houston 36 32 .529 9 1/2Memphis 37 33 .529 9 1/2New Orleans 33 38 .465 14

Northwest Division W L Pct GBDenver 47 23 .671 — Utah 45 25 .643 2 Oklahoma City 42 26 .618 4 Portland 42 29 .592 5 1/2Minnesota 14 56 .200 33

Pacific Division W L Pct GBx-L.A. Lakers 52 18 .743 — Phoenix 44 26 .629 8 L.A. Clippers 26 44 .371 26 Sacramento 24 46 .343 28 Golden State 19 50 .275 32 1/2

x-clinched playoff spoty-clinched division

Sunday’s GamesHouston 116, New York 112Indiana 121, Oklahoma City 101Sacramento 102, L.A. Clippers 89Cleveland 104, Detroit 79Atlanta 119, San Antonio 114, OTL.A. Lakers 99, Washington 92Phoenix 93, Portland 87Monday’s GamesOrlando 109, Philadelphia 93Miami 99, New Jersey 89Houston at Chicago, lateAtlanta at Milwaukee, lateToronto at Minnesota, lateDallas at New Orleans, late.San Antonio at Oklahoma City, lateBoston at Utah, lateMemphis at Sacramento, latePhoenix at Golden State, lateTuesday’s GamesCharlotte at Washington, 7 p.m.Indiana at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.Denver at New York, 7:30 p.m.L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.Wednesday’s GamesOrlando at Atlanta, 7 p.m.Denver at Boston, 7 p.m.Minnesota at Charlotte, 7 p.m.Washington at Indiana, 7 p.m.Utah at Toronto, 7 p.m.Sacramento at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.Cleveland at New Orleans, 8 p.m.Houston at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m.Memphis at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

NCAA Men’s Tournament

EAST REGIONALFirst Round

Kentucky 100, ETSU 71Wake Forest 81, Texas 80, OTWashington 80, Marquette 78New Mexico 62, Montana 57West Virginia 77, Morgan State 50Missouri 86, Clemson 78 Cornell 78, Temple 65Wisconsin 53, Wofford 49

Second RoundKentucky 90, Wake Forest 60Washington 82, New Mexico 64West Virginia 68, Missouri 59Cornell 87, Wisconsin 69

At The Carrier DomeSyracuse, N.Y.

Regional SemifinalsThursday, March 25

Kentucky vs. Cornell winnerWest Virginia vs. Washington

Regional ChampionshipSaturday, March 27

SOUTH REGIONALFirst Round

Villanova 73, Robert Morris 70, OTSaint Mary’s, Calif. 80, Richmond 71Old Dominion 51, Notre Dame 50Baylor 68, Sam Houston State 59Duke 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44California 77, Louisville 62Purdue 72, Siena 64Texas A&M 69, Utah State 53

Second RoundSaint Mary’s, Calif. 75, Villanova 68Baylor 76, Old Dominion 68Duke 68, California 53Purdue 63, Texas A&M 61

At Reliant Stadium, HoustonRegional Semifinals

Friday, March 26Duke vs. PurdueSaint Mary’s, Calif. vs. Baylor

Regional ChampionshipSunday, March 28

MIDWEST REGIONALFirst Round

Ohio 97, Georgetown 83Tennessee 62, San Diego State 59Northern Iowa 69, UNLV 66Kansas 90 Lehigh 74Georgia Tech 64, Oklahoma State 59Ohio State 68, UC Santa Barbara 51Michigan State 70, New Mexico State 67Maryland 89, Houston 77

Second RoundTennessee 83, Ohio 68Northern Iowa 69, Kansas 67Ohio State 75, Georgia Tech 66Michigan State 85, Maryland 83

At Edward Jones Dome, St. LouisRegional Semifinals

Friday, March 26Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State winnerOhio State vs. Tennessee

Regional ChampionshipSunday, March 28

WEST REGIONALFirst Round

BYU 99, Florida 92, 2OTKansas State 82, North Texas 62Murray State 66, Vanderbilt 65Butler 77, UTEP 59Gonzaga 67, Florida State 60Syracuse 79, Vermont 56Xavier 65, Minnesota 54Pittsburgh 89, Oakland, Mich. 66

Second RoundKansas State (27-7) vs. BYU (30-5), lateButler 54, Murray State 52Syracuse 87, Gonzaga 65Xavier 71, Pittsburgh 68 At Energy Solution Arena, Salt Lake City

Regional SemifinalsThursday, March 25

Syracuse vs. Butler Kansas State vs. Xavier

Regional ChampionshipSaturday, March 27

FINAL FOURAt Lucas Oil Stadium

IndianapolisNational Semifinals

Saturday, April 3East champion vs. South championMidwest champion vs. West champion

National ChampionshipMonday, April 5

National Invitation Tournament

First RoundConnecticut 59, Northeastern 57N.C. State 58, South Florida 57UAB 65, Coastal Carolina 49Texas Tech 87, Seton Hall 69North Carolina 80, William & Mary 72Mississippi State 81, Jackson State 67Jacksonville 67, Arizona State 66Kent State 75, Tulsa 74Dayton 63, Illinois State 42Cincinnati 76, Weber State 62Virginia Tech 81, Quinnipiac 61Rhode Island 76, Northwestern 64Mississippi 84, Troy 65Nevada 74, Wichita State 70Illinois 76, Stony Brook 66Memphis 73, St. John’s 71

Second RoundMississippi 90, Memphis 81Saturday, March 20North Carolina 76, Mississippi State 74Texas Tech 69, Jacksonville 64UAB 72, N.C. State 52Rhode Island 85, Nevada 83Virginia Tech 65, Connecticut 63Illinois 75, Kent State 58Dayton at Cincinnati, late

QuarterfinalsTuesday, March 23Texas Tech (19-15) vs. Mississippi (23-10), 7 p.m.North Carolina (18-16) vs. UAB (25-8), 9 p.m.TBDIllinois-Kent State winner vs. Dayton-Cincinnati winner, TBAVirginia Tech (25-8) vs. Rhode Island (25-9), TBA

SemifinalsTuesday, March 30At Madison Square Garden, New YorkChampionshipThursday, April 1Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

College Basketball Invitational

First RoundVCU 79, George Washington 73Saint Louis 63, Indiana State 54Princeton 65, Duquesne 51IUPUI 74, Hofstra 60Wisconsin-Green Bay 70, Akron 66College of Charleston 82, Eastern Kentucky 79Morehead State 74, Colorado State 60Boston U. 96, Oregon State 78QuarterfinalsVCU 93, College of Charleston 86Princeton 74, IUPUI 68Boston U. 91, Morehead State 89Wis.-Green Bay at Saint Louis, lateSemifinalsWednesday, March 24Saint Louis-Wis.-Green Bay winner vs. Virginia Commonwealth (24-9), TBABoston U. (21-13) vs. Princeton (22-8), TBA

Championship Series(Best-of-3)

Monday, March 29Wednesday, March 31Friday, April 2

College Insider.com Tournament

First RoundTuesday, March 16

Fairfield 101, George Mason 96, OTMarshall 90, Western Carolina 88Creighton 89, South Dakota 78Wednesday, March 17Appalachian State 93, Harvard 71Missouri State 87, Middle Tennessee State 79Northern Colorado 81, Portland 73Pacific 63, Loyola Marymount 52 Louisiana Tech 66, Southern Mississippi 57

QuarterfinalsAppalchian State 80, Marshall 72Fairfield (23-10) at Creighton (17-15), lateLouisiana Tech at Missouri State, latePacific at Northern Colorado, 9:05 p.m.

SemifinalsWednesday, March 24

ChampionshipTuesday, March 30

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

DAYTON REGIONALFirst Round

St. John’s 65, Princeton 47Florida State 75, Louisiana Tech 61Ohio State 93, St. Francis, Pa. 59Mississippi State 68, Middle Tennessee 64Connecticut 95, Southern U. 39Temple 65, James Madison 53Wisconsin-Green Bay 69, Virginia 67Iowa State 74, Lehigh 42

Second RoundMonday, March 22Florida State 66, St. John’s 65, OT Tuesday, March 23At Ted Constant Center, Norfolk, Va.Connecticut vs. Temple, 7:06 p.m. Ohio State vs. Mississippi StateWisconsin-Green Bay vs. Iowa State, 9:40 p.m.Regional Semifinals and finalsSunday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 30At University of Dayton ArenaDayton, Ohio

MEMPHIS REGIONALFirst Rpund

LSU 60, Hartford 39Duke 72, Hampton 37Tennessee 75, Austin Peay 42Dayton 67, TCU 66Georgetown 62, Marist 42Baylor 69, Fresno State 55San Diego State 74, Texas 63West Virginia 58, Lamar 43

Second RoundMonday, March 22Tennessee 92, Dayton 64At Haas Pavilion Berkeley, Calif.Georgetown (26-6) vs. Baylor (24-9), lateAt Cameron Indoor StadiumDuke 60, LSU 52Tuesday, March 23At Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TexasSan Diego State (22-10) vs. West Virginia (29-5), lateRegional semifinals and finalsSaturday, March 27 and Monday, March 29At FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.Regional Championship

SACRAMENTO REGIONALFirst Round

Texas A&M 84, Portland State 53Gonzaga 82, North Carolina 76Georgia 64, Tulane 59Iowa 70, Rutgers 63Stanford 79, UC Riverside 47Sunday, March 21Vanderbilt 83, DePaul 76, OTXavier 94, ETSU 82

Second RoundMonday, March 22At Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, Ariz.Oklahoma State (24-10) vs. Georgia (24-8), lateAt Maples Pavilion Stanford, Calif.Iowa (20-13) vs. Stanford (32-1), late.At Bank of America Arena, SeattleTexas A&M (26-7) vs. Gonzaga (28-4), lateTuesday, March 23At Cintas Center, Cincinnati

Vanderbilt (23-10) vs. Xavier (28-3), 7:06 p.m.Regional semifinals and finalsSaturday, March 27 and Monday, March 29At ARCO Arena, Sacramento, Calif.

KANSAS CITY REGIONALFirst Round

Michigan State 72, Bowling Green 62Kentucky 83, Liberty 77Vermont 64, Wisconsin 55Notre Dame 86, Cleveland State 58Nebraska 83, Northern Iowa 44UCLA 74, N.C. State 54Arkansas-Little Rock 63, Georgia Tech 53Oklahoma 68, South Dakota State 57

Second RoundMonday, March 22At Freedom Hall, Louisville, Ky.Kentucky 70, Michigan State 52Tuesday, March 23At Williams Arena, MinneapolisNebraska (31-1) vs. UCLA (25-8), late. At Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla.Arkansas-Little Rock (27-6) vs. Oklahoma (24-10), lateAt Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Ind.Vermont (27-6) vs. Notre Dame (28-5), 7:16 p.m.Regional Semifinals and finalsSunday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 30At Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.

FINAL FOURAt Alamodome, San AntonioNational Semifinals Sunday, April 4Dayton champion vs. Memphis championSacramento champion vs. Kansas City champion National Championship Tuesday, April 6Semifinal winners

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

EASTERN CONFERENCEAtlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GAPittsburgh 73 42 25 6 90 225 208New Jersey 71 42 25 4 88 189 169Philadelphia 72 37 30 5 79 212 199N.Y. Rangers 72 31 32 9 71 186 197N.Y. Islanders 72 29 33 10 68 189 222

Northeast Division GP W L OT Pts GF GABuffalo 71 39 22 10 88 200 180Ottawa 73 38 30 5 81 196 212Montreal 73 36 30 7 79 196 202Boston 71 32 27 12 76 176 181Toronto 72 26 34 12 64 192 238

Southeast Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAy-Washington 72 48 14 10 106 283 203Atlanta 72 32 29 11 75 218 230Florida 71 29 31 11 69 186 209Carolina 72 30 34 8 68 201 226Tampa Bay 72 28 32 12 68 188 225

WESTERN CONFERENCECentral Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GAChicago 71 45 19 7 97 234 179Nashville 73 42 26 5 89 206 203Detroit 72 36 23 13 85 196 193St. Louis 72 34 29 9 77 196 199Columbus 72 29 31 12 70 187 229

Northwest Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAVancouver 72 44 24 4 92 236 187Colorado 71 40 25 6 86 213 190Calgary 72 36 27 9 81 184 181Minnesota 72 35 31 6 76 198 211Edmonton 72 23 42 7 53 184 248

Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GAPhoenix 73 46 22 5 97 201 179San Jose 72 43 19 10 96 232 192Los Angeles 70 41 24 5 87 207 185Anaheim 71 34 29 8 76 203 217Dallas 72 31 27 14 76 208 230

NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for over-time loss.y-clinched divisionSunday’s GamesPhoenix 3, Dallas 2, SOBoston 2, N.Y. Rangers 1Minnesota 4, Calgary 3Buffalo 5, Carolina 3Florida 5, Tampa Bay 2Nashville 3, St. Louis 2Atlanta 3, Philadelphia 1Edmonton 5, San Jose 1Anaheim 5, Colorado 2Monday’s GamesDetroit 3, Pittsburgh 1Ottawa 2, Montreal 0 Colorado at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.Tuesday’s GamesFlorida at Toronto, 7 p.m.Columbus at New Jersey, 7 p.m.Boston at Atlanta, 7 p.m.Philadelphia at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.Carolina at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.Dallas at Nashville, 8 p.m.San Jose at Minnesota, 8 p.m.Phoenix at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.Anaheim at Calgary, 9 p.m.Vancouver at Edmonton, 9 p.m.Wednesday’s GamesN.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m.Pittsburgh at Washington, 7 p.m.Montreal at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.St. Louis at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.Los Angeles at Colorado, 9 p.m.Anaheim at Vancouver, 10 p.m.

RACINGNASCAR Sprint Cup-Food City 500 Results

1. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet2. (11) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet3. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge4. (25) Greg Biffle, Ford5. (7) Matt Kenseth, Ford6. (8) Carl Edwards, Ford7. (18) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet8. (17) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet9. (38) Kyle Busch, Toyota,10. (14) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet11. (33) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet12. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota13. (36) Brad Keselowski, Dodge14. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet15. (28) Brian Vickers, Toyota16. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet17. (23) AJ Allmendinger, Ford18. (12) Paul Menard, Ford19. (15) Denny Hamlin, Toyota20. (37) Elliott Sadler, Ford21. (43) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet22. (32) Robby Gordon, Toyota23. (16) David Gilliland, Ford24. (31) David Stremme, Ford25. (41) Travis Kvapil, Ford26. (6) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet27. (1) Joey Logano, Toyota28. (42) Kevin Conway, Ford29. (30) David Ragan, Ford30. (34) Casey Mears, Chevrolet31. (29) Scott Speed, Toyota32. (22) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge33. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota,34. (24) Kasey Kahne, Ford35. (13) Mark Martin, Chevrolet36. (20) Regan Smith, Chevrolet,37. (40) Terry Cook, Dodge38. (10) David Reutimann, Toyota39. (27) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet40. (26) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet41. (39) Michael Waltrip, Toyota42. (3) Dave Blaney, Toyota43. (35) Joe Nemechek, Toyota

Top 12 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 774; 2. M.Kenseth, 773; 3. J.Johnson, 760; 4. G.Biffle, 750; 5. T.Stewart, 685; 6. Ku.Busch, 677; 7. J.Burton, 677; 8. D.Earnhardt Jr., 621; 9. P.Menard, 614; 10. Ky.Busch, 606; 11. J.Gordon, 603; 12. C.Bowyer, 601.

