March 25,1998
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net
Volume 67, Number 31
50 cents
Cape Fear Coast
Spring edition in this week’s Pilot
Investigation
Plane wreckage is recovered - IB
Streak ends
Cougar nine defeats Whiteville -1C
Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC
Heroic
effort
saves 3
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Two parents and their 11-year-old
daughter were saved from a stun
ning crash and growing flames at
the Brunswick County Airport after
their airplane crashed on takeoff
there Sunday.
The crackup around 11 a.m.
occurred in full view of visitors at
the airport terminal as well as
motorists atop the Oak Island
bridge.
One of those motorists, David
Parks Jr. of Long Beach, recalled
Monday, “The airplane was lifting
SCOTT
3
t
jusi line ana
had kind of lev
eled off and
then took a
hard bank to
the right and
went down,
nose first, and
hit the ground
hard.”
Parks, driving
northward, sped into the airport
and soon became an integral part
of the rescue operation.
Ken Scott, a member of the air
port staff and an ejcperisjiced avia
tor, said that evidence he saw indi
cated that the right engine on the
two-engine Piper Navajo was not
operating when it hit the ground.
Federal officials were unable to
determine the cause of the crash at
the scene on Monday and inter
viewed the pilot at New Hanover
Regional Medical Center, still
without arriving at a resolution.
Plans were to continue the investi
gation after the plane is removed
from the dense woods where it fell. !
At New Hanover, pilot Rex
Cowdry, his wife Donna E.
Patterson and their daughter Ryan
See Crash, page 6
Photo by Jim Harper
Arbor Day was celebrated in Long Beach Saturday with a morning of tree planting at Middleton Park and
the recreation center. Approximately 60 volunteers planted over 60 trees; an additional 40 trees were plant
ed by Long Beach employees this week.
Remedial school tests
Data seems to refute
civil rights assertion
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A federal civil rights complaint alleges that Brunswick County and
27 other North Carolina school systems do not provide remedial help
to ensure black students pass eighth grade competency tests in math
and reading that are required for high school graduation.
But county superintendent of schools Marion Wise says data may
indicate otherwise.
“When we look at the rapidly decreasing number of students failing
the test, we can see that the programs we’ve put into place are work
ing,” Wise said.
Filed last Monday by the state chapter of the NAACP and the N. C.
Education and Law Project, the complaint lists the sta|e Board of
Education, the state Department of Public Instruction and 28 of the
See Schools, page 7
‘We need to have a
high level of expecta
tion for our students,
but we also have to
provide a high level of
support for them.’
Supt. Marion Wise
Murder pase
‘Bargain*
o
Saccepted
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Completing plea negotiations
Thursday, Varie Warren appeared
before resident Superior Court
judge William C. Gore Jr. and
tendered a plea of guilty to sec
ond-degree murder.
J By offer of that plea, Ms.
Warren, 60, admitted she had
shot her husband J. M. Warren,
the popular owner-operator of
Yaupon Exxon and former
Yaupon Beach commissioner,
four times in the chest with a .38
caliber handgun on December 8,
19%. The shooting occurred
See Murder, page 6
" ' - -.1
Infrastructure
City ‘studies’
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Facing decisions on the upgrade
of infrastructure, Southport aider
men three separate times Thursday
declined to let the city and its ser
vice area grow.
At a regular monthly meeting of
the board of aldermen, city clerk
Jim Brown reported a petition for
annexation by Bald Head Island
Limited was sufficient but the board
did not immediately schedule the
next step in the annexation process,
a public hearing on the annexation.
That hearing may be held in May,
pending a workshop of aldermen on
wastewater management system
capacity and fees.
Aldermen tabled indefinitely a
request from John and Beverly
McCloskey, who had asked for out
of-town sewer service for a pro-,
posed 12-unit commercial complex
they propose to build on the east
side of N. C.. 211 near the CP&L
canal. They estimate 1,800-gallon
per-day flow from the complex. Ms.
