Hearing Set July 22
A proposed interchange at U.S. 17 Bypass
and N.c. 130 would displace a service
station and apartment building.Page 7-A.
THr
'Little Dell' wins 'Jolly Mon'
Local fishing action remains hot. despite
record temperatures throughout the South
Brunswick Islands. Pages 10-1 1C.
Thirty-First Year, Number 34
12/31/99 fcfcF'O
HuAtt & SONS Bwk E' I NDERV
F* .0. BOX 162
?SF'R I NGF'ORT M I 4 9284
rth Carolina, Thursday, July 1 5, 1 993
'It Was Pretty Shabby'
David Clegg protests his replacement on
the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer
Authority by the county board. Page 12-c.
36 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Inserts ^
Wanted ASAP:
Just One Slow,
Soaking Shower
BY SUSAN USHER
Scattered afternoon thundershow
ers aren't bringing Brunswick Coun
ty residents much relief from a
steady diet of 90-plus temperatures
and a heat index approaching 110
degrees.
The weather ? as in hot and dry
and ready for a change ? is a popu
lar topic of conversation this week,
especially for farmers, forest rangers
and others whose jobs arc affected
directly by it.
"Wc need several days of slow
rain that the ground will soak up,"
said Elon King of Ash, one of the
county's largest row crop farmers.
He has 1,000 acres planted in soy
beans, 400 acres in corn and another
145 and 150 acres in tobacco.
"Rain is the only thing that will
help, and it's getting mighty late,"
he said. "It's already got the corn
tnd it's about got the tobacco and
the soybeans arc beginning to hurt."
The last rain fields near his home
in Ash received was 1.9 inches
"Saturday a month ago," while other
fields haven't received that much
rainfall.
King said that during his 25 years
farming, "this is the driest I can re
member it being."
Richard Toler, county executive
director of the federal ASCS
(Agricultural Stabilization and
County Service) office, said that the
crop suffering most right now is
corn.
Because Brunswick County had
an unusually wet spring, the early
com was set out in the driest places,
which arc now the areas suffering
most from lack of rainfall. The rain
is needed before field corn begins
tasscling and forming ears ? typical
ly early July.
'The time's passing right now and
for some com it is already too late,"
he said. "It's sort of a double jeop
ardy. We had too much rain this
spring and not enough this summer."
Tobacco, a hot weather crop, is
holding up better than other crops
such as cabbage, which for some
farmers was a total loss. Some to
bacco may have stunted growth but
Toler said it generally "looks real
good under the circumstances."
It's not only dry; it's hot and hu
mid, a combination that increases
heat stress on humans, animals and
plants as the heat index has topped
100 for more than five consecutive
days.
According to meteorologist Lance
Escude with the National Weather
Service office in Wilmington, tem
peratures during June and July have
been above average and rainfall be
low average. NWS readings are tak
en at New Hanover International
Airport at Wilmington and don't re
flect local variations.
The office logged 3 inches of rain
for all of June, compared to an aver
age of 5.68 inches, and so far 1.58
inches of rainfall during July, com
(See RESIDENTS, Page 2-A)
STAfF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
A RAIN-DRENCHED F I AG MAN with Carolina-Dickerson Construction who identified himself only
as "Hobo" signals traffic through the busy U.S. 17-Supply intersection during an afternoon storm
Monday. Scattered thunderstorms are bringing little relief from the heat and related lightning has
caused a series of wildfires across the area.
Candidates Face No Opposition
Yet In South Brunswick Islands Area
Mayors in Lcland and Long
Beach already face re-election chal
lenges, but that's not the way it's
shaping up elsewhere in Brunswick
County.
Across the South Brunswick
Islands no contests had emerged as
of mid-afternoon Tuesday, as filing
continues for 66 offices on 19 gov
erning boards. So far no candidates
had filed for election to the govern
ing boards of the towns of Calabash,
Shallotte or Bolivia or to the Doshcr
Memorial Hospital Board of Trus
tees.
Inside...
Birthdays 2B
Business News 12C
Calendar 80B
Church News~. -10A
Classified ? .....1-8C
Court Dockets .9C
Crime Report 8A
Fishing 10- lie
Golf..- 11B
Obituaries 10A
Opinion 4-5A
People In The News 5B
Plant Doctor 3B
Sports 9-12B
Television ... ? 6-7B
Ocean Isle Beach: Two incum
bents have filed at Ocean Isle Beach
in the past week, including Mayor
Betty Williamson, said Town Clerk
Daisy Ivey.
Williamson is seeking election to
a fourth term as mayor. Commis
sioner Bill Benton also filed for re
election.
Holden Beach: At Holdcn
Beach, Mayor Wally Ausley will run
again this fall. "The main reason is
so many folks have asked me to
continue on for another term," said
Ausley.