Scoreboard

DURHAM (AP) — Jasmine Thomas scored 15 points to help Duke pull away late and beat LSU 60-52 on Monday night in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.

Bridgette Mitchell scored 12 points for the Blue Devils (29-5), who went ahead to stay on Thomas’ layup with 3 1/2 minutes left. The typically sure-handed Tigers (21-10) matched a season high with 22 turnovers and had one field goal in the final 4 minutes.

Allison Hightower had 19 points and LaSondra Barrett added 12 for LSU (21-10). Katherine Graham hit two free throws with 3:49 left to give the Tigers their last lead at 47-46.

Thomas drove the lane for a left-handed layup, and Keturah Jackson added a stickback to start the 10-2 run that put the Blue Devils on their way to their 12th regional semifinal berth in 13 years.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Wearing a new set of contact lenses, Nate McLouth has been able to see the ball better than ever this spring.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the Atlanta cen-ter fielder has been able to hit it.

Mired in a 0 for 28 slump with 12 strikeouts, McLouth batted in every inning of a rain-shorted minor league game Sunday in hopes of getting on track with the start of the season two weeks away.

McLouth got three hits — two more than he’s had in real spring games. Maybe the move worked. Finally, he had something positive to build on.

“I just needed to step away,” said McLouth, bat-ting .029. “Hitting is a funny thing. It can wear on you, even in spring training when numbers don’t matter — because they do.

“Not necessarily numbers, but feeling well and making good contact matters. And when that’s not happening, regardless of whether it’s spring train-ing or not, that’s frustrating.”

Frustrating for McLouth and worrisome for the Braves. They are counting on him to be their lead-off hitter.

How bad has McLouth been this spring? His one hit in 35 at-bats came on March 6 and he has 14 strikeouts and three walks, striking out twice in five of his past eight games.

McLouth needed to take a step back before he could move forward. When manager Bobby Cox and hitting coach Terry Pendleton brought up batting every inning in a minor league game, McLouth agreed.

“That’s what needed to be done,” said McLouth, who got a low-pressure situation to keep trying the things he has been working on with Pendleton.

“It was good. I felt great at the plate, made good contact ... it was a big step forward.”

Pendleton said that McLouth’s troubles stem from “collapsing” during his swing, a habit he fell into late last season. The left-handed hitter has been bending his knees too much during his stride, forcing him to reach for pitches.

“Being on time,” McLouth said. “That’s really what I’ve been struggling with, my timing. ... It’s being on time and being in the right position when the pitch is in the zone to take a good swing.

“If you’re late, then all of a sudden you’re rushing to get to the ball and things are breaking down. ... It’s not like it’s not frustrating because it’s spring training. It’s not like I’m not trying to fix it. It’s just something that’s difficult to do.”

The 28-year-old McLouth didn’t hit as well as expected after being acquired from Pittsburgh in early June, but that was blamed on hamstring problems that forced him to miss time and a bout with blurred vision.

Now his legs are 100 percent and his vision is improved with contacts. The only thing wrong with the former National League All-Star is his spring batting average.

The Braves have Melky Cabrera, acquired from the Yankees in the deal for Javier Vazquez, avail-able for center field, but remain committed to McLouth.

“He’s just pressing a little bit,” manager Bobby Cox said. “That’s why giving him some extra at-bats in a minor league game was good.”

“When you’re preparing or a season, you want to feel comfortable and make progress toward open-ing day,” McLouth said. “I’m not going to stop working ... until I’m ready.”

Notes: Jair Jurrjens pitched in a Triple-A game Monday for Gwinnett against Toledo, working four innings and throwing 55 pitches. He gave up two runs and five hits, hitting two batters and striking out three. Jurrjens, third in the National League with a 2.60 ERA last season, was side-lined by a sore shoulder at the start of camp, but is on schedule to make his first start April 7 against the Chicago Cubs. ... Monday was the Braves’ only scheduled day off of the spring.

Duke rallies past LSU, 60-52

Braves McLouth looks to break out of early struggles

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sports

In this photo from video, Tiger Woods responds to questions during an interview with Golf Channel broadcaster Kelly Tilghman that aired on the Golf Channel on Sunday at Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Fla. Woods answered ques-tions on camera for the first time since his early morning car crash last November and the sex scandal that cost him sponsors and fans.

By JIM LITKEAP Sports Writer

Tiger Woods acknowledged “living a lie,” saying he alone was responsible for the sex scandal that caused his shocking down-fall from global sporting icon to late-night TV punchline.

“It was all me. I’m the one who did it. I’m the one who acted the way I acted. No one knew what was going on when it was going on,” Woods told the Golf Channel in one of two interviews Sunday night.

A second one was aired on ESPN, which will also tele-vise the first two rounds of the Masters. Woods plans to end four months of seclusion and return to golf at the tournament next month. Talking about those plans marked the only time he smiled during either interview.

“I’m sure if more people would have known in my inner circle, they would have stopped it or tried to put a stop to it,” he told the Golf Channel. “But I kept it all to myself.”

Later in the same interview with reporter Kelly Tilghman, Woods refers to his serial adul-tery by saying, “I tried to stop and I couldn’t stop. And it was just, it was horrific.”

Woods answered questions on camera for the first time since his early morning car crash last November, yet again divulged few details about the crash, his marriage, his stint in a rehabili-tation clinic or his personal life. Woods insisted those matters would remain private, just as he had in a statement on his Web site right after his crash and again Feb. 19 when he apolo-gized on camera in front of a hand-picked audience but took no questions.

“A lot of ugly things have hap-pened. ... I’ve done some pretty bad things in my life,” he told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi.

Last week, a woman who claims to be one of Woods’ mis-tresses released an embarrassing transcript of text messages she said he sent her.

Woods admitted that four months of nearly nonstop public ridicule had caused him shame.

“It was hurtful, but then again, you know what? I did it,” he told the Golf Channel. “And I’m the

one who did those things. And looking back on it now, with a more clear head, I get it. I can understand why people would say those things. Because you know what? It was disgusting behavior. It’s hard to believe that was me, looking back on it now.”

Woods announced Dec. 11 that he would take an “indefinite break” from golf and was in a Mississippi clinic from the end of that month until early February. Asked by ESPN to describe the lowest point, he replied, “I’ve had a lot of low points. Just when I didn’t think it could get any low-er, it got lower.”

He did, however, look more comfortable and composed than he did last month, wearing golf clothes and smiling several times when talk turned to the Masters, a tournament he won four times. He resumed practicing with swing coach Hank Haney last week.

Woods said he couldn’t wait to get back, though he had reserva-tions about how he’ll be received.

“I’m a little nervous about that to be honest with you,” he told ESPN. “It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there.”

Augusta National will provide Woods one of the most tightly controlled environments in the sport. Tournament organizers limit the number of credentialed media and galleries traditionally are among the best-behaved in sports. Even so, CBS boss Sean McManus, whose network tele-vises the final two rounds of the Masters, predicted it “will be the biggest media event, other than the Obama inauguration, in the past 10 or 15 years.”

A number of news outlets had submitted requests to the Woods camp for interviews. Both ESPN and the Golf Channel were noti-fied late last week that Woods would agree to a five-minute interview Sunday afternoon with no restrictions on questions. CBS was also offered an interview, but turned it down.

“Depending on the specifics, we are interested in an extended interview without any restric-tions on CBS,” spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade said.

The interviews were conducted at Isleworth, the gated commu-nity in Windermere, Fla., where Woods lives. Golf Channel’s

Tilghman said Woods’ wife, Elin, was not present and “it’s still in question whether she will attend the Masters.”

Woods had asked that the interview not be aired until the PGA tournament being played Sunday was finished. Golf Channel spokesman Dan Higgins declined to speculate whether release of the embar-rassing text messages influenced the timing of the interview.

“I can’t speak for them,” he said. “I have no idea.”

Jim Furyk, who is both a friend and rival of Woods, called the interviews “part of that natu-ral progression before he comes back.”

Furyk was handed a tran-script shortly after winning the Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. He charac-terized what he read as “pretty much the same stuff that we already knew, but I think it’s good for him to get his face out there and have people see him.

“They are going to make their judgments,” he added, “but I think it allows him to kind of move on and get focused for the next thing.”

Woods last played competitive golf at the Australian Masters, a tournament he won in November for his 82nd victory worldwide. He last played on the PGA Tour in the Tour Championship in September.

Woods told ESPN that being forced to confront his problems had made him stronger: “You start conquering it and you start living up to it. The strength that I feel now, I’ve never felt that type of strength.”

But he also admitted being uncertain about how much he would play after coming back.

“I will have more treatment and more therapy sessions. And as far as my schedule going for-ward, I don’t know what I’m going to do. ... I don’t know what I’m going to do in the future, either,” he told the Golf Channel. “That, to me, is a little bit both-ersome, too, in the sense that I don’t like not knowing what to do.

“But what I know I have to do is become a better person and that begins with going to more treatment.”

kept the Blue Devils immune from the upsets and close calls that have plagued so many high seeds in this year’s tournament.

Duke won its first two South Regional games by 29 and 15 points to reach the regional semifinals for the 19th time under Krzyzewski, and the Blue Devils face a manageable path to their coach’s 11th Final Four and first since 2004.

If they get past a fourth-seeded Purdue team in Houston that’s playing without injured star Robbie Hummel, they’ll face either No. 3 seed Baylor or upstart No. 10 seed Saint Mary’s with an invitation to Indianapolis on the line.

That would fall in line with the incremental prog-ress the seniors have made through the years. They were knocked out in the first round as freshmen in 2007, were beaten in Round 2 as sophomores and advanced to the regional semifinals last year.

“We’re a better team this year. I don’t know if we’ll go any further, but this is a better team because it can play total defense,” Krzyzewski said. “Someone will say in the past, well, they relied on the 3-point shot. Well, what else were we going to rely on? We relied on it enough to win 30 games

“Just because then you lose, doesn’t mean those kids underachieved. They maxed. This team is bet-ter. It’s not a great team, but it’s an excellent defen-sive team that hopefully can be a little bit better offensively as we go forward.”

here had been outside the top 16.“You walk into this facility and look around, and

you want to run well,” Johnson said. “It’s really been a downer for me to walk through the gates, look around, ’Man, I’m going to (stink) today.’ I really had that mindset coming here.”

That changed last season when Johnson led laps in both Bristol races, grabbing a pair of top-10 finishes while giving him a guide on how to get around the concrete track.

“I started building my confidence,” he said. “Those two races gave us clear direction where to work, me a clear direction on how to drive the car.”

And that’s all he needed with 10 laps to go after a late caution ruined Busch’s clear shot at victory.

Busch led 278 of the 500 laps and had a decent gap on Johnson when NASCAR called a debris caution with 17 laps remaining. All the leaders headed to pit road, and Busch and Johnson both took four tires on the final stop.

Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart all took two tires, giving them the first four positions on the restart. Busch was fifth, Johnson was sixth and the race resumed with 10 laps to go.

Kenseth’s difficulty getting up to speed stacked up traffic behind him, including Busch, who lost his opportunity to leapfrog his way to the front.

Not Johnson, though. He weaved through the mess up to second, Stewart moved into the lead, and Johnson needed just over one lap to pick him off, too.

“When we’re winning at tracks that we’re not supposed to, boys better look out,” Johnson warned.

Busch, a five-time Bristol winner who hasn’t been to Victory Lane at the bullring since 2006, was irate over his radio at the loss. He settled for third behind Johnson and Stewart, missing his chance to win his second consecutive race of the sea-son and prove his Penske Racing team has made enough gains to run consistently with Johnson and the Hendrick Motorsports bunch.

“I’d rather lose to any of the other 41 cars out there than the 48 car,” Busch said. “I thought we had him beat. I gave it my heart today, but we came up short.”

It was Johnson’s third win of the season and 50th of his career. Next up for Johnson is Martinsville Speedway, where he’s won five of the last seven races, a stat not lost on Busch.

“They’re going to be tough next week at Martinsville. We’ll be lucky to finish 10th,” Busch said.

Biffle finished fourth and was followed by his Roush Fenway Racing teammates Kenseth and Edwards. Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcame a speeding penalty to finish seventh, Jamie McMurray was eighth and Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10.

Kevin Harvick maintained his lead in the Sprint Cup Series standings by finishing 11th.

Johnson became only the 12th driver in NASCAR history to win 50 races. He reached the milestone in his 296th start, and only three drivers did it faster: Jeff Gordon (232), Darrell Waltrip (278) and David Pearson (293).

Woods admits to nervousness about his return at Masters

Associated Press

DukeContinued from Page 7

BristolContinued from Page 7

9/

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10 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

Weather/nation

Driver error caused crashHARRISON, N.Y. (AP) — Police

agree with regulators that driver error caused the crash of a Toyota Prius in the New York suburbs.

Capt. Anthony Marraccini (mehr-uh-CHEE’-nee) said Monday there was no mechanical or electrical fail-ure in the car.

He said Monday that the gas pedal was depressed all the way at the point of impact and that there was no sign of any application of the brake.

The finding concurs with U.S. safety regulators who said last week that the car’s computers showed the throttle was open and the brakes were not applied.

Two officers shotBALTIMORE (AP) — Two police

officers who had pulled over a suspicious vehicle were shot and wounded by the driver, and the sus-pect was killed when the officers returned fire, Baltimore police said Sunday.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the officers will survive and are expected to undergo surgery at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. One officer was shot in the right cheek, while the other was shot in the hand. A third officer also shot at the suspect.

Burglar cooks chickenHILLSDALE, N.J. (AP) — Police

in a New Jersey town say someone broke into a restaurant and cooked a chicken and rice dish before flee-ing — leaving behind a pile of dirty dishes.

They say the hungry burglar on Saturday broke through an exhaust fan in the back wall of the Matsu Sushi Grill in Hillsdale, a town of 10,000 residents just northwest of New York City. The burglar got chicken from a freezer and cooked it with rice in a frying pan.

Fugitive found in Pa. barPITTSBURGH (AP) — A fugi-

tive wanted for bank robbery in Michigan is in custody after police say he walked out of a Pittsburgh hospital and into a bar wearing only his hospital gown, with an intrave-nous needle still his arm.

Authorities say police were called to JR’s Bar Friday night after 20-year-old Elbert Lewis Thompson II walked in from Allegheny General Hospital. Thompson was taken into custody a short time later.

