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VOLUME 6 7/ NUMBER 6 SOUTHPORT N.C
50 CENTS
Long Beach primary election next Tuesday
By Richard Nubel '
News Editor
The 3,761 registered voters of the Town of Long Beach will have the op
portunity to go to two separate polling places Tuesday to narrow a field of 14
town council candidates to 12.
There will be no primary election for mayor Tuesday, as three-term incum
bent mayor Joan P. Altman is officially unchallenged in her bid for reelection.
Both the Long Beach Recreation Center in Oak Island II precinct and the
Shannon Fire Station on Oak Island Drive at SE 2nd Street in newly created
Oak Island III precinct will be used as polling places for the Long Beach non
partisan primary election of 1997. Oak Island II includes the area from 79th
Street to East 20th Street and is home to 1,947 registered voters, records at
the Brunswick County Board of Elections indicate. Oak Island III extends
from East 19th Street to the town’s western boundary and includes 1,814
Candidate profiles, pages 8-9
registered voters.
Polls will oper^at 6:30 p.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
While the prospect of eliminating only two candidates from a field of 14
vying for six council seats seems an expensive proposition to most, this is
likely the last time the non-partisan Long Beach primary election will be
trivialized. The non-partisan primary election process was begun in Long
Beach after the election of 1983 when 13 candidates stood for election to
three seats on the town’s board of commissioners. Long Beach remains the
only Brunswick County municipality to conduct a primary election.
Proponents of the non-partisan primary election in the early 1980s said the
primary election narrowed the field of candidates to two for each available
seat on the governing body. Members would more nearly be elected to the
town’s governing board by a majority of votes, they said.
But, that was when three candidates were elected in each odd-numbered
year and four-year terms of office were staggered. After the election of 1991,
the town’s charter was amended to establish two-year, non-staggered terms
of office for council members. Because of this, six seats would be filled every
two years.
This year, however, council amended the town charter once again. The top
three voter-getters in the general election this November will be seated for
four years, beginning the process of a return to four-year staggered terms of
office and making the non-partisan primary election an important event once
again, if fields of candidates continue to reach to 13 and 14 persons.
How many votes will it take to make the cut on Tuesday?
That will depend heavily on voter turnout, but the Long Beach non-parti
san primary election of 1995 may be instructive. In 1995, like this year, 14
candidates sought 12 slots on the November ballot. Only 34 percent of the
See Election, page 11
Dogfights
a concern
for county
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A reward is offered for information
leading to the arrest and conviction
of dogfighters in Brunswick County,
animal control officer Greg Thomp
son announced Tuesday.
He stressed that the identity of per
sons reporting a dogfight will remain
confidential. The reward could be as
high as $500.
Brunswick County sheriff Ron
Hewett vowed to crack down on
dogfighters in the county. He said
dogfighters are often involved in
other forms of violent crime, as well
as drug trafficking and gambling.
“I think the exploitation of animals
arul th. hliv'd bath involved in d; s:
lighnng is deplorable," Hewett de
clared. “We need to get hold of this
thing now before it gets any worse.
The violence involved in dogfighting
is indicative of criminal behavior in
general, and it could encourage
people to commit violence against
people.”
The sophistication of dogfighters
ranges from the professional handlers
who invest huge sums of time and
money training and breeding their
dogs, to the backyard “street fighters”
who torture and torment animals to
make them mean, Thompson said.
Street fighters also frequently use
See Dogfight, page 6
‘The violence
involved in
dogfighting is
indicative of
criminal behavior in
general, and it could
encourage people to
commit violence
against people.’
Sheriff Ron Hewett
Photo by Holly Edwards
What does Kasey Long have here, and worse, what is it likely to' do next? North Carolina Museum of
Natural Science’s Melanie Doyle brought all sorts of creepy, crawly, swimmy and hoppy things for students
at the Brunswick Learning Center to get to know first-hand on Monday. More on the program in the Schools
section.
Boats capsize in inlet
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Three small boats capsized and one larger craft was
damaged in Lockwood Folly Inlet in strong southerly
winds between noon and 4 p.m. Sunday.
Seven people were dumped into the water, five were
rescued by boats in the area and two made it ashore on
their own.
