Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Jan. 17, 1985, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Vfewftomts IEA decision good one The decision last week by the Hoke County Board of Education to hire an Indian Education Act (IEA) director was heartening and shows a new spirit of responsibility emerging among members of the group. Although in the end, members were not unanimous on the can didate, the final vote showed that the board is attempting to repre sent all of Hoke County and to do what is best for the schools. After three months of consideration, interviews and hearing evidence from all sides, the board voted three to two. to follow the recommendation of Superintendent Dr. Robert Nelson. Nelson's suggestion differed from the candidate who had been recommended by the IEA Parent-Student Committee. The board was left with the final decision of choosing between the two highly qualified applicants, and the members took their time and voted their convictions. Hoke County voters could ask no more of elected officals. Parents, students and teachers could not expect more from a Board of Education. Now that the decision has been made, it is hoped that the IEA committee will unite behind the new director and make his job easier to serve the children of the Indian Community. As for the board of education, its members have the weighty responsiblity of making choices which will affect the future of all who live in Hoke County, and we hope the board will continue to put as much thought and energy in upcoming projects as they did in the IEA director decision. Judge has messed up courthouse timetable Despite what Superior Coutf Judge D.B. Herring says, the Hoke County Commissioners are making an effort to put the courthouse in top condition. Of course, the commissioners, who have been chatting with ar chitects for two and a half years, are moving on the project with the speed of a one-legged turtle, but they are making progress. In an effort to speed things up, Herring wrote a letter to the coun ty officials last week and suggested that the courthouse is past its prime, and that a new facility should be built. The judge noted in the letter to Commission Chairman John Balfour, that a recent inspection revealed the courthouse was "deplorable from a maintenance point of view," and that space was inadequate. "I submit that a new courthouse is now necessary," he , said. We submit that Herring has done it now. Just when a decision on repairing the old courthouse could no longer be delayed, this Cumberland County judge brings up another option which will undoubtedly place the entire project back on the drawing boards. If Herring had just kept quiet, the commissioners might have got ten started on the work to repair the existing facility before the end of the decade. Now, that he has suggested a new courthouse, a Southern Pines architectural Arm will have to be hired. New studies will be made. Drawings of a stucco-covered building resembling a seagull eating a fish must be created. A site and money for the project has to be found before a decision can be reached by the commissioners. As a result of the the judge's meddling, Hoke County residents and the judiciary can expect construction to start sometime during the spring of 2020. Herring should have kept his mouth shut. Things were getting better at the 74-year-old structure. The com missioners have just about licked the pigeon problem, and after some repair effort, they have been able to get the roof to leak only when it rains. This year there were high hopes for getting the indoor plumbing going again. Now that expectation too is gone. If the judge doesn't like our courthouse, we submit that he might consider moving his court to the newly refurbished county commis sion chambers. There is plenty of space, and the room is only used twice a month. Give the elected officials of Hoke County a break, Judge. They are moving as fast as they know how. 'flehm Motor mouth here on the steps of ^be Moie County Courthouse, where 3 Superior Court Judye hos ordered a neu/ Courthouse. . X hdue u//th rr)e Mr. Joe C/hzen. Mr. Cft, zen , uhat are ycur Comments on the matter ? "flr. Citizen ? Uh ... Back io yoif Fred... " Interest rates continue to ease downward ? the good news many were waiting for all during 1984. So why hasn't the stock market roared ahead? Many are still forecasting a hefty rise in the average price of stocks this year and some are even casting eyes on such magic numbers as 1500. The drop in interest rates is cer tain to boost car and home sales and if it's true - as the latest in dicators hint -- that there's to be no recession in 1985, the outlook is bright. