1. +
+THE NEWS
& OBSERVER
aBFriday
July 26, 2013
F
Triangle&Co.newsobserver.com/news
Surprise loss
Online retail Goliath Amazon.com reported
a second-quarter loss as it pumps money
into warehouses and digital content. 4B
By T. Keung Hui
khui@newsobserver.com
Wake County’s magnet school
program has been one of the sys-
tem’s jewels for more than 30
years, but the number of families
trying to get their children into
themagnetshasdroppeddramat-
ically in recent years.
Applications are down by a
third since 2009. Nearly 3,000
fewer magnet applications were
filed for the upcoming school
year than in 2009, even as sys-
temwide enrollment has in-
creased by more than 10,000 stu-
dents.
School leaders say the trend
isn’t worrisome for the state’s
largest school district because it
represents a broadening of its ap-
peal. They say that although
changes over the past few years
have made non-magnet schools
more attractive options, there’s
still enough demand for the mag-
net schools.
However, some supporters of
the magnets, which began as a
tool to encourage diversity at
downtown schools, say the
schools are threatened by low-
ered quality at the magnets and
new programs elsewhere in the
system.
“We still have more applicants
than seats available,” school
board member John Tedesco
said.
The sentiments were echoed
by school board member Jim
Martin, who has clashed with Te-
desco on some issues. Martin,
who has a child at a magnet
school, agreed that demand is
still strong at magnets.
There was a time when such a
sharp decline in applications
would have raised sharper con-
cerns. Wake’s current magnet
program dates back to 1982 as
one piece of the district’s integra-
tion efforts.
Unique courses such as en-
hanced arts and academic elec-
tives were offered at schools des-
ignated as magnets, most of
which were located inside the Ra-
leigh Beltline.
Sabrina Francis said her family
moved from Durham in 1995 be-
cause of Wake’s magnet program.
“The magnet schools were
what really shined,” said Francis,
a North Raleigh parent. “That’s
why it’s a shame to see what’s
happening (with the drop in ap-
plications).”
There are 34 magnet schools
out of the district’s 170 schools.
Wake placed 55 percent of the
6,236 applicants who applied for
the 2013-14 school year. Some of
the rejected applicants, who
were placed on waiting lists, did
ultimately get magnet seats.
But this year’s total continues a
steady downward progression
since the 9,213 applicants in
2009
Various reasons are given for
the decline.
Some attribute the dip to the
erosion of longtime barriers be-
tween magnet and non-magnet
schools in recent years. One of
the efforts promoted by former
Superintendent Tony Tata was
the addition of special academic
programs – such as foreign lan-
guages – at under-enrolled non-
magnet schools
“People should have access to
emerging programs,” Tedesco
Fewer
apply
to Wake
magnets
Demand for schools
still outweighs seats
The News & Observer
Fewer applying to
Wake County
magnet schools
There’s been a 32 percent drop
in the number of students
applying to Wake County
magnet schools since 2009.
*2012 excluded because of changes
made that year to the application
process for magnet schools.
SOURCE: Wake County Public School System
'13'11'10'09
9,213
8,732
8,476
6,236
SEE MAGNETS, PAGE 7B
By Annalise Frank
afrank@newsobserver.com
RALEIGH Another day, another
$50,000. That’s what lawmakers’
decision to stay another day in Ra-
leigh costs the state.
Wesley Taylor, the General As-
sembly’s financial services control-
ler, expects the current session will
end up costing about $30 million.
Lawmakers had hoped to be out by
July – House Speaker Thom Tillis
had even suggested May at one point
earlier this year. But wrangling over
taxes, the budget, voter ID, abortion
and other issues has kept them there
long past their due date.
Taxpayers have noticed.
Taylor has been fielding calls
since the end of June. “Everybody
has to ask: ‘How much does it cost
the state?’ ” Taylor said.
He tells them $50,000 a day,
which pays for salaries, coffee, air
conditioning, legislators’ per diem
and more.
Between sessions, the state still
has to pay to keep the Legislative
Building running. But that cost is a
fraction of what’s needed during
session. Reimbursements and sala-
ries for lawmakers, as well as bigger
salaries for staffers – who get paid
part-time between sessions but full-
timeduring–makeupabout90per-
cent of expenditures, Taylor said.
Lawmakers get $104 per day while
in session, in addition to their year-
ly salaries and reimbursements for
driving.
Those salaries, by the way, are
Tab rising on legislative session
With each day costing
$50K, insiders estimate
$30 million final bill
Online
See more photos from the legisla-
tive session and find more political
news at nando.com/politics.
