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The Hoke County News - Established 1 928
VOLUME LXXIII NUMBER 36 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
On Advisory Board Recommendation
- journal
25
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
$8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1981
Dog Warden Decision Due Next Week
Around
, Town
I BY SAM C.MORRIS
Hie weather over Christmas was
not for outdoor activities. Maybe
folks got to talk more about the
kinfolks than in many recent
Christmases. If it wasn't raining,
then the mist was so heavy that it
would wet you.
We closed for Christmas Eve
here at the office and 1 was able to
f get in a round of golf that day. This
was the only round that I have
played or will play in December.
This makes for high green fees.
Brown Hendrix told me Thurs
day at Arabia that he would call me
the next time the pond froze over at
hole two and then I could skid tHe
ball across. It would be my luck to
hit a weak place in the ice and lose
the ball anyway.
We needed the rain and can use
T many more inches to catch up.
? * ?
We hope that everyone had a
Merry Christmas and that Santa
Claus was good to all. We went by
the post office the day after
Christmas and received a present
from Uncle Sam. The 1040 form
for filing 1981 income taxes was in
the box and as always stated on the
form "that it is simple to fill out."
| What a nice present!
? * ?
I had never thought much about
retirement until they started talk
ing about raising the age limit to
draw Social Security. Now when
you start thinking, many things roll
through your mind on whatever
subject you have in mind. One
thing that came to mind was what
Paul Dickson wrote in an article in
? the Bicentennial paper of 1976. He
' stated that "he did the thinking
and I did the work at Dickson
Press." Now Dickson has retired so
with his thinking gone, I reckon my
work should kinda slow down.
It was in August of 1935 that 1
went to work with The News
Journal. The editor and publisher
was Paul Dickson, the present
Paul's father. He did not hire me as
this was left up to J. Minor Davis
? j who ran the printing plant. There
1 ' were two other regular employees in
the shop at that time, Cecil
McKen/.ie and Russell Lassiter.
C.H. Giles, Jr. came in after
school .
Mr. Dickson died in November
of that year and his wife, Mrs.
Annie B. Dickson, became the
boss. I will never forget the years
working for Mrs. Dickson. She
.taught me many things that have
[ 'helped me in my newspaper work
over the years. She was a teacher by
profession and didn't mind telling
you when you were right or wrong.
Of course, World War II came
along and I left for Five and a half
years with Uncle Sam. This was in
September. 1940 when the National
Guard was inducted. I returned in
January. 1946.
From 1946 to the present day 1
a have been associated with the
present Paul Dickson. We have had
good times and bad times together,
but we have always settled our
differences because we were work
ing for the same thing. That is. to
make The News-Journal a good
weekly newspaper and to uphold
the principles of good journalism.
The life of a newspaperman in a
small town is not always rosy. You
don't always make friends with
|\what you print and sometimes this
- includes your kinfolks. I will say
that after 46 years I can't recall at
any time that the thinking of Paul
Dickson, as an editor, was wrong.
He told the truth and he was fair.
There have been so many people
that 1 have worked with in my job
over the years that it would be
impossible to name them all.
The people that are now working
at Dickson Press have been here for
rumany years. Some have never
~ worked anywhere else. They are
loyal and dedicated people.
This is why I hadn't thought
about retirement. But as of jhis
issue I will give up many of my
duties with the Dickson Press and
The News-Journal. I will continue
for awhile to write this column.
So keep sending in your letters
and comments. 1 will write more
about retirement next week.
Q| Happy New Year to everyone.
* * * * *
Retires Today Named Publisher
Sam C. Morris Louis H. Fogleman, Jr.
Year-end Changes
At News-Journal
by Paul Dickson
Sam C. Morris
To Retire On 31st
As he winds up 36 years with The
News-Journal since World War II,
Sam C. Morris officially retires
from the paper and from Dickson
Press, Inc. on today, December 31,
1981.