McCloskey was told she would be
called when and if the city could
help her.
Aldermen also tabled indefinitely
a request from E. J. Prevatte who,
on behalf of himself and two other
In facl
aldermi ;
been pi ill
reports —v-:_
about the city’s
wastewater man
agement system
owners, had requested satellite — or
non-contiguous — annexation of a
41-acre tract they propose to devel
Dp on the west side of N. C. 87 near
the schoi : i oard property. The
ward refused to direct Brown to
iven verify the sufficiency of the
annexation petition Prevatte pre
sented.
The board’s refusal to allow the
city to grow and extend services at
this time is tied to questions of the
city’s ability to provide waste.vater
management services. Aldermen
seemed confused, at times asking
decisions be delayed until they
See Growth, page 9
Three ‘choices’
Plan is needed
for north sewer
oy lerry rope
County Editor
County officials are driving
toward regional sewer service in the
northern district but with no “vehi
cle” yet to carry them there.
They are studying three ways to
manage regional systems recom
mended by Brunswick County attor
ney Huey Marshall, and they are
expected to choose one method
soon. Towns and entities involved in
the first joint, public-private venture
to provide sewer in the Leland com
munity say they want to work with
the county to find the most accept
able method.
“There are actually 12 choices on
how service can be achieved,” said
Marshall, who reviewed state
statutes and compiled a report for
commissioners. He outlined what he
says are the top three the board
should consider closely.
Last year, Brunswick County
cuimiiissiuucis vuicu uuammuuaiy
to take the lead in providing sewer
to the Leland community after
breakdowns developed in discus
sion with the Town of Belville over
purchase of the town-owned sewer
treatment plant. Instead, a county
facility that serves the Leland
Industrial Park will be expanded as
a first phase.
Developers of Magnolia Greens, a
golf course community south of
Leland, have joined forces with
Leland, Navassa and the county to
help provide sewer lines for the
region. Construction has already
begun on the project in areas where
permission has been granted.
Last week, commissioners autho
rized Marshall to use the power of
eminent domain to acquire ease
ments for sewer line crossings
where property owners cannot be
reached or where negotiations
would hold back progress. Eminent
See Sewer, page 8
Contribution honors former publisher
In memory of its long-time publisher, the
late James M. Harper Jr., The State Port Pilot
has contributed to the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In recognition of the gift, the school will
name its new office fur student organizations
in visual communication in honor of Harper,
publisher of the, Southport weekly for 59
years. To be located in Carroll Hall, the
school's new home starting in summer 1999,
the office will house student chapters of the
National Press Photographers Association and
the Society of News Design.
Harper became publisher of the Pilot in
19$5 and remained active until his death in
1994. Throughout his tenure, he maintained a
strong appreciation for photography and
design; the newspaper has been widely recog
nized with awards in those areas.
"We couldn't imagine a more fitting tribute
to his legacy,” Harper’s son, Ed Harper, said
of the planned School of Journalism and Mass
CSmmunication office.
For many years the Pilot was the only news
paper in Brunswick County. James Harper, as
editor and publisher, felt that the newspaper
should promote community development. He
sought to report affairs of the whole commu
nity in non-partisan and non-controversial
ways. At the same time, he was not afraid to
take strong editorial stands, and he led a cam
paign in Brunswick to open county board
meetings to the public and the press.
Harper's enthusiasm for the paper drew in
the whole family. His wife, Margaret T.
Harper, ran the paper while Harper served in
World War II. His two sons, James M. Harper
III and Edward T. Harper, are both employed
by the newspaper. James M. Harper III is an
award-winning photographer and Edward T.
Harper is the editor.
James M. Harper Jr. was graduated in 1933
See Publisher, page 5
What’s inside
Obituaries 7
Police report 9
Business 12
Schools 6B
Church 7B
Calendar > 8B
District Court 4C
TV schedule 5C
Classifieds IOC
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