Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / March 14, 1985, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News-Journal The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 Volume LXXV1 Number 47 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA $10 PER YEAR 25 CENTS Thursday, March 14, 1985 'Proposed phone rates called windfall By Warren Johnston If proposed local service rates between Hoke County and Fayet teville exchanges are implemented, Carolina Telephone Company ) could have a "windfall" revenue increase of $1.73 million during the first year, a spokesman for the Tarboro firm said last week. With the rate schedule proposed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Carolina Telephone would have an approximate gross revenue of $2.38 million during the first year for the service from Hoke County to Fayetteville. ) Long distance service between the exchanges is currently grossing $634,000 annually, spokesman David Tharrington said. Tharrington, who is the local rates manager for Carolina Telephone, said he was unsure how much of the increase would be pro fit, but that the "potential existed" for the company to make a "windfall." "The rate structure we proposed is based on companywide EAS (Extended Area Service) costs. We can't tell if the costs for providing EAS from Fayetteville to Raeford will be high or low," Tharrington said. Ten years ago EAS was established between Parkton and Fayetteville for $250,000. Costs estimates for equipment to put Hoke County on the Fayet teville exchange were not available and were not used to figure the proposed rate structure. "We say we will provide the ser vice no matter what the costs," Tharrington added. Although apparently no costs have been determined for switch ing the service from long distance to local, Carolina Telephone is proposing a 57% increase in rates for Hoke County residential and business phones and a 13% in Fayetteville rates. Here is how the argument over the change in service is taking shape: ?Local supporters feel the shift in service would improve the quali ty of life by making Hoke County more attractive for new residents, businesses and industries to move here. ?If the county grows, individual property taxes will decrease, more services can be provided and schools can be improved, backers of the change say. ?In January, Carolina Telephone records showed 91,136 base telephones in Fayetteville and Ft. Bragg would be affected by the change in service. About 16,000 of the phones are business. ?In Hoke County about 4,800 phones would be affected, which is about 1 ,000 more than the county had in 1976 when a vote on the change failed to pass. ?Over $53,000 per month is billed by Carolina Telephone for long distance service between the exchanges. About $29,000 of the monthly billing is made from Hoke County to Fayetteville. ?If the billing of long distance calls from Hoke County is spread over the total number of local phones affected by the shift, the monthly average would be $6.05 per phone, which is greater than the proposed residential rate hike of $4.52. Intrastate long distance calls will be de-regulated in the next two years, and the costs of calling be tween Hoke County and Fayet teville will be affected. Previously Tharrington said costs might go up, but after more investigation, he said Monday the "short haul" charges might decrease. "The overall impact (of the de regulation) might be that the rates come down," Tharrington said. Currently Carolina Telephone pools the revenue from intrastate long distance calls with other North Carolina firms. Profits are based on average costs of all the companies taking part in the pool. After de regulation, revenues will no longer be pooled. Tharrington was unsure whether de-regulation of intrastate calls would reduce Carolina Telephone's costs, but did say that the present rates for calls between Raeford and Fayetteville were pro fitable. "The present rate structure is not losing money," he said. County backs motel sewer v By Ed Miller Members of the Hoke County Commission agreed Monday to cover half of the cost of installing water and sewer lines to a new motel planned for Raeford. The move was the first time in recent memory, that the county has agreed to joint venture a utility project with the City of Raeford to AProvide service for an incoming business. In action last week, the city had agreed to provide the lines in hopes that the county would share in the cost. "We've pretty much got our necks out on-A-lMBfe/-' -City Coun cilman and Raeford-Hdke Economic Commissioner Vardell Hedgpeth said during a presenta tion in Monday's meeting. "We knew we couldn't afford it all but we felt that we had to take action," Hedgpeth said. According to the City Coun cilman, the project is estimated to cost about $40,000. #Around Town By Sam Morris The weather is still nice and if we can get by another week, I believe that the cold weather will be over for the year. It is just a week until spring and usually we don't have much bad ^weather after spring arrives. It was cold enough in January and February to take care of winter. ? * ? It seems only yesterday that the television screen was filled with political advertisements. Now ac cording to the news, Senator John East is going to start-his campaign ads on TV. It is almost two years away before the election and this 9seems to me, a bad idea. Most peo ple are tired of looking at political ads on TV. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in ads and think, of course, newspapers are best, but remember it is how and when you advertise that pays off. As the old saying goes, "it would be hard to sell refrigerators to Eskimos." ? ? ? ? Don't forget to mark your calen dar in April for the circus to be sponsored by the Raeford Kiwanis Club. It has been years since I have been to a circus. The last time was in Raleigh when my children were small. Now I believe I can go again and take my grandson, James, and enjoy it once AGAIN. ? ? ? It was good to read last week fabout the new motel coming to ^Raeford. This is something that has been needed in the city for many years. When we used to have men here to work on the equip ment at Dickson Press, it was bad to have to send them to Southern Pines or FayetteviUe to spend the night. Besides it added to the repair bUI because of the mileage in their rental cars. Yes, we do need a A motel. v The restoration of the old (See AROUND, page 9A> "The city felt that a 50-50 ar rangement was fair," he said. Figuring a $900,000 tax evalua tion on the motel and an accompa nying restaurant, it should take the county about five years to make back the money invested, said County Manager William Cowan and Commission Chairman John Balfour. "This is the kind of investment I like to see us make," said Commis sioner Wyatt Upchurch, adding that taxes from the motel will bring revenue to the county for years to come. According to Cowan, the city figured $7,500 for running the water line and the balance for con struction of the sewer line. There is about $20,000 in the county's contingency fund that can be used for the construction, said Cowan. During the course of discussion, Balfour voiced fear that the pro ject would go over the budgeted $40,000. "Usually, the estimates we get are pretty close to correct," Hedgpeth said. College OK'd In other action, the Commis sioners approved a motion to ac cept as "proposed for the budget" a $13,000 request from the Hoke County Higher Education Founda tion. Although the request may be turned down at final budget time, it will be considered. The money will be used to pay for maintenance and utilities costs associated with using Hoke Coun ty High School to house classes for a Sandhills Community College satellite, Foundation President Bill Archer said. Archer also asked that the County Commission help the Foundation locate a proposed director for the satellite when the need arises. According to Archer, the Foun Presenting the fox State Representative Danny De Vane shows members of the Hoke County Commission a newspaper article from Alamance County about the over population of foxes in that area. De Vane is pushing a bill that will appear soon in the Legislature opening a fox hunting and trapping season in Hoke County. DeVane would not consider taking the bill to Raleigh unless the County Commission endorsed it, he said. dation received approval from the Hoke County Board of Education last week to use Hoke High. In anwering questions about future costs to the county for the satellite, Archer said: "Hopefully, we can pick up additional help from the state once the need is established." "If we are successful in the first year, we could come under the um brella of the Community College System," Foundation Member Steve Parker said. Having just returned from a meeting with many of the nation's county commissioners, Balfour said: "I came back from Washington down in the dumps because of the attitude up there." (See FOX, page 9A) No fun Four of the county's nine fire departments fought a woods and grass fire at Oakdale Gin Tuesday. Many of the county's firemen went all day Tuesday without food while battling blazes which burned in all parts of the county. High winds did not help matters as flames readily blew across roads and creeks to ignite dry materials on the other sides. Man charged with rape of 9-year old By Ed Miller A 35-year-old Hoke County man has been arrested and charged with the rape of a nine-year-old girl. Harold Jones McNeill, 35, of Rt. 5, Box 319D, Raeford, was out of jail Monday on $10^000 bond, after being charge! with the February 23 incident, according to reports from the Hoke County Sheriffs Department. According to Sheriff Dave Barr ington, McNeill allegedly had sex ual relations with the little girl three times. According to a statement given by the child, she had been making up the bed in her bedroom and decided to go to the bathroom. When she returned to her room, McNeill was there, the statement said. He pushed her onto the bed and raped her, she said in the state ment. The First alleged attack happen ed on a Wednesday, according to the statement. Also, according to the child's statement, another incident hap pened on the following Saturday. "She's old enough to testify against him," Sheriff Barrington said Monday. According to Assistant District Attorney Jean Powell, age has lit tle to do with trying to decide whether a person should testify or not. Powell added that persons under 14 years of age must be "qualified" to the court before testifying. "They must understand the oath and the consequences of what they are doing," said Powell. McNeill is scheduled for a first appearance hearing on March 22. Turkey races scheduled for September festival By Ed Miller Do you thrill to the sight of large birds dashing down carefully measured lanes? Perhaps flying feathers and poultry on the hoof send your spirits soaring. If so, the turkey races at this year's first annual North Carolina Turkey Festival will certainly tickle your fancy. The races are scheduled for Main Street in Raeford on September 21. For Raeford natives, the sight of turkeys is not uncommon. Racing the birds is another story. Although supporters of the Depot fund over $5,000 Fundraisers have crossed the $5,000 mark in efforts to raise the money needed to restore the old Aberdeen Rockfish Depot in Raeford. Contributions from residents and businesses had reached $5,220 by Monday, Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce spokesman Steve Parker said. The Chamber-sponsored Restoration Committee is attemp ting to raise $30,000 to restore the building. Currently the building is little more than an exterior shell, and will need new wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, as well as interior walls, ceilings and floors before it can be used to house the offices of the Chamber and the economic developer. The building was constructed around 1900 and committee members hope to restore it to that period. (See DEPOT, page 8 A) North Carolina festival would pro bably like to call the races their idea, it is not. For the folks of the Inn on Lake Waramaug, in New Preston, Con necticut, racing turkeys has been a venture that started five years ago with the "Live Turkey Olympics," a spokesman said Friday. According to Peter Cunn ingham, the races are the climax event of the Olympics which in clude other specialties like the high jump and the slalom. In the Connecticut Olympics, the birds are raced in 12 lanes 50 feet long. There are a number of heats in (See TURKEY, page 9A)
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