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Vol. 59, Number 35
74 Pages
Southern Pines, North Carolina 28387
Wednesday, June 27, 1979
74 Pages
PRICE 15 CENTS
US 1 Route
Views Given
At Hearings
Over 100 people from Vass,
Cameron and t^e surrounding
area attended one of two
meetings held Tuesday by the
state Department of
Transportation to determine the
future Route of US 1 in that area.
The study concerns US 1 north
of Lakeview, where the four-lane
road ends, to Sanford. Pieter Van
Der Meer, who was conducting
the informal hearings for DOT at
Cameron Elementary School and
Vass-Lakeview School, stressed
that the Department has of yet
made no decision as to the course
of the road.
The four-laning of US 1 at an
estimated cost of $18 million has
been approved by the State
Board.
The Department has devised
an aerial map of the area on
which aribtrary lines of proposed
US 1 routes have been
superimposed. One route
bypasses Vass and Cameron
from the west; one bypasses it
from the east; and one plan calls
for an expansion of the existing
road to four lanes. There are also
other alternatives.
The Department will study
recommendations made by
citizens at these hearings and
(Continued on Page 14-A)
New Tax Rates Are Set
For 13 Fire Districts
BY FLORENCE GILKESON
New tax rates for the County’s
13 fire service districts were
adopted yesterday in a special
meeting of the Moore Coimty
Board of Commissioners.
In all but five districts, the rate
was reduced for the 1979-80 year
because of increases resulting
from the revaluation of property
within the districts.
The rates were tentatively
adopted with the understanding
that a copy of each district’s
proposed budget and tax rate will
be posted in the fire station at
least until Monday, July 2, when
the commissioners will meet to
give official approval to the
county-wide budget and tax rate
for the new fiscal year. People in
those districts are invited to
inspect the proposals between
now and Monday.
Conunissioner James Craven
made the motion to adopt the
rates, and it was seconded by
(k>mmissioner Tony Parker. The
measure, which passed on a
unanimous vote, carries the
stipulation that those fire
departments which have not
submitted signed budget
proposals do so prior to the July 2
meeting.
The commissioners later
amended the original motion to
provide two tax rate changes,
from 10 to 11 cents for Eastwood
and from nine to seven cents for
High Falls.
Fire Marshal Joe Adams and
several fire chiefs were present
to answer questions and
comment on the budgets.
Adams said the county has
been somewhat “backward” in
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Doors Mix-Up Delaying
Use Of Court Facility
Those special design oak doors
from the West Coast continue to
delay completion of Moore
County’s $2 million courts
. facility.
Architect Karl Stuart of Austin
Associates told The Pilot
Monday that the overdue doors
finally did arrive but were the
wrong ones, and it was necessary
to send them back and reorder.
Now the contractor is waiting for
a new set to arrive before the
final touches can be put on the
building erected across from
Courthouse Square in Carthage.
Although he was hesitant to
make another prediction, Stuart
said he was hopeful that the
building could occupied in
mid-July.
The architect said the building
is almost complete. “It’s ready
except for a couple of smaU
items, including the doors which
are in shipment. The door
problem hasn’t been resolved
yet,” he said.
Tile oak laminated doors will
(Continued on Page 12-A)
The
Sandhills
Observatory
Skylab
Ironically, Skylab dying is
attracting more attention than
Skylab working. It was launched
in 1973 and for more than a year
it was occupied by successive
teams of Astronaut-Scientists
who made most significant
contributions to our knowledge of
outer space. But a public intent
on other things, Watergate for
example, thought nothing of it;
took it for granted as simply
another example of cur on going,
highly successful space
program.
Now nearly every day the
press is carrying articles about
Skylab’s death throes and final
destruction; giving schedules of
times it may be seen and quoting
odds on the chance of death or
injury that may or may not be
caused by its final plunge to
destruction. At present the odds
being quoted are reassuring. The
chance of any Skylab debris
causing one injury somewhere in
the world is 1 in 152. The chance
of any particular individual in
the world being injured is
estimated as 1 in 600 billion.
