josh bergeron / boxing day salisbury police … annual samaritan’s purse project is a favorite of...

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Aleene M. FrostJerame “Jerry” PickeralJames A. E�ngerBenjamin F. Wolfe

EJ BeckCharles H. CookPrangle BrownPauline Ridenhour

[|xbIAHDDy00002ozX

Prayer lawsuit shifted focus following Supreme Court ruling

Rowan County’s prayer lawsuit is two months away from oral arguments, but recent court filings show a shift away from the most significant part of an initial complaint.

When the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of three Rowan County res-idents, filed suit in 2013, the organization focused on the content of prayers.

“ To pla nt secta r ia n prayers at the heart of local government is a prescription for religious discord,” the original complaint states.

In the following pages, the complaint places its largest focus on the idea that sectar-ian prayer affiliates Rowan County with one particular faith — Christianity. The case was brought specifically to challenge the practice of delivering sectarian prayers

Salisbury Police Chief Collins stepping down

Daimler’s Cleveland plant expanding, requesting tax incentives

Rory Collins, chief of the Salisbury Po-lice Department since 2010, is retiring next month.

“After much thought and prayer, I am making this decision 100 percent on my

own, as I simply feel the time is right to begin that next chapter of my life,” Collins said in an email to his staff Friday night. “That chapter, I assure you, will be one that involves much less stress than the chapter I am now choos-ing to close!”

A statement issued by the City of Salisbury on Saturday said Collins “has announced his intention to retire from the city effective Thursday, Dec. 31.”

Collins, 46, has been a lightning rod for criticism as the city has grappled with vi-olent crime, particularly in the West End neighborhood. He reorganized his depart-ment more than once and said statistics

Operation Christmas Child season is here.Students and other members of the Cataw-

ba College community packed 488 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes on Thursday at a packing party held in the Cannon Student Cen-ter on campus.

And this week, during National Collection Week, several locations in the Salisbury area will serve as collection sites where people can drop off the boxes they have prepared.

The annual Samaritan’s Purse project is a favorite of many Salisbury residents, families, churches and groups who spread joy to millions of children around the world by filling shoebox-es with a “wow!” item — like a doll or soccer ball — other fun toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement.

“Through the simple act of filling a shoe-box, someone in Salisbury can make a tan-gible difference in the life of a child halfway

One of Rowan’s largest employers is asking county commissioners to extend a current tax incentive agreement to enable a multi-million dollar expansion.

Daimler North America’s Cleveland man-ufacturing plant, which produces Freightlin-er trucks, is preparing to spend nearly $38 million on a new vehicle logistics center. During Monday’s 6 p.m. meeting, county commissioners will consider extending a 5-year incentive agreement for the proj-ect. The 6 p.m. commissioners meeting will

Boxing dayOperation Christmas Child collections begin

See Prayer, 2A

See Collins, 4A

See Daimler, 5A

See Boxing, 4A

By Josh [email protected]

On June 1, commissioners and county sta stand for a prayer before the start of a meeting.

JOSH BERGERON / SALISBURY POST FILE PHOTO


By Hugh Fisherhugh.�[email protected]

Collins

WAYNE HINSHAW / FOR THE SALISBURY POST

Left to right: Students PJ Williams, Rachel Tigue, Lisa Strupe and Kara Peschock pack shoeboxes. Catawba College participated in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox project with a goal of packing 500 boxes at the college packing party.

By Deirdre Parker [email protected]

Student Sarah Glasco shows her shoebox full of gifts.

2A • SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015 SALISBURY POST

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Lottery numbers — The winning lottery numbers selected Saturday in the N.C. Education Lottery: Daytime: Pick 3: 0-7-9, Pick 4: 9-5-2-7Evening: Pick 3: 5-4-2, Pick 4: 3-1-4-3, Cash 5: 19-22-29-33-39Powerball: 14-22-37-45-66, Powerball: 5, Power Play: 3

Probationers to graduate from programThe N.C. Department

of Public Safety and GEO Reentry Services will hold a transition celebration for graduates of the Rowan County Treatment for Ef-fective Community Super-vision Service Center 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 200 W. Innes St.

Program graduates will share their experiences. The celebration recogniz-es the accomplishments of program graduates and the support of the Rowan County community.

The Rowan County

TECS center, opened in November 2012, was cre-ated, along with five oth-ers, as part of a statewide initiative following the Justice Reinvestment Act and focuses on reducing recidivism rates by cre-ating a structured and supportive environment conducive to successful offender reentry.

The TECS programs are cognitive-behavior-al treatment interven-tions operating under evidence-based princi-ples. Participants receive treatment to help break cy-

cles of criminal behavior through individual coun-seling and group classes including:

• Drug and alcohol edu-cation and treatment

• Moral Reconation Therapy cognitive re-structuring therapy

• Community connec-tions, where offenders are linked to local resources as needed

• AftercareG E O a d d i t i o n a l ly

opened TECS centers in Charlotte, Asheboro, Con-cord, Gastonia and Greens-boro. The six centers ac-

commodate up to 1,360 clients annually, with the primary focus on cognitive behavioral and substance abuse treatment classes.

Depending on perfor-mance, individuals may participate in a TECS pro-gram from 120 to 180 days, or until their goals have been achieved. GEO’s ap-proach has been proven to reduce recidivism, target employment or full-time school enrollment upon program completion, alter criminal attitudes and be-haviors, and generate sav-ings for taxpayers.

— Military news —Roberson awarded Secretary of Defense medal

Darrell Roberson, for-merly of Rowan County, has been awarded The Office Of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Ex-ceptional Public Service. The award was presented for exceptional service as Contracting Officer’s

Representative for the Office of the Convening Authority, Office of Mil-itary Commissions from August 2009 to October 2015.

Retired from the U.S. Navy, Roberson is the son of Beverly Hairston of Granite Quarry and Ron-ald Roberson of Granite Quarry. He is a gradu-ate of East Rowan High School.

at meetings and challenge prayer practices under the U.S. Constitution’s first and fourteenth amend-ments, court filings state.

At the time, ACLU lawyers cited Joyner v. Forsyth County, in which the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Forsyth County endorsed Christianity with its prayer policy. The Joyner v. Forsyth County ruling came in 2011. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruled in Town of Greece (N.Y.) v. Galloway. The court’s ruling immediate-ly injected the fact that county commissioners give prayers into Rowan’s case. By a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2014 ruled the town’s practice of allowing vol-unteer chaplains to open meetings with a prayer was constitutional.

The addit ions and changes to arguments became apparent in Row-an’s case started immedi-ately following the Town of Greece, N.Y. ruling. At the time, Lund v. Rowan County was still in the U.S. Middle District Court for North Carolina. ACLU lawyers won based on the changes. U.S. District Judge James Beaty based his ruling on the fact that “commissioners and only commissioners provide the prayers and commis-sioners direct citizens to stand and pray.”

Rowan County appealed the ruling. The case is now in Fourth Circuit Court Court of Appeals, which scheduled oral arguments last week to occur in late January.

Arguments in circuit court filing are similar, but not congruent. As AC-LU lawyers focused on the Town of Greece, N.Y. ruling, Rowan County’s lawyers changed its ar-guments to match. In the latest by Rowan County’s attorneys, the shift is not-ed in the second sentence.

“This case began as a challenge to the sectarian content of the county’s leg-islative prayer practice,” Rowan County’s brief states. “Once the Supreme Court in Greece elimi-nated the basis for that challenge by recognizing

that sectarian prayers are part of the historical tradi-tion ... plaintiffs switched gears — contending that the county’s legislative prayer practice is uncon-stitutional because legisla-tors, and not chaplains or clergy, offer the prayers.”

When summarizing its argument in a circuit court filing, lawyers for plaintiffs completely omit the original issue of sec-tarian prayer being in-cluded in content of coun-ty commissioners prayer from 2007 to 2013.

When asked about the shift, North Carolina AC-LU Legal Director Chris-topher Brook said shifts happen frequently when court rulings occur in the middle of a case.

“It happens all the time in any hotly litigated area of the law,” Brook said. “There is always a new court ruling that is com-ing down.”

Brook said there’s “no doubt” coercion is a more significant part of the ACLU’s argument in the latest ruling, “but the co-ercion argument has been there since day one.”

“It’s not an argument that’s emerged for the first time in our briefing before the Fourth Circuit,” Brook said.

He’s right. In the first filing, coercion was men-tioned, but only after sec-tarian prayer. Coercion gained greater promi-nence in court filings af-ter the Town of Greece, N.Y. decision. Ultimately, Beaty based his ruling and permanent injunction on coercion and the identity of those giving prayers — county commissioners.

‘An invitation’

In its latest filing, ACLU attorneys contend Rowan County commissioners routinely directed Rowan County citizens to partic-ipate in prayers. Plain-tiffs’ arguments include commissioners focusing prayers on the broader public instead of being for the benefit of the board it-self, directing public par-ticipation in prayers and creating a hostile envi-ronment by directing at-tendees to participate in prayer. The plaintiffs state there’s no tradition of ex-ternally focused prayers.

“Rowan County fails to seriously grapple with

the toxic and coercive atmosphere created by its board members,” the plaintiffs’ filing states.

For its part, Rowan County argues there’s no constitutional basis for distinguishing prayers offered by legislators and the prayers aren’t coer-cive because the public is not directed to partic-ipate, which is in direct opposition to the ACLU’s argument.

Rowan County’s filing states the Supreme Court’s decision in the Town of Greece, N.Y. doesn’t give an indication whether its decision hinged on the fact that chaplains, instead of government officials, de-livered prayers.

