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West Craven Highlights
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Hugo bypasses
county; leaves
minor damage
The old way
it may be nearly 70 years old, but this one-cylinder steam engine
still has plenty of power to drive a threshing machine at the Tuck-
ahoe gas and steam fair In Maryland. Multipurpose steam en
gines have been operating since the 1850s. Fairs began In the
1950s as reunions of engine-owning farmers known as
“threshermen."
Ity Mike Voss
Kditur
Hurricane Hugo’s outer edges
brushed the Craven County area
Inst Friday os rains and goil-force
winds rocked the central coastal
area of North Carolina,
The northeast section of the hur*
ricane lashed the area with winds
up to 40 mph and about between one
to three inches of rain. The north
east side of a hurricane is tradition
ally the most violent area of a
hurricane.
A hurricane warning was ex
tended from Cape Lookout to Ore
gon Inlet the day before Hugo made
landfall at Charleston. S.C., includ
ing the Pamlico Sound, said the Hat-
teras National Weather Service.
If Hugo was not enough, tornado
warnings were issued for most of the
state last Thursday evening and
early Friday morning.
Several schoool systems were
closed down as some schools were
turned into shelters.
Voluntary evacuation began late
yesterday on Ocracoke and in Hyde
County, said the Division of
Emergency Management’s Area A
ofRce in Washington yesterday
evening.
Rain began falling about 8 p.m. in
Craven County lastThursday night.
indicating the hurricane was
nearing.
New Bern’s waterfront began to
show evidence of Hugo’s approach
yesterday afternoon as boaters
moved their boats from docks and
anchored them in the Neuse and
Trent rivers to ride out the storm.
The rivers had risen about three feet
by 5 p.m. Inst Thursday and wind
gusts were estimated up to 25 miles
per hour.
Business and property owners
downtown began taping and board
ing up windows. Residents began
preparing for Hugo by also taping
windows and moving objects outside
their homes to more protected
areas.
Dover reported tree limbs down
Friday morning because of high
winds. Areas along rivers reported
they were experiencing minor flood
ing with water about two to three
feet above normal, said a police
dispatcher.
Hatteras Island residents have
been asked to voluntarily leave, said
Gwen \Vhite of the Dare County
Emergency Management ofncc. The
Atlantic Ocean is washing across
N.C. 12 atone location on the island,
she said, with about three inches of
water at the “S” curve. The Highway
See HUGO, Page 6
Gardner seeks public’s input in toughening state’s drug laws
Another child has lost a father.
Another wife has lost her husband.
^ security guard and a newspaper
reporter are the latest victims in the
drug-related violence that con
tinues to tear Colombia apart.
“Everyday we hear more and
more about the growing violence in
this drug war. Recently, President
Bush in a national televised address
announced our country’s battle plan
in the drug war. The following day, I
was invited to meet with the Presi
dent in Washington to hear a more
Guard units
provide help
after Hugo
Locals aid city
hit by hurricane
.By-Keith Hempstead
Staff Writer
CHARLOTTE — As Charlotte
residents clean up alter Hurri
cane Hugo, National Guardsmen
from Craven and surrounding
counties are sharing in the
hordship.
“It looks pretty bad,” said Staff
Sgt. Jerry Jennette from
Washington. “As soon os we got
here, they dispersed our guys.
We’ve got some pretty tired
people.”
t^esence of the Guardsmen al
ready has led to a dramatic de
crease in looting and trafHc acci
dents. their officers said.
One soldier has been injured.
Pfc. Michael Robbins of the
Greenville unit was listed in
^stable condition after being hitby
a motorist yesterday while di
recting Iraflic. Robbins was
paired with a Charlotte police re
cruit, who was also injured in the
accident.
In tents and huts set up on the
soggy grounds of a National
Guard armory near the Char
lotte airport, over 400 guards
men from military police and en
gineering units arc helping to re
establish order.
Lt. David Rose from Asheville
said the toughest thing the men
have had to come up against is
“trying to get over being wet and
cold and hungry.”
The National Guard’s 167th
Military Police Battalion, includ
ing 48 members of Washington’s
218lh Military Police Company
and 83 meml^rs of Greenville’s
514th Military Police Company,
arrived yesterday by truck con
voy and military aircraft.
1710 units include members
from Craven County.
An early contingent arrived at
4:30 a.m. after traveling by con
voy from Greenville. They
quickly went to work after pair
ing up with Charlotte policemen
and Mecklenbui'g County Sher
iffs deputies.
in-depth explanation of our Na
tional Drug Control Strategy. As
chairman of the North Carolina
Drug Cabinet, I want to share with
you my thoughts on the President’s
plan and what we must do here in
our state,” said Lt. Gov. James
Garner.
“1 believe that President Bush’s
plan is a good start. This is an im
portant point that the President
stressed tome while in Washington,
sa>ing that this is the first step in a
very long war. One of the key provi
sions of the President’s plan, and
one that I agree with wholehear
tedly, is a provision that targets the
casual dniguser. The user is the one
who fuels the whole drug scene. It is
a matter of supply and demand eco
nomics. If we can cut down on the
demand of drugs then we cut down
on the profit of the drug dealers.
