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West Craven Highlights
News from /ilong The Hanks Of The Neiise
NAIONAl »e«VSI>A.FVS
VOLUME 12 NO. 35 SEPTEMBEk 14. 1989 VANCEBORO. NORTH CAROLINA
PHONE 244-0780 OR 946-2144 (UPSP 412-110) 25 CENTS SIX PAGES
Info-Line
provides
answers
Bjr Grtg SIroud
Stair Wriltr
‘Info-Une, may I help you?"
For icaidenta oT Craven Counfy,
onajyould hear the emilinj; voice oT
Snnly Thoinpaon or her volunteer
atair ready to anawer the queations
of who, what, when, where toquea-
Uone auch aa *Where do I regiater to
vote?,*‘Where would I find out how
to get information on cocaine?,* *b
there an organiaation in the com
munity that...*
The Hat could go on and on.
The idea for the Info-Une came
into being in 1985 when the Craven
County Board of Commiadoners
created the Board on Aring, and as
one of ita goala to *eaUu>liah a cen
tral acceaa point for information and
referral for Craven County, not only
for senior citizens, but for the com
munity as a whole.*
In December of 1986, Sandy
Thompson was hired to head up the
pTqject. Thompson wasaformer sec
retary to Representative Beverly
Perdue. Thompson stopped working
for Perdue when the representative
moved her public offices to Raleigh.
Her job with the Board of Aging is to
provide secretarial support to the
board and to run the Info-Line.
After months of gathering infor
mation and collating it so it couldbe
used, the Infor Line finally became
available to the public in May.
Funds were then sought for a com
puter system to provide easy access
to the information at hand through
a database. The Info Line went on
line in September of 1987-
, Thompson said the moat fre
quently asked questions concern se
nior citizen services, followed by
questions concerning marriage
licenses and where to get a copy of
one’s birth certificate.
However, she says, there are
times when the questions are a little
out of the ordinary. She cites for ex
ample a woman who recently called
and asked where to go for flying les
sons. Anotherinterestingcase was a
woman who called i n and asked how
to get rid of ‘snakes on her porch.’
The letter situation was finally re-
See INFO, Page 5
Hardee
tackles
assignment
While football fans love to see a
wide open offensive game be
cause ita the offense that does
most of the scoring, fans also love
great defensive play. Just ask
«i>y^Bw York Giants' fan about
Lrf^ence TayW.
And often at the high school
level, those who make the tackles
don't get to bask in the spotlight
too much. But every now and
then along comes a player who
stands out.
West Craven's Ray Hardee re
corded nine tackles Friday night
in the Eagles' 16-13 win over
county rival 4-A New Bern. For
his efforts, Hardee is this week's
recipient of the Flying Eagle
Award. Ihe West Craven High
lights gives the honor each week
during the football season.
Hardee is also the leading
tackier on the season for the Ea
gles and that is rather pleasing to
head coach Clay Jor^n.
OTjU^jrdee, a 6-0, 160-pound ju-
nl^ plays part-time on offense
and serves as captain of West
Craven's spedal teams. He leads
the charge on kickoffs, seamhing
for a return specialist to nail.
See AWARD, Page 6
Study says
Lightning strikes near a shuttie vehicie at the
Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaverai, Fia.
To safeguard spacecraft and personnel, sclen-
NASA photo
tists are conducting an ambitious ilghtning de
tection and protecilon program.
Lightning enlightens scientists
By Donald J. Frederick
National Geographic
News Service
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Like
modern Ben Franklin, scientists at
the Kennedy Space Center watch
enraptured as lightning flashes ar
ound them.
Instead of sending up key-
carrying kites, the international
team fires small sounding rockets,
trailing long wires, into highly elec
trified late-summer storm clouds.
As the rockets surge through the
clouds, simulating a spaceci^ at
launch, their rapid upward motion
triggers lightning bolts that surge
from Uie vaporized wires to instru
ments on the ground.
Prom the d^ta on the instru
ments, the American and French
scientists hope to learn a lot more
alxkut lightning, to test existing pro
tection systems, and to seek better
ways to prevent lightning deaths.
Fifty to 100 rockets are ^ingsent
aloft from Kennedy this summer,
causing between 20 and 60 light
ning strikes.
*It'8 a remarkable technology
that's come along down here,* exults
Philip Krider, director of the Insti
tute of Atmospheric Physics at the
University of Arizona.