“It is only by assuming a constitutional violation — which is the very thing at issue — that plaintiffs can argue it makes a constitu-tional difference whether a legislator or a chaplain offers the prayer,” Rowan County’s circuit court fil-ing states.

By saying “let us pray” or “please pray with me,” ACLU lawyers argue com-missioners intend for the audience to participate. Rowan County’s lawyers call the statements an in-vitation rather than a di-rection.

“The words from the presiding commissioners are simply an invitation for citizens to participate voluntarily in the prayer or the pledge only if they

freely choose to do so — not a command that could reasonably be construed as directing citizens to participate in either ac-tivity,” Rowan County’s circuit court filing states.

Rowan County’s filing further states meeting attendees could leave the room during prayers or arrive late if offended.

Commissioners now make it explicitly clear that meeting attendees can leave before prayers. Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds gives a similar statement each meeting stating that attendees can leave. However, it’s almost always the case that the entire room of attendees participates during the prayer.

The current prayers given by commissioners also largely avoid specif-ically Christian words, such as Jesus. A local pas-tor now gives opening in-vocations.

Rowan County hasn’t yet spent a significant sum of money on the lawsuit. The only recorded legal costs are to county attor-ney Jay Dees. The most significant costs paid to Dees occurred as Rowan County first retained The National Center For Life and Liberty in the suit. Cost estimates for fees paid to Dees are less than $5,000.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.

PrayerContinued from 1A

Honeycu� named a master leader by Childcare magazine

Norman Honeycutt, executive director of Partners In Learning, has been named a Master Leader by Child Care Ex-change magazine.

Exchange magazine’s November/December 2015 issue f e a t u r e s M a s t e r Leaders in the field of early care and educa-tion. For-

ty-nine Exceptional Mas-ter Leaders and 38 Master Leaders are pictured and their stories told in the cover feature.

Master Leaders were reviewed on leadership, roles, knowledge base and spirit.

“My personal mission is to live a life of service to families, early child-hood educators, and my community,” says Hon-eycutt’s statement on the magazine’s website. “Ev-ery child deserves access to a well-prepared and ef-fective teacher. My mis-sion is to inspire life-long

learning, advance knowl-edge, and strengthen my community. Parents need the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute significantly to the opti-mal growth and devel-opment of their children. My mission is to empower parents to be their child’s best first teacher and ad-vocate.”

A graduate of South Rowan High School, Honeycutt earned an associate degree from Rowan-Cabarrus Com-munity College and an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina Char-lotte. She earned a mas-ter’s degree in human development and family from UNC-Greensboro. She was a teacher and director at South Rowan Academy in China Grove.

Honeycutt has led Partners In Learning Child Development & Family Resource Center, located on Catawba Col-lege’s campus, since 1998. She is also president of Cutting Edge Develop-mental Therapies.

Honeycutt

Parachute helps pilot, passenger walk away from plane crash

SHATLEY SPRINGS (AP) — Authorities say two people survived an Ashe County small plane crash after deploying a parachute when they realized the aircraft was out of control.

Investigators said the single-engine Cirrus SR22 crashed Friday morning near U.S. Highway 221 not far from Jefferson.

The pilot had engine trouble and was trying to land at the Ashe County airport near Jefferson, but strong winds sent the crippled plane out of control and unlikely to make the landing strip.

Authorities say the pilot decided to pull the chute, allowing the plane to hit the ground more gently.

The plane took off from an airport in Atlanta and the flight plan had it landing at Lancaster Airport in Pennsylvania.

Sheri� charges ex-Guilford County animal shelter director

GREENSBORO (AP) — The sheriff has charged the former director of Guilford County’s animal shelter with five misdemeanors after prosecutors decided not to pursue a case against her earlier this month.

Marsha Williams already faces a felony animal cru-elty charge in Davidson County for how she ran that shelter.

District Attorney J. Doug Henderson said in a state-ment he is reviewing charges sought by Guilford Coun-ty Sheriff BJ Barnes and whether his prosecutors will try them.

Barnes also asked the Guilford County cases be sent to Davidson County court, but Henderson says Williams must agree to the move under state law.

Authorities say the charges stem from potential drug violations, financial mismanagement and cruelty at the shelters.

First lady Ann McCrory came to Guilford County to support the sheriff’s decision to charge Williams.

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Mariann G. MorganClara K. BushTaLisha D. CrowderRay L. Deal, Sr.

Eula Mae H. YountzHayden ThomasKevin R. Holloway[|xbIAHDDy00002ozX

Blizzard packing mighty winds cripples East Coast; 18 dead NEW YORK (AP) — A

blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Sat-urday, dumping as much as 3 feet of snow, stranding tens of thousands of travelers and shutting down the nation’s capital and its largest city.

After days of weather warnings, most of the 80 mil-lion people in the storm’s path heeded requests to stay home and off the roads, which were largely deserted. Yet at least

18 deaths were blamed on the weather, resulting from car crashes, shoveling snow and hypothermia. And more snow was to come, with dangerous conditions expected to persist until early Sunday, forecast-ers warned.

“This is going to be one of those generational events, where your parents talk about how bad it was,” Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for WeatherBell Analytics, said from Tallahas-see, Florida, which also saw

some flakes.The system was mammoth,

dropping snow from the Gulf Coast to New England. By af-ternoon, areas near Washing-ton had surpassed 30 inches. The heaviest unofficial report was in a rural area of West Virginia, not far from Harp-er’s Fery, with 40 inches.

As the storm picked up, forecasters increased their snow predictions for New

Trooper hurt after being purposely hit by ATV

Prayer lawsuit will be in federal appeals court Wednesday

By Mark [email protected]

CHINA GROVE — Authorities are looking for the operator of an all-terrain vehicle who reports say purposely hit a highway patrol-man early Saturday morning in a southern Rowan County subdivision off N.C. 153.

The ATV’s driver turned around and at-tempted to hit the injured trooper again be-fore the trooper responded by discharging his gun, a press release from the N.C. De-partment of Public Safety said.

According to reports, the trooper sus-tained “serious, but not life-threatening injuries” and was transported to Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast.

According to Danny Jenkins, president of the North Carolina Troopers Association, the four wheeler broke the trooper’s lower leg and cut his chin.

State officials did not release the trooper’s name Saturday afternoon, but two Charlotte news outlets identified him as Robert Cha-rubini.

The incident happened about 2 a.m. while the trooper was on patrol during the winter storm.

The trooper observed two all-terrain vehi-cles (four-wheelers) riding in the travel lanes of N.C. 153. He activated his car’s emergen-

Mark [email protected]

SALISBURY — By Sat-urday morning, it was over — the snow and sleet had passed through, and it was as though Rowan County brushed itself off and took inventory.

Overall, thanks to plenty of preparation, it appeared the county weathered this first winter storm as well as could be expected.

Power outages were vir-tually non-existent. Prima-ry U.S. and N.C. highways were mostly clear. Traffic accidents were few. Many businesses tried to go back to at least limited, if not full hours. No weather-related deaths occurred. Even daytime temperatures rose enough above freezing to allow for some melting.

But now’s not the time to get cocky. Some weak trees and limbs could still come down and cause prob-lems. Secondary roads, side streets and whole subdivi-sions are still completely covered and tough to navi-gate. Frigid overnight tem-peratures refroze many

spots that melted Saturday and will do so again tonight.

“It’s going to be one big ice cube tomorrow morn-ing,” Frank Thomason, director of Rowan County Emergency Services, said Saturday.

Thomason participated in a 1 p.m. Saturday con-

ference call of communi-ty leaders, and he said the overriding message from them was travel remains treacherous on secondary streets and roads. It was enough to hamper mail delivery in much of Row-an County for a second straight day.

All the pushing and scraping concentrated on major highways Saturday, and work may not start on most of these secondary streets until tonight or Monday morning.

Thomason said he and

Rowan County’s prayer lawsuit that started in 2013 will have its day in court this week.

Oral arguments in the prayer suit are scheduled for Wednesday morning in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Oral arguments will be held in Richmond, Va.

At its core, the case is about whether legislators such as Rowan County Com-missioners are able to offer prayers before meeting. When the American Civil Liberties Union initially filed its lawsuit in 2013, it focused on the sectarian content of prayers. The prayer giver’s identity was mentioned in the original court filing, but has gained

‘Recovery mode’Now that storm system has moved on, time for cleanup

See Blizzard, 1A

See Lawsuit, 2A

See ATV, 2A

See Recovery, 2A

Gov. McCrory calls it ‘inexcusable behavior’


ANDY MOONEY / SALISBURY POST

Nick Palmore shovels snow in front of Nashville Nights on Saturday afternoon.

A City of Salisbury dump truck plows South Church Street on Saturday.

41ºMostlysunny

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A man operates a snow blower near the Brooklyn Bridge in the borough of Brooklyn in New York on Saturday. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday.

greater significance.Rowan County Com-

missioners are being rep-resented for free by attor-neys from Texas-based National Center for Life and Liberty. Plaintiffs in the case — Rowan Coun-ty residents Nan Lund, Robert Voelker and Liesa Montag-Siegel — are rep-resented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Both groups are scheduled to have about 20 minutes each on Wednesday for oral arguments.

Recapping his organiza-tion’s court filings, ACLU North Carolina Legal Di-rector Christopher Brook this week said the prayers offered by commissioners from 2007 to 2013 were coercive. He specifically referenced Supreme Court case Town of Greece vs. Galloway, which has be-come a major reference point for both parties in the case.

“What Rowan Coun-ty has done and did was exactly what Justice (An-thony) Kennedy cautioned

against and warned about,” Brook said.

