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VOLUME 12 NO. 29
JULY 27, 1989
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PHONE 244-0780 OR 946-2144 (UPSP 412-110)
25 CENTS
SIX PAGES
Two Arrested In Death Of Woman Found Outside Vanceboro
By Rachel Brown Hackney
Special to the
West Craven Highlights
TRENTON — One of two sus
pects arrested in connection with
the death of a Trenton woman who
disappeared from New Bern on
Hianksgi ving morning last year has
been released on $40»0(K) secured
bond, the Jones County SherifTs De
partment reported this week.
' ~ The other suspect remained in
the Craven County Jail under a
$20,000 secured bond, a sheiiffs de
partment spokesman said.
Dennis Ray Gaskins, 28, of 303
Armstrong Ave., New Bern, and
Tracey M. Baysden, 30, of Ri^s
Road in Alliance, both were arrested
on the morning of July 19 in connec
tion with the death of Sandra Cheryl
Poy, whose body was recovered from
Swift Creek near Vanceboro on Dec.
22. Gaskins, who was released on
bond July 21 following a first ap
pearance in Jones County District
Court, has been charged irith man
slaughter. Ms. Baysden has been
charged with accessory after the
fact of mnnslaughter.
Both are scheduled to appear in
Jones District Court on Aug. 4 for a
preliminary hearing before Judge
Robert L. Warren, a spokesman in
the Jones Clerk of Court’s office told
The Jones Post this week.
Miss Poy, 37, of Route 2, Trenton,
last was seen alive early on the
morning of Nov. 24,1988, when her
sister, Jan Poy, watched her drive
away with an unidentified person
from the parking lot of the Sheraton
Hotel and Marino in New Bern.
Both women had been at the Shera
ton lounge for several hours.
Miss Po/s clothed body was dis
covered four weeks later in Swift
Creek near Spruill's Landing by a
Kinston duck hunter. The autopsy
report showed that she had a blood
alcohol level that would have been
the equivalent of .09 on a
breathalyzer test, but all the other
toxicology tests performed on the
body had been negative. Miss Poy
also was taking *thyroid medication
and nerve pills,* according to the
autopsy report, at the time of her
death.
In March, Detective Mike Rice
with the Craven County Sheriffs
Department had told news media
that authorities hod determined
from the evidence in the case that
Miss Poy might not have been mur
dered, but that someone might have
concealed her death to prevent any
incrimination on their part.
*I didn't think she'd associate
Weyerhaeuser
Faces Lawsuit
Over Accident
Widow Seeks Damages
— For Death Of Husband
By Greg Stroud
Staff Writer
Weyerhauser has been accused in
a lawsuit with negligence in the
death of Lonice E. Thomas Jr. who
was killed in an industrial accident
at the company's New Bern plant
May 17, 1988.
The suit, filed by Thomas' widow,
Maria Thomas, seeks in excess of
$10,000 in damages, but does not
specify an amount. Itrequestsajury
trial. It was filed in Craven County
Superior Court earlier this month.
Thomas was employed by Weyer
hauser os a plant maintenance
worker at the New Bern plant.
Also named as defendants in the
suit are John Krofchick and Spencer
Adsit. Krofchick was the bleach
plant supervisor at the time of the
accident and Adsit was the plant en
gineer responsible for maintenance
at the time of the accident.
The accident occurred when a
chlorine tank used in the paper
bleaching process malfunctioned
and erupted near its base. Thomas
was killed when the 90-foot high
tank released a 450-ton flood of liq
uified pulp and the sodium hypo
chlorite solution being used to
bleach the wood. Two others sus
tained serious ii\jurie8 and perma
nent damage. One still sits in a
coma. Thomas was the only fatality.
Part of the suit states: ^Thomas
was immediately engulfed by tons of
liquifled pulp which flowed from the
ruptured area. The rupture caused
a h^e approximately five (5) feet by
seven (7) feet in size. A wave of pulp
wood crushed Mr. Thomas and sev
eral other workers. The magnitude
and force of the flowing pulp prop
elled M**. Thomas and the crew into
I- stationary piping and equipment at
great speed, causing grievous bodily
irtjuries. The flow of pulp reached a
height of six feet above the concrete
floor of the bleach plant.”
The suit contends Thomas was
unable to free himself because of the
weight and density of the pulp moss
and suffocated.
