North Carolina Newspapers

THE Comity TIMES-NEWS ■if A Combination of Volume 78, No. 24 THE ROANOKE-CHOWAN TIMES — Established 1892 THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1969 THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NEWS — Established 1926 Rich Square, N, C. 12 Pages Federal Court Orders Integration For Grades 1 To 8 For 1969-70 JACKSON - On the day that Chief justice Earl Warren left the Supreme Court, the effects of the 1954 school desegregation order were put into effect by order of the federal district court sitting at New Bern on Monday, June 23. A Northampton County school desegregation plan which aban dons freedom of choice for an assignment policy has been or dered put into effect in the fall of 1969 by U.S. District judge John D. Larkins, The new plan was presented to judge Larkins by the school board in New Bern on Monday. Last week he rejected a plan which called for freedom of choice within seven geographi cal attendance zones. The new plan retains the seven zones, but assigns all pupils to specific schools according to the grades they will attend. The school board^s first plan submitted to the court in April would have allowed Northampton County parents to choose between sending their children to a pre viously predominantly white or a previously Negro elementary school in six or seven geographic districts. The court plan retains the proposed geographic districts but divides the elementary grades in each district between the predominantly white and the Negro school, putting all students within a single grade in one school. Thus, children will go to whichever school teaches their grade. Larkins* order also contains a similar court desegregation plan for the county*s four high schools, to be implemented at the beginning of the 1970-71 school year. Teachers in each district will be assigned to whichever school houses the grade level that they NORTHEAST ACADEMY'S NEW ELE MENTARY SCHOOL is under cons^ruetion and will be ready for the school's expan sion in the fall. The building will have all electric heat and individual room air- conditioning. The first eight grades will be in the new school and the high school will use the other building. Enrollment for t*he 1969-70 term is almost complete with openings in some grades yet to be filled this week. $10,085 Damages Result Of 14 Traffic Accidents Northeast Academy 1970 Enrollment Nearly Complete LASKER - Headmaster L. R. Biggerstaff of the Northeast Academy said on Wednesday that enrollments for the 1969-70 school year were almost com plete with only a few vacancies left in some of the grades and others full. He said progress was good on the new building which will be used as the elementary school, with the renovated old school building being used as the high school. The total capacity of the two buildings will be 220 in the ele mentary school and 120 in' the high school. Enrollments as listed onwed- nesday by grade were: first, 25; second, 25; third, 22; and fourth, 23, with a maximum of 25 per grade allowed. Grade five, 18; six, 28; seven, 30; eight, 24, with a maximum per room of 30 children. In the high school, ninth. 26: tenth, 31; eleventh, 15; and twelfth, 20, with 30 per grade allowed. Two additional grades of the first and second year are sched uled with 25 each and 12 en rolled. The new building will be elec trically heated, brick masonry construction and with air-condi tioning controls for each room, Biggerstaff said he expected all grades to be filled by this weekend. Sees Farmers’ Operating Credit Needs To Expand WELDON - Farmers, growers and ranchers* needs for operat ing and capital investment credit on an intermediate term basis will continue to expand at a rapid pace in the years ahead, accord ing to W. J. Long, president of the Roanoke Production Credit Association. Long, who has just returned from Atlanta, Ga., where he and other officials of the Roanoke PCA attended the annual confer ence of Production Credit Asso ciation directors and general managers, predicts that the as sociation, along with PCA*s throughout the nation, will con tinue to play a vital part in pro- \'iding agriculture with a perma nent and dependable source oi credit. PCA*s in the Third Farm Credit District are gearing their operations to meet the future credit needs of farmers, grow ers and ranchers by adjusting and revising credit procedures as necessary and through annual management training institutes for all PCA personnel, Mr. Long continued. The Third Farm Credit Dis trict is composed of the states of Florida, Georgia and theCar- olinas, and the 62 production credit associations operating in the district are furnishing over 44,000 fa r m e r-members with nearly $510 million in short and intermediate term credit. The Roanoke PCA currently is serving 894 farmers with loans totaling $5,883,016 in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northamp ton Counties. Other officials of the asso ciation attending the conference included stedmanKitchinofScot- land Neck, vice president; John G. Burgwyn of Jackson, Harold Lawrence of Colerain, L, W. snipes of Ahoskie and A. G. Will- cox Jr. of