SEE SESSION, PAGE 2B
Asa Watson, above, strains to win
a tug-of-war with other members of
the N.C. State football team Thurs-
day during its “Lift for Life” fund-
raiser, which raises awareness and
moneyfornationalnonprofitUplift-
ing Athletes. The Wolfpack was in-
spired by former offensive coordi-
nator Dana Bible, who was diag-
nosed with leukemia in 2008. Their
2013 goal is to raise $10,000. To do-
nate, visit www.liftforlife.uplifting
athletes.org. At right, Cole Blan-
kenship does a 225-pound bench
press.
PHOTOS BY ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com
PACK PULLS FOR LEUKEMIA RESEARCH
Online
More Pack: See more photos of the
N.C. State Wolfpack at nando.com/
ncsupics and watch video from the
event at nando.com/video.
By Jane Stancill
jstancill@newsobserver.com
CHAPEL HILL There was a
feel of summer orientation this
week at UNC-Chapel Hill, as a
fresh crop of leaders, led by new
Chancellor Carol Folt, began to
set their own priorities for the
university.
On a day when five new trust-
ees were sworn in and a new
board chairman took the gavel
Thursday, Folt gave a report
about her initial impressions of
the university three weeks since
she started the job as chancellor.
She offered no specific agenda
yet, but said she’s met a lot of fac-
ulty and staff and learned her
way around, from the medical
school to sports stadiums to Cha-
pel Hill eateries.
She said she had been im-
pressed by the friendliness of the
campus and the staunch commit-
ment to education accessibility
and affordability.
“I feel every day even more
strongly the honor that it really is
to be here in North Carolina and to
SEE UNC, PAGE 7B
New leaders
chart new
course at
UNC-CH
RALEIGH Just inside the front
door of The Player’s Retreat, Ra-
leigh’s landmark 62-year-old bar,
hangs a sign meant to discourage
any Wild West saloon antics: “No
Weapons,” it says, with a pistol in-
side the first O and a knife inside
the second.
Owner Gus Gusler posted it
there two years ago for sanity’s
sake.
“Any rational person has got to
understand it’s not a cool thing to
mix guns and booze,” he explained.
You don’t sell whiskey to people
packing heat. You don’t hold a Sun-
day brunch on the patio on Oberlin
Road, around the corner from Lo-
coPops, when your patrons are
holding pistols along with their sil-
verware. You don’t show ACC bas-
ketball games with pitchers of beer
sloshing when there’s a chance
somebody might down one too ma-
ny and start shooting.
Then on Tuesday, the General
Assembly made matters tricky.
The House and Senate passed a
bill that, among other things, made
it legal to carry concealed weapons
inside of restaurants and bars that
serve alcohol, unless the places ex-
plicitly say no. Patrons with con-
cealed weapons can’t drink while
they carry, but they won’t be barred
entry where booze is sold.
The idea bothered Gusler. How
could he keep guns out of the PR, a
family place? How could he know
which customers had them? How
could he be sure they wouldn’t take
a sip with a gun hidden some-
where? What happened if some-
body started shooting? Would he
be liable? Would he be insured?
Should he put up a metal detector?
He asked these questions on the
PR’s Facebook page, and an ava-
lanche shook through the bar.
In a little more than a day, his ini-
tial post drew more than 300 likes,
400 comments and something in
the neighborhood of 28,000 views –
turning Raleigh’s oldest bar into
ground zero for the gun-control de-
bate. Comments ranged from out-
rage over infringed rights to vigor-
ous thanks for making the PR a gun-
free zone.
Some samples:
“Close up shop and move to New
York, California, Connecticut, NJ
or Mass.,” wrote Don Beckman.
SEE PR BAR, PAGE 2B
Booze and guns don’t mix at PR bar
Commentary
Josh Shaffer
TRAVIS LONG - tlong@newsobserver.com
A “no weapons” sign is posted near the front entrance of The Play-
er’s Retreat restaurant and bar in Raleigh Thursday. Owner Gus
Gusler posted it there two years ago for sanity’s sake.
Online
Read more columns by Josh Shaffer
at nando.com/shaffer.

2. +
+2B Friday, July 26, 2013 A The News & Observer
Cooke to retire
in November
After more than 13 years as
Wake County manager, David
Cooke will retire at the end of
November, according to a new
release issued by the County Board
of Commissioners Thursday eve-
ning.
“The past 13 years have been
truly wonderful and
gratifying,” said
Cooke. “I have been
very fortunate to
work with very capa-
ble and dedicated
elected officials,
smart and talented
county employees
and an innovative management
team. Our collective efforts are
what make Wake County a great
place to live, work and play.”
Cooke’s public service work
began in 1983 with the City of
Charlotte. He has worked with
Wake County for the past 17 years.
“I have no immediate plans,”
Cooke said. “But I am excited
about pursuing some new adven-
ture next year.”
