North Raeford firemen check the chimney of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Hayes s house Monday morning.
1st Cold Snap, Ignites Blaze
A call sent North Raeford volun
teer firemen to the home of Horace
Hayes on Turnpike Road about
7:45 a.m. Monday.
But, George Baker, North Rae
ford assistant fire chief reported,
nothing burned but the logs in the
fireplace, which is the way it had
been planned.
He said Mrs. Hayes telephoned
the alarm after the fire started in
old debris in the chimney. It had
been started when the wood in the
chimney was ignited to take off the
early morning chill. He said a little
damage was done to the chimney
and the firemen had the blaze out
within about a minute after they
got to the house, which is about two
miles from the North Raeford fire
station.
Hayes was driving to work but
turned around and came back
home when he heard the fire
reported on his radio. Hayes is a
member of the West Hoke Volun
teer Fire Department.
The Hoke County Rescue Squad
sent men and equipment to the
scene in case they were needed, and
about 10 to 12 North Raeford
firemen answered the alarm also.
Baker said it was believed to be
the first fire of the fall in Hoke
County.
He added a warning that people
ought to check their chimneys
before starting their first heating
fires since the last winter or early
spring cold spell.
Raeford Man Gets 3 Years
A Raeford man was sentenced
here last week to three years on
stolen-property and forgery and
uttering charges, and a woman was
given a suspended sentence for
food-stamp and other Social Ser
vices assistance fraud on condition
she make restitution of the pay
ments to the Hoke County Depart
ment of Social Services
The judgments were imposed in
Thursday's final session of the
September term of Hoke County
Superior Court by Judge Sam Britt
of Lumberton.
Charles Jones of Carolina Count
ry Mobile Home Park was given the
active sentence but the judge
recommended he be placed im
mediately on work release. Jones
was sentenced after he pleaded
guilty to possession of stolen
property, uttering a forged paper,
and two counts of forgery.
The food stamp and welfare-aid
fraud defendant was Grace
(Gracie) Ray of 805 Saunders St.,
Raeford. She pleaded guilty to
charges of fraudulent misrepresen
tation to obtain food stamps and to
obtain assistance from the program
of Aid To Families With De
pendent Children.
The judge sentenced her to three
years suspended for five years on
condition she make restitution to
the Hoke Social Services Depart
ment of S426 for the food stamps
and S941.21 for the AFDC as
sistance she received.
The other heard and the judg
ments issued Thursday follow.
James Francis Smith. Sandhills
Youth Center, McCain, pleaded
guilty to felonious escape, one year,
to begin at the expiration of any
and all sentences the defendant is
currently serving; the defendant
shall serve as a committed youthful
offender.
Henry L. McNeill, Rt. 3, Rae
ford, possession with intent to sell
and deliver marijuana, and sale
and delivery of marijuana, two
years suspended for three years,
probation for three years, S1 SO and
costs, and S20 restitution to the SBI
Special Drug Fund.
Lola Murle Locklear, Carolina
Country MHP, Raeford, pleaded
guilty to possession of stolen goods.
three years suspended for three
years, probation for three years,
$250 and costs.
Joseph Junior McEachern, Fay
etteville. pleaded guilty to posses
sion of stolen goods, three years
suspended for three years, pro
bation for three years.
Cecil Jerry West. Rt. 1, Box 629,
Raeford. three counts of uttering a
forged check, and three counts of
forgery; two years for forgery and
two years for uttering, to start at
the expiration of the forgery sen
tence. the sentences suspended for
three years, probation for three
years.
David Roper, also known as
David Thomas, Saunders Street
Extension, Raeford, possession
with intent to sell and deliver
marijuana, and selling and de
livering marijuana, two years sus
pended for three years, probation
for three years.
Ervin Bennie Ross, Oakwood
Avenue, Raeford. possession with
intent to sell and deliver marijuana,
and selling and delivering mari
juana. two years suspended for
three years, probation for three
years.
Dennis Bethea, Rt. 1, Raeford,
pleaded not guilty, found guilty of
assault with a deadly weapon
inflicting serious injury, three years
suspended for three years, proba
tion for three years on condition of
the suspension is he reimburse the
victim for medical and hospital
expenses.
The following pleaded not guilty
to the charges against them in
arraignments.
Julius Locklear, Rt. 1, Box
64GG, Red Springs, sale and
delivery of marijuana, and poses
sion with intent to sell and deliver
marijuana.
Barbara Ann Campbell, Rt. 2,
Box 74, Raeford, possession of
counterfeit controlled substance
(caffiene represented to be am
phetamine), and sale and delivery
of marijuana.
Yancey Conrad McLaughlin, Rt.
3, Raeford, possession with intent
to sell and deliver marijuana, and
sale and delivery of marijuana.
Gwendolyn Bullard, Rt. 1, Red
Springs, possession with intent to
sell and deliver marijuana, and sale
and delivery of marijuana.