One ACLU court filing states: “Rowan County fails to seriously grapple with the toxic and coercive atmosphere created by its board members.”

Coercion is a topic in the Supreme Court’s Town of Greece, N.Y. decision. In the court’s majority opin-ion, Kennedy extensively evaluates whether officials in Town of Greece, N.Y. co-erced meeting attendees to pray. It’s unclear how coer-cion might apply to Rowan County Commissioners’ previous practices. For its part, ACLU attorneys have argued that commis-sioners coerced meeting attendees to participate in prayer by using phrases such as “let us pray.”

National Center for Life and Liberty attorney Bar-bara Weller interpreted the Greece vs. Galloway decision differently than Brook and the ACLU.

“What the Supreme Court said in Town of Greece is that you can have sectarian prayers as long as you don’t denigrate anyone or any religion,” Weller said. “That’s real-ly the key point that we

are making. The standard hasn’t changed.”

Weller said Rowan County’s position in the lawsuit is that commis-sioners aren’t any dif-ferent than volunteer chaplains, which were permitted in the Supreme Court’s Town of Greece, N.Y. decision. She said the ACLU is trying to separate Rowan County Commis-sioners from a precedent set in the Town of Greece, N.Y. case. The Greece case never addressed who can offer sectarian prayers, she said.

While talking to the Salisbury Post this week, Weller said she felt strong-ly the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals would rule in favor of Rowan County. However, also ex-pressed a bit of hesitation.

“I don’t see how the court could come to any different conclusion,” she said. “So, you know from my perspective it seems like a no brainier, but you can never tell what a court can do.”

Similarly, Brook said “you have to be careful about how much tea-leaf reading you do.”

Neither side will know the court’s decision imme-

diately following the oral arguments. The Fourth Circuit Court could rule within a few weeks or sev-eral months, both attor-neys said.

In North Carolina’s Mid-dle District Court, Judge James Beaty ruled against Rowan County, basing his argument on the identity of prayer givers, Rowan County Commissioners. He issued a permanent injunction with his ruling. Commissioners have voted to appeal the ruling.

Since the ruling, com-missioners have asked Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Michael Taylor to give opening invocations at meetings. County Com-missioners Chairman Greg Edds has also given a statement at every meet-ing that informs attendees of their ability to not par-ticipate.

Regardless of the rul-ing, Rowan County’s case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. How-ever, the Supreme Court could decide not to take the case, which could make the Fourth Circuit ruling final.


2A • SUNDAY, JANUARY 24, 2016 SALISBURY POST

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Griefshare program o�ers weekly seminars

First Baptist Church of China Grove is offer-ing Griefshare, a support group that offers hope of recovery following the death of a loved one. Weekly meetings and seminars help in the pro-cess of rebuilding life. Don’t walk the journey of grief alone. We know that it hurts.

Meetings are held on Mondays from 6-8 p.m. from Jan. 25 through April 18. Whether you can attend once a month or each week, we encourage anyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one to participate in this minis-try. Our goal is to turn the

mourning into joy. Wheth-er the loss of the loved one occurred recently or long ago, each of us deal with the loss of loved ones in different ways. We hope that those suffering from such a loss will become in-volved in the Griefshare journey.

Cost is $17 which cov-ers the workbook and supplies. Please don’t let the cost determine wheth-er you can participate. Scholarships are avail-able. Register at http://chinagrovefbc.com/grief-share or call the church office at 704-857-5415. Participants can also reg-ister at their first meeting.

Another world-class runner headed for Salisbury

Salisbury’s premier road race has drawn yet another top flight runner, adding to an already com-petitive field. World class elite runner Grace Kahura of New York City will be on hand for the 33rd An-nual Novant Health Winter Flight 8K on Sunday, Jan. 31, at Catawba College.

Kahura will chase the women’s course record of 26 minutes and 48 seconds, set in 1992 by North Car-olina native and Olympian Joan Nesbitt. No one has seriously challenged that record since.

Born in Kikuyu, Kenya, Kahura grew up with five

siblings. She said, “Life was not easy at all, but my parents worked really hard to keep food on the table and pay our school fees.” Kahura competed in track and cross country for her primary school.

Primary school in Kenya includes the fifth through eighth grade.

After winning awards in high school cross coun-try, Kahura took running seriously and was picked for the national cross coun-

try team. She said, “I had friends and especially my coach who inspired me.”

Last year’s overall win-ner and male course record holder, Eliud Ngetich, told Kahura about competing in Winter Flight 2015. Ka-hura said, “Eliud told me about Salisbury and how he would love to return again. That is when I be-came interested and asked him more about the event.” Ngetich is currently train-ing in Kenya.

Kahura has goals of a sub 15-minute 5K and a sub 32-minute 10K in the near future. She is cur-rently running with the Westchester Track Club in New York City. The Winter Flight 8K starts at 2 p.m.

By David FreezeFor the Salisbury Post

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Grace Kahura wins the 2015 Harlem 5K in New York City.

cy lights and attempted to stop the ATV operators, who pulled into Harmony Lane, a street in a nearby subdivision.

The trooper exited his vehicle and began to ap-proach the ATV operators, according to reports.

“At that point, one of the operators intentionally drove toward the trooper at a high rate of speed, strik-ing him,” the release said. The operator then turned around and attempted to strike the trooper a sec-ond time. At that point, the trooper discharged his ser-vice weapon attempting to avoid further injury, caus-ing both operators to flee the scene.”

During a press confer-ence Saturday morning giv-ing an update on the state’s response to the snow and ice storm, Gov. Pat McCro-ry mentioned the Rowan County incident.

“It is inexcusable be-

havior by the individuals,” McCrory said, adding the trooper was injured, and “I think he’s OK now.”

McCrory added that “shots were fired by the trooper.”

“We’re going to be look-ing for those people that did harm to one of our public safety officials,” McCrory said. “Totally inexcusable.”

McCrory said there were many “very unique circumstances” during the prior 24 hours, but in refer-ring to the ATV incident, he said, “one was very disturb-ing.”

The Department of Public Safety is asking for the public’s assistance in providing information that could identify the ATV suspects. Anyone with in-formation is being asked to contact the Highway Patrol Communications Center at 800-233-3151.

The North Carolina Troopers Association is offering a cash reward of $1,000 for information leading to the capture and arrest of the suspects.

ATVContinued from 1A

LawsuitContinued from 1A

others are still strongly recommending that peo-ple don’t drive unless they absolutely must, but there is light at the end of this long weekend.

“We’ve definitely moved into a recovery mode,” Thomason said. “... You prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We skirt-ed this one once again.”

The weather system that passed through Row-an County Friday and Sat-urday spared the county of ice accumulations that fell farther south and east and especially impacted areas such as Wake and Johnston counties.

Thomason sa id he heard Rowan snow/sleet accumulation reports of a half-inch to 3 inches, with “absolutely zero ice accu-

mulation.”“That was our big plus,”

he said. “That was our sav-ior right there.”

Thomas said he had heard of “zero storm-re-lated issues” related to utilities. Utility crews who were staged in Row-an County as additional Duke Energy resources have been released and sent other places, Thoma-son said.

Steve Monday, chief forecaster for Rowan County Weather, said he expected an overnight low of 26 degrees and a high to-day of 39. The low tonight will be around 20 degrees.

Monday received re-ports of varied snow/sleet accumulations — from 1.1 inches in Salisbury to 2.5 inches in Spencer and 3.3 inches in Faith. He agreed the ice accumulation wasn’t enough to measure.

“We may have gotten lucky and missed that al-

together,’ Monday said.Kevin Neal, county

maintenance engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said Saturday he expected In-terstate 85 through Rowan County to be clear, though some icy spots could occur from water that refroze. He confirmed that second-

ary roads are still mostly covered in snow.

The DOT followed a tier-system approach to their snow and ice remov-al, which calls for crews to achieve bare pavement on the U.S. and N.C. high-ways before moving on to the secondary roads.

“I have full confidence in my guys that we are able to handle it,” Neal said, describing how his DOT crews had been working 40 straight hours after put-ting in a full day Thursday. They haven’t even gone home to check on their own families, Neal said.

“My guys have been there consistently since before this started,” he added. “When it comes to showing what they’re made of, they really do shine. It’s times like this that they show their ded-ication and commitment.”

Neal said the DOT won’t stop “until all roads are

clear.”As of 6 a.m. Saturday,

the city of Salisbury re-ported it had plowed more than 1,100 road miles and used 65 tons of sand and 16 tons of salt. City crews put their top priority on clear-ing emergency routes be-fore moving to secondary streets.

At noon Saturday, a city update said, “We are start-ing to see progress on the roadways, but they will still be dangerous, espe-cially overnight.”

City crews were work-ing 12-hour shifts.

Likewise in Kannapolis, city teams were plowing all major streets first.

The Waterworks Visual Arts Center’s 2016 Oyster Roast was held as sched-uled Saturday night at the Trolley Barn in Salisbury.

Today, “The Gospel

Voices with Matthew Weaver” concert sched-uled for 6 p.m. for the One Church One Child Minis-try has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Catawba is canceling the reception planned for artist Ann Bourque and her exhibit of graphite drawings in the campus’ Corriher Linn Black Li-brary today. No alternate date has been set.

Lee Street theatre’s amended schedule for Broadway Lullabies is:

• Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

• Friday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

• Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.

• Sunday, Jan. 31 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.

RecoveryContinued from 1A

ANDY MOONEY / SALISBURY POST

Ice melt clears a path on the sidewalk on East Innes Street near the Square.