“David Cooke has served Wake
County and our residents extremely
well over the past 13 years as Coun-
ty Manager,” said Joe Bryan, county
commission chairman. “He has built
an exceptional team and helped
guide our County through tremen-
dous growth and through the most
challenging of economic times.”
The Board of Commissioners
will begin the search process for a
new county manager in August.
Raleigh also is searching for a city
manager after firing Russell Allen
on April 17, citing the need for
new management skills to lead the
city. FROM STAFF REPORTS
Crash claims woman’s
life, injures teens
DURHAM Police say a fatal
accident that closed North Rox-
boro Road for several hours
Wednesday afternoon began when
a car crossed the center line and
hit a pickup truck head-on.
Amy Michelle Stone of Hurdle
Mills was driving northbound on
North Roxboro near Northern
High School when she apparently
drifted over the center line at
about 2:15 p.m., according to
Durham police. Stone’s Kia Optima
hit a southbound Ford F350 driven
by Eric Pendergrass, 18, of Dur-
ham, police said.
Stone, 34, was pronounced dead
at the scene of the accident. Pen-
dergrass and three other teenage
passengers were taken to the hos-
pital with injuries that did not
appear to be life threatening.
The road remained closed in
both directions for several hours.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Suspect charged with
killing Durham woman
DURHAM A Fayetteville man has
been charged with killing a Durham
woman and stealing her car.
John Franklin Alexander, 34, is
accused of stabbing Ella Davis in
her apartment on Greens Hollow
Lane. Police found Davis, 68, on
Tuesday morning, but they have
not said when they think she was
killed.
Alexander was charged Thurs-
day with murder, possession of a
stolen vehicle and possession of
stolen property. Durham police
served the arrest warrants on
Alexander at the Harnett County
Jail, where he has been held on
several other charges since a traffic
accident Monday morning, in
which police say he was driving
Davis’ car.
Durham police say Davis’ death
“does not appear to be a random
incident,” but they have not said
how Alexander and Davis knew
each other. FROM STAFF REPORTS
Whitfield sentenced to
life without parole
PITTSBORO A Superior Court
judge sentenced a Chapel Hill man
to life in prison without parole
Thursday for the October murder
of a Siler City woman.
Brian Keith Whitfield, 24, plead-
ed guilty to the first-degree murder
of Daphne Forster, 38. Prosecutors
agreed not to seek the death penal-
ty for Whitfield in exchange for his
guilty plea.
Jerry Forster, the victim’s father,
was not happy with the plea deal.
His daughter’s murder was “brutal,
senseless and premeditated,” he
told the court.
“A plea bargain serves no purpose
of justice,” Forster said, his voice
shaking. “It’s just more pain for
family and friends. It’s unnecessary;
there’s no just purpose but to let a
murderer off for a lesser (sentence).”
A second suspect, Caleb Shaddie
Wyland, 25, also will be charged
with the first-degree murder of For-
ster at a later time, Assistant District
Attorney Kayley Taber said.
Taber said Whitfield strangled
Forster with a cellphone charger in
the Chapel Hill home he shared
with Wyland, before driving to the
woods off Chicken Bridge Road
and lighting Forster’s body on fire
to dispose of it.
Whitfield and Wyland were cap-
tured on surveillance cameras
abandoning Forster’s blue Chev-
rolet Cavalier at a Super 8 motel in
Durham in the early morning
hours after her death.
STAFF WRITER JANE PORTER
aAroundtheTriangle&State
COURTESY OF ANN LAWRENCE
Ann Lawrence of Willow Spring
took this photo of Denali, or Mount
McKinley, in Alaska last month. She
says she was 32 miles away.
Your best shot NORTH AMERICA’S HIGHEST PEAK
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To see other reader photos or share your own, go to triangle.com/yourvoice, or
submit photos to yourtriangle@newsobserver.com. Mail them to Your Best Shot at
The News & Observer, 215. S. McDowell St., Raleigh, NC 27601. Send a high-resolution
image with details about the photo and how to reach you. Submitting a photo grants
The N&O permission to use it in print and online an unlimited number of times. For
more information, call Richard Stradling at 919-829-4739.
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$13,951 for rank-and-file
members. The House
speaker and Senate presi-
dent make $38,151 a year.
The Speaker pro tempore of
the House and the Senate’s
deputy president earn
$21,739, and the minority
and majority leaders of the
House and Senate make
$17,048.
2011 session shorter
The price of making pol-
icy has risen in recent years,
because of last year’s
1.2-percent salary increase
for staff and raises in health
insurance and retirement
benefits, Taylor said. “But
other than that, I don’t ex-
pect to see any other in-
creases.”
Last session, it should be
noted, ended on June 18.
Tillis and Senate leader Phil
Berger had come in promis-
ing efficiency, and deliv-
ered.
The 2009 session, which
ended in mid-August, cost
$37 million, Taylor said.
