Volume 61/ Number 33 Southport, N.C. April 1,1992 / 50 cents
Mabel Bailey was one of the many who worked to defeat the proposal.
Long Beach sewer proposal
is defeated by 2-to-1 margin
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Sixty-two percent of all eligible
voters came to the polls Tuesday to
reject a Long Beach sewer
referendum by a margin of more
than two to one.
At issue was a proposal to author
ize the sale of up to $15.5 million in
general obligation bonds to finance
a public wastewater management
system for the town. An unofficial
vole tally Tuesday night showed that
only 460 voters cast affirmative bal
lots, while 1,036 voters opposed the
sewer proposition.
It wasn’t even close. Opponents of
the system, which has been the sub
ject of debate for nearly 12 years,
won the day hands down.
"We had a lot of good people
working together for a common
cause," said Frances Allen, a sewer
opponent from the on-set of public
debate.
Ms. Allen said the stunning vic
tory for sewer opponents Tuesday
night was attributable to what she
believed to be a poor engineering
proposal.
"It’s going to come," Ms. Allen
said of sewer proposals for Long
Beach. "It’s going to come but it’s
got to be a better system than the
one that we’ve been shown."
What’s been shown is a more
than-S19-million combination pres
See Sewer vote, page 6
Will global airport plan fly?
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
The former mayor of Leland has
sent a proposal to Brunswick, Colum
bus and New Hanover county com
missioners for construction of a $552
million Global Air Cargo Industrial
Complex (GACIC) at the Brunswick
and Columbus county line.
"It will bring thousands of much
needed jobs and large increases in the
tax base to Brunswick and Columbus
counties," Russell Baldwin said in his
proposal. "The GACIC may one day
transform southeastern North Caro
lina into one of the state's most pros
perous regions.”
The complex would consist of run
ways lined with assembly plants,
Baldwin said, and would eliminate
the costly practice of warehousing
inventory. Components for a variety
of items, such as television sets and
computers, would be flown in from
all over the world, assembled at the
complex, and then shipped out imme
diately to be sold, Baldwin explained.
The deadline for Brunswick and
Columbus county commissioners to
submit a proposal to the N. C. Air
Cargo Airport Authority is April 17.
Baldwin cited three major advan
tages to building the GACIC at the
proposed location: It would be near
the State Port and the airport, and it
would offer the military an airlift
backup facility.
"When the economic realities are
thoroughly explored, the search for
the proposed Global Air Cargo Indus
trial Complex must lead inevitably to
the Wilmington area," said Baldwin.
"It offers advantages which cannot be
matched by any otherarea in the state."
The proposed site would offer an
abundance of inexpensive, flat land
on which to build the facility, he said,
and would provide for virtually un
limited expansion in the future. It is
also the only potential site that would
be accessible by ship, barge, railroad
and interstate highway, he said.
"Although the G ACIC concept em
phasizes the marriage of manufactur
ing and fast transit, it can also func
tion as an important intermodal trans
shipment facility," Baldwin said.
"Goods brought into the State Port at
Wilmington or up the Cape Fear by
barge can go out from the G ACIC by
air."
Not only would the State Port be a
major contributor to the success of the
GACIC, he said, but it would also
experience significant growth because
of the symbiotic relationship that
would develop among modes of trans
portation in the air, on the Cape Fear
River and on the ocean.
The site would be six miles from
the river, 15 miles from the State Port,
and, Baldwin estimated, once the U.
S. Highway 17 bypass is constructed
it would be only 15 minutes from
New Hanover International Airport.
"The Brunswick County-Columbus
County site offers a unique combina
tion of advantages available nowhere
else in North Carolina," said Baldwin.
"It is strategically located to play a
major role as a military backup facil
ity for the Armed Forces."
The site is less than 20 miles from
the Sunny Point ammunition termi
nal, 50 miles from Camp Lejune and
See Global airport, page 6
f
Tricolor herons are among the wading birds that are feeding each
day along the Southport waterfront. Some of these birds nest on Bat
tery Island, along with large colonies of ibises and egrets.
OUTSIDE
Forecast
The extended forecast
calls for partly cloudy skies
both Thursday and Friday,
with mostly cloudy skies
on Saturday before clearing
on Sunday. Highs during
the period are expected in
the 50s.
Tide table
HIGH ' LOW
THURSDAY, APRIL 2
7:17 a.m. 1:08 a.m.
7:30 p.m. , 1:21p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 3
7:53 a.m. 1:51a.m.
8:07 p.m. 1:58 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 4
8:28 a.m.
8:47 p.m.
7:08 a.m.
7:13 p.m.
SUNDAY, APRIL 5
2:31 a.m
2:37 p.m.
12:37 a.m.
1:14 p.m.
MONDAY, APRIL 6
9:48 a.m. 3:54 a.m.
10:12 p.m. 3:58 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 7
10:34 a.m. 4:42 a.m.
11:06 p.m. 4:47 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8
11:29 a.m. 5:33 a.m.
—— p.m. 5:42 p.m.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5. low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +15, Yaupon Beach, high -32, low -45;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.
But we feel good about ourselves
Technically, schools are lacking
By Marybeth Bianchi
Feature Editor
American schools aren’t teaching
students the technical skills they need
to be successful in the 21st century.
But, they are teaching them some
thing European and Asian schools
aren't teaching their students: Self
respect and self-esteem.
And that, according to Dr. Willard
Daggett, makes Americans the envy
of workers worldwide.
He talked for nearly two hours Mon
day night about the failures of the
American educational system, but he
concluded his presentation to
Brunswick County education, gov
ernment and business leaders by say
ing, even with their superior techno
logical skills, workers around the
world want to be more like Ameri-.
cans.
Although Japanese students an
swered more math questions correctly
than did American students, it was
those same Americans who claimed
they were good at math while the
Japanese students felt they were fail
ing, he said.
That feeling of self-confidence is
"as important as anything in life can.
See Schools lacking, page 16
4Americans, let’s love our children more
than our schools and take action based
on the hopes and dreams of our children,
rather than the institutional heritage of
all those adults who want the institu
tions.’
Dr. Willard Daggett