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PROGRESS SENTINEL
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(J VOL. XXXXVII NO. 30 USPS 162-860 ? KENANSV1LLE. N.C. 28340 JULY 28, 1083 18 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
LIUHTNING SETS FIRE - Nine volunteer fire departments worked
?ogether to control the blazes of a produce packing shed at N.N. Ellis
Produce Company in the Piney Grove section near Faison July 19. Lost in
the fire, along with the packing shed, were shipping crates, produce
grading equipment and loading machinery, Thad Bryson, president of
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N,N. Ellis Produce, said. He estimated the damage at $250,000.
Neighboring buildings, two warehouses, a store and the Bryson home
?were saved as the fire departments controlled the blazes to the single
packing shed.
.Cottle Says One-Fourth Of
County Budget Mandated
About one-fourth of the
mrtiey budgeted this year by
the Duplin County Board of
? Commissioners goes for state
and federally mandated pro
grams over which the board
has little or no say. either in
direction or in financing, said
Ralph Cottle. county
manager.
He called this portion of
the budget "restricted,
funds." These mandated
programs primarily involve
human services including
Medicare and Medicaid.
A The amount of restricted
? funds in the county budget
has gradually increased,
Cottle said. The total bud
gets, amounts of the res
tricted funds and their per
centage of total budgets for
the past four years follow:
1980-81 ? $7,723,316;
$1,294,271; 16.76 percent.
1981-82 - $8,285,937;
$1,561,966; 18.85 percent.
1982-83 ? $8,533,855;
$2,040,434; 23.91 percent.
1983-84 ? $8,708,804;
$2,182,625; 25.06 percent
Some of this restricted
money comes out of "pass
through" funds received
from state and federal
sources, Cottle said. County
property tax collections con
tribute slightly more than
half the total budget. Sales
and other excise tax col
lections make up about one
third of the total.
Cottle said the amount of
restricted funds limits the
freedom of county boards to
appropriate money and leads
to criticism about limited
appropriations to schools or
other local services while the
overall budget increases.
The county board had $6. 5
million in unrestricted funds
to finance schools, law en
forcement and general
county government, the
county manager said.
The board increased the
county property tax rate 5
cents to 75 cents per $100 for
the fiscal year that began
July 1. When calculated at a
95 percent collection rate,
the increase should bring in
$324,000.
The county budget for the
current fiscal year increased
$175,000 over the 1982-83
figure of $8,533,855
The amount of unre
stricted money available to
the board for the current year
? $6,526,179 ? was in
creased by about $32,000 or
0.5 percent over last year's
$6,493,421, Cottle said. The
remaining $142,000 increase
was required to meet the
mandated programs, Cottle
said.
About $150,000 of the
budget is in contingency or
uncommitted reserve funds,
he said.
1>e property tax levy has
made up just over half the
county budget since 1980.
The actual net levies, per
centage of total budget and
total budgets follow:
1980-81 ? $4,093,973; 53
percent; $7,723,316.
1981-82 ? $4,255,193; 51.4
percent; $8,285,937.
1982-83 ? $4,416,370; 52
percent; $8,533,855.
1983-84 ? $4,837,875: 55.6
percent; $8,708,804.
Fewer Counts
Sought
Lawyers of Mount Olive
attorney George Kornegay
have filed 20 more motions to
dismiss charges of embezzle
ment and corporate malfea
sance against their client,
according to an AP report in
the Raleigh News and Ob
server.
Kornegay, former presi
dent-elect of the N.C. State
Bar. was indicted in May on
35 counts of embezzling and
misapplying more than
$250,000 from his law firm.
Attorneys Herb Hulse and
John Duke filed motions to
dismiss 15 charges of em
bezzlement. saying they are
duplicates.
James Sprunt Technical College Affected
?Legislature Increases Fees For Continuing
Education Courses In Technical Institutes
Effective Aug. 1, students
enrolling in continuing edu
cation courses in community
colleges and technical insti
tutes will be faced with
? increased registration fees.
\ student currently pays
an $8 registration fee. This
fee will increase to $10.
Courses classified as occu
pational and academic in
clude such courses as Span
ish, income tax preparation
and genealogy.
