THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME 44 NUMBER 32
16PAGES TODAY
SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA
FEBRUARY 28, 1973
10 CENTS A COPY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
Out-Of-Staters
Should Comply
Herman Strong, South
port’s police chief, has given
what amounts to a
“forewarning” for out-of
state motorists to comply
with North Carolina and
Southport motor vehicle
laws.
Strong said that these
regulations must be met
within a 30-day period after
taking residence in North
Carolina, residents of South
port will be required to
display city tags. Of course,
all other North Carolina
motor vehicle regulations
must also be observed. This
Includes state license tags,
driver’s licenses, vehicle
registration, and North
Carolina inspection stickers.
According to Strong, there
are a number of people who
are not presently in ac
cordance with North
Carolina’s motor vehicle
laws. He is especially con
cerned with residents of
Southport who are not
displaying city tags.
Strong indicated that he
would soon begin a “crack
down” to correct the tag and
license violations. Conviction
of these violations is a
misdemeanor.
Jury Report
Brings Reply
Last month’s Grand Jury
Report on conditions of public
schools in Brunswick County
was answered in a letter from
Ralph C. King, Superin
tendent of Brunswick County
schools, to presiding Superior
Court Judge Edward B.
Clark.
* In compliance with *
comments by the Grand
Jury, King stated that a new
bonded roof had been in
stalled at Union Elementary
School. King also said that
snow and ice had caused the
poor drainage observed by
the Grand Jury during their
visit to this school. Plumbing
will also be corrected at the
Union school, according to
King.
In responce to the report’s
recommendation that South
port Primary School needs a
new school building, King
stated that a new building is
being contemplated to
replace the trailers presently
in use. A fire in 1969
destroyed the previous
structure.
King also explained that
conditions pointed out at
Brunswick County-Southport
Middle School, Leland Middle
School, and Bolivia Middle
School have either been
corrected or are in the
process of being corrected.
The Jury’s comment that
Shallotte Middle School was
in need of paint was met with
King’s reply that a contract
(Continued On Page Seven)
Drug Charge
Against Five
Five young Southport men
arrested early Monday
morning have been charged
with possession of drug
paraphernalia by Herman
Strong, Southport Police
Chief.
The five charged were:
Steven Lee Steele, 26; Ronald
Wayne Fullwood, 19; Richard
Joseph Smith, 18; John
Michele Miller, 23; ana
Gerand J. Davis, 25.
A hearing for their cases
has been scheduled for March
19 in the District Court. All
five were placed under $500
bond.
CAMPFIRE GIRLS from the Southport area under the supervision of Mrs.
Charline Petty have spent their Saturday mornings during February
cleaning-up roadsides in this area. The countywide clean-up is expected to be
continued for two more weeks because of the bad weekend weather that has
hampered most clean-up efforts. These youngsters are collecting trash along
the roadside between Southport and the CP&L construction site.
Declared Outlaw Kills
Self In Whiskey Raid
An outlaw who promised he
would not be taken alive shot
and killed himself during a
whiskey raid in the Mill
Creek section of Brunswick
County last Wednesday night.
Quinton Parker, 24, of
Benson had been declared an
outlaw the week before by
Superior Court Judge Harry
Canaday. This meant that
any North Carolina citizen or
law enforcement officer
could use whatever force
necessary — including
shooting — to apprehend
Parker if he resisted arrest.
Parker had been convicted
last February of the May,
1971 armed robbery of a
Johnston County
businessman. He was sen
tenced to 20 10 30 ,ears after
trial in Superior Court and
appealed the court decision.
However, he failed to appear
for sentencing last November
after the state Supreme Court
upheld the conviction.
Parker was identified at
New Hanover Memorial
Hospital by his father, a
Brunswick County resident.
A shed in the mill Creek
section had been under ob
servation for several days. At
the time of the raid, officers
heard a gunshot inside the
shed. Approximately 30
minutes later officers en
tered and found Parker
sprawled between two stills,
fatally wounded by a bullet in
Sales Tax Distributed
Brunswick County and nine municipalities have
been allotted $180,017 from the collection of the
one-cent sales tax for the quarter ending
December 31.
The county received $152,999.82 of the total,
while the following disbursements were made to
the nine Brunswick towns: Southport, $6,865; Long
Beach, $9,967; Yaupon Beach, $1,715; Boiling
Spring Lakes, $1,213; Bolivia, $102; Holden Beach,
$1,773~ Ocean Isle Beach, $1,566; Shallotte, $2,980;
and Sunset Beach, $833.
the temple.
