The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 27

(The (Charlotte (Dbsemr FRIDAY JANUARY 17 1997 Section a Matter of Life West Charlotte math teacher mourned by students colleagues Gerry Hostetierpage 2C Chiefs response Dennis Nowicki answers questions on fatal shooting Page 3C Mecklenburg plans for boom9 on the horizon the coalition commissioned KPC Research to do a random phone poll of 288 Mecklenburg residents 55 and older Issues highlighted by the poll and the speakers included: Transportation Eleven percent of all poll respondents and 24 percent of those 75 and older said they have difficulty going places because of a lack of transportation the baby boom going to be the aging Charles Butler director of adult services for the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services told 200 people gathered Thursday for a summit on aging at the Charlotte-Mecklen-burg Senior Centers 13 years away not any time got to start planning now We In 1990 128 percent of Meck lenburg County residents or 76122 were over 60 years of age The NC Data Center projects that that number will grow to 109557 or 148 percent of the population by 2010 Despite some ominous signs such as gloomy financial prospects for Social Security there are ways to cope with the needs of a graying population the head of the National Council on the Aging told By ANN DOSS HELMS Staff Writer An explosion is coming in 13 years and better be ready for it when boomers become seniors and the population of people 60 and older is projected to rise 31 percent in North Carolina and 44 percent in Mecklenburg County biggest thing facing us is advocacy agencies and brought together people from government churches nonprofits and businesses catering to the elderly While aging issues are hardly unique to Mecklenburg they may be particularly intense here in a state one of the top retirement destinations and a city growing faster than the rest of the state In preparation for the summit the group But going to require some new partnerships such as senior citizens agencies teaming up with managed-care companies to keep people healthy and independent said James Firman the advocacy president Forming such partnerships was what summit was about It was convened by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Aging Coalition a group of local service and Please see GRAYING page 4C wants to tax rental cars an easy target afraid the convention business would be adversely KEN MAKAY GENERAL MANAGER BUDGET CAR AND TRUCK RENTAL Women to Wallace Witness: He saw self as avenger As a result of childhood trauma Sultan said Wallace developed distorted beliefs about women: that they have tremendous power over that they betray men and therefore Eire very very Tompkins turned directly to words asking Sultan to read from transcripts of several of her 24 interviews with Wallace in jail About reaction to reading his confession months after his arrest Tompkins said: you ask him if it was upsetting to Sultan said yes did he tell you: not it was just upsetting to him to know that he told (police) that you ask him why he killed women he did he say it was because they trusted him and in his words was easier for me to get into their homes Tompkins continued he say all the victims found a way to get under his Sultan said was Mr perception that each of those women had injured Wallace also said he killed 20-year-old Shawna Hawk because she teased him in front of her mother Sultan conceded Then Sultan read description of the hug he gave Hawk before he raped and strangled her: was like a death hug warm and By KATHLEEN McCLAIN Staff Writer Convicted serial killer Henry Louis Wallace considered himself avenging women who had embarrassed or betrayed him Jurors in the sentencing phase of capital trial heard those words for the first time on Thursday during cross-examination of defense witness Faye Sultan The Charlotte psychologist had testified in Mecklenburg Superior Court for two days about information gleaned from 50 hours of interviews with Wallace But the image of Wallace as avenging angel was new to jurors when prosecutor Anne Tompkins pointed it out he tell you he was angel calling his sheep Tompkins asked the psychologist said he tell you he was doing the murders for him meaning Wallace admitting killing nine young Charlotte women all of whom he knew between June 1992 and his arrest in March 1994 Before convicting him last week jurors heard all 10 hours of his taped confession Sultan is one of a half-dozen experts who have testified for defense lawyers trying to keep Wallace off death row Thursday she told jurors that Wallace demonstrated features of at least five mental illnesses including depression and severe personality disorder CHRISTOPHER A RECORDStaff Two couples from Florida load up their rental van Thursday at CharlotteDouglas International Airport Rental car tax hike could backfire fees a half-cent sales tax and a 1 percent real estate transfer fee The governor would recommend one or more of those to the legislature this winter Terry Lathrop deputy transportation director predicted the rental car tax the vehicle fee or the parking fee By DIANNE WHITACRE Staff Writer Janie Ingold has rented cars in Florida Tennessee and Texas and never has she paid anywhere close to the 18 percent tax rate proposed in North Carolina kidding 18 percent? probably end up taking