The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 1

BE SERVER NEWS UPDATES AT WWWNEWSOBSERVERCOM FINAL EDITION 50 CENTS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14 2005 02005 THE NEWS AND OBSERVER PUBLISHING COMPANY RALEIGH NC I NE LU MORE HURRICAIIE COVERAGE: 10-14A 1D tphollilo laRoub 0000 'good 5 charged in Wake schools fraud case LANDFALL EXPECTED TODAY BUT ITS PATH IS DIFFICULT TO PREDICT Scheme allowed suspects to purchase luxury items i- 1 -1 '4 i -A I 1 woo AP f- 4: ek iir-4'-'---- li 7401 ILL a i Lib A 1 ft' 7): a i 4 4--i' 49b i-' 0 1 4 1 'ii 4 '444 f' A l' 2" i '(' '10 '44' ilit i 1 A A 4i I 1 (r' A fi 1 14' P' ''7' I 't )' 4'' 1: tik 'N SAIL 7-''' 1 Ik1 A si: I --071a I worrirriT It------ 0110- r'- 43 i I' 11111 (-1 '1 ti ri N4 1 i1ik! 1 1 I -'0---" A c-4-- I' dill' 'Pi iii fritt: -dr" Lk r'- i I i lit 11 ----7 I- '-'--I -ti 1 -r i'r 4 02 7N17 i Alit 'lila" 't I r'' 04' A i- 'i" 4 I sk' 1 4 tz'- :7 1 iir: eL 1 BY KEUNG HUI STAFF WRITER Two former Wake school transportation officials and three people linked with a parts supplier were charged Tuesday with fraudulently billing taxpay- ers $38 million r'i-i---7- The money went to the parts rN business Barnes Motor Parts Co of Wilson and toward the sus- pects' purchases of campers per- two ti- sonal watercraft golf carts auto- 1 1 :1 mobiles widescreen televisions I r-k and other items court records say 1 kW "In my 18 19 years as a prosecu- tor I've seen lots of different cases Finch has involving the misuse of property turned over but the level of greed in this one a vehicle a surprised me" said Wake County boat and District Attorney Colon Willoughby other items Previous reports indicated the scheme had cost the school sys- r- -tern at least $2 million The indictments by a Wake 2'1 grand jury allege that the trans- 1 portation employees conspired It)e OTNE with Barnes managers to submit at i it' least $38 million in fake invoices 0 over a two-year period Some of SNL that money eventually was used to buy supplies for the school disH at ley has trict the indictments say repaid Wake has recovered $175 to Hon in cash and returned items the school Charges of conspiracy and oh-system taining property by false pretenses were filed against: Carol Dail Finch former school system budget and technology analyst She was arrested in July and is being held at the Wake County jail Vernon Webste Hatley former senior director Having stacked her outdoor furniture indoors Angel Odom cuddles with her dog Skipper Odom and her husband Gary Tew spend most of the year in their trailer home at Sneads Ferry Campground and Marina but they are going back to Newton Grove to avoid the hurricane STAFF PHOTO BY COREY LOWENSTEIN Some say they plan to ignore evacuation orders and ride out the Category 1 storm SEE FRAUD DAGE 20A ONLINE Go to newsobservercom for: Updates throughout the day from News Observer reporters and photographers on the coast Reports on what bloggers are saying about the storm by staff writer Matt Ehlers An interactive map of webcams on the North Carolina coast: Cape Hatteras Oregon and Beaufort inlets and more The latest tracking maps forecasts computer models and advisories Closings and cancellations updated throughout the day 'Precedent plays an important role in promoting stability and evenhandedness I do agree with that It is not enough that you may think the prior decision was wrongly decided' It)- 1 4 11 41144 1 41 47 iN A ::404 IA 40::4 '0F- 4r 1 Vt --1--- -2- ---lwa r-- 5t---p- i 57 -A K5 ev 1'''- 14t -'--e A' y' 'io'1 x'- '''i' i' if 'A- 2' P--'' JOHN ROBERTS JR Gov Mike Easley urged people to heed calls to evacuate "People could get injured or lose their lives if they don't respond properly and behave carefully" Easley said at a news conference But at Johnnie Mercer's Fishing Pier at Wrightsville Beach the storm's advance was a spectator sport By 3:30 pm Tuesday more than 700 people had shown up to watch wind-driven whitecaps crash into pilings and gnaw at the beaches Pier manager Ryan Gregory collected dollar bills as spectators paid to get a pier-level perch above the churning surf "It's pretty wild" Gregory said While there was a partylike atmosphere for some others said the death and devastation of Hurricane Katrina influenced how people were preparing for Ophelia Ken Humphrey general manager of Coral Bay Marina in Morehead City about 150 miles southeast of the Triangle said customers moved their boats out of harm's way and stocked up on bottled water "It's only a Category 1 hurricane but is it possible that what SEE OPHELIA PAGE 10A BY JIM NESBITT BARBARA BARRETT JERRY ALLEGOOD AND WE RAWLINS STAFF WRITERS Hurricane Ophelia continued its wobbly march toward the North Carolina coast Tuesday carrying the promise of heavy rain floods and beach-chewing storm surge The slow-moving cyclone which barely regained hurricane status late Tuesday afternoon is expected to strike land today as a Category 1 storm between Wilmington and Cape Hatteras But its path was stfll hard to predict forecasters warned County and state officials from Cape Fear to Cape Hatteras dosed schools ferries a bridge and both of North Carolina's major ports They opened 30 emergency shelters and issued mandatory evacuation orders and voluntary warnings to leave mobile homes and flood-prone areas Roberts says Roe 'settled precedent' INSIDE FLOODING: The coast will get several inches of rain but it should taper off inland 10A STORM SURGE MAP: A detailed look at areas prone to flooding from a Category I storms landfall 11A Cash Barris15 rides the