The suit alleges that Weyer
hauser was aware of the tank's con
dition and that the external walls of
the tank were weak prior to the acci
dent, but did not take proper actions
to see that the tank was safe. In Fe
bruary of 1988, the walls were so
thin that one worker actually
punched a hole in the side of the
tank with a putty knife while trying
to remove surface rust, according to
the suit. The incident was reported
to plant ofHcials at that time.
The tank had just been reacti
vated after a two-week shutdown for
maintenance.
Krofchick and Adsit acknow
ledged that they were aware of the
deterioration prior to the accident
occurring, said the suit. The suit
said the deteriorated conditions of
the tank 'were readily observable
ans speciflcally known by and dis
cussed among each of the defen
dants and other management and
corporate officials of
Weyerhaeuser.”
Govemmentofflcials from the Oc
cupational Safety and Health Admi
nistration (OSHA) cited Weyer
hauser for safety violations and for
'failure to provide an adequate in
spection of the tower to see that it
was in a safe end servicable condi
tion, resulting in a workplace imper
iled by a recognized hazard wMch
could cause death or serious harm to
employees.” The company was fined
$500, which it paid without contest.
'In a report prepared by OSHA,
officials of Weyerhaeuser admitted
they were aware of the grossly de
teriorated condition of the tanks,
but misled OSHA investigators con
cerning the full extent of such know
ledge,” said the suit.
Weyerhauser and the other de
fendants are accused in the suit of
intentional, willful, wanton and re
ckless conduct which resulted in
wrongful death.
As of yet, the complaint has not
Lost in his work
Donnie Little, yes that’s him hidden among the tobacco leaves, finds a little relief from the
heat and sweltering sun frt>m the shade offered by the big leaves and equipment overhead.
Little was busy at work Tuesday morning working an area tobacco field. Tobacco workers
dot many fields as they harvest one of the state’s top crops. Farmers are hoping the green
See WEYERHAEUSER, Page 6 on the fields will translate to green for their bank accounts.
with no auch thing as that,- her
father, Randolph Foy, said earlier
this week.
Investigator Denise Harris with
the New Bern Police Deportment
said in an interview that she and
other low enforcement agents *had
a lot of speculation- during the in
vestigation. No arrests could be
mode, she said, ‘till we could get
someone who knew something who
See FOY, Page 6
Deputy
Attacked
At Store
Craven County law enforcement
offleers were joined by Beaufort
County deputy sheriffs, Chocowin-
ity police, Ktt County deputies and
N.C. Highway Patrol offleers in a
three-county search Friday for a
Vanceboro man after a Craven
County deputy was injured in a
fight.
The man. Prince Lee Whitley,
was still at large last night, a
spokesman for the Craven County
Sheriffs Department said. Craven
County Sheriff Pete Bland could not
be reached for comment this
morning.
Whitley was not in Craven
County jail this morning, a spokes
man said.
For almost four hours Friday af
ternoon, local law enforcementoflic-
ersblocked U.S. 17 and N.C. 33 near
the Craven County and Beaufort
Couny line, Beaufort County Sheriff
Nelson Sheppard said Friday.
Craven County deputies asked
for help about 12:90 p.m. Friday
looking for a red Ford Mustang G.T.
reportedly driven by Whitley, Shep
pard and a spokesman for Craven
County said.
The search was.called off about
4:30 p.m, local low enforcement offi
cials said.
Whitley was being sought in con
nection with iiduries to Craven
County SherifTs Deputy Willie Mor
ris who was taken to Pitt County
Memorial Hospital for back irguries
he received in a fight, a Craven
County spokesman said.
Morris was taken to the hospital
by helicopter and was released late
Friday, a spokesman for the hospi
tal said Saturday.
The deputy apparently went to a
house to serve an outstanding war
rant for nonsupport, the Craven
County spokesman said. Morris fol
lowed a man, who left the house, to a
convenience store in Vanceboro, the
Craven County spokesman said.
At the convenience store, the man
reportedly fought with Morris and
left in the red Mustang with a fe
male passenger. A Craven County
woman, Allison Hogans was
charged Friday afternoon with as
sault on a law enforcement officer,
the spokesman said.
The car was found Monday in
Washington by Washington police.
