|
Suspect shot,
injured when authorities conduct probe
By Randall Rigsbee
A deputy with
the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office shot and wounded a suspect while
officers served a search warrant during a drug raid near Siler City
late Sunday night.
At the
residence, authorities found a large quantity of drugs with a value
that could be as high as $160,000.
The shooting
occurred at approximately 11 p.m. as officers with the Chatham
County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Incident Response Team (SIRT) and
Narcotics Unit attempted to search a mobile home at 75 Irene Court,
Siler City for illegal narcotics, according to authorities.
While
searching the residence, authorities encountered a man armed with a
handgun.
A deputy
fired several shots at the man, who authorities described as a
Hispanic male in his mid- to late-30s.
The Sheriff’s
Office did not release the name of the man because they believe he
provided them with a false identity, said Maj. Gary Blankenship,
chief of staff at the Sheriff’s Office. Investigators hoped to
determine his identity through fingerprints.
The man, who
was alone in the trailer when authorities conducted the search, was
struck several times and was treated at the scene immediately after
he was injured by SIRT tactical medical personnel, according to the
Sheriff’s Office.
He was later
transported by helicopter to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where he
was in serious but stable condition earlier this week. He was under
the watch of an armed guard until his condition improves enough to
transfer him to a secure facility, Blankenship said.
After the
shooting, Chatham County authorities immediately contacted the North
Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to conduct an internal
investigation into the shooting, which is normal procedure when a
weapon is discharged, injuring someone.
Blankenship
said he believed based on the information he had received that the
officer, who he declined to identify while the matter is being
investigated by the SBI, "acted responsibly."
No one else
sustained injury during the incident.
After the
shooting, authorities continued to search the residence and found
approximately eight kilos of narcotics, which they seized. One kilo
is approximately 2.2 pounds
Lab results
determining the type of drug were pending Tuesday.
"It’s
methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine, something of that nature,"
Blankenship said.
If the drugs are cocaine, the
total value would be as high as $160,000, Blankenship said.
more- See Thursday,
April 17, 2008
paper:
Vol 88, No.19
One-stop
voting set April 17
By Bill Willcox
The Chatham
County Election office has recorded a surge in voter registration in
advance of the May 6 primary.
Since the
beginning of January, about twice as many voters have registered
compared to the primary four years ago, according to Elections
Supervisor Dawn Stumpf.
She said
there have been 1600 new registered voters, including about 700 new
Democrats, 300 new Republicans and 500 new unaffiliated voters.
She said the
surge reflects the statewide increase, as the close race between
Democrat presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is
drawing high interest in North Carolina’s late primary election.
One Stop
voting begins April 17 and ends Saturday, May 3.
Any
registered voter can vote at any of these three sites: Board of
Elections Office, 984 Thompson St. in Pittsboro, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Mon-Fri; 10 a.m. -3 p.m. Saturday; Chatham Downs- Suite 101 at 190
Chatham Downs on 15-501 near Harris Teeter: 10 a.m. -7 p.m. Mon-Fri;
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday; Earl B. Fitts Community Center at 111
S. Third Ave. in Siler City: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Mon-Fri; 10 a.m. – 3
p.m. Saturday.
Chatham
County residents can register to vote and registered voters can make
changes to their registration information at the One-Stop locations.
However, the date for changing party affiliation has already passed.
At the local level, voters
will have several candidates from whom to choose.
more- See Thursday,
April 17, 2008
paper:
Vol 88, No.19
Census won’t
hire workers
On Thursday,
April 10, the Chatham County Manager’s Office received notice that
the US Census Bureau will not be hiring any local Census workers as
part of the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal.
Households
are urged to voluntarily mail back Census forms, because no workers
will visit homes to collect information.
"We were
stunned to receive this information with such late notice," said
County Manager Charlie Horne. "It appears that funding issues were
involved based on follow-up conversations."
He added that
"our biggest concern is that as many as 300 Chatham County residents
are awaiting word from the Census Bureau on field worker jobs. To
find out that no jobs are available at this point will be
devastating news for some residents."
Debra Henzey,
director of Community Relations in the County Manager’s Office and
chair of the Complete Count Committee said, "Our committee members
are most distressed that jobs were promised and did not happen.
Since last fall, we worked hard to recruit people and had pushed
even harder last month when still had a reported shortage." Census
worker training was slated to start later this month in various
local facilities, Henzey said.
more- See Thursday,
April 17, 2008
paper:
Vol 88, No.19
|
Jeff Davis photo
Welcome return . . .
Juanita
Pattishall of Sanford was present Friday as the gravestone of her
late husband, WWI veteran Carl Pattishall, was returned to the
cemetery at Mitchell Chapel AME Zion Church near Pittsboro.
The gravestone mysteriously turned up near the Chatham County
Sheriff's Office several months ago.
Grave mystery
still puzzles, but stone finds home
By
Randall Rigsbee
For several
months, Carl Pattishall was a mystery.
All that was
known about him was the information on his gravestone: born April
10, 1890, died February 21, 1969; in between, he served during World
War I with the Army‘s Company G, 365th
Infantry, 92nd Division.
More
mysterious was how Pattishall’s gravestone ended up abandoned far
from any cemetery in overgrown weeds behind the Sheriff’s Office in
Pittsboro.
That’s where
the granite marker was discovered by employees of the Sheriff’s
Office last fall.
Fortunately,
the story didn’t end there.
In fact, it
was really only beginning.
The discovery
led to an extensive, months-long search for answers, not so much to
solve the mystery of how or why the marker ended up abandoned but to
answer the question of where the marker belonged and to find out
more about the man it memorialized.
"We wanted to
see if we could locate where it was supposed to be," said Chatham
County Sheriff Richard Webster. "I got the ball rolling."
Webster’s first step was
consulting the Chatham Historical Society’s publication "The
Gravesites of Chatham County," which lists a number of Pattishall
graves, most buried in
a cemetery at Asbury
United Methodist Church in the southern Chatham County community of
Asbury.
more- See Thursday,
April 17, 2008
paper:
Vol 88, No.19
School board,
residents greet superintendent
By Spencie Love
The Chatham
Board of Education welcomed Robert Langston Logan as the county’s
new school superintendent at a reception Monday night.
Logan, 53,
has served as the Associate Superintendent of Innovation and School
Transformation with the North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction (NCDPI) since July 2007.
He was
Superintendent of the Asheville City Schools from 2001 until
mid-2007 and worked in nearby Lee County Schools from 1991 until
2001, first as an assistant superintendent and then as
Superintendent for four years.
Approximately
50 county residents, School Board candidates, teachers and school
staff members gathered in the hall of the Central Office in
Pittsboro, eager to meet the new Superintendent.
School Board
chair Kathie Russell introduced Logan, saying, "We are very excited
about having Robert lead our district. We have no doubt his
leadership and vision will help us shape Chatham County Schools into
excellent centers of learning and help our students succeed in the
years ahead."
Russell added
that Logan was a "problem-solver who will bring change and
innovations to the challenges that are unique to Chatham County."
Logan, tall
and smiling, stood and introduced his wife Sonia, also an educator
for many years and their two daughters, Sterling, 14, and Waverly,
12.
He said that he looked
forward to meeting Chatham residents, teachers, students and school
staff and getting to know them and the county better in the months
ahead.
more- See Thursday,
April 17, 2008
paper:
Vol 88, No.19
|
