The
ews
IH
J ournal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.49Vol.llO
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, February 10,2016
Cause of florist fire unknown
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Daisy Patch florist shop in Hillcrest
Plaza caught fire Monday morning and inves
tigators are still looking into the cause of the
blaze, which also caused damage to surround
ing stores.
The store in the shopping center on High
way 401 Business near the Rockfish Road
{See FIRE, page 10)
A fire Monday morning damaged several businesses in a shopping center on Highway 401 Business. (Catharin Shepard photos)
Voter registration
deadline nears
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Next week is the dead
line to register to vote
in the upcoming March
primary election.
Eligible citizens must
register to vote by Friday,
February 19 to be eligible
to cast a ballot on the pri
mary election day, which is
March 15. Early one-stop
voting begins March 3
and ends Saturday, March
12. Tuesday, March 8, is
the last day to request an
absentee ballot by mail.
Hoke County voters will
cast ballots in the primary
election to select which
candidates will represent
their political party of
choice in the November
General Election. Citizens
voting on the Democratic
ballot will choose from
Hoke County Board of
Commissioners incum
bents James Leach and
Bobby Wright and candi
dates Joe Allston and Lon
nie Baldwin for two seats
on the board. The winners
will face Republican can
didate William “Brownie”
Brown in November.
Democratic voters will also
select whether incumbent
Kristy Newton or candi
date James Allen
(See VOTING, page 10)
Man charged with DWI
after Moore County chase
Questions sought for Tuesday debate
A Raeford man with a
number of traffic violations
was charged after leading a
highway patrol trooper on a
chase before jumping from
his car and being struck by
a vehicle.
Keith Ortez Harris, 35,
turned around at a check
point on N.C. 211 near the
Hoke-Moore line February
2 and sped off, according to
the Highway Patrol.
About 1.5 miles after
turning on to Indiana
Avenue, the patrol reported,
Harris jumped from his
car and was hit by another
vehicle as he crossed the
road. He continued running
into the woods where he
was caught about 100 yards
from the road.
Harris was airlifted to
UNC Hospitals in Chapel
Hill but released a short
time later after being evalu
ated for a head wound.
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
There’s still time for community
members to send in questions for the
Hoke County Commission candidates
and District Attorney candidates to an
swer in the upcoming political debate
hosted by the Chamber of Commerce
and The News-Journal.
The debate is set for Tuesday, Febru
ary 16 at 6 p.m. at the Senior Room in
the Old Armory on East Central Av
enue in Raeford. The moderated, timed
debate will give candidates running for
a seat on the county commission and
candidates running for the office of
District Attorney a chance to discuss
their stances on issues of local impor
tance and challenge their opponents
on those stances. All candidates of any
party running for the contested county
commission and district attorney races
have been invited to participate in the
event.
Any member of the public can sub
mit questions for the debate by email
ing them to rae-hokchamber @ embarq-
mail.com. or sending it by mail to the
Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce,
101 North Main Street, Raeford, NC
28376. Debate questions can also be
dropped off in person at the Chamber
of Commerce.
Please mark whether the questions
are meant for the commission or the
district attorney candidates. A Cham
ber of Commerce committee will
select which of the submitted questions
will be used in the debate. Due to time
restraints, not all questions may be
used.
The deadline to submit questions is
Friday, February 12.
The debate is free and members of
the public are invited to attend. Light
refreshments will be served. The event
will last a maximum of two hours and
will include an intermission.
For more information, contact the
Chamber of Commerce at 875-5929.
Superintendent award
decision is Thursday
Hoke County Schools
Superintendent Dr. Freddie
Williamson will find out
Thursday whether his state
Superintendent of the Year
award might turn into a
national recognition.
Williamson is one of
four finalists for the nation
al Superintendent of the
Year award after receiving
the district and state titles
last year. He wifi travel
to Phoenix, Arizona this
week to attend the Ameri
can Association of School
Administrators’ National
Conference on Education,
where the award will be
presented.
The other candidates
include Thomas Tucker of
Princeton City Schools in
(See AWARD, page 10)
Gamer hit-and-mn victim
This Week
City takes steps for economic growth was Hoke County native
By Sheila Black
Murder
. . . Raeford City Council held a public hear-
investlgation discuss amendments to the Unified
continues Development Ordinance at its monthly
meeting Monday night. The update would
T, • 4.U T-1 T increase the potential for economic growth
riacdfipHs s Central Business District and bring
_ , some of the current uses into compliance
with the current ordinance. A group of uses,
uairoriais :> existing and potential, appropriate for
Police blotter 9 downtown area would be added with
a special requirement - a technical review
Look for of each application. The technical review
this symbol
to find stores
that sell The
News-Journal
would allow an individual assessment of
each proposed use with its proposed location
and determination of potential hazards and
how to address them. After recommendation
from the Planning Board, Council approved
the proposed amendments to the Unified
Development Ordinance.
Other business
Aaron Wilson of Impact Community
Outreach Church presented a $1000 check
to the City of Raeford to “use however
you want.” For use of the monies from the
church’s First Fruits offering, Wilson said,
(See CITY, page 10)
A woman struck by
a hit-and-run driver in
Garner Sunday was a
native of Raeford. Kayla
Dion Higgins, 22, was
found dead along U.S. 70
after being struck probably
around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
Police there are looking
for an auto believed to be a
minivan with damage to its
front end and right side.
Authorities found
Higgins’ purse near the
Vandora Springs Elemen
tary School and are asking
anyone with information
that could help identify the
driver to call 919-772-8810.
Higgins was the daugh
ter of Kevin and Sandra
Higgins of Raeford. Mrs.
Higgins died in an auto
accident in 2011 and Mr.
Higgins died in 2013.
She is survived by two
sisters, Kassandra and
Ayesha.
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I can count on one finger the times I’ve watched a Super
Bowl from beginning to end, and that was Sunday. My wife
and I aren’t big fans of TV sports, sports, or TV, but we
bought some wings, each grabbed a beer, and said, “What
the heck—this is a Carolina team.”
It’s my fault the Panthers lost, by the way, because I sent
a text right before kickoff to Mantise Andrews, the former
News-Journal pressman who has been pulling for the Bron
cos — and famously so — for at least 20 years. “Good luck
Man!!” I wrote.
I should have text my wife’s sister, who was at her home
watching the game on her 72-inch TV and quoting each
Panther player’s stats and food preferences.
Anyway, the National Anthem was great, ignoring for
(See OTHER STUEE, page 4)
Proud
moment
D a s h a w n
Scott shows
off his award
during a cer
emony at
West Hoke
Elementary
School Friday.
The school
also intro
duced its new
Beta Club,the
first elemen
tary-age Beta
club in the
county. (Ken
MacDonald
photo)