Mother Claims School Negligent In Child's
1 992 Fall From Leland Middle Water Cooler
TWo and a half years after her son
was seriously injured in a fall while
attempting to climb from a water
fountain into a hole in the hall ceil
ing at Leland Middle School,
Marion Hewett of Leland is suing
the Bnmswick County Board of
Education for "gross, willful or wan
ton" negligence.
The complaint was filed Nov. 23
in Brunswick County Superior
Court on behalf of Kenneth Anthony
Hewett, who was 1 1 when the acci
dent occurred, and his mother, Mar
ion Hewett. Represented by Wilm
ington attorney James E. Eldidge,
Mrs. Hewett has asked for a jury tri
al and is seeking damages in excess
ofSlO.OOO.
On May 27, 1992, student Hewett
was in a hallway when he saw a
hole in the ceiling where several
tiles were missing. He climbed onto
two nearby water coolers and was
attempting to climb into the space
"when he fell and violently struck
his hcau Ofi ilic iluoi below..."
Following the accident Ms.
Hewett told The Brunswick Beacon
her son had suffered a crack in the
cervical spine and a fractured skull.
Hewett 's complaint contends the
school staff, under the circum
stances, should have foreseen that
such an accident could happen, and
that the school system was negligent
because staff:
? failed to inspect the premises
to first discover and then remedy the
"dangerous conditions" created by
the missing tiles;
? failed to warn children of those
conditions and to adequately safe
guard them;
? failed to adequately supervise
or wdiii the boy when he was given
permission to enter the area unat
tended by an adult supervisor; and
? failed to properly care for him
before the arrival of emergency
medical technicians.
Before emergency personnel ar
rived, school employees did not im
mobilize the boy, the suit states.
Instead they carried him from the
hallway into an office and attempted
to care for him there.
The ceiling tiles had been missing
for at least three weeks, according to
the complaint. It states the school
should have known the hole existed,
that it was attractive to children and
that students had previously "at
tempted to and had gained access in
to the space above the ceiling..." and
that the Situation pu3Cu all UnrCaSCii
able risk of harm to students.
As a result of the accident Hewett
received injuries to his head and
body that cause him to continue to
suffer "great and excruciating pain
and suffering of body, mind and
spirit" and "great mental anguish
and anxiety," the complaint states.
The family has incurred and will
continue to incur related medical ex
penses, it states, and Mrs. Hewett
has also suffered monetary loss from
lost wages.
TOWN BOARD REJECTS DRAFT PLAN
Ocean Isle Museum Auditorium Hits Snag
BY SUSAN USHER
Plans to add a 150-seat auditorium to the
Museum of Coastal Carolina at Ocean Isle
Beach hit a snag Tuesday morning, with town
officials and local residents questioning plans for
the project.
The Ocean Isle Beach Board of Adjustment,
which would need to issue a special use permit
for the project, found a proposal presented Mon
day unacceptable. It cited serious concerns about
parking, traffic flow and stormwater runoff as
well as the addition's overall impact on its resi
dential neighborhood.
Parking is the single biggest problem the
museum faces, both the number of spaces pro
vided and their location.
Building Inspector Druied Roberson said
plans to add 25 parking spaces to the existing 18
spaces would provide 33 total spaces, which he
thought adequate. But that estimate was based
on six occupants per car, which board members
thought unrealistic, and didn't consider that the
museum area might be open at the same time as
the auditorium.
The plan would also have required an en
croachment agreement from the town, which on
ly town commissioners could approve, and relo
cation of a fire hydrant.
Museum expansion as proposed would
"worsen the existing stormwater drainage prob
lem, increase the traffic hazard with cars having
to back onto Second Street and increase the dust
and heavy traffic," said Fred Gray, speaking on
behalf of his family and seven other Laurinburg
Street households. "It seems to me the advan
tages of the museum are outweighed by the
problems. Please do nol force us lo endure many
more burdens."
Betty Causey also objected to the plan, citing
traffic problems on Second Street and stormwa
ter runoff on Laurinburg.