Md. woman gets lifeROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A

Maryland woman convicted of kill-ing two of her adopted daughters and storing their bodies in a home freezer offered no hint of what drove her to torture them, as she was sen-tenced Monday to two consecutive life terms, plus 75 years in prison.

Renee Bowman, 44, maintained the inscrutable exterior that she dis-played during the trial last month, showing no emotion even as she apologized.

“I am very sorry for the abuse of the girls,” she told Montgomery County Circuit Judge Michael J. Algeo in an even voice. “It haunts me. It haunts me every day.”

The judge was unconvinced.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson’s doctor halted CPR on the dying pop star and delayed calling paramedics so he could collect drug vials at the scene, according to docu-ments obtained by The Associated Press that shed new light on the sing-er’s chaotic final moments.

The explosive allegation that Dr. Conrad Murray may have tried to hide evidence is likely to be a focus as prosecutors move ahead with their involuntary manslaughter case against him.

The account was given to investi-gators by Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s logistics director, who was sum-moned to the stricken star’s side as he was dying on June 25. His state-ment and those from two other Jackson employees also obtained by the AP paint a grisly scene in Jackson’s bedroom.

Alvarez told investigators that he rushed to Jackson’s room and saw the star lying in his bed, an IV attached to his leg. Jackson’s mouth was agape, eyes open and there was no sign of life. Murray worked franti-cally, at one point performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Alvarez took over CPR.

Two of the star’s children, Prince and Paris, came in the room and cried as they saw Murray trying to save their father. A nanny was called to usher them away and they were

taken to wait outside in a vehicle.The documents also detail an odd

encounter with Murray after Jackson was declared dead at a nearby hos-pital. Murray insisted he needed to return to the mansion to get cream that Jackson had “so the world wouldn’t find out about it,” according to the statements, which provide no elaboration.

Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, rejected the notion his client tried to hide drugs. He also noted Alvarez was interviewed twice by police and gave different accounts of what hap-pened in Jackson’s bedroom. During the first interview, Alvarez made no mention of being told to tidy away medicine vials.

“He didn’t say any of those things, then two months later, all of a sud-den, the doc is throwing bottles into the bag,” Chernoff said. “Alvarez’s statement is inconsistent with his previous statement. We will deal with that at trial.”

Alvarez and the others who gave the statements, Jackson’s personal assistant Michael Amir Williams and driver/bodyguard Faheem Muhammad, could be key witnesses should Murray go to trial. Except for the brief appearances by the nanny and the children, Alvarez and Muhammad were the only others in the room with Murray as he tried to save Jackson.

CHICAGO (AP) — The once mighty liberal activist group ACORN announced Monday it is folding amid falling revenues — six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to con-servative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.

“It’s really declining revenue in the face of a series of attacks from parti-san operatives and right-wing activ-ist that have taken away our ability to raise the resources we need,” ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said.

Several of its largest affiliates, including ACORN New York and ACORN California, broke away this year and changed their names in a bid to ditch the tarnished image of their parent organization and restore revenue that ran dry in the wake of the video scandal. They will continue to operate under their new names and aren’t affected by ACORN’s deci-sion to shut down.

ACORN, whose network spanned some 40 states, was a favorite

Republican target even before the video brouhaha. But its financial sit-uation and reputation went into free fall within days of the videos’ release in September, and even Democratic backers began scattering. Congress reacted by yanking ACORN’s federal funding, private donors held back cash and scores of ACORN offices closed.

Earlier this month, a U.S. judge reiterated an earlier ruling that the federal law blacklisting ACORN and groups allied with it was unconsti-tutional because it singled them out. But that didn’t mean any money would be automatically be restored.

Bertha Lewis, the CEO of ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, alluded to financial hardships in a weekend statement as the group’s board prepared to delib-erate by phone.

ACORN’s board decided to close remaining state affiliates and field offices by April 1.

Associated PressConstance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba County Agricultural High School, center, leaves the federal courthouse in Aberdeen, Miss., Monday follow-ing a hearing regarding the ACLU’s preliminary injunction to force the prom at her high school. McMillen was told by school authorities that she could not wear a tux or bring a same sex date to the prom on April 2.

PROM HEARING HELD

Witness: Jackson’s doctor halted CPR to find drugs

ACORN hits the end of road

Nation Today

10/

Come in for a Good Deal and a Good Deal More

Pat Nanney

HAPPY BIRTHDAYJackson Byers

celebrated his 3rd birthday March 21. Jackson is the son of

Christopher and Cassie Byers of Forest City. Jackson enjoyed a Thomas the Train

party with family and friends at Kidz Play.

Troy and Louise BranchHappy

64th Wedding Anniversary

We Love You! Thank you for providing our family

with a loving Christian home!

The Daily Courier Weather

Moon Phases

Almanac

North Carolina Forecast

Today’s National Map

First3/23

Full3/29

Last4/6

New4/14

Today

Mostly SunnyPrecip Chance: 5%

63º

Tonight

ClearPrecip Chance: 0%

41º

Wednesday

Mostly SunnyPrecip Chance: 5%

72º 44º

Thursday

Mostly SunnyPrecip Chance: 5%

71º 48º

Friday

Few ShowersPrecip Chance: 30%

66º 42º

Saturday

Partly CloudyPrecip Chance: 10%

62º 42º

Sun and Moon

Local UV Index

Sunrise today . . . . .7:27 a.m.Sunset tonight . . . . .7:42 p.m.Moonrise today . . .12:35 p.m.Moonset today . . . . .2:43 a.m.

TemperaturesHigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Normal High . . . . . . . . . . . .64Normal Low . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Precipitation24 hrs through 7 a.m. yest. .0.50"Month to date . . . . . . . . .2.00"Year to date . . . . . . . . .12.78"

Barometric PressureHigh yesterday . . . . . . .30.06"

Relative HumidityHigh yesterday . . . . . . . .100%

City Hi/Lo Wx Hi/Lo Wx

Asheville . . . . . . .56/37 mc 67/41 sCape Hatteras . . .57/48 mc 61/51 sCharlotte . . . . . . .63/41 s 72/46 sFayetteville . . . . .65/43 s 74/49 sGreensboro . . . . .62/42 mc 71/48 sGreenville . . . . . .63/43 mc 71/47 sHickory . . . . . . . . . .61/43 s 70/45 sJacksonville . . . .62/43 s 70/46 sKitty Hawk . . . . . .56/45 mc 64/48 sNew Bern . . . . . .63/43 pc 70/47 sRaleigh . . . . . . . .63/43 mc 72/49 sSouthern Pines . .65/41 s 74/48 sWilmington . . . . .64/46 s 69/50 sWinston-Salem . .61/42 mc 70/47 s

Around Our State

Across Our Nation

Weather (Wx): cl/cloudy; pc/partly cloudy;ra/rain; rs/rain & snow; s/sunny; sh/showers;

sn/snow; t/thunderstorms; w/windy

Today Wednesday

City Hi/Lo Wx Hi/Lo Wx

Atlanta . . . . . . . . .63/42 mc 74/47 sBaltimore . . . . . . .58/44 sh 64/41 sChicago . . . . . . . .53/39 s 48/35 pcDetroit . . . . . . . . .51/34 s 54/36 pcIndianapolis . . . .59/42 pc 61/38 sLos Angeles . . . .72/51 mc 78/53 sMiami . . . . . . . . . .76/60 s 77/66 sNew York . . . . . . .58/42 ra 56/38 sPhiladelphia . . . .60/41 sh 63/41 sSacramento . . . . .73/46 s 72/47 sSan Francisco . . .72/50 s 60/51 sSeattle . . . . . . . . .57/41 s 64/45 sTampa . . . . . . . . .71/50 s 76/56 sWashington, DC .58/42 sh 65/39 s

Today Wednesday

Cold Front Stationary Front Warm Front Low Pressure High Pressure

L H

This map shows high temperatures,type of precipitation expected andlocation of frontal systems at noon.

H

LL

H

70s

60s

60s

60s

50s

50s

50s

70s

70s

40s40s

30s

3 50 - 2 4 6 8 107 9 11+

0-2: Low, 3-5: Moderate, 6-7: High, 8-10: Very High, 11+: Extreme Exposure

Statistics provided by BroadRiver Water Authority through7 a.m. yesterday.

Elizabeth City61/44

Greenville63/43

Wilmington64/46

Greensboro62/42

Raleigh63/43

Charlotte63/41

Forest City63/41

Fayetteville65/43

Kinston64/43

Durham63/43

Asheville56/37

Winston-Salem61/42

Shown is today’s weather.Temperatures are today’s highsand tonight’s lows.

Weather

Shop the Classifieds

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010 — 11

Business/finance

NEW YORK (AP) — Drug and hospital companies led stocks higher Monday after House law-makers ended months of uncer-tainty and approved the health care overhaul bill.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 44 points. Broader indexes also climbed.

Investors had expected the health care bill would pass the House, but the approval late Sunday removed some of the anxiety that has dogged stocks of hospitals and drug mak-ers. A bill with changes made by the House now goes back to the Senate for approval. Debate could begin Tuesday.

The 10-year, $938 billion bill will extend benefits to 32 mil-lion uninsured Americans. That will have far-reaching effects on health companies. With the bill in hand, investors could place bets on winners and losers. Hospital stocks rose on expec-tations they would see more business and increased revenue. Some insurers fell because of greater restrictions imposed by the changes.

Many key points of the bill will not take effect for several years, though others like provisions allowing children to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26 will kick in this year.

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. rose 9 percent, while insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 3.2 percent.

“You’ve got some uncertainty here lifted,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. Ablin noted, however, that other industries will face higher costs to pay for wider coverage. “What it really comes down to is that as a result of this bill health care is a beneficiary at the expense of every other sector.”

Stocks have been rising steadi-ly in recent weeks as investors have grown more confident in a rebound following a string of improved economic reports. At the same time, much of the advance has come on light trad-ing volume. That signals that not all the gains are tied to increas-ing expectations about the economy. Some analysts say that stocks are rising in a vacuum rather than because investors strongly believe that the market is poised to go higher.

The Dow rose 43.91, or 0.4 per-cent, to 10,785.89. It has risen 14 of the past 17 trading days and stands at its highest level since October 2008.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.91, or 0.5 percent, to 1,165.81. The Nasdaq composite

index rose 20.99, or 0.9 percent, to 2,395.40. It closed at a new high for the year and is at its best level since August 2008.

Bond prices rose, pushing down yields. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.66 percent from 3.70 percent late Friday.

The dollar fell against other major currencies. Gold fell.

Crude oil rose 57 cents to $81.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Stock fell Friday because of renewed concerns about budget problems in Greece. More ques-tions about Greece hurt stocks early Monday. The country’s debt woes have dragged down global stock markets on and off for nearly two months as the coun-try tries to cut its budget deficit.

Investors have been worried that Greece and other European nations that use the euro, like Spain and Portugal, could strug-gle to recover as they try to pay down debt. That could upend a global economic recovery.

Questions about Greece arose agMeanwhile, retailers signaled that affluent consumers are stepping up spending. Jeweler Tiffany & Co.’s fourth-quarter profit quadrupled though earn-ings fell short of analysts’ fore-casts.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York in this file phot from last week. Stocks ended higher on Monday, led by health care companies.

Associated Press

Health companies lead market

Bank bill set for vote before the full Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans abandoned hope of altering Wall Street legislation in a key Senate committee on Monday, clouding prospects for a bipartisan bill and leaving the fight for the full Senate.

Republicans had offered more than 300 amend-ments to legislation proposed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, but they withdrew them over the weekend. That cleared the way for a quick party-line committee vote on Dodd’s proposal late Monday or early Tuesday.

The surprise development did nothing to mend the partisan fissures over the legislation and adds even more uncertainty to Congress’ ability to pass a sweeping rewrite of financial regulations this year. The Senate would not take up the bill until April at the earliest.

“You’ll have Easter recess, and that’s when, I guess, over the course of the next several weeks when the real negotiations will be taking place,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the committee who had held negotiations with Dodd. Corker spoke on CNBC.

The measure aims to avoid a recurrence of the 2008 financial crisis that helped plunge the coun-try into the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

With more than 300 Republican amendments and nearly 100 Democratic changes, commit-tee members had prepared themselves for a long and arduous week of debate and votes on the bill. Instead, senators now planned to make opening remarks later Monday and then vote on Dodd’s bill. That vote could be pushed back to Tuesday morn-ing.

Industry lobbyists said the decision made it much more difficult to predict what the Senate would ultimately do with the legislation.

Various potential outcomes were likely:n The legislation would go to the floor but with-

out the support of at least one Republican, it would be blocked by procedural delays that would require 60 votes to overcome. There are 41 Republicans in the Senate, enough to sustain a filibuster.

n The bill would pass out of committee on a par-ty-line vote, but Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee, would strike a bargain and pass a bill with bipartisan support. That is what happened last year with leg-islation that changed credit card rules.

n The bill would move out of committee and Democrats would seek to pick off one or two Republicans to support the bill and break a filibus-ter.

