Long Senter BY MAKJOKIK MKGIVKliN After nbout 13 hours of deliberation, a jury decided Monday that M-year-old Thomas l^ong was guilty of second degree murder in the March shooting of his eslranged wife, Annette, and guilty in the same incident of assaulting former Brunswick County Commission Chairman Cranky Thomas with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious bodily injury. Judge Coy Brewer, presiding m Brunswick County Superior Court, sentenced Long to consecutive sentences of 15 years for the murder offense, and six years for assault. He has already served six and onc-luilf months of that time in Brunswick County jail. His attorney, William Shell of Wilmington, said the conviction will tie appealed ??*. WACON x Volume 24, Number 49 S *?*r tf ^ ^ ' S5?. wft *' GREATER VAK1ETY, a change ol site, mure parking This photograph was taken at mid-afternoon Saturday. Festival Turn-Oi BY SUSAN USHER about double that South Brunswick Islands Chamber said, making this of Commerce Director Anne Marie mast successful y< Schettini was all smiles Monday With this year's afternoon, just as she had been "I'm sure the N.( throughout Saturday. takes its place ami "I've just come back from the the state in promii: bank," she said. "I'm real happy." ty." Receipts from the 1986 N.C. Oyster She credited a Festival?and attendance?were just with this year's NO WELCOME CENTER IN PLAt Highway 17 W< Said On Schedt BY SUSAN USHER Work on the four-laning of U.S. 17 Preliminary er from Winnabow to the South Carolina Sliallotte bypass state line is proceeding on schedule, said, according to the N.C. Department of Tlvcir actual con Transportation. completed about t "At this point, we don't anticipate Bolivia possibly i any problems," said Frank Price, Sliallotte bypass, long-range planning engineer with depends on the p me ucpiiruiicm. we nope 10 nave n make once we gel under contract by this time next tion. We're work year." bypasses under c At the Board of Transportation's possible." meeting Friday, members approved Then, he addcc additional funds for right-of-way ae- filled in. quisition and for preliminary No decision to engineering along the route. whether to begii The latest cost estimates arc Bell Swamp or slightly above the $32 million price Carolina line, tag projected on the project last "We're still lo year. most advantaged The U.S. 17 project involves tern would be," s, bypasses around Shallotte and The Shallotte to Bolivia, then four-Inning of the rest area, but a highway from N.C. 87 at Bell Swamp welcome center s to the South Carolina state line. have been pushini Advance acquisition funds have state-funded ccnti been provided for acquiring ahead of "We have no schedule land under development at welcome center tl the north and south ends of the pro- for Welcome Cenl jectcd Shallotte bypass route. Sizemore told the "Whether it's been actually ac- She didn't rule quired, I don't know," he said. that local group At the north end, there arc some build their own l>e relocatccs that will require the South Carolin assistance and a period of time to If a welcome ce relocate. "We may not get the entire vided, Price said route under contract by the end of the them. If one is 1 fiscal year," he added. "They may would try to inc hold us up." bypass for the Sli iced To 21 Y< The extenl of ling's guilt hung on the few seconds just before his 1157 magnum discharged on the night ??f March 25.1986, as he and Mrs. I ?ong?whom lie called (Jinny t stood beside Thomas's Hroneo truck in Mrs Ixing's driveway. Otherwise, the story was clear. The Ixuigs. married 22 years, had been separated aliout three months. with Mrs. Ixing moving into an apartment in the olde Towne home of Barbara lx?wis in early January. Ix>ng testified last week in a soft, halting voice tluit he loved his wife deeply and hoped for a reconciliation He drove by her place in Olde Towne frequently, he said, just to see her car in the drive and know she was safe. According to her children. Sherry DuBois and Brace hallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, Oc 51 jCW' ? and better weather helped boost festival attendance to np s + Drm/tr Crv^ll/>r A II LJI II lyo Ol IIIIC70 r~ of a year ago, she iliancc: a new, improved site; bettei year's festival the weather; better organkatiun; ex it. cellent volunteer leadership fron s event, she said. Festival Chairman David Batten am Oyster Festival committee members; and the ful ony the festivals of cooperation from all chambei icnee and populari- members. 'in the past we've always hat variety of factors some chamber members we coulc festival perfor- always count on," she said. "But this plans for a state '^Eag^11 jfrtk) Lcrs Director I. ynnc . >*;)*'* *J V. out the possibility , s mip.lit decide to twcciiShallotteand /^V cU..^ a state line. Oyster SnUC nter were to t>c pro- I Jisl year's runner-up for the title n I, "We'd work wiUi Carlisle (left), Is this year's champ to be provided, we president of the South Brunswick corporate it in the coverage of the shucking contest a allntte area." this issue. i 9ars For Mure Ixmg, who had been raised by l/>lig, the marriage had been good. "I wanted to ({row up and have one like it." Sherry said. In late 19116. as she was frequently with her mother and stepfather. Sherry said she saw nothing amiss between them, and was shocked to learn a week after the fact that licr mother had moved out. Then her stepfather began to seem quieter, lonely, and needing to talk, she testified. The testimony of several witnesses indicated he was depressed over the separation. Indeed, Peggy Dyson, his former secretary, now working for Thomas, said he told her a few weeks tiefore the shooting, "I can't live without (Jinny." Hut his step-children and others contended there was never any anger directed at their mother. He had never tobt?r 16, 1906 25c Pe Calat ''? " '1? i Shou ; j proximately double that of a vear aeo ,f Carol,na 5 porate and ever v would be to the plained. _ _ Commissioner vt Chamber SiS Calabash is so dii why was our ma p year support from our members was when hc tried to . terrific Almost everyone had Kn.ipp ]icd i somebody there or else nave us stuff was ca||cd stri* i tn ll?n It llritf inw* ?i l-iinllo Ilrnit * ' ? .. j ?