Warren tandem. Library X
1 17 S.Maln St.
Warren ton, N.C. 27589
2Harren Stecorfo
1
Volume 85 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, June 16, 1982 Number 24
Proposed County, Town Budgets Are Unveiled
Town Fathers Agree
To 15-Cent Rate Hike
The Warren County
Board of T6wn Commis
sioners at its regular
meeting on Monday night
levied a tentative budget in
the amount of $474,074,
based on a $16,000,000 valu
ation and a rate of 82* on
Murder
Charge
Is Made
Bobby Ray Hargrove, 24,
of Rt. 1, Warrenton, is
being held in Warren
County jail under |15,000
bond, charged with the
murder of his father,
Richard Hargrove, 60, also
of Rt. 1, Warrenton, during
a family quarrel at
Paynter's Store in Wise on
Saturday night.
Bobby Hargrove was
arrested Saturday night by
Deputy Bobby Dean
Bolton, investigating
officer, accompanied by
Highway Patrolman A1
Bennett and Norlina
officer, Charlie Barker.
Hargrove offered no resist
ance.
According to the report
of the investigating officer,
Bobby Ray Hargrove and
his brother were engaged
in a quarrel in Paynter's
Store when Bobby Ray's
sister brought her father to
the scene. He was unsuc
cessful in stopping the
quarrel and the sister is
reported to have joined in
the quarrel.
Father and daughter
went to their car where the
daughter slipped under the
driver's seat of their car
and her father slipped into
the adjoining seat. As the
daughter was entering the
seat of the car one of the
brothers threw a rock at
her. The rock missed the
daughter but smashed the
windshield. Whereupon,
the father stepped out of
his seat in the car and
hurled a rock at the
brother.
As Richard Hargrove
turned he fell, although no
rocks had struck him. He
died as a result. Richard
Hargrove is known to have
been suffering with a heart
condition. The body was
sent to Chapel Hill for an
autopsy. Bobby Ray
Hargrove is being held
under bond until the cause
of death can be determin
ed.
The deceased was the
son of the late Willie and
Ida Hargrove.
Funeral services will be
held Wednesday at 2 p. m.
at the Oak Hill Christian
Church in Drewry with the
Rev. Leon White officiat
ing. Burial will be in the
church cemetery.
Survivors include his
wife, Mrs. Thelma Bullock
Hargrove of the home;
nine daughters, Jearttte
Bullock and Barbara
Hargrove, both of the
home, Rosa Hargrove,
Ullie Mae Hargrove and
Helen Mae Hargrove, all of
Wise, Ida Downey of Oine,
Mary Seward of Wise,
Sallie Jones of Middleburg
and Hattie Hargrove of
Ridgeway; eight sons,
Bobby Hargrove of the
home, Willie Hargrove,
Alan Hargrove, Charles
Hargrove and Thurman
Hargrove, all of Wiae,
Richard Hargrove, Jr. of
Middleburg, John
Hargrove at Alexandria,
Va., and James Hargrove
the $100 valuation. The rate
is based on a 15* per $100
increase, and is the first
budget increase in the past
seven years, it was learned
at the town office
yesterday.
Of the $474,063 estimated
budget, only $25,000 is
expected to be raised from
ad valorm taxes. Other
items going to make up the
budget include general
fund items in the amount
of $247,074; water and
sewer fund $205,550, and
Revenue Sharing in the
amount of $21,466.
The town faces a $34,000
budget added in the 1981-82
budget, Mayor B. G. White
pointed out, adding, "We
held out as long as we
could."
The commissioners
granted a 5% salary
increase for all full time
regular employees.
However, three
department heads-Town
Administrator Pete
Vaughan, Police Chief
Freddie Robinson, and
Water and Sewer
Department Superinten
dent Bill Neal-forfeited
pay raises for the new
year.
Most of the money spent
this year is expected to be
spent on the Water Depart
ment, particularly if a
block grant can be
received, an official said.
A member of the finance
committee said Monday
night that it is hoped no
further tax increase will be
made for the 1982-83 fiscal
year, and it is believed by
the middle of that fiscal
year the town's fiscal
affairs will be in good
condition.
The tentative budget was
adopted as the last item of
business in order that
ample time might be
allowed for discussion
before adoption. The vote
to increase the tax rate by
15? and to adopt the tenta
tive budget was
unanimous.
At the public hearing
held at 7:30 p. m. Monday
night after being
advertised for two weeks in
the town newspaper, no
citizens were present.