Clarence Bratcher, 403 Robeson
St.. Raeford, possession with intent
to sell and deliver marijuana, and
sale and delivery of marijuana.
Regina Bullard McMillan, Rt. 1,
Red Springs, manufacturing mari
juana, possession of marijuana
with intent to sell and deliver, and
sale and delivery of marijuana.
John Wayne Davis, Rt. 4, Rae
ford, manufacturing marijuana,
and possession with intent to sell
and deliver marijuana.
Elwood McNair, Rt. 1, Raeford,
possession with intent to sell and
deliver marijuana, and sale and
delivery of marijuana.
Ervin Bennie Ross. Oakwood
Avenue, Raeford, possession with
intent to sell and deliver marijuana
(a charge separate from the similar
one to which he pleaded guilty).
Bobby Peterkin, 603 Forrest St.,
Raeford. possession with intent to
sell and deliver marijuana, and sale
and delivery of marijuana.
James Thomas White, also
known as Tony White, Rt. 4, Box
25, Raeford, possession with intent
to sell and deliver marijuana, and
sale and of marijuana.
Hiawatha McLaurin, Rt. 2, Rae
ford, breaking and entering a
motor vehicle, and larceny.
The arraignments of Robert Earl
Middleton, 33, of Fayetteville, on a
charge of first-degree rape, and of
Beverly Bowman, Raeford Hotel
Apartments, on a charge of sale
and delivery of marijuana, were
continued Thursday to another
term of Superior Court. The next
term will start October 25.
Middleton is accused of commit
ting the alleged offense against a 15
- year - old girl near Davis Bridge
the morning of June 30. He was
arrested in Cumberland County
July 29 and the Hoke County
Grand Jury on September 20
returned a true bill of indictment
on the charge.
Middleton has been under
$50,000 bond on the rape charge
and $25,000 on a Moore County
charge Of breaking and entering,
which he is accused of committing
several years ago.
Rape Law Change Urged
(Continued from page 1)
in some of those cases. We knew
there was rape," the sheriff said.
"Under the present law, the most
sick people are apt to go free. A
person who rapes a child is a whole
lot sicker than one who rapes an
adult. It's easier to convict the man
who raped the adult," Barrington
said.
The local DS*S office has also
received a number of calls from
concerned citizens, Witherspoon
said.
Because of state regulations and
because the case involved a minor,
Witherspoon noted that he could
not say whether or not DSS was
involved and would not comment
on the present status of the child.
"I'm always concerned about
trials where minors are called on to
testify," Witherspoon said.
"1 encourage individuals to con
tact their legislators," he added.
Although Witherspoon would
not comment about the case, Miss
Powell said that if the child was
returned to the home with the
father, the state would take imme
diate action.
"The child definitely is not with
the father," she said. ,
The mother was not at home
when the incident allegedly oc
curred, and she reported it to
authorities after she took the girl to
the hospital, Miss Powell said.
The mother is separated from the
father and lives out of the county,
she added.
The child will also live out of the '
county, she said.
Unemployment Up
(Continued from page 1)
think there will be a recovery." he
said.
During August there were 910
persons out of work in Hoke
County, which is up from the 820
jobless during July here.
The August figures with 11.4%
of the 7,960 work force jobless, is
the highest rate in the county since
May when unemployment reached
12.2%.
The total unemployment rate in
North Carolina dropped to 9% in
August after four months of steady
increases, said Glenn R. Jernigan,
chairman of the state commission.
The August rate of 9% repre
sents 266,700 jobless persons.
The national unadjusted rate of
unemployment in August was 9.6%
or 107 million unemployed.
In July, the state rate reached
9.8% and matched the national
rate.
"The turnabout," said Jernigan,
"occurred when workers returned
to work after temporary layoffs."
Manufacturing jobs overall
showed a net gain of 8,500.
Noticeable gains were realized in
durable and nondurable goods.
Employment in Furniture and
Fixtures rose by 2,300 and con
tributed to durable goods improve
ment.
In nondurable goods. Tobacco
Manufactures increased 4,400 as
employment in stemming and re
dying increased.
Textile Mill Products gained
3,000 jobs for a modest reversal.
In nonmanufacturing, the Trade
category added 2,400 as the to
bacco warehousing and sales posi
tion improved. Government em
ployment remained unchanged.
The average hourly earnings of
North Carolina's production '
workers in manufacturing stood at
$6.34 in mid-August up 1 cent from
mid-July and up 30 cents from
August 1981.
The average weekly hours
worked by production employees in
manufacturing increased to 38.4,
above mid-July's 37.3 hours per
week.
In August 1981 workers averaged |
39.5 hours.
Jernigan concluded, "In August
1975, we were moving well out of
the recession. The current August
1982 figures show some improve
ment but not at the same accele
rated rate experienced in 1975."