Nobody had filed for any of the
five seats on the board of commis
sioners as of Tuesday afternoon,
said Holden Beach Board of Elec
tions Chairman Elizabeth Dameron.
Sunset Beach: Incumbent Coun
cilmen D.G. "Bud" Scrantom and
Julia Thomas filed for re-election.
Varnamtown: Mayor Judy Gal
loway has filed for re-election and
Chris Lancaster has filed for alder
men. Incumbent Alderman George
Ennis Swain filed earlier.
Belville: Mayor Kenneth D. Mes
ser Sr. has filed for re-election.
Leland: Mayor S.L. Doty has
filed for re-election, facing chal
lenger Franky Thomas, a former
chairman of the Brunswick County
Commissioners. Councilmen Sadie
Richburg is seeking re-election. Al
so filing were Lucille Blake, who
was appointed in February to the
scat vacated by George Yates, and
Jimmy Cooke. Donald T. Sellers
filed earlier.
Sandy Creek: Danny Canady has
filed for town council.
Leland Sanitary District: Joe
Gainey has filed for election. All
five seats are available.
Navassa: Longtime Mayor Louis
"Bobby" Brown is seeking re-clcc
tion.
Boiling Spring Lakes: Raymond
Hicks has filed for one of the two
available seats on the Board of
Commissioners.
Southport: Alderman William
Crowe has filed for re-ejection to his
Ward I seal, and Mayor Norman
Holden is also seeking return office.
Phil Joyner filed earlier for the Ward
II seat held by Harry W. Gore.
Long Beach: Joan Alunan has
filed for re-election as mayor, in the
face of a challenge from Rupert Ri
ley. Incumbents Danny Leonard and
Jeffrie Ensminger also are seeking
re-election as commissioners. Fran
ces Allen entered the race earlier.
Yaupon Beach: Jackie Slockett
commissioner.
Caswell Beach: William A. Boyd
Jr. has filed for re-election.
South Brunswick Sanitary Dis
trict: Ginger Canady has filed for
re-election to one of the three scats
available.
Candidates have until noon Aug.
6 to file for office. The filing fee is
S5. The deadline to register to vote
in the Nov. 2 elections is Oct. 11.
School Board
To Appeal For
More Funding
BY SUSAN USHER
Brunswick County Commis
sioners will hear an appeal for more
school funding at a meeting with the
county school board tentatively set
Friday, July 23.
The first step in a negotiation
process that could lead to a court
settlement, the meeting is expected
to begin at 6 p.m. in the Public
Assembly Building at the Govern
ment Center in Bolivia.
"We'll be glad to listen to them,"
said Don Warren, chairman of the
commissioners. "We're going to
look at their request based on the ad
ditional information they provide
us."
"We want to look at the financial
cost to the county of some of their
personnel decisions. We want to
look at their fund balance and per
haps at last year's audit and perhaps
some line items," said Warren.
Looking at a shortfall of more
than 5350,000, the Brunswick
County Board of Education voted
unanimously Monday night to ap
peal the school's local funding allo
cation. The school board had asked
for a 26 percent increase over the
1992-93 budget, seeking S9.4 mil
lion for operations and $5.9 million
for building and other capital needs.
State law provides a means for lo
cal school boards to appeal a coun
ty's funding decision if the board
concludes that the allocation is not
sufficient to operate the school sys
tem, as the county school board de
cided Monday night. Its a process
that could ? though few have ? end
ed up in Superior Court.
"Given the growth of the county
and the demands for excellence in
education ? and rightly so ? the
county commissioners need to look
at this further," said Peterson.
"There are a lot of demands for
their money, but none so important
as education. Hopefully, they'll see
it the same way."
In June county commissioners
granted a 5 percent school budget
increase at a time when county de
partments were being asked to trim
their operating budgets by a similar
amount. The schools received S7.8
million for operating expenses and
S576.000 for capital projects, plus a
special SI million appropriation for
expanding computer/technology use
in the school system.
In revising its budget, the school
board still came up short on the
money needed to meet payroll ex
penses, said Baxter. The county's re
quest had been based on a 2 percent
stale teachers' salary increase,
which would be matched for locally
paid employed, and instead thr N.C.
General Assembly is expccted to ap
prove a 3 percent salary increase,
along with increases for school sys
tem administrators. The state pays
(See SCHOOL, Page 2-A)
Process Can Lead To Court
How can the school board appeal its budget?
The process provided by ihe North Carolina General Assembly re
flects the local board of education's unique status in relation to the coun
ty board of commissioners, school board attorney Glen Peterson said
Tuesday. A regular department of county government doesn't have ac
cess to this remedy.
"Education is so important and the school board has a separate con
stituency and is composed ot elected officials, so the legislature set up
this special procedure," Peterson said.