Report of the first sinking came to Oak Island Coast
Guard shortly after noon, with the vessel Sugarfoot
reporting that it had rescued three people from the
water after a 17-foot pleasure boat overturned.
The three survivors were taken to Columbia
Brunswick Hospital.
At 1:23 p.m. came a report from theJaw Breaker that
a 14-foot jon boat had swamped.
Coast Guard, Tri-Beach Rescue and BOAT/U.S. craft
were at the scene after responding to the first call and
found two survivors in shallow water. A Coast Guards
man was transferred to the BOAT/U.S. craft which was
used to make the rescue.
The two were treated for minor injuries at Holden
Beach Marina as BOAT/U.S. recovered both vessels.
At 2:09 p.m. the Sea Bug reported that The Other
See Boats, page 11
Southport
SPA curtails
marina input
responsibility
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
Nine months from now, the N. C
State Ports Authority will stop pay
. ing the City of Southport to oversee
the state’s lease of the Small Boat
Harbor, if aldermen accept new agree
ment terms established by the SPA
board while meeting in Wilmington
Monday.
The city board of aldermen may get
a first chance to publicly react i > a
moneyless SPA proposal when it
meets October 9.
“They want to continue the agree
ment basically, with the exception that
they will pay a management fee only
through June 30,1998,” city manager
Rob Gandy said late Tuesday, after
‘They want us to
continue to support
the facility, but they
aren't going to give
us any money. ’
Bill Delaney
Southport alderman
learning of SPA’s decision. SPA has
agreed to continue paying the city a
$1,500 monthly management fee
See Marina, page 11
Population boom
School projects
total $13 million
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Student population in Brunswick
County is growing fast and school
officials are racing to keep up with
demand for classrooms.
Three major school construction
projects totaling more than $13 mil
lion will begin in early 1998. A new
elementary school at Winding River
Plantation is scheduled to be complete
by the summer of 1999 and classroom
additions at South Brunswick Middle
and Bolivia Elementary schools are
scheduled to be complete by next
summer, said assistant superintendent
of school operations Clarence Willie.
“In the bigger picture of how the
county is growing, yes it’s going to
be a challenge to keep up,” Willie
said. “Although it’s stable now, one
area of the county could take off at
any time.” . .
Total student population in
Brunswick Cbunty schools grew from
9,512 last year to 9,782 this term.
Brunswick County school officials
will close on a 19-acre tract at Wind
ing River Plantation immediately af
ter architectural blueprints for a new
elementary school are completed next
Wednesday, Willie said.
The board of education voted
unanimously to purchase the 19-acre
tract for $150,000. The site is located
about 500 feet from Highway 211 and
bordered by Zion Hill Road and the
Winding River Plantation golf course
and development
Architect Mete Gruel of the Ra
See Project, page 10
U.S. Open to offer $100,000 cash
By Richard Nubel
News Editor ■ .
As if by magic, the multi-colored tents began to
rise at Southport Marina Tuesday in anticipation
of the l‘>th annual l!. S. Open King Mackerel Tour
nament wInch begins Thursday.
“The tents are going up now and the trailer will
be in place tomorrow for Thursday’s registration,”
a confident 1997 U. S. Open chairman Bill Owen
said Tuesday. “We’re going to be ready.”
Owen, committees and volunteers will be
“ready” for the oldest and most favored king mack
erel tournament in North Carolina - the U. S. Open.
Begun in 1978 as a primary fund-raising event for
the Southport-Oak Island ( hamber of Commerce,
the $100,000 all-cash U. S. Open King Mackerel
Tournament has more than fulfilled its mission to
promote this area as an excellent fall fishing venue
and to extend the summer tourist season into the
fall months.
Registration for the 1997 U. S. Open will be con
ducted all day Thursday, with the registration tent
at Southport Marina manned until midnight. Cap
tains meetings will be held at 5 and 7 p.m. on the
marina grounds. as fishermen and community
members enjoy refreshments and the sounds of
local disc jockey Tommy Robbins.
Precisely at 7 a.m. Friday, competition fishing
See U. S. Open, page 10
TOP STORIES ON THE II^RNlirivww.southporinef
INSIDE
Opinion 4
Police report 6
Obituaries 12
Church SB
TV schedule 6B
Calendar 8B
Schools 10B
Business 12B
NASCAR 3C
Grid contest 5C
District Court 12D