- Shores members I fort. Our cliairman did a ureal job." **Wc found we Several chamber members wenl so mont to incorpor* far as to hire workers for tlie day whose property 1 when they could not provide workers went on. "1 don't ! otherwise. members will v (See FESTIYAU Page 11-A) when they meet t you to know w ^ neighbors and to mwnHu^ ? firmed this tre A total of 2' A of Ui cse descr pared with 198J " Dcinocrnti v' sr! ' ' ? registered befo "S i ^ 7,247, compare y at , voters lie fore f 4&T. J i J \ J i ?, Percentagi ?/ t-*?T ? Early this yet jj voters, while I si * n FHciioottipit wm ah Republican pei king Champion "TS f N.C. Oyster .Shucking Champion, Cathy Republican vo inn. She is congratulated by Alan Iloldeit, lias been in pro Islands Chamber of Commerce. More whelming Dcit nd other Oyster Festival events is inside change. H a ier, Assault during Uw marriage behaved toward her in a threatening or violent manner. In fact. I/rng was described by a half-dozen friends and business associates as the kindest, most easy-going of men, who earned among co-workers the nickname "Teddy Bear." But he admitted that on the night of March 20 he was uf?set about his wife's actions and those of her companion. Franky Thomas. Thomas was a longtime friend of the couple, ami had recently loaned I/mg $1,000 to assist hirn with his biisinoKK nrnhlorii^ wliieh lu?r! ilri?r:itofl ?n that I ?nu was filing for bankruptcy. (Sic I.ONI.. Page 2-A) r Copy 30 Poges , >ash Gives Cold Ider To Carolina 3s incorporation E MEGI\'ERN Calabash board members. Cominisihores Association sioner and former mayor Sonia turn-down Monday Stevens said slate law prohibits ih Town Hoard on Brunswick County towns from growrequest for ap- ing by annexation unless the town is iible incorporation petitioned to annex V III' Ulljl I llllll IU "??"? "?** "C LKIIU^UUUS KKI klic arolina Shores to Calabash boundary>rovided the new "My concern with the resolution is Id never annex pro- lhat it binvls future Calabash town e extra-territorial boards as to what they could do with ubash. their town," he said, ihoros docs ineor- "The league of Municipalities wanted to expand, it doesn't favor incorporation, because west," Knapp ex- if doesn't want little towns all over the place next to each other," Ramos Rati 1 x;wellyn ask- went on. "But 1 don't know of any revasn't our board in- quircment that an area needs a . 25) meeting, since resolution like this from an adjoining ectly affected, and town in order to incorporate." yor asked to leave Knapp said he understood that if itlend?" Calabash did not adopt the resolutliat the meeting ticn. Carolina Shores has only one ctly for Carolina alternative. "At least 50 percent of and guests. our property owners would have to needed an agree- sign a petition to be annexed, and if ition from the town Calabash didn't act on that within a adjoins ours,' he year, we could petition for incorpora* know whether the lion," he said. There was disagree* ote to incorporate mcnt over the percentage, with Town let. 29, but we want Clerk Janet Thomas saying it was 100 i? u."miId h?? uiwl nercent. Ramos later nkurvpd hn want to work thought it was 15 percent. laura Kranifeld of the league of cover 400 houses in Municipalities later confirmed with an assessed Thomas's understanding that all promillion. pertv owners in a petitioning area "I can see why must sign the petition for annexation, ncorporate, but it The board voted unanimously to idlv, partly because disallow the petition, but 1-ewellyn is. Our income from cautioned. "We need to look into tliis. s for more of our and find out more about incorporates, and we draw tion and annexation, because it's gona Shores." ing to come up again." ed to the resolution . ... . .. . . land tjse Plan se s le sail u ore The board also heard from Haskell f t aro ma Shores KheU of the wilmi?gt0n o(flce o( the ind by the promise N c Dcpartment of Natura, f, . Resources and Community Developscussion of laws at- . .. . . . . , . , . ment. He had been asked to advise lion and annexation conception among (SeeCALABASH, Page2-A) ilican Trend Continues v Reaistration Fiaures V-/ is continue to inch upward in the percentage of their itcrcd to vote in Brunswick County. ported by the county board of elections Tuesday, followregistration deadline for the November elections, connd. 1,572 people had registered to vote as of Monday, with 741 Ibing themselves as unaffiliated with any party, com> figures of 716. c registrations numbered 16,584, compared with 16,775 re the primaries in May. Republicans registered totalled d with 6,748 before the primaries. The total of registered day, 1986, was 24,239. :s tell the story of the gains Republicans have made, ir registered Democrats made up 09.2 percent of the hat has now slipped to 67.57 percent. Meanwhile, the contage has risen from 27.9 percent before the primaries 29.43 percent of registered voters in the county, ual trend toward greater numbers of registered tcrs and decreasing numbers of registered Democrats cess over the past scverul years. Wliat was once an ovcrlocratic stronghold is undergoing gradual but persistent