The Pilot Covers Brunswick County THE STATE PORT PILOT Most of the News A Good Newspaper In A Good Community All The Time nm VOLUME 42 No. 20 22 Pages Today SOUTHPORT, N. C. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1970 5c A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY Back In Business Mobile classrooms have replaced the brick walls of Southport High School, but the site on Nash Street in Southport was the seat of learning again this week as students formerly attending classes at the Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell attended classes in the new facilities. The old building was razed by fire in January, 1969, and the ruins finally were removed this fall. (Photo by Spencer). Shallotte Will Hold Christmas Parade Saturday ShaiJotee’s gala Christmas Parade will be held Saturday and “Miss Merry Christmas,” Anne Gurganus, will reign over the festivities. i Miss Gurganus was selected for the honor Saturday night in the pageant held Saturday night in the Shallotte School auditorium. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Gurganus of Shallotte. The parade, sponsored by the Shallotte Junior Chamber of Commerce, will start at 10 a.m., according to club president Doug Huddle. Miss Gurganus, as Miss Merry Christmas, is the parade marshal. She was elected from a field of 12 young ladies from the Shallotte area. Other contestants included Sandy Maree, Wendy Redwine, Debbie West, Judy Lewis, Sondra Inman, Karen Richardson, Vickie Babson, Lorraine Holden, Teresa Me Lamb, Angie Smith and Carolyn Hewett. A. Earl Milliken served as master of ceremonies for the pageant. Judges were District Court Judge Giles Clark of Elizabethtown; Clerk of Court Lacy Thompson from Columbus County; and Miss Cheryl Meacham, probation officer for the court district that includes Brunswick County. Special music was furnished by pianist Kathy Formyduval, Darrel Inman on the guitar and Albert Hughes, vocalist. Miss Brunswick County, Myra Lynn Hewett, crowned the winner. New Regime In Office Monday For the first time since 1932 the affairs of government in Brun swick county will pass into the hands of an all-Republican Board of County Commissioners when new officers are sworn in here Monday morning. Back in the forties Allen Russ scored a break-through to become the only Republican to serve as a member of the board since that time. But in the General Election on November 3 the voters of Brunswick County elected a complete slate of Republicans to membership on the Board of Commissioners. William A. Kopp, Jr., from Town Creek Tonwship led his colleagues in this race and it appears likely that he will be named to head the board as chairman. Other members will be John H. Bray, of Southport, who also might be considered for the chairmanship because of his convenient residence in South On Pag* Fbur) School Site Preparation Initial site work has been started for the three consolidated high schobls in Bruns wick County. Grading contractors are working on all three school sites and estimate that the grading and other site work will be completed within the next 30 days. Resolution On Roads Offered The Mid-East Economic Development Commission plans presented a package of resolutions on a proposed Coastal Corridor to the Coastal Plains Regional Commission at its meeting Monday in Columbia, S.C. Among the resolution was one approved at a meeting or representatives of citizen groups and state and local envpmmpnts at Myrtle Beach, S.C. last month. Since then, Mid-East has been and is still receiving individual resolutions from county and municipal governments which (Oonttnuad On Ptfi Vtour) New Board Gets County Problems The decLsion on whether to build one jail or two in Brunswick County has been dumped into the laps of the new bo£.~d of county commissioners that takes office Monday. By unanimous consent, the old board at its last regular meeting agreed to leave the problem for the five new members of the board who were chosen in the recent general election. The commissioners decided to not take further action on a Department of Social Services directive that concerned the e And Tide The date was November 27, 1935, and tomorrow was Thanksgiving. There was a front page picture showing the pilgrims on their way to church, and a front page editorial on thanksgiving. Shrimping still was good, even that late in the season, and 140 boats were working here. In an early season basketball game, the Southport girls had defeated Shallotte by a score of 11-10; boxing bouts were being scheduled for the following Tuesday night at Camp Sapona; and there was a front page note which said: “News crowded out this week will appear next week.” Five years later to the day, on Thanksgiving eve, the editor had this to say about a world that already was at war: “Each day that we stay out of the present European conflict it appears that we get that much further away from active participation; but no nation now is existence will be able to escape the reprecussions of this madness. It is for our opportunity to use all of the resources at our command for good that we should be truly thankful; and if we are to have a reverent attitude of gratefulness, we must dedicate the efforts of our (Continued On Pec* Pour) proposed jail facilities. The reason for leaving the matter in other hands is that the building and financing of the jail facilities will be during the new ad (Continued On Pag* Tour) Soil Election In Brunswick All qualified voters in Brun swick County will be eligible to vote for a Soil & Water Con servation District Supervisor on December 11. Each year the local district conducts an election during December. The district has nominated James D. Bellamy, Jr. for re election. Any person or group within the county may nominate someone by a petition signed by 25 qualified voters. The forms may be obtained by contacting any of the supervisors or the Soil Conservation Service office in Shallotte. 