County To Check Compatibility
Of Home Alert
System With 911
BY TERRY POPE
When Tom Scubcrling arranged to address
Brunswick County Commissioners, he didn't know that
he'd be driving in from Ft Jackson, S.C., in full mili
tary uniform to talk about his patented product.
Seuberling, a member of the U.S. Army Reserves,
was recently activated as a result of Operation Desert
Storm, the war in the Persian Gulf.
He had to get special leave Monday night to keep
his appointment with commissioners, who listened as
Seuberling discussed HASTEN, not a secret military
operation, but the acronym for Health and Security
' rW
STAFF PHOTO BY TltHY POPE
TOM SEUBERIJNG got special leave from his resene unit at Fort Jackson, S.C., Monday to address
Brunswick County Commissioners about his telephone monitoring system.
Telephone Emergency Network, a patented product
Seuberling sells which monitors elderly and disabled
persons in their homes.
HASTEN uses a direct telephone line that connects
a home telephone with a central receiving station which
could be located at the Brunswick County Sheriff's
Department if the county decides to endorse the pro
gram. When a patient needs help, the unit can be acti
vated without having to dial numbers. The sheriff's dis
patcher would send help to the address listed on a com
puter printout.
County officials have agreed to study the equipment
to see if it would coincide with the 91 1 emergency com
munications program the county hopes to have in oper
ation by next Jan. I.
'The concept is good," said Doug Lcdgctt, the
county emergency medical services coordinator. "1
would need to study it. There arc some questions con
cerning 911."
The county would have to purchase the S2.000 re
ceiver station and pay the telephone company a month
ly fee of around S38 for the direct line, said Seuberling.
"Whether you have a 911 system or not, it's a bene
fit to the disabled," Seuberling said. "91 1 doesn't help
them at all if they can't push those three buttons."
The system can be activated by an air tube for para
lyzed victims or with a hand control for persons with
severe arthritis.
The Greensboro firm would install the home equip
ment in cooperation with the Department of Social
Services community alternatives program, or CAP ser
vices, which offers home care for patients who are one
step away from being placed in a nursing home.
Currently, there arc 43 persons being served by CAP
services in Brunswick County.
HASTEN, which was patented in 1980, has been in
stalled in Pender and Cumberland counties, Seuberling
said. About 60 persons arc connected to the system in
Pender County.
"The sheriff's department has a spot for it and the
sheriff was very impressed with it," he added.
In other business Monday, the board:
? Reappointed Nancy Lcdgctt and Van Galloway to
their scats on the Nursing Home Advisory Board. Their
terms had expired.
? Voted to delay an appointment to the Brunswick
County Health Board. An optometrist must be appoint
ed to fill the position held by Chris Moshoures, who has
resigned.
? Increased inspection fees for multi-sectional housing
units from S25 to S50, as recommended by County
Manager David Clcgg, effective March 1 .
? Approved a grant agreement with Brunswick County
Airport for $43,900 in state funds that will be used to
expand a taxiway at the airport. No county funds will
be involved, Clcgg said.
? Agreed to contract the accounting firm of Brock,
Padgett and Chandler to conduct the 1990-91 county
audit.
? Set a public hearing for 6:30 p.m., Feb. 18, at the
commissioners' chambers at the government complex
in Bolivia, on an ambulance franchise ordinance. The
New Hanover Regional Medical Center Mobile
Intensive Care Unit has applied to provide transits from
the center in Wilmington to Dosher Memorial Hospital
in Southport and The Brunswick Hospital in Supply.
Red wine Introduces
Lottery Bill, Nixes Annexation Bid
BV SUSAN USHER
Slate Rep. David Rcdwine Mon
day filed a bill calling for a referen
dum on a state lottery and notified
Calabash officials that he docs not
plan to introduce legislation to add
more area to the town.
Rcdwine said Friday he thinks his
lottery bill has a greater chance of
success than a similar measure he in
troduced during the last session. If it
is adopted, voters will get to vote on
a lottery during the Nov. 3 elections.
That bill was still stalled in com
mittee when the session ended. An
other lottery bill cleared the Senate
but not the House.
This year conditions arc more fa
vorable, Rcdwinc suggested, with
the state searching for additional
sources of revenue to offset a budget
shortfall of as much as SI. 5 million.
Analysts with the state have estimat
ed a lottery could raise as much as
S200 million to S250 million.
"1 think it has a better chancc of
getting on the ballot," he said,"but 1
hvacn't got tiie 'feel' of this General
Assembly yet. Right now I'm giv
ing it a 50-50 chance."
The 1991 version, H.B. 15, also
no longer specifies how lottery
profits would be spent, routing all
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
Efforts Recognized
Vernon Ward (right) of Shallotte Point was recently recognized by Chief Michael Potts (left) of the
Shallotte Point Volunteer Fire Department for his service to the department. As secretary-treasurer for
approximately four years, Ward keeps the books, pays the bills and most recently, handled the depart
ment's first residential letter campaign. He spent approximately 100 hours creating a database of fire
district residents' addresses and then sending each household a letter asking for support. The results
were excellent, said Potts.
Stolen Truck Found; Charges Filed
BY TERRY POPE
Charges have been filed against a
Wilmington man accused of steal
ing a truck that was recovered by
Brunswick County sheriff's depu
ties over the weekend.
Deputy Steve Mason reported a
1985 Isuzu Trooper stolen from a
Savannah Court residence in Wilm
ington was later found in Lcland.