Study Line Helps Students
With Homework Assignments
Study Line, a telephone program
to help students who are having
trouble doing their homework, will
start Monday, manned by 98
teachers and other professionals of
the Hoke County school system.
Study Line will be held Mondays
through Thursdays daily, 7-8 p.m.
Each teacher has been asked to
volunteer to work the four
evenings. Three to four teachers
will be on duty each evening.
"We will have four telephone
lines available to the students --
875-4106. -4107, -4108. and
-4109," Raz Autry, county schools
superintendent, said in the an
nouncement made last week.
He said the teachers won't tell
them what the answers to the
homework questions are but will try
to get the students to find their own
solutions and think the problems
through.
Study Line will operate through
the whole school year except on
Fridays, weekends and holidays.
Friday was eliminated because
most teachers do not assign home
work for the weekends.
The volunteers from each school
are:
Hoke High -- Lenwood Simpson,
Milton L. MacDonald, Harold
Livingston, Linda Steed, Betty
Rogers, Jessie Josey, Harriett
McDonald, Nancy Smith, Cordelia
McNeill. Jessie McNeill. Sarah
McCallum, Teresa Marion,
Eleanor Gentry, Marie Brown,
Deborah F. Davis, Phyllis Fahren
bruck, Hilton Villines.
McLauchlin -- Peggy Gillis,
Florence Weaver.
Turlington -- Emma Mims, Faye
Best. Betty Upchurch, Sylvia Bark
ley, Ginger Johnson. Henry Cobb.
Helen Sellars.
South Hoke ?? Frank H. Rich
ards, Wanda Ingram, Pandora
Autry. Beatrice Freeman, Jane
Johnson, Linda Dubois, Virginia
Smith, Beckie Sutton, Bobby
Doby, Betty H. Oxendine, Darlene
Clark, Cohildia Lyons.
Scurlock -- Willie Horsley, Doris
Austin, Patricia McNeill, Janet
Plummer, Yulla P. Hines, Jo
Hudson, Mildred Mitchell, Faye
Williams, Verna Barnhill, Linda
Richards, Dorothy Villines, Be
linda Coleman, Joan Butler,
Brenda Edwards, Maxine Colston,
Gay Killens, Mary A. Scott, Linda
Pittman.
Upchurch -- Billie R. Evans,
Linda Fisher, George McNeill,
Teresa Mills, Carroll Coley, Hazel
A. Ross, Carol M. Tolin, Thomas
R. Williams, Marsha Currin,
Susan Phillips, Joyce A. Simpson,
Carolyn McGee, Steve Chason,
Stanley Callendar, Betsy Bailey.
West Hoke - Lou Ann Moore,
Jeanne Wood, Sandra Horne, Mary
K. Thomas, Martha W. Brown,
Donna Bernhardt, Joyce Edwards,
Louise Barnwell, Pamela Ward,
Barbara Lupo, Mike Sutton.
From the Central Office: Autry,
J.D. McAllister, Gloria Williams,
Marilyn Semones, Mary A. Mc
Neill, Earl Oxendine, Woodrow
Westall, Harold Gillis, Clara Pope,
Don Steed, Rhenda Cameron, Joe
Soles, Glenn Langdon, Robert C.
Bostic, Eleanor Harward, Betsy P.
Collins.
Merchants Kickoff Parade
For Christmas Season
This year's Raeford Christmas
Parade is expected to kick off the
season with a spirit and flair.
The event, which is sponsored by
the Raeford-Hoke Merchants Asso
ciation, will be held on Main Street
at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December
U.
Sponsors hope to attract more
than the S3 units that participated
last year, and are expecting not
only local bands but groups from
the surrounding area to take part.
A raffle is being organized to
help defray some of the cost of the
event and to aid in making the
parade "bigger and better."
Association members agreed
Tuesday during the regular
monthly breakfast meeting to raffle
a color television to raise the
needed additional funds.
Bands have been lined up from
Hoke High, Upchurch and Red
Springs Schools, and association
members are attempting to get
additional units from Fayetteville
and other nearby areas.
Local participation is being ac
tively solicited. Sponsors hope more
groups will enter floats in the
parade this year than did during
last year's event.
There were 11 floats in the 1981
parade.
Entry participation is free and
open to anyone who wishes to
demonstrate the season and the
community, parade Chriaman John
Howard said.
All entries will be screened by the
parade committee.
"We're not interested in anyone
whose purpose is self-serving,"
Howard said.
In other business, Hoke High
School Job Placement Center Di
rector Eleanor Gentry told mem
bers the center needs the help of .
local merchants in hiring high ?
school students.
Last year 122 students left Hoke
High without graduating, and Mrs.
Gentry hopes the job service pro
gram will help pupils stay in schooi.
"We want local merchants to
hire students," she said, adding
that the purpose of the placement
program is to reach the point that
the high school it working for the I
community.
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