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A job fair organized for recently laid-off Freightliner workers will be held Fri-day, starting at 9 a.m. and continuing until noon. It will be at the former J.C. Penney’s building in the West End Plaza, 1935 Jake Alexander Blvd. W.

The event, originally planned for Jan. 22, was rescheduled because of last week’s snowstorm.

This week it’s full speed ahead, with more than 20 companies committed to par-ticipate in the job fair. A number of other organizations such as the United Way will also be present to help the hundreds laid off earlier this month at the Cleveland Daimler plant. The company attributed the layoffs to a decline in business.

A wide range of jobs will be available during Friday’s job fair, according to Row-anWORKS Economic Development Direc-tor Robert Van Geons. Some are manufac-turing or production jobs, and others are office jobs, Van Geons said. He estimated hundreds of jobs would be available.

Job seekers aren’t required to pre-reg-ister; however, those who register on Row-anCares.com will receive email updates

Job fair Friday for laid-o� Freightliner employees

By Shavonne [email protected]

Two officers are no longer employed by the Salisbury Police. Officials say one of them was fired this week.

Salisbury Police Sgt. Richard Willis, 40, was terminated from the department effective Monday, city officials said, for misconduct, harass-ment and conduct unbe-coming an officer.

“However, this action is not final as we are still within the grievance peri-od,” said Linda McElroy, city communi-cations director.

Willis was hired July 21, 2003, and was most recently a sergeant with the


RICHMOND, Va. — A three-judge panel on Wednesday considered whether Rowan Coun-ty Commissioners violated the U.S. Constitu-tion during opening invocations from 2007 to 2013.

Attorneys on both sides of Rowan’s prayer lawsuit were in federal appeals court Wednes-day for oral arguments. It was the first time attorneys have presented oral arguments in the case since the ACLU first filed the law-suit in 2013 on behalf of three Rowan County residents. More significantly, it’s also the first time a federal appeals court has addressed the issue since a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court de-cision — Town of Greece, N.Y. vs. Galloway. Many of Wednesday’s arguments hinged on the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in the New York case.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Christopher Brook, representing the plain-tiffs, spent a large portion of his allotted time focusing on the fact that Rowan County com-missioners — not chaplains or volunteers — offered prayers before meetings. Brook also argued that county commissioners coerced members of the public into participating in prayers.

Attorney Allyson Ho, representing Row-an County, countered that a prayer giver’s identity doesn’t matter — a chaplain is the same as a commissioner. Ho also said prayers before meetings are constitutionally allowed as long as they don’t “threaten damnation” or demonize others.

Both sides also fielded rapid-fire questions from the panel of U.S. Fourth Circuit Court

City Council talks strengths and weaknesses at retreatBy Amanda [email protected]

City-county relations, Fibrant and five institutions of higher learning are some of the things Salisbury can be proud of. Some things the city needs to work on? Improving education and stifling racism.

The Salisbury City Council and city staff dis-cussed the strengths and weaknesses of Salisbury during the first day of their 31st Annual Future Direc-tions and Goal Setting Re-treat on Wednesday.

The theme of the retreat

was “Our Legacy: Trail-blazing a Vision.”

The meeting started with Tom Westall, the meeting’s facilitator, stat-ing the desired outcomes of the retreat, which were to review the current state of the organization, estab-lish a shared vision for the city, develop goals to sup-port the vision and build a foundation for collabora-tion and teamwork going forward.

Before setting goals for the future, Westall said it was important to identify

Fourth Circuit judges hear arguments in appeal of ruling that Rowan commissioners’ prayer unconstitutional

Petitioning a higher power

JOSH BERGERON/SALISBURY POST

ACLU attorney Christopher Brook speaks to reporters in Richmond, Va., on Wednesday after oral arguments in the lawsuit over Rowan County commissioners’ practices were hard in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. At right are two of the plainti�s in the case, Rowan residents Nan Lund and Robert Voelker.


Rowan County Board of Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds speaks to reporters Wednesday after prayer lawsuit oral arguments in Richmond, Va.

City: SPD o cer fired for misconductSecond police o�cer resigned same day

Willis

By Amanda [email protected]

To kick off the 31st Annual Future Directions and Goal Setting Retreat, the Salisbury City Coun-cil hosted a luncheon on Wednesday.

Former mayors, school board members, business owners and education and community members were invited to hear Kan-napolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant talk about how

Kannapolis came back from its hardships, includ-ing the Pillowtex closing in 2003 that left thousands jobless.

“At every meeting, citi-zens came to speak before the council and men and women both were in tears as they were trying to fig-ure out what they were go-ing to do with their life,” Hinnant recalled.

Hinnant said the city

Hinnant: Community buy-in brought Kannapolis back

AMANDA RAYMOND/SALISBURY POST

Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant was the guest speaker for a luncheon hosted Wednesday by the Salisbury City Council. He talked about how his city included the community in major decisions and planning.See Retreat, 2A See Hinnant, 2A

See O�cer, 2A

See Job, 2A See Appeal, 3A

Nan Lund, a plainti� in the Rowan County prayer lawsuit, speaks to reporters Wednesday after oral arguments in Richmond, Va.


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Rowan-Salisbury School students re-cently missed three school days due to snow and ice which began last Thursday.

School Superintendent Dr. Lynn Moody announced in an e-mailed release Wednes-day afternoon that students would have two make-up days while one of the snow days will be waived.

Make up days are scheduled for Mon-day, Feb. 15, and Monday, April 25. Both days were originally planned as optional teacher workdays, according to the sys-tem’s academic calendar.

“Moving forward, we will work to use additional hours to make up inclement weather days in an effort to avoid using Spring Break and Saturdays,” the release said.

SecondFront Thursday, January 28, [email protected]

3Asalisburypost.com

No cause had been determined Wednesday afternoon in a fire inside a Statesville Boulevard detached garage, officials said.

The homeowner was home at the time of the fire, but not near the ga-rage. No injuries were reported. There were no vehicles parked inside the garage, but there were some items stored inside, said Salisbury Fire De-

partment Battalion Chief Tim Hurlocker.

The fire was contained to the garage, but the house received some damage be-cause of the heat.

Hurlocker said the fire melted some vinyl siding on the back of the house, and the garage was com-pletely destroyed.

“It looks like it started in the rear of the struc-ture,” he said.

It’s believed someone

driving by the property, which is located at 1441 Statesville Blvd. near Mc-Coy Road, called 911. The fire occurred just after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and was under control by 7:05 a.m.

Salisbury Fire Depart-ment responded while Cleveland and Franklin Fire departments were covering the rest of the city until units could be available.

Fire that destroyed garage under investigation

SHAVONNE WALKER/SALISBURY POST

Salisbury firefighters put out hot spots in this detached garage Wednesday morning that caught fire at 1441 Statesville Blvd. The homeowners were home, but no one was inside the garage. Fire o�cials have not determined a cause and say none of the family’s vehicles were parked inside.

No injuries in Wednesday morning blaze

of Appeals judges.

Back and forth

Ho spoke first during oral arguments. She said legisla-tors at all levels pray before meetings. They have since the nation’s founding, she said. It happens in state legislatures, Congress and local govern-ment.

Ho then presented princi-ples she saw as essential to the case — the suit’s focus has shifted since it was filed in 2013, and prayer is allowed as long as it doesn’t demonize others or preach conversion. She said the court would need to find a pattern of the prayer she described, not just one in-stance.

She had just reached the third of three principles when one of the judges fired off a question — a common occur-rence during Wednesday’s oral arguments. Judges often acted as equal-opportunity interro-gators for both attorneys.

In response to one of the ini-tial questions, Ho said Rowan County’s prayers from 2007 to 2013 — the period cited in the lawsuit— were 100 per-cent Christian. Her answer prompted a follow-up question from Judge Dennis Shedd, who asked how the prayers could be considered nondiscriminatory with that statistic.

In her response, Ho said the prayers weren’t discrimi-natory because commissioners rotated the responsibility of giving an opening invocation.

Another notable exchange between attorneys and judges came when Shedd asked Brook whether a prayer would be un-constitutional if commission-ers directed a prayer about members of the military to soldiers who were in the au-dience. Giving a hypothetical example, Shedd said a com-missioner might pray to keep soldiers safe.

Brook hesitated as Shedd asked the question again. Brook asked for clarity about the question, which came as Brook was arguing that Row-an County commissioners directed prayers at members of the public. Commissioners’ prayers during the period in question were not for the ben-efit of commissioners them-selves, Brook said.

“What if there are troops in the audience and (commis-sioners are) praying for the troops,” Shedd asked. “Why is there a difference?”

Brook eventually said the prayer would be constitutional.

Constitutional questions

Substantive discussion about the identity of prayer giv-ers and coercion — two main topics — surrounded moments of fast-paced questioning.

Quickly after starting his

oral argument, Brook gave multiple examples of prayer by commissioners. Among the examples was a prayer from former County Commissioner Carl Ford, who said “we pray that our citizens will love you Lord.”

Brook claimed Ford’s prayer and others were examples of in-vocations directed at the public. It countered an argument made earlier by Ho — that commis-sioners only pray for the benefit of themselves. Brook claimed previous court decisions plain-ly prohibit prayers directed at members of the public.

Brook said commissioners direct the public to participate in prayers with statements such as “please pray with me.” Agee said the statement “please pray with me” seemed more like a request than a direction.

When addressing the issue of identity, Ho said it doesn’t matter whether a prayer-giver is a volunteer chaplain or coun-ty commissioner. Rowan’s case is no different than the Greece, N.Y. case, she said.