Prior to adopting the
budget, it was agreed that
a separate book would be
set up for the operation of
the regional sewer system
at Warrenton, as would be
the cost of treating sewage
from Norlina and Soul
City, and that only the cost
of having Warrenton's
sewage treated would be
included in the regular
town budget. The $60,000
placed in the town budget
for the sewage treater is
(Continued on page 3 B)
Term Of Court
Is Cancelled
A civil term of Warren
County Superior Court
scheduled to convene here
on Monday morning has
been cancelled.
A court spokesman said
this morning that 65 jurors
scheduled to appear here
next week should not
report.
Reason for the cancella
tion, the spokesman said,
was the inability to have a
Judge for next week's
term. The judge scheduled
to be here has been bogged
down for some time with a
trial in another court.
Letters informing jurors
not to report are supposed
to be put in the mails as
soon as possible, the
spokesman said.
CHIMNEY OBSTACLES — Warren Wildlife Protector Conley Mangum holds two
young racoons who provided a case of double trouble for a Norlina resident last week.
Mangum was called to the home of Glenn Woolard of Highway 158, Norlina after
Woolard discovered what he thought were birds in his chimney. He began cleaning out
the chimney and saw what he thought was a large, furry animal. After an hour's work,
Woolard and Mangum managed to snare and retrieve the young racoons, thought to be
about six weeks old. The youngsters were taken to the Caswell County Wildlife Refuge
to be raised and eventually released. Mangum reported that the mother racoon
returned to the chimney the night after the racoons were taken, made "a lot of racket,"
and left. (Staff Photo)
Computer Breakdown Blamed
For Loss Of Phone Service
A failure in the elec
tronic processor- of Caro
lina Telephone's compu
terized switching office
here left Warrenton
telephone customers
without service for over 14
hours Monday while com
pany employees worked to
bring telephones back on
line.
Rick Barnes, district
commercial and
marketing manager said,
"Telephone service to our
Warrenton customers was
disrupted at 6:10 a. m. on
Monday and was restored
at 8:31 p. m. that night. All
customers in the
Warrenton exchange were
without service during the
outage.
"The outage was due to
the simultaneous failure of
several electronic proces
sor components at the
central office in Warren
ton. You could liken it to
losing memory in a
calculator; several
components of the
processor went out at the
same time, thereby
making the trouble
difficult to isolate and
repair."
Although the specific
cause of the failure has not
yet been determined,
Barnes said it may have
been due to electrical
damage resulting from the
recent severe weather, or
from fluctuations in
temperature inside the
office affecting the
sensitive electronic com
ponents.
During the outage,
Carolina Telephone took
several steps to provide
emergency telephone
service in Warrenton.
Using direct lines from
Norlina, telephones were
placed in service at the
hospital, sheriff's station,
N. C. Dept. of Correction
office, and the two radio
stations here, Barnes said.
Throughout the day
Carolina Telephone
maintained contact with
technical experts at the
equipment's manufacturer
in Johnson City, Tenn. A
manufacturer's represen
tative was flown into
Warrenton to assist the
local repair forces and
additional employees from
Carolina Telephone's
Rocky Mount office also
were dispatched. Repair
parts were brought in from
othei company locations to
supplement existing repair
inventories.
"To our knowledge, the
outage on Monday was the
longest on record for a
central office in Carolina
Telephone's history,"
Barnes said. "We regret
any inconvenience this
highly unusual situation
may have caused our
customers."
Ed McGee, Division
Public Offices manager,
said all Warrenton phone
bills will be adjusted to
compensate for the outage.
Summer Reading Meeting
Scheduled At Library
All children who
registered for the summer
reading program at
Warren County Memorial
Library, and those who
have not registered but are
interested in the program,
are asked to meet at the
library on Monday, June
21.
Children in Kindergarten
through second grade are
to meet at 10:30 a.m. and
those in third through
eighth grades are to meet
at 11 a.m.
The program, "Just
Open a Book," will be
explained at these times
and library cards will be
issued.
Those who are unable to
attend the Monday
sessions are asked to come
by the library as soon as
possible for orientation.
The program runs
through August 21.
Art sessions are planned
after July 4, and further
details will be available at
a later date.
No Tax Increase Forecast
In Warren County's Budget
A tentative budget for
Warren County for the next
fiscal year would require
no change in the current
tax rate of 96 cents per $100
valuation.
