ews Journal Coming April 10-15 HOKE FEST Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905 75^ No.4Vol.ll3 Rae ford & Hoke Coumty n.c. Wednesday, March 28,2018 Sheriff proposes school safety steps Mobile app would give faculty, students quick notice in event of attack By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Hiring a mental health eoordinator, add ing more armed school resource officers, implementing a panic button phone app communication system, upgrading security cameras and even infrared fencing options are among the plans in the works intended to help keep Hoke County Schools students and staff safe, Hoke County officials dis cussed last week at a press conference. Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin joined Hoke Schools Superintendent Dr. Freddie Williamson and other school administrators for a meeting Friday to talk about what local law enforcement and the school system are doing to improve school safety. After the Parkland school shooting in Florida, local school and law enforce ment officials have worked to find ways to address potential threats and prevent tragedies from happening. “Our theme for today is how can we use technology and digital devices to help keep schools and students safe? Because our hope is to not turn schools into something they were never intended to be. Schools should be a place for kids to be free to move about on the property, in the buildings, and feel safe with doing that,” Williamson said. “We’re excited about today, the partnership with law enforcement as we all address this issue of school safety and school security.” As part of the plans unveiled last week, the school system announced intentions to hire more personnel in a bid to improve security. Included in those new hires will be a mental health coordinator who will help (See SCHOOL SAFETY, page 9) 1 millionth longleaf pine planted here A view from above of the pines at Calloway Forest just west of Raeford on N.C. 211. (Ken MacDonald photo with Julian Johnson) The Nature Conservancy in North Carolina is celebrating the one millionth longleaf pine seed ling planted since 2003 in the North Carolina Sandhills. North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr planned to visit Hoke County Wednesday to take part in the special ceremony, according to the Conservancy. Burr was set to join Fort Bragg Garrison Commander Colonel Kyle Reed, Conservancy staff, and conservation partners for the event. The Army has played a crucial role in longleaf pine conser vation near Fort Bragg, Conservan cy officials said in a press release. “Longleaf played a very im portant part of North Carolina’s economy. Its resin was harvested to produce tar, pitch, and turpentine. These ‘naval stores’ were vital in an era when wooden ships were com mon,” the Nature Conservancy said in a media release. “The nickname ‘Tarheels’ likely came from this history. The state’s highest civilian honor presented by its governor is called The Order of the Longleaf Pine. And the state’s toast mentions it as well; ‘Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine; The summer land where the sun doth shine; Where the weak grow strong, and the strong grow great; Here’s to ‘Down (See PINES, page 9) 9 named ‘Wonderful Women of Hoke’ The Hoke County Public Library hosted the 2018 Wonderful Women of Hoke celebration last week, honoring a group of women who contribute their time, resources and efforts to making Hoke County a better place. This year’s group of awardees included Heather Kimberly Dial- Sellers, Glenda Glockner, Daphne Graham-Dudley, Ophelia Ray- Fenner, Tiffany Locklear Ham monds, Gloria Hill, Annette Jones, Leah Leach and Jayne Young. The women and their families were invited to a special recognition ceremony at the Hoke library Friday afternoon, followed by a reception with refreshments. Dial-Sellers was born and raised in the Antioch community of Hoke County and attended Hoke County (See WOMEN page 2) From left,Young, Leach, Ray, Ham- ^ monds,Jones, Glockner, and Hill. (Catharin Shepard photo) In the crosshairs for space station? Really? In Hoke? A group of scientists has its plunge Sunday at exactly Branze Space Section of the Nau urges local author!- group calculated that the Tian- gong-1 space station, now predicted to fall to earth in huge fragments, will take IN -p^ 1=!-^ \ SOLD HERE . Look for this symbol to find stores that sell The News-Journal Follow us on Focebook vvww.thenews-journal.com www.raefordnj.com Subscriptions just $33 per year inside Hoke County! ; plunge Sunday at exactly 1:14 p.m. and will hit the ground 62 second later. Not only that, but one of two possible tracks has a frag ment, estimated to weigh 200 pounds, hitting smack dab in the center of Raeford at longitude -79.22354 and latitude 34.97889. The loca tion is in the grassy lot next to the old Raeford Hotel. “Keep in mind there’s only a fifty percent chance of it hitting there,” said Lyon Rogue, a scientist in the Big Dundarrach Rockfish isn’t the only Hoke County commu nity considering incorpora tion. The 276 residents of Dundarrach say they’re selecting a mayor and have approached several state representatives about getting necessary legislation. Two problems for Dundarrach citizens in their attempt, however: first, the draft bill misspelled the community’s name ipace: government printing office. “It’s also possible it will land in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Australia, the exact opposite point on earth,” Rogue said. “The difference owes to mathematics, and it’s beyond you.” A scientist in China, Cmon Nau, where the space station originated said, “#X ^ 1‘iL o ^ "f3’' also wants to as “Dundark,” apparently because a clerk misunder stood the pronunciation over the phone. And second, residents haven’t been able to schedule the necessary meeting with house and sen ate leaders, since the legisla tors insist all meetings be done in secret. “We’ve asked to get our bill added on to the one des ignating Baptists as the of ficial denomination in North urges ties to rope off the area just in case. The Tiangong-1 is about the size of a school bus (International 66-passenger model) and is in orbit some 350 kilometers above the earth. It was launched in 2011. Just in case the prediction (See SPACE STATION, page 4) incorporate Carolina,” says Dundarrach resident Knot A. Demm. “We’ve also tried to get added on to a bill that will restore capital punishment in the schools since corporal punishment wasn’t work ing too well,” he said. “It’s part of the arming teachers strategy.” Demm and others say if they can get Dundarrach (See DUNDARRACH, page 4) 4-1-18, 02:15:02 -79.22354, 34.97889 Chinese Space Station Scenario IB April 1,2018,6:15:02 UTC Location, -79.22354, 34.97889 Crater depth 1 meter, fragment size, steering wheel. International 1977 Bus Source: Feuxnews By Ken MacDonald At David Dombkowski’s funeral last week, a modest group—many who, like David, are musicians, gathered against a light rain under a tent at Raeford Cemetery, and, at the invitation of the preacher, told stories. I didn’t say anything but they brought to mind two of my own. Most knew David as quite the keyboardist, who played in local rock bands since his high school days. I first knew (See OTHER STUPE, page 4)

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view