The
ews
750
I ournal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.44Vol.110
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, January 6,2016
Sheriff seeks more deputies in 2016
Work with gang awareness, church safety wiU continue
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Last year was a big one for the Hoke
County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff
Hubert Peterkin said he hopes to build
on the work his department has done by
adding more deputies to the roster in
2016 to help keep Hoke residents safe.
“We had a good year, we really had a
good year, and we didn’t have as many
problems as we did in the past,” the
sheriff said. “We worked a lot of cases,
we’re working a lot of break-ins, lot of
drug (cases).”
One drug in particular has reemerged
as one of the biggest concerns in Hoke
County, after those traffickers went quiet
for a number of years.
“Heroin has crept back up in our com
munity. We ’re working a lot of cases with
that plus illegal prescription meds. People
are selling those a lot,” Peterkin said.
As in previous years, the additional
growth in the county continues to pose
new challenges for the sheriff’s office
staff in terms of the sheer number of calls
that the officers receive each day. The
deputies are doing their best to respond
to each and every one as quickly as pos
sible, Peterkin said.
“The deputies are going call to call.
We had over 70,000 calls for service last
year,” he said.
Turnover at the sheriff’s office and
the jail has gone down. However, with
the high call volume and the growing
number of subdivisions in the county, the
sheriff’s office needs more staff members
(See DEPUTIES, page 5)
Officers with the Raeford Police Department shopped for Christmas presents with local children through the Shop With a Cop program, and also donated
toys to local families.
Police department looks forward to 2016
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Raeford Police Department worked to build a
strong relationship with citizens last year and hopes to
keep building on that foundation in the coming year.
Assistant Chief Maj. Marc Godwin said.
“Last year, we tried to be a little bit more involved
with the community, have more of an outreach with
them,” he said.
With the support of a neighborhood watch group, the
department started a Coffee With a Cop initiative, which
lets anyone interested get to know local law enforcement
over a cup of coffee. The program, which got its start a
number of years ago in California, has been part of the
local department for the last several months.
Coffee With a Cop is the first Tuesday of every month
at4p.m. atHardee’son Highway 401 Bypass in Raeford.
“We’ve been having about 20 people on average,
(See POLICE, page 8)
which is pretty good,” Godwin said.
Man charged
with opium
trafficking
The husband
of a local doctor
was arrested last
year for traf
ficking in pre
scription pills,
according to the
Hoke County
Sheriff’s Office.
Hendricks
Authorities arrested Michael
Anthony Hendricks, 55, of the
5600 block of Philippi Church
Road on one count of trafficking
opiates. Hendricks is married to
local family physician Dr. Karen
Smith, according to Hoke County
Sheriff Hubert Peterkin.
Hendricks was arrested No
vember 23, 2015. The sheriff’s
office did not immediately release
(See TRAEFICKING, page 5)
Bicyclist
killed on 401
A man riding a bicycle on
Highway 401 Business was hit
by a car and killed Saturday,
according to the North Carolina
Highway Patrol.
Tony McEachrin, 55, of the
200 block of Rebecca Lane in Red
Springs was fatally struck while
riding his bicycle on Highway 401
Business about a mile north of
Raeford, Trooper D. Clark of the
Highway Patrol reported. The ac
cident happened about 4:30 p.m.
McEachrin was reportedly
riding in the northbound traffic
lane when driver James T. Wright
of Dragoon Road in Fayetteville,
who was driving a Suzuki in the
same lane and direction of travel,
apparently ran into McEachrin.
McEachrin was thrown off the
bicycle and landed on the right-
(See BICYCLIST, page 5)
This Week
Infrastmcture plan in the works, manager says
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
DMV fees increased
Jan. I
2 Just when it looked like industry in
° Raeford was set to take a major hit, a new
company came on the scene to save the
day in 2015, Raeford City Manager Den-
Browsing the Files 3 nis Baxley said.
Classifieds 7 Butterball buying and reopening the
, former House of Raeford cook plant was a
ueains d huge deal for the city, bringing hundreds of
Editorials 2 jobs back to the area that were lost when the
plant closed in 2014. That was the biggest
local development for the city over the last
year, Baxley said, and the growth continued
even after the initial announcement.
