Sports Waccamaw 2A Conference play begins, with Cougs in action Tuesday night — 1C Work is und ing new floor Southport’s c g 3 Fishermen n cr ating maiminj at foul nets or lii l Our License opposed Pier, charter fishermen may be charged fee By Terry Pope County Editor Fishermen opposed to a recom mended saltwater licensing plan caught a big wave of support from county commissioners on Monday. Under the proposal by the state Fisheries Moratorium Steering Com mittee, persons who fish on charter boats and on public piers would need to purchase a state fishing license. The committee fine-tuned its recommen dations last week and plans to ask state legislators for a three-tier licens ing system that would not allow pier and charter boat owners to purchase a blanket license to cover all their customers. “It would benefit other counties maybe, but Brunswick County bor ders on South Carolina,” said JoAnn Bellamy Simmons, chairman of the’ Brunswick County Board of Com missioners. “And in South Carolina, they do not have this type of license requirement. The question is whether it would push our business away.” Commissioners voted 4-1 for a resolution asking state legislators not to adopt the licensing requirement. T he commute* is recommending sweeping changes in the regulation and management of North Carolina’s fishing industry to keep better tabs on the volume of fish being caught along the coast. While recreational anglers who use piers and charter boats won’t like the proposal, others argue those fisher men are given an unfair advantage and that a blanket saltwater license for such businesses would make it difficult to keep data on the fish that are actually being caught. It appears legislators are prepared to adopt some type of saltwater licensing require ment for individuals during the 1997 See License, page 6 jr *er *■ mk ' "i*F Photo by Jim Harper Dean Adams shoveled ice aboard the Cap’n Boo at her yacht basin moorings before she departed Monday evening for another grouper fishing session. Adams said he devised the simplest possible mechanism to ice his boats: “It won’t clog up, and the only motor to break down is me.” Southport benefits Electric load management a bright idea By Rickard Nubel Municipal Editor Southport electric customers have ordered approximately 1,300 load management switches for their water heaters and heating and cooling sys tems since the city announced last June a new rate structure which would reward with lower bills those who opted to help Southport control elec tric load. To date, over 60 percent of all Southport residential electric custom ers have applied for some form of load management, thereby reducing See Bright, page 7 Load management switches allow the city to utilize a radio signal to temporarily interrupt electric flow to the most power-hungry home appliances Tract annexation on board agenda tty RkWa Municipal Editor Will the would-be developer of a 131-acre tract adjacent to Southport meet aldermen’s demand to petition for annexation as a condition of re ceiving the one city service it fitos re quested? City fathers, presumably, will find out Thursday night when the board of aldermen meets in regular monthly session beginning at 7:30 p.m. Oleander Development Company, a firm that listed a Florida address when petitioning the city planning board in November, proposes to de See Agenda, page 7 Once a resolution of annexation is adopted, the owner begins paying city taxes and the city must provide all services to the annexed area within a year Rabid raccoon is found in city By Holly Edwards Feature Editor Rabies has officially arrived in Southport and poses a serious threat to domestic animals and the public, city animal control officer Charles Drew said Thesday. “This could turn into a very serious health hazard,” Drew warned, “Everyone needs to have their pets vaccinated immedi ately and please don’t let them run loose.” ; See Raccoon, page 7 Schools consider bond money use By Holly Edwards Feature Editor A plan to spend $7.9 million in state bond money to construct a new el ementary school and additional class rooms at overcrowded schools will be presented for approval by the Brunswick County Board of Educa tion at its next monthly meeting Mon day, January 13,6:30 p.m., at Bolivia Elementary School. Assistant superintendent for school operations Clarence Willie will present the proposal. “I’m going to ask for their approval of the projects, and then we can go forward with a timeline and other de tails,” Willie said. A consultant told the school boarc last month that the system’s most ur gent facility needs include a new el ementary school, a new middle school, ten additional classrooms ai Bolivia Elementary and 11 more classrooms at South Brunswick Middle. The price tag to complete all of these projects, however, was esti mated to total $20 million. Willie said he will recommend con struction of a new elementary school See Schools, page 6 Church 'adopts' refugees Bosnian family finds a home By Holly Edwards Feature Editor Before war broke out five years ago in the former Yugoslavia, the Beslagic family enjoyed an upper-middle-class lifestyle in Banja Luka, a cosmopoli tan city characterized by tree-lined avenues, verdant parks, cafes, muse ums and ornate churches and mosques. Today, the Beslagics are a family of refugees living at Fiddler's Creek Apartments in Southport. Although they say they deeply miss their friends, family and home, they are grateful to be alive, and to live in safety. St. Philip’s Episcopal Church “adopted” the Bosnian family and helped members get to the United States, find an apartment and employ ment, and obtain furniture and cloth ing. Husein Beslagic is working tor Maritime Landscapers. Sabiha Beslagic is working at Ship's ( han dler Restaurant, their 16-year-old daughter Amra is enrolled at South Brunswick High School and their 20 year-old daughter Amela is a student at Brunswick Community College. Although Mr. and Mrs. Beslagic speak little English, Amra and Amela are fluent because they have taken nearly ten years of English at school. The young women appear healthy and laugh easily, but the effects ot the ,.war become apparent as they recall their ordeal. Amra suffers anxiety attacks in which her heart rate soars to over 200 beats per minute. Mr. Beslagic lost over 40 pounds during three years of forced labor, and several family mem bers suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Serbians. One of Mrs. Beslagic’s sisters,lost two sons in the war and her husband was sent to a concentration camp where he was tortured and nearly died. Thanks to pressure from the See Family, page 6 Photo by Holly Edwards The Beslagics (from left) Amra, Husein and Amela, were forced from their home in Bosnia by Serbian sol diers and are lining in Southport as refugees from the war. St. Philip’s Episcopal Church “adopted” the fam ily through a refugee service in New York City. Amela displays the Bosnian flag while Mr. Beslagic holds flags of the United States and North Carolina. _ TOP STORIES ON THE INTERNET www.soiithport.net

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