Enfield, directors; and B. N. Capel of Weldon, general manager. CADA Picks John Taylor For Top Post MURFREESBORO - John Tay lor was named executive direc tor of the Choanoke Area De velopment Association at a meet ing of board of directors Monday night with 24 of the 44 directors in attendance. Twenty-three make a quorum, Taylor has been acting director for the past three months. James T, Barnett was named associate director. Eugene Brown, formerly di rector of the Northampton Multi- Service Center, was named to fill the vacancy of deputy direc tor of community development formerly held by Barnette, It also was announced CADA has been named funding agent for all Manpower Development programs for the Office of Eco nomic opportunity in a seven- county area. HALIFAX - Fourteen highway accidents, occurring in North ampton County, resulted in dam ages totaling $10,085 to the ve hicles involved. The accidents, as reported by the state Highway Patrol head quarters here, involved 21 ve- A Sunday 4;30 a.m. one-car A Sunday 4-s3G a.m. one-car accident resulted in $200 dam ages to a 1950 Ford, The acci dent occurred south of Conway on U.S, 158 and was investigated by Trooper J. C. Wood, william Warrick Harrison, 51, of New port News was charged with driv ing on left of road. He ran off the road on the left side, crossed back to the right side, then over turned into a field. No injuries were received. A 1960 Studebaker driven by Rufus R. Barrett, 82, of Jack- son, traveling on rural road 1314, stopped for a stop sign, then pulled into the path of a 1965 Chevrolet driven by 0th- velt McKinle Mizell, 35, of Pen dleton. Damages to Barrett*s car totaled $200 and to MizelPs $600. Mrs. Rufus R. Barrett, passenger in the Barrett car,, was injured but did not require hospitalization. Barrett was charged by Trooper R. J. Evans with failure to yield. The acci dent occurred at 7 p.m. on Sun day. Albert Daniel Coleman, 51, First Cotton Bloom Is In RICH SQUARE - The 1969 cotton crop is ahead of last year*s — in blooming, at least. The first cotton bloom of the season reported to the Times- News office came in today (Thursday) and was found by W. E. Bridgers in his cotton field in Conway. The first bloom reported last year was found on July 7, 11 days later than this year*s. Bridgers will receive the tra ditional one-year free subscrip tion to the Times-News for re porting the first cotton bloom. Commissioners Slosh School Budget; To Appeal StoteCompulsory Welfare Cost JACKSON - The Northampton County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting on Mon day, June 23, to finish its work on the 1969-70 budget with the school integration order known and the information complete on the welfare program required by the current legislative ses sion, They slashed $50,000 out of the school capital budget re quest for $150,000 and told wel fare department director Jim Clark that they would appeal the mandatory programs to the state Board ofAllotments and Appeals. All seemed to be directed toward maintaining the $1.60 tax rate again next year. They indi cated that they will adopt the budget at their regular meeting on July 1 which was scheduled ahead of the first Monday so that they can attend the state commissioners meeting at Ashe ville. The board of education had asked for $259,542, an increase of $19,000 over last year for current expenses and $150,000 for capital outlay, an increase of $14,400 over last year. The commissioners did not specify where the cuts should be made but usually the board of educa tion has had to cut capital funds where their requests were not appropriated. Debt service charges must be met and are in addition to the other funds. It was expected that the school board would meet before the July 1 date and ask to appear before the board to argue its case. Some renovation to the existing school buildings is deemed nec- essary to accommodate the school pairing plan ordered by the federal court order. WELFARE OBJECTION The board addressed a letter to Jim Clark, director of the welfare department, asking him to hold down on new welfare cases and payments. * They were incensed when the budget they had approved costing $25,000 more than last year for the new public assistance pro grams was returned from the state saying that the state legis lature had approved mandatory programs and that the county would have to appropriate the funds. The increase was calcu lated at $57,000. County Manager L. R. Holo- man jr. said the board would appeal to State Board of Allot ments and Appeals since the leg islature had approved the pro grams without the funds and the county had no control over these expenditures. In appearing before the board, Clark explained that as county director he did not set policy but simply administered the pro grams adopted by the county and the state and that the state di rectives as to who could apply for benefits and what their pay ments would be was beyond his control. He said the state would run a check on all applications and ask for an explanation if the appli cations were not processed. He explained that poor people were becoming aware of their rights in