a said Ingold who was eating a hamburger in her has recommended increasing the tax on rental vehicles from 8 percent to 18 percent The higher tax is one of five possible tax or fee increases the commission is recommending to pay for improved public transit in North Carolina The other proposals recommended by Transit 200 1 are a $5 per vehicle registration surcharge a tax on parking space rented Chrysler soon after arriving at CharlotteDouglas International Airport The Miami sales rep pays an 8 percent tax on a $44 rental car contract in this state If the proposed 18 percent rate becomes law she would pay an extra $440 or a total of almost $8 in taxes Transit 2001 a commission appointed by Gov Jim Hunt See TRANSIT page 4C NC schools in top 12 on national report card Morrow Mountain park plans partial reopening according to the report Although states did not receive an overall grade and the study does not attempt to rank them some stand out North Carolina earned an A for standards and assessment an A minus minus and plus for various school funding categories for the quality of teaching and a for school climate which included school safety West Virginia received three the highest of all states Other states getting some of the best report cards were Georgia Ken- By CELESTE SMITH Staff Writer North Carolina is among 12 states receiving the highest marks for its public schools in a national report card that says schools are with excellence but rife with Nationally schools fall short when it comes to keeping class sizes small ensuring safety and providing enough money for technology according to a study issued by Education Week a trade publication for teachers principals and counselors States are at their best when setting high standards for students DIEDRA LAIRDStaff SAFE LANDING: A Boeing 737 landed safely Thursday at CharlotteDouglas International Airport despite a warning light indicating a landing gear problem Storypage 4C Please see GRADES page 3C By JACK HORAN Staff Writer More than four months after Hurricane Fran hit Morrow Mountain State Park near Albemarle remains closed because of storm damage and debris The park is aiming to partly reopen the weekend of Jan 25-26 or the following week Superintendent Tim McCree said McCree said visitors would be limited to day uses such as fishing hiking and picnicking He said horseback riding may resume as well Wet winter weather has delayed reopening of the park by hindering debris removal he said Until recently about 50 prison inmates had been working weekdays cleaning up the park since the hurricane hit Sept 5 In addition long-planned repair work has begun further complicating the readiness Raven Rock near Lillington and Mother Nature tear up Umstead near Raleigh McCree said Tillotson said Thursday that the He said it may be late April or US Army Corps of Engineers will May before cabins and all camp- begin debris removal next week at grounds are open Cliffs of the Neuse Raven Rock Morrow Mountain 45 miles and Umstead as well as at 10 other northeast of Charlotte is one of hurricane-damaged parks that are four state parks still closed from partly open storm damage according to Susan She said all parks are exnected Tillotson of the Division of Parks to be partly or completely onen hv and Recreation The others are April 1 Damage to park facihtiei Cliffs of the Neuse near Goldsboro estimated at $8 million BRENDA PINNEUStaff Commissioners decide games not so bad expect unanimous votes soon but the commissioners seemed to enjoy themselves while getting to know each other it contributes to civility to me it will all be James said after the exercise Commissioners wore straw cowboy hats and bandanas as part of a game where four teams had to work together to reach a gold mine while rationing supplies Republican George Higgins worked with Democrat Lloyd Scher James worked with Democrat Darrel the importance of teamwork Working as a team commissioners agreed does not mean agreeing on everything or compromising fundamental values It means respecting each other as people and politicians and agreeing to disagree with civility we disagree appearing not as good vigorous debate between competing said Republican Tom Bush look like self-centered little children because we worry that Parks got a cookie and Tom We need to raise the level of the Noticeably absent was Republican Joel Carter He showed up near the end of the three-hour exercise saying he could not leave Charlotte earlier because of business He did not participate to the dismay of other commissioners is feel-good stuff and not going to change my philosophy not one iota not one dot not one Carter said sitting outside the conference room where his colleagues interacted Following the lighthearted and at times noisy gold-mine game commissioners and department heads said the exercise reinforced By TAYLOR BATTEN Staff Writer SOUTHERN PINES They have a group hug They sing But Mecklenburg commissioners did kick off their annual budget retreat at this golf resort Thursday with a exercise Some members of the board marked so far by political and personal polarity had derided the team-building concept when it was proposed last month Republican Bill James had called it a around-the-campfire vV-11 niif WrfcWi fiffrstifri £iti Vn niH'TlW-iriHin'oui'rL Air 0 rMm ml A -uC ffSfV -Wntfn-fe-iarsifrT Arrit it rkftlciJdtfnti -tVswr i -f.