A Wilmington man was arrested
at Eldorado Mobile Home Park in
Lcland for the larceny of the
516,000 truck.
The suspect has implicated at least
two other suspects in the auto larce
ny, Deputy Mason reported, as an in
vestigation of those allegations con
tinues.
In other reports on file at the
sheriff's department:
? A Lcland man reported last
Thursday that a man pointed a .357
revolver at him while he was driv
ing home from work on U.S. 17-74
76 near Belville. The victim said a
pickup truck passed his vehicle at a
high rate of speed, then slowed
down as the driver pointed the gun
toward him. The suspect then drove
away. The victim told deputies that
he did not know the suspect but lat
er told detectives that he will press
assault charges against the man.
? A Jeep reported stolen from a Mill
Creek residence early Monday mor
ning was found about a half-mile
from the victim's home on N.C. 87.
Deputy Gene Caison reported the
CRIME REPORT
Jeep was Tound around 2:45 a.m.
about 200 feel from where a 1987
GMC pickup truck had been stuck
in a ditch. There arc two suspects in
the case, both from Leland. Some
nylon rope was found near the Jeep,
which was returned to the owner.
? Burglars caused about $4,000 in
damage to drink machines at Old
Fort Golf Course off of N.C. 133 in
Winnabow early Saturday morning.
An undetermined amount of coins
was taken from the machines, De
puty Joseph Scoggins reported. The
door of a drink machine at Smith
ville Township Park in Southport
was also pried open over the week
end, reported Arch Wilson, park
manager. Deputy Becky McDon
ald's report did not give estimates
of damages or losses.
?Two homes on N.C. 179 south of
Shallottc were broken into sometime
before Friday, reported Deputy
Darryl Marlow. Screens to the front
doors at both homes had been cut
Taken from one home was fishing
gear and appliances valued at ap
proximately $650, with an estimated
$2,000 in damages. In another
home, about $490 in food and stereo
equipment was reported missing.
? A Seaside residence was broken
into sometime within the last two
weeks. The owner told Deputy Bob
Hoagland Friday that approximately
S80 in music equipment had been
taken.
? Someone broke into a Bolivia
home and look about $200 in jewel
ry, clothes and suitcases, reported
Deputy Caison. The break-in occur
red Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and
9:30 p.m.
? Kay Todd, owner of Top Gun
Videos in Leland, told Deputy Brian
Sanders Sunday that someone pried
open a door at the store setting off
an alarm. Nothing was taken in the
break-in.
? Worsley Transport, of Lincoln In
dustrial Park in Leland, reported
someone cut the lock on a storage
building last Thursday night but that
nothing appeared to be missing. De
puty Mason reported.
? A 1978 Ford van parked at a resi
dence near North Brunswick High
School was burglarized Friday
night. The owner told Deputy Ma
son that apparently a coat hangar
had been used to enter the van.
About $475 in stereo equipment and
$150 in damages was reported.
AT SUNSET HARBOR
BRING HOME
THEfcBEACON
On Sale At
SUNSET GROCERY
monies into the general fund.
State Sen. Kenneth Royall (D
Durham) has introduced an identi
cal bill, S.B. 2, in the senate.
When he introduced the previous
lottery bill, Rcdwinc said North
Carolina was losing money to
Virginia and also to Florida because
residents play those states' lotteries.
Tickets for the Florida state lottery
can be obtained in South Carolina.
Those who oppose the lottery ar
gue that it takes advantage of those
least able to afford it, the poor.
Others oppose it as a form of gam
bling, which is illegal in North
Carolina.
The lottery bill is the only pro
posed legislation Redwine "pro
filed," he said. He will wait to file
others after committee appoint
ments arc announced, looking for a
"friendly face" to route them to
from the House floor.
Routing for the lottery bill is "cut
and dried," he said. It will go to the
Courts, Administration of Justice
and Referendum Committee.
No Short Cut
Redwine has turned down a re
quest from the Town of Calabash
that would allow it to take into its
borders "pockets" of property with
out going through the usual process
of annexation.
Town officials have been press
ing for an answer to a request made
last fall for a local annexation bill.
Redwine had held back giving an
answer until he could discuss the is
sue with the area's other legislator.
Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. of Tabor City.
"He told me Thursday he was in
agreement with the contents of the
letter I plan to send the town," said
Redwine. "But he certainly can still
introduce anything he likes in the
Senate.
"I do not plan to introduce any
legislation to add any more area to
the Town of Calabash."
Soles, who had not returned a
Friday telephone call from the Bea
con as of Tuesday, had at one point
suggested the possibility of a local
bill that would provide for' a refer
endum of residents of both Cala
bash and the areas targeted for an
nexation, with mutual approval re
quired for any annexation to take
place. Several residents of the target
areas have approached the town
asking ? <j delay annexation until it
is in a position to provide services.
Town officials have said that
squaring off boundaries and taking
in non-resident pockets would in
crease the town's population and
make it easier to extend services.
"If I did it for them I would have
17 other towns asking for the
same," said Rcdwinc. "It would
open up a Pandora's box and I don't
want that."
"If they want to annex the usual
way and feel they can provide ser
vices and meet the tests of the law,
fine," the legislator said. "Those
laws arc there to allow for the
growth of towns in an orderly fash
ion."
Financing
?i^WCOUNT
?\roEuse
\WABf
11 M2cSe
0V?. ?*? l"tb 16 *
something
For Every
jrSE^SIIi^OS Room
. J| In Your
l \f- - v- r* >"v Home!
purchase
? Feb