these programs and some ad ditions were being made but that most of last year*s costs over the budget were the results of in creased medical costs of the programs adopted. The original program would have been an increase of 35 per cent in the public assistance bud get but the state would not ap prove this amount after indi cating at first that the county had an option, according to Holoman. Clark said the state supplied one of the lowest percentages of funds in the country toward wel fare costs and that it ran near three per cent and that the county paid only eight per cent of the total that was spent in the pro gram. The staff consists of a direc tor, eight caseworkers, one su pervisor and two new eligibility specialists (paid for by the state) who will relieve the casework ers of paper work, and five cler ical workers. Almost $2,250,000 in funds, mostly federal, is distributed by the department each year, in cluding such programs as $360,- 000 in food stamps that are spent with local grocery stores. Clark told the commissioners that most of the $17,000inpublic assistance funds that exceeded the budget went into increased medical costs, not added enroll ment. He cited increased rates for boarding homes, an expanded dental program and added doc tors* costs as part of the prob lem. He told them that these funds went into the local econ omy, mostly to self-supporting taxpayers. Other increases came about in the changes of the office of county accountant to county man ager and through the purchase of an auto for the use of the com missioners, county attorney and manager. It is believed that the initial cost will be recovered over a period of years. These two budgets totaled $36,847 as compared with $29,733 last year with the auto costing $2,720.46, The cost of managing the elec tions board rose from $11,500 to $13,080. The coroner*s cost stayed near $3,000 for the department. The courthouse and grounds budget rose from $40,708 to $95,976 to add $50,000 to the $25,000 previously budgeted for the $75,000 in improvements to the heating, electrical and air- conditioning system. The agricultural budget stayed near the $40,000 of last year. The register of deeds budget dropped from $25,748.50to$22,- 188 when the board eliminated one clerk. The jail budget was $15,369 and had been $14,186 last year. have been teaching. The federal government had argued that the school board*s geographic zoning was a pro posed version of continuation of the freedom of choice assignment plan which had been thrown out by the court last August. The court order assigns,ele mentary students in Northampton County to schools this fall on the following basis: District 1 - grades 1-5 to squire school, grades 6-8 to Gaston School; District 2 - all elementary students to Garys- burg school; District 3 - grades 1-4 to Coates School, grades 5-8 to seaboard school. District 4 - grades 1-4 to Willis Hare School, grades 5-8 to Conway school; District 5 — all elementary students to the Woodland-01 n e y school; Dis trict 6 - grades 1-4 to the W. s. Creecy school, grades 5-8 to the Rich square school; District 7 - grades 1-4 to the Eastside School, grades 5-8 to the Jackson school. County attorney Angus McKel- lar said that the board had ex hausted all court actions open to it and the board had no choice but to comply. He said the board would have no statement on the order. of Hampton, driving a 1967 Buick, was charged with following too closely after a two-car accident at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday near Jackson. Coleman and William Robert Owens, 62, of Newport News, driving a 1967 Chevrolet, were each traveling west on U.S. 158 when Owens slowed down al most to a stop for a vehicle making a right turn and Cole man failed to slow down and hit the Owens car. Damages to the Chevrolet were $75 and to the. Buick, $175. Trooper R. E. Wor ley investigated the accident. No injuries were received. McKinley Williams, 39, of Pleasant Hill was charged with driving under the influence after he pulled out in front of a 1967 Pontiac driven by Julian Ran dolph Norvell, 26, of Greenville on Park St, in Seaboard, skidded around and into the left side of the Norvell vehicle. Damages to the Norvell car were $800 and to Williams* 1958 Chevrolet, $20. No one was injured in the 7:30 a.m. Saturday accident. Trooper R. J. Evans was investigating officer. At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, a 1959 Ford driven by Charlie Ju nior Jones, 22, of Seaboard side- swiped a 1967 Pontiac driven by Anson Bruce Liverman, 45, of Newport News. The accident oc curred on N.C. 95 in Seaboard and resulted in $150 damages to each car. Jones was charged with reckless driving by Trooper J, C. Wood, No injuries were re ported. Lewis Richardson, 30, of New York, N. Y., and his pas senger, Lucy Lassiter, 18, of George were admitted to Roa- noke-Chowan Hospital following an 11:15 p.m, accident on Fri day night two and six-tenths miles north of Woodland. Troop er J. C. Wood investigated and said Richardson, driving a 1961 Mercury, apparently went to sleep, ran off the road on the left side and struck a tree. He was