The company originally planned to
invest about $26 million and bring over
300 jobs to the city, but once the business
started moving into the facility, officials
decided to expand on those numbers.
“(Butterball) made a substantial invest
ment they hadn’t planned on. That’s good
for us. We love Butterball,” Baxley said.
However, the House of Raeford poultry
slaughterhouse sitting empty on East Cen
tral Avenue is another story. The city just
cut off water service to the slaughterhouse
last week, the city manager said, as the
company was housing some of its office
staff at the location until recently. Now
what happens to the old plant?
“This may be the end of the House of
Raeford era in Raeford,” Baxley said.
The company is trying to market the
building, but the prospects aren’t promis
ing due to the age of the building and the
work needed to bring it up to code, he said.
One part of the old facility could be of
benefit to the city, however.
“I actually talked to the House of Ra
eford about purchasing the old parking lot,”
Baxley said. That space could potentially
be used for city parking or other purposes.
In 2015, the city’s well-known blue and
red water bill postcards went away for good
when the city hired a third party company
to handle its utility billing. The city breaks
even on the cost, but the real benefit is
convenience for customers, Baxley said.
Now, water customers can pay their bill
online as well as in person and by mail.
In 2016, the city will start taking a closer
look at its utility lines and other infrastruc
ture. The city council approved McGougan
Brothers to create a capital improvement
plan and asset management plan.
“That will kind of set the course for how
we proceed with infrastructure repair and
(See INFRASTRUCTURE, page 8)
Look for
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to find stores
that sell The
News-Journal
Commissioners approve 2(X)-acre solar farm
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By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
wvvw.thenews-journal.com
www.raefordnj.com
The Hoke County Board of Com
missioners approved what would be the
county’s largest solar farm to date at the
board’s first regularly scheduled meeting
of the new year.
The commissioners unanimously ap
proved a conditional use permit requested
by Innovative Solar Systems and the
Maynor family of Shoeheel Farms for a
201-acre solar farm to be located at 2262
Edinburgh Road.
If plans go through to build the solar
farm, it will become the largest of its kind
in Hoke County. The existing solar farm
on Palmer Street near the intersection with
St. Pauls Road is about 32 acres. The new
farm will be over six times as large.
The Maynor family came to Innova
tive Solar Systems seeking a good use
for their land, according to spokesperson
Lance Reilly.
“The Manors looked at a way to create
reliable income on their property without
adversely affecting the community they
live and work in,” he said.
Reilly described solar farms as a good
solution for the family and a plus for the
community.
“Solar creates clean, quiet, green, safe,
secure, odor-free electricity,” he said.
“There will be no engines revving at 3 a.m.,
no law enforcement, EMS or fire trucks
all hours of the night, no increased traffic
and no added children to the school sys
tem. A solar farm will increase the county
revenue without increasing the county’s
responsibility.”
The solar farm will be enclosed in a
fence and there will be a single-road access
to it off of Edinburgh Road. The county
required additional conditions before
approving the conditional use permit to
address issues of abandonment, removal
and nuisance factors.
The property is in the Allendale Town
ship and is considered a Red Springs
address although it is technically in Hoke
County.
The property is zoned RA-20 Res
idential-Agricultural, as is most of the
surrounding property. It is located near
the intersection of Dan Campbell Road
and Edinburgh Road.
No one else spoke at the solar farm
public hearing.
Innovative Solar Systems is based out
of Asheville.
New subdivision planned
The commissioners also unanimously
approved the development of an 18-lot
subdivision off of South Parker Church
Road, but also asked county staff to look
into concerns of local residents regarding
drainage problems from a nearby wetlands
area.
Southeast Construction of Rockfish
LLC submitted a plan for adding 18 new
lots called the Ridge at Puppy Creek, which
will be located on an unaddressed parcel
of property. Several residents of nearby
subdivisions addressed the board to bring
up issues they have with flooding due to
drainage issues from when their older sub
divisions were built in the 2000s, before
Hoke County’s new subdivision ordinance
was put into place.
One resident showed photos of his
flooded yard.
One developer reported that the new
(See SOLAR FARM, page 8)