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BPRINGPORT MI 402B4
Twenty-fifth Year. Number 21
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I viiW DCnvUi 1
inr iHi MUNWvtCK macon
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, April 2, 1987
25c Per Copy
30 Pages Plus Inserts
the wheels of the out-of-control patrol car con
tinued spinning into the earth after it rammed tnto an
ACCELERATOR STUCK
unoccupied tralicr parked in a field behind Yandle
niobiie Homes.
Officer Jumps Clear Before
Patrol Cor Rams’^Mobile Home
BY SUSAN USHER
He lost his pair«l ear, hnt .Qhaljnitp Pnlire I.L
Rodney Cause wys he’s simply glad to be alive.
, J^pad tdear of bis carecolt^ vehicle
earty Pridi^ inoenintt^lnfore It crashed into a unoc
cupied mobile home. Both burst into flames at contact
“When it hit the trailer, the wheels were still spinn-
big, even though it was on fire,” he
^ said. “It was like snnething in a
' movie." The wheels dug b; so deep
ly, he said, tlie frame of the car
eventually came to rest at ground
level.
Cause was on routine patrol at
2:50 a.m. Friday, heading sojith up
Forest Drive toward U.S. 17 when
_ the accelerator of his 1982 Chevrolet
ftMM , Impala januned at full throttle. He
cliecked, but nothing was caught under It, he said. The
goe pednl (vas Hmply stuck. "And It was speeding up »U1
the time," he continued, registering at last look bet
ween 70 mph and 80 mph.
Cause said he radioed the sheriff's dispatcher that
he was about to crash, requesting assistance.
As he rapidly approached U.S. 17, he decided to try
flipping the car over on the dirt road rather than risk
entering a heaviiy-traveled main highway.
“I turned as sharp as I could, but it didn’t turn
over," he recalled. "It hit a ditchbank. That slowed it
down enough I could juipn out."
As Cause watch^, the car continued traveling
about 100 feel across a field on the north side of Forest
Drive, running into an uninhabited trailer behind tlie
Yandle Mobile Home sales lot.
It didn’t take long, he added, for fellow officers to
respond—Shallotte Policeman Eddie Reynolds, Ocean
fsle Policeman Jinuny Todd and Sheriff’s Deputy
Ronald Hewett. Cause used the radio in Todd’s car to
call the Shallotte Volunteer Fire Department.
"It was already up in smoke, though," he added.
“It didn’t take long. As soon as it hit it caught fire.”
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Roy Murray is in
vestigating the incident.
Meanwhile, until insurance investigators have a
chance to clieck the accelerator, the gutted patrol car
has been locked up at Joe & Moe’s Garage south of
Shallotte.
••'I was very scared," Geus» said later. "I didn’t
have that much time to think about it But you don’t
think anything like that will happen to you.”
Cause was treated at the Brunswick Hospital
Emergency Room for bruises to his left knee and was
back at work over the weekend.
Monday, after another eventful shift with a 4 a.m.
house fire, he said, 'Tve got to quit working the night
shift."
D/vru 1 j fMOIOJiVtOOII MYNCIDS
BOTH patrol car and mobile home were engulfed In flames when Shallotte ftieflghters arrived.
/\pp6Qis v-uurt Rfcffus0s To R©h0or
Copyright Case Involving Newspopers
Short of an appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court, the four-year legal
battle over advertising copyrights
between The Brunswick Beacon and
The Brunswick Free Press is over.
Last week the U.S. Fourth District
Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.,
denied a request for a rehearing of
the case, in which the Free Press was
found guilty of copyright infringe
ment
The court also denied a suggestion
by the attorney for the Free Press for
all judges in the court to rehear the
ca.se. The motions, considered by 11
judges, were denied by a 6-5 vote.
The motions were aimed at over
turning a precedent-setting Jan. 23
ruling by a three-judge panel headed
by Senior Judge Clement
Haynsworth which upheld the lower
court's luidbiisa ill the case.
The decision came three weeks
after the Free Press announced In Its
March 11 .ssue that publication of the
weekly newspaper was being
suspended because ot financial dif
ficulties.
The suit was filed in U.S. District
Court in Wilmington in April 1384,
citing three specific infringments of
the copyright law in 1983. The Free
Press was charged with ci^iying ads
produced by The Brunswick Beacon
and publishing them in Ute Free
Press after having been notified to
discontinue the illegal practice.
In June 198S, the district court
awarded the Beacon damages of
$6,000, plus "reasonable attorneys
fees." However, the Free Press has
not been required to pay to date
because the appeals court granted a
stay uf execution of the dvil judg
ment pending a decision of the appeal
in the case.
An order signed by Judge Earl W.
uritt lOuTiu the Free Press guilty cf
copying the three ads and the
newspaper was permanently enjoin
ed from publishing further
copyrighted material from the
Beacon.