charged with reckless driv ing. Damages to the car totaled $350. Damages totaling $4,000 to a (See DAMAGE, Page 10) Quartet Ordered To Pay Fine For Gaston Affray JACKSON - In Northampton County District Court on Wed nesday four men were charged with engaging in an affray at Three scales Restaurant, Gas ton, James wheeler, David Car- roll, Wiley Elrod and Donald Ray West each had to pay costs and $12.56 to Ernest shearin for damages. They also have to re main on good behavior for 12 months and not visit the res taurant for said period. Elrod had a nol-pros taken on the charge of public drunkenness. Other defendants, charges and dispositions included the follow ing: Traffic violations - Joseph S. Skoczylas, speeding 86 mph in a 65 mph zone, nol-pros with leave; Milton Johnson Martin, speeding 65 mph in a 45 mph zone with city limits, $20 and costs; Ronald Thomas Stephen son, driving under influence and driving while license suspended, $100 and costs and not to operate a motor vehicle on public high ways for 12 months for the first charge, $200 and costs for the second charge; Willie Jones, speeding 61 mph in a 50 mph zone, prayer for judgement con tinued upon payment of costs. William Allen Cooke^ failure to stop at stop sign, prayer for judgment continued upon pay ment of costs; Beatrice Brown Pratt, driving too fast for exist ing conditions, $10 and costs; Clifton Elmo Garner, no valid operator*s license, nol-pros; William Warrick Harrison, driv ing on left, $10and costs; Charlie T. Jones, reckless drMng, $25 and costs. Tommie Drake was charged with driving under Influence and having no valid operator*s li cense. On the first count he was given prayer for judgment on the condition that he leave the state of North Carolina within 12 hours. On the second count, he was not to operate a motor vehicle on North Carolina public highways for five years. Miscellaneous - James Wil liam Lassiter, public drunken ness, second offense within one year, imprisonment in the cus tody of the Commissioner of Correction for an Indeterminate sentence of not less than 30 days and not more than six months for treatment; Charlie Snyder, worthless check, nol- pros; James C. Sink, escape, to be held for appearance in August term of Northampton County superior Court. Dredie Mangum, assault with deadly weapon, payment of costs and sum of $16 to pay medical bill of Rufus Boone; Raymond Porch, harassing Bettie J. Porch by knocking on her door and re fusing to stay away from her home, nol-pros upon payment of costs; Earl Jerome Cornegay, no registration and no liability insurance, $10 and costs on both counts. Judge Ballard s. Gay presided and Willis E. Murphrey was solicitor. Welfare Gives Aid To 233 Disabled In Northampton The sheriffs budget jumped from $62,485 to $81,034 with the sheriff having been previously increased to $10,000 a year and the deputies getting a $9 00 a year increase. The cost of buying cars was part of the increase with auto expenses expected to decrease over the next several years. The tax office will cost $30,- 689 as compared with $28,600 last year. The industrial development budget dropped from last year*s $24,326 to $20,075. seven thousand, nine hundred and four dollars and seventy-six cents was allowed for the joint mental health program which has been highly commented by local doctors and this compares with $7,095 last year. Doctors say that many patients that they could not treat are being handled lo cally now. Twenty-one thousand, five hun dred dollars for water and sewer lines under a county agreement with Union Camp Corporation for a plant at seaboard was added this year. The town had refused to pay for lines beyond the town limits and the county worked out a formula for the county indus trial program. If the board stands on its school budget cut of $50,000 out of the $150,000 budgeted the $1.65 rate will stand and very little of the expected $300,000 in surplus funds will be used to meet the year*s expenses. (This is the third in a series of articles on public welfare In Northampton County. The last article explained the first of three monthly financial aid pro grams - aid to the aged. Today*s article will present the facts about financial aid to the dis abled.) JACKSON - There are certain citizens of Northampton County who either from birth or later on in life find that they are un able to earn a livelihood because of an injury or illness that has rendered them disabled either physically or mentally to be em ployed. The Northampton County De partment of Public Welfare ad ministers a program of financial assistance to meet monthly basic maintenance expenses for these people who meet certain eligi bility requirements. The aid tothe disabled program is a federal program which is financed with approximately 70 per cent federal funds. The re mainder is appropriated from state and county funds in North Carolina. To be eligible a person must be at least 18 years old and under 65; he must be in need of the essential requirements such as food, shelter, clothing and other necessary items; he must not be living in a public institu tion or a patient in an institution for