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan reiterated just before Christmas that inflation is definite ly under control and that everyone will be surprised in 1985 how docile the annual rate of inflation turns out to be. As interest rates fall, the cost of carrying the huge federal debt also falls. But the big annual deficits continue. The belief by many is that if Congress cuts spending significant ly in the next six months, and also reduces defense spending (almost certain), the market will make its S People and Issues biggest move then -- assuming the economy is not moving into a recession. FAMOUS EXIT! ... By the end of 1985, all one-pound notes in England will have disappeared -- at least from spending citizens. After that, only a small metal coin will represent a pound -- the equivalent of the U.S. dollar. The change is an economy move. Coins last longer than paper money. Does this mean, then, that at some future date Americans will return to a dollar coin? One was rejected a few years back. The big silver dollar has always been popular, though it's not practical in today's world. The British are trying a gold-color. Perhaps that will work better than the small U.S. silver-colored coin. MORALS . . . The lack of morals among the youngsters is a reflection of a greater lack of morals among the elders. 1 The News-Journal] PaMtaM Every Ttandajr k> DMm frm, Ik.. FhI Dtckioa, hn. 11* W. ElMri Aitw, P.O. In 550 Rarfor*. N.C. 2*316 Sabtrriptto* Rates la Ainact la Coaaljr Per Ytar? tlt.M ? Moalhs ? SS.Ot Oat of Caaaty Ptr Year ? $12.00 t Moatkt? M.OO LOUIS H. FOGLEMAN. JR .PaWbhcr WARREN N. JOHNSTON E*lo? HENRY L. BLUE .... Pradactioa Sapnrhw MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society EMor SAM C.MORRIS Coatrifealiaf Editor ANN WEII AdvfrtWat RtpmraUtivt 2ad Cha Pottaft al RatlaN. N.C. (USPS M-2M) Letters To The Editor Board decision not for Indians To The Editor: The Hoke County Board of Education has recently named a new director of Indian Education Mitchell Tyler. This decision was made against the wishes of the Parent Student Committee for Ti tle IV. They had recommended the hiring of Jerry Oxendine. The Pro cedures and Bylaws of the Title IV Parent Committee states the following duty: "The Parent Student Committee will review the qualifications of and make recom mendations concerning applicants for project staff positions." It is almost incomprehensible that the Board would hire someone who Supt. Nelson has stated (hat4tie new director would move into the county and become a part of the ?taxpaying system which supports the school system. This is very in teresting indeed. Especially in light of the fact that seemingly Nelson is only a temporary fixture himself in Hoke County. He rents a home, I understand. It is my considered opinion that he will retire in a few years and return to his home in Alamance County. The three races in Hoke County have long had a strong political working relationship. It seems ab surd to me to think that the Board would be so influenced by some one who knows nothing about our relationship and apparently doesn't care if that relationship is jeopardized. I know that the number of registered Indian voters in Hoke County is not sufficient to elect an individual. However, it is suffi cient as a block vote to swing an election for or against a candidate. I hope that the three board members who voted for the hiring of Tyler will take these things into consideration. We have long work ed well together. Could it be that Supt. Nelson is intentionally work ing toward the disunity of the county's political coalition? This matter is of particular in terest to me and many other In dians in Hoke County. We are concerned that the present Parent Committee has in fact been made to feel non-influential. It appears that they are indeed a non functioning committee in that their recommendation was blatantly overlooked. Voting for the committee's recommendation to hire Jerry Ox endine were Mrs. Gibson and Mr. McNeill. Voting for Mitchell Tyler who is not well known in our area and was not recommended by the Committee were Bill Cameron, Bobby Wright, and Walter Coley. Tyler was recommended by the e ? a ? * m-i Indian cause in Hoke County ex hibited by Mrs. Gibson and McNeill. We are disappointed in the other three because they show ed, in my opinion, no concern whatsoever for the feelings of the Indian population. We have nothing personal against Tyler. We just know very little about him. We have seen Jerry Oxendine as director of the IEA in the past and recognize his ability to administer the program. Besides that, we feel that the Parent Committee was elected to act in the best interests of the In dian population. They have done so by their recommendation. It should be supported. Indians need to know who their friends are on the local board of education. It is my opinion, that Supt. Nelson is not one of them. I have done some research on Supt. Nelson. His contract was not renewed by the Alamance County Board of Education. According to the Burlington Times, October 7, 1982, one of the reasons for not renewing his contract was that he (Nelson) did not have a good rela tionship with leaders in the com munity. He has certainly proven thus far that he has no intention of working with the Indians in Hoke County. Does history repeat itself? Again and again. It does. Supt. Nelson has seemingly misinformed us when he states that the board