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County denies sheriffs request for funds

A county sheriff and several county commissioners go head to head in a heated debate over funding.

On Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Gus Dicesari accused the county commissioners of “shortchanging” the county sheriff’s department to save money. “You’re putting the lives of the people of this county in jeopardy.” he said. Commission President Anne Chenn disagreed, saying they have no money for new deputies or new cars, but that the county suggests the money should be given to programs helping migrant workers, who come to the county to work.

“We never had problems until we began letting migrants come to this county to work. They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools and our healthcare system” stated Commissioner Anita Shenuski, during a heated argument with Chenn. Chenn denied that the migrants were the problem, “Those people who come here to work are decent, hardworking people being employed at jobs that local residents don’t want to do. They add a great deal to the local economy and they pay taxes. You are being a hypocrite when you try and blame those people for everything.” Chenn mentioned that the county ran short of money this year because of increased cost for health care for employees and higher fuel costs, resulting in a limited budget of $127 million.

DiCesari continued to fight for the sheriff’s department. He said he needed to buy eight new police cruisers to replace eight older cruisers that have more than 150,000 miles on them. Chenn suggested that the deputies not drive their cruisers home each day, as they do now. It would make more cars available and preserve mileage. Chenn told DiCesari that the sheriff’s department would have to make do this year because the county did not have the additional $580,000 it would need to supply the new vehicles and new deputies.

The commissioners voted 5-2 against the sheriff’s request for additional funding for the new cruisers and the additional deputies.

Two tractor-trailers collide causing chain reaction crash

At 6:45 a.m. this morning on I-790, two people were killed and 20 were injured and taken to the hospital after two tractor-trailers collided causing a chain reaction crash.


A total of four tractor-trailers and 14 cars were involved in the crash. According to Sgt. Albert Wei of the police department, the two tractor-trailers crashed into each other causing other vehicles to swerve, flip, and crash as well, creating a chain reaction crash scene.

Two people driving cars were killed. Among the 20 people injured, four had life threatening injuries. The “Life Flight” helicopter flew two of the worst patients to the trauma center in Statesville, 50 miles away. Fire Chief, Tony Sullivan, said the scene looked like something from a war zone. There was bodies laying along the road, people covered with blood sitting next to their cars, emergency workers running from place to place trying to help the injured people. There were sirens wailing in the distance as more fire trucks and ambulances were called. Sullivan said he had never seen anything that bad in the 18 and a half years he’s been with the fire department.



The accident happened in the northbound lanes, on I-790 closing the entire highway. At 10 a.m. the interstate was still closed and Sgt. Wei had no idea when it would be open again.