Sports
The Cougars are on a roll,
outscoring the opposition
85-8 in last two games - 1C
The State Port
I VOLUME 67/NUMBER 7 SOUTHPORT N.C.
mi
50 CENTS
r c n
C
c ? c:
> t
t
C-% E
rt
r t E
cr k
»■
c C
A_ »i
•" C
Hn
Southport aldermen will be
asked to refund money paid
for marina service - Page 2
Teen
court
Experimental
program put
on trial here
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Juvenile recidivism and the back
log of juvenile court cases in
Brunswick County could be reduced
through a Teen Court program funded
by a $20,000 allocation to Commu
nities in Schools.
CIS director Cynthia Tart said Teen
Court will provide a means of hold
ing accountable for their actions more
than 200 juveniles charged with
crimes each year, while providing
teens who serve on the jury and as
attorneys with hands-on experience in
the legal and judicial systems.
If used in the school system, the
program also could provide teachers
with ah alternative to suspension in
dealing with students who chronically
misbehave.
Juvenile court counselor and
Brunswick County school board
member Bud Thorsen said Teen Court
could be beneficial in resolving crimi
nal charges resulting from school-re
lated incidents.
“About 50 percent of the referrals
we get are school-related,” he said.
“Things like truancy, fighting in
school, disrupting class. There are a
lot of difficult kids in Brunswick
County that need a little stroking to
get back on track again, and hopefully
Teen Court will help. It’s worth try
ing anything.”
A task force of law enforcement,
judiciary and school system represen
tatives appointed Tuesday night will
use Teen Court models already in
place to design a program for
Brunswick County, Tart said. The
$20,000 allocation was made by the
1997 N. C. General Assembly.
Juveniles charged with criminal
offenses will face a jury of their peers
and be sentenced to community, ser
vice, fines and restitution just like the
county court system, she explained.
The jury will be composed of middle
and high school volunteers as well as
teens who previously were defen
dants.
By admitting their guilt in Teen
Court and following through with the
jury’s sentence, teen defendants are
able to avoid a criminal record.
The planning phase is expected to
continue for approximately two
months and the program will be
implemented in early 1998.
“We don’t really know what it’s
going to look like yet,” Tart said. “We
See Court, page 8
Fhcio by Jim Harper
David Gore, Danny Gore and Josh Gore of Wilmington are congratulated by U. S. Open chairman
Bill Owen for their winning catch — a 40.5-pound king taken east of the shoals on Saturday.
U.S. Open: 504 boats
aiiM king-size prize
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
F ■ Tiough three boats shy of a record registration, the 504
skippers and crews who participated in the 1997 U. S.
Open King Mackerel Tournament under clear skies, on
flat seas, in 85-degree temperatures made the weekend event
at Southport Marina, by most other measures, the biggest and
best yet.
The annual U. S. Open is held to benefit the Southport-Oak
Island Chamber of Commerce.
"I never thought it would happen,” were the first words
spoken by tournament winner Danny Gore of Wilmington as
he was handed a check for $45,205 by tournament chairman
Bill Owen Saturday night. “I thank the Lord. I thank my fa
ther and my son.”
The three generations of Gores made up the fishing team
which took the tournament-w inning, 40.5-pound king mack
erel aboard Toppin on Saturday morning. The winning fish
was brought dockside at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and held the
lead throughout the afternoon.
The first $25,000 of the Gore team’s winnings were for
See U. S. Open, page 9
COMPLETE TOURNAMENT RESULTS, PAGE 5C
Rental tax effective Jan. 1
Travel and tourism promotion will benefit
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
With language suggested by the two county chambers of commerce in place,
county commissioners Monday night formally approved a one-percent tax on
'hotels motels, inns, tourist camps and “similar” places throughout
Brunswick Countv will be required to charge the new occupancy tax begin
ning January 1 1998. under terms of the ordinance adopted by commission
ers. Renters of beach cottages and private homes not subject to sales taxes
also will pay the occupancy tax.