“Either way, it’s the govern-ment speaking,” she said.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson said one difference between the New York case and Rowan County is that commissioners deliver prayers and invocations

repeatedly referencing one faith — Christianity.

Reaction

David Gibbs III, who rep-resents Rowan County, said the next step in Rowan’s case will likely be a written ruling. Judg-es could request more informa-tion, but he said it’s unlikely.

After oral arguments, peo-ple on both sides of the case spoke with reporters and out-lined significant parts of argu-ments.

ACLU spokesman Mike Meno said it’s important not to analyze judges’ questions too closely. It’s a judge’s job to ask tough questions, Meno said.

Plaintiffs Nan Lund and Robert Voelker, who attended Wednesday’s oral arguments, said the fact that commission-ers have changed from offer-ing prayers themselves to a pre-selected, volunteer chap-lain is “an acknowledgment that they’re doing something wrong.”

Currently, Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Mi-chael Taylor gives opening invocations. County commis-sioners Chairman Greg Edds also gives a disclaimer at the beginning of meetings. The disclaimer informs attendees

of his or her right to leave or not participate in prayers.

Gibbs responded to Lund and Voelker’s claim by say-ing he and other attorneys only advised Rowan County how to minimize its liability. A number of options exist for prayer before meetings, and a pre-selected, volunteer chaplain is one, according to Gibbs.

Cost to the county

Since the start of its prayer lawsuit, Rowan County has been represented by Tex-as-based National Center for Life and Liberty. The group is representing Rowan Coun-ty for free. Gibbs said other attorneys from various states also have donated time — at no cost to Rowan County — to help with the case.

Gibbs said the National Center for Life and Liber-ty brought Ho onto Rowan County’s case specifically for oral arguments. Ho is a Texas-based attorney and partner at law firm Morgan Lewis.

Although Rowan County isn’t paying its attorneys, it could be responsible for le-gal fees if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Cir-cuit upholds a ruling from the North Carolina Middle District Court that found the county’s prayer practices un-constitutional.

Edds, the chairman of the county board, said Rowan doesn’t yet have a commit-ment to pay legal fees from any outside entity or group.

Rowan has paid County Attorney Jay Dees less than $5,000 in connection to the prayer lawsuit. Dees previ-ously told the Salisbury Post that most of the money stems from work one immediately after the lawsuit was filed.


FILE PHOTO BY JON C. LAKEY/SALISBURY POST.

Former Rowan County commissioner Chad Mitchell, center, leads a pre-meeting prayer in 2012, flanked by former commissioners Carl Ford, left, and Jim Sides. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in Rowan County’s e�ort to overturn a federal judge’s ruling that local o�cials leading prayer at public meetings violates the constitution.

Make-up days set for RSS schools

AppealContinued from 1A


The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va.

Study: State has more debt capacity even if bonds OK’d

RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina government’s annual debt burden review finds there would still be more room to borrow even if voters approve a $2 bil-lion bond package in March and the state could retain its top credit-rating agency grades.

The state’s Debt Affordability Study released Wednesday projects another $209 million in borrowing capacity annu-ally through mid-2020 while remaining in self-imposed fiscal limits. For transpor-tation debt backed by gasoline and car-sales taxes and other fees, there’s addi-tional capacity of $240 million annually.

The study would seem to help pro-bond supporters approaching the March 15 referendum. Most of the proposed debt would go to higher education projects, among other items. Gov. Pat McCrory has said he’d pitch debt for road projects if re-elected.

A committee led by State Treasurer Janet Cowell wrote the report.

Operators of animal shelter arrested on abuse, drug charges

RAEFORD (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina have arrested the oper-ators of a no-kill animal shelter after at least 600 animals were found in condi-tions that the sheriff called “awful and very sad.”

Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said in a statement that Stephen Joseph Spear and Linden Spear are charged with four counts of animal cruelty and one count of drug possession. Peterkin said more charges are expected.

Bond for each was set at $5,000. It’s not known if they have attorneys.

Local news organizations report law officers and animal protection officials went Wednesday to The Haven-Friends for Life shelter northwest of Raeford. They seized more than 300 dogs, 250 cats, 40 horses and numerous farm animals.

Capt. John Kivett said some animals appeared malnourished and had open wounds or skin conditions.

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Rowan can only wait to learn fate in prayer lawsuit

Colony starts a cat �ght among neighbors in rural Rowan


SALISBURY — There’s not much for Rowan County to do now. It can only wait.

More than five months ago, a federal ap-peals court heard oral arguments in Rowan County’s prayer lawsuit, but attorneys on both sides are still waiting to learn judges’ decision.

The case hinges on the fact that Rowan County commissioners — not chaplains or volunteers — offered sectarian prayers be-fore meetings from 2007 to 2013. A group of Rowan County residents filed the suit in 2013 with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In 2015, a federal district court ruled that commissioners’ previous prayer practices were unconstitutional. Although the Row-an County Board of Commissioners con-tained three new members, its members unanimously voted to appeal the suit to the


GRANITE QUARRY — On a rural stretch of road near U.S. 52, a feral cat colony has created a hairy situation among neighbors.

Among themselves and publicly, residents of Stone Road have complained about a feral cat colony with a population of roughly 20 felines. The animals are a daily nuisance for a group of several houses located just south of Granite Quarry, the residents say. Teresa Marcum, who lives on Stone Road, says she was especially upset when she found a dead cat in her yard one day.

She used a shovel to bring the cat back into the neighbor’s yard who owned the feral cat colony.

“It wasn’t unusual for me to see a cat every once in a while, but it seemed like I was seeing them every day,” Marcum said.

See Lawsuit, 5A

See Cat, 5A

Highway Patrol says trac fatalities up this year so farBy Shavonne Walker

[email protected]

ROWAN COUNTY — In classic car circles, there weren’t too many people who didn’t know Jimmie Long and his sleek black 1958 Chevy Impala.

He was the kind-hearted man who sold his produce on the honor system. He was a farmer and the owner of an automotive dealership.

A month ago, Long and his

wife, Linda, were headed in the Impala to dinner and a cruise-in when another car hit them head-on. Jimmie, 67, was killed. Linda, 68, was seriously injured. She was airlifted to the hospital and has since been in a Charlotte rehabilitation center where she continues to recover.

The Impala was made be-fore seat belts were required.

The other driver, Asia L a ne Sheeks , 21, was charged with misdemeanor

death by vehicle and care-less and reckless driving. N.C. Highway Patrol officials said there was no immediate known reason why Sheeks left the road.

Jimmie Long was the 10th traffic fatality of the year in Rowan County, up from the six lives tragically taken by the same time last year.

“I’ve known Jimmie since the ’60s. We both went to

See Fatalities, 2A SHAVONNE WALKER / SALISBURY POST FILE PHOTO

Jimmie Long was killed and his wife Linda was seriously injured after a two-vehicle collision involving their 1958 Chevrolet Impala and a Honda Civic on Old Concord Road on June 6. The Honda left the road and struck the Impala head-on.

By Amanda [email protected]

HIGH ROCK LAKE — Lisa Hill, event coordinator for the Blackberry Festival at Hill’s Minnow Farm, said she was a lot more prepared this year.

“I learned a lot from last year,” she said.

The second annual Blackberry Festival was held on Saturday under cloudy skies during the morning hours. The festival started at 9 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m., but Hill said all of the blackberries were picked by 11 a.m.

The same thing hap-pened during last year’s event.

Very berry, babyVendors bring out themed products for Blackberry Festival

See Berry, 4A

JON C. LAKEY / SALISBURY POST

Amanda Drechsler reaches for a blackberry while her 1-year-old daughter Hadley takes a bite of one.

Cindy Nimer and Clara Marts offer many items made with blackberries at the Better Loafing booth.

Randy Bryant McCombsROCKWELL – Randy Bryant McCombs, 63, of Rockwell,

passed away on Thursday, July 7, 2016, at his home surround-ed by family. Mr. McCombs was born on Oct. 8, 1952, in Rowan

County to the late Richard Bryant McCombs and Judith Julian McCombs Davis.

Randy was a 1970 graduate of East Rowan High School and a lifetime member of Shi-loh Reformed Church of Faith. All his jobs involved trucking with his last job being at Vulcan Materials. His biggest passion in life was his family, especially his grandboys who called him “PopPaw”. His favorite thing was teaching them to love surf fishing at Carolina

Beach as much as he did. Randy loved working with his hands and became a well known knifemaker and mentor to others learning the art. He spent a lot of time in his backyard shop he nicknamed “Sanity” and felt honored when asked to share what he did with others. Music was always a part of his life. He played drums in various bands. He loved watching westerns with his dogs.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by a broth-er, Scott McCombs.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Connie Brinegar Mc-Combs of Rockwell; a daughter, Deidre Powell and husband, Ashley of Rockwell; a son, Heath McCombs of Rockwell; a sis-ter, Andrea Regan and husband, Steve of Elon; and two grand-children, Bryant Stewart and Brock Stewart.

Arrangements: A Celebration of Life will be held on Satur-day, July 16, at 3 p.m., at Shiloh Reformed Church (100 South Main St. Faith, NC 28041) conducted by Rev. Richard Myers and Rev. Steve Regan. The family will receive friends follow-ing the service at the church.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to any of the following. St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital (262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105); Shiloh Reformed Church or Rowan Hospice and Palliative Care (101 Hospice Lane, Winston Salem, NC 27103).

Powles Staton Funeral Home, a proud provider of Veterans Funeral Care is serving the McCombs’ family. Online condo-lences may be made at www.powlesfuneralhome.com.