11/

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STOCKS OF LOCAL INTERESTYTD

Name Div Yld PE Last Chg%ChgYTD

Name Div Yld PE Last Chg %ChgAT&T Inc 1.68 6.4 12 26.40 +.16 -5.8Amazon ... ... 64 130.47 +.12 -3.0ArvMerit ... ... ... 12.93 +.55 +15.7BB&T Cp .60 1.9 27 32.00 +.15 +26.1BkofAm .04 .2 ... 16.96 +.14 +12.6BerkHa A ... ... 24123500.00+875.00 +24.5Cisco ... ... 25 26.28 +.13 +9.8Delhaize 2.01 2.4 ... 82.50 -.23 +7.5Dell Inc ... ... 20 14.62 +.21 +1.8DukeEngy .96 5.8 14 16.44 -.14 -4.5ExxonMbl 1.68 2.5 17 66.97 -.07 -1.8FamilyDlr .62 1.7 17 36.36 +.54 +30.7FifthThird .04 .3 19 13.43 +.13 +37.7FCtzBA 1.20 .6 19 206.40 +1.51 +25.8GenElec .40 2.2 18 18.07 ... +19.4GoldmanS 1.40 .8 8 176.16 -1.74 +4.3Google ... ... 27 557.50 -2.50 -10.1KrispKrm ... ... ... 3.98 -.03 +34.9

LeggPlat 1.04 4.8 29 21.54 +.07 +5.6

Lowes .36 1.4 21 24.91 +.13 +6.5

Microsoft .52 1.8 16 29.60 +.01 -2.9

PPG 2.16 3.3 23 65.48 +.55 +11.9

ParkerHan 1.00 1.5 38 65.55 +.44 +21.7

ProgrssEn 2.48 6.2 13 39.89 +.05 -2.7

RedHat ... ... 73 30.00 +.03 -2.9

RoyalBk g 2.00 ... ... 58.41 -.12 +9.1

SaraLee .44 3.2 12 13.90 +.03 +14.1

SonicAut ... ... 12 12.39 +.39 +19.2

SonocoP 1.08 3.5 21 31.07 +.27 +6.2

SpectraEn 1.00 4.5 17 22.26 +.04 +8.5

SpeedM .40 2.5 ... 15.90 +.13 -9.8

Timken .36 1.3 ... 27.89 +.13 +17.6

UPS B 1.88 2.9 29 63.96 -.37 +11.5

WalMart 1.21 2.2 15 55.62 +.28 +4.1

STOCK MARKET INDEXES

MUTUAL FUNDS

DAILY DOW JONES

10,819.90 7,172.05 Dow Industrials 10,785.89 +43.91 +.41 +3.43 +38.714,439.24 2,420.82 Dow Transportation 4,381.31 +7.58 +.17 +6.87 +61.36

408.57 304.10 Dow Utilities 379.41 -2.39 -.63 -4.67 +11.437,497.88 4,690.16 NYSE Composite 7,419.02 +32.17 +.44 +3.26 +43.061,925.54 1,277.60 Amex Market Value 1,889.38 +13.25 +.71 +3.53 +37.692,400.09 1,402.48 Nasdaq Composite 2,395.40 +20.99 +.88 +5.56 +53.971,169.84 749.93 S&P 500 1,165.81 +5.91 +.51 +4.55 +41.67

799.05 446.23 S&P MidCap 793.79 +8.66 +1.10 +9.24 +59.2012,250.82 7,583.84 Wilshire 5000 12,196.22 +79.56 +.66 +5.61 +46.10

686.94 384.26 Russell 2000 682.91 +9.02 +1.34 +9.20 +57.45

52-Week Net YTD 12-moHigh Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg

THE MARKET IN REVIEW

PIMCO TotRetIs CI 122,927 11.05 +1.4 +16.4/C +7.6/A NL 5,000,000American Funds GrthAmA m LG 64,425 28.32 +4.7 +49.5/D +4.0/B 5.75 250Vanguard TotStIdx LB 59,564 29.02 +5.6 +58.5/B +2.7/B NL 3,000American Funds CapIncBuA m IH 56,242 47.89 +2.4 +34.4/C +4.2/C 5.75 250Fidelity Contra LG 55,524 60.07 +4.9 +46.8/D +5.4/A NL 2,500American Funds CpWldGrIA m WS 53,078 33.82 +4.5 +49.4/D +6.0/A 5.75 250American Funds IncAmerA m MA 48,457 15.73 +2.6 +41.3/C +3.6/B 5.75 250Vanguard 500Inv LB 47,853 107.79 +5.4 +55.0/B +1.9/C NL 3,000American Funds InvCoAmA m LB 47,616 26.64 +4.5 +47.1/E +2.7/B 5.75 250Vanguard InstIdx LB 44,500 107.10 +5.4 +55.1/B +2.0/C NL 5,000,000Dodge & Cox Stock LV 40,010 101.95 +5.8 +70.1/A +0.6/D NL 2,500American Funds EurPacGrA m FB 38,069 38.16 +4.5 +52.2/C +7.6/A 5.75 250American Funds WAMutInvA m LV 37,537 25.43 +4.5 +48.1/D +1.5/C 5.75 250Dodge & Cox IntlStk FV 35,758 32.64 +6.0 +75.9/A +5.5/A NL 2,500PIMCO TotRetAdm b CI 31,614 11.05 +1.4 +16.1/C +7.4/A NL 5,000,000American Funds NewPerspA m WS 31,553 26.09 +4.4 +54.1/C +6.6/A 5.75 250American Funds FnInvA m LB 30,216 33.84 +4.7 +52.1/D +4.8/A 5.75 250Fidelity DivrIntl d FG 29,870 27.84 +4.1 +51.1/D +3.5/D NL 2,500FrankTemp-Franklin Income A m CA 29,675 2.09 +3.1 +48.9/A +4.6/A 4.25 1,000American Funds BalA m MA 29,546 16.81 +3.5 +39.4/C +3.3/C 5.75 250Vanguard 500Adml LB 28,279 107.82 +5.4 +55.1/B +2.0/C NL 100,000Vanguard TotStIAdm LB 28,262 29.03 +5.6 +58.7/B +2.8/B NL 100,000Vanguard Welltn MA 28,252 29.85 +3.9 +38.5/C +5.7/A NL 10,000American Funds BondA m CI 27,481 12.00 +1.2 +18.9/B +3.1/E 3.75 250Fidelity GrowCo LG 27,150 72.96 +6.6 +58.9/B +7.0/A NL 2,500PIMCO TotRetA m CI 25,333 11.05 +1.4 +15.9/C +7.1/A 3.75 1,000Vanguard TotIntl d FB 25,302 14.48 +4.8 +61.3/A +5.2/A NL 3,000Fidelity LowPriStk d MB 24,867 34.59 +6.3 +70.0/B +5.1/A NL 2,500T Rowe Price EqtyInc LV 15,542 22.24 +5.9 +63.8/A +2.2/B NL 2,500Hartford CapAprA m LB 9,595 31.92 +5.3 +63.9/A +4.8/A 5.50 2,000Pioneer PioneerA m LB 4,231 37.53 +5.0 +54.8/B +2.4/B 5.75 1,000Goldman Sachs ShDuGovA m GS 1,496 10.36 0.0 +3.5/B +4.8/A 1.50 1,000Alliance Bernstein GrowIncA m LV 1,216 3.08 +4.4 +42.3/E -0.4/E 4.25 2,500DWS-Scudder REstA m SR 430 15.39 +11.6+123.3/C +3.9/C 5.75 1,000Hartford GrowthL m LG 180 15.74 +6.4 +52.3/C +2.7/C 4.75 0

Total Assets Total Return/Rank Pct Min InitName Obj ($Mlns) NAV 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Load Invt

CA -Conservative Allocation, CI -Intermediate-Term Bond, ES -Europe Stock, FB -Foreign Large Blend, FG -Foreign LargeGrowth, FV -ForeignLarge Value, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA -Moderate Allocation, MB -Mid-Cap Blend, MV -Mid-Cap Value, SH -Specialty-heath, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvested. Rank: How fund performed vs.others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Morningstar.

NYSE7,419.02 +32.17

AMEX1,889.38 +13.25

NASDAQ2,395.40 +20.99

STOCK EXCHANGE HIGHLIGHTS

Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars. h = Does not meet continued-listing standards.lf = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks. pf = Preferred. rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50percent within the past year. rt = Right to buy security at a specified price. s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within thelast year. un = Units. vj = In bankruptcy or receivership. wd = When distributed. wi = When issued. wt = Warrants. Mutual Fund Footnotes: b = Fee covering market costs is paid from fund assets. d = Deferred sales charge, or redemption fee.f = front load (sales charges). m = Multiple fees are charged. NA = not available. p = previous day’s net asset value. s = fundsplit shares during the week. x = fund paid a distribution during the week.Gainers and Losers must be worth at least $2 to belisted in tables at left. Most Actives must be worth at least $1. Volume in hundreds of shares. Source: The Associated Press.Sales figures are unofficial.

uu uu uuGAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

Volume

Name Vol (00) Last ChgETrade 963447 1.51 -.06PwShs QQQ663326 47.92 +.43Palm Inc 610219 3.98 -.02Intel 469172 22.24 +.25Microsoft 367779 29.60 +.01Cisco 275716 26.28 +.13ApldMatl 261498 12.78 +.29ArrwhdR h 251045 1.04 +.50Oracle 244019 25.56 +.37Dell Inc 218621 14.62 +.21

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE)

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg %ChgTechwell 18.38 +5.94 +47.7RoylBcPA 2.37 +.53 +28.8CTI Inds 3.47 +.77 +28.5AscentSol 4.09 +.83 +25.7VlyNBc wt 3.48 +.68 +24.3IndSvAm 15.38 +2.93 +23.5CitzSoBk 6.40 +1.17 +22.4WaterstnF 3.33 +.45 +15.6SinoGlobal 4.18 +.56 +15.5OhioLegacy 2.18 +.29 +15.3

Name Last Chg %ChgParkBcp 5.29 -1.04 -16.4MonrchCB 2.25 -.37 -14.1GlenBurnie 9.71 -1.53 -13.6Zanett 2.25 -.33 -12.8Verenm rs 5.41 -.72 -11.7Bluefly 2.67 -.32 -10.7eOnComm 2.91 -.35 -10.7LaPorteBc 5.50 -.65 -10.6MannKd 6.42 -.74 -10.3FstFrnkln 6.30 -.70 -10.0

DIARYAdvanced 1,743Declined 980Unchanged 95Total issues 2,818New Highs 184New Lows 16

2,269,559,074Volume

Name Vol (00) Last ChgRexahnPh 57064 1.60 +.19GoldStr g 41215 3.73 +.21Rentech 26879 1.08 +.02Corriente g 26499 7.34 -1.05NovaGld g 21544 7.60 +.22NthgtM g 18131 3.04 +.08NA Pall g 16632 4.01 -.03KodiakO g 15864 3.00 -.05PionDrill 15414 7.15 +.04ChiArmM 14653 8.25 +.42

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE)

GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg %ChgSunLink 2.19 +.60 +37.7OrienPap n 8.87 +.71 +8.6Bcp NJ 14.01 +1.01 +7.8Chrmcft 2.74 +.16 +6.2SDgo pfC 16.87 +.99 +6.2GoldStr g 3.73 +.21 +6.0ChiArmM 8.25 +.42 +5.4Banro g 2.07 +.10 +5.1SDgo pfB 17.50 +.85 +5.1Uroplasty 2.10 +.10 +5.0

Name Last Chg %ChgCorriente g 7.34 -1.05 -12.5VirnetX 5.15 -.45 -8.0EmersnR h 3.37 -.22 -6.1Daxor 11.39 -.71 -5.9FullHseR 3.17 -.18 -5.4TelInstEl 7.36 -.39 -5.0UQM Tech 4.19 -.22 -5.0AdcareH wt 3.00 -.15 -4.8NIVS IntT 2.80 -.14 -4.8VistaGold 2.17 -.11 -4.8

DIARYAdvanced 253Declined 244Unchanged 39Total issues 536New Highs 11New Lows 1

Name Vol (00) Last ChgCitigrp 4534372 4.04 +.14S&P500ETF1673699116.59 +.62FordM 1673617 13.99 +.70BkofAm 1105904 16.96 +.14LVSands 735403 21.43 +1.93Pfizer 670779 17.15 +.24DirFBear rs 643117 13.93 -.24GenElec 632406 18.07 ...SPDR Fncl 621838 15.77 +.08iShEMkts 563822 41.34 +.15

MOST ACTIVE ($1 OR MORE)

GAINERS ($2 OR MORE)

LOSERS ($2 OR MORE)

Name Last Chg %ChgPPL pfAcld101.70+22.30 +28.1CNX Gas 37.84 +7.04 +22.9BarcAsia8 56.55 +9.42 +20.0BankAtl A 2.06 +.31 +17.7BRT 6.50 +.90 +16.1WmsSon 27.10 +2.96 +12.3DoralFncl 5.04 +.53 +11.8SFN Grp 8.83 +.92 +11.6HltMgmt 9.05 +.92 +11.3Centene 24.14 +2.31 +10.6

Name Last Chg %ChgGATX pf 190.00-99.00 -34.3Heckmn un 7.50 -1.45 -16.2GrayTvA 2.49 -.35 -12.3FstPfd pfA 10.38 -1.27 -10.9CapitolBcp 2.62 -.26 -9.0JacksnHew 2.19 -.21 -8.8DrxSOXBr 37.47 -3.35 -8.2ConcMed n 7.82 -.67 -7.9CapTr12 pf 3.15 -.20 -6.0Goldcp wt 4.70 -.30 -6.0

DIARYAdvanced 2,017Declined 1,039Unchanged 145Total issues 3,201New Highs 240New Lows 9

4,292,713,844Volume 97,250,238

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S MO N D J F

10,480

10,660

10,840Dow Jones industrialsClose: 10,785.89Change: 43.91 (0.4%)

10 DAYS

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12 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

NatioN

Associated PressDemonstrators march at the National Mall during a rally for immigration reform in Washington on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Frustrated with the lack of action to overhaul the country’s immigration system, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied on the National Mall and marched through the streets of the capital Sunday, waving American flags and holding homemade signs in English and Spanish.

Supporters traveled from around the country in hopes the rally would re-energize Congress to take up the volatile issue. Some lawmakers oppose any attempt to help an esti-mated 12 million illegal immigrants become U.S. citizens while others insist on stronger border controls first.

President Barack Obama, who promised to make overhauling the immigration system a top priority in his first year, sought to reassure those at the rally with a video mes-sage presented on giant screens at the National Mall. The president said he was committed to working with Congress this year on a comprehen-sive bill to fix a “broken immigration system.”

Obama said problems include fami-lies being torn apart, employers gam-ing the system and police officers struggling to keep communities safe.

The president, whose comments were released as he worked to get last-minute votes on a health care overhaul, said he would do every-thing in his power to forge a bipar-tisan consensus on immigration reform. The House was expected to vote on the landmark health care leg-islation late Sunday.

Some demonstrators were dis-appointed there hasn’t been more action a year into Obama’s term.

“I understand it may not all be his (Obama’s) fault,” said Manuel Bettran, a 21-year-old college student from Chicago. “I am frustrated. I really wish not just him, but every-body, would take it more seriously. “

Bettran arrived in Washington on Sunday morning after a 13-hour bus ride. Like many, he had a personal connection to the issue. His parents were once illegal immigrants but were able to take advantage of an amnesty in the 1980s.

“Fortunately, they were able to become citizens during the last amnesty, but I know many people that weren’t that lucky,” said the American-born Bettran, adding that his brother was never able to gain legal status and had to leave the U.S.

Lawmakers failed to agree in 2006

and 2007 when they last tried to overhaul the immigration system, and the political climate is even tougher now.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released an outline of a bill last week that calls for illegal immigrants who want to get on the path to legal status to admit they broke the law by entering the U.S., pay fines and back taxes, and perform community service. They also would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before working toward legal residency, required before becoming a citizen.

Ben Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a speaker at the rally, said the activ-ists no doubt got the attention of lawmakers by converging on the mall “on the one Sunday Congress was in session.”

“I think you’ll see a response in the following weeks,” he said.

Authorities in D.C. don’t provide crowd estimates, but the mall was full of people for three blocks.

People held signs with slogans such as, “You need us as much as we need you,” and “No Human Being is Illegal.” Many waved American flags, and a few also carried the banners of their countries of origin.

One group from Queens, N.Y., dis-played a giant papier-mache family — a mother and two crying children. The creation, meant to symbolize the way immigration problems have split up families, was the work of teenag-ers in an after-school program, said Natalia Aristizabal, arts and media educator for the group, Make the Road New York.