Compare this with the odds of
having an accident driving your
car to the grocery store and
(Continued on Page 14-A)
Strike
Not Felt
Here Yet
Tom Colson of the Moore
Ctounty Agriculture Extension
office said Moore County far
mers probably won’t be affected
too much by the nation-wide
truckers strike, that has
threatened other farmers in the
state with losing their crops.
“I really don’t think it will
affect us very much because
most of our crops are sold
locally. If it continues on, it could
affect us, but we’ll be all right for
a month anyway,” Colson said.
He mentioned that Mont
gomery County peach growers
ship their peaches out of the
area, but many have their own
trucks.
Several of Moore Ck)unty’s
larger crops, such as tobacco,
soybeans, corn and grain
sorghum, are harvested later in
the summer.
r
SUMMER DAYS — Fishing, boating, Pinehurst these early summer days. Here’s a
swimming and relaxation in general are scene on a recent afternoon.—(Photo by Glenn
pursuits followed by a growing number on Lake Sides).
Tests Show Moore Doing Better;
Only 5% Failing Competency Test
Results on the first re-take of
the state competency test and
scores made by Moore County
children on the Iowa Basic Skills
Test were released to the County
School Board Monday night.
Dr. W.C. Walton demonstrated
that only five percent of Moore
County’s rising seniors still need
to complete the competency test,
instituted by state law last year.
Seniors must pass this test as a
requirement of graduation.
If a student is unable to pass
the competency test after
repeated trials-November and
May of his junior year, and
jM’obably two attempts his senior
year-he may receive a cer
tificate instead of a diploma.
In November, the competency
test was administered to 660
F ertilizer
Damages
Found Here
Moore County farms now
number in cases across Eastern
North Carolina where fertilizer
used on tobacco plants have
damaged plant leaves, Tom
Colson with the county’s
agricultural extension office told
The Pilot.
The fertilizer contamination
has appeared in both the
Roseland and Vass areas.
A herbicide, commonly used to
kill weeds, apparently is present
in shipments of fertilizer
manufactured by Smith-
Douglass, Inc. in Kinston and
shilled across Eastern North
Carolina. The fertilizer has been
used by many farmers, who are
(Continued on Pa|fe 12-A).
Recreation
Bus Stirs
Board Talk
BY FLORENCE GILKESON
Budget-weary county com
missioners murmured in con
fusion last week over a bus
purchased by the Moore (^unty
Recreation Department for $300.
Gkkmmissioner James Oaven,
who spoke out most sharply on
the subject, later admitted that
the bus purchase had completely
slii^ed his mind, and he ex
pressed the opinion that
everyone else on tiie board had
likewise forgotten.
The subject arose near the end
of the commissioners’ con
sideration of the 1979-80 budget
on June 19. The pressure was on
to hold the tax rate down without
eliminating essential services,
and the atmosphere in the small
meeting chamber was tense.
(Continued on Page 12-A)
county juniors, 93 percent of
whom passed the reading and 89
percent of whom passed the
math sections of the test.
In May, those who failed either
or both sections of the test were
giv^ a second chance to get it
behind them. After that attempt,
95 percent of the original ^0
passed both parts of the test.
Currently 13 students, drawn
from all three Moore County high
schools, need to pass both sec
tions of the competency test in
Louise Suggs Is Named
To Golf Hall Of Fame
Louise Suggs, one of the all-
time great women players has
been elected tothe World Golf
Hall of Fame, at Pinehurst, it
was announced today.
Also elected to the nan or
Fame was deceased Walter J.
Travis, a turn-of-the-century
golfer who captured severd
national championships after
taking up the game rather late in
fife.
Members of the Golf Writers
Association of America voted
Ms. Suggs into the Hall of Fame
in the Modern EIra category. She
becomes the 16th player to be
elected into the Modern Era
category since the Hall of Fame
opened in 1974. The stringent
voting rules require that a player
must receive at lease 75 percent
of the votes to gain entry into the
Hall of Fame.
