HOW Fast IS Growth?
Brunswick county's population Is expected to
double by the year 2000. The chart and story
are on page 12*C of this Issue.
Supplement included in this issue.
Off TO Good start!
Area pier and marina owners say the fishina
season Is off to a good start. The report Is on
page 10-B of this issue,
INSWICKfiKACON
Twenty-fifth Year, Number 28
INC SIONSWtCK Sf ACON
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, May 21, 1987
25c Per Copy
94 Pages Including Supplement
Murder Suspect Indicted
After Surrendering
BY SUSAN USHER
A Brunswick County Grand Jury
Monday afternoon indicted Ronnie
Lee Clemmons with first degree
murHgr in Hia TTaKrttot^ oHnnH pff
death of a Shallotte man, Joe S.
Reeves.
Clemmons, 30, of Leland, turned
himself into the State Bureau of In
vestigation Sunday after eluding ar
rest for three months, said Shallotte
Police Chief Don Stovall. He is being
held in the Brunswick County Jail
without bond. He is charged with
murder and assault with a deadly
weapon in connection with the Feb. 6
shooting.
Trial has been set for July 21 in
Brunswick County Superior Court
At a first appearance hearing Mon
day in Columbus County District
Court in Whitcville, two lawyers, Roy
Trest of Thomasboro and Bill Fairley
of Southport, were appointed to
represent Clemmons.
Reeves, 31, was found dead in his
iniuie at 2 uciiaiTiy Lafic On inUiberry
Street, Shallotte. He had been shot
once in the back.
The search for Clemmons began
based on information given officers
by a woman in the Reeves house at
the lime of the shooting. Officers
searched the Leland area after Clem
mons' car, with a handgun inside it,
was found near a mobile home park
there. The search involved a
helicopter, officers on horseback,
dogs and roadblocks of major
highways.
Dcnunons has been on the run
since February and his flight taking
him across several states and to
"quite a few places,” Stovall in
dicated after questioning Clemmons.
At about 5 a.m. Sunday, Clemmons
called SBI Agent Rick Gainey in
Wilnrungton from Columbia, S.C.,
coving ^ tvontA^ tn turn IUfn5F!)f in.
His brother drove him to Wilmington,
where he was questioned by Gainey
and Stovall before being taken to the
Brunswick County Jail mid-
aftemoon SuTKiay.
"We took his statement,” said
Stovall. "He said he was tired of run
ning and wanted to tell his story.”
Clemmons told officers he was
afraid he would be shot on sight
He had been previously arrested in
Brunswick County on Jan. 11 on a
larceny charge.
Reeves was scheduled to appear
Feb. 9 in Brunswick County Superior
Court on drug charges.
Ocean Isle Police Chief Resigns
STAFF PHOTO 6Y SUSAN USHf R
Sprucing Up Sunny Side
Shallotte Junior Woman’s Club volunteers sprayed,
dabbed and bmshed paint Saturday as they freshened
up old Sunny Side School to the ^t of heach music
playing on a car radio. Since Its relocation to land adja
cent to Shallotte Municipal Part in 1980, the building
hu been awaiting renovation for use as a community
{acIllty..-Ballt in the early 1900s, the three-classroom
building served three generations of Sballotte-area
schoolchildren before its retiremenL Among those
helping out are, from the left, Britt, Megan, Jeff,
Kristen and Gail Williams, with Jimmy Register per
ched on the outside extension ladder and Woodman of
the World agent Danny Cartrette on the inside ladder,
Cindy Champion and Brenda Batchelor. The Town of
Shallotte scraped the building for the painting crew
and has a fund for donations toward its renovation.
BY TERRY POPE
Ocean Isle Beach Police Chief
Jerry Gurganus resigned Monday
following a meetmg of the town board
of conunissioners.
cited ‘Jjrersonal
’ reasons” for
leaving the
department
where he has
been employed
for the past 14
years. His
resignation will
become effective
June 1.
The board on
Monday also accepted the resigna
tion of Connie Duncan, a town
employee on the accounting staff.
Ms. Duncan, whose resignation was
effective immediately, also cited
“personal reasons" for leaving her
job.
Mayor LaDane Bullington said that
based on conversations Gurganus
has had with board members for the
past two weeks, “I think they were
ready” for his announcement Mon
day.
"The town board feels really
secure with the situation," Ms. Bull
ington said. “It's a position that we'll
need to filL It's not like we feel that
we vfSh’t be -ahle to carry on."
She said the town will begin adver
tising for a new police chief.
Gurganus will remain on patrol until
June 1 So the town will have “a good
period to tie over and to begin finding
a replacement,” she said.
When contacted Tuesday, a person
at the town hall said, “Jerry will not
be available today.”
Ms. Bullington said she will work
with Commissioner Terry Barbee to
oversee the recruitment of a new
police chief to Ocean Isle.
“We will want someone that is well
qualified,” Ms. Bullington said. She
added that the board will not rush to
fill the position by June 1.
“The board members are willing to
give their time to find a very
qualified person,” she said. “It is a
good situation. We feel it will be an
attractive situation. So why not hire
the best?”
The town is also advertising for a
town administrator, a position the
town will create in a reorganization
of staff.
. In other^ business Monday, the
"Tward ain^ded the dog "ordinance
which it passed last wedc to allow
dogs on the beach strand only during
certain hours.
An ordinance unanimously adopted
last week prohibited dogs from the
strand at all times from May 1 to
Sept. 30. The amended ordinance
restricts dogs from the strand from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dogs will be allowed on the strand
at other times, but they must still be
on a leash. The fine for allowing a dog
on the strand during the restricted
hours is 8100.
