The
ews
I ournal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
ist
No.l9VoL109
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, July 16,2014
Two file for board of education
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
So far, two people have filed to run for
election to the Hoke County Board of Edu
cation.
Incumbent Della Maynor filed to run for
another four-year term on the board on the
first day that filing opened. Candidate Gil
bert Walker has now filed to seek one of the
three seats on the nonpartisan board that is
up for election this year.
The filing period for the nonpartisan
school board race opened Monday. The fil
ing period runs through August 4.
The school board seats currently oc
cupied by Maynor, Barbara Buie and Irish
Pickett are up for election this year. Buie
said she does plan to file for reelection.
Pickett said she has not decided yet whether
she will run again but expects to make a
decision by the end of the week.
The filing period for the Soil and Water
board closed earlier this month. Leonard
Baldwin and Neil McKenzie were the only
two candidates to file to run for the two
available seats up for election on that board.
Most local and state races are uncontest
ed, with the exception of the race for three
seats on the Hoke County Board of Com
missioners. Voters will select three people
to represent them on the county board.
Democratic candidates for the three seats
are incumbent Tony Hunt, former county
attorney Harry Southerland and Allen
Thomas. Republican candidates running
for election to the commission are John F.
Harry and Angela Thomas. Democratic
incumbent Jean Powell ran for reelection
(See SCHOOL BOARD, page 3A)
kHUCKLE I//
AEAlNSr
cnucBfi
MaxxVenom (left) gets ready
to climb into the ringfor a tag
team match at a Ring Wars
Carolina wrestling event in
Lumberton. He has the up
per hand (center), but his
opponent isn’t just human,
but cancer itself. Sales of
his specially designed shirt
(right) will generate money
for the Duke Cancer Fund.
(Catharin Shepard photos)
Wrestler takes cancer fight into the ring
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
When Hoke County’s Maxx
Venom came charging into the
ring Saturday night in Lum
berton, he traded his usual
wrestling gear for a shirt with
a special message: It’s time to
“knuckle up” against cancer.
Maxx Venom, also known as
James Hunter, is trying to make
a difference by using his reach
as a Ring Wars Carolina wres
tler to raise money for the Duke
Cancer Fund. Hunter is selling
T-shirts with all profits going
to the fund, which conducts
innovative cancer research and
helps connect patients with new,
cutting-edge cancer therapies.
Hunter got into wrestling be
cause he enjoys the excitement
and the chance to help others
have a good time. He was a
big wrestling fan when he was
growing up, and he remembers
being that young boy watching
wide-eyed as wrestlers faced
each other down in the ring.
Now he’s the one looking out at
the crowds.
“I did it just to make enjoy
ment for other people, mainly
the children. That’s one of the
(See WRESTLER, page 6A)
Alleged
phone
thief
charged
Deputies with the
Hoke County Sher
iff’s Office arrested
a man last week on
felony charges for al
legedly breaking into
a vehicle.
Officers charged
Jaqwan Covington,
20, of the 200 block of Ellis Road in
Lumberton on charges of felony break
ing and entering a motor vehicle, felony
possession of stolen goods and misde
meanor larceny. He received a $5,000
unsecured bond.
Investigators called to the 7000
block of Fayetteville Road around 1
p.m. July 9 reportedly reviewed video
surveillance showing the suspect
breaking into a vehicle and taking a
cell phone.
Shortly after, deputies doing com
munity patrol on Cavalier Drive in
Raeford located the suspect’s vehicle.
They were able to locate the suspect,
who had the stolen cell phone in his
possession, according to the sheriff’s
office.
Detectives were called to the scene
and placed Covington under arrest.
This Week
Chef still cooking
it up Down Under
Page 4A
Prisoners charged
wtih assault
Page 3A
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 5B
Deaths 3A
Editorials 2A
Legals 3-4B
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Edwards is city’s new finance, tech officer
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Edwards
Scott Edwards, former fi
nance officer for Hoke County
and the town of Hope Mills,
is now working for the city of
Raeford.
The city council hired Ed
wards earlier this summer to
be the new city finance officer.
He has been on the job for
about a month now, he said.
Besides serving as finance of
ficer, he will also be handling
information technology mat
ters for the city.
Edwards was raised in
Raeford and graduated from
Hoke High School in 1990.
He attended the University of
North Carolina in Charlotte
for two years and then trans
ferred to the University of
North Carolina at Pembroke to
complete his bachelor’s degree
in accounting.
Edwards began working
at the James F. Baker certi
fied public accountant firm
in Raeford and stayed there
for several years before the
county hired him to serve as
the county’s finance director
in 2001. He served in that role
with Hoke County for four
years before returning to pri
vate sector work. He worked
with another CPA firm while
earning a master’s degree in
business administration from
UNC-Pembroke.
The town of Hope Mills
(See EDWARDS, page 4A)
Local actress writes, directs upcoming play
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hoke resident Julionne John
son is only 21, but she’s already
a veteran actress and now is
bringing her writing and direct
ing talents to the Sandhills.
The Boston-born, multi
talented young woman has
performed in television shows
including “The Vampire
Diaries” and “Revolution,” and
currently is preparing to stage
at the Crown Center in Fay
etteville a play she wrote and
directed.
By Ken MacDonald
It was a manly weekend.
Some of us manly men gath
ered Saturday to plumb the
depths of a butane-propane-
powered nail gun—that’s right,
a device that smells like a
forklift and explodes nails into
wood—boom!—sounding like
target practice.
Ka-bam! That board ain’t
going nowhere.
The noise didn’t matter,
because half the guys working
on this plank ramp were so old
and hard of hearing you had
to tap them on the back of the
shoulder to get their attention
to tell them they were about to
nail something in the wrong
(See OTHER STUEE, page 4A)
Johnson’s family moved
to Fayetteville to be closer to
her grandparents, Wayne and
June Johnson, before moving
to Raeford. She got involved
in the arts at a young age. Her
first role in a play was perform
ing as a pixie fairy in a middle
school production of “Into the
Woods.”
After that, Johnson was
hooked. She went on to attend
North Carolina Performing
Arts in high school, where she
created and performed her own
religious solo piece. When she
moved on to college, although
she continued her involvement
in plays, she branched out to
television and film.
Besides her appearances on
popular television shows, the
(See ACTRESS, page 4A)
ohnson wrote and will direct a play.