Siler City Elementary will offer instruction in Spanish next year

By Bob Wachs

Siler City Elementary School will begin teaching instructional materials in Spanish next year as well as continuing to offer classes in English as a Second Language.

Under a proposal presented to the board of education last week by school principal Angie Brady-Andrew, Siler City Elementary will begin a “Dual Language Program” in one Kindergarten class when the 2005-06 school year gets underway.  The objective of the program is to enlarge it until all students eventually have half their instruction time in English and half in Spanish.

The program, sanctioned by the board of education, does not eliminate English as a Second Language for older students who will not have access to the new program.

“We feel our school is poised and ready for this,” Brady-Andrew said. “The intent is not just to teach Spanish but to teach the content of the accredited standard course of study in Spanish.”

Brady-Andrew told the board the proposal comes after extensive study and research by a committee composed of school administrators, teachers and staff of the Newcomers Program. That study includes evaluation of similar programs offered at schools elsewhere in the state.

“Not only did we see that these programs have been very successful,” she said, “we realized that our school had all the necessary components that other schools with dual language programs have worked to build over several years.”

“We feel this is the next logical step in providing a quality education to students within our school district,” she said.

Brady-Andrew said the program would be voluntary in the beginning with parents who are interested in it completing an application by August 1, 2005. Selection for the program will be made only from those parents who apply. “We hope to have enough interest,” Brady-Andrew said, “to have a lottery.

more- See Thursday, March 17 paper: Vol 85, No.16

DA Carl Fox appointed to Superior Court bench

By Randall Rigsbee

On Monday, Gov. Mike Easley appointed veteran Orange-Chatham District Attorney Carl Fox to a new Superior Court position serving the two counties.

The new Superior Court post for District 15B was created by the NC General Assembly last year.

Fox, 51, who will be sworn in to his new office on March 23,  will join Wade Barber as the second Superior Court judge for Orange and Chatham counties.

 “Carl Fox brings a wealth of knowledge to the Superior Court bench,” Easley said in a statement. “A well-respected district attorney, Carl has a great deal of prosecutorial experience and understands the needs of Chatham and Orange counties.”

The General Assembly approved the new Superior Court position last July.

 Fox has been with the District Attorney’s Office in Chatham and Orange for more than 25 years.

A 1978 graduate of the law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also earned an undergraduate degree, Fox spent six years as an assistant district attorney.

Gov. Jim Hunt appointed Fox to the position of district attorney in 1984 and he has been elected to the position for five consecutive terms.

Fox’s new post will be up for election in 2006.

Fox lives in Chapel Hill and is married to Valerie Stafford-Fox.

Easley on Monday also appointed James R. Woodall Jr. of Carrboro to serve as interim district attorney for Chatham and Orange.

Woodall has served for more than 15 years as an assistant district attorney in Prosecutorial District 15B under Fox.

more- See Thursday, March 17 paper: Vol 85, No.16

Gas prices continue sharp increase

By Cara Rotondaro

On a typical weekday morning, Ronny’s Quik Shop on West Street in Pittsboro is a gathering place for customers who stop in to get a cup of coffee, a snack, and, of course, to fill their vehicles with gas.

They might discuss the weather or a county matter. But recently, said Ronny King who owns the gas station and shop, one of the hottest discussion topics is the rising cost of fuel.

 “Everybody’s upset over it, but you’ve got to have it,” he said.

Many drivers agree – it’s a necessity, and it seems no one, so far, is forgoing the car for a bicycle, public transportation, or their own two feet.

But with prices hovering at or above $2 (prices at Ronny’s earlier this week were $2.05 for regular unleaded, $2.15 for medium grade, $2.25 for premium, and $2.20 for diesel)  most people take note of the cost when filling up.

Gas prices have risen sharply in the past week, due largely, according to analysts, to strong worldwide demand and rising crude oil prices.

 Gas prices increased an average of 11 cents per gallon in the Triangle area last week.

While most of us can’t skip driving, motorists can employ a number of useful tactics to make a tank of gas last go a little further.

King said he tries to get as much done as possible on each car trip, decreasing the number of trips, and thus, the number of visits to the gas pump.

“We try to make every trip count,” he said.

more- See Thursday, March 17 paper: Vol 85, No.16