ATLANTA (AP) — For those who haven’t flown in a while, be prepared to be scanned, swabbed or thorough-ly patted down. Maybe all three.

Many spring break travelers are about to have their first encoun-ter with airport security measures stepped up after Christmas, when a man was accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jetliner using explosives hidden in his underwear.

As the extra measures are rolled out and travel demand picks up, security lines are expected to grow. Airlines, meanwhile, worry the government will require them to pay to maintain the beefed-up security checkpoints.

The Obama administration is com-mitting tens of millions of dollars to deploy more state-of-the-art screen-ing equipment, and it is tightening enforcement of some older security measures.

For example:n There are now 44 full-image

body scanners at 21 U.S. airports, a 10 percent increase from before Christmas. Chicago’s O’Hare and Boston’s Logan are the latest airports to add these. Nearly 1,000 scanners will be in use nationwide by the end of next year.n The use of “swabs,” or Explosive

Trace Detection machines, has been expanded in recent weeks. Security agents are now more frequently roaming boarding areas and security lines with portable machines, which can detect traces of explosives after a cotton swab is applied to hands or luggage.n The Transportation Security

Administration has sought to make screening less predictable. At some airports, passengers are asked to choose between a body scan or a pat down. A passenger who refuses a 30-second body scan may receive a two- to four-minute manual pat down.

A passenger might proceed to their plane after clearing just one form of screening. Or they could run the gamut like software executive Bob Thomas did on a recent flight departing from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport.

A gum wrapper made of aluminum foil in Thomas’ pocket set off a metal detector. After that, he went into a cylindrical machine 6-foot-wide by more than 8-foot-high to have his body image taken. Next came the hand swab. Lastly, he sat down and lifted his legs for a pat down by an airport screener. All clear.

For the former Marine officer, the extra few minutes were “a big waste of my time.” But he understands the agents’ predicament. “They don’t know” which passenger is a potential threat, he said.

Fliers say they are understanding of the new measures, but nevertheless agitated by them.

Merle Thompson, a 77-year-old retired college professor from Alexandria, Va., recently got a taste of the enhanced screening measures.

Because her steel replacement knee often sets off the walk-through metal detectors, agents usually screen her with a hand wand. But that wasn’t enough ahead of a recent flight to San Francisco from Washington, D.C.

“They patted me down,” Thompson said. “Which I found humorous and ridiculous.”

In a recent survey of more than 3,200 U.S. air travelers by travel Web site TripAdvisor, 39 percent cited long security lines as the most annoying part of being at an airport.

Security lines subsided in the slow-er winter months. But airlines are starting to see increased demand in March as the economy recovers and spring vacations get underway. As a result, lines are likely to grow again, said aviation expert Mark Kiefer of Charles River Associates.

Because full-body scans take slight-ly longer to go through than a simple metal detector, that can add up to longer waits when airports are busy, Kiefer said.

TSA says it doesn’t believe the scan-ners will “significantly” increase the wait on security lines.

Some airlines advise passengers to arrive 75 minutes ahead of a domes-tic flight and up to three hours ahead of an international flight.

Tighter security comes to airports for summer

Immigration rally puts spotlight back on issue

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released an outline of a bill last week that calls for illegal immi-grants who want to get on the path to legal status to admit they broke the law by entering the U.S., pay fines and back taxes, and perform community service. They also would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before working toward legal residency, required before becoming a citizen.

12/

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NatioN

Associuated PressPresident Barack Obama, with Vice President Joseph Biden at his side, makes a statement to the nation Sunday night following the final vote in the House of Representatives for comprehensive health care legislation, in the East Room of the White House in Washington,

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is poised to sign the landmark health care bill ushering in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the nation’s history — and then he’ll hit the road to resume selling it to a reluctant public.

Obama will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday, the White House said, as he turns to see-ing a companion bill through the Senate and talking up the overhaul’s benefits on behalf of House members who cast risky votes.

Obama is expected to sign the bill Tuesday at the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday. A South Lawn ceremo-ny is planned. Obama is inviting all lawmakers who supported the bill and other Americans whose stories represent the need for reformed health care, Gibbs said.

“Last night we made history,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters as she signed the legislation, a formal-ity before Obama’s own signa-ture. “It’s on a par with passing Social Security and Medicare.”

The House voted 219-212 late Sunday to send the legislation to Obama. The 10-year, $938 billion bill would extend cover-age to 32 million uninsured Americans, reduce deficits and ban insurance company prac-tices such as charging more to women and denying coverage to people with medical problems.

“This is what change looks like,” Obama said after the vote, a remark echoing his 2008 cam-paign promise of “change we can believe in.”

“We proved that this govern-ment — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.”

Obama’s young presidency received a much needed boost from passage of the legislation, which would touch the lives of nearly every American. The battle for the future of the health insurance system — affecting one-sixth of the economy — gal-vanized Republicans and conser-vative activists looking ahead to

November’s midterm elections.A companion package mak-

ing a series of changes sought by House Democrats to the main bill, which already had passed the Senate, was approved 220-211. The fix-it bill will now go to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin as early as Tuesday. Senate Democrats hope to approve it unchanged and send it directly to Obama, though Republicans plan parlia-mentary objections that could change the bill and require it to go back to the House.

Sen. John McCain said Monday morning that Democrats have not heard the last of the health care debate, and said he was repulsed by “all this euphoria going on.”

Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” McCain, who was Obama’s GOP rival in the 2008 presidential campaign, said that “outside the Beltway, the American people are very angry. They don’t like it, and we’re going to repeal this.”

The complicated two-step approval process for the leg-islation was made necessary because Senate Democrats lost their filibuster-proof superma-jority in a special election in January, a setback that caused even some Democratic lawmak-ers to pronounce the yearlong health care effort dead. Under the relentless prodding of Pelosi, in particular, it was gradually revived, and the fix-it bill will be considered under fast-track Senate rules that don’t allow minority party filibusters.

“We will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare and now, tonight, health care for all Americans,” said a jubilant Pelosi, D-Calif.

“This is the civil rights act of the 21st century,” added Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

GOP lawmakers attacked the legislation as everything from a government takeover to the beginning of totalitarianism, and none voted in favor. “Hell no!” Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, shouted in a fiery speech. “We have failed to listen to America and we have

failed to reflect the will of our constituents.”

Thirty-four Democrats also voted “no” on the bill.

Sunday night’s votes capped an unpredictable and raucous weekend at the capitol, with Democratic leaders negotiating around the clock for the final votes as hundreds of protesters paraded outside, their shouts of “Kill the Bill! Kill the Bill!” audible within the Capitol.

A last-minute deal with a criti-cal group of anti-abortion law-makers Sunday afternoon sealed Democrats’ victory. The leader of the anti-abortion bloc, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., didn’t get to add stricter anti-abortion language to the underlying bill, but was satisfied by an executive order signed by Obama affirm-ing current law and provisions in the legislation that ban federal funding for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.

Republican abortion foes said Obama’s proposed order was insufficient.

Far beyond the political rami-fications — a concern the presi-dent repeatedly insisted he paid no mind — were the sweeping changes the bill held in store for Americans, insured or not, as well as for the insurance indus-try and health care providers.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the legisla-tion awaiting the president’s approval would cut deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. For the first time, most Americans would be required to purchase insurance, and face penalties if they refused. Much of the money in the bill would be devoted to subsidies to help fam-ilies at incomes of up to $88,000 a year pay their premiums.

The second measure, which House Democrats demanded before agreeing to approve the first, included enough money to close a gap in the Medicare prescription drug coverage over the next decade, starting with an election-season rebate of $250 later this year for seniors facing high costs.

Political impact of health care reforms unclear

Obama will sign health care bill and then hit the road to sell it

An AP News AnalysisBy LIZ SIDOTIAP National Political Writer

WASHINGTON — The initial blush of President Barack Obama’s health care triumph immediately gives way to a sober political reality — he must sell the landmark legislation to an angry and unpre-dictable electorate, still reeling from the recession.

Voters may not buy it.And that could mean a disastrous midterm elec-

tion year for Obama and his fellow Democrats.“We proved that this government — a govern-

ment of the people and by the people — still works for the people,” the president said late Sunday, beginning his sales pitch from the White House one hour after Congress passed the sweeping mea-sure.

“This isn’t radical reform but it is major reform,” he added. “This is what change looks like.”

Obama and the Democrats are certain to look for a much-needed political lift from the legislation, a capstone for a young presidency and a party after decades of trying to remake the nation’s health care system.

But there’s no guarantee they’ll get it.For now at least, Obama is savoring victory; he

looks strong, principled and effective for getting something huge done in a city many Americans detest.

Still, the near-term reward could easily be forgot-ten come November.

This campaign season already has been unforgiv-ing for the White House and the Democratic Party, with a monumental loss in the Massachusetts Senate election and a spate of debilitating congres-sional retirements. And conditions seem ripe for the electorate to punish the party in power.

Voters are furious. They hate Washington. They also detest incumbents. They’re concerned most about the economy. And unemployment that’s hovering near 10 percent. They’re also split over whether Obama’s health plan is good for a nation with enormous budget deficits and climbing debt.

How those variables play out is anyone’s guess.Even so, Obama reassured rank-and-file

Democrats before they cast what he rightly called a tough vote.

Nearby, enraged tea party protesters filled the grounds and the steps of adjacent office buildings, railing against the measure and promising to fire lawmakers who backed it. Some cursed and yelled racial epithets at black lawmakers.

Protesters were back Sunday, the message the same: “Kill the Bill.”

Ahead of the vote, a Gallup poll showed more Americans believe the measure will make things worse rather than better for the country as a whole and for them personally. And most polls show most people don’t like the plan although some surveys showed Americans giving high marks to individual elements.

“It’s very unusual that you have a major policy that doesn’t have a majority of support in the pub-lic,” said George Edwards, a Texas A&M University presidential historian. “When they enjoy the ben-efits of the bill, they may come around. But that may take some time.”

Also unclear is how voters will treat Republicans. Some of the measure’s elements go into effect immediately, such as coverage for children on their parents’ policy until age 26 and prescription drug benefits for seniors. Republicans could be tagged obstructionists if the electorate likes these provi-sions and if the economy improves.

From now on, Obama and the Democrats will promote the measure’s benefits while countering Republican nay-saying and griping about process. The president also will focus primarily on vot-ers’ most pressing concern — jobs. And that may endear him to voters more than the passage of his signature domestic issue.

Obama’s immediate concern is holding Democratic majorities in Congress. His own politi-cal re-election is a while off, but the White House is almost surely focused on it, too.

His job-performance rating is hovering near 50 percent and may not rise even after he put so much political capital on the line.

Past presidents have either seen their poll num-bers stay the same or dip following passage of divi-sive, though history-making, measures.

That was true for Lyndon B. Johnson’s Civil Rights Act and Great Society agenda in the 1960s, Ronald Reagan’s economic measures in the 1980s, and George W. Bush’s tax cuts in the early 2000s. The exception was Bill Clinton, who saw his sup-port increase in the 1990s after signing a conten-tious budget measure and welfare reform legisla-tion. But it eventually fell.

13/

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14 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

NatioN

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare law in 1965, seniors got their health insurance cards less than a year later.

When President Barack Obama finally gets to hold a signing cer-emony for his health care overhaul, the major expansion of coverage for uninsured workers and their families won’t come until 2014 — after the next presidential election.

Parts of the plan won’t be fully phased in for a decade, but ultimate-ly 94 percent of eligible Americans would have coverage.

Here’s a timeline of some changes:

This Yearn Sets up a high-risk health insur-

ance pool to provide affordable cov-erage for uninsured people with medical problems.n Starting six months after enact-

ment, requires all health insurance plans to maintain dependent cov-erage for children until they turn 26; prohibits insurers from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing health problems.n Bars insurance companies from

putting lifetime dollar limits on cov-erage, and canceling policies except for fraud.n Provides tax credits to help small

businesses with up to 25 employ-ees get and keep coverage for their employees.

n Begins narrowing the Medicare prescription coverage gap by provid-ing a $250 rebate to seniors in the gap, which starts this year once they have spent $2,830. It would be fully closed by 2020.n Reduces projected Medicare

payments to hospitals, home health agencies, nursing homes, hospices and other providers.n Imposes 10 percent sales tax on

indoor tanning.

2011n Creates a voluntary long-term

care insurance program to provide a modest cash benefit helping dis-abled people stay in their homes, or cover nursing home costs. Benefits can begin five years after people start paying a fee for the coverage.n Provides Medicare recipients in

the prescription coverage gap with a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs; begins phasing in additional drug discounts to close the gap by 2020.

n Provides 10 percent Medicare bonus to primary care doctors and general surgeons practicing in under-served areas, such as inner cities and rural communities; improves preven-tive coverage.n Freezes payments to Medicare

Advantage plans, the first step in reducing payments to the private insurers who serve about one-fourth of seniors. The reductions would be phased in over three to seven years.n Boosts funding for community

health centers, which provide basic care for many low-income and unin-sured people.n Requires employers to report

the value of health care benefits on employees’ W-2 tax statements.n Imposes $2.3 billion annual fee

on drugmakers, increasing over time.

2012n Sets up program to create non-

profit insurance co-ops that would compete with commercial insurers.n Initiates Medicare payment

reforms by encouraging hospitals and doctors to band together in quality-driven “accountable care organiza-tions” along the lines of the Mayo Clinic. Sets up a pilot program to test more efficient ways of paying hospi-tals, doctors, nursing homes and oth-er providers who care for Medicare patients from admission through discharge. Successful experiments would be widely adopted.

n Penalizes hospitals with high rates of preventable readmissions by reducing Medicare payments.

2013n Standardizes insurance company

paperwork, first in a series of steps to reduce administrative costs.

n Limits medical expense con-tributions to tax-sheltered flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 a year, indexed for inflation. Raises threshold for claiming itemized tax deduction for medical expenses from 7.5 percent of income to 10 percent. People over 65 can still deduct medi-cal expenses above 7.5 percent of income through 2016.n Increases Medicare payroll tax on

couples making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000. The tax rate on wages above those thresholds would rise to 2.35 percent from the current 1.45 percent. Also adds a new tax of 3.8 percent on income from investments.n Imposes a 2.3 percent sales tax

on medical devices. Eyeglasses, con-tact lenses, hearing aids and many everyday items bought at the drug store are exempt.

