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West Craven Highlights
News From Alonf( The Hunks Of The Neiise
NUQNM WWSnUVR
ASSOCUIKIN
VOLUME 12 NO. 10
MARCH 9, 1089
VANCEBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE 244-0780 OR 946-2144
(UPSP 412-110)
25 CENTS
SIX PAGES
Town Finds Search For Officer Difficult
By HIKE VOSS
Editor
While Vanceboro continues to
search for a police oflicer, the
town has been blessed with little
criminal activity, said a town
alderman.
At the aldermen’s meeting
Monday night, concerns were
,,.;(ts^ over the lack of a police
officer in town. Several speakers
Indicated a need for a policeman
to help protect lives and proper
ty. But finding a qualified officer
has not been easy, said Alderman
Shirley Bryan.
The town has advertised exten
sively in area newspapers since
the last police officer resigned
about a year ago. Bryan said in
that period only two or three ap
plicants have sought the job. “If
you can't find one, you can’t hire
one," said Bryan.
Bryan said it was probably the
size of Vanceboro and the lack of
“If you can’t find one, you can’t liire one”
— Shirley Bryan
amenities that larger towns and
cities have that have resulted in
no responses to the advertise
ments and not pay. “We are will
ing to pay what it takes to get an
officer," said Bryan. He said he
thought the last officer, Herman
Lewis, was paid about about
216,000 a year. “I am willing to go
more than that.”
“We’re still looking. We really
need one," he said. Bryan said
that the owner of a local hard
ware store felt the town needed a
policeman to protect the proper
ty of business owners, homeow
ners and others with investments
in the town.
Bryan said Craven County
Sheriff Pete Bland is assisting
the town in its search for an
officer.
Although the town has adver
tised in area newspapers, “We
just haven’t had any response,"
said Bryan.
Bryan said the town might
need to be looking for a retired
policeman who would not mind
living in a small town. He also
said he would rather hire a
trained officer instead of an un-
traind officer. An untraind offic
er would be required to complete
an approve training course (ab
out 720 hours of instruction)
within a year’s time of being
hired. Some officers have their
(See POLICE, Page 5)
Teachers Planning
Strategies To Show
Concerns, Wishes
Impatient For His Dinner
What do you do with an opossum who gets into the habit of tearing
open bags of garbage? That’s easy — feed him. Chicken scraps or
other things that your dog can’t have or won’t touch make perfect
fare for a hungry possum. Just put a feeder up on a tree and he’ll
happily quit scrounging through cans. If you forget to serve,
though, expect a nasty look until all lights are out and then no
respect for the sanctity of your garbage.
(Ric Carter photo)
By CONNIE SPIVEY
Special fo the
Weal Craven llighlighlt
A spilhover crowd of educators
met in Greenville last Thursday
night to plan ways to make legis
lators and citizens aware of
teachers’ concerns and what they
want from the profession.
The teachers, including several
from Craven County, met at D.H
Conley High School. The meet
ing began in the auditorium but
was moved to the gymnasium
when educators kept arriving.
The teachers, members of the
North Carolina Association of
Educators, have had several re
cent meetings to discuss issues
facing teachers. The group sup
ports efforts to obtain a pay raise,
against a career ladder program
and for lifting a salary freeze.
The career ladder is a program
that would allow teachers to
progress on the basis of evalua
tions by principals and eva
luators. The plan is expected to
cost about $48 million this fiscal
year in its implementation.
One of the educators, John
White, chairman of the strategy
committee for the Beaufort
County NCAE, said that in the
last decade the county’s teachers
had failed to reach .their poten
tial. He said they did not help in
fluence issues that affect them.
White urged the teachers to stay
in contact with their state legisla
tors.
He said the group’s purpose is
to get ideas on how to help thpm-
selves and other North Carolina
teachers get what they want.
NCAE members decided to
run a series of newspaper adver
tisements, conduct polls to see
how non-NCAE members fee)
about teachers’ issues and a start
(See NCAE, Page 5)
Class Of 1969
Plans Reunion
The members of the Farm
Life High School Class of 1969
will be planning for their 20-
year reunion this year.
Senior Class President
Tommy Haddock has re
quested that any class mem
bers that can help plan and
conduct the reunion contact
Dean Morris at 244-0594 or by
writing to him at P.O. Box 423,
Vanceboro, N.C. 28586.
In order to make the reunion
a success, assistance from
class members will be needed.
Organizers would like to hear
from as many class members
as possible. If class members
have moved, the organizers
need current addresses so the
members can be contacted ab
out details of the reunion once
planning has been completed.
Organizers are asking class
members to become involved
in planning the reunion.
Detective Says Woman’s Death May Have Been Accidental
NEW BERN — The Craven
County detective who has been
handling the investigation into
the death of Sandra Cheryl Foy
of Route 2, Trenton, said this
^^k that it did not appear Miss
had been murdered, but that
someone might have concealed
her death to prevent any incri
mination on their part.
Detective Mike Rice told The
Jones Post in a telephone inter
view that Miss Foy might have
died accidentally in the presence
of another person who then
panicked because the circumst
ances would have put them in a
compromising position. ’T’d like
the person who left her to come
forward,” Rice said.
A Kinston duck hunter found
Sandra Foy’s frilly clothed body
on Dec. 22 in Swift Creek near
Spruill’s Landing in the Vance
boro area. An autopsy could not
determine the cause of death.
But former state Chief Medical
Examiner Dr. Page Hudson, who
performed the autopsy in Green
ville, told the Post in a telephone
interview that he had found no
external signs of violence. Hud
son had said he could not rule out
drowning, as that cause of death
was determined more by an abs
ence of other factors rather than
by specific findings.