Fees for avocational and
practical skills courses will
changed from $15 per course
^ to 75 cents per classroom
hour. This means a student
enrolled in a class with 60
hours of instruction will pay a
registration fee of $45.
Examples of such courses are
sewing, small engine repair,
practical woodworking, self
defense tor women, and
interior design.
Joe Jones, director of con
tinuing education at JSTC,
stated. "1 don't think we will
be able to offer many avoca
tional or practical skills
courses due to the excessive
registration fees students
have to pay. Most of these
skills classes are designed to
teach people how to become
more self-sufficient. This in
turn helped participants save
money by doing their own
household repairs, clothing,
construction. automotive
repair and much, much
more. I could list a hundred
things people learned to do
themselves or things they
learned to look for if they
were hiring the work per
formed by someone else to
insure they got what they
were paying for.
"There is a second point.
That is whether or not the
State should be funding
these types of classes. 1
heard one of our students
state, i'm glad they did this
because the taxpayers are
tired of paying for these
types of classes.' The fact is
that the majority of students
who take avocational or
practical skills classes are, or
have been, taxpayers for
many, many years. Students
include housewives, working
mothers, doctors, lawyers,
nurses, teachers, CPAs and
many others with just about
any type of occupation you
can think of. For many of
these, primarily females be
tween 35 and 65. this is the
only educational benefit they
will ever receive for all the
taxes they have paid. For
these reasons, I don't think
such a drastic increase in
fees was quite fair.''
Dr. Carl D. Price, presi
dent of JSTC, stated that the
new fee structure will have
an adverse effect on the
continuing education
department at James Sprunt
because many will be unable
to afford the increased fees.
The "open-door" philoso
phy on which the community
college system was built is in
danger. The door is slowly
but surely being closed to the
people who most need low
cost, easily accessible edu
cation.
JSTC will continue to offer
courses requested by the
people in Duplin, but if each
class has to be filled with
only those who can afford to
pay, the number of courses
wiil be drastically reduced.
Three Generations
1 Of Beulaville Family
Serving Time In Prison
Three generations of a
Beul^ville family are serving
prison sentences on related
drug convictions.
Hubert Mayo Sanderson,
J 65, of Beul^ville surrendered
to Duplin County Sheriffs
Department officers at 6:30
a.m. Thursday, two years to
the day after he was con
victed in Duplin County
Superior Court in
Kenan^ville on a charge of
trafficking in marijuana.
Sanderson was sentenced
to seven vears in prison and a
S2^,uuv iuiw but he appealed
the conviction. The N.C.
Court of Appeals however
rejected the appeal and with
the rejection Sanderson was
required to begin the sen
tence.
His son. Virgil Sanderson
FT
Sr.. and grandson. Virgil
Sanderson Jr., were arrested
and convicted in Duplin
Count> Superior Court two
years ago on drug violations.
Virgil Sanderson Sr. was
sentenced to 58 years and
Virgil Sanderson Jr. to 28
years in prison. ^
Fire Destroys
N.N. Ellis Produce
Buildings Near Faison
Fire destroyed the N.rv.
Ellis produce warehouse and
packing shed last week on
Tuesday night.
The building was seven
miles west of Faison on N.C.
403 in the Piney Grove
community of Sampson
County.
Nine volunteer fire de
partments. including the
Faison. Warsaw and Calypso
units from Duplin County
brought the fire under con
trol before it damaged two
nearby warehouses, a store t
and a home.
The loss was estimated at t
$250,000. s
Lightning was believed to c
have started the fire, ac- ti
cording to Sprunt Hall of the ji
Faison Fire Department. He
said the building was en- t
gulfed in flames and the w
walls were caving in when
the Faison unit arrived on the n
scene. It was the second fi
department to reach the site, w
which normally is served by
he Piney Grove department.
Hall called it "an ex- ?"
remely hot fire." He said
everal firemen were over
ome with heat and exhaus
ion although no serious in
jries were reported.
Two gas tanks exploded in
he building while firemen
fere fighting flames.
Water was pumped from
earby Six Runs Creek and
rom fire department tankers
hich filled up at Faison.
