Election Results
County Voters Turn Thumbs Down On Liquor-By-The-Drink,
Lend Support To School Bonds, Clean Water Amendment
JACKSON — Only 37 per cent of North
ampton’s registered voters went to the polls
Tuesday to vote down the controversial liquor-by-
the-drink issue and to lend the county’s support in
school and clean water bond issues.
A total of 4,192 of the total registered 11,433
turned out for the general election on the three
referenda.
Voting in Northampton followed the state
pattern with the liquor issue being defeated
statewide, carrying only two counties. Wake and
Mecklenburg. The $300 million school bond issue
and the clean water bond amendment carried
overwhelmingly in the state.
Northampton voted down the liquor-by-the-
drink option by nearly a four to one margin. The
vote was 816 for and 3,376 against. The issue was
defeated decisively in all 17 of the county’s
precincts.
The exact opposite was true of the clean water
bond amendment that was carried by a similar
margin with 3,323 voting for and only 774 casting
ballots against. The issue carried in all precincts.
Defeat of the liquor issue means North
Carolina will remain the only state east of the
Mississippi without liquor-by-the-drink.
Passage of the bond amendment assures the
release of $30 million in 1971 Clean Water Bond
Act funds that had been impounded due to a
technicality in the law that was cleared up in the
election Tuesday.
The record high $300 million school bond
issue, an issue that drew a lot of support from
school officials in the county, passed here by a
margin of 2,447 to 1,221.
As a result, the county will realize
$1,566,197.55 as its share of the school bonds. The
money can be used only on state approved
projects for expansion, new construction or im
provement of existing buildings.
Two precincts in the county fail to carry the
bond issue. They are Seaboard, which voted down
Vol. 82 No. 45
THURSDAY, Nov. 8, 1973
18 Pages
T^TT17 Northampton
1 nth County
TIMES-NEWS
\
lOc Per Copy
THE ROANOKE-CHOWAN TIMES ^ THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NEWS
Established 1892" Established 1926
Rich Square, N. C.
School Board Learns Monday
School Not Connected
To Municipal Sewer System
the bonds 227 to 213, and Lasker, which said no to
the public school bonds to the tune of 92 to 36. A
private school is located at Lasker.
There were no upsets in municipal elections
and eight of the county’s nine mayors were
return^ to office.
Rich Square
Rich Square voters voted in a new mayor,
turned down a former mayor seeking a com
missioner’s seat, supports another former
mayor for the town board, elected its current
acting mayor as a commissioner and picked three
new faces in town government.
Present town Commissioner Jimmy Outland
polled 277 votes for mayor. He was unopposed.
Acting Mayor Joe Gordon, the town’s first
black niayor, polled the highest number of votes
for town commissioner at 283. He was followed by
Doug Draffin with 268, Claudie Lassiter with 235,
Dr. Julian Hall Edwards with 214 and former
mayor Grace Lambertson with 170.
Miss Lambertson was trailed by former
Mayor Charles Myers, who polled 156 votes.
Others receiving votes in the balloting were
Catherine Bolton with 142, John Bowen with 123,
Joe Majette with 79 and David Wallace with 33.
The new board members will take office the
first Thursday in December.
Rich Square has 521 registered voters.
Gaston
Mayor Firman Myrick and the three in
cumbents seeking reelection on the five-man town
board here were returned to office in Tuesday’s
election.
Two newcomers were elected to the board.
Ronnie Owens polled 133 votes and David Allen
got 121 votes to beat challenger Annette
Claiborne, who polled 59.
Incumbent Danny Copeland got 148 votes.
Commissioner M. C. Durdow received 139 and
Commissioner Cirven Burnette received 136
votes.
Mayor Myrick was given a 116 vote of con
fidence. He was unopposed in the balloting.
Gaston’s election turn out was smaller than
jexpected. Only 15u of the town’s 431 voters cast
I ballots.
Jackson
Incumbent Mayor Charlie Bass was reelected
I to that post in balloting.
Bass polled 113 votes. Tilghman Cooley, a
I former mayor and write-in cadidate, got 64 votes.
(Hoyt Giles, who was on the ballot, polled 27 votes.
Commrsioners Jimmy Wood Boone and J. S.
(Cocke were returned to office with respective
votes of 154 and 140. A female, Jeri. Gay Boone,
secretary in a Jackson law firm, wi’’ be a new face
on the tov/n board. She talley^ 154 votes.
J. D. Carver, the only other announced
candidate, got 138 votes.
Write-ins for mayor included 10 for the Rev.