Sam's service with the paper
actually started with my father,
before his death in 1935, and until
the war while my mother was
publisher. He entered Federal ser
vice with the National Guard in
1940 and served over five years in
this country, the Dutch West Indies
and the Philippine Islands. He was
separated as a first lieutenant and
was later a captain in the National
Guard.
He is a native of Raeford. oldest
son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Bruce
Morris, and grandson of Sam
Cameron, a member of Hoke
County's first board of commis
sioners. He returned to The News
Journal in 1946 and has partici
pated one way or another in almost
all issues of the paper since. In that
time he has performed about even'
job in newspaper and printing
production, and has served for the
past several years as general man
ager of The News-Journal and of
the other activities of Dickson
Press, Inc.
Morris has contributed to the
growth and welfare of the com
munity in many ways in these years.
He has served the Presbyterian
church as deacon, elder and Sun
day School teacher, and as presi
dent of the Men of the Church. He
has served as director and president
of the now ailing Hoke County
United Fund and for many years
kept it going as treasurer. Also, he
served as director and president of
the Raeford-Hoke Chamber of
Commerce, served several terms on
the Raeford City Council, and was
for many years chairman of the
Hoke County Democratic Execu
tive Committee. A longtime direc
tor of Raeford Savings & Loan
Association, Morris now serves as
chairman of the board of directors.
He received the Raeford Kiwanis
Club's "Man of the Year" award in
1976.
Sam is married to the former
Mary Alice Pernell of Franklin
County and they have a daughter.
Sarah, of Virginia Beach and a son.
John, of Greenville. S.C.
Sam says he c^pccts to continue
to be associated with The News
Journal as a contributing editor
and with Dickson Press as a
consultant in production. He says
he plans to continue to help with
the things that are fun around the
business, but to walk off on all
responsibility and worry. That
sounds like a nice retirement plan,
doesn't it? He deserves it.
Fogleman To Be
New Publisher
Effective January I. 1982. Louis
H. Fogleman. Jr.. becomes pub
lisher ot The News-Journal. Louis is
vice-president of Dickson Press
Inc. and lives in Fayetteville. where
much of the company's business
,h u" ~onc ,or some vears
through The Parable. Fori
?ragg s post newspaper which we
have published since I960; through
The Image Men. a printing com
197n0ySa'nTdbyPaU' 'ckson IllTn
IV7 0 and managed bv Robert A
Dickson since 1978: and through
The Spring Lake M-iv.s. a week I v
newspaper we have published since
Louis Fogleman. whose wife is
our daughter, the former Anne
Dickson, is a native of Wadesboro
and a graduate of Davidson Col
ege. He is also a graduate ?. l the
North r ?f ,he Uni^itv of
Nonh Carolina at Chapel Hill. "and
is a licensed attorney. He worked
tor First Union National Bank for
several years, and served as re
gional trust officer in Greensboro
before moving to Fayeltexille to, oi?
Dickson Press. Inc. n |9~i? j.j..
and Anne have two sons. Hal and
uickson.
Our 'son. Ruh.T. Dick m in . trad.
Sed?maUE<ita<-'h^!
received a B.S. in mechanical
engineering from N.C State Tni
Cun r'n ? W<rue(1 wilh Sweetheart
L Ch,cag? for about a
year before coming to Fayetteville
and is involved in all production in
Dickson Press. He is married to the
h.rmer Victoria Green of Chapel
Maggie "a? a
Alvis B. Dickson. Jr.. our
nephew whose mother lives in
lINr'n, a,ts<' graduated from
aT Pr ? and worked at
p News-Journal and Dickson
Press from the time he was a youth
until moving to Fayetteville several
crhrS|a&>" CXCt'pf while away in
bot^ a^e n(m- suporv,it's sales of
both advertising and printing,
m . P " 3 caPMin in the N C
ofHn"^' Guard" a?d is onimander
of Hq. Btry 2nd Bn. 252d Armor
here in Raeford.
As most of our friends and
associates already know. mv wife
Margaret and I have been quietlv
self. T 3UaV m?rc and '?r
stural years and as Sam Morris
' P .oul- ,he "me has come to
make it official that another uener
ation is taking over.
See you around.