Migrant Program Enrolls
80 Students In Third
Summer Season At
North Duplin School
By Emily KiHette
Reading, math and per
sonal hygiene are the basic
subjects taught in classes at
the North Duplin Migrant
Program for ages 3 to 12
years, said Owen Martin,
coordinator of the Faison
based migrant program. The
program is in its third sum
1 mer season at the North
Duplin Elementary School.
About 80 students are en
rolled this summer with the
North Duplin Migrant Pro
gram for the six-week school
session. School began June
16 and ended Tuesday.
Martin said the students
were tested when they
entered the program and re
tested for improvement at
the conclusion of the school
session. Also. Martin added,
each student was screened
for dental and health needs
at the beginning of the
migrant summer school pro
gram.
"Generally our tests show
the students have made
some growth in the subjects
we offer." North Duplin
Migrant Program Coordina
tor Owen Martin said. "We
basically try to re-enforce
what the children already
know, especially reading and
math." All the students with
few exceptions in the young
est children at the migrant
program speak both Spanish
and English. And. Martin
said, most attend public
schools in their home slates
of Texas and Florida. The
students are picked up bv the
North Duplin Migrant Pro
gram; most of the children
are from the Whitfield Camp
in Wayne County and the
Ellis Camp near Faison. The
Whitfield Camp is located in
southern Wayne. near
Mount Olive. According to
Martin, no programs like the
North Duplin summer school
for migrants are offered in
Wayne County.
"In order to get the school
age children itr ol.ed in .he
program, we had to provide
care for the younger ones."
Mariin said. "By only offer
ing a program for school
ages, we found not many
could attend because they
were needed at home to stay
and care for their younger
brothers and sisters while
the parents worked in the
fields. And. when children
reach the age of 14 or 15
years they go to the fields
with their parents. The North
Duplin Migrant Program is
set up to begin about the
time the migrants first arrive
in the area in mid-June and
end as they begin to leave
the last of July. The migrants
come to the area to pick
produce and a few have
already begun to leave." The
North Duplin Migrant Pro
gram is staffed by three
teachers and three teacher
aides along with office per
sonnel. One of the three
teachers speaks Spanish, and
Martin said, she works with
the youngest students.
"Not only does the pro
gram assist migrant parents,
but we are able to look after
the children's health needs,"
Martin said. "The parents
arc not able to give their
children the proper health
care." Along with reading
and math, the migrant chil
dren are taught basic per
sonal hygiene. Martin
pointed out the most com
mon health problems among
the migrant children are lice
and impetigo. Dental and
health needs of the migrant
students arc taken care of at
Gosiien Medical Center in
Faison.
The migrant children have
a high tolerance for pain,"
Elinor Ezzell, family coun
selor at Goshen Medical
Center said. "We try to
teach the migrant children
cleanliness but when you
have to carry the water for a
bath and wash in a tin tub. it
is hard to want to take a
bath." Impetigo and lice are
both cause-related to unclean
environments.
Along with assistance from
Goshen Medical Center, the
North Duplin Migrant Pro
gram has received support
through donations of clothes,
individual hygiene kits and
instruction in th^ arts from
organizations like the Duplin
County Arts Council, the
Mount Olive Jaycettes,
Gamma Gamma Sorority,
church groups, local private
citizens and the summer
gospel ministry of Tom and
Debbie McCloud in Mag
nolia, sponsored by the
Magnolia United Methodist
Church. The migrant pro
gram is coordinated by the
Duplin County Board of
Education.
ROTARY WELCOMES GUESTS - The Warsaw Kenans
ville Rotary Club met with District 773 Governor John C.
Hood Jr. of Kinston last Thursday. Hood encouraged the
Rotarians to carry out the 1983-84 Club theme by "sharing
Rotary to serve people." Welcomed to the luncheon
meeting at The Country Squire were members of the
production staff of the Kenansville outdoor drama. THg
LIBERTY CART. Pictured above, left to right. Property
Mistress Eva I. Rader. Assistant Costumer Dianne Tatara,
Costumer (Catherine Walton. Hood, Kenansville-Warsaw
Rotary Club President Benny Wilson, Liberty Cart
Technical Director Karen Griffin, Production State
Manager Carol Hawkins and Assistant Stage Manager
Lisa Saari. t
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