Joe McLean, two for Ted Kennedy and one for
George Davis.
Cooley had two write-ins for commissioner
and Marvin Flythe, who chose not to seek
reelection, received six write-ins.
A total of 217 of the town’s 310 votes went to
the polls.
LASKER
'Two new members were elected to the three-
man Lasker Board of Commissioners.
J. V. Wade polled 35 votes and Milton C. Odom
got 34. Incumbent Robert Collier talleyed 30 votes.
Challenger Edward Lane got 17.
Incumbent Mayor Harry Johnson has no
opposition. He received 37 votes of confidence.
There are 71 registered voters in the county’s
smallest municipality.
WOODLAND
An incumbent mayor, two newcomers and
two incumbent commissioners were elected in
Woodland.
Dr. John Stanley was unopposed and will
continue to serve as the town’s mayor. He polled
163 votes.
Incumbents W. C. Reese and John Outland
polled 121 and 119 votes respectively.
Newcomers Rev. Kimsey King and John G.
Hunsinger got 104 and 94 respective votes.
Others in the running for the four-man board
were Mrs. James E. Lee 87, Aubrey R. Smith 12,
E. E. Bowen 53, and Thomas E. Whitley 67.
SEVERN
All incumbents were guaranteed additional
terms in Tuesday’s election for Severn town of
ficials.
Mayor R. B. Johnson, who was not a declared
candidate, took the mayor’s seat with 67 write-in
votes. Marshall Lassiter, a commissioner, got
eight write-ins for mayor, and Richard Railey,
another commissioner, received four write-ins.
Two write-ins each were recorded for Stuart
Martin, town clerk, and Dudley Barnes. Others
getting single votes were Commissioner Richard
McGee, George Robert Francis, Commissioner
Ralph Britt and Wallace Stephenson.
Ralph Britt, Richard Railey, Hugo Umstead,
Richard McGee and Marshall Lassiter, all in
cumbents, were returned to office. Britt polled 84
votes, Railey 83, Umstead 83, and McGee and
Lassiter, 81 each.
GARYSBURG
Sixty-eight of the town’s 103 registered voters
cast ballots in the municipal election here, the
first town election in the history of Garysburg.
Mayor W. E. Con well, who has been serving
as the town’s chief executive, was returned to
office, polling 53 votes against only 15 votes for his
nephew, William L. Thompson.
A slate of five commissioners candidates
faced no opposition and were shoo-ins. They are
Arthur Lee Best Sr., W. W. Hughes, Stanley Davis
Jr., Wendell Perry and T. G. (Sonny Boy,' Joyner.
TTiree of the new commissionirs are JiJck.
Receiving the highest number of votes was
Joyner with 64. Perry got 58, Davis and Hughes 57
and Best 48.
Arthur Suiter received six write-ins for
commissioner. Melvin Lowe had three write-ins
for a seat on the board and Leroy Howell had two.
Single write-in votes went to C. L. Joyner, J. C.
(See ELECTION, Page 9)
JACKSON — Conway School
is paying for sewage service it
is not receiving, the
Northampton Board of
Education learned Monday.
New board member
Lynmore Gay of Conway
reported that the school,
though in the municipal limits
is not hooked up to the town’s
sewage system. It is receiving
water service from the town.
Gay noted that even though
the school is not using the
service, it is being charged
monthly at the rate of one-half
the water bill.
Supt. Roy Lowry said he
was unaware the school was
not tapped on to the public
sewer system. The school’s
sewage is treated in a private
septic tank.
A check with town officials
revealed that the sewer line
was placed to school property
but the school has never
extended its lines to meet the
town’s line.
The matter was tabled by
the board.
In other action, the board:
—Heard a complaint about
roaches and mice at
Woodland-Olney School.
Jim Clark, president of the
Woodland PTA, appeared as
spokesman for the group and
requested that the board take
steps to exterminate the
insects and rodents.
Clark said that as many as
two dust pans full of dead
roaches have been swept up in
a single classroom in a day.
Lowry noted that the school
has a contract with a Durham
exterminator to service all the
school lunchrooms, where the
problem is believed to have
originated.
Lowry reported that
repeatedly the lunchroom
supervisor at Woodland has
refused to allow the
exterminator to work the
Woodland facility.
He explained that the
service is to be paid out of
lunchroom profits. Lowry said
he had offered payment by the
board, but the exterminator
has still been refused.
The board instructed Lowry
to have the buildings properly
exterminated to rid the school
of the problem.