That is the number one reason that
people sell drugs, to make money,
lots of money. That is why I pushed
for an important drug tax bill that
we passed in this session of the Gen
eral Assembly. This bill was intro
duced by Senator Bob Shaw of
Greensboro. It is going to lx? a pow
erful new weapon in our war on
drugs hero in North Carolina. Hero
is how the new law will work," .said
Gardner.
The new law will require a lax
stamp on all illegal drugs. That
means ifan illegal drug is seized and
it does not have a tax stamp on it,
then the Shaw Drug Tjix law will al
low local law enforcetnent officials
to report this to the Department of
Revenue. Agents from the Depart
ment of Revenue will then have the
authority to collect the unpaid tax
from the drug dealer or user. It em
bodies the same concept that federal
agents used to imprison AI Capone,
who was arrested and convicted on
tax evasion charges, said Garner.
This will be a civil penalty rather
than a criminal penalty. That
means that even if dealers and users
receive a light criminal sentence for
drug posession, under this law they
will pay a heavy finanacial price af
ter being caught with illegal drugs
that do not have the stamp, said
Garner. “Here in North Carolina,
we are going after their assets, in
cluding their checkbook, their car
and that gold chain around their
neck,” said Garner.
“Right now the money that is col
lected by the Department of Re
venue under this law will be
targeted for the state general fund.
This is something that I would like
See DRUGS, Page 5
Genetic abnormality
appears to have role
in causing some cancer
Guardsmen play cards while waiting for orders
A genetic abnormality that ap
pears to play a role in many common
cancers has been solidly linked to
lung cancer, raising hopes of im
proved diagnosis and treatment,
scientists say.
Researchers examining lung
cancer tumors discovered a series of
abnormalities in the so-called p53
anti-cancer gene, according to a re
port Tuesday by Dr. John Minna of
the National Cancer Institute-Navy
Medical Oncology Branch in
Bethesdn, Md.
Defects in the gene also have been
linked to colon cancer, to an uncom
mon bone cancer called osteogenic
sarcoma and to chronic myelogen
ous leukemia, Minna said.
“Obviously, everybody is going to
be looking for it in ever^hing else,”
Minna said.
Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins
Uni versity in Baltimore, who identi
fied p53 abnormalities in colon
cancer, said: “From what I’ve heard
of Dr. Minna’s work, it seems quite
clear that the p53 gene will play an
important role in lung tumors.
“Current evidence suggests that
p53 is likely to play a role in many
common cancers,” including breast
cancer, ovarian cancer and bladder
cancer, he said.
During the past few years, re
searchers have found in^rect evi
dence that defects in at least six
genes can contribute to lung cancer,
which afflicts an estimated 150,000
Americans a year.
The new study has pinpointed
chemical changes in one of those
genes. That should be useful for
identifying people at high risk of
getting lung cancer, or for predict
ing how deadly a particular case of
lung cancer will be, Minna said.
“One thing you could do would be
See CANCER, Page 6
Corn, tobacco crops damaged
by Hurricane Hugo: officials
Unloading duffel bags before the hard work begins
Ric C«ft*r pholo*
Guard MPs, armed with M-IG
semi-automatic rifles, helped in
traflic control and cleanup.
ITie city still shows the effects
of Hugo, which hit here Friday
with 90-mph winds. Sidewalks
arc impassable in some areas;
trees are sheared like broken
matchslicks; street signs are
strewn haphazardly.
Billboards are down, knocked
over ns if they were toys. Over 70
traffic lights in the center of town
still were not working yesterday,
causing mqjor traffic ticups dur
ing the city’s first full workday af
ter the hurricane.
Guard newcomers had little
time to get used to the area. As
signments were wailing for the
Washington unit when it arrived
by air. Although they had had
See GUARD, Page 5
Corn and tobacco crops were se
verely affected by the winds and
heavy rains spawned by Hurricane
Hugo, agriculture officials say.
Mthough no official damage as
sessments were available, indica
tions are that losses to all crops
could reach into the millions of
dollars.
Power failures made it impossible
for large numbers of farmers to milk
cows or to feed and water poultry in
Piedmont and mountain counties.
State Agriculture Commissioner
Jim Graham said he asked the State
Emergency Response Team and the
National Guard to provide
emergency power generators to
farms in Lincoln and Union coun
ties, which were particularly hard-
hit, and to other counties where
needed.
“Severity of hurricane damage in
the southern and western Piedmont
is indicated by reports that corn and
soybean crops have been wiped out
in Lincoln County and probably Un
ion,” Graham said in a statement.
Charles R. Wooten of East Bend
said his family and a crew of mi
grant workers were pulling off the
See CORN, Page 6
Rescue squad
open house
set for Oct. 7
The Vanceboro Rescue Squad Au
xiliary will host an open house and
miscellaneous shower Oct. 7 for the
new rescue squad building located
behind the Vanceboro Volunteer
Fire Deparment.
The open house and shower will
be held between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Rescue squad officials said the
public is encouraged to come by and
inspect the new building. They said
a good way to say thank you to the
rescue squad members is to make
the building more liveable by donat
ing gifts of linen, cleaning supplies,
kitchen equipment and paper
products.