1 The one elected will serve a 3 year term beginning January 6. The district coordinates and promotes the soil and water conservation activities of the several agencies in the county, especially the program of the Soil Conservation Service. It is governed by a five member (Continued On Pag* Tom) Harrelson Trails By One Vote Deadlock Possible In Battle For House Seat By WRAY THOMPSON A single vote separates Arthur W. Williamson and Thomas Harrelson from a tie in the 13th District House race. Incumbent Williamson’s “victory” evolved Tuesday when ballots of South Lees precinct were recounted under the direction of Alex Brock, executive secretary of the State Board of Elections. South Lees gave Williamson 19 votes, according to recount tally, and Harrelson 8. Williamson’s reported score on the night of the election was 13 while Harrelson got 8. Three days later, during the official county canvass, the South Lees abstract showed Williamson's total as 20. The recount Tuesday took place in the Superior courtroom. The State Board of Elections, which ordered the recount in South Lees precinct, ordered Executive Secretary Brock to personally represent the board and to supervise all phases of the operation. Harrelson originally petitioned for a recount of House ballots in all Columbus County precincts, basing his petition on alleged violations of state election laws in numerous precincts including South Lees. It was a box containing “spoiled” ballots that presented the latest puzzler. A ballot was extracted on which the voter had voted for both candidates for the office of coroner. The citizen also had voted for Harrelson and J.W. Suggs, another Republican. Brock therefore was faced with the question as to whether the vote on the “spoiled” ballot should be credited to Harrelson or not. If so, this would bring the two-county totals for Williamson and Harrelson to 5,452 each. Thomas Horne, attorney for Petitioner Harrelson, quoted a law whereby only the votes of the coroner race should be in validated on the ballot, thus the vote cast for Harrelson should be considered valid. He contended that the ballot most likely was disqualified by election officials in South Lees. Edward L. Williamson, at torney for the Columbus County Board of Elections, asserted that the voter could have placed the Hearing On Inlet Closing In July 1967, the engineers office in Wilmington announced an application for a Department of the Army permit by the Town of Sunset Beach to relocate Tubbs Inlet in Brunswick County by dredging and filling for the purpose of stopping severe erosion taking place within the town limits. The permit issued following that notice will be null and void if the authorized work is not completed on or before December 31. The inlet has been relocated but has not been stabilized as au thorized. The Town of Sunset Beach has advised that, because of shortage of funds and other difficulties, it is impossible at this time to complete the Tubbs Inlet project and requests a one-year ex tension of time for completion of the work. The decision as to whether an extension of time will be granted will be based on an evaluation of the impact of the proposed work on the public interest. Factors affecting the public interest in clude, but are not limited to navigation, fish and wildlife, water quality, economics, con servation, aesthetics, recreation, water supply, flood damage prevention, ecosystems, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. Comments on these factors will be accepted and made part of the record and will be considered in determinging whether it would be in the best public interest to grant an ex tension of time. Written comments pertinent to the proposed work, as outlined above, will be received until December 14. ballot in the spoils box, and requested a new ballot. Thus Williamson argued that the ballot under study should not be con sidered as valid. Brock conceded that the contentions of both Williamson and Home have legal merit. He said the judgment on the con> troversial ballot should be made by the full membership of his COwMwU On Page Ten) 'Opening Ballot Box Alex Brock, Executive Secretary of the State Board of Elections, unlocks the ballot box for South Lees Precinct in Columbus County Tuesday as proceedings got underway for a ballot recount. Looking on in the foreground is Leroy Stocks, member, and Bennett White, Chairman, of the Columbus Board of Elections. On the right is Thomas Harrelson of Brunswick County, Republican candidate for the House of Representatives, (Elgie Clemmons Photo) Sencland Agency Refunded; Longwood Area Has Grant New Holiday Queen Cheryl Johnson of Long Beach is the new Holiday Queen, having received this honor last week in Greens boro in connection with the annual Thanksgiving Day parade. A student at East Carolina University, she was the recipient of a $500 college scholarship. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Johnson and is a former Miss Fourth of July. Jackie Stephenson of Southport has been elected board chairman for Senciand Community Action, Inc., the anti-poverty agency that serves Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties. Stephenson is executive director of the Brunswick County Resources Development Commission. He has served for the past year as a member of the Senciand board of directors and has been re-appointed for. a three-year term. Other officers elected at the Tuesday night meeting of the board were Fairley W. Newton, president; Mrs. Delilah Blanks, secretary; and Reuben Moore, treasurer. Charles Mumford, executive director of the community action agency, said that the Office of Economic Opportunity has announced a grant of $536,351 for the operation of the agency for the next program year. Mumford said this year is the first time since the program was started that the announcement of funds was made before the start of the program year December 1. Gov. Bob Scott, who must give his approval for the funding, has notified Mumford that .the gTant has been okayed by his office. The total grant includes $353,741 for personnel costs and $182,610 for non-personnel costs. The non-federal share is $89,000. The board approved the grant and agreed to special conditions pertaining to the use of the money. The approved federal share last year was $509,000, and an estimated $23,700 was leftover at the start of this program year. The additional federal funds granted this year by the Regional Office in Atlanta (Contented Ob Par* ftour)

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