THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
■ — ’ - ■'■■■ —— . i ' ■■■ .... i' " ■' - ' i ■■! ' ■>. *
VOLUME 46 NUMBER 12 20 PAGES TODAY SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA OCTOBER 9, 1974 10 CENTS A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY*
T
Planning Board Members Named
By BILL ALLEN
The first Brunswick County
Planning Board and county
planner were appointed
during the first regular
October meeting of the Board
of Commissioners Monday in
Southport.
Howard Williamson of
Northwest, Elbert Knox of
Town Creek, Donald C.
Evans of Waccamaw, Lacy
Tripp of Shallotte, Elaine
Kellogher of Lockwood Folly
and Hannon Templeton of
Smithville were elected to
represent the six townships
on the Planning board. They
were selected to serve on the
board by the commissioner
representing their townships.
Harold Davis of Smithville,
Harry Galloway of Lockwood
Folly and Ed Gore of
Shallotte were unanimously
selected to serve as the three
at-large members on the
Planning Board. Three other
county residents also were
nominated for the at-large
positions.
Johnny Clark Sutton, who is
employed with the Cum
berland County Joint Plan
ning Board in Fayetteville,
was unanimously hired as the
first Brunswick County
planner. He was recom
mended by County Manager
Neil Mallory.
Although the board could
have held an executive
session under law to select
persons to serve on the
Planning Board and employ a
county planner, all the action
was taken in open session.
Knox, Evans, Tripp, Mrs.
Kellogher and Templeton will
serve two-year terms on the
Planning Board and
Williamson, Davis Galloway
and Gore one-year terms.
Mallory presented the
names of Sutton, 28, and
another man for the board to
consider to serve as the first
county planner . He said he
wanted to recommend Sutton
because he hirs had more
experience and works in
North Carolina.
“We had no applications
from anyone in Brunswick
County,’’ Mallory told the
board. “No more than six or
seven of the persons who sent
us applications lived in North
Carolina.”
After the selection was
made, Mallory was told to
negotiate the salary with
Sutton, who is expected to
report to work the first of
November.
Sutton, who is a native of
Sampson County, was
graduated from East
Carolina University in 1969
with a BA degree. He has
completed a 540-hour Planner
Training program, a seven
day Historic Preservation
Planning short course, a 16
hour Special Land
Development Problems short
course and a 40-hour Sub
division Administration short
course.
He was employed with the
Wilmington-New Hanover
Planning Commission from
March, 1970 until March, 1973
when he accepted the spot in
Cumberland County. He is
divorced.
Mallory announced he has
received word from the North
Carolina Envornmental
Management Commission
and the Environmental
Protection Agency that
southern Brunswick County
is eligible for a 75-percent,
step-one federal grant in the
amount of $42,000 to aid in the
preparation of a sewer study
report costing an estimated
$56,0000.
Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset
Beach, Calabash, Holden
Beach and Shallotte will be
included in the proposed
sewer study in southern
Brusnwick County.
Mallory said Ocean Isle
Beach and Shallotte have
applied for grant funds to
conduct the study. “Since the
state does not like to help just
small areas, they suggested
that all of southern Brun
swick County be included,”
Mallory informed the board.
"The report, when com
pleted, will set forth the most
cost effective and en
vironmentally sound method
of meeting the wastewater
needs of the area. It is a
prerequisite for obtaining
additional EPA federal grant
funds for construction of
wastewater treatment
facilities," he pointed out.
Vice-Chairman J.T.
Clemmons said he was happy
to hear about the proposed
program. “This used to be the
(Continued On Page 2)
START-UP FOR THE NUCLEAR power plant near South
port is scheduled for early 1975, and local officials and special
guests received a last-minute tour of the plant interior Thur
sday before it is sealed and fueled. Officials were told there is
no way the plant will ever “explode,” and were told that alar
mist critics of nuclear power have created undue concern
among the public.
