Sports, page 12 I
Classifieds, p. 1C
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Southport, N.C.
February 3,1993/ 50 cents
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Southport firefighters poured water onto the
Hemby home on River Drive in an attempt to bring
the blaze under control. But strong winds off the
....
Photo by Ed Harper
river made that task impossible and attention of
firemen was redirected toward saving the structure
next door. No injuries were reported.
Board registers concern
Pay hikes a dirty deed?
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Some employees have received pay
raises of up to 15 percent in the
Brunswick County Register of Deeds
office.
To give out pay increases to ten of
his fellow workers, registrar Robert J.
Robinson used money from salaries
for two vacant positions that remain
unfilled.
But can the employees keep those
salaries come budget time in June
without raising the county's tax rate?
That's the question several com
missioners had for county manager
David Clegg at Monday's meeting.
The board was also curious as to how
one department head was able to take
matters into his own hands.
Robinson says he didn't act single
Forecast
The extended forecast
calls for mostly sunny
skies on Thursday with
high temperatures in the
50s. Clouds will move in
on Friday, then increase
on Saturday with a
chance of rain. By Sun
day, expect rain with
highs in the 50s and lows
in the 40s.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4
5:25 a.m. 11:50 a.m.
5:47 p.m. -p.m.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5
6:19 a.m. 12:00 a.m.
6:43 p.m. 12:42 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6
7:11a.m. 12:54 a.m.
7:37 p.m. 1:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7
8:00 a.m. 1:46 a.m.
8:29 p.m. 2:17 p.m.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8
8:51 aon. 2:37 a.m.
9:21p.m. 3:04 p.m.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9
9:40 a.m. 3:28 a.m.
10:13 p.m. 3:51 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
10:29 a.m. 4:20 a.m.
11:08 p.m. 4:41 p.m.
The following adjoitments 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.
handed, that he recommended to the
personnel office that his employees
each receive a $ 1,750 pay increase.
"It took three signatures to give it to
them," said Robinson. "The raises they
got, I only recommended."
Commissioner Donald Shaw said
the increases represent "more than
generous raises" for the deeds office
staff, which chose not to participate in
a county personnel study performed
last year by an outside consultant.
Other county employees received
up to a five-percent, across-the-board
pay increase for the 1992-93 fiscal
year. The sheriffs department also
didn't participate in the David M.
Griffith and Associates study but
agreed to a pay increase offered by
commissioners.
"The sheriff was happy to get his,"
said Shaw. "We're just talking about
one person doing his own thing."
Robinson's salary, set by the state,
stands at $51,424 per year. His pay
did not increase, according to figures
released by Brunswick County per
sonnel director Starie Grissett.
According to the list, Robinson gave
ten employees a $l,750-per-year in
crease. Two who were on probation
ary status will end up making $2,322
more this year.
For those at the top of the scale,
earning from $21,000 to $22,000 per
year, the money represents a 7.8-per
See Dirty deed, page 6
Accommodations tax
Beach tourism fare
helps pay added cost
By Marybeth Bianchi
Feature Editor
Promoting tourism is more than
placing a flashy ad in a national pub
lication to draw visitors to the area.
It's also restoring beach dunes, pay- -
ing lifeguards, helping the rescue
squad buy a new vehicle and making
sure garbage is collected twice a week
in the summer.
Until recently, area towns picked
up the tab for those bills with money
from their general fund. But one by
one, each has requested from the Gen
eral Assembly that the tourists who
help create the need for those addi
tional services share in the cost of
providing them.
The state allows towns to impose a
See 'Fare', page 6
Tomlinson
is 'interim'
CRC chair
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Southport resident Eugene B.
Tomlinson, appointed last week to
head the Coastal Resources Commis
sion on an "interim" basis, said Mon
day he'd like to continue leading the
15-member group which establishes
policy for protecting the natural re
sources of the coast.
Tomlinson was asked last week by
Jonathan Howes, new head of the N.
C. Department of Environmental
Health and Natural Resources for the
Hunt administration, to be "interim"
chairman when chairman James B.
Harrington resigned.
Tomlinson said there was no dis
cussion of how long the interim might
be, but he said that in a meeting with
Howes later last week he and his
nominal boss saw "eye to eye" on the
direction the CRC should be headed.
"We need to turn the perception of
the commission around," Tomlinson
said Monday. "We want to get away
from the idea that we're an austere
group making rules that tell people
what they should not do.
"We should be a helpful as well as
See CRC chair, page 6
Taxing
Tourists
Benefits
Area
Accommodations
Tax Receipts
Long Beach $127,000
Caswell Beach $40,000
Southport $26,238
Yaupon Beach $10,000
MM
’General excellence’
award presented Pilot
The State Port Pilot's "well-written editorial content, excellent graphics,
design, photos and press work" led the N. C. Press Association to award the
newspaper, for the second consecutive year and third time in four years, the top
prize in the General Excellence category for its division.
The Pilot was competing against other weekly newspapers with circulations
over 3,500. In additional to the General Excellence award, the paper took
second place in the Editorial Page category and third place for Best Use of
Photographs.
"WOW!" exclaimed judge Joseph V. Gill from the Cornwall Local in
Cornwall, N. Y. "What a presentation. The entire staff of the Pilot should take
a bow for one of the best, if not the best, community papers that I have seen.”
Gill said the paper contains everything the reader could possibly want to
know, and called the classified section "outstanding."
Feature editor Marybeth Bianchi took home the second-place award in the
Best Photo Page category for her work on the "Turtle Watch" story published
last August.
Staff writer Jim Harper won a third-place award in the Investigative
Reporting category for his story entitled "CP&L knew about its trouble five
years ago". The story, published last spring, revealed that Carolina Power &
Light Co. had known since early 1987 about the faulty wall bolts that forced
the utility to close last April.
"All of us here at the Pilot are very pleased that we won five awards at the
NCPA Press Institute in Chapel Hill last week," said publisher James M.
Harper Jr. "We are particularly proud that we were first-place winner in the
General Excellence category, which is the most coveted award in the commu
nity newspaper division.
The Slate Port Pilot received five awards, includ
ing the top prize for General Excellence, last Thurs
day at the annual N. C. Press Association awards 4
program held in Chapel Hill. Attending the
ceremony were (from left) staff writer Jim Harper,
municipal editor Holly Edwards, feature editor
Marybeth Bianchi and editor Ed Harper. The first i
place award was the third in four years.