tuberculosis or mental dis ease or a patient in a medical institution as the result of having tuberculosis or psychosis; and he must have been living in North Carolina for the past year. He must be determined totally and permanently disabled by his physician and the medical review team of the State Department of Public Welfare.Statelawpermits counties on an optional basis to establish a medical review board who may review all medical ex aminations and certify their find ings of disability to the State Medical Review Team who still has the final responsibility of deter m i n at i o n. Northampton County does not have a local medical review board. The law defines a permanent ly and totally disabled person as “one who because of a mental or physical impairment is ac cording to the present diagnosis substantially precluded from do ing any work. The impairment must be of major importance and must be a condition not likely to improve or which will continue through the lifetime of the in dividual.” In addition to the above eli gibility requirements he must agree to having a lien on any real property he owns or ac quires. The said property to be sold at his death and the govern ment refunded the amount paid him during his lifetime. He does not have to be com pletely without money to estab lish his need. If he is living alone he may have up to $500 reserve money or personal prop erty. If a couple is living to gether they may have up to $700 reserve. When people apply for this assistance at the Northampton County Welfare Department, a welfare worker will help prepare a budget for them using the standard budget allowances es tablished by the State Board of Public Welfare. Local welfare departments cannot allow amounts above these established allowances. The maximum monthly allow ance for one person is $35.50for necessities which include food, clothing, medicine chest sup plies, household supplies, house hold equipment and personal ex penses. The actual cost of rent or home ownership and all utilities is allowed up to a maximum of $60 per month. An allowance up to $10 is also allowed for inci dental medical expenses. This means the total maximum month ly allowance for an elderly per son living alone wouldbe$105.50. If they have any other income it is deducted from the maximum allowance and their monthly check would be for the difference. If their Income is above these maximum allowance they would be ineligible for assistance. These allowances have been increased but very little since 1952. The State Welfare De partment is requesting from the General Assembly funds for a 20 per cent increase in the basic items and an increase of $5 per month for rent and utilities. Under certain circumstances where it is found necessary that the recipient needs attendant or nursing care at home, up to $80 per month may be included in the budget for this purpose. In other cases it becomes nec essary that some of these re cipients be placed in a group care facility. The welfare de partment can allow up to $170 for boarding home care and $245 for nursing home care. Increases in these amounts are also being requested from the General As sembly. Each person receiving aid to the disabled is also provided with medical and dental care, physi cians fees, certain dental care and unlimited prescribed drugs. He is given an identification card which entitles him to hospitali zation, outpatient care, physi cians’ fees, certain dental care and unlimited prescribed drugs. He must pay the first $1 for each prescription. Periodic reviews are conduct ed to determine if recipients of this service are still eligible. They have the responsibility of reporting any change in their situation to the county welfare department. Every applicant for aid to the disabled is referred to a voca tional rehabilitation counselor to determine if there is a possi bility that they may be rehabili tated. Many other services other than financial assistance are offered to the county’s disabled citizens by public welfare. The casework er is always interested in the total weKare of the individual. At present there are 233 per sons receiving monthly aid tothe disabled assistance in North ampton County. The average monthly payment is $74. There were 23,300 persons in the state receiving this assistance this past fiscal year. Any applicant or recipient who feels that the local welfare de partment has acted improperly in regard to a decision made on his case may appeal to the State Board of Allotments and Appeal. If he Is not satisfied with this board’s decision he may take his case to Superior Court for ju dicial review. At the same time any applicant or recipient may be prosecuted for a misdemeanor when he has provided fraudulent Information in order to receive or continue to receive financial assistance. Weekly Service At Pinners ME RICH SQUARE - Sunday wor ship services at Pinners Meth odist Church have been changed from one Sunday morning service monthly to a service each Sunday night. The Rev. George F. Blanch ard, minister of the Rich square charge, which includes Pinners and Rich square United Method ist Churches, is conducting the services.