—Approved payment of a
$16 per month supplement to
professional personnel
payable Dec. 19 and at the end
of the school year.
The supplement is the same
as last year’s.
— Approved routine
employment of 31 custodians
and maids, 60 managers and
lunchroom personnel, 93 bus
drivers and 53 aides.
—Okayed the employment
of Gloria Ann Ward at
Garysburg School, Ivan
Nelson Wakefield at W. S.
Creecy and Pamela Beth
Nelson at Rich Square School.
—Authorized Lowry to
purchase a gasoline storage
tank due to the gas shortage.
LowiV said the system uses
6,500 gallons per month for
school buses and
maintenance.
—Heard a report that all oil
tanks at all schools are filled.
Commissioners To
Name Recreation Body
TAOVCrvTVT A lI i - » , e ^ *
Plans Sewer Extension
CONWAY — The town of
Conway is preparing an
extension of sewer lines to a
street in a new subdivision.
Easement maps of the
property involved in the
extension were reviewed this
week by Conway
commissioners. The town
needs to acquire one-half acre
before bids can be let,
according to town attorney
Bruce Johnson. ,
The extension will tie in an
outfall line to Thomas Street.
In other business, the
board;
— Approved monthly
vouchers and statements.
— Heard a report from
Town Clerk Sadie Bridgers
that the town has $81,167 total
in the general fund and water
and sewer budgets.
A total of $14,078 remains in
the street fund and $28,313 in
the revenue sharing trust
fund.
— Authorized a write-off of
$2.10 on a tax bill.
According to Mrs. Bridgers,
the write-off will make the
town’s tax collection per cent
for the year 100 per cent.
Total taxes collected on the
1972 levy amount to more than
$50,000.
— Failed to act on a letter
for Insurance Commissioner
John Ingram that would allow
town residents to purchase
flood insurance.
— Read a letter from the
Division of Highways which
stated the highway
department has no
Will Affect Over $4,000 Here
Increased Allotments In
Store For Stamp Recipients
JACKSON — A total of 4,163
persons in 1,159 households
will be affected directly by an
announced change in the food
stamp program that will be
enacted Jan. 1.
Low-income people on the
food stamp program will be
given increases in their
allotments beginning Jan. 1,
according to the tj. S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Food and Nutrition Service
(FNS).
The hikes will be made in
accordance with the
amendments of the Food
Stamp Act in the Agriculture
and Consumer Protection Act
of 1973. The amendements
required that coupon
allotments , be adjusted
semiannually to reflect
changes in prices of food as
published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
At the same time, USDA
officials said, most families on
the food stamp program will
be allowed to earn larger
incomes and still qualify for
the food stamp program.
They gave as an example
the increase in the monthly
coupon allotment of a family
of four from $116 to $142. The
amount the household must
pay for its stamps varies with
its net income.
With the increase in the
allotment, the same family
would be allowed to earn up to
$473 per month and still
qualify for the food stamp
program — up to $86 from the
current $387 maximum.
responsibility for installation
of storm drainage on U. S. 158
at Buck Taylor’s property.
— Approved installation of
electric service to the new
well site on Pine Street and
authorized the placement of a
street light there.
>1
Resident
Killed At
Galatia
GALATIA — A Conway man
was pronounced dead on
arrival at Halifax Memorial
Hospital in Roanoke Rapids
following a one car accident
here Sunday.
Earl Linwood Porter, 55, of
Rt. 1, Conway, was fatally
injured in an 11:45 a.m.
accident on rural paved road
1341.
Trooper F. H. Hampton of
Rich Square reported Porter
was operating a 1966
Chevrolet truck traveling west
on SR 1341 at excessive speed
when his vehicle ran off the
road on the right shoulder,
struck a mail box, proceeded
back onto the road to the left
shoulder and struck an
enbankment. The impact of
the collision crushed Porter
inside the cab, Hampton said.
The Roanoke Valley Rescue
Squad took Porter to Halifax
Memorial where he was
pronounced dead on arrival.
The Porter vehicle was a
total loss.
JACKSON — A recreation
advisory board will be
appointed later this month,
the Northampton Board of
Commissioners announced
Monday at its regular
meeting.
The board, to be composed
of 11 representatives from the
county’s various
communities, will serve as a
subordinate body to the county
commissioners.
Ten of the members, who
are to represent both sexes as
well as varing ethnic
backgrounds and the youth,
will be appointed from the five
commissioner districts in the
county. One member, the
chairperson, will be selected
at large and named by the
commissioners.
Commissioners are to make
recommendations at the Nov.