Willie E. GeterWill, it has been 1 year since we watched you be

committed unto your father in heaven. We sad-ly miss you. As your wife my only consolation is

knowing that I did my best to keep those vows that we made unto God on our wedding day 28 years

ago. We had some sweet times, some not so sweet . I am remembering only the sweet times. I am thank-

ful that I did not have to leave you here to suffer through painful times without having me by your side. While still lonely and empty without you I

know for sure that you are with the father, He knew and understood you. The best thing you ever done was to give your life to Christ. Rest on my dear, I’ll

see you there.

Sadly missed by your wife, family, and friends.

John Brown, Jr.GREENSBORO – Mr.

John Brown, Jr., passed, Sat-urday, July 9, 2016, at Beacon Place, Greensboro. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and entrusted to Hairston Funeral Home, Inc.

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Fourth Circuit, where the case currently sits.

On July 27, it will be six months from the date of oral arguments. Rowan County’s case has been pending for slightly longer than the average amount of time it takes the Fourth Circuit to rule. However, that’s not an indicator of a potential outcome, said University of North Car-olina law professor Bill Marshall.

“There are so many different reasons,” Mar-shall said. “Judge could be having a difficult time working through the le-gal issues. Other cases may have come up that demanded more attention …. There are not that many tea leaves to read into.”

One complicating fac-tor: a court decision dis-cussed extensively in Rowan’s prayer case still left some things undecid-ed, according to Marshall. He said the case — Town of Greece, N.Y. vs. Galloway — didn’t decide that all leg-islative prayers were OK. However, the case decid-

ed that some factors make legislative prayer OK., Marshall said.

Many of the arguments made before judges and contained in court docu-ments hinge on Greece vs. Galloway, a Supreme Court case in which judges de-cided the Town of Greece could permit volunteer chaplains to open meetings with a prayer.

“I think, to some ex-tent, the judges now have to work through what the Supreme Court meant in Town of Greece,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and Fourth Circuit Court observer.

Tobias said members of the three-judge panel could be trying to convince one another of the merits or faults in particular argu-ments made in court.

To go with the usual time required for legal de-cision making, judges also appear to be dealing with an increased workload, ac-cording to Fourth Circuit statistics.

The latest available filing statistics for the current year show a 23 percent increase over the prior year. During the 2015 fiscal year, for example,

the Fourth Circuit saw a total of 4,586 filings. The court is also projected to see 5,626 filings during the 2016 fiscal year.

The projected 2016 numbers would be the highest in at least 10 years, according to court statis-tics. The earliest online statistics are for the 2006 fiscal year, when 5,460 cas-es were filed.

“That’s a lot of work-load,” said attorney David Gibbs, who is represent-ing Rowan County in the prayer lawsuit. “We do know in Washington (D.C.) that they’ve been slow to

confirm judges on differ-ent levels. I think you’re also looking at some of the Washington gridlock.”

Regardless of when the decision comes, Gibbs said the Fourth Circuit’s opin-ion would affect govern-ment throughout its cov-erage area, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

The North Carolina AC-LU declined to comment on the Rowan County prayer case for this story.


LawsuitContinued from 1A

“I would walk out in the morning and see four or five cats in my yard.”

The colony belongs to Stone Road resident Sar-ah Bruce, who previously operated an animal rescue group she called Precious Furbaby Rescue. Bruce no longer operates her rescue, but says she has a regis-tered feral cat colony.

Feral cat colonies ex-isted but weren’t legally allowed in Rowan County until fall of 2015, when Rowan County commis-sioners repealed leash laws on cats and approved the operation of trap, neu-ter and release programs.

The approval, however, didn’t come without some questions. At the time, Vice Chairman Jim Greene and Commissioner Mike Cas-key asked whether a trap, neuter and release pro-gram would result in un-wanted cats being placed on a person’s private property. In the case on

Stone Road, residents say unwanted cats have wan-dered onto private proper-ty — cat trespassing. The neighbors want Bruce to build a pen to contain the cats. Bruce, however, says that’s not the point of a fe-ral cat colony.

“These cats are wild and they’re talking about having to be an area for these cats to be in, but that’s not why people have feral colonies,” she said.

Bruce says her animals come from the Rowan County Animal Shelter. She adopted the cats and placed them on her prop-erty.

Local veterinarian Re-bekah Julian said feral cat colonies occur natu-rally. They’re not placed on property where they didn’t exist previously, Julian said. It may be OK to add cats to a feral colo-ny that already exist, she said.

“They sort of form around a food source, just like any kind of wild ani-mal,” Julian said.

Rowan County Animal Services Director Bob

Pendergrass said the point of trap, neuter and release programs is to “reduce the population of free-ranging cats in Rowan in a humane manner and to ensure ad-equate supervision and care of these cats.”

The Salisbury Post was unable to confirm whether Bruce has a registered fe-ral cat colony. No Pet Left Behind, of which Julian is a board member, handles trap, neuter and release in Rowan County. She said there are about 10 feral colonies in Rowan Coun-ty. She wasn’t immediately able to say whether Bruce owned one of the 10 feral colonies. Pendergrass said he is aware of eight feral colonies that exist in Row-an County. He said it may be inappropriate to give out precise information that contains addresses of all feral colonies in Rowan County.

For people who wish to start a feral colony, Pend-ergrass said it’s important the owners consider their neighbors.

In Bruce’s case, Row-an County Animal Con-

trol has set traps multiple times at the request of her neighbors. As a result, cats that were trapped re-turned to the animal shel-ter after previously being rescued by Bruce.

When asked about the colony, Bruce admitted it may have been more ap-propriate for a feral colony to be located on a piece of property that was larger. Regardless of the size of the property, she said it would be difficult to en-sure the cats remained on her property, which is two acres.

“They’re cats. They’re wild animals,” she said. “I’m just trying to do the right thing.”

Although the situation hasn’t completely been resolved, Stone Road res-ident Wanda Nesbit said she wishes Bruce would have communicated better about the problem. Nesbit said Rowan County Ani-mal Control has also pro-vided inconsistent infor-mation about the situation.


CatContinued from 1A

struction. These teachers have worked at least 32 years in the schools and have been paid at rates separate from the salary schedule since 2014, when the schedule got consoli-dated. These teachers al-ready make more than the schedule’s top rung of 25 years, increasing this fall from $50,000 to $51,000.

Still, critics of Repub-lican education policy are emphasizing how some teachers are being left out.

“Again, experienced teachers in North Carolina get shortchanged,” North Carolina Association of Educators President Mark Jewell said.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory this No-vember, and other Dem-ocrats argue additional money for public school salaries and supplies in-

stead are being rerouted to corporate tax cuts and for scholarships for more K-12 students to attend pri-vate schools. But Republi-cans say public education spending is at an all-time high and teacher pay is re-bounding after the Great Recession.

“This budget keeps our promises to support our public schools and raise teacher pay above $50,000,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a release.

The pay proposal likely will increase North Caro-lina’s average pay ranking in the South from ninth out of 12 states to seventh, according to the Public School Forum of North Carolina. This past year North Carolina was ranked 41st nationally at $47,985, according to the National Education Association.

“Until we adopt a plan that brings our teachers to the national average in salaries, we’re going to continue hemorrhaging

teachers to whoever the competition might be,” Senate Minority Lead-er Dan Blue, D-Wake. “It takes more than just keeping a campaign promise.”

A budget provision says the Legislature wants a salary schedule in fall 2018 that will re-duce the number of years teachers work to meet or exceed a $50,000 base salary from 25 years to 15 years. The schedule would still be capped at $51,000.

Brenda Berg, pres-ident of BEST NC, a business-oriented edu-cation advocacy group, said the move toward paying higher salaries sooner reinforces the need for putting perfor-mance-based programs in place now to boost their earnings potential.

“We need to give them a lot of real big opportu-nities to make more mon-ey,” Berg said.

ple had two sons who died young of an unnamed neu-rodegenerative disorder.

“She gave her life to working with children,” Kepley said.

And she gave much of her time to the Lion’s Club. Both Kepley and Kennerly recall a time that Shaver personally tracked down 100 door prizes from local businesses for the club’s annual golf tournament.

According to her obit-uary, Shaver helped start an enrichment center for exceptional children who were unable to attend

school. When her husband died, Shaver established an endowment scholarship for education students with Catawba in his honor. But Kennerly said she was very quiet about the good she did in the community, and didn’t want a lot of at-tention.

“She didn’t show off. She just did,” he said.

Shaver was also named a Jack Stickley Fellow for dedicated humanitarian service to the Lions Foun-dation, a Melvin Jones fel-low for dedicated human-itarian service for Lions International, received a certificate of appreciation from the National Presi-dent of Lions for her work and was a life member of

the Lions Foundation.But Kennerly said he’ll

always remember her as the lady who loved to trav-el, who had an unexpect-ed love for Las Vegas and nickel and dime casinos and who spent her life serving her community quietly, never asking for thanks or recognition.

“She was dynamite,” he said.

A funeral service was held for Shaver Wednes-day at St. John’s Luther-an Church, followed by a private burial at Union Lutheran Church.

Contact reporter Re-becca Rider at 704-797-4264.

ShaverContinued from 3A

TeachersContinued from 3A

Cape Fear Valley Hospital to host new residency program

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Cumberland County of-ficials say a medical res-idency program at Cape Fear Valley Health System could have a major eco-nomic impact for the area.

Campbell University’s medical school is expect-ed to provide most of the residents, The Fayetteville Observer reported.

The program could create about 300 jobs that

pay about $50,000 each and about 50 jobs that pay $50,000 to $400,000 each.

