The State Port
VOLUME 67/ NUMBER J SOUTHPORTN.C.-_50 CENTS
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Long Beach — Page 2
SAT
scores
are up
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Though Brunswick County SAT
scores continue to lag behind state arid
national averages, improvement in
county high schools has exceeded
growth levels statewide and nation
ally.
During the past
three years, na
tional SAT scores ..
have increased
six points (1010
to 1016) and state
scores liave
climbed el^ht
points (970 to
978), while'
B frii n s w i g k
County SAT scores have risen 25
points from 904 to 929.
West Brunswick High School ex
perienced the most significant growth
during the period, an increase of 45
points (90S to 953). while 5>Outh
Brunswick High gained 17 points
(926 to 943) and North Brunswick
High 13 points (856 to 869).
A perfect score on the SAT would
be 1600 — 800 on both the verbal and '
math portions of the test.
How have county high schools :
achieved such improvement in SAT
scores?
“I think there are a combination of
factors that have improved SAT
scores.” said assistant superintendent—
of schools Mary McDuffie. “There
has. been a continued emphasis on
higher-level courses and an increased
awareness of the importance of SATs
and other accountability measures.
The other component is demograph
ics. SAT scores will fluctuate from
year to year and from place to place.”
.A new SAT preparatory course,
IMPACT (Initiating and Maximizing
Preparation and Aptitude for College
Tests), also was implemented last
year. •
Students who elected to enroll in
IMPACT stayed after school for
seven three-hour sessions to learn ■
test-taking strategies and skills,
McDuffie explained. This year’s IM
PACT program will begin next
month.
McDuffie said that enrolling more
students in more advanced courses
will have the greatest impact on SAT
scores.
“We need to add more academi
cally challenging courses to the cur
riculum and we need to raise our stan
dards in those courses,” McDuffie
said.
McDuffie and her staff are work
ing on new courses to be added at the
start of the 1998-99 school year, she
said, including a trigonometry math
analysis course that would be taken
See Scores, page 8
KELLY CARLIN
Welcome to Martha’s Vineyard indeed! Welcome to the fall filming season on Southport’s waterfront,
where shooting of “The Wedding,” set in the 1950s and requiring auto and ferry boat props of that vintage,
started Monday. Filming will continue, mainly at Atlantic Avenue and Bay Street, through September 19.
Annexation
City expected to adopt
ordinance on Thursday
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
Southport will grow this week and prepare to grow even more.
Aldermen Thursday will likely annex 131 acres abutting the eastern
city limit, bringing what is proposed to be a 200-lot subdivision, known
as Harbor Oaks, into the city.
Additionally Thursday night, aldermen will be asked to rezone for
residential development more than 80 acres of property just east of ex
isting corporate limits and will receive yet another petition for the an
nexation of 83.03 acres stretching from Moore Street to the Cape Fear
See Annexation, page 6
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
Facing a spate of municipal
growth unprecedented in
Southport’s history, aldermen
now must determine if city
infrastructure is sufficient to
accommodate new develop- •
See Upgrade, page 6
After three years
Yaupon’s
sewer tap
ban lifted
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
A three-year moratorium on taps to
the Yaupon Beach wastewater man
agement system was ended Friday.
In a letter to Yaupon Beach mayor
Dot Kelly, Rick Shiver, regional su
pervisor of the Division of Water
Quality for the newly created Depart
ment of Environment and Natural
Resources, said the moratorium im
posed byhis office on J uly 13,1994,
was lifted.
“The moratorium was put in place
because the diluent disposal system
was operating improperly and the ul
timate capacity of the system and its
potential impact on the environment
was in question,” Shiver wrote.
“These questions have now been an
swered.”
On August 29, Preston Howard Jr.,
director of the state Division of En
vironmental Management, notified
Yaupon Beach its permit to operate a
wastewater management system had
been renewed. The permit allows
Yaupon Beach to continue operation
of its plant with its present estimated
‘In view of these
considerations, there
appears to be no
further need for the
moratorium/
Rick Shiver ** .
Division supervisor
disposal capacity of 180,000 gallons
per day (gpd).
Shiver said Friday the town can
begin accepting new taps to the
Yaupon Beach wastewater manage
ment system as long as the 180,000
gpd capacity is not exceeded as a
monthly average. Average monthly
treatment has been well under the
180,000-gpd limit. • "
In August, for instance, the town
See Sewer, page 8
Winding River
property bought
for new school
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Construction of a new elementary
school at Winding River Plantation is
scheduled to be complete by the sum
mer of 1999 and plans are underway
for a new middle school across the
road.
The Brunswick County Board of
Education voted unanimously Mon
day night to purchase a 19-acre tract
for $150,000 to build a new elemen
tary school at the site, located about
500 feet from Highway 211 and bor
dered by Zion Hill Road and the
Winding River Plantation golf course
and development.
The new school will alleviate over
crowded conditions at Southport,
Supply, Bolivia and Union elemen
tary schools.
Board members also voted 4-1 to
allocate $20,000 for soil and land
studies at a 20-acre site directly across
Zion Hill Road for a new middle
school to be constructed in the future.
Board member Bud Thorsen voted
against the $20,000 allocation, say
ing the board was “jumping the gurr.”
"I think we need to finish the el
ementary school and then look at
that,” Thorsen said. “Zion Hill Road
is just a two-lane road and it’s going
to be very congested with two schools
there. I think a lot needs to be studied
that hasn’t.”
Other board members said they
wanted to purchase the land as
See Property, page 7
’We’ve had some tears and pain’
11-year-old dies from injuries sustained in accident
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Kelly Carlin was a sensitive and artistic 11-year
old with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile,
her parents and teachers recall-, who loved to
dance, draw, read, listen to the Monkees and play
with her beloved dog Nickie and cat Little Bit.
Kelly was struck by a car last Tuesday morn-.
ing on Highway 133 while running to meet her
school bus and died early Thursday morning at
UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.
On Friday, Kelly’s parents, Bill and Becky
Carlin, were trying to cope with their grief in very
different ways.
Mr, Carlin paced quietly and smoked cigarettes
while Mrs. Carlin vacuumed, swept, dusted and
shook throw rugs. Mr. Carlin kept his sorrow to
himself, while Mrs. Carlin appeared eager to talk
about her first child and only daughter.
“I’m trying to stay busy so I don’t fall apart
again,” she said. “I took her blanket wi(h me to
bed last n'ie'tt and •sleptlM’ it. She was a sweetie.
This is something, rill'd1 you.’’ .
The Carlins also are trying to help their sons
Kevin, 9, and Christopher, 8, cope with the trag
edy. The boys were in the front yard and saw the
accident occur, Mrs, Carlin said. The whole fam
ily will participate in grief counseling.
“I don’t know how anyone gets through this,
but I guess I’ll find out,” she said. “You don’t
want to eat', you don’t want to sleep. 1 just want
to go to bed and die.” 1
Kelly’s death has been especially difficult for
Mr. Carlin since Kelly was a “daddy's girl,” Mrs.
Carlin said.
"She’d do anything for her daddy,” she said.
“She washed both the cars last weekend, and
See Tears, page 16 ,
INSIDE
Court ,9
Police 10
Obituaries 12
Notices 13'
Business 14
Church 3B
TV schedule 6B
Calendaf
NASCAd 3C
Grid contest 5C
Fishing report 7C
Classifieds ID
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