Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Nov. 3, 2021, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The ews $1 00 If it happened, its news to us Journal *0 4879 05505 No.36VoI.116 Raeford & Hoke County n.c. Wednesday, November 3,2021 Virgil appointed sheriff Reserve deputy gets bid in packed meeting Chief deputy was expected to be named #1 A huge crowd began gathering as the regular meeting of the Hoke Com missioners convened at the count office building. (Ken MacDonald photo) By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Departing from previously stated intentions, the Hoke County Board of Commis sioners voted 3-2 Monday night to appoint Roderick Cornelius Virgil, not Chief Deputy David Newton to serve out the remaining 13 months of the late Sheriff Dr. Hubert Peterkin’s last term. Virgil will be sworn in to office at a special called meeting set for 11 a.m. Friday, November 5 at the Robert Wright Hoke County Agricul tural Building on East Palmer Street in Raeford. Virgil was one of a slate of candidates put forward by the Hoke County Democratic Party for the commissioners’ consideration. North Carolina Democratic Party Ninth Con gressional District Chairman Jim Davis, himself a former Hoke County sheriff, and Hoke County Democratic Par ty Chairman Larry Readdy addressed the board in public comments at the meeting. Davis and Readdy told the board the Democratic Party hoped the commissioners would put a Democrat in the (See NEW SHERIFF, page 6) Hundreds mourn sheriff at funeral By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Bold, courageous, reliable, a mentor, a dedicated man - that was how friends and fellow leaders described Hoke County Sheriff Dr. Hubert Peterkin at a funeral held Friday to honor his life and celebrate his legacy. What made Peterkin so special was how he held everyone to the same standard, and the strength he drew from the people around him, his son Anto nio Peterkin said. “If you were to take anything from him, un derstand that what made him special, that he knew that every person he ever met, he held to the same standard, no matter if he liked you or not. And the strength he drew and took from his brothers and sisters, whether family, law enforcement, govern ment, didn’t matter. He believed in every person he ever met,’’ the sheriff’s son said. (See FUNERAL, page 8) State Rep. Garland Pierce: Peterkin left “safe more inclusive” county. (Pool photo) RoderickVirgil (Catharin Shepard photo) ‘New journey for me’ By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Roderick Virgil said Monday that he is excited to be sworn in to serve out the remainder of the late Sheriff Dr. Hubert Peterkin’s term, and he plans to run for election to the office of Hoke County Sheriff next year. “I’m excited, thrilled, a little nervous because this is a new journey for me. However (See VIRGIL, page 6) ‘Generations will owe him,’ Epic Games CEO buys Blue Farm By Catharin Shepard Staff writer The founder and CEO of the Cary- based video game studio that created Eortnite recently bought more than 3,400 acres of the Blue Earm property in Hoke County for nature conservation. Tim Sweeney of Epic Games con ducted the purchase through his corpora tion 130 of Chatham EEC. The land buy included multiple parcels of property in western Hoke County totaling 3,429 acres. The Blue Earm is one of the largest tracts of privately owned longleaf pine forest in the state, according to The Nature Conservancy of North Carolina. The habitat is home to many kinds of native Sandhills animals and plants, including endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker. Over the past decade, Sweeney has become a prominent figure as a phi lanthropist in na ture conservation in North Carolina. Today he is known as one of the largest landowners in the state. Through 130 of Chatham EEC, he has purchased tens of Sweeney (Facebook) thousands of acres to preserve as natural land. (See BLUE FARM, page 4) Enforce two-hour downtown parking, businesses ask of City Council By Ken MacDonald A group of some 25 down town business owners want the area’s two-hour parking limit enforced and sent a peti tion to members of Raeford City Council and the police chief “We the undersigned busi ness and property owners would like to re-emphasize the continued need for en forcement of the two (2) hour downtown parking ordi nance,” the petition, obtained from a council member, read. “If any change were to ever be considered, it should be to shorten it to one (1) hour,” it continued. “The need is and always has been to keep traffic mov ing along smoothly with no one staying longer than the clearly posted limit,” the petition reads. “That ensures that every business benefits equally, especially now with new business opening up and more coming soon.” The letter was discussed at City Council’s regular month ly meeting Monday night. City Manager Dennis Baxley told Council he didn’t receive the letter, but saw a copy. “Just let us deal with it at the administrative level and I’ll send a letter out to every body that signed the petition,” he said, “and just let us try to deal with it first before we do too much.” He said downtown will soon be patrolled. “We’re go ing to take one of our officers who volunteered to be animal control, as well as he’s going to be enforcing downtown— he’ll be patrolling downtown on foot.” “We’ll get it monitored, and if we find there’s a chronic (See PARKING, page 6) The sign says it all. (Ken MacDonald photo) Enrolling For Next School Year! Bus Service from Raeford (910) 483-3905 Fayetteville Christian School Voted Best Private School 8 Consecutive Years 8i Counting! 1422 Ireland Dr. Fayetteville, NC 28304 • www.fayettevillechristian.conn
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 3, 2021, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75