*You’re causing lightning to
strike where and when you want it
New Bern can’t stop Eagles
NEW BERN—West Craven used
its running attack, kicking game
and defense to cage the New Bern
Bears last night with a 16-13 win.
Ihe lOth-ranked Class 3-A Ea
gles remained undefeated with the
win over the host Class 4-A Bears, a
Craven County rival.
West Craven junior tailback Lee
Becton turned in this third consecu
tive 100-yard rushing effort, churn
ing out 139 yards on 24 carries and
scoring the Eagles' first touchdown.
A stingy Eagle defense came up
with several interceptions, includ
ing one returned 40 yards for a score
by defensive back Adrian Cameron.
Eagle quarterback Kevin Holz-
worth, who threw for 216 yards and
three touchdowns last week in the
Eagles* 26-7 win over Greene Cen
tral, said the Bears were ready for
the West Craven "Air Jordan* pass
ing attack.
*We expected them to try to stop
our passing game and they did key
on us,* he said. *I didn't have that
good of a night. Our defense played
well and came up with some inter
ceptions at critical times. The of
fense just didn’t seem to click all
night.*.
New Bern drew first blood when
the Bear quarterback scampered in
from about 20 yards out in the first
half following fumbled punt return
by the Eagles. The coversion at
tempt failed.
Becton answered by scampering
24 yards for the Elogles' first score
and Chris Stilley kicked the conver
sion to give the Eagles a lead they
never relinquished.
Just before the half, Stilley pad
ded the Elogle lead when he booted a
34-yard field goal for a 10-6 lead.
See EAGLES, Page 6
Deputy kills
Dover man;
two wounded
Womattf child said shot by suspect
who returned twice with weapons
DOVER — A Craven County de
puty shot and killed a man last
TOursday night who authorities
said wounded a woman and child.
Ozzie Bryant, 72, of Rt. 1, Sand
hill Road, Dover, died from from
gunshot wounds to the stomach and
chest after an exchange of gunfire
between him and Sgt. Robert Dunn,
39, said Sheriff Pete Bland.
Bryant was dead on arrival at
Craven Regional Medical Center,
said a hospital spokesman. Dunn
was not injured in the exchange of
gunfire.
Authorities said the shootout
occurred at the home of Louise
Hardin, a neighbor of Bryant’s.
Ms. Hardin, 74, was treated for a
gunshot wound to the left leg at the
hospital and later released. Author
ities said Bryant shot her and her
7-year old grandson, Demeco Cox.
He was first taken to Lenoir Memor
ial Hospital in Kinston in a private
car and was later transferred to
Duke Medical Center. He was listed
in fair condition the day after the
shooting, said a spokesman at Duke
Medical Center.
Dunn arrived at the Hardin mo
bile home about 5:57 p.m. after the
sheriffs office received a call stating
a child had been shot, said Bland.
Dunn arrived at the scene and
found Bryant outside armed with a
handgun, and the woman and child
wounded, said Bryant. The deputy
first disarmed Bryant and at
tempted to attend to the wounded,
said Bland.
Authorities said Bland, who ap
peared to have been drinking, went
to his home across the road and re
turned with a high-powered rifle
and tried to shoot Dunn. When the
rifle did not work, Dunn went bock
to his house and came back with a
shotgun. Bryant reportedly fired
several shots ot the deputy, who
took cover behind his patrol car. Af
ter several shots struck the car,
Dunn returned fire and killed
Bryant, said Bland.
Authorities said Bryant was ap
parently upset with trie neighbors
because of problems with his girl
friend. There were other Hardin
family members at the residence at
the time of the shooting. All the
shooting is said to have taken place
outside the mobile home.
Other deputies arrived at the
scene after the shooting and blocked
See DOVER, Page 5
to. This gives us an opportunity to
strip away some of the mysteries
surrounding this elusive and some
times destructive force. Cur work
may enable us to come up with bet
ter protective measures on the
ground as well as in the skies.*
A network of 40 devices called
field mills is now the first line of
lightning defense at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administra
tion facility. Scattered throughout
Cape Canaveral, in clearings resem
bling miniature launch sites, the de
vices ere designed to detect clouds
with high electric fields Uiat might
See Lightning, Page 6
East Carolina defanslve end George Koonce (58), a West Craven
High School product, gets a grip on Bowling Green offensive
lineman Matt Kregel In Saturday night's game In Greenville.