2014n Prohibits insurers from deny-

ing coverage to people with medical problems, or refusing to renew their policy. Health plans cannot limit cov-erage based on pre-existing condi-tions, or charge higher rates to those in poor health. Premiums can only vary by age (no more than 3-to-1), place of residence, family size and tobacco use.

n Coverage expansion goes into high gear as states create new health insurance exchanges — supermarkets for individuals and small businesses to buy coverage. People who already have employer coverage won’t see any changes.n Provides income-based tax

credits for most consumers in the exchanges, substantially reducing costs for many. Sliding scale credits phase out completely for households above four times the federal poverty level, about $88,000 for a family of four.n Medicaid expanded to cover low-

income people up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, about $28,300 for a family of four. Low-income childless adults covered for the first time.n Requires citizens and legal

residents to have health insurance, except in cases of financial hard-ship, or pay a fine to the IRS. Penalty starts at $95 per person in 2014, ris-ing to $695 in 2016. Family penalty capped at $2,250. Penalties indexed for inflation after 2016.

n Penalizes employers with more than 50 workers if any of their workers get coverage through the exchange and receive a tax credit. The penalty is $2,000 times the total number of workers employed at the company. However, employers get to deduct the first 30 workers.

2018n Imposes a tax on employer-spon-

sored health insurance worth more than $10,200 for individual coverage, $27,500 for a family plan. The tax is 40 percent of the value of the plan above the thresholds, indexed for inflation.

2020n Doughnut hole coverage gap

in Medicare prescription benefit is phased out. Seniors continue to pay the standard 25 percent of their drug costs until they reach the threshold for Medicare catastrophic coverage, when their copayments drop to 5 per-cent.

Sources: House Energy and Commerce Committee; Kaiser Family Foundation.

Health Care Timeline

Associated PressHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. signs the Senate Health Reform bill, Monday on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Congress approved a major over-haul of the nation’s health care sys-tem for President Barack Obama’s signature. Here are some of the fea-tures of the legislation.

How Many Covered: 32 million uninsured. Major coverage expansion begins in 2014. When fully phased in, 94 percent of eligible non-elderly Americans would have coverage, compared with 83 percent today.

Cost: $938 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Insurance Mandate: Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine, which takes effect in 2014. There is an exemption for low-income people.

Insurance Market Reforms: Starting this year, insurers would be forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from deny-ing coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, and from canceling policies because someone gets sick. Parents would be able to keep older kids on their coverage up to age 26. A new high-risk pool would offer coverage to uninsured people with medical problems until 2014, when the coverage expansion goes into high gear. Major consumer safeguards would also take effect in 2014. Insurers would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more. Insurers could not charge women more.

Medicaid: Expands the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. Childless adults would be covered for the first time, starting in 2014. The federal govern-ment would pay 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individu-als through 2016.

If the Senate approves a package of changes this week, a special deal that would have given Nebraska 100 percent federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients in per-petuity would be eliminated. A dif-ferent, one-time deal negotiated by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for her state, Louisiana, worth as much as $300 million, remains.

Taxes: To make up for the lost rev-enue, the bill applies an increased Medicare payroll tax to the invest-ment income and to the wages of individuals making more than $200,000, or married couples above $250,000. The tax on investment income would be 3.8 percent. If the Senate follows through, it would impose a 40 percent tax on high-cost insurance plans above the thresh-old of $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The tax would go into effect in 2018.

Prescription Drugs: Gradually closes the “doughnut hole” cover-age gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that seniors fall into once they have spent $2,830. Seniors who hit the gap this year will receive a $250 rebate. Beginning in 2011,

seniors in the gap receive a discount on brand name drugs, initially 50 percent off. When the gap is com-pletely eliminated in 2020, seniors will still be responsible for 25 percent of the cost of their medications until Medicare’s catastrophic coverage kicks in.

Employer Responsibility: Employers are hit with a fee if the government subsidizes their workers’ coverage. The $2,000-per-employee fee would be assessed on the com-pany’s entire work force, minus an allowance. Companies with 50 or fewer workers are exempt from the requirement.

Subsidies: The aid is available on a sliding scale for households making up to four times the federal poverty level, $88,200 for a family of four. Premiums for a family of four mak-ing $44,000 would be capped at around 6 percent of income.

How You Choose Your Health Insurance: Small businesses, the self-employed and the uninsured could pick a plan offered through new state-based purchasing pools called exchanges, opening for busi-ness in 2014. The exchanges would offer the same kind of purchasing power that employees of big compa-nies benefit from. People working for medium-to-large firms would not see major changes. But if they lose their jobs or strike out on their own, they may be eligible for subsidized cover-age through the exchange.

Government-Run Plan: No gov-ernment-run insurance plan. People purchasing coverage through the new insurance exchanges would have the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the federal office that manages the health plans avail-able to members of Congress. Those plans would be private, but one would have to be nonprofit.

Abortion: The bill tries to main-tain a strict separation between tax-payer dollars and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage. No health plan would be required to offer coverage for abortion. In plans that do cover abortion, policyhold-ers would have to pay for it sepa-rately, and that money would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money. States could ban abortion coverage in plans offered through the exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.

Gop Health Care Summit Ideas: Following a bipartisan health care summit last month, Obama announced he was open to incorpo-rating several Republican ideas into his legislation. But two of the prin-ciple ones — hiring investigators to pose as patients and search for fraud at hospitals and increasing spend-ing for medical malpractice reform initiatives — did not make it into the legislation. The legislation incorpo-rates only one, an increase in pay-ments to primary care physicians under Medicaid, an idea mentioned by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

A look at the bill

14/

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nation/world

Karzai studying peace offerKABUL (AP) — Afghan President Hamid

Karzai held an unprecedented meeting Monday with representatives of a major Taliban-linked militant group, boosting his outreach to insur-gency leaders to end the eight-year war.

Less certain is whether the talks with the weakened Hizb-i-Islami faction represent a game-changer in the conflict, given its demand to rewrite the Afghan constitution and force a quick exit of foreign forces.

It is the first time that high-ranking represen-tatives of the group, led by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, have traveled to Kabul to discuss peace. The reconciliation offer from Hekmatyar contrasts with his reputation as a ruthless extremist.

Talking with the Taliban and other insurgent groups is gaining traction in Afghanistan, even as thousands of U.S. and NATO reinforcements are streaming in to reverse the insurgents’ momentum. The talks have not stemmed the fighting. NATO reported three service members were killed Monday in separate explosions in southern Afghanistan.

Sandstorms blast Beijing BEIJING (AP) — The dust works its way

through keyholes and window frames, and smells like a filthy brew of dirt, smoke and metal-lic particles. The sky turns magenta and whole buildings disappear. Eyes tear up and throats get sore from coughing.

Northern China’s spring sandstorms blew in with particular ferocity over the weekend, bring-ing misery to people working outdoors Monday in Beijing and across a wide swath of the coun-try.

The storms are a product of worsening deser-tification in Inner Mongolia and other Gobi Desert regions hundreds of miles to the north and west of Beijing caused by overgrazing, deforestation, drought and urban sprawl. Strong winds pick up the loose dust and dirt, mixing them with industrial pollution.

N. Korea to try American SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said

Monday that it will put an American on trial for entering the communist country illegally.

State-run media identified him as Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 30, of Boston, and said “his crime has been confirmed.” The brief dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency did not say when he would stand trial.

A spokeswoman for the man’s family in Boston, Thaleia Schlesinger, said that Gomes had been teaching English in South Korea for about two years and that it was unclear why he would have gone to North Korea.

North Korea had announced two months ago that an American was detained Jan. 25 for tres-passing after crossing into the country from China and was under investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Monday that the Obama administration will not accept a nuclear armed Iran and is working on sanctions “that will bite” to press it to come clean about its suspect atomic program.

In remarks to a pro-Israel group, Clinton said parts of Iran’s govern-ment are “a menace” to the Iranian people and the Middle East. Israel considers Iran a mortal threat in its back yard, especially since the development of better Iranian mis-siles and the advancement of Iran’s nuclear program to the point where a weapon could be feasible.

Iran claims it is not building a weapon.

Clinton said Iran’s leaders must know there are “real consequences” for not proving their nuclear activi-ties are peaceful.

“Our aim is not incremental sanc-tions, but sanctions that will bite,” Clinton told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“Let me be very clear: The United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” she said.

Clinton said that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, it would embolden terrorists and spark an arms race that would destabilize the Middle East.

“This is unacceptable. It is unac-ceptable to the United States. It is

unacceptable to Israel. It is unaccept-able to the region and the interna-tional community.

Iran has spurned President Barack Obama’s efforts to engage and thus far rejected incentives offered by the five permanent U.N. Security Council members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. — and Germany to halt uranium enrich-ment, a process that can produce fuel for a bomb.

Washington and its allies fear Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, an accusation denied by Iran, which says its program is intended only to gen-erate electricity.

Israel regards Iran as a threat to its existence and impatience is grow-ing in the Jewish state for fresh action against the country. Iran is already under three sets of Security Council sanctions and the U.S. and its European allies are pressing for a fourth.

But China, a foe of sanctions gen-erally, is opposed and has scuttled the administration’s plans for quick action. China has the power to block penalties with its veto power on the council.

Clinton allowed that building sup-port for new sanctions was taking time but said it was worth the wait.

“It is taking time to produce these sanctions, and we believe that time is a worthwhile investment for winning the broadest possible support for our efforts,” she said.

Iceland eruptions raise concerns

Clinton issues demand for tougher Iran sanctions

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Blasts of lava and ash shot out of a volcano in southern Iceland on Monday and small tremors rocked the ground, a surge in activity that raised fears of a larger explosion at the nearby Katla volcano.

Scientists say history has prov-en that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows — the only question is how soon. And Katla, located under the massive Myrdalsjokull icecap, threatens disastrous flooding and explosive blasts when it blows.

Saturday’s eruption at Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) — dormant for nearly 200 years — forced at least 500 people to evacuate. Most have returned to their homes, but authorities were waiting for sci-entific assessments to determine whether they were safe to stay. Residents of 14 farms nearest to the eruption site were told to stay away.

Several small tremors were felt early Monday, followed by spurts of lava and steam rocketing into the air.

Iceland sits on a large volca-nic hot spot in the Atlantic’s mid-oceanic ridge. Eruptions, common throughout Iceland’s history, are often triggered by

seismic activity when the Earth’s plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface.

Like earthquakes, predicting the timing of volcanic eruptions is an imprecise science. An erup-tion at the Katla volcano could be disastrous, however — both for Iceland and other nations.

Iceland’s Laki volcano erupt-ed in 1783, freeing gases that turned into smog. The smog floated across the Jet Stream, changing weather patterns. Many died from gas poison-ing in the British Isles. Crop production fell in western Europe. Famine spread. Some even linked the eruption, which helped fuel famine, to the French Revolution. Painters in the 18th century illustrated fiery sunsets in their works.

The winter of 1784 was also one of the longest and coldest on record in North America. New England reported a record stretch of below-zero tempera-tures and New Jersey reported record snow accumulation. The Mississippi River also reportedly froze in New Orleans.

“These are Hollywood-sort of scenarios but possible,” said Colin Macpherson, a geologist with the University of Durham. “As the melt rises, it’s a little like

taking a cork out of a cham-pagne bottle.”

Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland who flew over the site Monday, said the beginning of Saturday’s eruption was so indis-tinct that it initially went unde-tected by geological instruments. Many of the tremors were below magnitude 2.6.

Using thermal cameras and radar to map the lava flow, Gudmundsson and other scien-tists were able to determine that the lava from Eyjafjallajokull was flowing down a gorge and not moving toward the ice caps — reducing any threat of floods.

He said he and other scien-tists were watching Katla but Monday’s trip was meant to assess immediate risk.

“A general expectation is that because of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, the fissure would widen and in that sense, there’s a greater risk of extending into or underneath the glaciers and prompting an eruption at Katla,” said Andy Russell with Newcastle University’s Earth Surface Processes Research Group, who went with a team to Iceland before the erup-tion. “From records, we know that every time Eyjafjallajokull erupts, Katla has also erupted.”

Associated PressMolten lava vents from a rupture near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland, as a volcano erupts early Sunday seen in this aerial photo. some hundreds of people have been evacuated from a small village in southern Iceland on Sunday after a volcanic eruption which shot ash and molten lava into the air, the first major eruption here in nearly 200 years.0

World Today

15/

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16 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

SHOE by Chris Cassat and Gary Brookins

BROOM-HILDA by Russell Myers

ARLO AND JANIS by Jimmy Johnson

THE GRIZZWELLS by Bill Schoor

DILBERT by Scott Adams

THE BORN LOSER by Art and Chip SansomGIL THORP by Jerry Jenkins, Ray Burns and Frank McLaughlin

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Dear Dr. Gott: Is calcium citrate better than calcium carbonate?

Dear Reader: For most people, no. Both types of calcium are absorbed similarly by healthy people. Calcium carbonate is more commonly avail-able and is usually less expensive. It is more readily absorbed when taken with food. Calcium citrate is gener-ally more expensive but is often more easily absorbed by those with lower levels of stomach acid. It is readily absorbed by the body with or without food. The supplements also contain different amounts of elemental cal-cium. Carbonate is 40 percent by weight, and citrate is 21 percent.

Calcium absorption decreases as the amount of elemental calcium per dose increases. In order to get the most out of your calcium supple-ments, you should take several small-er doses. If you are taking 1,000 mil-ligrams per day, for example, try tak-ing 500 milligrams twice a day. Your body will use more of the calcium,

thus providing greater benefits. Calcium is also added regularly to

certain foods. It is common to find calcium-forti-

fied breads, orange juice, cereals and tofu.

Dairy products are naturally high in calcium, so consuming three serv-ings of low-fat milk, cheese or yogurt can provide significant amounts.

Calcium supplements are most often recommended for people who have osteoporosis or are at risk for it. It is important to take supple-mental vitamin D to aid absorption. Supplements are also important for vegans, strict vegetarians and those with lactose intolerance.

Which calcium is best for you?

Dear Abby: I am a high school secretary, and I’m writing about your reply to “Sick of It in Iowa” (Jan. 28), who is upset at the school secretar-ies for questioning or commenting on her frequent absences. You were right that her medical history is of no concern to the secretary, but her attendance record is very much.

The principal makes the decision regarding when a student is required to bring a doctor’s note with every absence. This procedure is called Persistent Absence, and it means someone has been out of school at least 25 days that school year, or has developed a pattern with his or her absences. School rules are governed by the state. You would be surprised how many parents receive citations and must go to court because of their student’s poor attendance. When a student has a chronic illness, backed by a physician’s statement, the school will bend over backward to work with them, ensuring they receive the best possible education available. — Diane

Dear Diane: Thank you for straightening me out. It appears from the mail I have received from educa-tors and school administrative staff that my answer left something to be desired. Mea culpa. For the benefit of parents and students who may not be aware, I’ll share a few more. Read on:

Dear Abby: For your information,

many times school secretaries are charged with the unpleasant task of having to contact the truant officer, children’s services and others in law enforcement if a child doesn’t come to school and can’t provide a valid doctor’s excuse. The principal and superintendent do these jobs, but it is up to US to track these kids and make sure they attend school as they are supposed to do. — Bothered

Dear Abby: I’m a school secretary. We are required by law to ask for a doctor’s note when a student has accumulated more than five absences due to illness. When a student arrives at school more than 30 minutes late, or leaves more than 30 minutes early (three or more times), that student is considered truant.

