A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME 46 NUMBER 10 20 PAGES TODAY SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA SEPTEMBER 25, 1974 10 CENTS A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
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Dual - Hospital Plan Proposed To County Board ]
A way to “achieve what both parties want and
still provide the best of medical facilities for the
county” has been proposed to the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners.
Southport Mayor Eugene B. Tomlinson, in a
letter to the commission chairman, calls for city
county cooperation in working for two 40-bed
hospitals under a single administration. The
“united front” effort, which Tomlinson said
would eliminate a threatened injunction against
the planned county hospital, was discussed at a
special Friday night meeting of Southport
Aldermen.
The registered letter to county board Chair
man William A. Kopp, Jr., was mailed Monday.
Members of the Dosher Memorial Hospital
Retention Committee were in Raleigh last
Thursday for a meeting with David T. Flaherty,
secretary of the state Department of Human
Resources. From the meeting, Tomlinson said in
his letter to Kopp, “we conclude that a two
hospital approval for Brunswick County is not
beyond the realm of probability and feasibility”
if the city and the county work together.
“Leaving all other considerations aside.” the
letter continued, “we believe the county can
support such a concept financially and it would
provide first-class hospital care for the majority
of our people.”
Tomlinson said committee members were
“agreeably surprised” to be able to present to
Flaherty the Dosher side of the county hospital
situation.
“MAGIC FORMULA” NOT RIGID
In a round-table discussion Friday night, the
Southport mayor noted the “magic formula” by
which the number of allotted hospital beds is
determined is not inflexible. The county is said to
have a 60-bed limit, which is proposed to be used
by the Brunswick County Memorial facility near
Supply.
The letter toKopp states that “hospital units in
multiples of 40 beds are considered desirable.
Based on this, we pursued the idea of having two
40-bed, acute-care hospitals approved on the
basis of widespread population centers.”
In the event the two 40-bed hospital plan fails to
gain county support, the Board of Aldermen
Friday night introduced action for a “time-phase
plan” aimed at meeting Dosher Hospital
deficiencies and keeping certification.
“Dosher now has the certification for a
hospital in Brunswick County and no other
hospital can be certified as long as there is a
certification in existence for a hospital,”
Tomlinson told the group Friday night. The
“time-phase” plan would show appropriate state
agencies “this is where the money’s coming
from” to update and maintain Dosher.
Present at the meeting were Southport
Aldermen, Retention Committee members
Rosetta Short and Ellis Dudley of Long Beach
and Southport physician Norman Hornstein.
EMERGENCY STATUS “A FARCE”
Hornstein said that of six doctors now prac
ticing in Southport “five would almost certainly
leave if this hospital (Dosher) was closed down.”
He described the proposed emergency-room
status of Dosher as “a farce,” said it would take
three or four physicians to staff the unit and
claimed he wouldn’t have the job for $50,000.
Hornstein was pessimistic about a 60-bed
hospital in the Supply area. He predicted the
facility would be bankrupt in two years because
there would be “not enough medical staff to staff
it.”
Alderman Robert Howard noted the economic
advantage of having two 40-bed units 80 to 85
percent full rather than a 60-bed unit 40 to 50
percent full.
He said previous decisions pertaining to
hospitals in Brunswick County have been based
on “almost erroneous” information about
population. The 1970 census shows a Long Beach
population of about 500; Powell Bill funding
released this week is based on a population of
more than 4,400.
It was frequently noted that Columbus County,
despite a population decrease according to the
’70 census, has been granted 19 addition beds to
round-off the total at 160. Also in support of the
argument, Hornstein cited an industrial
development map showing future business
clustered along the Cape Fear River.
“MEET EVERYBODY’S NEEDS”
(Continued On Page 18)
AN ARTIST RENDERING shows the new office of Peoples diagonally across from the Baptist church. Association
Savings and Loan Association now under construction on the spokesmen say that approximately eight months will be
southwest comer of Howe and Nash streets in Southport, required for completion.
Full Time To Campaign
McCracken Acting Chief
As Strong Takes Leave
Assistant Chief George
McCracken has been named
acting chief of the Southport
Police Department,
replacing Chief Herman
Strong who has been granted
a leave of absence.
