The
ews
Journal
If it happened, it’s news to us
75^
No.34 Vol.113
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, October 24,2018
Early voting off to strong start
First few days surpasses totals in this year’s primary
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Voter turnout has been strong
in the first week of the one-stop
early voting period, according to
Hoke County Board of Elections
Director Towanna Jackson.
By Monday, a total of 2,273
people had taken advantage of the
chance to vote one-stop.
Two early voting sites are open
in Raeford and Rockfish for citi
zens to cast their ballots ahead of
the 2018 General Election. Of that
total, 1,590 people have voted at
the Raeford site, while 678 people
voted at the Rockfish site.
The numbers started strong
right from the start. On the very
first day of early voting, 739
people turned out to the polls.
Both the Raeford and Rockfish
sites surpassed their totals from
the primary election in May,
Jackson said.
Jackson compared the early
voting turnout to the 2014 Gen
eral Election totals. In the 2014
General Election which suf
fered from low voter turnout,
the Rockfish site accepted 1,202
total ballots - just 524 more than
already cast in this year’s early
voting - while Raeford accepted
3,570 ballots, or 1,980 more than
already cast this year during early
voting, according to Jackson.
In terms of party affiliation.
as of Monday the voter turn
out included 1,439 registered
Democrats, 375 Republicans, 449
Unaffiliated and 10 Libertarian-
registered voters.
The Raeford early voting site
is located in the commissioners’
room in the Pratt Building at 227
Main Street, while the Rockfish
early voting site is located at the
Rockfish Community Building at
2749 Lindsay Road.
Early one-stop voting runs this
Inside: Candidates
answer our
questions on issues
week Monday-Eriday from 7 a.m.-7
p.m. Next week, both sites will be
open Monday-Eriday 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
and Saturday, November 3 from 8
a.m.- 1 p.m. November 3 is the last
(See VOTING, page 4)
N.C. Fall Festival
isagoforNov. 3
Parade is Thursday, Nov. 1
After being forced
to reschedule the
2018 North Carolina
Eall Eestival due to
Hurricane Elorence
in September, orga
nizers are preparing
to host the festivi
ties next week from
November 1-3.
The North Caro
lina Eall Eestival will
kick off Thursday,
November 1 with
a parade on Main
Street in Raeford.
The parade will be-
Happy trails
Rory and Derek Oelbracht are happy with their ride from the Post Office Monday. On the trip down, their mom,
Kayla, had filled the wagon with the youngsters and packages to mail. (Ken MacDonald photo)
gin at 5:30 p.m. and is sponsored
by Butterball.
The Stuffin’ and Stompin’
dinner will be held at West Hoke
Middle School Eriday, Novem
ber 2 from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The event is dine-in or carry-out.
Plates include turkey, homemade
dressing, green beans, yams
and yeast rolls with tea. Baked
goods will be available for sale.
Plates are $8. The event is hosted
by N.C. Pall Eestival and Hoke
County Schools Nutrition Ser
vices, and sponsored by Prestage
The East Hoke Middle School Band in last year’s
parade. (File photo)
Poods. Tickets are available at 101
North Main Street or at the door
the night of the dinner.
The big day of the festival will
be Saturday, November 3 from
9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Main Street in
Raeford. The day will feature live
music and other entertainment,
vendors with crafts and food for
sale, a Kid Zone with activities for
children and much more.
The beach music concert
Saturday night at the Old Armory
ballpark on East Central Avenue
will be from 7 p.m.-ll:30 p.m. and
(See FESTIVAL, page 4)
Parking downtown is for 2 hours, reminds police chief
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Pinding parking in downtown
Raeford has become more of
a problem, and City Manager
Dennis Baxley’s office sent out a
reminder to local businesses last
week to try and address the issue.
Parking on Main Street and
several side streets in downtown
is typically limited to two hours
to allow for a flow of customers
coming and going at businesses
in the area. However, the city has
been getting complaints recently
of drivers parking their cars in
those zones and leaving them for
much longer than the maximum
time allowed.
Parking spaces are limited
along Main Street, and the city’s
public parking lot located between
Elwood Avenue and Edinborough
Avenue is often packed with cars
during business hours.
“Due to limited parking on
Main Street and adjacent areas,
it is imperative that the two hour
limited be observed so customers
may have the best access to our
downtown businesses. Please be
advised of the following ordinance
and share with your staff as well,”
Baxley wrote in a letter delivered
to downtown business owners.
Raeford’s city ordinance Sec.
13-44, “two hour parking zones,”
established Main Street between
Edinborough Avenue and Central
Avenue, Elwood Avenue between
Stewart Street and Magnolia
Street, and Edinborough Avenue
between Stewart Street and
(See PARKING, page 4)
2 shot, injured, suspect arrested
Investigators with the Hoke
County Sheriff’s Office arrested a
man from Red Springs last week
for allegedly shooting two people
in an attempt to kill them.
Deputies arrested Don Michael
Woods, 69, of the 1900 block of
Cope Road in Red Springs on
two counts of first-degree at
tempted murder and one count of
possession of a firearm by a felon
Officers responded to a call to
the 100 block of Singleton Road
around 11:18 a.m. October 19 of
shots being fired in the area of
the intersection of Cope Road
and Balfour Road. The officers
reportedly found Spartacus Ray
Hunt and Willie Nelson McNeill
(See SHOOTING, page 4)
Woods
Trick-or-treating, Light the Night Oct. 31
Halloween is Wednesday, October 31 and
trick-or-treating in Raeford and Hoke County
is set as usual for dusk to about 9 p.m.
Local churches will host the annual Light
The Night celebration and trunk-or-treat at
the old Armory ballpark on East Central Av
enue in Raeford. Sponsored by the Raeford
Eirst Baptist Church the event will take place
from 6:30p p.m.-8 p.m. on Halloween, and
will offer hot dogs, popcorn, cake walks,
bounce houses and trunk-or-treating. Orga
nizers ask that each family bring a donation
of one canned good per person that will go
to help the soup kitchen in Raeford. To join
in the event, please call the church office at
(910) 875-3508.
Call 9i0-90a-2a2a for more details anti information.