With today’s economic mess we need to know why a student is not in school.

In California, schools lose more than $30 a day when a student is not in his or her seat, and that money adds up. So, yes, Abby, it IS “our business” to know a student’s medical history. — Victoria

Secretary is playing by the rules

Your Birthday, March 23;

Several big things you’d like to acquire for yourself are likely to give you greater drive to work hard.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) - This might start out to be a somewhat difficult day, but you’ll start smiling again.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - You could end up being miserable and a very unhappy person. Let it go, and you’ll be much happier.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - You had better hide all your credit cards and put very little money in your wallet.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) - Problems you’ll experi-ence today are likely to be of your own making.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) - Instead of trying to see things from another person’s perspective today, chances are you’ll choose to be blind.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - It might seem like everybody is trying to impose upon you today. Go with the flow.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) - Be careful to whom you go for advice today.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) - Should you decide to attempt a do-it-yourself project you’ve never tried before, make certain you know the hazards.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) - Loaning something to another that is not yours could cause big trouble for you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Vacillation could be your worst enemy today.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) - You might give a few minor chores a lick and a promise today.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) - There’s a good chance that when it comes to your finances today, you could be quite undisciplined. Make sure you aren’t trying to live too far above your means.

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Dr. Peter M. Gott

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Abigail van Buren

Dear Abby

16 COMICS/

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINACOUNTY OF RUTHERFORD

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICESUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

BEFORE THE CLERKFILE NO. 2010 SP 57

IN THE MATTER OF: The Foreclosureof the Deed of Trust fromWENDY HELTON COPE andCARL RICHARD COPE,

Grantor,

TO

THERON E. MULLINAX, JR.Trustee, as established in Deedof Trust dated May 14th, 2003,and recorded in Deed of TrustBook 731, at Page 91 of theRutherford County Registry.

NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S FORECLOSURE SALE

UNDER AND BY VIRTUE of the power of sale contained in a certain deed of trust executed by WENDY HELTON COPE AND HUSBAND, CARL RICHARD COPE, and recorded on the 27th day of MAY, 2003, in Deed of Trust Book 731, at Page 91, Rutherford County, North Carolina, Registry, and default having been made in the payment of the indebtedness thereby secured and said deed of trust being by the terms thereof subject to foreclosure, and by virtue of the Order of the Clerk of Superior Court of Rutherford County, North Carolina, the undersigned Trustee, Theron E. Mullinax, Jr., will, as provided in the North Carolina General Statutes, offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder, for cash, at the Courthouse door of the Rutherford County Courthouse in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, at twelve o’clock noon on the 1st day of April, 2010, the property conveyed in said deed of trust, the same lying and being in the County of Rutherford, State of North Carolina.

The property herein described on attached Exhibit A will be sold subject to any and all outstanding Rutherford County ad valorem property taxes and will further be sold subject to all easements, restrictions, rights of way, prior liens, deeds of trust and encumbrances of record.

Exhibit ABEGINNING at a manhole in the center of the intersection of Michigan Street with Edwards Street in Rutherford Township, Rutherford County, North Carolina; and said part is also northernmost corner of Tract 1 of that property shown and described in deed found in Deed Book 810 at Page 23 in the Office of the Registry for Rutherford County, North Carolina; and moving thence from said BEGINNING point along and with the centerline of Edward Street, South 55 deg. 52 min. 07 sec. East 202.65 feet to a point; then South 55 deg. 34 min. 29 sec. East 55.09 feet to a point; South 58 deg. 39 min. 53 sec. East 33.60 feet to a point; South 62 deg. 36 min. 00 sec. East 25.17 feet to a point. Thence turning and leaving the center of Edward Street and traveling South 29 deg. 23 min. 43 sec. West 15.29 feet to an existing iron pipe; thence continuing same course South 29 deg. 23 min. 43 sec. West 59.90 feet to an existing iron rod; thence South 30 deg. 18 min. 00 sec. West 288.53 feet to an existing iron rod; thence turning South 87 deg. 00 min. 11 sec. West 171 feet to a point; turning North 30 deg. 26 min. 23 sec. West 7.63 feet to a new iron rod; continuing same course 30 deg. 26 min. 23 sec. East 88.83 feet to new iron rod; thence North 61 deg. 26 min. 16 sec. West 110.74 feet to a PK nail in the center of Michigan Street; thence along with the center of Michigan Street North 28 deg. 33 min. 25 sec. East 415.05 feet to the point and place of BEGINNING and containing 3.10 acres more or less according to a survey for Mike Lee Byrd and Charles R. Byrd by Professional Surveying Services. The above described real property is a portion of that property shown in deed found in Deed Book 810 at Page 23 in the Office of Register of Deeds for Rutherford County, North Carolina.

This conveyance is made and excepted SUBJECT TO the right of way of Michigan Street and Edward Street as they extend to their full legal width. This conveyance is further made SUBJECTTO all easements, restrictions, rights of way of record, if any.

The present record owners of the property are: WENDY HELTON COPE AND HUSBAND, CARLRICHARD COPE.

The sale will be made subject to all prior sales and releases and to all deeds of trust, liens, unpaid taxes, restrictions, easements, assessments, leases, and other matters of record, if any. Pursuant to NC Gen. Statute 45-21.10 (b), and the terms of the Deed of Trust, any successful bidder will be required to deposit with the Substitute Trustee immediately upon conclusion of the sale a cash deposit not to exceed the greater of five percent (5%) of the bid amount or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00). Any successful bidder shall be required to tender the full balance of the purchase price so bid in cash or certified check at the time the Substitute Trustee tenders to him a deed for the property or attempts to tender such deed, and should said successful bidder fail to pay the full balance of the purchase price so bid at the time, he shall remain liable on his bid as provided for in NC Gen. Stat. 45-21.30 (d) and (e). The sale will be held open ten (10) days for upset bids as required by law.

This is the 1st day of February, 2010.

BY:/s/__________________________Theron E. Mullinax, Jr.Trustee by instrumentrecorded in Deed of Trust Book731 at Page 91, of the Rutherford County, North Carolina RegistryMULLINAX LAW FIRMPO Box 2648Hendersonville, NC 28793(828) 697-6630Publication Dates: March 16 & March 23, 2010.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having qualified as Co-Administrator of the estate of DWIGHT D. NATIONS of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said DWIGHT D. NATIONS to present them to the undersigned on or before the 16th day of June, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 16th day of March, 2010.

Katherine Swayney Nations, Co-Administrator241 Dillashaw DriveForest City, NC 28043

Dwight Shane Nations, Co-Administrator320 Fall RoadChesnee, SC 29323

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having qualified as Executor of the estate of LOREE C. SPURLIN of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said LOREE C. SPURLIN to present them to the undersigned on or before the 9th day of June, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 9th day of March, 2010.

Lillian Calvert, Executor342 Bethany Church Rd.Forest City, NC 28043

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18 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TUESDAY, March 23, 2010

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having qualified as Executor of the estate of MARJORIE FAYE DIXON of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said MARJORIE FAYE DIXON to present them to the undersigned on or before the 16th day of June, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 16th day of March, 2010.

Vicki Dixon Deaton, Executor2639 E. Meandering WayFayetteville, AR 72701

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Having qualified as Executor of the estate of PATRICIA ANN SANSING of Rutherford County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the estate of the said PATRICIA ANN SANSING to present them to the undersigned on or before the 9th day of June, 2010 or the same will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said estate will please make immediate payment.

This is the 9th day of March, 2010.

Judith Ann Helton, Executor129 Riceville RoadRutherfordton, NC 28139

NORTH CAROLINARUTHERFORD COUNTY

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICESUPERIOR COURT DIVISION

BEFORE THE CLERK10 SP 040

IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE by John B. Crotts, Substitute Trustee, of a Deed of Trust Executed by RICHARD J. BRIDGES dated January 10, 2007, and recorded January 26, 2007 in Deed of Trust Book 938 at Page 587 of the Rutherford County Registry.

NOTICE OF SUBSTITUTE TRUSTEE’S FORECLOSURE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

UNDER AND BY VIRTUE of the power and authority contained in that certain Deed of Trust dated January 10, 2007 and recorded January 26, 2007 executed and delivered from RICHARD J. BRIDGES, (the "Obligor") to ROBERT LEE ATCHLEY and DORIS S. ATCHLEY, recorded in Deed of Trust, book number 938, page 587, Rutherford County Registry, North Carolina; and because of default in the payment of the indebtedness secured thereby and failure to carry out and perform the stipulations and agreements contained therein and, pursuant to demand of the holder of the indebtedness secured by said Deed of Trust, the undersigned Substitute Trustee will place for sale, at public auction, the highest bidder for cash at the usual place of sale at Rutherford County Courthouse, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, on APRIL 1, 2010 at 3:00 P.M., that parcel of land, including improvements thereon, situated, lying and being in the Town of Spindale, County of Rutherford, State of North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows:

(ATTACHMENT TO DEED OF TRUST FROM RICHARD J. BRIDGES TO ROBERT LEE ATCHLEY AND DORIS S. ATCHLEY DATED JANUARY 10, 2007 AND RECORDED JANUARY26, 2007 IN THE AMOUNT OF $107,957.31)

TRACT ONE: Being a part of the Old Fairground property, in the east edge of Spindale, North Carolina, and being located between U. S. Highway 74 and S. A. L. Railway Company, and being described as follows: BEGINNING at a point in the center of U. S. Highway No. 74, where the center of the old Ledbetter Mill Road intersects said highway and runs thence with the center of the highway South 77 degrees East 331 feet to a point in the center of the highway, Henry Houser corner; thence with Henry Houser’s line South 12 degrees West 114 feet to a point in the center of the S.A.L. Railway Company railway track; thence with the center of the railroad track, right-of-way North 71 degrees West 347 feet to a point in the center of said railroad, right-of-way; thence North 23 1/4 degrees East 75 feet to the place of BEGINNING.

Being the same property conveyed to Eugene Haynes by deed dated the 2nd of June, 1959, from J. F. Weathers, Jr., and wife, Annabel W. Weathers, and Belle W. Weathers, widow, said deed being duly recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Rutherford County, North Carolina, in Deed Book 241, at Page 576, reference to which said deed is hereby made for all necessary purposes.

THERE IS EXCEPTED HEREFROM that tract of land being a portion of the second tract of land as is described in that deed dated January 1, 1982, and recorded in Deed Book 431, Page 253 of the Rutherford County Registry, easternmost portion, and being more particularly described by metes and bounds as follows: BEGINNING at an existing iron pin in the center line of Highway 74, said iron pin lying South 70 degrees 00 seconds East 304.76 feet from that point where Highway 74 intersects with Ledbetter Road; runs thence a new line South 13 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds West 112.33 feet to a point in the center line of the Seaboard Airline Railroad, said line crossing an iron pin at 28.07 feet and 88.37 feet, respectively; runs thence South 72 degrees 04 minutes 00 seconds East with the center line of Seaboard Airline Railroad approximately 28.54 feet; thence with the western line of the first tract as is described in Deed book 431, page 253 of the Rutherford County Registry, North 12 degrees East 114 feet to a point in the center line of Highway 74; thence with the center line of said Highway 74 North 77 degrees 08 minutes 40 seconds West approximately 26.17 feet to the point and place of BEGINNING.

TRACT TWO: Situate, lying and being in the Town of Spindale, bounded on the north by U.S. Highway 74, on the east by Mike Hodge, on the south by the Seaboard Railroad, and on the west by the intersection of U.S. Highway 74 and Oakland Road.

Grantors, Kenneth R. Hughes and Carrol K. Hughes as referred to in quitclaim deed recorded in Deed Book 724 Page 678, Rutherford County Registry, retain the right to lease two sign structures (three advertiser spaces) to the existing sign company for a period not to exceed ten years, ending on December 30, 2008. There will not be any payment due to the owner by the grantor, even though he will collect annual rent from the sign companies.

Address of Property:1004 E. Main Street, Spindale, NC 28160

Present Record Owners: Richard J. Bridges

The terms of the sale are that real property hereinbefore described will be sold for cash to the highest bidder. The Substitute Trustee reserves the right to require a cash deposit or a certified check not to exceed the greater of five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid or Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00). In the event that the Holder is exempt from paying the same, the successful bidder may also be required to pay revenue stamps on the Trustee’s Deed, any Land Transfer Tax, and the tax required by N.C.G.S. Section 7A-308(a)(1).

The real property hereinabove described is being offered for sale "AS IS, WHERE IS" and will be sold subject to all superior liens, unpaid taxes, and special assessments. Other conditions will be announced at the sale. The sale will be held open for ten (10) days for upset bids as by law required.

If the Trustee is unable to convey title to this property for any reason, the sole remedy of the purchaser is the return of the deposit. Reason for such inability to convey include, but are not limited to, the filing of a bankruptcy petition prior to the sale and reinstatement of the loan without knowledge of the Trustee. If the validity of the sale is challenged by any party, the Trustee, in their sole discretion, if they believe the challenge it have merit, may declare the sale to be void and return the deposit. The purchaser will have no further remedy.

An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to G.S. 45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold.

Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days' written notice to the landlord. The notice shall also state that upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.

This is the 3rd day of March, 2010.

_______________________________John B. Crotts, Substitute TrusteeKing Law Offices, PLLC215 North Main StreetRutherfordton, North Carolina 28139(828) 286-3332(828) 286-1110 (fax)NC Bar Number: 33880

NORTH CAROLINARUTHERFORD COUNTY

IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICEBEFORE THE CLERK

09 SP 571

IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST EXECUTED BY DOUGLAS W. GRONDAHL, II, CYNTHIA W. GRONDAHL, GROSVENOR S. WRIGHT, AND MARGARET J. BIEDEKAPP DATED March 27, 2006 AND RECORDED IN BOOK 891, PAGE 764, RUTHERFORD COUNTY REGISTRY, TO BB&T COLLATERAL SERVICE CORP, TRUSTEE.

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE

Under and by virtue of the power of sale contained in that certain deed of trust executed by DOUGLAS W. GRONDAHL, II, CYNTHIA W. GRONDAHL, GROSVENOR S. WRIGHT, AND MARGARET J. BIEDEKAPP dated March 27, 2006 to BB&T COLLATERAL SERVICE CORPORATION, Trustee for BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY, recorded in Book 891, Page 764, RUTHERFORD County Registry; default having been made in payment of the indebtedness thereby secured; and the necessary findings to permit foreclosure having been made by the Clerk of Superior Court of RUTHERFORD County, North Carolina; the undersigned Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, the property conveyed in said deed of trust, the same lying and being in the County of RUTHERFORD and State of North Carolina, and more particularly described as follows:

Situated, lying and being in Gilkey Township, Rutherford County, North Carolina, and being all of the 1.61 acres tract shown as Lot #196 on plat entitled “Clearwater Creek Phase 8", Sheet One of Three, as shown on plat of record in Plat Book 27 at Page 67, Rutherford County Registry.