Although Miss Foy had a blood
alcohol level that was the equiva
lent of a .09 on a breathalyzer test,
no other traces of drugs such as
cocaine or opiates were found.
But the autopsy report noted that
Miss Foy had been taking ”thyr
oid medication and nerve pills.”
Miss Foy, 37, reportedly last
was seen alive by her sister, Jan,
also of Trenton, early on Thank
sgiving morning when she left
the parking lot of the Sheraton
Hotel and Marina in New Bern
with a person who has not been
identified. The sisters, Jan Foy
told the Post, had been at the
Sheraton lounge for several
hours prior to Sandra’s depar-
tuie about 1:30 a.m.
Sandra Foy had not told Jan
where she was going, although
her mother later told the Post she
never had stayed away from
home overnight without letting
family members know her plans.
Sandra Foy never had married
(See FOY, Page 5)
Celebrity Regatta Plans
To Attract Rich, Famous
By HIKE VOSS
Editor
Donald Trump is checking his
schedule, Walter Cronkite
appears to be a shoo-in, and sin
ger Jimmy Buffett may leave
“Margarilaville" to take part in
“the Beneteau Celebrity Rendez
vous regatta.
The regatta is scheduled for
June 2-4 and will benefit the
Beaufort County Unit of the
American Cancer Society, said
organizer Carol Stallings.
In addition to Trump, Cronkite
and Buffett, she is trying to collar
a long list of celebrities —
athletes, entertainers and politic
al figures. So far, the national fi
gure whose confirmation is the
most definite is Cronkite.
"Cronkite, I feel like, will be
here,” said Mrs. Stallings.
The prospective guest list in
cludes Miami Vice’s Don John
son, Andy Griffith, Vanna White,
Willard Scott, Ted Turner, James
Taylor, Michael Jordan and
others.
“Some of these people are hard
to get in touch with, but we’re
trying,” Mrs. Stallings said.
But there have bwn commit
ments from some state luminar
ies, including Gov. Jim Martin,
columnist Dennis Rogers of the
News and Observer of Raleigh,
and Miss North Carolina, Lea
(See REGATTA, Page 5)
Four DEC A Students
At Annual Conference
Four representatives of the
Distributive Education Clubs of
America (DECA) are attending
the annual DECA Career Lead
ership Conference in Winston-
Salem today.
They are part of the 2,600
DECA-marketing students reg
istered for the three-day event
that began today.
The West Craven High School
students will take part in com
petitive events, designed to show
their marketing skills and know
ledge in all phases of the market
ing field. The students IVom the
West Craven DECA chapter are
Darlene Cook, voting delegate
and food marketing event con
testant; Jeri Mounce, voting de
legate and contestant in the
general merchandise event;
Lorinda Flynn, voting delegate
and Muscular Dystrophy dancer
and Tracy Hall, voting delegate,
screening and nominating com
mittee and contestant in the
quick-serve event in t^e food ser
vice competition.
The students are accompanied
by their teacher and marketing
coordinator, Richard Cannon.
Jobless Rates Increase
• • In Counties During Jan.
Craven, Pamlico, Jones and
Lenoir counties experienced in
creases in unemployment in
January. Lenoir and Jones coun
ties, with 5.4 percent and 5.1 per
cent of their workers jobless,
were the only counties of the four
in the area with a rate over 5 per
cent.
The local unemployment rate
increases followed a statewide
seasonal rise.
In Craven County, unemploy
ment rose from a December rate
of2.6 percent to 3.6 percent. 1,130
of the county’s 31,480 workers
were jobless in January, com
pared with 810 of a workforce of
31,050 in December.
Jones County’s unemploy
ment rate climbed to 5.1 percent
in January from 3.8 percent in
December. There were 3,770 peo
ple — out of a workforce of 3,920
— with jobs in December. In
January, 4,070 people bad jobs in
the county and 220 were unem
ployed.
In Lenoir County, the January
unemployment rate was 5.4 per
cent, after a 1.7 percent increase
from December.
There were 29,390 people with
jobs and 1,580 people without in
Martin County in January. In De
cember, 28,060 people had jobs
and 1,0'io were out of work.
Pamlico County had a 3.5 per-
(See JOBLESS, Page 5)
^Here Come The Brides^
Vows To Bring Laughter
Gotcha!
His lassor neatly around the neck of a fleeing calf, Cody Clement
prepares to swing ftom the saddle and bring his quarry to the
ground. Although the roping is a scene out of the Wild Wet, it’s
taking place in New Jersey — at the oldest continuously operating
rodeo in the United States. (Photo by Bob Hill)
Rehearsals are now in progress
at West Craven High School for
the Drama Club’s spring produc
tion of Here Come the Brides, a
comedy in three acts written by
William D. Fisher.
The story told by the play takes
place in the sitting room of Jim
my Took’s house, located in a
large city. Jimmy Took, played
by Roger Russell, and Bill
Thompson, played by Ashley
Anderson, are two young chaps
living with Bill’s Aunt Ellen, who
is portrayedby Michelle Snow.
Took’s only relative is Uncle
Dan, portrayed by Stacy
Meadows. Uncle Dan is very
wealthy and generous. Through
a misunderstanding. Uncle Dan
gets the impression Jimmy is
married. Aft-aid that his uncle
will think he deliberately lied to
him, Jimmy frantically tries to
talk his girlft-iend Madge, played
by Lori Guy, into poing as his
wife for a few hours. Madge re
fuses, so Jimmy attempts to hire
(See PLAY, Page 2)