The town has asked the state Department of
Transportation to take over maintenance and
ownership of Second Street. If the street were
widened, that would put the proposed museum
parking area even closer to the traffic, making "a
bad situation worse," said Roberson.
"To my mind that would be dangerous," said
Commissioner Kendall Suh.
Ken Proctor and Bill Benton removed them
selves from the Board of Adjustment discussion
because both serve on the museum's board of di
rectors. When asked by fellow members to com
ment, however, they concurred with the board's
assessment of the parking and traffic problems.
Sterile Oysters May Be Fertile N.C. Crop
Reprinted From
"Marine Grapevine"
N.C. Sea Grant
That old rule of thumb for eating
oysters only during cold-weather
months with an "r" in their name
may become obsolete for some
Carolina shellfisl* consumers.
N.C. Sea Grant is experimenting
with a sterile oyster that might be
harvestable in summer months and
resistant to the diseases that have
decimated East Coast oyster crops in
recent years.
Skip Kemp, a Sea Grant aquacul
ture specialist, is testing these oys
ters ? called triploids ? for the first
time in North Carolina. They will
look and taste like normal reproduc
ing oysters, he says, but they are
thought to be hardier.
The name triploid refers to an
oyster that is genetically altered to
have three sets of chromosomes
rather than the normal two sets that
other oysters have. This means that
triploids don't reproduce. They
don't release sperm and eggs in the
summertime, which is thought to
weaken reproducing oysters and to
make them more susceptible to dis
eases such as Dermo.
Oysters could conceivably be har
vested during summer months, but
they are not for a couple of reasons,
Kemp says. They're watery and less
appetizing when they spawn, and
they're also more difficult to harvest
and handle without spoiling in hot
weather.
Although triploid oysters may not
be the answer to the second prob
lem, they have a clear advantage
over reproducing oysters. They're
fatter when they're not taxed by
spawning, and they might be used to
extend the market year-round, Kemp
says. In a recent informal survey of
restaurant owners, he learned that
there is a summertime demand for
Some Choice Programs for
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oysters that is not being met.
On average, triploid oyster seeds
are more expensive than others. A
group of 1 1 North Carolina aquacul
turists is helping Kemp determine if
they're worth the extra cost. He pur
chased an initial batch of 50,000
from the Harbor Branch Ocean -
ographic Institution in Florida.
They're amung 250,000 oyster seeds
(hat are being farmed out to cooper
ating oystermen who will raise them
in chubs on their shellfish leases
Kemp designed the chub system for
growing oysters in mesh bags that
float on the water's surface.
Results of the experiment should
tell Kemp by late 1995 whether the
triploid would he a potential oyster
crop in North Carolina.
<rr"l- 7 . to
i nuriK you
Cleve, Sylvia and Amanda Gore, along
with the rest of their family, would like to let
everyone who showed concern and love
during our time of distress to know that it
was greatly appreciated.
The firefighters are the real heros, and no
one ever tells them thank you until some
thing like this happens. They are wonderful
people, and we will always be in debt to
them.
For our church, St. Luke, also thank you
for being a wall of strength and love.
Thanks to everyone for their prayers and
concern, and may God bless you always.
We would also like our customers to know
Shallotte Muffler & Brake Shop will be
working temporarily out of the back build
ing on Hwy. 179, Shallotte, until things are
straightened out.
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ST ah photo IY f?C
Swamped With Co lis
Ronald Hen-eft, newly elected sheriff of Brunswick County, tries to
catch up on the huge stack of telephone messages that accumulat
ed during his first week in office. More than 300 calls to the new
sheriff were logged in less than five days. "/ would ask folks to be
patient and I 11 get back to them as soon as I can, " Hewett said
Friday. "Just be sure, if you have an emergency, to let someone
else know so it can be handled immediately. "
E. Second Street ? Ocean Isle Beach ? 579-0535 ^
(Beside Jungle Golf)
Weekly Entertainment Schedule
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