Newspapers / The news-journal. / Sept. 19, 1985, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News-Tournal Established 1928 ? - The Hoke County News - Established 1928 Volume LXXVII Number 22 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA $10 PER YEAR The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 25 CENTS Thursday, September 19, 1985 No North Carolina exclusive This Virginia motorist displays his preference for turkey with a " Gobble " license plate. Photographer Dayvid Teague snapped this shot in the Spring Lake area. We take another look at the local turkeys and the North Carolina Turkey Festival on page one of section B and page // in sec tion A in today's News- Journal. County receives fed grant for economic development By Ed Miller Hoke County can now begin to study the feasibility of an in dustrial park with $25,000 in grant money given the Raeford-Hoke Economic Development Commis sion last week. News that the grant has been awarded to Hoke County has ex cited Economic Development Commission Director John Howard. "Essentially, this grant will per mit us to do work endorsed by the United States Department of Com merce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) using grant funds set aside for underprivileged areas like ours," said Howard. Members of the Economic Development Commission gave Howard permission to apply for the grant in July. "An important driving force behind achieving this grant is the work done by Raeford Mayor John K. McNeill Jr.," said Howard. "He, among other leaders in the community have been working toward this objective over the last eight to ten years," he said. "I am extremely pleased, for their sake, that we will now be able to move forward," said Howard. "This is the first grant given usually in a series of grants," said Howard. According to Raeford City Manager Tom Phillips; "It is the first step in a number of grants that could result in an industrial park for Hoke County." An EDA letter set the effective date of the grant as September 15 and said the grant money will be available for 12 months. The grant sets up a work plan for seeking an industrial park that will be divided into four phases, said Howard. Phase one, "site feasibility and selection" is divided into five separate parts. These parts include defining what Hoke County wants as a site, identifying probable sites, iden tification of favorable industrial types for the site, assessment of physical features of sites and descriptions on how the site will be controlled, said the developer. Phase two will entail a detailed site investigation and developing a master plan and program for it. This phase will also examine "the ability of the Raeford-Hoke County Development Commission to meet anticipated costs," said Howard. Marketing is phase three and can be happening simultaneously with phases one and two. The final phase will be an ex ecutive summary that will assess the effectiveness of how the grant money was used, said Howard. "Our strategy, since the incep tion of this year of out Economic Development Commission locally, has been to do this work anyway," said Howard. "Now, the grant permits us to move vigorously and without im pact on our own budget," he said Suicide eyed in shooter's deaJth By Ed Miller A man found dead in an alley behind Raeford's Page Bank and Trust Building Thursday night ap parently opened fire and wounded a man and a woman before ending his own life, local authorities said Tuesday. The dead man, who is believed to have killed himself, has been tenatively identified as Stacy Lowry, Raeford Police Chief Leonard Wiggins said. The other victims of the shooting spree, Sadie Brown and David Price, have both been released from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, said the chief. Brown was shot in one leg and Price was wounded in the hip, said Wiggins. The shooting occurred last Thursday night in the Page Bank and Trust Building, according to witnesses and Wiggins. According to neighbors. Brown lives in the old bank building and Price, a recently transplanted native of New York, is her cousin. As close as police can tell, Lowry shot the two persons, ran to an alley beside the apartment building, put the gun to his head and fired, said Wiggins. A gunshot wound was found to the temple of Lowry with powder burns around it, and the gun was found under the dead man, said Wiggins. "We have to treat it (the alleged suicide) as homocide until we can prove different," said Wiggins. Police officials think the man committed suicide because relatives and friends told Wiggins that Lowry had threatened suicide many times, the latest times being early last week, the chief said. "It appeared that the wound was self-inflicted. Upon investiga tion, we found that he (Lowry) was the one who shot the others," said Wiggins. The investigation shows that Lowry and Price had been arguing, Wiggins said. The pair had been "bickering back and forth most all day," he said. Lowry's body has been taken to Chapel Hill for an autopsy. Currently, police are waiting for State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) officials to lift fingerprints from the gun, said Wiggins. Others who live in the Page Bank and Trust Building heard the shots, and one woman even had a visit from Price after he was shot. "1 was about asleep when I heard something like a gun," Dorothy Jones said. The woman said that Price broke down her door and fell in her apartment. "All at once, someone ran in here and busted my door down," said Jones. "He ran down here to get away from the gun," she said. "It scared me." "Then I heard the woman come (See SUICIDE, page 10A) Committee is named for 75th By Ed Miller Members of the Hoke County Commission took the first steps in planning a celebration for the county's 75th anniversary Monday night by appointing the members of a steering committee to head the festivities. Long-time Hoke residents Sam Morris, Clyde Upchurch Jr. and John D. McAllister were named to the^committee by County Commis sion Vlce-TKSrrifanT^eill McPhat ter. Morris was named chairman of the committee, said McPhatter. Two of the three men were on the 50th anniversary committee 25 years ago, said Commission Chair man John Balfour. The three members of the com mittee will have the authority to appoint additional members to subcommittees, said Balfour. In other action, commissioners passed a motion accepting plans and specifications for the Hoke County Courthouse and allowing the architectural firm who drew up the plans to send them out for bid ding. "These are an excellent set