"It does give them a second chance to negotiate."
If a school board determines that its iocai funding isn't sufficient to
operate the school system? as the Brunswick County Board of
Education did Monday ? it has the right to appeal that funding decision
in a process that could, but rarely has, end up in Superior Court.
At a meeting that usually would be held within seven days (that re
quirement was waived because it would be impossible to meet), the two
boards are directed to make a "good faith effort to reach agreement" on
school system funding. The school budget is to be "considered carefully
and judiciously."
If after that process of negotiation the two boards cannot agree, ei
ther party can refer the matter, within three days, to the Brunswick
County Clerk of Superior Court for arbitration.
The clerk ? in this case Diana Morgan ? may choose to hear the mat
ter and render a decision, or decide it cannot be arbitrated and transfer it
to Superior Court She has 10 days in which to act
If the clerk hears the matter and makes a decision, then either party
has 10 days in which to appeal that decision to Superior Court ? and
could ask for a jury trial on the issues of fact at the next jury term.
"It takes precedence over all other court business," said Peterson.
Hewett Is Chosen America's Top DARE Educator
???hb ?
STAFF moro BY EKIC CAM.SON
LT. RON AW HEWETT of the Brunswick
County Sheriff's Department displays a plaque
commemorating his selection as National Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Officer of
the Year.
BY ERIC CARLSON
Lt Ronald Hewctt, the Brunswick County sheriff's
deputy who brought the Drug Abuse Resistance Edu
cation (DARE) program into local classrooms, was vot
ed the top DARE officer in America by its 4,000-mem
bcr national association last week.
Recently voted North Carolina's DARE officer of the
year, Hewett was invited to attend the sixth annual
National DARE Officers Association conference in Las
Vegas, Nev., July 6-9. There he learned that the associa
tion's nine-member board of directors had voted unani
mously to select him as its fourth DARE Officer of the
Year.
"I was totally surprised and shocked and honored,"
Hewett said Monday. "What can a country guy say? I
was overwhelmed. It's probably one of the greatest ten
ors of my life."
Kewett was selected from among nominees from 50
state association chapters representing more than 4,000
DARE officers. His coordination of the program and its
accomplishments were reviewed by the national board
of directors, including state police officers, county sher
iff's departments and bureaus of investigation from eight
states.
The board also reviewed letters from school children,
local newspaper accounts of his activities and comments
from state and local law enforcement officials and edu
cators, Heweu said. "One of the things they were im
pressed with was the way 1 try to make DARE gradua
lions very special for the
children," Hewett said.
Hewett said he gave an ac
ceptance speech at the con
ference and attended several
workshops aimed at improv
ing local DARE programs.
Among the speakers who
welcomed the group were
Nevada Governor Bob
Miller, U.S. Senator Harry
Reid and Los Angeles Police
Chief Willie Williams. "It got me inspired," Hewett said.
"I was ready to come back and start making a difference
in children's lives."
This year's conference marked the 10th anniversary
of the DARE program, which was started by the Los
Angeles Police Department in 1983 and soon became
the world's largest drug education program. Local
DARE programs were brought to North Carolina
schools in 1987. Hewett started the Bninswick County
DARE program in 1990.
"I want to thank Sheriff John Carr Davis for having
the foresight to see how effective the DARE program
could be," Hewett said. "I would also thank the school
board. Without them, 1 would never have gotten the
funding to make it possible."
Davis said Tuesday that he was "real proud" of
Hewett for winning the award and for "getting the pro
Officer made
' reasonable
choice' to
shoot at stolen
car, DA . says:
Page 2- A.
gram going" in Brunswick County.
"I guess it speaks good for me because it's my job to
fill the position, and he was the right person in the right
job," the sheriff said.
The DARE program uses a scries of classroom
lessons led by police officers to teach elementary school
children about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, violence
and gang activity. It offers practical methods of avoiding
unwanted peer pressure by building a child's self es
teem. It currently is taught in 250,000 classrooms in
5,200 cities throughout the United States. Programs also
have been started in Puerto Rico, American Samoa,
Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary,
Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica and Brazil.
A recent Gallup survey released at the Las Vegas con
ference indicates that more than 90 percent of students
who complete the DARE prog;ram believe it helps them
avoid drugs and alcohol while increasing self confi
dence. The survey of 632 DARE graduates, age 11-18,
found that 93 percent said they had never tried marijua
na, cocaine, heroin, crack cocaine or inhalants, while 75
percent had never tried a cigarette and 70 percent had
not tried alcohol.
Hired by the Holden Beach Police Department in
1983 as North Carolina's youngest police officer,
Hewett, 30, has been with the Brunswick County
Sheriff's Department since 1983. Promoted to lieutenant
in 1990, Hewett has worked as a patrol deputy, narcotics
investigator, bailiff and civil officer.