The 300 jobs would go to recent medical school graduates serving their residencies at Cape Fear Valley. The other positions would be teachers, mentors and support workers for the program.

Total funding for the medical education pro-gram is expected to be more than $30 million a year.

Cape Fear Valley plans to reclassify as a rural hospital so it can start the program. Federal rules set a limit on residency pro-grams in urban hospitals.

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Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | 75¢


SALISBURY — Rowan County commissioners on Monday scored a major court victory when a fed-eral appeals court, by a 2-1 count, overturned a prior ruling in a controversial prayer case.

The U.S. Court of Ap-peals for the 4th Circuit ruled that a lowered court erred when it declared unconstitutional commis-sioners’ prayer practices from 2007 to 2013. A U.S. Distric Court judge found

sectarian prayers at the start of county commis-sioners meetings to be in violation of the First Am-mendment’s establishment clause. At issue was the fact that sectarian prayers were delivered only by county commissioners.

Writing for the majority, Judge G. Steven Agee said the district court treat-ed the Supreme Court’s silence on lawmaker-led prayer as excluding county commissioners from giving opening prayers. In Mon-day’s 4th Circuit ruling, Agee said the lower court

ruling is “not supportable.”Agee wrote that Rowan

County’s prayer practices from 2007-2013 fit within the longstanding tradition of lawmaker-led prayer. Taken as a whole, the coun-ty commissioners’ prayer practices do not coerce or disparage. Agee wrote that the court found no ev-idence the Board of County Commissioners, as a board, crafted prayers to say be-fore meetings. Instead, prayers were a personal creation. The prayers were also given for the benefit of members of the board,

Agee noted.When asked about the

decision on Monday, com-missioners were short in their remarks. Chairman

Greg Edds p r a i s e d the rul ing in a short s t a t e m e nt emailed to t he S a l i s -bury Post.

“We are very pleased with the de-cision and think the Court properly decided the mat-

Appeals court: Rowan prayer constitutional


County commissioners and attendees participate in a prayer on Monday during a meeting at the county administration building.

Gas painsPipeline break leads to price spikes, rush on the pumps

See Prayer, 7A

SHAVONNE WALKER/SALISBURY POST

Dustin Stirewalt pumps gas Monday at Tobacco House on Airport Road. Stirewalt topped o� his gas tank for the second time in two days after hearing fears of gas shortages in the area due to a ruptured pipeline in Alabama.

By Rebecca Rider and Shavonne Walker

[email protected]

ROWAN COUNTY — Dustin Stire-walt topped off his gas tank Monday for the second time in two days. He wanted to do it, he said, before stations began running out of regular unleaded.

Stirewalt was not the only motorist making sure to fill up Monday or over the weekend in Rowan County. Many are fearful there won’t be any gasoline after an Alabama pipeline rupture late last week shut down the flow of fuel.

While operators work to repair the Colonial Pipeline, which carries gaso-line to North Carolina and other East-ern states, local drivers are wrestling with higher gas prices and an exhaust-ed fuel supply.

According to a press release from AAA, officials expect to restart the movement of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Texas and Louisiana refin-eries to a number of Gulf Coast and

REBECCA RIDER/SALISBURY POST

Gas stations across the county temporarily ran out of gas Monday as supplies dwindled after last week’s Colonial Pipeline break.

Will either side blink over House Bill 2?

By Tom Foreman Jr. and Gary D. Robertson

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE (AP) — North Caroli-na’s Republican leaders and gay-rights supporters are daring each other to clean up the mess over the state’s law limiting LGBT protections against discrimina-tion, which is crimping the state’s econo-my as sponsors of major sporting events pull out of the state.

Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP legisla-tors have offered to consider rescinding the law, but only if the Democrats who lead Charlotte’s City Council act first and essentially admit they were wrong to pass a local ordinance that would have expanded protections for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender people.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts suggested Monday that this won’t be happening at their council meetings anytime soon, and said there’s nothing

See Blink, 4A See Gas, 5A

Edds


SALISBURY — In a rare divided vote, Rowan County commissioners on Mon-day approved a measure that will have a significant affect on animal restraint laws in the county.

By a 4-1 count that nearly included another “no” vote, com-missioners approved reg-ulations that aim to create more humane conditions for dogs kept outdoors. The regulations were pro-posed by Commissioner Craig Pierce and require restraints to be designed and placed in a manner that prevent strangulation. Pierce’s regulations propose a number of alter-nate, more humane ways to keep animals outdoors.

Pierce framed his proposal as one part of a package of changes that the

New county law requires humane dog restraints

Pet project

See Pet, 9A

Pierce

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ter,” Edds wrote. “Our attorneys are currently working through the de-cision and we will know more about it in the com-ing days.”

Despite the ruling, sher-iff’s office chaplain Mi-chael Taylor will continue to offer opening prayers at commissioners’ meetings until the lawsuit is com-plete, according to Edds

Judge Dennis Shedd concurred with the major-ity ruling. Judge J. Har-vie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, dissented and authored an opinion that didn’t bother to mince words.

“A ruling for the county bears unfortunate conse-quences for American plu-ralism, for a nation whose very penny envisions one out of many, a nation whose surpassing orthodoxy be-longs in its constitutional respect for all beliefs and faiths, a nation which en-shrined in the First and Fourteenth Amendments the conviction that diver-sity in all of its dimensions is our abiding strength,” Wilkinson wrote.

The ACLU, represent-ing three plaintiffs who are Rowan residents, seized Wilkinson’s dissent as a reason to seek en banc review — where all 15 4th Circuit judges hear the case.

“Today’s ruling is out of step with the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty for all, and we will ask the full appellate court to re-view this decision,” said North Carolina ACLU Le-gal Director Chris Brook. “Rowan County residents should be able to attend lo-cal government meetings without being coerced to participate in a sectarian prayer or worry that the commissioners may dis-criminate against them if they do not.”

Monday’s ruling like-ly won’t be the end of the prayer lawsuit. Even if it’s denied an en banc review, the ACLU and plaintiffs could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During oral arguments in January, attorneys for Rowan County primarily argued that a prayer giver’s identity doesn’t matter and that prayers before meet-ings are constitutional if they don’t “threaten dam-nation” or demonize others. In his majority opinion, Agee agreed with Rowan County on both points.

“The content of the commissioners’ prayers largely encompassed universal themes, such as giving thanks and re-questing divine guidance in deliberations,” Agee wrote. “There is no prayer in the record asking those who may hear it to convert to the prayer-giver’s faith or belittling those who be-lieve differently. And even if there were, it is the prac-tice as a whole — not a few isolated incidents — which controls.”

The majority opinion sided with Rowan County on the identity argument

because legislators — com-missioners in this case — are the intended target.

“Not only are the leg-islators themselves the intended “congregation” for legislative prayer, but the practice carries special meaning to the thousands of state and local legisla-tors who are citizen rep-resentatives,” Agee wrote.

He also said there’s no requirement in case law that shows legislative prayer practice needs to reflect multiple faiths.

“Absent proof the Board restricted the prayer opportunity among the commissioners as part of an effort to promote only Christianity, we must view its decision to rely on law-maker-led prayer as con-stitutionally insignificant,” Agee wrote.

The dissenting opinion, however, offered a starkly different view. Wilkinson said prayers offered a message of exclusion and a potential for religious divi-sion. He said Rowan’s case

is a conceptual world apart from Greece vs. Galloway, a case referenced repeat-edly in Monday’s ruling and throughout the suit.

“No one disputes that lo-calities enjoy considerable latitude in opening their meetings with invocations and prayers,” Wilkinson wrote. “But the legislative prayer practice here push-es every envelope.”

He implied that the ma-jority treated Rowan’s case as more simple than it real-ly is. He also said that judg-es cannot discern which prayers are primarily for the benefit of legislators or commissioners and which ones are aimed at attend-ees.

He also took issue with the fact that prayers of-fered by commissioners are entirely Christian. He said entirely christian prayers are one step closer to a “de facto religious lit-mus test for public office.”

“While a small group of legislators can diver-sify their appointment of

prayer-givers at will, it may be more difficult to expect voters to elect rep-resentatives of minority religious faiths,” Wilkin-son wrote. “Failure to pray in the name of the prevail-ing faith risks becoming a campaign issue or a tacit political debit, which in turn deters those of mi-nority faiths from seeking office.”

Commissioner candi-dates have discussed the prayer lawsuit as a cam-paign issue.

Near the end of his dissent, Wilkinson says, “Americans are encour-

aged to practice and cel-ebrate religion, but it shouldn’t be established through the state.”



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Sunday, September 25, 2016 | $1.25

Singer/songwriter John Oates coming to Lee Street theatre Oct. 7By Susan ShinnFor the Salisbury Post

John Oates is bringing his acoustic show to Lee Street the-atre on Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

A musician for more than 40 years, Oates and his sing-ing partner Daryl Hall formed Hall & Oates in the 1970s, and became the best-selling duo in music history. Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 reignited an interest in the two, and Hall & Oates now performs about 50 shows a year.

In addition, Oates tours small-er venues solo and Hall hosts a monthly Webcast, “Live from Daryl’s House.”

“It’s a singer-songwriter show and it’s a storytelling show,” Oates says during a recent phone interview. “And while I perform songs from the Hall & Oates catalog, that’s re-ally not what this show is about.”

Instead, he says, “This gives me an opportunity to go into music that made me want to be a musician.”

Attendees will hear a blend

of roots music, blues, folk. They’ll also be treated to some very cool, accessible interpre-tations of some of Hall & Oates’ greatest hits, along with music that Oates has written in the last few years.

