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SERVING THE ROANOKE VALLEY AND LAKE GASTON

THURSDAYMarch 8

201250 cents

Auction benefits law enforcement

community

Armed robbery charges mount

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Vol. 97, No. 240 © 2012 Th e Daily Herald

Friday’s weatherRain before noon

High 60Low 34PAGE 4

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Local........................2Need To Know..........4Obituaries...............5Opinion...................6

Sports......................8Comics...................10Classifi eds.............11Spotlight...............12

INSIDE TODAY

Complete story on page 8

The Yellow Jackets, fresh off a 3-1 win over Southern Nash Wednes-day night, showed no signs of fatigue or being content with the win over a 3A team.

Roanoke Rapids (3-0) used its momentum to defeat rival Halifax Acad-emy 11-1 Wednesday with 13 total hits.

Steady rolling

Randy Wrenn | The Daily HeraldPaula Hardy, of Roanoke Rapids, waits on third base Wednesday.

ROGER BELL

THE DAILY HERALD STAFF WRITER

A deadline has been set for a decision on the fate of The People’s Theater.

Roanoke Rapids Building Inspector Donald Tart, after in-specting the structure Friday, located at 206 Ro-anoke Ave., wrote a let-ter Monday to property owner Eric R. Bowman, of Scottsdale, Ariz., in-forming him the theater has been deemed unsafe and constitutes a dan-ger to life, health and other property.

The letter orders Bow-man to “repair or re-move unsafe conditions or demolish and remove the structure from the property by a date no later than May 4, 2012.”

Should Bowman elect to repair the build-ing, the letter said, he must correct all unsafe conditions within the building, including the damage to the roof that allows weather to enter inside the structure, within the specifi ed time frame.

Roanoke Rapids Pub-lic Works Director Lar-ry Chalker, who was part of Friday’s inspec-tion of the theater, along with Tart and Code En-forcement Supervisor Brian Duhadaway, said

mold damage from rain is prevalent throughout the theater seating area, and the orchestra pit has suffered massive water damage, as well.

City Planning and De-velopment Director Kel-ly Lasky said this letter does not seal the fate of the theater, adding the department is willing to work with Bowman.

“If he showed an ef-fort to move forward to follow the order of the building inspector — we would have to see some type of effort be-fore the 59th day — we’d be willing to consider additional time needed if cooperation from the owner was demonstrat-ed,” Lasky said.

If Bowman does not comply with the order, the city would petition the court to order him to do so. If that didn’t work, the city might be authorized to demolish the structure and place a lien on the property to regain the expenses, Lasky said.

“What he does is what he decides to do,” Lasky said. “I can’t make that decision for him and, ulti-mately, it’s a private prop-erty and he has to make the decision as to what to do with it. We welcome the opportunity to dis-cuss his plans with him.”

Roger Bell | The Daily HeraldPublic Works Director Larry Chalker, from left, Building Inspector Donald Tart, police Sgt. Richard White and Code Enforcement Supervisor Brian Duhadaway get ready to enter the People’s Theater Friday.

People’s Theaterowner receivescountdown

DELLA ROSE

THE DAILY HERALD STAFF WRITER

SEABOARD — More than 1,500 attendees contributed to a $10,000 profi t at the Seaboard Lions Club’s 50th An-nual Used Farm Equip-ment Auction Sale Wednesday.

Lion David Burke, who helped organize the event, said more than 800 items were for sale. The event earned a little more than 2011’s version and was aided greatly by sunny, warm weather.

Burke said it has rained nearly every year the group has held the event, which caters to farmers.

“And that’s how it all started — catering to the farmers,” Burke said. “That’s why we started out having it the fi rst Wednesday in March. Of course, it’s grown now. Now the av-erage homeowner can use any of this kind of stuff.”

The sale included farm equipment, plus antiques, home and garden supplies, lum-ber, vacuum cleaners, Jet Skis — anything one might want to sell at auction.

J.B. Harris Auction Company did the auc-tioneering.

Money raised will benefi t Lions com-munity projects, and

Burke thanked all sponsors and media, which helped make the event possible.

Burke said the auc-tion is the group’s larg-est fundraiser.

“It’s the most work,” he said, then laughed. “But we’ve had a lot of success at our other events, too. So many people open their wal-lets to buy something they can’t buy at any other place.”

Lots of folks came just to eat the barbecue and enjoy seeing old friends. Some enjoyed

1,500 attend, $10,000 raisedSEABOARD LIONS AUCTION

Della Rose | The Daily HeraldAuctioneer Gary Lennox, of E.B. Harris Auction Company, called the 50th Annual Used Farm Equipment Auction Sale Wednesday.

DELLA ROSE

THE DAILY HERALD STAFF WRITER

LITTLETON — It took a lot of hard work and perseverance, but those who seek to honor the memory of civil rights activist Ella Baker are celebrating a milestone.

Two years ago, Roa-noke Rapids resident Florine Bell proposed the North Carolina De-partment of Cultural Resources honor Baker in her childhood home-town of Littleton with a North Carolina High-way Historical Marker.

Bell said she was in-troduced to the work of Baker while taking civil rights courses at N.C.

State University under Dr. Walter Jacks.

She said she was in-trigued by Baker, who worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights proponents.

“She wrote (Dr. King’s) speeches,” Bell said. “She worked side by side with him a long time. She inspired students at Shaw Uni-versity as to the best approach for sit-ins in

Raleigh, Durham and Goldsboro.”

Recently, Bell received word her proposal was accepted and the mark-er will be erected on U.S. Highway 158/903 on Main Street, Littleton at East End Avenue.

The marker states simply, “ELLA BAKER, 1903-1986. Civil rights leader. She organized the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commit-tee, April 1960, at Shaw University. Her child-hood home 1/4 mi.E.”

Bell said her research shows Baker was known as the “godmother” of the struggle for civil

Marker honors civil rights iconLITTLETON

The North CarolinaDepartment of Cultural Resources is recognizing Ella Baker with a tribute in herhometown of Littleton.

SEE ICON PAGE 3

Della Rose | The Daily HeraldMany attendees enjoyed just seeing friends.SEE LIONS PAGE 3