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The Cougars bounced back
Friday night to win their 3rd
game of the year - 10B
October 26,1994
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SOUTHPORT, N.C.
VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 9
50 CENTS
Our Town
The M-I designation was
intended for Sunny Point but
affects other areas - page 2
-IS*im m mmtr'****** - ^
Bald Head Island officials
are struggling to maintain
eroding South Beach - IB
Tape controversy
sheriff's race
Tape was shown,
but Hewett 'not there'
College says it has interviewed other students
By Terry Pope
County Editor
It appears there won't be a state investigation of the
controversial viewing of a X-rated videotape on the
Brunswick Community College campus.
And school officials say they believe Democratic
sheriffs candidate Ronald Hewett had nothing to do
with the showing and took appropriate action, as the
class instructor, when he learned a tape had been
watched while he was away for lunch.
"There was no criminal action," said BCC president
Michael Reaves. "1 would think it was in poor taste
and wasn't appropriate to do that. You would think
that adults would not engage in this behavior, but
there was actually no crime committed."
After interviewing students in Lt. Hewett's Basic
Law Enforcement class in November, 1992, college
officials confirmed a X-rated tape was brought onto
campus during the noon to 1 p.m. lunch hour of a
Saturday class. Students told college officials Hewett
had gone home for lunch.
"So far, we haven't had a student yet that said he
(Hewett) was there," said Reaves. "These students are
scattered, too. One is in Florida."
Reaves said college staff has interviewed six or
seven students thus far, and will request interviews
with three students in the class who have alleged in
writing that Hewett instructed them to rent the porno
graphic tape and to bring it back on campus. Hewett
denies any involvement in the incident, and says he
See Hewett, page 8
Brown says he showed
letter, tape to others
Candidate says he was looking for opinions
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Republican sheriffs candidate James Brown says
he believes the allegations against his Democratic
opponent and admits he gave others copies of a
notarized letter and 15-minute X-rated videotape that
tries to link Ronald Hewett to the controversy.
In an interview this week. Brown says he wants the
State Bureau of Investigation to decide who is right,
and talked openly about his role in handing out a tape
and several letters earlier this month.
Hewett's attorney, Roy Trest of Shallotte, says he
may file lawsuits against anyone attempting to smear
Hewlett’s name and claims distributing the informa
tion is libelous.
"They're getting off the issue," claims Brown.
"The issue is, did Ronald Hewett do this? 1 have
admitted what I did. Yes, I did it.
"I've done nothing that I know of wrong. If it was
wrong handing out the truth, then I'm wrong."
Brown says he gave a letter to a Leland police
officer who came to his home, letters to political
supporters in Southport and a tape and letter to a law
enforcement friend at Ash.
"With the Leland police officer, no, I didn’t ask for
his feedback. I just gave it to him and asked him to
make a determination and to throw the letter away,"
said Brown. "But the other people, it was just for their
feedback of what they thought about it. I freely admit
See Brown, page 8
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27
1:25 a.m. 7:44 a.m.
1:55 p.m. 8:26 p.m.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2*
2:28 a.m. 8:46 a.m.
2:54 p.m. 9:26 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
3:33 a.m. 9:51 a.m.
3:54 p.m. 10:24 p.m.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
DAYUGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS
3:35 a.m. 9:54 a.m.
3:53 p.m. 10:19 p.m.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31
4:34 a.m. 10:53 a.m.
4:50 p.m. 11:12 p.m.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
5:30 a.m. 11:49 a.m.
5:45 p.m. -p.m.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
6:24 a.m. 12:04 a.m.
6:39 p.m. 12:42 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 Fouy Inlet, high -22, low -8.
No sewer,
poll insists
Results of last week's Pilot Line
question — Which is the better way for
a Brunswick County barrier island
town to manage its wastewater? —
show that 204 callers, or 71.3 percent,
favored individual septic tanks and 82
preferred a public sewer system.
While the question concerned all
barrier island towns, most of the calls
are suspected to have come from Long
Beach, where town council has begun
a study of wastewater and stormwater
management options.
Fulfilling a promise, Supply Elementary School principal
Carolyn Williams last week planted a kiss on the hairy snout of
this Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. Williams vowed to kiss a pig
Photo by Jim Harper
when the school successfully raised one million pennies, or
$10,000. The money will be used to purchase new playground
equipment.
Full-scale
CP&L drill
on Tuesday
Carolina Power and Light Co., Brunswick
County and the State of North Carolina will test
emergency plans for the Brunswick nuclear
plant next Tuesday, November 1.
The 34 emergency warning sirens around the
plant will sound at full volume for about three
minutes during the exercise, and the Emer
gency Broadcast System (EBS) will activate
with a test message.
The exercise will measure the ability ol
CP&L, county, state and federal emergency
response personnel to respond to an emergency
at the plant.
Residents may see numerous associated ac
tivities such as workers conducting environ
mental monitoring in nearby areas, and emer
See Drill, page 15
Fall Back
Sunday, October 30,2:00 a.m.
Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour.
School finance plan okayed
County will borrow money, repay with sales tax
By Terry Pope
County Editor
School officials are not exactly pleased
. with the financing plan for a new $5.7
i million Leland area elementary school, but
residents had few comments at a public
' bearing on Monday,
i- The school board would rather pay for the
* school by generating more county tax rev
enues. Instead, the county's option to offer
|;i certificates of participation will do, and wifi
likely be approved at the school board's next
meeting.
"We do not agree that this is the way we
want to go with this one school," said Donna
Baxter, chairman of the Brunswick County
Board of Education. "But in the Leland area,
this school is desperately needed. Itwiil take
five years to pay back the amount in half
cent sales tax revenues."
As the county experiences growth in its
school-age population it must create addi
tional classroom space where schools are
becoming overcrowded, said school super
intendent Ralph Johnston. That growth is
steadily occurring in the Leland area, where
Lincoln Primary School houses grades K-3
and Leland Middle grades 4-8.
The new elementary school will house
grades K-5 and draw its enrollment from
students at both schools.
The school board purchased the property
near Befviile along N. C. 133 from the N. C.
State Ports Authority for $128,000. The
county will issue certificates of participa
tion to pay for the construction. It is a plan
similar to getting a new home loan, with
individual investors negotiatingfor the notes.
That sum will be paid back with accumu
lated state half-cent sales tax revenues re
. See School, page 6
Supply septic system
repairs can commence
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County commissioners have allocated the $363,000 in half
cent sales tax revenues school officials say they need to finance
capital projects.
The Brunswick County Board of Education can now spend
the money to repair a faulty septic system at Supply Elementary
School, make site improvements at all 13 county schools and
install a storage tank and bus-washing facility at the school bus
garage near Bolivia. |
In the past, the two boards haven't seen eye-to-eye on school
spending, but the capital project ordinance was approved by |
commissioners Monday without any adjustments as it was
See Septic, page 13
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