Lee Trevino, wiimer of five
major championships 21 PGA
Tour Titles and second all-time
leading money winner failed to
make it by three percentage
points. Peter Thomson of
Australia, wiimer of five British
Open Titles and numerous other
international diampionships,
(Continued on Page 14-A)
Revitalization
John May, chairman of the
steering committee for the
Downtown Revitalization
project, said the group will meet
sometime this week to discuss
future plans for the committee.
The town of Southern Pines
had budgeted funds for the
committee, but public opinion
turned against one proposal, for
a downtown merchants’ tax, at a
public hearing June 12.
Schools Plan
New Position
On Buildings
\jl/L
HALL OF FAME — Louise Suggs (above) will
be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on
Tuesday, August 21, in Pinehurst. Ms. Suggs
won 50 LPGA tour titles and several major
tournaments including three U.S. Women’s
Opens and one U.S. Women’s Amateur.
order to receive a high school
diploma. No student failed
reading alone. However, 22 need
to take the math section alone.
This number represents five
percent of the entire senior class,
from North Moore, Union Pines
and Pinecrest. It was estimated,
said Efr. Walton, that 50 percent
of these students are enrolled in
exceptional education classes, or
classes for those with a low I.Q.
Results of the “annual testing
program,” which utilizes the
standard Iowa Basic Skills
battery of tests, were also given
in terms of both percentile and
grade rankings.
(Continued on Page 14-A)
Pilot Tuesday
The Pilot will publish on
Tuesday next week because the
Fourth of July holiday falls on
Wednesday, the regular
publication day.
The news and advertising
deadline will be 5 p.m. on
Monday, although late-breaking
news will be handled up to 10
a.m. Tuesday.
A deadline of 2 p.m. Monday
has been set for (Classified Ad
vertising.
All correspondents are urged
to get their copy to the Polot
office by Monday.
The Pilot will be closed all day
on Wednesday, July 4.
Aberdeen
•
Pageant
Is July 4
The “Miss Aberdeen” pageant,
long a tradition in Aberdeen’s
Fourth of July festivities, will
begin at 7:30, July 4, at the
Aberdeen Middle School
Auditorium.
Frank McNeill, Jr., who is
chairman of the project, spon
sored by the Aberdeen Jaycees,
said seven contestapts are
scheduled to participate in the
pageant, which will feature
swimsuit, evening gown and
talent competition.
(Contestants are Marva Denise
Gillis, Emily Faye Morrison,
Bonnie (Clark, Susan Jordan,
Denise Meyers, Kelly Haynes
and Lynda Young.
The emcee for the 1979 Miss
Aberdeen pageant will be Susan
Lynn Griffin, Miss North
Carolina 1975 and a talent
winner in the Miss America
pageant.
Featured performers in the
pageant will be Miss Griffin,
Miss Aberdeen 1978, Alisa Kay
Goodman, and Julian Long III of
Southern Pines, who will sing.
Capacity crowds are expected
at the pageant, a spokesman
^id.
Woman
Is Killed
By Auto
A pedestrian crossing U.S. 1
just outside the Southern Pines
town limits was struck by a car
and fatally injiu-ed Saturday
night.
Trooper C.A. Todd of the State
Highway Patrol identified the
accident victim as 25-year old
Diane McLean Moser, 665 S.
Bennett St., Southern Pines.
Ms. Moser died early Monday
morning at Moore Memori^
Hospital of head injuries, ac
cording to Moore County Coroner
James Andrews. She was em
ployed by J.F.R. Barn.
Todd told The Pilot that the
driver left the scene after the
10:45 accident and he has been
unable to determine the driver’s
name or the automobile
registration. The investigation is
continuing.
The accident took place a short
(Continued on Page 14-A)
BY JENNIFER CALDWELL
The Moore County School
Board held a lively summer
meeting Monday and agreed to
meet again July 2, to hear a
position paper being drafted by
Superintendent Bob Lee in
reference to capital outlay
projects, or the school system’s
long4erm building plan.
