The Cougars and Scorps
advanced to second-round
tournament play - Page 12
| VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 34 SOUTHPORT, N.C,
50 CENTS
Neighbors
It was a hot time in the ol’
town on Saturday with the
annual chili cook-off -- IB
Our Town
Sentiment says rebuild the
community building, but
what about the land? Page 2
1-40 loop
would aid
economy
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County leaders want to accelerate
plans to build the Northern Outer
Loop near Leland.
That portion of the Interstate 40
bypass of Wilmington has been
placed on hold.
But a resolution passed by
Brunswick County commissioners
Monday asks the state to support the
timely construction of a route into
Brunswick County.
The four-lane loop would extend
north of Navassa and run adjacent to
Leland Industrial Park before con
necting to U. S. 17 near Town Creek.
Now the route will halt at U. S. 421
north of Wilmington. Traffic heading
to Brunswick County's beaches will
use U. S. 17-74-76 through Leland.
"I'll4ake half a loaf rather than no
loaf at all," said Tom Monks, the ex
ecutive director of the Brunswick
County Economic Development
Commission.
"It's going to help, but it's not go
ing to be the great big help that bring
ing it to (Highway) 17 would have
been."
County leaders see the Northern
Outer Loop as important for both lo
cal tourism and to lure new industry
to the area. Major highways are a plus
for companies that rely on shipment
of goods.
"We've had a lot of interest from
some warehouse distributors," said
Monks. "This is like a halfway point
between the Pender County beaches
See Economy, page 6
The Easter Bunny made its annual appearance at
Middleton Park in Long Beach during Saturday’s
egg hunt Children lined up for a hug from the giant
Photo by Holly Edwards
bunny after finding all the candy- and toy-filled
plastic eggs they could. About 500 eggs were distrib
uted to nearly 70 children.
Soles: no chance of passage
Bill to 'accommodate'
travel, dining interests
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
State Sen. R. C. Soles has spon
sored a bill that would drastically re
duce local government's role in ap
propriating occupancy tax funds, but
he says he will not push for adoption
of the legislation and he gives the bill
little chance of passing the General
Assembly.
"Whoever's got it stirred up down
there needs to pull back a little be
cause there is nothing that is going to
happen," Soles said Tuesday from his
Raleigh office.
Local government officials learned
of the Soles bill — known as SB 472 -
- last week when Long Beach town
manager Jerry Walters circulated cop
ies. Yaupon Beach and Caswell Beach
commissioners have gone on record
X
‘The senator and I agree on a lot of
things, but I donft support that bill. The
accommodations tax should be left to lo
cals to decide rather than us mandating
something from Raleigh.9
Rep. David Redwine
D-Brunswick
in opposition to the measure and
Walters indicated he would send a
letter of opposition on his town's be
half to the area legislative delegation.
Under terms of the bill, all local
governments approved to levy ac
commodations taxes after March 1,
1995, would be required to pay two
thirds of collections to an outside
agency to be used in promotion of
travel and tourism. All governments
See Interests, page 10
Festival
funding
is spent
By Terry Pope
County Editor ’ ■ ■ .
Traditionally, the N. C.
Fourth of July Festival re
ceives a $5,000 boost from
the county for the annual cel
ebration in Southport.
But when festival commit
tee members recently asked
for the funds the money
wasn't there. It had instead
been given to the Miss
Brunswick County Pageant.
"The expectations are that
the District 3 allocations have
usually gone to the Fourth of
July Festival," said District 3
county commissioner Leslie
Collier of Long Beach. "It
See Funding, page 6
'Best interestof county
County board
asks four-year
terms on ballot
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County commissioners began
Monday what they hope will signal a
return to staggered, four-year terms.
A movement four years ago led to
establishment of two-year terms for
the commission and school board
seats.
Commissioners claim the shorter
terms lead to instability and want an
other vote next fall.
A resolution unanimously ap
proved by the board of three Repub
licans and two Democrats asks for a
new referendum.
They say the public can now easily
see why two-year terms are a bad
idea.
"What happens is, you get in and
then you spend the first year getting
familiar with everything," said Bill
Sue, District 5 commissioner. "The
The push for a
new referendum
has crossed party
lines on the com
mission; no one
wants two-year
terms
second year you spend all your time
politicking for your seat. What it does
is leave government to the bureau
crats."