Waiving the per diem
When a session goes on
too long, lawmakers have
been known to waive their
per diem payments. Many
did in 2001, when the ses-
sion stretched from January
to Dec. 6 as lawmakers tried
to reach an agreement on
redistricting. During that
session, more than a week
of skeleton sessions were
held, Taylor said. These
empty sessions are neces-
sary because legislators
need to meet at least every
fourth day by law. But they
aren’t required to come in
and work. Legislators are
more likely to decline their
per diem during a skeleton
session or when they have
to miss a day.
Rep. Verla Insko, who has
served nine terms, said she’s
waived her daily pay at times
over the years but doesn’t see
a need to this year. The ses-
sion hasn’t been that long,
and the Chapel Hill Demo-
crat said public service
shouldn’t have to come out of
lawmakers’ pockets.
Most legislators aren’t
wealthy, she said. With a
per diem, her salary comes
to between $30,000 and
$35,000 per year, Insko
said.
“I don’t think it makes
you a better legislator or a
more moral legislator” to
waive per diem payments,
she said.
Frank: 919-829-4870
SESSION
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
‘I don’t think it makes you a
better legislator or a more
moral legislator.’
REP. VERLA INSKO, D-CHAPEL HILL
LONGTIME LEGISLATOR ON WAIVING PER DIEM PAY
“Good grief. Get head out of
the sand. No problem serving
alcohol to people who then get
behind a 3000 lbs projectile.
Seriously, leave!”
And:
“For every sad, illiterate blo-
whard threatening to pull
their business from PR for
having opinions different than
theirs, I’ll try to make up for it
twofold,” wrote Katherine
Elizabeth, adding, “I’d rather
get strip searched at every bar
I enter than not know if a
drunk weapon-carrier was
there.”
Ban on fighting
The PR could hardly be de-
scribed as a rowdy place. As
unofficial Wolfpack fan head-
quarters, its patrons date to
the Everett Case teams of the
1950s. Get in a fight inside
Gusler’s bar, which he’s owned
for nearly eight years, and
you’re banned for life – even if
you didn’t start it.
Still, Gusler’s Facebook post
drew promises from some that
they would boycott.
“I will make sure not to dark-
en your door again,” wrote
Paul Valone of the nonprofit
firearms rights group Grass
Roots North Carolina, “and
will consider asking a few
thousand of my best friends to
do the same.” Others suggest-
ed that anybody who takes the
trouble to obtain a concealed-
carry permit, with all of its
background checks, wouldn’t
risk it by drinking.
“That permit is important
to them, important enough
not to jeopardize that right ov-
er a beer,” wrote Montie Ro-
land. “They aren’t the ones
you have to worry about. It’s
the thugs and criminals that
are the problem. The thugs
and criminals are going to car-
ry in there no matter what you
do.”
Many others cheered Gus-
ler’s stance and promised to
make up any lost business by
doubling their own.
“If you can’t go out for a bur-
ger without packing,” asked
Jennifer Strum, “perhaps you
should just stay home?”
Gusler checked with a law-
yer, who said he could be liable
in a shooting. He checked with
his insurer, who said he
wouldn’t be covered.
‘Whole family has guns’
In the end, Gusler won’t put
up metal detectors. But he will
keep his sign at the front door.
And he will ask that you seek
refreshment, alcoholic and
otherwise, with nothing more
lethal than your appetite.
“My whole family has guns,”
said Gusler. “But I don’t want
them in here when people are
drinking alcohol.”
I don’t, either. I’ve got two
close family members who
wear guns openly, and I’ve
worked for an editor who car-
ried a concealed pistol both on
his person and in his truck. So
I ain’t squeamish. All things in
their time and place.
But here’s one more thing to
think about before you judge
Gusler. Unless an establish-
ment says otherwise, you can
carry a concealed gun into a
bar in North Carolina. But
there’s still a place in Raleigh
where you can’t.
The General Assembly.
jshaffer@newsobserver.com or
919-829-4818
PR BAR
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Associated Press
GREENVILLE The parents
of current or former Pitt
County Schools students say
their children succeeded in
school despite what they said
was racial discrimination by
teachers and administrators.
The Daily Reflector reports
the four parents testified
Thursday in a trial the school
system hopes will prove it
treats all students equally re-
gardless of race. The attorney
for the school system rested
his case Wednesday.
Lawyers for the Pitt County
Coalition to Educate Black
Children began their argu-
ments Thursday. The coali-
tion maintains that the school
system needs to do more to en-
sure equal numbers of black
and white students attend the
county’s schools.
Pitt County is looking to be
released from a 1970 court or-
der that required officials to
desegregate the schools.
Both sides are to present
closing arguments Friday.
Pitt parents
testify in
schools trial
Cooke