Neighbors
Students assist project
to identify old graves
in Southport cemetery
The State Port
| VOLUME 64/NUMBER 40SOUTHPORT, N.C.
50 CENTS
Sports
South Brunswick athletes
were recognized Tuesday
during awards banquet
Our Town
Oak Island seniors now
have a first-class center
to meet, hold activities
Brunswick EMS comes to the rescue
uj lutiidiu nuuu
Municipal Editor
The call cme in about 9:10 p.m. Saturday.
A Memorial Day weekend visitor to a west-end cottage at Holden Beach
had been suddenly stricken. Dialing 9-1-1, the caller couldn't give the
telecommunicator at Brunswick County's Central Communications Center,
C-COM, a very good description of the patient's condition, so it was dis
patched as "an unknown medical emergency."
"Let's go," said emergency medical services shift supervisor Terri Davis as
she climbed into her Blazer. As shift supervisor, Davis was "EMS 100" for
the evening, and would attempt to make response to this call.
As additional information was provided by Holden Beach police officers,
first to arrive at the scene, it sounded as if advanced life support (ALS) capa
bility would be needed.
"In Brunswick County, we have paid professional EMS personnel and we
have 12 volunteer rescue squads," Davis said. "When a call comes into the
center, the volunteer squad for that area is paged-out along with EMS.
"Hopefully, the volunteer squad will respond to the the scene, make an
assessment and determine whether they need us. What we want to do is
provide ALS intermediate care."
ALS intermediate care can only be provided by county EMS and volunteer
rescue personnel trained as Emergency Medical Technicians-Intermediate —
‘Kid calls always disturb us, Your heart
goes out to all of them. You learn to cope
in your own way. There’s just so much
you can do for a patient. Then, it’s the
family. ’
Tammy Simmons
EMS crew member
a designation held by all county I.MS personnel and a growing number of
volunteers countywide who have undergone additional training in advanced
life support techniques.
"If the responding rescue squad has EMT-I, it can call us off," Davis said as
she sped down old U. S. 17, hitting the U. S. 17 bypass at Supply, red lights
circling and siren whirring and whooping at intervals.
Per that response formula station 26, Coastline Volunteer Rescue Squad,
had also been dispatched by the C-COM telecommunicator to this scene. EMS
//, the county s ambulance stationed in the south end of the county Saturday
night, was just arriving at The Brunswick Hospital with another patient it had
helped the Shallotte Volunteer Rescue Squad transport minutes before, other
wise it too would be moving toward the Holden Beach emergency.
For now, however, the crew of EMS 72, Tammy and Gayther Simmons, a
husband-and-wife team from Ash, would be tied up.
If ALS was needed and Coastline couldn’t provide it, Davis would be the
choice.
But this was Memorial Day weekend and Coastline was well-prepared,
with three full crews, two ALS-certified.
"We're on the scene." Coastline radioed. "We'll take it, EMS 100. You can
10-22 (disregard)."
The response procedure had worked precisely according to plan. Coastline
had arrived and determined the patient had possibly suffered a stroke, ALS
would be needed and could be provided by the local rescue volunteers. Coast
line would transport. EMS would not be needed this run.
Brunswick County EMS was begun in January, 1092, in conjunction with
the county's new 9-1-1 emergency telephone notification system. The EMS
mission is, and will be until June 1 of this year, to provide advanced life
See Rescue, page 9
Schools
disburse
funding
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Capital needs of Brunswick County
schools were the focus when the
board of education doled out
$283,295 — the remaining balance
from the funding settlement with
county commissioners.
The money was part of $1.35 mil
lion additional funds allocated this
year by the county to the schools.
All 13 county schools and the cen
tral office received a portion of the
funding.
Superintendent of schools Ralph
Johnston used capital needs estab
lished by the school principals in
drawing up his recommendation to
the board.
Board members said they focused
on schools' capital and building needs
that were identified by principals as
See Funding, page 11
Reward
offer for
tree info
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Wanted: Information leading to the
arrest and conviction of that person
or those persons who have been ma
liciously damaging trees in the Oak
Island Drive right-of-way.