County School Bus
Situation Said Good
By Greg Stroud
Staff Writer
approximately 700,000 North
'’'Carolina public school students will
ride 121 million miles to school dur
ing the 1989-90 school year, and for
the second year their drivers will all
be 18 or older.
Last year. North Carolina fielded
an all-adult bus driver corps for the
first time and faced some driver
shortages at the start of the school
year. A ruling by the U.S. Depart
ment of Labor required the state to
hire only drivers 18 or older. For the
1989-90 school year, most systems
are expected to hove little problem
employing the drivers they need ac
cording to Norfleet Gardner, De
partment of Public Instruction
transportation director.
One more change is slated for the
bus driver program within the next
two years, if passed bv the General
Assembly. Drivers will probably be
required to hold a commercial Class
B license and be over 21 years of age
instead of 18. At the present, any
adult driver with a license in good
standing and who has been issued a
School Bus Driver Certificate can
operate a school bus.
The Craven County school sys
tem reports that the driver situation
Billy Eutsler.
*We are very proud of our system.
The new adult drivers are proving to
be very valuable to us. This past
year the accident rate dropped 50
percent from the previous one. We
don't want to speak prematurely,
but the prospects are promising for
a great year ahead,” said Eutsler.
A total of 13,200 buses and driv
ers will be needed to transport
North Carolina children this year.
Craven County accounts for 167
buses and transports around 8,500
children daily.
The crucial need school systems
have now, says Gardner, is substi
tute drivers. Because of the diffi
culty involved in attracting people
to be substitutes, many school sys
tems, including Ctaven County, rely
on employees in other positions such
as teacher assistants, cafeteria
workers and others to act as drivers.
'School systems need a list of peo
ple who could fill in when a bus
driver is sick or has jury duty or for
some other reason cannot work for
one day,” Gardner said.
Persons interested in becoming a
school bus driver or substitute
should contact the board of educa
tion at 638-2139 or contact the prin
cipal of a nearby school. Training re
quired Includes a full day of class-
School Doors Open
Aug. 31 In County
NightfUght
Lm SchwsHter Jr. photo
should run smoothly, according to
County Transportation Director,
Although the moon may have looked a little wobbly to the
pilot of this plane last week, it was the hazy skies caused by
hot and humid weather that caused the effect. The pilot Just
happened to be flying on the 20th anniversary of man’s Hrst
steps on the moon. Wonder if the pilot remembered the his-
toric step in flight, less than 76 years after the first plane
See BUSES, Page 5 flew at Kitty Hawk?
By Greg Stroud
Staff Writer
Even though it seems summer
has just begun, in less than a month,
students across the state will return
to the classroom.
Classes in Craven County will be
gin on August 31 for grades 1-12.
Kindergarten students vdll begin
either August 31 or September 4, de
pending on what school and class
the student is assigned to. Parents
will receive a notice from the school
principal as to which date their kin
dergarten children will need to re
port to class.
Most school children feel some
what anxious about returning to the
classroom in the fall, say school ofli-
cials. This nervousness is likely to
increase if the child is entering a
new school or making the transition
from elementary to middle school or
from middle school to high school,
said the officials.
Whether your child awaits the
first morning bell with eager antici
pation or overwhelming dread, the
first few days are likely to be stress
ful adjusting or readjusting to the
structured schoolroom
environment.
Parents can help toreducebnek to
school stress, according to the North
Carolina Department of Public In
struction. To reduce back to school
stress, parents can help with nn en
couraging attitude andby establish
ing clear expectations for their
children. It isalsoa good idea to take
children to school ahead of time to
walk around the halls, go into their
classroomCs) and meet their
teacherfs). Tbis will make the child
more familiar with his surround
ings and will help him feel more at
ease during those first few days of
school.
If a child has become accustomed
to sleeping lato during the summer,
getting up on time may be some
what of a problem for them and can
cause a harsh experience for both
parent and child. This problem can
be avoided if parents enforce earlier
bedtimes and awakening times dur
ing the summer as the new school
year approaches.
A child must have sufficient rest
ond sleep to be alert in school. It is
important that they get upin time to
eat a good breakfast and not feel
rushed to get to class on time.
For new kindergarteners, going
to school for the first time marks a
real milestone in their lives. For
many children, this will be the first
time they have had an opportunity
to be independent from 'mommy
and daddy.” For many children,
starting school can be a very scaiy
feeling. Encouragement and nur-
See SCHOOLS, Page 6