high surf next to Frisco Pier on Tuesday as Ophelia approached STAFF PHOTO BY TED RICHARDSON Nursing home owners charged in 34 deaths Black response is one-on-one Misery in New Orleans spurs an outpouring of practical aid Louisiana authorities charged the owners of a New Orleans nursing home with negligent homicide after 34 patients died in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina STORY PAGE 13A BY STEPHEN HENDERSON AND JAMES KOHNHENN KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS WASHINGTON Supreme Court nominee John Roberts gave strong indications Tuesday that he'd be reluctant to overturn court precedents such as Roe Wade and he voiced support for a right to privacy which underpins court rulings on gay rights and other individual liberties that's much broader than his previously known stance INSIDE On the first day of questioning HIGHLIGHTS: during his confirmation hearings Roberts hear- for chief justice Roberts bluntly described the landmark 1973 ruling ings included that legalized abortion as "settled sparring and precedent" He said he would apply humor 112A a complicated set of criteria to any effort to overturn such a precedent A judge's personal disagreement with precedent he said isn't enough to justify a vote to reverse it "I do think that it is a jolt to the legal system when you overrule a precedent Precedent plays an important role in promoting stability and evenhandedness" Roberts said That view dovetails with Roberts' insistence that judges play a limited role and that restraint rather than activism is his preferred approach to cases Roberts was even more effusive about the right to privacy saying it's supported in several different DEATH TOLL SPIKES IN LOUISIANA Hurricane Katrina's death toll in Louisiana jumped to 423 on Tuesday the state Health Department said It was a sharp increase from 279 a day before STORY PAGE 13A contributions Triangle African-Americans are offering the kind of quiet person-to-person one churchone family assistance that isn't necessarily linked to mainstream relief organizations Kay Matthews a Raleigh barber who is black said that when she saw black people trapped in New Orleans she was moved "I saw my grandmother my nephew my cousin my sister wading through that water" she said "Those are my people care of this family" Wooden said of the predominantly black church The Gulf Coast much of which remains heavily populated by blacks is a place to which many African-Americans have ancestral ties For others images of black people with the resources to leave town pleading for help drummed up powerful emotions Debates about whether race played a role in who was evacuated have raged on black radio and television Now some of that outrage is driving a different sort of philanthropy that isn't limited to financial BY JANELL Ross STAFF WRITER RALEIGH When David Smith started talking his voice was a little shaky Smith's in-laws arrived in Raleigh on Sept 1 fairly certain their home was submerged in the water that engulfed New Orleans When Smith was finished the Rev Patrick Wooden Sr of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ called for a special offering clothing and jobs for the recently retired couple In this congregation we can take BUSH TAKES RESPONSIBILITY President Bush said the Katrina aftermath "exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government" "To the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right I take responsibility" Bush said STORY PAGE 12A SEE RESPONSE PAGE 12A SEE ROBERTS PAGE 12A INDEX Business ID Films IIE Classified 1F Puzzles Comics 12E Rogers 10 Deaths BB Sports IC Editorials 18A TV ICE Business ID Films IIE Classified 1F Puzzles I3E Comics 12E Rogers 10 Deaths BB Sports IC Editorials 18A TV ICE LIFE ETC As designers parade their creations during New York's Fashion Week much of the attention is riveted on a collection that sounds a bit odd on the runway: Wal-Mart As designers parade their creations during New York's Fashion Week much of attention is riveted on a collection that son the sounds ar ubnitoadyd Wal-Mart LIE As desil creation Fast ti BUSINESS SAS the software company based in Cary is tailoring its products for industry-specific data mining The transactions of thousands of individuals can add up to valuable information for retailers educators and financial fraud-busters PAGE 1D SAS the software company based in Cary is tailoring its products for industry-specific data mining The transactions of thousands of individuals can taidod for et trovaailleuras valuable and financial fraud-busters PAGE 1D 4 i 4111 0 SPORTS A winning college football team needs a competitive coaching staff That costs money In the ACC the pay of a top assistant coach can rival a professor's salary And though coaches don't get tenure some land multiyear contracts PAGE 1C 1 A winning college football team needs a competitive coach- mg staff That costs money In the ACC the pay of a top as- sistant coach can rival a pro- fe coaches so r's don't tenure ary Andt some land mtdtiyear contracts PAGE 1C i WEATHER Today: Windy i showers likely east of Triangle 1 High 83 low 70 Thursday: Partly -d sunny hot High 92 low 66 PAGE 10B Today: Windy showers likely 1 east of Triangle 1 High 83 low 70 1 Thursday: Partly -A sunny hot High 92 low 66 PAGE 110B II liii III 11111 I 7 28027 00100 AB 0 0 1 PAGE lE 1 :4 1 -A 1 4 40 i I 1 -4 1111 III 11111 I 7 I 440 U1I I 7 2 8 027 00100 7 1t I H- i 'A AB 0 0 1 i I PAGE lE 1 I i 1 1 24 4 4it 1 13 r-! 4 rof i I 1 'k 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