Augustl2, 1998 THE STATE PORT . ' .. " •••: . . • • . .. • • , Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net Volume 67, Number 51 50 cents Dune lines i Volunteers are busy prott .ji- j: the beach, and sea turtles hJr-.' ‘ Prep drills i ; South Brunswick, other tuning up for the Jambo ! - — • r, Published every Wednesi Habitat at home in county By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor "A hand up, not a hand out." Providing that "hand up" is the work of Habitat for Humanity International. And, that work con tinues on Oak Island today through the efforts of Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity, one of 42 Habitat affiliates in North Carolina. The county organization is support ed locally by Southport-Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship, which fills the role of Covenant Church, pro viding prayer, volunteer and finan cial support for Habitat's work. With two homes in southwestern Brunswick County under its belt, Brunswick County Habitat for Humanity last week broke ground on a new home construction project in Long Beach. The group plans to construct a nearly 1,100-square-foot home on NW 21st Street for a young couple in their 30s with a new baby. Though footings have been dug and the home's foundation is set to pour, construction contractor Billy Soots hopes to begin building in earnest Labor Day weekend. With a large and eager volunteer crew, he expects the job to move rapidly. "I think it's a good idea to do this J over Labor Day weekend." Soots ’ V. said. "W'e'll have Thursday. Friday. / Saturday and maybe a half-day ^ unday. We should have the thing Jried-in." V Construction of the young fami ly's new one-story, three-bedroom, 11/2-bath home caps an already exhaustive effort to select eligible Habitat partners to own the home. The family which will receive the Long Beach home has agreed to invest 300 hours of "sweat equity” helping to build this home, or others for Brunswick County Habitat. "This is not a give-away program. They have a job to do," said Jack Hancox, a member of the Southport-Oak Island Interchurch Fellowship and board member of the county Habitat for Humanity affiliate. The couple qualified to build and own the Habitat home by filing a formal written application, listing income and expenses. "Then we do a credit check and a police check and check references See Habitat, page 12 Beating suspect arrested By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor As a 75-year-old Yaupon Beach man clung to life in New Hanover Regional Medical Center early Tuesday morning, the young man he considered a grandson was arrested in Horry County, SC, and charged with his near-fatal beating a week earlier. Raymond Lloyd Gamble, 20, who shared a home at 311 Norton Street with his victim, Robert Moeller, was arrested by Horry County authorities about 2 a.m. Tuesday. Police there said a shot was Bred and the wanted man fled into woods near Longs, SC, where he had allegedly holed-up at the home of a friend. Yaupon Beach police sergeant See Beating, page 14 CHILLING OUT Photo by Jim Harper Players at South Brunswick High School football practice this past week learned about blocking, tackling, running, passing and the blessed relief of a cold shot of water on the back of the neck. Kickoff time for the Cougars is the Jamboree on August 21. Still time to register 7th District, Calabash votes on special ballot By Terry Pope County Editor A special election September 15 will choose the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District while voters in Calabash will decide whether to keep Carolina Shores as part of the town or become a separate municipality. Incumbent congressman Mike McIntyre of Lumberton faces Randy Crow of Wilmington in the Democratic primary delayed since May while state legislators adjusted district lines for the 12th Congressional District in the central part of the state. The new primary date was instituted by the N. C. Board of Elections while the redistricting process was ongoing. However, no precincts or county polling places were changed in Brunswick County as a result. The county lies totally within the 7th District. No Republicans filed for the 7th District seat won by McIntyre two years ago following retirement of long-time congressman See Elections, page 6 ‘I’ve found that when you have an election like this, it usually gen erates confusion. I’m sure there will be some who will be confused.’ Lynda Britt Elections supervisor Tuesday hearing Sand mining application is opposed By Terry Pope County Editor Carolina Power and Light Co. officials have voiced their concern about a proposed mining permit to dig for sand near the Brunswick Nuclear Plant's twin reactors and transmission lines north of Southport. David Berry, attorney represent ing CP&L from the firm Smith, Anderson and Blount, told the North Carolina Mining Commission Tuesday the company remains concerned about the pro posed sand pit off Sunny Point access road. A public hearing was held at Bolivia on a permit filed by Polote Construction Co. to dig for dirt on the Swain tract to be used to build buffers at the Sunny Point ammunitions depot. The tract is located in the area north of where Bell Construction Co. was stopped from digging last year after state officials learned the depth had reached below accept able levels and into the Castle Hayne aquifer. Polote Construction was awarded the contract by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to fin ish the job. "This is not for mining per se, but for a plain, old borrow pit." said Southport attorney Grover Gore, who represents the Swain family. “It is not so that sand can be sold to the general public. It is for the sole purpose of this one project. That's all." Gore said CP&L owns no proper ty adjacent to the Swain tract and See Mining, page 6 Percentage of tax School board, commissioners formalize pact By Terry Pope County Editor A school spending plan agreed to by educators and county commis sioners last month has been formal ly signed and accepted by both par ties. It comes at a time when school officials are ecstatic about the 1997 98 end-of-grade state test scores which ranked all but one of the county schools as exemplary based on higher-than-expected student achievement. During budget deliberations in June, the Brunswick County Board of Education and county commis sioners reached an agreement to set aside a specific amount of the coun ty's tax levy for the next two fiscal years for school use. "This continues that agreement.” said county attorney Huey Marshall, as commissioners signed the deal last week. The agreement includes the fol lowing: ■ Commissioners will appropriate 36.5 percent of the tax levy for 1998-99 and 1999-2000 to the board of education. ■ The 36.5 percent will be deter mined based on actual taxes levied and collected for that fiscal year. The county tax rate is 68.5 cents per $100 of property assessed based on an anticipated $6.15-billion valua tion. ■ Schools will receive 35 percent of all 1997-98 fiscal year taxes col lected during that year. The money over-collected this year from the past 1997 ad valorem tax levy will be placed in a special school reserve fund. This will set aside some work ing capital to pull from. ■ Both parties agree to implement ways to help reduce costs. ■ Both the county and schools will coordinate all Category 1 capi tal outlay needs with the county's needs for capital improvement, tak ing into consideration the half-cent sales tax and. public school building See School, page 8 New Brunswick VP Keenan Challenge has changed at CP&L By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Describing his challenge as new vice-president of Carolina Power and Light Co.’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant, Jack Keenan alternately heaps praise on managers who preceded him at Brunswick and lauds the workforce which has transformed the facility from one on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s perpetual watch list to one of exemplary performance. Though stingy with words about himself, the observations he shares ol his predecessors and contemporaries paint a portrait of a manager who will rely heavily on a well-trained body of employees to move Brunswick Nuclear Plant into an era of substantial change in the power industry. “This plant has been a reasonable plant for a period of time,” Keenan noted this week. “During a period of time when the industry was not watch ing itself closely, it did not live up to its potential. Since then it has had the leadership to become a leader." With about three weeks at the helm of Brunswick, Keenan plans to continue a pattern of leadership that will allow Brunswick Nuclear Plant to remain a leader in nuclear power produc tion. Keenan comes to Brunswick from CP&L’s Robinson Nuclear Plant at Hartsville. SC. He joined the company's Robinson team in 1995 as director of site operations and was promoted “to See Challenge, page 9 INSIDE Opinion 4 Police repot t 13 Obituaries 16 , Business 17 District Coi rt 18 Public notic es 6B Calendar 7B NASCAR 9B TV schedule 6C Classifieds