Britt had upheld the earlier fin
dings of federal Magistrate Charles
K. McCotter Jr., who first heard oral
arguments in the case nn Auv 30,
1984.
The Beacon’s suit was based on the
Copyright Law of 1976, which went In
to effect Jan. 1,1978. Under the revis
ed law, ownership of advertising
created by a newspaper can be pro
tected by copyright.
The case has set a legal precedent
in that no newspaper has been
previously found guilty of copyright
violations. A similar case in Loui
siana resulted in a lower court deci
sion for the plaintiff being reversed
by the Court ^ Appeals because of in
adequate notification of copyright.
W. Thad Adams m of Charlotte
has th? Bescon I,, llte
case. The Free Press has been
represented by Larry Coats, a
Raleigh attorney.
Sheriff'
r*
O
Department A^di
Will lui
Canine Doig Expert To Squad
BY SUSAN USHER
A four-legged expert will soon be
joining the Brun,swick County ■
Sheriffs Department as an under
cover drug officer.
The department has requested a
small dog, “preferably female’’ and
on the lines of a springer or Brittany
spaniel or a border coliic.
The canine drug officer would be
used in searches of houses, vehicles,
persons—and if allowed in the public
schools, student lockers, two sheriff’s
officers told the Brunswick County
Board of Education Monday night
"We don’t want to interrupt the
educational process," said Crime
Prevention Officer Don Gates. He
proposed the dog be taken into the
schools to demo.Mstrate its use and ef
fectiveness. That alone, he said,
should help deter students from hav
ing drugs at school.
The dog could also be used to patrol
the halls while students are in class;
it will "aiert’’ to iockers, desks or
other areas where drugs might be
stowed.
He and Det. Sgt. David Crocker
had a double purpose for appearing
before the school board.
"We’ve ordered the dog, but we
haven’t got the money yet," Don
Cates told the board, and it must be
paid for on delivery.
Crocker presented the board two
checks totaling $5,290, money con
fiscated during drug raids and
awarded io the schooi system by the
courts. He then proposed the tward
return up to $1,200 ot the money to
help offset the cost of the dog pro
gram—$2,000 to buy the dog and train
both it and a handler.
"We’d like to get more of these peo
ple and their money off tlie street,"
he said.
Thanking the officers. Chairman
James Forslner replied, "This is a
Surprise. Keep up the good work."
So far the department has collected
$800 in private donations toward pur
chase of the dog, mostly from
businesses.
The officers said a trained drug-
detection dog is considered an expert
by the courts and its "alert” is suffi
cient probable cause to obtain a
search warrant. If a dog, for exam
ple, is taken through a parking lot
and “alerts" or scratches at a
specific car, officers could seek a
warrant, if the car in the meantime
goes Into metien, it can be cinnnod
until the warrant is brought to the
scene.
While it routinely takes up to 2V4
hours now to drug search a
residence, use of the dog could cut
the time to as little as 15 or 20
minutes.
Also, said Cates, “It would keep us
from tearing up houses. V/e’re seeing
more and more hidden places in
walls and floors."
It only takes a very small space to
conceal several grams of cocaine, he
noted.
While the dog can be trained to
reliably detect up to 23 drus*., said
Crocker, the sheriffs department is
most interested in using the dog to
detect cocaine, marijuana and am
phetamines.
B'jHru niembers Janies Clemmons
and Dorothy Worth urged immediate
action, and the full board said it sup
ported returning some of the funds to
the sheriff’s department, either for
the dog program specincaily, or if
more appropriate, the department’s
overall crime prevention program.
Gates, as crime prevention officer,
is a frequent visitor in the schools,
noted member Doug Baxley, pro
viding a variety of programs, films
and guest speakers at no charge.
The board referred the matter to
its attorney, who also suggested draf
ting a policy of how any searches
would be handled in the schools. The
hojired will handle the sheriff’s
department’s request at its next
board meeting.
"Wc want to do this, but we want to
do it right,” said Chairman James
Forstner.
Individuals or groups interested in
contributing to the dog’s purchase,
training or upkeep may mail checks
to the Brunswick County Sheriffs'
Department, P.O. Box 9, Bolivia, NC
23422, marked to the attention of the
"Rover Fund."
Holden B^ch Police Officer Fired
BY ETTA SMITH
Following a series of closed
meetings on a "personnel matter,"
Holden Beacli Commissioners voted
unanimously Tuesday morning to
uiattuoo a ,wmi pclicc officer.
Officer George Adkins said the
board had asked him to resign three
times before ills dismissal, but that
he was unclear as to the reasons he
was being asked to do so.
Public. Safety Commissioner
Qr&hsm King tiis motion
Adkin’s dismissal, saying it was due
to "a series of incidents which
brought unfavorable attention to the
department and resulted in a loss of
confidence by the conununily in
Adkins—which impaired his ability
to properly perform his duties."