Board Checks School Disorder
By BILL ALLEN
The Board of Education
discussed last Friday’s
“incident of school disorder
at North Brunswick” during
the regular monthly meeting
Monday night.
North Brunswick closed
early Friday after a
disturbance that started with
a fight between two students
of different races. The
disorder spread at the school
and involved other students
as well as elements of the
community, it was reported.
The school re-opened
Monday under precautionary
protection provided by the
Brunswick County Sheriff’s
Department, the State High
way Patrol and others. The
law officers are expected to
stay at the school on an
“indefinite basis” with the
situation assessed daily. (See
related story in this edition of
The Pilot).
After the open discussion of
the North Brunswick
situation, the board excluded
the press and moved behind
closed doors to hold an
executive session about the
problem. Member s-Elect
Barbara Yount and Franklin
Randolph were allowed to
stay.
Chairman Wilbur Rabon,
who called for the executive
session, said the board
wanted to discuss “per
sonalities.” The state open
meetings law gives the board
the right to hold closed
meetings when it is “faced
with the existence of a riot or
with conditions indicating
that a riot or public disorders
are imminent”.
Supt. Ralph King, speaking
in general terms during the
open meeting, said the
disorder happened at the end
of the second-period classes
Friday morning. He said a
“considerable number” of
All Quiet Tuesday
Bomb Threats Reported
Following Leland Unrest
The Brunswick County
Sheriff’s Department has
stayed on top of the North
Brunswick disorders and
deputies are stationed at the
high school. Sheriff Harold
Willetts said Tuesday.
Sheriff Willetts reported
that North Brunswick
Principal Nelson Best call his
office and requested help
about 10 o’clock Friday
morning. The dispatcher in
the office sent some deputies
to the school.
Willetts, who was at his
Bolivia home recovering
from a bad case of laryngitis
at the time, said he called the
Governor’s office in Raleigh
after hearing reports from
the school. He said he told
Fred Morrison, the gover
nor’s legal assistant, that he
needed assistance and High
way Patrolmen were
dispatched to the school.
The sheriff reported that he
remained in contact with
Morrison and a Highway
Patrol official in Wilmington
to determine the help that
was available if school
opened Monday.
“Once I determined the
additional help we could
obtain, I recommended to
school officials that North
Brunswick reopen Monday
morning because I knew we
could provide law and order
at the school,” Willetts said.
When North Brunswick
opened Monday morning,
Sheriff Willetts said he had
nine deputies, eight or nine
Highway Patrolmen, one SBI
(Continued On Page 2)
students were involved and
school had to be dismissed
early.
He said Principal Nelson
Best and faculty members
were conducting an in
vestigation of the disorder at
North Brunswick High
School. He said they were
protecting “due process” of
all persons involved during
the investigation.
He told The Pilot Tuesday
that he hoped to be able to
release information con
tained in the report written
by the North Brunswick of
ficials later this week.
Although no names will be
given out, he said he should
be able to release information
about the nature of the of
fenses, disciplinary action
taken and the kind of
evidence.
Supt. King said that less
than 20 students were in
volved in the initial disorder
at the school. However, a
“considerable percentage”
who were un-involved did not
return to their classes.
King said reports indicate
that the Friday disorder
resulted from an incident at a
(Continued On Page 2)
6 4Unrest In The County99
Clemmons Urges
Positive Action
Towards Dosher
The Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners took action on four
hospital requests during a regular
meeting Monday morning.
The board voted to authorize
County Attorney Thomas Horne to
proceed with the business of ob
taining bond money to build the
proposed Brunswick Memorial
hospital, to obtain a copy of the
original petition calling for the
establishment of a Smithville
Township hospital district, to delay
changing the name of the county
hospital board of trustees to the
hospital authority and to urge Ward
Fuller of Southport to remain on the
county hospital board of trustees.
All the action was taken at the
request of Vice-Chairman J.T.