of education does not have to abide by the recommenda tions of the Parent Committee. Sources on the national level say he has grossly misrepresented a cer tain conversation with them. I suspect that Supt. Nelson's actions will result in placing our program in jeopardy. Perhaps that was his intention? We as Indians need to be aware of wolves in sheep's clothing among us. By their actions, Nelson, Coley, Wright and Cameron are not friends of the In dian populace. ' ' ' v SS ^jncSjely Yours, ffAl J. Mother Time's image on the ragged side To the editor: Ken Alexander's caricature of Father and Mother Time which ran in The News-Journal, Jan. 3, 1985 gave me reasons to reflect on his opinion of all older women possibly looking like a witch. Then I looked further and saw a cranky, crabby, old man who spent the whole year as usual without a hair cut and/or shave and ushering in a young man with possibly the same attitude in the making with such a scowl . (See LETTERS, page 3) Plot underway to move Raeford to 1950's Although the city officials are trying to keep the wraps on until they "can get to the bottom of it," I have discovered that there is a plot afoot to move Raeford back to the 1950's. "What do you think they are going to do, put everyone in a mov ing van and haul the entire town back to the 1950's?" my wife laughed when I confided my suspicions. They are more subtle than to use a moving van. They are doing it with the stoplights, I told her. Raeford had spent many years building to be a five stoplight town. The prt>spect looked very good this year that another signal would be added. When a town reaches the six stoplight level, everyone begins to regard the community differently. A new bevy of state funding is made available, a movie theatre will open and McDonald's will im mediately move into the county and begin flipping hamburgers. "It's called the Sixth Stoplight Syndrome, and we were real close," I said. However last week, the state Department of Transportation (DOT), obviously miffed over Raeford's political maneuvering to tat U.S. 401 widened, deckled to teach us a lesson. Documents I Jkowal in the trash dumpster of the DOT, revtahd pieces of a plot I think are directly linked to the Raeford stoplight cisis. , ' , I have wiped the Boston Cream Pie and discarded watercress sandwiches off the evidence aad put together this scenario of the The Puppy Papers Warren Johnston ?A truck, obviously hired by the DOT, clipped the pole holding the light at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Main Street. The stoplight had to be taken down because it was hanging too low, the DOT said. ?Almost simultaneously, the light at the intersection of Main Street and Edinborough Avenue was put on the bUnk. In order to fix it, a specialist had to be flown in from Asheboro, a DOT spokesman said. It took a week to repair. ?The saga of the clipped light pole dragged on into this week. ?Something began to smell rotten when the DOT said the pole belonged to the telephone company. ?When asked what might be done to speed up the work, a highway department official, who was surveying the scene, said with his hands on his hips: "We can do nothing until they replace the pole. So tee." He tfuck out hit tongue and skipped away. ?The telephone company, which has been very confused and heartsick since the national breakup of the Bed System, could not decide to which division the pole belonged. ?Alter an intensive meeting with U.S. Justice Department lawyers at a Washington D.C. pub, and after several rounds of beers, bruised feelings were soothed and it was decided that the pole in Raeford was the responsibility of the local telephone company. ?"We knew it was ours all along, but we just wanted them to ad mit it," a company spokesman was reported to have said, wiping a tear from his eye. ?The pole was replaced, but put too far from the curb to re attach the stoplight. A peanut butter covered item from the DOT trash indicates that the location was suggested by highway officials. ?A metal pole must be erected at DOT expense, another note revealed. Since the light was not on the 10-year priority list, the mat ter could be delayed until the highway board meets in February. The memo smelled of spilled champagne. "Newspaper people are always looking for plots. I think you are off-base with this one," my wife said. She could have been right. All I knew for sure was that when the lights went out, it caused the first traffic jam in Raeford since the girl from Hay Street streaked through the middle of town 10 years ago. "Well, if it is not a DOT plot, then the stoplights were snuffed by the University of North Carolina. We're probably being studied to see how we hold up under stress," I said, noting that I felt like a white mouse. My wife assured me that she would call the DOT to complain about the lights. 1 paid her no mind and headed to Chapel Hill to check the gar bage at the psychology department.
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 17, 1985, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75