Sales Tax
Collections of Hoke Countv s one
$2|CSS- wf1" J3* amoun,ed lo
*21 .55 - .80 in November, the State
week"Ue partmcm reponed last
The collections in the previous
month totaled $50,672.82.
The November 1980 collections
totaled $28. 300.. 14. "actions
Hoke County Manager James
Martin said Monday he pro
bably would act "the first of
next week" on a recom
mendation regarding the firing
of William Hales as county dog
warden.
Martin was expected to re
ceive the recommendation from
the County Advisory Personnel
Board this week and would have
three working days in which to
make his decision.
The board under the county's
grievance policy for county
employees met on Hales's
appeal from his November 23
firing in three sessions, the last
of which was held December 23,
but no witnesses were heard at
the final meeting.
The reasons for Hales's firing
have not been revealed by
officials. A report ' published
Thursday in the Fayetteville
Times said Hales lost his job
when he said he accepted small
amounts of money given by
people when they adopted dogs
from the dog pound. State and
county officials, unidentified by
name, are quoted by the report
as confirming December 23 this
was the reason for the firing,
explaining that state and county,
policy requires the warden to
report money received.
The newspaper report quotes
a source as saying the donations
which Hales said he accepted
amounted to $1 and $2 usually.
The news story says Hales, as
did the late Archie Clark, his
uncle and dog catcher whom he*
succeeded, used the extra
money to supplement regular
county funds for buying dog
food.
Martin, asked about the in
formation contained in the
article Monday, declined to
confirm or deny it.
The county policy requires
him to decide within three
working days after receiving in
writing the recommendation
and record of the hearing's
proceedings and whether to
uphold or nullify the firing of a
county employee. Martin also
must state the reason or reasons
for his decision.
He said Monday, however, he
will not be able to make public
the recommendation after he
receives it and will be able to say
only that he received it.
The rest of the Times article
contains the following.
State and county officials
agreed that Hales did not gain
personally from the transact
ions, that he even added from
his $9,921 annual salary money
to buy additional dog food for
the animals in the pound and to
bait traps to catch dogs gone
wild.
In a matter independent of
the advisory board hearings.
Hales was investigated by the,
State Bureau of Investigation
for allegedly falsifying records --
reportedly stating he was buying
cat food, when he was feeding
dog food to cats in the pound
because dog food is cheaper
On New Year's Day
Government
Hoke County and Raeford gov
ernment employees have another
short week this week, off Friday for
' tMlTN^w Year's TJay holiday.
January 1 also is a legal holiday
for banks and savings and loan
institutions.
Most downtown stores will be
open for business, though some will
have a "short" day, opening later
than usual. The News-Journal will
be closed all day Friday.
The Raeford Post Office will be
on its holiday schedule Friday,
than cat food. State officials
have said no criminal prose
cution is expected.
Assistant District Attorney
Jean Powell, who requested the
SB1 probe, told The News
Journal Monday afternoon she
expects to receive the report of
the investigation some time in
January.
The Times report also con
tains the following.
Cats often were fed dog food
at the pound as a money-saving
measure that also had dogs
eating hog food mixed with dog
food. During the hearings,
witnesses told the advisory
board Hales was using practices
introduced by the former
warden. They also corraborated
the argument made by Phil
Diehl, Hales's attorney, that no
administrative dog policy or
written regulation for the county
dog warden to follow.
Officials said they had few
dealings with the county's dog
operation and weren't aware of
problems in Hales's record -
keeping until they received a
complaint in November. Then
the investigation which resulted
in Hales's firing was started.
Offices Closed
closed for business, but will be
open Saturday.
Next week, the county and city
official boards will hold their
regular meetings on the standing
dates ? the county commissioners
Monday at 9 a.m.; the Raeford City
Council Monday at 7 p.m.; and the
County Board of Education Tues
day at 7 p.m.
The county schools will reopen
Monday morning for business on
their standard schedules.
Hafpylk^ai
May each man and woman find peace in his or her
heart at this holiday season. . .and may that peace
extend throughout the world.