whone battle centers jpimd service costs Hoke County has a long fight ahead before local telephone calls can be made to Fayettevilk, and most of the battle will probably be centered around the high price of the service. ? Although the company apparently does not know what costs will be incurred to make the needed local connections, Carolina Telephone has suggested rates which are frightening custodiers on both ends of the lines. Currently Carolina Telephone is proposing to raise local phone rates by 57% and Fayetteville phones by 13% in order to provide the service. Under the present proposal, Carolina Telephone's annual revenues would jump by $1.7 million for service between the ex changes, which leads one to believe that the rates may be on the high side. Even with the proposed high rates, the local service would be a bargain for Hoke County residents, because without the change we can look forward to tax increases much higher than what is being suggested by Carolina Telephone. Local telephone service to Fayettevillc would not only be more convenient to those already living in Hoke County, but it would also remove another obstacle from the path of new residents. > More residents in Hoke County mean more taxpayers and more dollars for local businesses. Though not on as great a scale, the local telephone service would also benefit FayettevUle by increasing the metropolitan and shop ping area. For Hoke County, direct telephone service to FayettevUle is a necessity, and if Carolina Telephonegets its heart right, the connec tion can be made at an affordable price. We encourage Hoke County residents to support the change in telephone service and to fight for its passage. If the bid for the local telephone service fails, every resident can look forward to paying the higher taxes needed to keep Hoke Coun ty afloat. County takes new step The vote by members of the Hoke County Commission Monday to pay a portion of the costs of providing water and sewer for a new business showed a progressive change in attitude. In recent months the commissioners have been voicing a need for new industry and for an increased tax base, but Monday's vote is the first time the county has had an opportunity to replace words with dollars. The commissioners voted to pay up to $20,000, or about half of the costs of running sewer and water lines to a new motel planned for U.S. 401 south of Raeford. ? In the past, the county commissioners have rejected joint ventur ing utility projects with Raeford and have left the burden of pro viding the service on the city taxpayers. Although Monday's move was small, its significance was great because it shows a definite beginning of cooperation between local governments. ! If this community is going to survive, then both Raeford and Hoke County must work together to make it happen. We commend the commissioners for supporting the effort to bring new businesses to the county, and hope that Monday's action is a sign of more good things to come. Turk ey n*$. loh ?Lj-boy, haueni rur\ like Vh'\ s Smce lasi November Red Springs leaves a lesson Last week was tornado week awareness week. I hope you prac ticed what you should do to pro tect yourself if a tornado were coming toward us. I must admit that I have not actually practiced, but I have tried to learn what 1 should do in various situations. I heard that Clayton Bouyer recommended grabbing a little cheese, a few crackers and a mayonnaise jar of water and hiding in a ditch. A similar plan was hatched by employees at Raeford Oil Company. My niece talked about the tor nado drill at her school. She ex plained the students in her class were to go quickly into the hall and each take a jacket from the hooks there to cover their heads. She did not like the idea of taking someone else's jacket, but she knew why it was important to cover her head as she knelt against the wall. In fact, tornado awareness was the topic at a meal in my mama's kitchen recently. She teaches, and she told us about the plan for pro tecting children in her school. She.. also told USaH&Mihtcr had put her children's neads on one pillow and covered them with another last spring when there were storms in her town. My brother-in-law, who Kay Thomas Looking On treasures his children, said "I guess it would be a pretty good idea to shoot 'em...." He began to search for words. We all turned to stare. His children sat frozen. I reached over and touched his forehead, between the eyes. He snapped to and finally said "...be tween the mattress and springs of the bed." We all screamed, laughing. We were all so relieved that he was not putting those dear children out of their misery. He was insulted. He had a good idea. He now has a plan. His children know he would shoot them. ..bet ween the mattress and springs of a bed. We all need to have plans. The people of Red Springs got little or no warning. If they had been told last March that one or more, tornados were headed tawwl