Being a portion of that property conveyed in Deed from SFG Dragonfly, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company to Mtn. Creek Land Co., Inc., a North Carolina Corporation by deed dated November 15, 2004 and of record in Deed Book 860, at Page 146, Rutherford County Registry.

Subject to all notes shown on plat hereinabove referred to and further subject to any restrictions or rights of way of record and subject further to all provisions and restrictions of record as set forth in Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions of Clearwater Creek dated May 4, 2005 and of record in Deed Book 872, at Page 309, Rutherford County Registry.

Being the same and identical property which was conveyed by Mtn. Creek Land Co., a North Carolina corporation to Douglas W. Grondahl, II, single, Cynthia Grondhl, single and Grosvenor S. Wright and wife, Margaret J. Biedekapp by deed dated March 27, 2006 and of record in Deed Book 899 at Page 504, Rutherford County Registry.

PROPERTY ADDRESS/LOCATION: Lot 196 Phase 8 Clearwater Creek Subdivision, Chimney Creek Lane, Rutherfordton, NC 28139

DATE OF SALE: March 31, 2010TIME OF SALE: 10:30 A.M.LOCATION OF SALE: RUTHERFORD County Courthouse

RECORD OWNER(S): Douglas W. Grondahl, II, Cynthia Grondahl, Grosvenor S. Wright and Margaret J. Biedekapp

TERMS OF THE SALE:

(1) This sale will be made subject to: (a) all prior liens, encumbrances, easements, right-of-ways, restrictive covenants or other restrictions of record affecting the property; (b) property taxes and assessments for the year in which the sale occurs, as well as any prior years; (c) federal tax liens with respect to which proper notice was not given to the Internal Revenue Service; and (d) federal tax liens to which proper notice was given to the Internal Revenue Service and to whichthe right of redemption applies.(2) The property is being sold "as is". Neither the beneficiary of the deed of trust, nor the undersigned Substitute Trustee, makes any warranties or representations concerning the property, including but not limited to, the physical or environmental condition of the property. Further, the undersigned Substitute Trustee makes no title warranties with respect to the title to the property.(3) The highest bidder will be responsible for the payment of revenue stamps payable to the Register of Deeds and any final court and/or auditing fees payable to the Clerk of Superior Court which are assessed on the high bid resulting from this foreclosure sale.(4) At the time of the sale, the highest bidder will be required to make a cash deposit of five percent (5%) of the bid, or $750.00, whichever is greater, with the remaining balance of the bid amount to be paid on the day following the expiration of the applicable ten (10) day upset bid period.(5) Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days written notice to the landlord. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination.(6) An order for possession of the property being sold may be issued pursuant to N.C.G.S. §45-21.29 in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession, by the Clerk of Superior Court of the county in which the property is sold.

This the 16th day of February, 2010.

SMITH DEBNAM NARRON DRAKESAINTSING & MYERS, L.L.P._______________________________________Jeff D. Rogers, Substitute TrusteeP. O. Box 26268Raleigh, NC 27611-6268(919) 250-2000KMA 97392224

Surplus items to be sold by sealed bid on March 26th at 2:30 pm in the City Clerk’s Office Forest City, NC

Fire Department1996 Ford Crown Victoria - red, automatic, 112,015 miles15 100 ft. sections 4” rubber supply line - will not pass service test due to leaks2 50 ft. sections 4” rubber supply line - will not pass service test due to leaks

IT Department10 assorted printers16 2x4 lay in fluorescent light fixtures

Finance Department5 broken calculatorsForest Dale Laundry outside sign

Wastewater Treatment PlantFirestone Tires - (2) LT 245/75 R16Hankook Tires - (2) P235/75 R17Speedaire Air Compressor - 230 V 3 Phase

Street Department and WarehouseGreen Traile Tag 54738: 1995 Kaufm Lawn mower tr: 6x12Tripod and HarnessMetal DeskWhite tool box off pumper truckGreen diaphragm pump Mod. #5305 Sr. #2989, 5 Briggs engine2 hoses for diaphragm pumps1 lot of doors (steel and wood)Ferri TP Hyd. Flail Hedge MowerPartitions from bath rooms from Alexander town hallBradley sinkStihl weed eater2 wood shelves1 wood cabinet open front (for paper storage)

Water DepartmentTitan Industrial heavy duty commercial trash pumpFisher model TW-5 pipe/cable locaterExtendable twin halogen work light setRubber tire backhoe bucket Ford 655A 12”Mueller E-5 tapping machine w/ 3/4” Mueller 110 adaptorMueller E-5 tapping machine w/ 3/4” adapter and metal storage caseMueller B-100 direct tapping machine Manual feed, 6” and 10” saddles, 3/4” AWWA taper thread C1/D1 combined drill and tap bit, and metal storage caseUsed rubber tire backhoe tires: (2) Firestone size 12.5/80-18 (2) Firestone size 19.51-24

Electric DepartmentBallfield lights 1500 W Metal Halidc6 single rack 6 light fixtures as is2 double rack 12 light fixtures as is8 Metal light poles (approx. 60”) for ballfield lights (direct burial type) - buyer load and haul9 Metal light poles (approx. 35”) square (anchor base type) - buyer load and haul2 Metal light poles (approx. 30”) round (2 fixture T top) (anchor base type) - buyer load and haul

Bids will be accepted in the city clerk’s office, 128 N. Powell Street, Forest City, NC until 2:30 PM, Friday, March 26th. BIDS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN SEALED ENVELOPES CLEARLY MARKED “SEALED BID”.

All property is being sold AS IS WHERE IS. The buyer may not rely on any representations of the Town of Forest City or from its employees or agents, as to the condition of the property, and the Town of Forest City makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the condition of the property being sold.

Items will be on display at the Forest City Garage, 141 N. Broadway.

The Town of Forest City reserves the right to reject any and all bids and waive technicalities.

The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TUESDAY, March 23, 2010 — 19

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• Painting• Replacement

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Licensed Contractor30 Years Experience

429-5151

HOME REPAIR

828-657-6518828-223-0310

* roofing * concrete* decks & steps* painting * carpentry* skirting * plumbing* sheet rock* room additions* metal roofing

NNo Job Too SmallDiscount for Senior Citizens

HOME IMPROVEMENT

828.447.3061

INSURED! FREE ESTIMATES!Quality Work • Affordable Prices

Chad Jones

Decks • Porches • WindowsDoors • Floors • Bathrooms Tiled Showers • Tile • Trim

Carpentry • PaintingKitchens And Much More

Metal Roofing(Energy-Star Rated • 30% Return on Taxes)

YOURAD

COULDBE

HERE!

GUTTERS

SPINDALESEAMLESS

GUTTER AND VINYL SIDING

286-2094245-7779

Installs Gutter GuardsCleans Gutters

Repairs New & OldVinyl Siding

FREE ESTIMATES! WORK GUARANTEED!

Blue Mountain Home

Improvements- Carpentry- Paint- Tile- Hardwood Flooring- Landscape Services

J. ABRAMS828-289-4564

Free Estimates

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

GRADING/PAVING

GARDNERGRADING, INCand

PAVING SERVICESQuality Fine Grading,Stone & Asphalt Work,

Sealcoating and Stripingat Competitive Prices!

OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE

FREE ESTIMATES828-527-3036828-527-2925

CONSTRUCTIONWinter has been hard.Let us help make your spring improvements.

Call today for all your home needs.287-8934 447-1266

Daryl R. Sims – Gen. Contractor

LOCKSMITHINGWE CAN SAVE YOU

UP TO 50%!

1 FREE KEY!$2.00

828-287-1022A-1 Rutherford Locksmith

NCLL #553901 Railroad Ave.

Rutherfordton, NC 28139www.locknpawn.com

PAWN SHOPSmall Cash Loans AvailableWE BUY GOLD & SILVER

Give us a 287-3456A-1 Rutherford

Locksmith & Pawn

www.locknpawn.com

FFL DEALER

Gun Transfers

Welcome!

PAINTING

Campbell’s Paint

Interior & Exterior

Residential and Commercial

No Job Too Smallor Too Big

FREE ESTIMATES38 yrs experience

Charles Campbell

828-289-6520

FOREST LAKE LANDSCAPINGLandscape and Lawn

Maintenance

Commercial – ResidentialFree Estimates

Phillip Dowling248-2585

LANDSCAPING

CONSTRUCTIONGreene Construction

Residential & Commercial

828-289-2743

Licensed and InsuredBenjamin Greene

CONSTRUCTION

Hutchins Remodeling828-245-1986SeamlessGuttersDecksPorchesRoofingPaintingHandicap RampsRoom AdditionsFree Estimates~Lance Hutchins~

20 — The Daily Courier, Forest City, NC, TuesDay, March 23, 2010

BARRY’S TIRE& EXHAUST, INC.

Brakes • Batteries • Wheel AlignmentMufflers • Shocks • CV Joints • Oil Change

245-1997Mon. - Fri. 8-5:30 • Sat. 8-1

Hwy. 74 By-Pass, Forest City

Kids R Us, Inc.Forest City Center247-1717 - Pat

Rutherfordton Center286-9979 - Ellen

Now Enrolling Children 0-12 years. 1st and 2nd shifts. Weekend Care Rutherford Center only.

Transportation Provided (if needed in general area). Diapers & Wipes provided at Forest City Center.

Healthy Meals & Snacks. Professional Speech Thera-pist available thru Alpha & Omega (screening).

Bostic FloristEva Sigmon • Sherri Suttle, NCCPF

Designers / Wedding Consultants

Flowers For All Occasions196 N. Main St., Bostic, NC

828-245-2884 800-239-6198www.bosticflorist.com

DIVERSIFIED PIPELINERSHORIZONTAL ROAD BORING

426 Baxter Cemetery Rd.Forest City, NC 28043

657-6397

Appling Boring Co., inC. Fashion Corner

(704) 538-3990Store Hours:

Mon-Sat. 9:00AM-6:00PM

240 East Main StreetLawndale, NC 28090

AL ADAMS540 Oak Street, Forest City, NC

(828) 245-1260LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR,

STATE FARM IS THERE®

Providing Insurance and Financial ServicesState Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL • statefarm.com®

Marc & Dianne Dedmond’sCAROLINA TROPHIES& SCREEN PRINTINg

709 Eastview St., Shelby, NC 28150Phone (704) 482-2392

Fax (704) 487-9001Cell (704) 473-4298

carolinatrophies@yahoo.com

HarrelsonFuneral Home

“Quaility Service & Compassionate Care”

1251 Hwy. 221A, Forest City, NC

(828) 657-6383www.harrelsonfuneralhome.com

loving care kennelsand grooming

Your Pet is the of our business.

287-7040245 Airport Rd.

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

•Stocks •Bonds •Variable Annuities•Mutual Funds •IRA Rollovers

•401(k) Rollovers431 S. Main St., Suite 8 • Rutherfordton, NC

(828) 288-1378

DRIVE BEAUTIFUL We Are Professional Grade

Hwy. 74A Bypass, Forest City, NC • (828) 286-2381 www.mccurry-deck.com

The Real Estate Team You Can Count On

Odean Keever & Associates, Inc.

www.keeverrealestate.com

140 US Hwy. 64Rutherfordton, NC

(828) 286-1311REAL ESTATE

Hardin’s Carpet & Floorcovering

1016 East Main St. - Spindale, NCHours: Mon. Fri. 8:30am - 5pm

Sat. 8:30am - 12 noon

828-286-3527

Steve CarrollFuneral Director/Owner

McKinney-LandrethYour Full Service Funeral Home

www .mckinne y l andre t hfune ral home .com

4076 hwy. 221a cliffside, nc(828) 657-6322

Family Owned & Operated Shepherd’s Care Thrift Store

625.4683 We are located next door to

Church of the Transfiguration, Bat CaveOpen Wed.-Fri. 10am-4pm • Sat. 10am-1pm

www.shepherdscarehng.org

Spindale Drug CompanyFountainPharmacy Coffee Bar Gift Shop

10 1 West Ma in St reet Sp indale (828)286-3746

We Make You HappyF REE Desser t @ the Founta in

(828) 286-3746

Come in for more information about our $4.00 Generics!

tc Tri-CityConcrete, LLC.P.O. Box 241

Forest City, NC 28043828-245-2011

Fax: 828-245-2012

Hospice Resale Shop

Monday-Saturday • 9:30am-5:00pm 248-9305

631 Oak St • Forest City, NC

OFFICES LOCATED IN:

Forest City, Lake Lure &

Rutherfordton www.kinglawoffices.com(828) 286-3332

Have your extinguishers checked annuallyExtinguishers,

Exit Lights, Emergency Lights,Safety Supplies -Service and Sales

Part 46 Miner trained by NC. Dept. of Labor Mine & Quarry Bureau

Call for our Affordable Prices

Wayne Lail 704-473-3154

LocallyOwned &Operated

172 N. Main St., Rutherfordton, NCHours: Tues.-Thurs. 9am-5pm • Fri. 9am-8pm • Sat. 9am-5pm

General Admission - $5828-286-2120

www.kidsenses.com

(828) 287-3167Rutherfordton, NC

One mile west of Rutherfordton on Hwy. 64/74

Seafood • Steaks • LobsterChicken • BBQ • Prime Rib

125 Henderson Circle, Forest City, NC(828) 248-3800

New & UsedCars & TrUCks

565 Oak street, Forest City

245-1626www.hunnicuttfordmercury.com

HunnicuttFord-Mercury, inc.

719 W. Main St. Forest City, NC828-247-1460

CourtSideSpecializing in STEAKS

Also Grilled Chicken! Pork Chops! Fish!

Curt Hall, Owner/Operator

(828) 286-3855161 Park Lane, Rutherfordton, NC

Mon. - Sat., 11am - 9pm

Building a Car? Having Trouble witha Car? Planning to Build a Car?

we Can HelP!

828.245.3383133 Old Colony Lane, Bostic, NCcustomwbymichael@bellsouth.net

FOREST DALEMOTORS, INC.

BUY HERE, PAY HERE!822 West Main St.

Forest City, NC(828) 247-1540

Please suPPort our advertisersAnd Don’t Forget To Tell

Them You Saw It In 601 Oak Street, Forest City, NC(828) 245-6431 www.thedigitalcourier.com

News as Fresh as The Morning

Liberty DaycareA Ministry of Liberty Baptist Church

open 6:30am to 6:00pm

821 Webb Rd. Ellenboro

828-453-8700

Providing Loving Care in a Christian EnvironmentState approved food program

102 West Main Street Forest City, NC(828)-245-8007

Member FDIC andEqual Housing Lender

NISSAN OF FOREST CITY

156 Oak St. Ext.Forest City, NC 28043

Phone: 866-245-1661Fax: 828-245-2050

We’reHere toStay!

UNDERNEW

MGMT!

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