Strong requested that he be
granted the leave of absence
and that McCracken be
named acting chief in a letter
to the Board of Aldermen.
The board approved both
requests Friday night.
Strong said he wanted a
leave of absence from
Thursday, September 26,
until November 6 in order to
devote more time to his
campaign for sheriff of
Brunswick County. He is the
Democratic candidate for
sheriff in the fall general
election.
“The reason I requested
the leave of absence was that
I didn’t want to have a con
flict of interest between
serving as police chief of
Southport and being a can
didate for sheriff of Brun
swick County,” Chief Strong
told The Pilot this week.
Strong has been head of the
Southport Police Department
for almost two years. He also
held the post from 1969 until
1967.
Acting Chief McCracken,
the first black to head the
Southport Police Depart
ment, has served as assistant
chief for almost two years.
He has been a member of the
department for almost four
years.
A native of Southport,
(Con I ill noil On I’nge )
Peoples Starts
Work On Office
Peoples Savings and Loan
Association of Wilmington
has begun construction of a
new full - service branch
office in Southport, according
to S.D. Bissette, president
and chairman of the board.
The new facility will be
located on the southwest
corner of Howe and Nash
streets in downtown South
port, diagonally opposite the
Baptist Church. The building
was designed by Ballard,
McKim and Sawyer, ar
chitects of Wilmington, and
“will be traditional in design
in keeping with the fine
historical background of
for Street Aid
Towns Receive Powell Funding
Brunswick County towns
will receive this Powell Bill
funds before the end of the
month, Secretary of Tran
sportation Troy Doby an
nounced this week.
Boiling Spring Lakes,
Bolivia, Holden Beach, Long
Beach, Ocean Isle Beach,
Shallotte, Southport, Sunset
Beach and Yaupon Beach will
all receive funds from the
Powell Bill.
Boiling Spring I^akes will
receive $75,680.95 based on an
estimated 1973 population of
700 and 103.21 miles of
streets.
Bolivia, which has an
estimated 1973 population of
230 and 1.28 street miles, will
obtain $2,962.98 from the
fund.
Holden Beach will receive
$6,877.87. The town has an
estimated 1973 population of
170 and 7.93 street miles.
Long Beach will receive
$94,588.07 based on an
estimated 1973 population of
4,460 and 80.14 miles of
streets.
Ocean Isle Beach, which
has an estimated 1973
population of 100 and 10.85
street miles, will obtain
$8,197.58.
Shallotte will receive
$10,603.99. The city has an
estimated 1973 population of
730 and 5.85 street miles.
Southport will receive
$35,992.82 based on an
estimated 1973 population of
2,730 and 16.42 street miles.
Sunset Beach will receive
$7,418.72. The town has an
estimated 1973 population of
130 and 9.28 street miles.
Yaupon Beach will receive
$10,972.73 based on an
estimated 1973 population of
410 and 10.76 street miles.
The amount to be
distributed throughout the
(( iunimicd (>n I’auc I * >
Southport,” said Bissette.
The exterior design will
feature a flemish bond brick
wall, colonial windows and
panel blinds with stone being
used on the parapet walls and
window sills.
The building will be set
back from the street corner
sufficient to permit foun
dation plantings and an or
namental brick wall. An off -
street customer parking lot
will be entered from Nash
Street and twin drive - in
windows and a night
depository, will be available
with an exit to Howe Street.
The one - story building will
be approximately 3,000
square feet in size. The in
terior will consist of a public
lobby, tellers windows and
service area, the mortgage
loan handling and officer
area, customer reception,
vault and employees’ service
area. The interior will feature
a raised ceiling over the
lobby with colonial chan
delier and the decor of the
building will be traditional in
character.
“This branch office will be
a full - service facility of
fering all of the Association’s
services and will be the
center of mortgage loan
handling for Brunswick
County,” Bissette added.
The general contractor is
the B.R. Dorsett Construction
Company of Wilmington.