During the raid, a car
passed the scene, then ac
celerated rapidly. Trooper
S.J. Coggins, a Highway
Patrol trooper who resides at
Long Beach, New Hanover
County Deputy Mike
Robinson, and Robert Bowen,
special agent of the U.S.
Alcohol, Tax and Firearms
Unit, gave pursuit. The patrol
vehicle went out of control,
however, injuring the three
law enforcement office.
Coggins and Bowen were
treated and released;
Robinson was admitted to
NHMH and reported in
satisfactory condition.
The fleeing car escaped.
When found, Parker had a
.25 caliber pistol in his hand
and another pistol beside
him. A shotgun was propped
(Continued On Page Seven)
Apparent Low Bid: $3.79 Million
Third Round Of Bridge
Bids Received Tuesday
A third round of bids for
construction of a new, high
level bridge to Oak Island
was opened by the State
Highway Commission on
Tuesday, with a Kentucky
based firm submitting the
apparent low estimate.
Saltzman, Inc., of Bard
stown, Ky., submitted a
$3,792,706 bid, one of five
received by the SHC. Others
included Triplett and Ryan of
Chester, S.C. (the apparent
low bidder the previous two
times), $3,900,001; Bellamy
Brothers of Georgia,
$3,991,829; T.A. Loving of
Goldsboro, $4,192,188; and
Dickerson Construction of
Monroe, $4,506,788.
The bids will be reviewed
by the State Highway
Hearing Set
(hi Fisheries
The annual public hearing
on North Carolina coastal
fishing regulations will be
held March 7 at 1 p.m. in the
Carteret County Courthouse,
Beaufort, according to Er
nest Parker of Southport,
Chairman of the Con
servation and Development
Board’s Fisheries Com
mittee.
The C&D Fisheries Com
mittee will conduct the
liearing. The N.C. Fisheries
Commissioner and other
state fisheries officials will be
there.
Purpose of the meeting is to
hear viewpoints about
existing regulations, and to
gather suggestions for new
ones. In the past, the meeting
has been attended by com
mercial fishermen, sport
fishermen, property owners
and businessmen.
State officials will
discuss: existing regulations,
proposals for oyster leases,
hydraulic dredging for
clams, a proposal for com
mercial dredging of large
quantities of fossil shells in
the eastern portion of
Albemarle Sound, a proposal
to consider a 2^-inch
minimum oyster size for
Pamlico Sound, a proposal
for three-inch minimum
oyster size in Brunswick
County.
There will only be one
public hearing on coastal
fishing regulations this year.
Commission, which meets
March 14 in Raleigh. If the
apparent low bid is accepted,
construction of the bridge
would be expected to start
immediately. Earlier con
struction dates were post
poned, first by action of the
SHC when it allowed Triplett
and Ryan to withdraw an
erroneous bid submitted in
November, then by action of
the Federal Highway Ad
ministration, which noted
that a January bid by the
same firm was out-of-line
with state estimates of the
construction costs.
The first bids for con
struction of a new bridge to
Oak Island were received by
the State Highway Com
mission last November 21.
Triplett and Ryan were the
apparent successful low
bidders — submitting an
estimate of $3.39 million that
was far below the bids of
Bellamy Brothers 1S4.2
(Continued On Page Nine)
Boards Meet; Hospital
Situation Is Discussed
From a joint meeting of the
county Board of
Commissioners and the
Southport Board of
Aldermen last Wednesday
night came signs that
members of the former body
may relent in their demand
that the chairman of the
board of trustees for Dosher
Memorial Hospital resign
before they will give that
institution $20,000 with
which to meet an existing
financial crisis.
From the outset the
meeting was conciliatory,
with two major points
standing out: the first was
that it is important to keep
Dosher Memorial Hospital
operating at a high standard
of efficiency while plans are
being drawn up and carried
out to build a new hospital in
Brunswick County; the
second is that steps should be
taken to insure that this
appeal for emergency funds
will not become a recurring
need. The commissioners and
the aldermen agreed on these
two matters.
Vi.A. Kopp, Jr., chairman
of the county body, presided.
The only other commissioner
persent was Robert Simmons,
but County Manager Jerry
Lewis also attended. On hand
were the six members of the
Board of Aldermen, but
Mayor Dorothy Gilbert was
unable to attend. County
Attorney Thomas Home and
City Manager A1 Kornegay
also were in attendance.
The question to be resolved
was whether the county
would make a contribution of
$20,000 to the hospital to
help tide it over an existing
financial crisis, this without
Mrs. Barbee
Heads Group
Mrs. May Barbee of
Yaupon Beach has been
elected to serve a two-year
term as President of District
5, North Carolina School
Board Association.
