Newspapers / West Craven highlights. / June 23, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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(Craiitn|Cauntg West Craven Highlights News From Along The Banks Of The Neuse NtflQNAL»€WI AMOCMJION VOLUME 11 NO. 25 JUNE 23, 1988 VANCEBORO, NORTH CAROLINA PHONE 2'H 0780 OR 946-2H4 (UPSP 412-110) 25 CENTS SIX PAGES Atypical Traveling Preacher Satan Worshiper Has A New Life ^^sAs Christian Comic By CONNIE SPIVEY Special to the WeM Craven HJghliithta The scene could have been a rock concert or a comedy show: People in the aisles and along the walls, shouting, ciapping, laughing and waving their arms. Some cried. Mike Wamke, a Satanic priest- turned Christian comic evangel ist, shared his beiiefs and selected scenes fVom his life re cently with a crowd that packed an area high school’s auditorium. Introduced by Jim Watters of Covenant Community Church in Washington as a man who “wiil make you laugh until you hurt," —Warnke shared with the audi ence his life as a Christian. He spoke iittle of his iife as a Satan worshipper, saying his iove of Christ was the important matter these days. Warnke is not the typicat traveling preacher. Heavy-set with fHz^ hair that hangs down past the shoulders of his black T-shirt, he wears an earring in his left ear and round wire giasses reminiscent of the ’60s. By his own admission, people on the street wouid sooner mis take him for a drug pusher than a Christian speaker. "Jesus changed my heart and did not change my shirt,” he says. ’The closest Wamke comes to the classical preacher model is when he inserts an “Amen?” to replace a “Right?” after asking a question. Wamke relishes his oddity, be ginning his stage act by letting the audience get a good look at him before saying, “Get used to me. I’ll be in Heaven with you for a long time.” He wasn’t always so firm in those beliefs. In the early ’60s, Wamke was a Satanic priest, the result of a fascination with all things spiritual. (See WARNKE. Page S) Residents Vote For Annexation Into New Bern Pleasant Hill Seeks Solution To Six-Year Water Problem {CeiMil* fghrvy photo) Mike Warnke gestures during his show in Washington recently Residents in the Pleasant Hill community aren’t facing the drought that the Midwest is fac ing. But they have a water prob lem of their own. The problem is not lack of water; it’s lack of good water. And to solve the problem, resi dents voted earlier this week to seek annexation by New Bern in an attempt to get good water flowing in their homes. In a re lated matter, the county commis sioners voted Monday to com plete by the end of the month an engineering study for county wa ter service to the community. Studies have been left undone, said residents. ’They said they are tired of waiting. ’They are “fed up” with the county. They are looking elsewhere for help. A spokesman for the commun ity, the Rev. Leamon Dillahunt, said the residents will go with “whichever one can get us water the quickest” With water that smells bad, leaves yellow and brown stains on clothes and dishes and is full of other impurities you try to find a new water source. Residents' hopes over the last six years of tying on to either a Craven Coun ty or New Bern water system are yet to be realized. Some residents say drinking their water is like taking chances with their lives. Those who live in the commun ity on the west side of New Bern claim most of the water from wells is overly rich in iron. And that causes brown rust to be found on faucets that are less than a year old. Residents are worried about health problems caused or aggra vated by the impure water. A random sampling taken by the health department in 1987 from the community showed an iron level over 80 times that re commended by state standards for drinking water. According to state toxicologist Ted Taylor, that is the highest reading he has ever heard about. Above-normal concentrations of iron are often stored in the pancreas, liver, kidneys and bone marrow, said pathologist Robert Newell of Craven Region al Medical Center. High dosages of iron can cause iron overload that can lead to diabetes and sclerosis of the liver. The sample that showed the high level of iron also showed a manganese level nearly twice the state standard. The sample also had a low pH level, indicating metals such as lead might be en tering the water sources around the community. Some residents are refraining ftom using their wells for water at the request of the health de partment. Some have been told the keep their children from brushing their teeth with the wa ter because it will damage the teeth. Many residents are having wells chlorinated and boiling wa ter before drinking it. The six-year wait to hook up to a water system has angered many in the community. The eastern edge of the com munity is about the length of a football field away from the end of a New Bern water line. West of the community, the Northwest Craven Water and Sewer District line stops about a half-mile away. Where they are looking is to ward New Bern. The residents are hoping to tie on with the ci ty’s water line just yards down the road. Annexation by New Bern is even being considered by the residents. A city official said it could take eight or nine months for the city to make its studies and extend the line to the community. Resi dents said they will remain vocal about their problem until it is solved. Some Residents Say Septic Tank Guidelines Just Dont Flush Several residents raised a stink over septic tank problems at a meeting that was supposed to deal with Craven County’s prop osed budget The budget discus sion was soon flushed away and replaced with discussion about jeptic tanks. * Some county residents com plained that the sanitarians of the health department are too strict in interpreting guidelines con cerning the placement of septic tanks. Others said the sanitarians were just doing their jobs. In a telephone interview Wednesday morning. Health Director Beth Joyner said about 15 percent of septic tank permits are turned down. And she said some of those complaining at last week’s meeting were upset not from being turned down but hav ing to install alternative systems to the traditional septic tank. Almost all of the alternatives are more expensive to install and the expense factor may have been what upset some residents, she said. Ms. Joyner said even though the sanitarians must abide by stringent state guidelines, “They use their own good judgement.” The sanitarians consider other things — topography, drainage and vegetation — when inspect ing a site for a septic tank. Often a site can meet the guidelines with some alterations. “We are forever designing alternative systems,” she said. Commissioner Roger Forrest said he would not vote for a $420,000 allocation for the health department until it could “show us how they’re going to change their ways.” Forrest’s remarks touched upon the proposed budget and the septic tank prob lems. People in the audience wanted to talk about septic tanks. A Vanceboro resident, Buster Connor, said he believed some of the employees of the health de partment had negative attitudes. The Vanceboro resident said soil tests made on his property in three different years—1980,1986 and this year — all had diflerent results. He said those tests said the water table was from 2V2 to 5 feet below the surface. Connor was critical of sanitarians, saying they are incompetent and don’t know how to read (soil) colors. He asked that the department’s request to increase the allotment for sanitarians in the proposed budget be denied. Connor and another Vance boro resideint, Rodny Boyd, said negative soil tests on their prop erty were reversed earlier this year when the local sanitarians met with consultant Bob Carlile, who had been hired by the coun ty to recommend changes in the testing procedures that would make allowances for the types of soil found in the eastern part of the state as well as new technolo gy in getting rid of solid waste. “What ya’Il are calling a water table is not a water table,” Boyd said to the sanitarians attending the meeting. “There are some things going on that just aren’t right.” Commissioner Ed Armstrong said, “It’s an easy thing to kick a private in the rear for a decision the general makes.” Sanitarians who oversee the permitting process for septic tanks are county employees fol lowing state regulations. Amr- strong and others at the meeting said they could understand the problems the sanitarians faced by having two governmental bodies with seemingly different needs to answer to. Armstrong said Craven Coun ty by itself has decided to chal- (See SEPTIC TANKS, Page 2) Dizon, Boyd Head All-Area Selections "From West Craven By JIM GREEN Special to the Well Craven HigMighu Two West Craven baseball players made the first team of the Washington Dally News all-area squad and several others were also honored. Southpaw hurler John Dizon made the team for his pitching and battery mate David Boyd used his bat to earn his way onto the team. Monty Brown was named to the all-area second team while Adrian Cameron, Kevin Holz- worth and Jerry Dean made the honorable-mention list. Trying to pick an all-area team in the Washington Daily News coverage area is similar to pick ing a needle out of a haystack—a very big haystack, that is. Selecting a team is a nerve- wracking, head-scratching, pap er-shuffling, memory-jogging and just downright-diflicult pro cess. Add to it the fact that this newspaper covers 16 teams that are all vrithin a 60-mile drive and it becomes obvious that picking 26 standouts flrom 300 candidates isn’t a walk in the park. These selections were arrived at after much thought and con sideration. The teams were broken down into three top play ers; first teams, second teams and honorable mentions. Players were judged on overall accom plishments. The flrst and second teams consisted of the players judged to be best overall — di vided into a pitching staff of three players and a squad of 10 players. Player Of 'The Year Franz Holscher’s overall play, accomplishments, consistency and leadership made this award the easiest of the top-three base ball awards to select. Holscher, a senior heading to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was Washington’s team leader in every offensive statistical category except at- bats and runs scor^. Holscher batted .508 for the season to lead all area perfor mers. He was the area leader in doubles (11) and slugging per centage (.920). He was Washing ton’s pacesetter in homers (4), 4 Lady Eagles Earn Post-Season Laurels For Softball Efforts Dixon at work this year for Eagles RBIs (24) and hits (32). Defensively, Holscher com mitted just five throwing errors as the Pack’s catcher. During the course of the season, Holscher gunned down 13 baserunners attempting to steal. Holscher struck out just six times and walked 31 times and had 62 official at-bats for the Pam Pack this season. He also had a 13-game hitting streak and only went hitless in three of Washing ton’s 22 games. While Holscher’s numbers might not be eye-popping, his coach, Ron Massey said Hols cher’s work habits as well as his (See BASEBALL. Page 5) BY JIM GREEN Special lo Ihe Weal Craven Hlghlighla Four West Craven softball players were named to the Washington Daily News all-area team as honorable mentions. The four — Chandra Crouell, Evelyn Brimmer, Jennifer Peele and Tammy Wolfe — helped propel the Lady Eagles to a 12-10 record and an appearance in the state playoffs. The team dropped a 9-7 decision to Southern Nash in the opening round of the playoffs. Perhaps the only thing harder than winning a state cham pionship is winning back-to- back state championships. But that is exactly what the Class 1-A Tobacco Belt Confer ence accomplished this season as Aurora followed Bath in winning the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Class 1-A softball title. The two squads split during the regular season and finished tied for the regular-season cham pionship. Both squads played a team brand of ball and reflected the nature of their head coaches. They were stocked with out standing players — thus making the job of picking the Washing ton Daily News All-Area softball team a little easier. The sports department selected three top award winners — Player Of The Year, Golden Glove (for the top defensive play er) and and the Top Offensive Player, in addition to first and second squads as well as honor able mention selecttions. The selections were made according to overall perform ance and ability — not by posi tion. Player Of The Year Jeanie (Harrow, a junior flrst baseman, provided the spark for Aurora throughout the season. She contributed to Aurora’s rise to the championship offen sively and defensivley in earning her selection as the 1988 WDN Softball Player of the Year. Carrow finished the season with a .562 batting average. She led the area in hits (50), RBIs (SO), (See SOFTBALL, Page S)
June 23, 1988, edition 1
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