Fowler's work needs
to be kept going
Hoke County residents were shocked last
weekend by the sudden death of Earl Fowler.
Fowler had served this county for almost seven
years as Director of the Raeford-Hoke Chamber
of Commerce, and was at the time of his death on
the verge of achieving many of the goals he had
sought for the community.
In recent months, the 55-year-old Lumberton
native had spearheaded this county's efforts to
secure a satellite branch of Sandhills Community
College in downtown Raeford. As Fowler saw it,
the college would not only improve the educa
tional opportunities for local residents, but the
facility would also work as a stabilizing influence
in the deteriorating downtown area.
Fowler envisioned the embryo college
spreading from its first proposed location in the
old Bank of Raeford to other vacant downtown
buildings. He also saw new retailers being at
tracted to the area by the potential of doing
business with the students attending the facility.
Recently Fowler had served with a committee
of 20 other citizens to develop a long ranged
facilities plan for the county's schools. The plan
developed by the group is far reaching, and, if
adopted, could make the future of the schools
secure for the next 10 years.
Because of the teamwork and spirit exhibited
by the group, Fowler and others in the communi
ty believed a similar citizens' committee could be
established to expand industrial recruitment ef
forts.
The process of establishing the industrial search
team was in the works when he died Saturday.
Letters To The Editor
Raeford Airport has
relaxed atmosphere
To the Editor:
I take the liberty to answer your
editorial about the airport and its
management.
I have flown in and out of
Raeford Airport for several years
and have the highest regard for it
and its management. In my opi
nion it is the best of its size in the
state, and even better than many
larger ones in the state. I really like
the nice relaxed atmosphere of this
airport where everyone is very
helpful (except certain editors) and
Raeford excells at this.
To answer some of your ques
tions. The skydiver killed was not a
member of the Raeford Skydiving
Club. He was a green beret ex
perienced jumper using an interna
tionally acclaimed skydiving site
and had an unfortunate problem
that 1 was sorry to hear about.
Many international and world
champions use Raeford to train for
championship matches, and this
brings it good publicity not to
mention REVENUE, how many
successful jumps have been made
there? I don't know, but it has
been a lot.
The marijuana plane was about
out of gas. (I was there the Sunday
after it landed and overheard the
agents remark) and had to land
somewhere, Raeford was handy
and available, and was not its in
tended landing area. There are too
many curious people who know a
strange airplane at these small air
ports.
The crash of the plane that got
in the helicopter turbulence, as
every pilot knows the turbulence
can't be seen and can linger around
for usually no more than several
minutes.
Most of the time the turbulence
is gone almost immediately, but in
this case due to atmospheric condi
tions, air density, air pressure,
wind direction or turbulence (or
some other cause unknown, such
as wind shear, which wrecks large
airliners). This turbulence lasted
longer than it should have about 15
minutes in this case.
In my opinion you should have
written an editorial alluding to the
excellent manner (he pilot (who
this writer has watched many times
and knows him to be a very safe
thorough pilot) handled the plane
so as to keep the injuries to such a
small amount.
This is my view on the crash as
witnessed by me on the evening of
the crash.
The question mark ask are you
an editor?
My opinion is reserved.
Jack Camp
Hoke County
Child murderers
should have
public executions
To the Editor:
It's bad enough when you can
hardly trust your neighbc.s in the
daytime much less at night on a
street. Walking isn't even safe
anymore. It is not hard to imagine
one being on jungle patrol during
the Vietnam conflict when one
thinks of clerks working in conve
nience stores at night.
Surely, crime is social "cancer."
Capital punishment is good
"surgery." The murder of ah adult
is terrible enough, so perhaps the
gas chambers or injection is fine in
that case. But for child killers, it
should be a different story.
Anyone that is dirty and low
down enough to kill a kid should
for punishment, be given the death
sentence in the manner of being
stripped of their clothing, taken
out, and hung upside down by
their heels.
If in summer, coat their body
with honey so the flies and bees
will torture them while the punc
turing of the "animal's" jugler
vein will allow them to bleed to
death.
Admission of $5 should be
charged and the money would go
to the family of the kid that was a
victim of death. Such punishment
is no crueler than the murder of an
innocent child could ever be.
When you consider some cases
in the past, such a show would be
great to see.
Thank you sincerely,
Daniel Edwards
Pine Ridge, Box 301
Bladenboro, N.C.
28320
More ineffective
Congressmen needed
Dear editor:
Some people are always criticiz
ing Congress. From time to time
I've poked a little fun at it myself.
"Congress can't get anything
done," some people say. "It's too
ineffective, too slow. Takes it a
month to do half a day's work."
Anybody who thinks along that
line ought to read an article 1 read
last night. According to it, in the
10 years from 1972 to 1982, Con
gressmen from all SO states in
troduced 87,000 pieces of legisla
tion. That's an average of 8,500 a
year.
Now of that 87,000 proposed
laws, only 3,600 were passed, for
an average of 360 a year.
Have you stopped to think that
if Congress has been 100^o effec
tive, we'd now have 87,000 new
laws instead of 3,600?
What this country needs is more
ineffective Congressmen.
Of course, there's another side
to this. Had Congress gone ahead
and passed the full 87,000 pieces of
legislation, it might have been at a
rate faster than lawyers could
figure out how you can get around
them. For every law passed, there
are generally two judges and four
lawyers interpreting it in two dif
ferent ways.