School board members at the
close of the formal agenda voiced
their concern that no money was
allocated in the county com
missioner’s 1979-1980 budget for
the school’s building plan, part of
which board members believe
cannot be delayed.
School board member Debbie
Williams said no child should be
sent to a building in the condition
of Cameron Elementary School
and “I wish the judges and the
lawyers who are to hold court in
the new courthouse would hold it
for just one day in Cameron
Elementary.
“It may come to the point that
we have to remove all the
children from the school and
we’d have no place to put them,”
she said.
Another board member, John
Sledge, said “I think it’s time for
the Board to take a firm stand...-
Cameron has the most
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Tobacco Auction Marts
To Open Here July 24
Moore County Extension Agent
Tom Colson expects local
tobacco growers to have leaf
ready for marketing by late July
when area markets open. The
recommended opening dates are
about a week earlier than usual.
The 40-member Flue-cured
Tobacco Advisory Committee
last week recommended July' 18
as the opening date for leaf sales
within the North Carolina Border
Belt and July 24 for Area C
markets, which include the
Sandhills region.
Some Moore (bounty farmers
have already begun the curing
Iffocess.
“You know it just takes one
week to get tobacco ready for the
(market) floor, and I’m sure
we’ll have tobacco for sale when
the markets open,” Colson said.
Approval of the market
opening dates is expected.
Affected by the July 18 date
will be markets in Area A
(Georgia-Florida Belt) and Area
B (South (Molina Border North
(Continued on Page 12-A)
Board Dips Into Surplus
To Balance New Budget
An expected $967,000 surplus
will be eaten up in the 1979-80
fiscal year if Moore County
really does have to use more than
$900,000 from surplus to cover the
new budget year.
The county commissioners last
week adopted a 50ent tax rate,
projected to cover the county’s
needs through a $950 million tax
base for the year beginning July
1. In an attempt to hold down the
tax rate and to provide as many
services as possible, the com
missioners decided to dip into
surplus funds. The tax rate was
approved on a 3-2 split vote.
(bounty Finance Officer Estelle
Wicker said this is the first time
the commissioners have used
this much from surplus funds to
balance the budget. And Mrs.
Wicker has been associated with
the county over 50 years.
“I don’t know how this will
work out. I’ve never had to do it
before,” she told The Pilot.
Mrs. Wicker also pointed out
that the surplus this year is not
as big as it was last year, when it
exceeded $1.3 million.
Surplus funds represent a little
bit of county money from each of
numerous sources, including
property, sales, and intangible
taxes, dectrical fees and other
fees (barged by county agencies.
Both Mrs. Wicker and Ctounty
Administrator W. Sidney Taylor
said that the accumulation of a
surplus is an accepted practice
among local governments, which
must have cash ready before
(Continued on Page 14-A)
THE
PILOT LIGHT
DEMOCRATS-Some Moore
County Democrats see the hand
of the Rev. Kent Kelly in the
reorganization and election of
officers of the Yoimg Democrats
Club here last Saturday.
Kelly, who has taken the lead
in the “Christian Schools”
movement in the state, is head of
the Calvary Christian School and
Calvary Memorial Church in
Southern Pines.
At Saturday’s meeting three
persons associated with the
Calvary School were elected to
office in the Moore YDC. Two of
the foiu: officers are teachers at
the school and one is a parent of
children attending the school.
Some Democrats are saying
that Kelly, who was successful in
getting the 1979 Legislature to
exempt the “Christian Schools”
from most state regulations,
including statewide tests, is
moving toward a more activist
role in state politics and is
starting the move in Moore
County.
POLITICS-Some 200 or more
from the Lee County area
gathered one evening last week
at Roy Stewart’s cabin near
Sanford to talk politics.
•^cial guests at the gathering
were Carl Stewart, the Speaker
of the House who is planning to
run for Lieutenant Go«Mpnor next
year, and Rufus EdiMJten, the
Attorney General wHp «t this
point is planning to seek
reelection.
MORGAN-U.S. Senator
(Continued on Page 14-A,