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 Siler City, North Carolina  (919)663-3232   

Siler City's water woes grow worse

By Joseph Pardington

The recent lack of rain had Siler City Mayor Charles Turner saying an open prayer for relief Monday night as he completed his invocation at the joint meeting of Siler City’s planning and town boards.

Siler City town manager Joel Brower announced that the reservoir was 74 inches down, just 34 inches from mandatory restriction.

“At the rate we are going that could happen in two to three weeks,” he said of mandatory restrictions.

As a response to the shrinking water supply, Siler City will open its emergency line to Dodson Lake near Liberty next week, he said. The line is scheduled to open Thursday, Oct 13.

“The thought among the staff is that’s got to make it rain,” Brower said jokingly of opening up the emergency line.

“If that’s the case, so be it,” Brower added.

He praised Siler City’s residents and businesses for cooperating with the voluntary restrictions.

“We’re working to try to do what we can, and hopefully the trend (of no rain) will change,” Brower concluded.

The dry conditions come in a time when other counties, such as eastern neighboring Wake, already have enacted mandatory water restrictions.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state and local governments agreed on Sept. 28 to decrease the amount of water being released from both Jordan and Falls lakes.

“Our stakeholder water management group has remained in regular contact since the drought of 2002,” said Terry Brown, water control manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District.

“We have been watching dry conditions in both the Cape Fear and Neuse River Basins since May, and all stakeholders agree that now is the time to take action to protect water resources for the longer term.”

  more- See Thursday, Oct 6 paper: Vol 85, No. 45

County joins regional jail feasibility study

By Randall Rigsbee

A regional jail shared by law enforcement from several area counties is one possibility Chatham officials are exploring to meet a growing need for jail space.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners on Monday unanimously agreed to spend $7,800 to participate in a feasibility study of a regional jail which may be shared by Chatham, Lee, Moore, Montgomery and Scotland counties.

Chatham officials say the data provided by the study will help the county determine how to address jail facility needs, whether the county participates in a regional facility or not.

The feasibility study will be conducted by Solutions for Local Government, a Charlotte-based consulting company.

Steve Allan, president of the company, met Monday with Chatham commissioners.

“It might not make any sense to be part of a regional jail,” Allan said.

 The feasibility study will help officials answer that question.

County manager Charlie Horne said Chatham’s present jail space needs aren’t critical.

“However, we’re growing,” Horne said.

Talks between officials from the five counties began about two months ago and representatives from each county met in Carthage last month to discuss a potential regional jail.

Chatham County Sheriff Richard Webster, who participated in that meeting, said Monday a regional facility may not be the answer, but he urged commissioners to participate in the study.

“Whichever way we go,” Webster said, “we can use this study to guide us.”

The county’s present jail, built approximately 25 years ago and located in the Sheriff’s Office in Pittsboro, can house up to 51 inmates, Webster said.

On Monday, 41 inmates occupied the space.

“We’re on the verge,” Webster said. “We could be overcrowded tomorrow. We’ve been very fortunate not to be overcrowded.”

The need is already more critical in some of the other counties participating in the study.

 more- See Thursday, Oct 6 paper: Vol 85, No. 45

County man faces charge of murder

By Cara Rotondaro

A Moncure man was arrested for murder last weekend after allegedly stabbing a man to death.

Daniel Reynolds, 45, of 460 North Drive, Moncure was arrested early Saturday morning, said officials with the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.  

According to authorities, Michael Lynn Lankford, 50, of the same address, was killed after the two men had an argument. 

Authorities now believe that that argument may have been the result of Lankford slapping one of two children who lived at the house.

Chatham County Deputies responded to 460 North Drive in Moncure in reference to an assault that had occurred at that location around 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

When officers arrived they found Lankford deceased with multiple stab wounds.

Lankford, who for the past five years worked as the chef at Siler City Country Club, was pronounced dead on the scene by EMS workers and was transported to the UNC Hospital Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy.

 Deputies found Reynolds at the residence and immediately placed him in custody.

Detectives responded and determined that the two lived together with two teenage children and that after an argument Reynolds had stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest.

The knife used in the murder was found on the suspect and seized by authorities as evidence.

Reynolds was arrested without incident and charged with second degree murder.

The children have been placed with relatives of the suspect.

Major Gary Blankenship of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office said a witness provided additional information to the ongoing investigation.

“There is an allegation that the victim had assaulted a 12-year-old just prior to the stabbing, that he slapped her,” Blankenship said.

He said authorities will continue to investigate details of the case.

“We’re trying to figure out if that was something that caused the stabbing, or that was just something that caused an argument,” he said. “The allegation was that he slapped her and then the defendant stepped in.”

 more- See Thursday, Oct 6 paper: Vol 85, No. 45

The Chatham News

is Published Every Thursday by The Chatham News Publishing Co, Inc at

303 West Raleigh Street, Siler City, NC 27344, (919)663-3232

Alan D. Resch Editor-Publisher

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