(( uni linn'll On Pago
Acknowledges Write-In
Clemmons: Kopp
‘Agitated’ Board
About Injunction
By BILL ALLEN
Vice - Chairman J.T.
Clemmons announced
Monday that he will serve
another term on the Brun
swick County Board of
Commissioners if elected, but
he will do nothing to promote
the write - in campaign being
organized on his behalf.
“I am honored that some
citizens want to conduct the
write - in campaign for me,
but I have asked diem not to
do it,” Clemmons said. “I
don’t endorse the write - in
campaign, but I don’t
disapprove of it either. If I
win, I will be honored and I
will serve on the board.”
Clemmons, who was
defeated for re - nomination
to the board this spring, made
his views known about the
write-in campaign during a
news conference in Southport
Monday. He also expressed
concern about recent hospital
developments in Brunswick
County.
He said the meeting at
Wrightsville Beach two
weeks ago and the recent
actions of Commission
Chairman William Kopp, Jr.,
have made the county
hospital situation worse.
“The meeting (at
Wrightsville Beach) served
no good purpose and only
irritated some people in
volved,” he declared. “I hope
David Flaherty (secretary of
the Department of Human
Resources) makes no more
statements until the Board of
Commissioners ask him to
render his opinion.”
Clemmons said he was
taking no part in the write - in
campaign because of the
pledge he signed when he
filed as a Republican can
didate for the board this
spring.
“I have told people how I
feel about the matter,”
Clemmons declared. “But I
have no control over what
citizens do when they cast
their ballots,” he pointed out.
Clemmons, who is com
pleting his second two - year
term on the board, was
defeated when he ran for re -
nomination in the GOP
primary this spring. After the
primary, he charged that
some party leaders defeated
him. “The GOP primary did
not reflect the sentiment of
the people in Brunswick
County,” he said Monday.
Since plans for the write - in
drive were announced two
weeks ago, Clemmons said he
has not heard from any GOP
leaders in the county.
“Although I have not
requested it. Republican
party members have wished
me well and said they were
going to write my name on
the ballot,” he pointed out.
He said he was surprised
that Andrew Gray endorsed
the write - in drive last week.
Gray was defeated when he
ran for the Democratic
nomination for the Lockwood
Folly Township seat on the
board in the spring. But he
received “three times as
many votes as I did,”
Clemmons pointed out.
Since he said he had no part
in it, he did not know how the
write - in campaign was
progressing. “All I know
about it is what I read in the
newspapers,” he added.
In other matters, Clem
mons said he was concerned
about the way the meeting at
(Continued On Page 9)
School Census
High Schoolers
Number 2,375
A total of 7,689 students
were attending the 11 schools
in Brunswick County after
the first ten days of classes,
according to information
provided by Supt. Ralph
King.
King told members of the
Board of Education at a
recent meeting that the 7,689
students attending county
schools include 2,458 blacks
and 5,218 whites.
A total of 7,302 students are
enrolled in grades one
through 12. The total includes
2,342 blacks and 4,957 white.
Last year, 7,010 students
attended the first 12 grades.
Kindergarten attendance
increased from 247 students
to 387 this year. The total this
year includes 116 blacks and
261 whites.
Enrollment increased over
last year at Bolivia
Elementary, Leland Middle,
North Brunswick, South
Brunswick, Southport
Middle, and West Brunswick.
Lincoln Primary, Shallotte
Middle, Southport Primary,
Union Primary and Wac
camaw Elementary had a
decline in enrollment.
Shallotte Middle, one of the
schools where enrollment
declined, continues to have
more students than any other
school in Brunswick County,
1,007.
Waccamaw Elementary
continues to have fewer
students — 456 — than any
other school in the county.
Bolivia Elementary has 731
students, including 227 blacks
and 501 whites. The school
had 711 students last year.
Leland Middle school grew
from 652 students to 696 this
year. The total includes 248
blacks and 447 whites.
Lincoln Primary School,
which has declined from 524
to 520 students, has 192 blacks
and 328 whites.
Enrollment at North
Brunswick jumped from 660
to 739 students this year. The
number includes 315 blacks
(Continued On Pe^e 9)