Lewis’ Pirates win
battle with ‘Polecat’
By Mo Krochmal
Sports Editor
GREENVILLE—Thanks to Van-
ceboro’s George Koonce, Bath pro
duct Stephen Braddy knows a
polecat when he sees one — now.
Saturday night, Braddy, a junior
defensive end, was among the bewil
dered when Bowling Green unveiled
an unusual offensive formation in
the first half of its 41*6 loss ot East
Carolina in an intersectional college
football confrontation.
Braddy was given more exposure
to the strange offense than planned
when Koonce went down with an
injury.
*I didn’t know what in the world
they were doing,* Braddy said. "We
didn’t see that on film when we sc
outed them.
*We tried to make adjustments
but couldn’t. We tried to play the
best we could.*
The Falcons unveiled the wild of
fensive formation, dubbed the Poe-
Ditch Rat by Bowling Green head
coach Moe Ankney but more com
monly called the pole cat offense to
describe the center sitting by him
self—like he ranintoa polecat—in
the middle of a formation spread
from sideline to sideline.
The call for the formation came in
the second quarter after East Car
olina had marched to a 16-0 lead.
When the center lined up with the
ball and the quarterback stepped
behind him in the shotgun and the
remainder of the offensive squad
split into two groups—one going to
See PIRATES, Page 6
Drinking water in east threatened by failure to protect sources
Drinking water in a number of
Down East cities Is threatened by
the state’s failure to protect its
underground sources, according to a
study released this morning by the
Clean Water Fund of North
Carolina.
Along the North Carolina coast,
major groundwater withdrawals for
inking water are made fay the
towns of Elizabeth City, WilUam-
ston, Greenville, Belhaven, Kin
ston, New Bern, Havelock, Jackson
ville and Wilmington.
Most of the county's residents*
water comes from either municipal
water systems that take water firm
wells or rivers and some residents
get water directly from wells.
Unfortunately, the North Car
olina coast’s predous underground
water sources are being threatened
by iMth the expanding pressure of
over-use and the continuing risks of
contamination with toxic chemicals
and hazardous wastes,* the report
said.
The withdrawals for drinking wa
ter are made primarily from three
aquifers — Cratle Hayne Aquifer,
the Yorktown Aquifer and the Cre
taceous Aquifer.
The Castle Hayne is the state's
most productive aquifer providing
over 100 milliongallons of water per
day.
The report. Danger Down Under:
A Citizen's Guide to Groundwater
Protection in North Carolina, was
made public by the environmental
group at a press conference in
Raleigh.
But new groundwater standards
and more regulators should improve
the quality of the state's groundwa
ter, Perry Nelson, head of the
groundwater unit for the state Divi
sion of Environmental Management
told the West Craven Highlights
this week.
'Considering the enormity of the
groundwater system, it is in good
shape,* Perry said.
But the coastal goundwater
supply is very *fragi1e,* he said.
"Many coastal counties have much
shallower sources of groundwater
than other regions. We need to man
age very carefully how we construct
and operate our wells and be very
careful with our waste.*
North Carolina, with 822,000
household wells, ranks second in the
nation in the number of such wells,
ft ranks fifih, with an estimated
16,000, in the number of public wa
ter supplies relying on
groundwater.
The Clean Water Fund investi
gated 84 sites with confirmed
groundwater contamination and
ranked by the state as *high priority
for cleanup,* said Chip Hughes, au
thor of the 60-page report.
These sites were drawn from
6,834 suspected groundwater conta
mination incidents in the state from
seven different regulatory agencies,
a spokesman for the group said.
*Moat threats to groundwater
quality in North Carolina are re
lated *o patterns and trends in land
use and waste disposal practices,*
the report says.
Serious groundwater contamin
ants have l^n found in each of the
state's midor aquifers and regions.
They include nitrates and bac
teria generated by private septic
systems, toxic chemicals from ha
zardous waste facilities, cancer-
causing gasoline components fram
leaking underground storage tanks,
heavy metals leaching from sanit
ary landfills, agricultural pesticides
and fertilizers running off treated
farmlands.
DBM groundwater standards
adopted last month bring to about
72 the number of controlled com
pounds in groundwater supplies.
Nelson said.
The regulations also provide in
creased protection for shallow
groundwater — areas where
groundwater is neor the surface —
See CLEAN, Page 5