19 meeting.
The board, though not a
budget making body, will
serve in an advisory capacity
in formulating a recreational
program for the county.
I^orthampton has never
attempted a countywide rural
recreational program.
Financing for the program
will not be handled by the
advisory board. The $50,000 in
revenue sharing monies that
has been reserved for
recreational purposes will be
expended by the
commissioners on
recommendation of the
recreation board.
In other matters, the board:
—Approved final payment
of $2,719 to the architectual
firm that completed the
renovation of the building that
houses the Social Services
Department.
—Instructed the county
attorney, Felton Turner, to
procede with the sale of the R.
B. Griffin estate in Woodland.
The board also discussed an
offer for purchase of the
William Langford property at
Pleasant Hill which has a
$6,100 welfare lien against it.
The county has been offered
$500 for the 150-foot by 150-foot
tract, but commissioners feel
the property should be offered
to the general public rather
than to a private individual.
—Authorized expenditure of
$6,670 on the old county home
renovation project.
—Voted to purchase a
storage shed to be erected at
the jail. The shed will house
maintenance equipment and
supplies.
—Instructed County
Manager Tim Ellen to consult
an architect to determine
what type sign the county
could erect at the courthouse
to properly identify the
building.
Commissioner John Henry
Liverman also requested that
the cornerstone of the
courthouse, which is
weatherworn and illegible, be
reworked.
Ellen was instructed to
inquire about the cornerstone
work as well.
—Voted to place the position
of humane office or rabies
control officer under the
control of the Health
Department.
The board discussed the
matter with, Health
Administrator John Ahearn
who stated that the
department is swamped with
sanitation work and can use a
parttime rabies officer-
sanitary aide.
Ahearn said he will begin
interviewing for the job
opening.
In the past the dog warden
has been under the direct
supervision of the
commissioners.
Garysburg Man Remains
In Critical Condition
GARYSBURG — A
Garysburg man remains in
critical condition at Halifax
Memorial Hospital in Roanoke
Rapids folloYi'ing a wreck
Sunday afternoon on US 301
west of here.
Joseph Gatling, 77, was
taken to the hospital along
with two other, Victor Gatling,
12, and Lionel Lewis, 10,
following the 4 p.pi. mishap.
Charged in the accident for
driving under the influence
and a safe movement violation
is Cleveland Lockhart Jr., 48,
of Jackson.
Trooper F. M. Hampton
reported the accident
occurred at 4:05 p.m. on U.S.
Highway 301 near Garysburg.
Joseph Gatling, operating a
late model Ford truck, had
stopped on the shoulder of the
road waiting for traffic to
clear. He then entered the
highway and attempted later
to turn into a private
driveway.
Lockhart, traveling west on
301, attempted to pass by
veering to the left but struck
the Gatling vehicle in the
driver’s side door.
The impact of the collision
sent the Gatling vehicle into a
yard and the Lockhart vehicle
also skidded off the road and
into the yard.
Trooper Hampton stated
charges against Gatling are
pending his discharge from
the hospital.
Damage was listed at $2,000
for the 1973 Ford truck and
$400 for the Gatling vehicle.
30 Years
JACKSON — A Norfolk man
was handed 30 years in prison
for robbing rural Conway
store. Superior Court Judge
Robert D. Rouse Jr. handed
down the sentence late last
week.
Cornell Sidney Wilkins was
convicted in a three-day jury
trial for the Aug. 15 robbery of
W. F. Davis Store at Rt. 1,
Conway.
Defense attorneys for
Wilkins filed notice of appeal.
Their motion for mistrial was
denied.
Bond was set at $50,000.
Rouse handed down the 30
year active sentence on the
charge of armed robbery in
which Wilkins was alleged to
have taken $918 from the W. F.
Davis store near Conway. The
judge gave Wilkins a five year
active prison sentence to run
concurrently on the charge of
assault with a deadly weapon
inflicting serious injury.
Mrs. W. F. Davis testified on
the stand identifying Wilkins
as the man who had hit her on
the head and right forearm
with a bottle.
An Ahoskie physician who
attended Mrs. Davis when she
was taken to Roanoke-Chowan
Memorial Hospital testified
that in his opinion her
condition was serious when he
examined her.
Wilkins took the stand in his
behalf and testified that he
had been to Charleston, S. C.
to see relatives and was on his
way back to Norfolk. He had
stopped in Mrs. Davis’ store to
buy an orange soda,- he
stated and then later had felt a
call of nature and had stopped
his car to go into the woods to
(See YEARS, Page 12)