The board also passed a resolution
Monday asking for Sen. Jesse Helms’
Itelp in having dredge fill material
pumped onto the west end. Commis
sioners are asking Helms to contact
the U.S. Corps of Engineers to see if
dredge material from the Shallotte
Inlet can be pumped onto the beach
strand.
Election Changes Spark Oratory,
Pleas To Return Old Precincts
BY SUSAN USHER
Brunswick County Commissioners
hope to convince election officials to
nges
t'CSVUlU AVWM
preciiKts.
Spurred on by speeches of support
Monday, they adopted a resolution
asking the Brunswick County Board
of Elections to reconsider its con
solidation of Waccamaw and Exum
precincts Into Freeland precinct in
the western section of the county and
the division of the coastal Oak Island
and Secession precincts into two
smaller precincts each.
Members said they didn't know if
their action would make any dif
ference, since the State Board of
Elections has already approved the
changes.
Brunswick County Democratic
Party Chairman W.A. Stanley Jr.,
Exum Precinct Chairman Boyd
Evans and Commissioner Chris
Chappell, who grew up in Exum
precinct, encouraged the board's
unanimous vote for returning to the
old precinct lines.
Stanley told trie ooard there exisia
^ . 0 A
a broad oase in »u|iijwn.
community precincts such as Exum
and Waccamaw that foster
"Why single us out to take
away a heritage we've had
]QQ years?”
—Boyd Evans
Precinct Choirman
cohesiveness and are the center of
community life. They help preserve
the traditional values of “In
dependence and self-determination
that help make Brunswick County a
place we all want to live," he said.
Such small precincts shouldn’t be
eliminated unless there is “great
fiscal liability” to the county in main
taining them, added Stanley.
Evans told the board that Exum
precinct, which now has about 200
voters, was established in 1898. The
change would cause some residents
to drive 30 miles to vote, he pointed
out
He said Exum was the only
precinct in the western section of the
county to support the county’s water
bond referendum.
“The next thing that happened was
our township got taken away from us.
Now it looks like they’re going to take
away our precinct.
“The only things left are four green
boxes. If we can’t get our precinct
back, we want you to pick up the
boxes and at the same time reUeve us
of paying property taxes,” said
Evans.
“Why single us out to take away a
heritage we’ve had 100 years?"
Chappell said his childhood
precinct has always had a good voter
turnout. Without giving specifics, he
added he thought the motive in
eliminating Exum precinct was "not
political, but personal."
Evans’ comments about losing a
township referred to redistrlctlng
several years ago in which five
voting or electoral districts were
established, eliminating Waccamaw
Township’s separate representation
on the t^rd M commissioners and
board of education. Now District 1
encompasses both the coastal area
from Calabash to Shallotte and the
rural area west to the Columbus
County line. Township lines are still
used for demographic purposes.
Commissioner Jim Poole question
ed the .splitting of the coastal
precincts, asking why Leland wasn’t
also divided since it’s about tire sama
size as Oak Island.
While poll capacity was cited as a
reason for the division, he said, the
voter turnout for the island to his
knowledge has not exceeded 1,500,
though there are more yotem.
Commissioner Benny Ludlum
didn’t comment at the meeting, but
expressed similar concerns to the
Beacon.
“We were getting along all right
for a long time. Why change?" he
asked. “I don’t like it.”
If growth creates a problem at the
polls during the next general elec
tion, he added, “we’ll do something
about it then.”
In an interview, Chappell also
criticized the election board’s failure
to inform county political organiza
tions and the general public of the
changes it proposed. “There’s a com
munication problem,” he said.
The issue came under discussion
last week as both parties nominated
individuals for appointment to the
county board of eletdlons.
Elections Board Supervisor Lynda
Britt cited growth along the coast as
the reason for the precinct changes,
which left the county with one addi
tional precinct and only one spare
voting machine.
Holden Beach Light
Goes Up Next Week
BY SUSAN USHER
A signal won’t be up at the Holden Beach Intersection in time to han
dle the Memorial Day weekend traffic, but motorists won’t have to wait
much longer.
“We’ve promised the mayor the signal will be working by the 29th,
In about 10 working days,” said Roger Hawkins, division traffic
engineer for the N.C. Department of TransportatiOT, on Monday. "We
got the traffic signal plans In the mall this morning. We’re on flat go.”
Due May 22, the plans actually arrived early. The signal equipment Is
due in at mid-week and a crew is expected to set poles at the end of the
week. Signal iiutflnntlnn is to begin May 28.
The only delay might come in getting an electrical connection, since
a request had not been made to Brunswick Electric Membership Corp.
as of Monday. “But we don’t foresee any problems," Hawkins added.
“They’ve always been very helpful."
The fully-actuated light will respond to loops set in the pavement ?n
each side of the intersection, he said, moving from one location to the
other. If a car is there. It will get a green tight; otherwise, the signal will
skip on to the ne.xt location.
Hawkins said the first movement is set for S.R. 1239, Fulford Road;
then S.R. 1120, Sabbath Home Road; then the traffic leaving Holden
Beach.
The traffic signal became a political issue last fall. Holden Beach
officials and State Rep. David Redwlne had been lobbying for the light,
but DOT had said repeatedly that its studies didn’t show a high enough
need.
Gumges it proposed to Improve the intersection in lieu of a tight in
cluded moving the stop signs, which prompted (Ejections from local
residents.
In October, two Republican candidates for local public office In
vited Highway Commissioner Tonuny Pollard, also a Republican, to an
“emergency” meeting at the intersection. There Pollard promised to
reverse the stop signs again and to work toward getting a signal He also
traded barbs with audience member Redwine, a Democrat
Redwine later worked with House Speaker Liston Ramsey to obtain
the estimated 125,000 needed for the project, while Pollard pushed the
signal request with the Board of Transportation.