Convinced the growing number of
recently planted trees damaged along
the town's major thoroughfare is not
accidental, Long Beach Town Coun
cil has posted a combined $1,000 re
See Reward, page 10
MEMORIAL DAY
Lifeguards, surfers, sandcastlers, bathers,
beer drinkers, beach music and a volleyball
game were clues as to what was going on
Sunday at the Long Beach cabana. At the first
of several Beach Days scheduled for the
summer, good times were had by all.
Budget talks
Long Beach
may cut out
garbage fees
D..
Municipal Editor
In its first two budget workshop
sessions, town council has forged a
plan to do away with both solid waste
fees and municipal vehicle registra
tion stickers, Long Beach mayor Joan
Altman said this week.
The result may slightly increase
property taxes in fiscal year 1995-96,
but will not increase the overall cost
of town services to the property
owner. Both solid waste and license
sticker fees have been the subjects of
considerable debate among Long
Beach residents for years.
Mayor Altman said council is still
at work on the $5.096-million bud
get proposal advanced by town man
ager Jerry Walters May 1, and costs
of living in Long Beach this coming
fiscal year may be further reduced.
"We're not even halfway through
with council's deliberations," Altman
said. "There is no way to determine
how it will all turn out."
The mayor said council plans to
devote at least two more workshop
sessions to budget deliberation. Gen
eral fund expenditures was the sub
ject of council's focus in its first two
sessions. Members will finish general
fund assessment with concentration
on emergency services, then move on
to review water, accommodations tax
and capital reserve funds.
Clearly the biggest decision of the
first two sessions was that involving
the town's solid waste collection ef
fort.
'I feel at some time
we may return to
the fee, but it will
be at a time when
we can accurately
charge each cus
tomer. ’
Joan Altman
Long Beach mayor
For several years the town has con
tracted with Waste Management Inc.
to collect refuse. The contract cost of
collection and disposal has been paid
by fees charged residential and com
mercial customers. Council's decision
of last week means the town's gen
eral fund — which derives about 47
See Long Beach, page 11
Sheriff, registrar claim 'misinterpretation'
Elected officials raise pay dispute
By Terry Pope
County Editor
How much should both the sheriff and register of deeds be
paid in salary has become the $64,000 question.
During his budget preparations, interim county manager
Charles McGinnis discovered what he thought was an error. The
amount listed as salary for both sheriff Ronald Hewett and reg
istrar Robert J. Robinson under the 1994-95 county budget is
about $10,000 lower than what the two say they should draw in
actual pay.
The current budget lists $53,230 for sheriff Hewett, who says
by law he is entitled to $63,437. The same is also true for
Robinson, roughly a $10,000 difference. Since December, the
two have been paid based on the higher rate.
When McGinnis recently took administrative action to re
duce the elected officials’ pay, it sparked a controversy that
has spilled over into the courthouse. McGinnis says he has not
cut ariyone's pay but took action to follow the county budget,
which he says is a legal document.
"I think the real question, and you have to ask the sheriff
this, is what did he do to get that kind of money?" said
McGinnis. "It had to originate from the sheriff."
When Hewett filed to run for sheriff last year, he paid a $532
filing fee at the Brunswick County Board of Elections office.
That fee is calculated at one percent of the position's actual
salary.
"He knew what the salary was and what it was suppose to
be," said McGinnis. "That same number is in the budget."
McGinnis says he finds this incident "absolutely, almost un
believable." It may take a Superior Court judge to settle the
dispute, for both Hewett and Robinson say they will amend
their lawsuit now pending in court to include the salary case.
Earlier this month, the two sued McGinnis and county com
missioners over a hiring freeze and questions if the board has
See Dispute, page 11
torecast
The extended forecast calls for a
chance of showers of thunderstorms
for the period of Thursday through
Saturday with highs in the 80's and
lows in the 60's.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, JUNE 1
10:39 a.m. 4:40 a.m.
10:51p.m. 4:40 p.m.
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
11:16 a.m. 5:18 a.m.
11:27 p.m. 5:20 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
ll:56'a.m. 5:57 a.m
-p.m. 6:03 p.m.
SUNDAY, JUNE 4
12:06 a.m. 6:39 a.m.
12:42 p>m. 6:52 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 5
12:52 a.m. 7:25 a.m.
1:35 p.m. 7:48 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 6
1:43 a.m. 8:16a.m.
2:34 p.m. 8:50 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7
2:41 a.m. 9:13 a.m.
3:35 p.m. 9:55 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; Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.