Even Supreme Court justices
have trouble deciding what's con
stitutional and what isn't. By a 4 to
S vote, a piece of legislation can be
ruled constitutional, whereas if
two of the Five had come down
with a bad cold and missed the
vote, it could have come out un
constitutional.
Yours faithfully,
J.A.
The News-Journal
MSI
Publithrd t rtr, rhundiy ky
Dickson Prat, lac., PmJ DMin, Pra.
119 W. FJwood Avtaat, P.O. Box 550
Harford. N.C. 2*376
Sabacrtptioa Rain la Advaac*
la County Per Yw?$10.00
6 Moatbi?$5.00
Out of Coaaty Per Year?$12.00
6 Moalln?$6.00
LOUIS H. FOCLEMAN. JR PaUbkrr
WARREN N.JOHNSTON Editor
HENRY L. BLUE . . .. Production SaptrvHor
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Sortoty Editor
SAM ( MORRIS Coalrtbatlaf Editor
ANN WEBB AdvertWaf Rrpmralnllvt
2nd dan Poilnfe al Raeford, N.C.
(USPS 3M-2M)
Editorial
In order for this county to grow in an orderly
manner and to keep pace with other counties in
the state, Fowler believed we needed local
telephone communications with Cumberland
County. He was working on a first phase of a
countywide plan which could have initially linked
the Rockfish area to the Fayetteville exchanges.
Fowler thought we needed a motel in Raeford
and was optimistic about recent talks with out-of
town developers.
Two weeks ago, he talked about plans to get a
busload of county residents to attend a May
meeting of the state Highway Commission. The
group would lend needed support for the four
laning of U.S. Highway 401 between Raeford and
the Cumberland County line. That was a project
Fowler believed was essential for Hoke County to
grow.
In addition to his public life. Fowler was an ac
tive member of both the Raeford Presbyterian
Church and the Raeford Kiwanis Club. He was
also a solid friend to many in this community.
It is hard to think of Earl Fowler and not think
of rhododendrons. He would have loved to have
seen the county covered with the shrubs, and a
festival held each spring to celebrate their bloom
ing. One is also reminded that Fowler grew one of
the best varieties of cantaloupe in the area. He
gave more to friends and neighbors than he ever
tasted.
Fowler's death creates a void in this county's
leadership at a time that is critical to our future. It
is hoped that others, who believed in what he was
doing, will step in and see the tasks completed.
Earl Fowler often said there was one achieve
ment for which he wanted to be remembered.
"I have always tried to do what was best for
Hoke County," Fowler said.
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VOTING* BOOTH
Elections can be like Christmas and Easter
By Warren Johnston
Elections are a lot like Christmas or Easter, I told my wife the
other night as we were sitting around watching the final pleas of the
candidates on television.
"Do you think that we should celebrate them more soberly?" she
asked, immediately assuming that I considered the voting days to be
similar to religious holidays.
"There are already prohibitions on the books about drinking and
giving away liquor while the polls are open. I suppose now you want
to add some sort of election day feast or have a parade so everyone
can wear their voting bonnets. Do you honestly believe that will
make people stop and think before they vote?" she attacked.
"I'll admit that we're probably too flippant about the way we
vote, and a session in church might not be a bad idea before we cast
a ballot. But I really don't see why you are so hell-bent on changing
things," she went on. -
"Now I know how Martin Luther felt. He was misunderstood
too," I said, pointing out that it was the surprise element of election
days that I found similar to Christmas and Easter.
WlMfyoifrfeo to bed the Bight before Christmas and the tree is
The Puppy Papers
bare, you're surprised when you wake up and find dozens of
presents, I said.
On Easter, it's a real shocker when you wake up and your mother
says the Easter Bunny left colored chicken eggs all over the yard.
"Elections are a lot like that," I said.
The voting process always seems to be a surprise for the can
didates, particularly in the south. On the Saturday before the
balloting, many think they are leading and likely to get elected.
When they wake up on Monday, the day before the polls open,
they find out that a bunch of the voters got together in church on
Sunday and decided to block vote. They are surprised to find that
their names are not on the specially marked sample ballots, and they
have lost the election.
"That's what happened to Jimmy Carter and Thomas Dewey.
Boy, were they surprised," my wife said.
There are other things which are surprising about elections, I
arid.i'' ^ ? .? v'jPIV?" ? - /'*?*?
On Monday night before an election there are usually only a
handful of campaign posters hanging around, but the next morn
ing, there are millions of them.
"They're sort of like Easter eggs. Colored posters are strewed
over the yards of every polling place in the county," I said.
The other thing that amazes me about elections, is my inability to
choose a winner.
"I remember, you're the one who predicted a McGovern land
slide in 1972," my wife said.
"Yeah, I thought Alan Cranston had a chance this year too," I
noted.
"Well, you can't win them all," she said.
Perhaps I should quit being surprised by elections, I told her.
"Maybe you would be better off organizing a voting day
parade," she said, pulling a strange looking hat out of her closet.
The parade was a good idea, but the thought of an election feast
seemed more appealing.
I deckled to make myself a sandwich and not tq think about the
festMttes again until November.