Oates appears in Salisbury thanks to the efforts of Bill Armor, special assistant to the president at Catawba College and a longtime Oates friend. Bill and Shari Graham and New Sa-rum Gallery are show sponsors.

See Oates, 2A SUBMITTED PHOTO

Singer/songwriter John Oates from the popular duo Hall & Oates is coming to Lee Street theatre Oct. 7.

Dissent in Rowan prayer lawsuit could a ect future of case

Woman dies of gunshot wound, police investigating


SALISBURY — One judge’s opinion could have a significant impact on the future of Rowan County’s prayer case.

By a 2-1 count, federal judges on Monday overturned a lower court ruling and declared county commissioners’ prayer practices con-stitutional. Two George W. Bush appointees united to form the majority opinion. It’s the dissenting opinion, however, that some law professors are focusing on.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, appointed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals by former president Ronald Reagan, offered a caution-ary tale about what might happen as a result of a ruling in favor of Rowan County. More than once, Wilkinson has been mentioned as a potential nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He also authored the majority opinion in a case relating to Forsyth County commission-ers. In that case, also before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, federal judges upheld a lower court ruling that the Forsyth Coun-

See Prayer, 2A

By Mark [email protected]

GOLD HILL — When you’re a young boy, life is pretty simple. You grab a soft drink, find a comfort-able seat against an old lamp post and you wait for the parade to start.

That’s what 6-year-old Brody King of Kannapolis was doing Saturday morn-ing as he and his grand-mother, Sue King, found a good spot to watch the Gold Hill Founders’ Day Parade.

“This place is like a hid-den gem,” Sue King said of Gold Hill, describing how she loves the Gold Hill Mines Historic Park, the village and places such as the old Jail and Assay Office. And both grand-mother and grandson had been counting the days up to the parade.

‘Hidden gem’At Gold Hill Founders’ Day, you’ll always �nd something interesting

See Gem, 4A

MARK WINEKA/SALISBURY POST

Smoke rises from the fired rifles of a company of Civil War reenactors who marched in the Gold Hill Founders’ Day Parade.

Dr. Kevin Cherry, right, deputy secretary of the N.C. Office of Archives and History, presents a copy of a rare 1884 Gold Hill Mining District map to Calvin Welch. Welch’s family had saved the original map, hand drawn by Joseph J. Newman, and gave it as a gift to the state last year. Vivian Hopkins, a chief organizer of Gold Hill Founders’ Day, looks on.

SALISBURY — Salisbury police are in-vestigating a homicide after a woman died from a gunshot wound.

According to a press release, at 1:12 a.m. on Saturday morning police were called to 212 E. 11th St. to assist with an assault. The victim, April Cora-Lucille Hall, 40, of Spen-cer, was found outside the residence. She had been shot, and the residence was empty.

Hall was taken to Novant Health Row-an Medical Center, and then transferred to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. According to police, she died Saturday evening as a result of her injury. Police did not release further details.

Salisbury Police Criminal Investigators have been actively working the case. Any-one with information regarding this matter is encouraged to call the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638- 5333 or Crime Stop-pers at 1-866- 639-5245.

2A • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 SALISBURY POST

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From a young age, Oates has loved music, and grew up during the birth of rock and roll.

“I like to explore the American music legacy with my acoustic shows,” he notes. “It’s a very inti-mate show. I like playing small venues because you get a chance to interact with the audience.”

That was not the case on Monday, when he and Hall played a sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl.

A move to Nashville helped give his music a new direction, and the writing of his memoir, due in April 2017, helped him rediscover the music he loved as a kid.

And Catawba played a role in shaping Oates’ mu-sical tastes from a young age. When Oates was in sixth grade, a friend’s old-er brother went to school at Catawba, and came back with a whole stack of al-bums from early folk per-formers: Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Doc Watson.

“I studied those re-cords,” Oates says. “It changed the whole way I look at music.”

Asking a songwriter to name a favorite song is a bit like asking a parent to name a favorite child, but Oates has a ready answer.

“‘She’s Gone’ is our sig-nature song,” he says. “It put us on the map. I can tell you, I will play that song in the show. It means so much

to me, and I don’t think one of my shows is complete without playing that song.”

He adds, “I don’t tire of playing good songs. A song stands the test of time if it sounds as vibrant and vital as it was when it was first recorded. That’s where I set the bar.”

Several years ago, fol-lowing his move to Nash-ville, Oates began a music project that culminated in “A Good Road to Follow.”

“My whole life has been about traveling,” he says. “It’s about the musical journey I’ve taken. Every one of the roads I’ve taken is unique and part of me.”

Oates reached out to musicians to collaborate on this project for his private label — some he knew, and some he didn’t.

“The success of Hall & Oates has given me the freedom I want as far as recording,” Oates ex-plains. “I’m very conscious of it, and I don’t take it for granted.”

He’s collaborated with a number of musicians for the project, including Ryan Tedder, Vince Gill and Hot Chelle Rae.

“There’s no agenda and nobody looking over your shoulder,” he says.

Hall & Oates were also inducted into the Songwrit-ers Hall of Fame, and the combination of that, along with Hall’s Webcast and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nod has brought an entirely new audience to the duo, Oates says.

“We’ve also got our old-guard fans,” he says,

“those hard-core fans who have supported us all these years.”

Did he ever expect he’d be touring again?

“I never expect any-thing to happen,” he says, laughing. “My only goal in life is to make music for the rest of my life. I think with 40-plus years as a musician, I’ve earned that right.”

For tickets to John Oates’ show, part of the Live at Lee Street series, visit www.leestreet.org.

Freelance writer Susan Shinn lives in Salisbury.

OatesContinued from 1A

ty Commissioners’ prayer practices are unconstitu-tional.

“Sectarian prayers must not serve as the gate-way to citizen participation in the affairs of local gov-ernment,” Wilkinson wrote in the Forsyth County case. “To have them do so runs afoul of the promise of pub-lic neutrality among faiths that resides at the heart of the First Amendment’s re-ligion clauses.”

His opinion in the Row-an County case echoes sim-ilar sentiments.

“When a seat of govern-ment begins to resemble a house of worship, the val-ues of religious observance are put at risk, and the dan-ger of religious division ris-es accordingly,” Wilkinson wrote in the Rowan County decision. “This, I respect-fully suggest, is what is happening here. It cannot be right.”

The 4th Circuit’s deci-sion, however, found Row-an County’s prayer prac-tices from 2007 to 2013 were constitutional after deciding that, among other things, opening invocations fit within the longstanding tradition of lawmaker-led prayer, don’t coerce or disparage and were given for the benefit of the board rather than the public.

When asked about the 4th Circuit’s decision, UNC

law professor Bill Marshall says Wilkinson’s respect-ed status lends additional strength to the dissent.

“ W h e n J . H a r v i e Wilkinson speaks, people listen,” Marshall said in an interview with the Salis-bury Post. “It was written very well. It was a serious, scholarly dissent.”

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias says Wilkinson “is certain-ly not just another judge.”

Wilkinson served as chief judge for the 4th Cir-cuit Court of Appeals from 1996 to 2003.

The ACLU, which sued commissioners on behalf of three Rowan residents, has already announced its intention to seek an en banc review — involving all 15 4th Circuit judges instead of the three that have al-ready reviewed Rowan’s case.

Marshall said Wilkin-son’s opinion could have an affect on an en banc review, if granted. Tobias says Wilkinson’s view is likely to prevail in front of all 15 judges.

“I think that Wilkinson was more persuasive,” To-bias said. “I think he makes a lot of really valid points about what it means to be a minority or a member of a minority religion.”

If the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals grants an en banc review, however, it

would be a rare occur-rence. The court grants rehearing en banc in about 0.3 percent of cases where it’s requested, according to the 4th Circuit Court’s website.

“I think (the ACLU) has a good chance of having it granted, but that doesn’t mean the plaintiffs will win,” Tobias said.

Currently, the 4th Cir-cuit Court of Appeals con-sists of six Obama appoin-tees, three George W. Bush appointees, three Clinton appointees, one George H. W. Bush appointee and one Reagan appointee. The current chief judge Roger Gregory was appointed

by former President Bill Clinton during a recess of the U.S. Senate. Gregory was later renominated by George W. Bush.

If the 4th Circuit de-clines the en banc request, Rowan’s prayer case could also be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The composition of the U.S. Supreme Court will be rel-evant in whether the high-est court takes up the case, according to Marshall and Tobias. One seat on the Supreme Court remains vacant following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.



CHARLOTTE (AP) — Charlotte police released dramatic video Saturday that shows officers with guns drawn surrounding a black man with his hands at his side before shots are fired and he buckles and falls. It’s unclear if there was anything in the man’s hands in the footage, which has done little to assuage his relatives.

The footage of the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott was released amid days of protests, in-cluding an outpouring by hundreds earlier Saturday, which coalesced around demands for the public to see the video. Police said Scott had a gun, though residents have said he was

unarmed.In the dashboard cam-

era video released Satur-day night, Scott could be seen slowly backing away from his SUV with his hands down, and it’s not apparent if he’s holding anything. Four shots are heard, and he falls to the ground.

Police also released photos of a handgun from the scene, saying it was loaded and con-tained Scott’s DNA and fingerprints. They also said Scott had marijuana.

The dashboard cam-era footage starts with a police car pulling up as two officers point their

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This image made from video provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department on Saturday shows Keith Scott on the ground as police approach him in Charlotte on Tuesday.

Doubts remain after Charlotte police shooting video released

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josh bergeron / boxing day salisbury police … annual samaritan’s purse project is a favorite of...

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