In February of this year, the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce
and the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce began a campaign
to create the new one-percent tax on short-term lodgings. The two chambers
said the $70,000 commissioners annually gave Brunswick County Travel
Package — the chambers’ joint marketing and promotion venture -- was not
enough to allow Brunswick County to compete for tourist dollars with other
coastal areas.
The new one-percent tax, authorised by the 1997 General Assembly after
considerable reckoning with travel and tourism lobbies, is expected to gener
ate about $450,000 per year. Proceeds trom the tax are to go to the Brunswick
Tourism Development Authority, also created by commissioners’ ordinance
and authorized by the General Assembly.
It was only the mechanism for making appointments to this body that pre
vented adoption of the occupancy tax ordinance last month. Chamber mem
bers objected in September to an initial draft ot the occupancy tax ordinance,
saying it did not clearly enough specify the two chambers would nominate
See Rental tax, page 11
Long Beach
Incumbents
run strong
in primary
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
Results of Tuesday’s non-partisan
primary election in Long Beach
indicate residents of the town are
fairly satisfied with decisions made
by town council in the last several
years, mayor Joan Altman and two
incumbent commissioners said.
Slightly less than 35 percent of all
registered voters came to two sepa
rate polling places to cast 1,310 bal
lots in the Long Beach non-partisan
primary election of 1997.
Candidates Don (Red) Smith and M.
E. (Mark) Sharpe collected the
fewest votes and will not be on the
ballot November 4. The purpose of
the primary election is to narrow the
field of candidates to two per avail
able council seat.
Results of Tuesday night’s ballot
ing were unofficial. Totals an
nounced at the polls did not include
absentee ballots cast or transfer
votes. Votes will be canvassed
Thursday and the election will be
certified by the Brunswick County
Board of Elections.
Incumbents Kevin Bell, Horace
Collier and Mary Snead all finished
in the top six in the 14-candidate
field. Also finishing in the top six
were candidates J. K. Somers and
Bell
Somers
Locke
688
631
627
Oxford 619
Collier 617
Snead 593
Cashwell 566
Newton 323
Smith 258
Mike Oxford, who have said their
positions on most issues are similar
to those of the three incumbents.
“I think it’s pretty clear,” top vote
getter Bell said. “People are satis
fied with what’s going on. They’re
not going to put up with the negative
See Incumbents, page 11
Allen
Oxentine
535
489
Sharpe
205
SBSD papers
may be signed
by month’s end
By Richard Nubel
News Editor
Contracts for construction of the
long-awaited Southeast Brunswick
Sanitary District wastewater manage
ment system could be signed by the
end of this month and digging could
begin nearly as soon, a consulting
engineer told commissioners Mon
day.
A preconstruction conference with
the project’s three major contractors
was held Monday afternoon, said
John McLaughlin of W. K. Dickson
Inc. That meeting was to include rep
resentatives of state regulatory agen
cies with oversight responsibilities in
wastewater matters. As soon as the
federal Rural Economic Development
Commission - a major project lender
and grantor — reviews construction
contracts, work can begin, he said.
“We’re getting ready to start dig
ging here by the end of the month,”
McLaughlin told commissioners.
“This is what it’s all about. This is the
good stuff.”
When ground is broken for the
district’s proposed 500,000-gallon
per-day wastewater treatment plant
and the collection system that will
feed it. it will be the first visual evi
dence of more than seven years of
work that has gone into planning a
• See Papers, page 14
‘We’re getting ready
to start digging here
by the end of the
month. This is what
it’s all about. This is
the good stuff.’
John McLaughlin
Consulting engineer
INSIDE
Opinion 4
Police report . 10
District Court 12
Obituaries 13
Calendar 4B
Church 5B
TV schedule 6B
Schools 8B
Grid contest 3C
NASCAR 7C
Real estate ID
TOP STORIES