of specs," said Hoke County Manager William Cowan. "We plan to open bids on Oc tober 23," said Cowan. Provided the bids are accep table, the lowest bidder will be awarded the contract on November 14 with construction to begin on November 21, said Cowan. Cowan said the contractor will be given 240 days to complete the courthouse project which will put the completion date on July 19, 1986. . For each day the contractor is late, a fee of $100 will be charged him, said Cowan. The 240 day figure was picked in case inclimate weather disallows painting and other outside work, he said. "Structurally, the building will look as it did when it was originally constructed," Cowan said. Current operations now ongoing in the courthouse will have to be moved, said the manager. Three buildings will be used because county officials wanted to house the operations without hav ing to rent space. The assistant district attorney's office, magistrates, the probation department and some others will be moved to the Hoke County Public Library, he said. Others will be placed in the courthouse annex which is part of the Hoke County Sheriff's Depart ment and the Register of Deed's office and the Hoke County Board of Elections office will be in the Pratt Building, said Cowan. According to the manager, Hoke County District Court will be held in the commissioner's meeting room in the Pratt Building. Although it is still undecided, Superior Court will probably not be held in Hoke County, he said. Superior court judges who serve in Hoke County are now deciding that issue, said Cowan. "Do you think all records will be secure enough?" Commissioner Wyatt Upchurch asked. There will not be adequate space, but there will be duplicates on microfilm and they will be suf ficient, according to the manager.'* Commissioners also passed a motion allowing the movement of the offices until the courthouse construction is complete. Cowan "is still working on getting sufficient telephone lines to the of fices. A sign will be placed on the grounds of the courthouse telling people where the temporary offices are located, said Cowan. Commissioners also voted to let the county's Building and Grounds Committee look into future uses for the old National Guard Ar mory. Chairman Balfour recommend ed considering making the building available for sale. Currently, there are two county departments housed in the building, said Balfour. The Hoke County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the Hoke County Parks and Recrea tion Department will have new quarters built with money received (See HOKE, page 2A) Around Town By Sam Morris The weather went from summer to winter overnight. It has been nice over the weekend, even if it cools down at night. We haven't had any rain so cotton should be picked in a week or so. The forecast is for the temperature to get into the low 80's for the remainder of the week. This is as it should be with fall season starting Sunday, Sept 22. ? ? ? It was good to see so many Turkey Festival T-shirts in the city Monday. I believe that people started buying the shirts after they saw someone wearing one on Mon day. If you don't have yours, get one before the festival ends on Saturday. They will be something you will want to keep. The festival will be underway when the paper hits the streets, but it should start with a bang and be something to remember with all the special events taking place until Saturday. The committee has worked hard, and they should be con gratulated on ? job well done. The graduating classes of IfDke (See AROUND, page 2A) Starting the monument Sculptor Art Cor* works on the first hand of the Hoke County memorial planned for the grounds of the courthouse. Gore Is beginn ing the work in clay and will later cast It in bronte. The monument is an effort by Eagle Scout candidate i Josh and Jay Pate. About 12,000 has been raised toward the S3, 000 estimated cost. Additional funds will be raised by the Hoke County American Legion during the Turkey Festival. Police collar Hoke man during Western Auto B&E After answering a silent alarm last week at Raeford's Western Auto, police arrested a local man and charged him with breaking, entering and larceny. Terry Dyrant McGregor, 25, was arrested at the scene, inside the store, and charged, Raeford Police Chief Leonard Wiggins said. Upon arrival at the store, police found the bottom panel of a door kicked out, said Wiggins. McGregor allegedly had $57 in cash and a gold ring in his pockets when arrested, said Wiggins. Raeford Police personnel were assisted by Hoke County's members of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, said the chief. In an unrelated case, an in vestigation into the background of a man arrested for violating state alcohol control laws, led officers to charge James Lewis Willis with skipping out on probation, a report from the Hoke County Sheriff's Department says. Willis, 19, was caught for the probation violation after a check was run on him through the Na tional Crime Information Center (NCIC), according to a report by Hoke County Detective C.E. Har ris. The North Carolina Department of Corrections issued an "order to hold" the man, reports say. Willis was under three years of supervised probation for non support, Harris said. The man was charged in Hoke County on September 7 for selling beer to the Unique Lounge, in Raeford's Jones Hill section, without a license, reports say. In another area incident, on September 9, a Raeford man, Lee Dell McGougan was charged with assaulting a female and breaking and entering after he allegedly broke into the window of a woman's mobile home and attack ed a visitor, according to reports. The 27-year-old McGougan is alleged to have been arguing with Hattie Bethea while she was visiting the frailer of a friend, reports say. Beihea was said to have been in side the trailer talking to McGougan who was outside. In the heat of the arguement, McGougan brokfe the window he was talking through, climbed in side the trailer, and took Bethea away, carrying her across the (See MAN. page 2A) In town Friday Worth Carolina James G. Mar tin will be in town on Friday for a brief visit. The governor will inspect the newly restored Raeford depot while he is here. Martin 's helicopter is scheduled to land at the Edenborough Shopping Center at 11:30 a.m. Friday, and the governor will stay only 20 minutes before departing for Winston-Salem. Local residents are being en couraged to come to Eden borough Shopping Center and greet the governor.
Sept. 19, 1985, edition 1
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