King said the board would furnish
Adkins with a letter outliiiuig Uic
reasons for the dismissal. He said
Adkins had been talked to and
counseled by Chief Raymond Simp-
V:5>jr
son regarding several incidents.
Graham added that it wouldn’t be
proper for him to comment further.
Following the meeting Adkins said
that Simpson, Town Administrator
Bob Buck and King had asked him to
resign last week. He said he told
them he wouldn’t resign until they
gave him reasons. They eventually
told him it was because he had lost
the support of the community, he
said.
His dismissal was effective im-
mftHiofojt/
The board granted Adkuis two
weeks severence pay and any other
vacation or sick pay he had ac
cumulated.
Adkins would not say wheUier he
pans to appeal the decision in court,
but he did say he would consult an at
torney.
The board had also discussed the
matter in executive session during
meeting.'! on March 23 and 30. The
March 30 meeting was contihued un
til Tuesday morning.
“George has been here three-and-
one half years now," Graham said
after making a motim to dismiss
him. “I’ve seen a lot of good work
he’s done and I have a feeling he’s a
good police officer—and that
somewhere there is a job for him.”
He said 2Ms years ago the town
commended Adkins for jumping into
the surf and pulling two people to
safety who niight otherwise have
drowned.
Mayor John Tandy said "I know
how you feel—there’s a lot of nice
things about you, George, and you
should know that this was not an easy
thing for the board."
CcmmiSoScncr Gay Atkins and
Mayor Tandy would not comment on
the dismissal following the meeting.
Buck Said lie Couldn’t speak for the
town, but that the letter to be drafted
and presented to Adkins will state the
reasons for his dismissal.
Coastal Management Chang(
Is Focus Of CRC Meeting
BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN
ScaCh access user fees ^rc pro
posed, land use plans adopted, and a
coastal water quality act discussed
by the Coastal Resources Commis
sion last week when it met in
Wrightsville Beach.
Nevertheless, members focused
most of their ccmcems on new plans
to reorganize the N.C. Division of
Coastal Management DCM).
Publicly, CRC members like
Eugene TomJlnson of Southport, and
Coastal Resources Advisory Council
members like Mayor LaDanc BuU-
Ington of Ocean Isle Beach and
Rosetta Short of Long Beach said,
"l«t’s wait and sc;e," as to the merits
of the plan. Privately they expressed
resentment over the announcement
of the reorganization without much
advance warning by Secretary
Thomas Rhodes of the Department of
Natural Resources and Community
Devclc^menL
Or. Lomn Muchmore, Rhodes’s ad
ministrative assistant, unveiled it to
CRC March 28 In the face of con
siderable skepticism, dismay and
)Ucsu0ri5.
Short told him, "We're supposed to
be the liaison between Raleigh, the
CRC, and the people. When I was ask
ed about this reorganization, I didn’t
know anything ahcit it and was un
comfortable. I think we should have
been informed.”
CRC members only were called to
Raleigh in mid-March to be advised
of the action.
Muchmore said the reorganization
is intended to put more employees in
to the field to give better service in
permitting and enforcement, the
chief responsibilities of the division.
Tentatively, he said, the plan is to
transfer ten people, add four, and
reduce the overall DCM staff from 45
to 39, but "no one is being fired,” he
said.
The plan takes effect April 1.
District offlees will be set up in
Morehead City, Wilmington,
Elizabeth City and Washington, and
the beach access program will be
relegated to this district level.
Three progfams will be shuted
elsewhere in the department:
estuarine sanctuaries goes to tlie
Division of Parks and Recreation,
sutanerged lands to the Division, of
Marine Fisheries, and land resources
to the Gss!stic Survey Divtsion,
It is the transfer of the estoarine
sanctuary program that disturbed
most CRC and CRAC members.
Tneir fears were spelled out by State
Rep. David E. "Butch” Redwine,
who told the Beacon, "Harks ong
Recreation has trouble handling its
parks; they’re undermanned and
have a lot to do. Giving thU to them
could cs;:£c mere probletiM than
they'll admit.”
But he wanted to give the plan a
chance. “If the intent is to provide
better service, and it works that way,
fine. However, the whole process was
not handled very well from a CRC
standpoint," he said.
Water Quality BUI
The CRC devoted another large
chunk of time to consideration of
draft legislation on coastal water
quality, presented by Special Deputy
Attorney General Danld McLawbom
at the request of State Sen. Marc
Basnight
The two bUls, one that would
change the Clean Water Act, the
other funding the changes, were baa
ed on recommendations recently sub
mitted by the Coastal Water Quality
Study Committee.
The legislation identifies two pro-
blern-s in the area of coastal water
quaUty: (1) the present classification
system Ls too slmpUsUc and based on
(See MANAGEMENT, Page ^A)