Mrs. Barbee’s election
came at the annual District 5
Meeting, which was held
recently in Wilmington.
Other officers elected at the
meeting were: W.D. Robbins
of Pender County, vice
president and Ralph C. King
of Brunswick County,
secretary.
When asked about the
objectives of the organization
which she heads, Mrs.
Barbee noted, “there are a
great many objectives which
an organization such as ours
must strive to reach.
Realistically, we must
establish priorities and
concentrate our efforts upon
obtainable goals. Since this is
a legislative year in North
Carolina, one of our major
objectives will be to focus
attention upon proposed
legislation delaing with such
topics as a statewide system
of kindergartens, a statewide
bond referendum to provide
funds for school construction,
and a career education
(Continued On Page Nine)
the stipulation that the
present chairman of the
hospital board of trustees
resign.
After opening remarks by
Chairman Kopp, Alderman A1
Martin made the flat
declaration that “the hospital
is being used as a political
football.”
This allegation was denied
(Continued On Page Nine)
Fight Brings
School Action
A melee at South Brun
swick High School on
February 8 has resulted in
disciplinary action against 27
students, including outright
expulsion of four students for
the remainder of the school
year.
“It is regrettable that such
action must be taken,” said
Brunswick County School
Supt. Ralph King, “but from
past experience we have
learned that disciplinary
action is necessary.” The
suspensions varied in ac
cordance with the In
dividual’s involvement in the
fighting, King noted. “No
individuals were considered
as a group.”
Among the suspensions
were 12 for five days, 6 for ten
days, 2 for twenty days and 3
for thirty days. King said he
felt the action by the review
committee and school
principal Roy Biggerstaff
was warranted, “if we are to
maintain orderly school
operations.”
The superintendent said the
matter was investigated
thoroughly with no arbitrary
or hasty action taken. The
(Continued On Page Seven)
CP&L Visitor Center--A Reassurance All Is Well
By BOBBY HILL
The CP&L visitor center
crouches on the side of High*
way 87, while the huge
nuclear power plant of
gleaming concrete looms in
the distance.
Coming down Highway 87
for the first time, it is the
actual generating plant that
makes the strongest im
pression. It imposes itself
upon the gentleness of
the landscape, dominating
the hazy Atlantic coastal air
with the dimensions of a Cape
Kennedy.
People stop here. They
want to know about that
goliath — about that thing
making the skyline of pine,
broom straw, and live oak
look so terribly small and
insignificant. The people
cannot go into the structure
itself. They are Invited by the
small, green highway sign to
stop at the “NUCLEAR
VISITORS CENTER.”
Walking across the
reassuring crunch of a gravel
parking lot, the visitor is
herded to the door of the
center. The door hisses shut
with pneumatic finality, and
the visitor finds himself in a
space age environment.
The building, which looked
ordinarily square on the
outside, is round on the in
side. Just like a spaceship.
The outside of the circle is a
tunnel where the visitor
walks in and emerges back at
the beginning. After going
full circle, the visitor is
supposed to understand that
the huge “thing” outside is
just a nuclear power plant.
Cool, blue carpet bathes the
rriTT -T~r--r,.^
WALT SELKINGHAUS, director of the CP&L
Visitor Center located on NC 87 near Southport,
greets two young visiters to the exhibit. The
center is open Monday through Friday and on
Sunday afternoon, and will cater to youth groups
which would like to learn more about nuclear
power. More than 17,000 people visited the center
last year, noled Selkinghaus, who said he expects
at least 25,000 this season.
atmosphere with a subdued
hush. The cut pile seems to
adsorb any harsh or
displeasing sound, and the
comforting softness on the
feet encourages a person to
stand relaxed and confident
like a Madison Avenue
executive.
Soothing strains of Frank
Sinatra’s “Strangers in the
Night’’ tinkle from invisible
stereo speakers. It is Floyd
Crammer playing the song.
Floyd Crammer can flat set a
person at ease.
Another thing to set a
person at ease is Walt
Selkinghaus. He emerges
from a cubicle within the
spaceship like a hibernating
bear — a friendly bear. He is
a big man (about the size of a
bear). His gray hair reflects
wisdom, or perhaps dignity,
through the soft blueness
rising up from the carpet.
Selkinghaus runs the center.
At least, he is in charge.
Selkinghaus talks gently, as
though he is aware of his size.
Possibly, he is more aware of
the sizeable thing outside.
And that is enough to make
even a big man talk soft and
serious. But Selkinghaus
shows no sign of being in
timidated. On the contrary,
he is enthusiastic — even
proud, in a controlled sort of
(Continued On Page Seven)