„ I,, „„w i M111II111M. 11111 .. ■ ■ ■ * w'?*???***11 l;y1111 uy l -n.iag South Brunswick hosts the Trojans Friday in confer ence opener for both — 10B ^^^anuar^/1995 VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 19 SOUTHPORT, N.C. 50 CENTS Neighbors Help is available for those who want to kick the smok ing habit this year - IB Our Town What does the future hold for coast now with the Re publicans in power? Page 2 '94 The year in quotes By Terry Pope County Editor It was a battleground in 1994. County officials struggled with Martin Marietta Corp. over a pro posed rock quarry near Southport. But the community also witnessed what has become an annual debate between the county and schools for more funding. The nation “turned its eyes to the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point as shipments of highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods from overseas entered the United States here. - However, the picture is best told with quotes from 1994's news mak ers: •January 5 — "If it hadn't been for the lawsuit. I'd been with them. But if $2 million comes out of taxpayers' pockets, that's a lot of money." District 5 county commissioner Donald Shaw votes against a county ordinance to block Martin Marietta from opening a mine. -* January 19 — "It was a dumb idea then, and it's a dumb idea now. And here we are again. We've got to go to an incinerator sooner or later." Bolivia resident Melba Edwards opposes a new county landfill near the Lockwood Folly River. •January 26 — "We'refighting 1994 crime with a 1982 model. I need some more help." District attorney Rex Gore asks for more prosecutors from the state. •February 2 — "This is not to stop one project, and I'm not asking the commission to act as a board of ad justments. The aquifer is public trust waters." Long Beach's Rosetta Short asks the Coastal Resources Commission to protect 5,000 acres near Southport. •February 9— "I saw a great short age in areas of safety equipment and microscopes. One classroom had just five microscopes for 30 kids to use in a 45-minute class. There were other mass shortage of items." Commission chairman Don War ren lobbies to give schools $250,000 for "critical needs." •February 23 -- "If everything we are told is true, then everything is above board. It's everybody's money, not just the schools." District 3 commissioner Wayland Vereen calls for a state performance audit of the schools. *March 2 — "We have to live here, too. It's not an easy role to take." Planning board chairman John Th ompson, on criticism leveled at his board for not adopting zoning restric tions against Martin Marietta. * March 16 — "We want to discover the full extent of any improprieties. We will pursue it in as expeditious a manner as we can, but we're not go ing to leave any stones unturned." School board attorney Glen Peterson, on the controversial sale of over $10,000 in surplus cafeteria See Quotes, page 5 Forecast The extended forecast calls for cold weather to finally settle into our area. We can look for low temperatures in the 20's and highs in the 40's for the period of Thursday through Saturday. Photo by Jim Harper The possibility of all things stood fresh and clear recently as,., he’d, heard of goqd catches at 69th Street and was working in Worth Jackson cast for trout on the Long Beach strand. He said libat direction, one hopeful cast at a time. County, DuPont settle tax By Terry Pope County Editor A two-year court battle over back taxes with the DuPont Co. has ended with an $856,000 settle ment county officials approved Tuesday night tne Brunswick County Board of Commissioners also agreed, on a 3-1 vote, to fund five new sheriff deputies. That will allow sheriff Ronald Hewett to keep his office open 24 hours as pledged during his fall campaign. District 3 com missioner Leslie Collier of Long Beach voted no, stating she’d rather consider the move at budget time in June. It’s... a mat ter of making it right. We found a wrong, and DuPont offi cials sought to make it right.’ Boyd Williamson Tax administrator The settlement with DuPont was expected after the N. C. Court of Appeals upheld the county’s See County, page 12 Consumers can do their part City has the power to control costs Other cities finding a way By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor There may be no other way to shave electric costs in the City of Southport than by managing load — particularly at times of peak demand. That's the conclusion other cities, including Elizabeth City, have reached. And, by tackling load man agement head-on, municipal power costs have been cut significantly in that city. Ralph Clark, city manager for Eliza beth City, like Southport a member of the N. C. Eastern Municipal Power ‘The decision at that time was, we had to take what we had and make the best of it. We’ve gone through the problems five years ahead of anybody else. We found we can’t afford to throw our hands up.’ Ralph Clark Elizabeth City manager Agency, says his city, each of its heavy power users and each of its citizens has a role to play in electric load management. All it takes to save municipal electric costs is a little cre ativity. "We spend a lot of time dealing with that," Clark said. "There are a lot of creative ways to make it better for our customers. We've tried to be cre ative." And Southport may have to be just as creative as Elizabeth City has been. Faced with the prospect of a 30 percent raw power cost increase over the next five years, Southport offi cials recently went the way of others among the 31 member cities of NCEMPA — looking for ways out of its Contract with the agency and look ing to sell its electric distribution sys tem. What Southport found was this city is tied by debt and by contract to NCEMPA until the year 2026. That relationship may even prove to be of longer term if NCEMPA mayors are successful this year in getting state treasurer Harlan Boyles to allow a restructuring of agency debt. The city also found that its electric system, as an asset, is worth about $1.5 million. But to sell it, a buyer would have to assume the more-than $24-million debt Southport has as sumed on behalf of NCEMPA. Clark said Elizabeth City learned those hard lessons about five years ago when a citywide committee of business people, attorneys and elected officials went looking for ways to end that city's contractual obligation to NCEMPA. "The decision at that time was, we had to take what we had and make the best of it," Clark said. "We've gone through the problems five years ahead See Power, page 10 Third highest^ in state Schools are alarmed by violence statistics By Holly Edwards Feature Editor . Why do Brunswick County schools have the third highest rate of violence in the state? And what can teachers, principals, administrators, stu dents and parents do together to solve the problem? School officials hope the upcoming Safe Schools Fo rum on school violence will generate some answers to these questions. The forum is intended to unite everyone involved in the school system ~ from the student body to the administra tion — and will focus on causes of and solutions to school violence. It is scheduled Thursday, January 26,7 p.m., at Supply Elementary School. A likely topic of discussion also will be a recent "school climate survey" that indicates students view school as a much more dangerous place than do teach ers. Students in grades seven through 11 and all teachers were asked to assess the safety of the school environ ment in a series of SS questions. Safe Alternatives For Everyone (SAFE) program coordinator Linda Shaddix is expected to present uciaus auuui me survey at the school board's next meeting Monday, January 9. A total of 87 violent acts ft and 32 cases of drug pos- ^ session were reported in, Brunswick County schools during the 1993-94 school i see Violence, page 6 School dropout rate on the rise By Holly Edwards Feature Editor More students dropped out of Brunswick County schools last year than the year before, but the county dropout rate is still below state average, statistics released by the N. C. Department of Public Instruction indicate. A total of 103 students in grades seven through 12 dropped out last year, up from 71 the previous school term. The county's dropout rate was 2.54 percent, nearly a point lower than the 3.35-percent state dropout rate. Statewide, 17,371 students dropped out last year, a 1,731 increase over the previous year but down significantly from 1988-89 when 24,559 students dropped out. State superintendent of schools Bob Etheridge blamed job growth for luring students away from school. He See Dropout, page 10

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