Clemmons, who had asked for time
on the official printed agenda to
present the motions. “I am proud of
what we have done today,” he said
after all four motions were ap
proved.
Clemmons said he requested the
action because of the results of an
informal survey he conducted in the
county during the past two or three
weeks. “I have never seen such
unrest about the hospital issue in our
county,” he stated. ‘‘At no time in
the history of our county have people
in all areas of the county been as
upset about an issue as they are
now.”
He said the board should give
immediate attention to the sale of
the bonds and the letting of contracts
for the new $2.5 million hospital,
(Continued On Page 2)
Hospital Meet
Asked By Kopj
A joint public meeting to
discuss hospital care in
Brunswick County should be
held next week, Chairman
William Kopp, Jr., of
Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners has
suggested.
Chairman Kopp made the
suggestion in a letter he
wrote to Southport Mayor
E.B. Tomlinson, Jr.,
Tuesday. It answered a letter
written by Mayor Tomlinson
September 23.
“I am hereby suggesting
that a joint public meeting be
held in Brunswick County
during the week of October 14
through 18 in order that we
can work to the end that all
medical care needs of all
citizens of Brunswick County
can be met,” Kopp said in the
(Continued On Page 2)
Babson Asked
To Aid Holders
Chairman Lester Babson of
the Brunswick County Board
of Elections has been asked to
instruct poll holders about
how to write-in the name of
candidates in the general
election.
The request was made by
Grady Frink of Shallotte, who
is heading a write-in cam
paign to elect J.T. Clemmons
to the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners.
“We request that you call a
meeting of all of the poll
holders and instruct them on
the proper procedure for
voters who wish to write in
the name of a candidate, so
that they may be prepared to
properly advise those persons
who wish to write in the name
of a candidate,” Frink said in
a letter to Babson.
Frink said he would “ap
preciate your immediate
attention to our request and
would expect such meeting to
be called at the earliest
possible convenience.”
Frink said he was writing
to Babson because some
statements that have been
attributed to different people
concerning the write-in
campaign for Clemmons
have been “very disturbing.”
“We expect Mr. Clemmons
to receive several thousand
votes, and in fact we sin
cerely expect Mr. Clemmons
to be elected as county
commissioner from Lock
wood Folly Township,” Frink
said in the letter.
LARRY CANIPE, JR.
Irooper Campe
Killed In Action
A former Brunswick
County Highway Patrolman
died after being shot with his
own pistol Saturday night in
Asheville.
Trooper Lawrence (Larry)
Canipe, Jr., 32, and another
patrolman were shot to death
while attempting to ad
minister a breathalyzer test
in the basement room of the
Buncombe County Cour
thouse.
Canipe was attached to
District 6, Troop B, for seven
years. He lived in Shallotte
while patrolling the roads in
the lower part of Brunswick
County from Bolivia to the
South Carolina line. He was
transferred to Asheville on
May 13.
Funeral services for
Canipe were held at Black
Mountain Wednesday and
burial followed near
Bakersville. Survivors in
cluded his wife, a 14-month
old daughter, and a four
year-old son.
According to reports
Canipe and Patrolman W.D.
Arledge, 53, were giving a
breathalyzer test to Edward
Collins Davis, 54, at the
Asheville courthouse
Saturday night.
Davis, it was reported,
grabbed Canipe’s pistol and
killed both patrolmen. Davis
“just walked out of the
courthouse” after the
shooting. Patrol Captain E.D.
Young said.
After the shooting, law
officers mounted a massive
manhunt in the Ashevhille
area that night. Davis was
arrested at dawn Sunday
while walking across Park
Square in downtown
Asheville.
He was charged with two
counts of first-degree murder
in the pistol slaying of the two
highway patrolmen.
Canipe had arrested Davis
early Saturday night on
suspicion of drunk driving.
The arrest ended a two
county chase that reached
speeds in excess of 100 miles
per hour.