The push for two-year terms fol
lowed the election of five Republi
cans to the county commission in
See Terms, page 16
Practically no change
'89 annexation
plans revisited
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
For all intents and purposes, the
annexation proposal of 1995 is just a
rehash of the failed annexation at
tempt of 1989, a consultant with the
state's Division of Community Assis
tance told a skeptical Southport Board
of Aldermen Thursday night.
And that information left aldermen
virtually plotting ways to snag the
presently non-qualifying Smithville
Woods subdivision into the annex
ation plan.
Tom Cassell, the division's chief
planner, said the area his staff had
qualified for annexation to the City
of Southport differs only from the
area the board attempted to annex in
1989 by inclusion of the last phase of
Fiddler's Creek Apartments.
The area that has been qualified for
annexation this year includes 566.7
acres with a boundary of 49,033 lin
ear feet. It includes the ADM prop
erty, the Cogentrix plant on Carolina
Power and Light Co. property and
certain rights-of-way belonging to
CP&L.
The 27 lots in commercial use in
clude Wilsons Plaza shopping center
and Pelican Building Center, both on
N. C. 211 north of the existing city
limits.
Residential lots included are all
those on either side of Moore Street
extending to the ADM gate, all of
Leonard Street extension and all of
Jabbertown Road, the last phase of
Fiddler's Creek and Forest Oaks
townhouses, and all residential lots
along North Howe Street from 12th
Street to an area just north of Sandy
Lane. The entire Sawdust Trail area
is included, as is property along N.
C. 87 to a street easement some dis
tance from the N. C. 87 and Howe
Street (N. C. 211) intersection.
While this appears to be the area
See Annexation, page 5
Forecast
Partly cloudly will prevail
for the period of Thursday
Friday with highs 75 to 80.
There is a slight chance of a
thunderstorm on Saturday
with a high in the mid 70's
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, APRIL 20
12:37 am 6:53 am.
1:01p.m. 7:04 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
1:38 a.m. 7:52 a.m.
2:05 p.m. 8:08 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
2:40 a.m. 8:53 am.
3:09 p.m. 9:14 p.m.
SUNDAY, APRIL 23
3:42 am. 9:53 am.
4:12 p.m. 10:19 p.m.
MONDAY, APRIL 24
4:42 am. 10:50 am.
5:10p.m. 11:19 p.m.
TUESDAY, APRIL 25
* 5:38am. ;i» 11:42am.
; 6:04 p.m. ' —pm.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26
• 6:29am. 12:13 am.
: 6:52 p.m. 12:29 pm.
The following adjustments should be trade:
Bald Head mnd. high -10. tow -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high 4-7,
low +15; Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.
ifti
Friday incident ruled suicide
'
Second death is remarkably similar
A second suicide in less than a year has occurred in virtually
the same spot in the same room in the same trailer on Sweet Bay
Drive in Sea Pines subdivision.
In both instances, the victims reportedly sat down in the liv
ing room and shot themselves in the right side of the head with a
small handgun.
Each case was officially ruled a suicide, but the similarity in
the cases has gotten the attention of the Brunswick County
Sheriffs Department.
The likelihood of two people committing suicide in the same
way in the same spot is one million to one,” said investigating
detective Mike Cieipiot. "Things like that just don't happen."
On Thursday, April 13, about 10:30 a.m. Kristi Denise Blair,
29, of 219 Mercer Street, Yaupon Beach, reportedly shot herself
in the head with a .22-caliber pistol, according to the sheriffs
report.
The owner of the trailer, Tony Nance, 45, told authorities he
went into the kitchen to fix Blair a drink when he heard a "pop"
sound. He said he ran into the living room to find Blair slumped
over in a chair. *
He said he immediately called 911 fpr help.
Blair remained on life support at Dosher Memorial Hospital
for about an hour and a half after the shooting, Cierpiot said,
but her family asked that the life support be disconnected. |
Because there was not a medical examiner at Dosher, Cierpiot
said, Blair was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Cen
ter to be pronounced dead.
Blair also was at Nance's trailer on July IS, 1994, when Robin
Myrick reportedly shot himself in the head in the same room
See Death, page 6