Quinton McCracken has
hit his stride as a member of
the Colorado Rockies —1C
Festival
begins
Fair skies and temperatures in the
low-90s greeted early visitors to the
N. C. Fourth of July Festival in
Southport Monday and Tbesday.
Opening ceremonies for the state’s
official celebration of Independence
Day were conducted Monday evening
at the festival’s traditional headquar
ters building on West Moore Street.
Actual operations this year, however,
have been shifted to a temporary
headquarters in a commercial build
ing on South Howe Street as the
Moore Street building continues to
undergo renovation. Programs and
other material are available to festi
val visitors at the South Howe Street
location near the food booths.
“We’re off,” 1996 N. C. Fourth of
July Festival president Karen Sphar
Hope said enthusiastically Monday.
Already this weekend Yaupon Beach
volunteer firefighters emerged victo
rious in the festival’s annual
Firemen’s Competition. A commu
nity worship service was conducted
Sunday night at Southport Baptist
Church under sponsorship of the
See Festival, page 6
'Smart
start'
?■ finish?
|; By Holly Edwards
i Feature Editor
1 1
Brunswick County children and
families will lose nearly $1 million a
year if the N. C. General Assembly
takes no action to expand the Smart
Start program, said Lori Bates,
Brunswick County Partnership for
Children director.
State legislators adjourned last
week without action on the budget
and Bates said she is pessimistic about
Smart Start’s future funding.
“Right now, it’s a dead issue,” she
said. “We still have a prayer of a
chance, but I’m not optimistic.”
Brunswick County Partnership for
Children was one of 12 new Smart
Start programs selected by the North
Carolina Partnership for Children to
receive $100,000 for planning this
year and $995,000 annually in future
See Finish, page 5
FOURTH OF JULY
“
Festival visitors enjoy the arts and crafts exhibits in Franklin Square
The darnedest questions
Can we get here...?
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
“Can you get seafood here?”
Duh...
Ah, the tourists. You’ve gotta love
‘em.
Without those wonderful thousands
who flock here to Southport-Oak Is
land each summer, the rest of us just
couldn’t afford to live here in Para
^,ONEWAY>
dise year-round.
But, let’s face it. When you’ve
faced the hassle of packing up half of
all your worldly belongings, loaded
two or three kids into the back of the
station wagon, dug out the map and
made sure everyone has made his last
visit to the potty, it’s understandable
that you may have accidentally lefi
your brain somewhere in a pile ol
scrap iron back in Sandusky.
We love them, but tourists ask some
of the darnedest questions when they
get here.
“We get them all,” said Long Beach
police dispatcher Nancy Sanders. “I
like this one: ‘We rented this house
on the oceanfront. Does the beach in
See Visitors, page 6
Zoning overlap
’Second chance’
may not be first
county priority
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Protecting the Castle Hayne under
ground aquifer from mines and other
heavy manufacturers is just one item
on a long list of objectives the
Brunswick County Planning Depart
ment faces in the new 1996-97 county
budget.
Last week’s call for quick attention
to the Southport-Oak Island area’s
water supply by Brunswick Mining
Awareness Committee spokesman
Robert Quinn of Southport may not
have fallen on deaf ears.
But county planning director Wade
Home says the issue may have to take
a number and get in line.
“I think Bob’s right in that this is
an open window in addressing con
cerns for that aquifer,” said Home.
"We need to look at the issue and de
termine the best mechanism for re
‘We’re going to sit
down and see how
much funding is in
the budget and
prioritize our goals
and objectives.’
solving it. Maybe a zoning overlay is
the best method. I’m not so sure that
it is.”
The withdrawal of Martin Marietta
Aggregates’ mining permit applica
tion June 21 on a tract north of
Southport opens the door for county
action to guard against future permits
or other companies that want to drain
See Priority, page 6
School transfer
balances figure
for’97 budget
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Although the Brunswick County
school board came up $280,066 shy
of its original budget request, the
shortfall won’t be felt in county class
rooms.
School board members made up
much of the difference by allocating
an additional $51,825 from fund bal
ance and deleting a $150,000 trans
portation department contingency
fund, anticipating that increased effi
ciency in that department next year
will result in lower costs to operate
the school transportation system.
In a special meeting Monday after
noon, school board members also
voted unanimously to cut $35,000
from the project to network county
schools with the central office via
computers, $36,500 from the voca
tional education department and
$3,969 from the exceptional
children's department.
School finance officer Mary Hazel
Small said deductions in the voca
tional education and exceptional
children's departments will be com
On the November ballot
County voters to decide term limit
By Terry Pope
County Editor
As expected, a special bill which calls for a referendum on
changing terms for Brunswick County commissioners and
school board members from two years to four years was ap
proved by the N. C. General Assembly on June 21.
Voters will head to the polls November 5 to decide whether
to revert back to staggered, four-year terms for county officials
or keep electing all five board members every two years. Both
boards are composed of five members each which represent
their individual electoral districts, but all seats are elected by
the entire county voter population.
The system was changed by special legislation after a 1991
Voters will decide whether to revert
back to staggered, four-year terms
for county officials or keep electing
all five board members every two
years
vote that called for two-year terms. In 1994, all five seats for the
school board and commission were up for election to two-year
terms.
House Bill 1385, introduced by 14th District representatives
David Redwine (D-Ocean Isle Beach) and Dewey Hill (D
Lake Waccamaw), would change that but only if approved by
voters in November. It was approved by the House with no
opposition.
The language stipulates that the three highest vote-getters
on the school board and commission shall receive four-year
terms and the remaining two will get two-year terms. Those
two will face re-election in 1998 while the other three won’t
face re-election until the year 2000.
In the year 2000, and quadrennially thereafter, those three
seats on the board will be four-year terms. If voters don’t ap
prove the referendum, the term limits will stay as they are.
See Voters, page 6
TOP S rORIPS ON THE INTERNET www.southport.net
pensated by state funding.
Also deducted was $2,772 for Job
Ready coordinator fringe benefits that
had been erroneously budgeted twice
in the first budget proposal.
The school board is expected to
approve the final $13,125,424 local
budget resolution during its regular
monthly meeting Monday, 6:30 p.m.,
at South Brunswick Middle School.
The final figure includes an addi
tional, one-time $200,000 allocation
approved by county commissioners.
School board member Billy Carter
asked superintendent of schools
Marion Wise to develop a list of one
time expenditures totaling $200,000
in the 1996-97 budget so school sys
tem personnel can be informed that
future funding in those areas is un
certain.
Carter stressed that “one-time”
allocations should be used only for
“one-time” expenditures.
Forecast
Hot and humid are what we have
in store for the rest of the week and
weekend. Temperatures will be in the
upper 80's and low 90's with heat in
dex readings up to 110.
INSIDE
Opinion. 4
District Court .. J0
Church.7B
Schools.SB
Pilot TV.9B
Business .1JB
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