The budget, submitted
by County Manager Glen
Newsome, was filed in the
office of Warren Register
of Deeds Jim Hundley on
Friday. Newsome said the
county's property taxes,
which have increased for
Wilkerson Named
Principal At WCHS
James T. Wilkerson,
veteran Warren County
educator, has been named
principal of Warren County
High School, succeeding
Benjamin T. Terrell, who
resigned earlier this year.
The action to name
Wilkerson, one of three
finalists seeking the job,
came on June 9 during a
special closed meeting of
the Warren County Board
of Education.
Monday night, the board
appointed Ben F. Howard
as principal of John
Graham Middle School to
succeed Wilkerson. At the
same time, Shirley H.
White was appointed
principal of Vaughan
Elementary School to
succeed Howard. Mrs.
White was formerly a
reading teacher at Mariam
Boyd School.
Wilkerson, a native of
Granville County, has been
employed in the Warren
County school system for
the past 17 years. He has
served as teacher and
coach at North Warren and
Norlina High schools, and
as principal of Hawkins
Junior High School and
John Graham Middle
School.
A graduate of North
Carolina Central
Carolina Central Uni
versity, Wilkerson has nine
years' experience in school
administration. He, his
wife, the former Carole
Ann Jordan of Warren
County, and their daughter
make their home in the
Norlina area.
Howard has b&n
principal of Vaughan
Elementary School for the
past three years. Prior to
that he taught and coached
a very successful girls
basketball team at John
Graham High School for
nine years. Howard is
married to the former
Helen Rose Andrews and
WILKERSON
iney, aiong wiin ineir two
children, make their home
in the Afton community.
Howard holds degrees in
education from East
Carolina University. Both
Wilkerson and Howard are
currently enrolled in the
Advanced Degree
Program at ECU.
Mrs. White has a back
ground in education in
(Continued on page 8)
the past three years, could
remain unchanged
because of a surplus in this
year's general fund,
interest earned through in
vestment and an increase
in revenue sharing funds.
A public hearing on the
proposed 1982-83 budget is
scheduled for 8 p. m. on
June 23 in the Warren
County Court House.
The proposed budget
calls for a general fund ap
propriation of |3.4 million,
up 1.4 percent over the
1981-82 year.
The tentative budget
recommends an eight
percent salary increase for
county employees, who got
a five percent increase last
year. Newsome pointed out
that Warren's employees
are considered for salary
adjustments on an annual
basis only and do not
receive such benefits as
merit pay, longevity pay
and a personnel classifi
cation plan.
The proposed budget
calls for increases of 9.9
percent in current
expenses for the Warren
County school system, and
a 100 percent increase in
capital outlay.
(Members of the Warren
County Board of Educa
tion, meeting Monday
night, expressed gratitude
for the school system's
share of the budget, and
instructed Supt. Mike
Williams to express the
board's appreciation to
county commissioners.)
An increase of more than
68 percent is recommended
for the Warren County fire
departments and rescue
(Continued on page 8)
3 Convicts Escape,
2 Are Recaptured
By KAY HORNER
Staff Writer
Two of three minimum
security prisoners who
escaped from the N. C.
Correction Unit in Warren
County early Monday
morning were appre
hended the same day,
according to H. J. Carter,
correction unit superin
tendent.
Randy Allen Clark, 26,
originally from Ohio, was
captured Monday at the
Wise Truck Stop by
Warren County Deputy
Sheriff Bobby Bolton. He
was serving a two-year
sentence for escape and
breaking and entering.
Danny Griffin, 26, of
Zebulon was captured by
Department of Correction
personnel as he exited
from the woods onto a
public road in the Snow Hill
Community between
Warrenton and Ridgeway.
(Continued on page 8)
Methodist Appointments
Have Impact On Warren
Bishop William R.
Cannon of the North
Carolina Conference of the
United Methodist Church
has announced annual
ministerial appointments
for the 56-county
conference, including five
in Warren County.
The Rev. James L.
Summey will be coming to
Wesley Memorial In
Warrenton from St. Pauls
in Tabor City.
The Rev. Charles E.
Owens will be leaving
Wesley Memorial for the
Durham District and the
Brooksdale - Brookland
charge in Roxboro.
The Rev. James A.
Williams is coming to
Norlina from Salem
Church in Oxford.
Williams has been an
ordained minister for 20
years and Norlina will be
his 11th pastorate.
The Rev. Curtis
Campbell will be assuming
responsibilities at Grace
Church in Burlington.
The Rev. Jonathan E.
Strother, who is originally
from Sanford, will become
pastor of the Methodist
church at Macon. He has
been assistant manager of
a discount store in Coats
for the past two years, and
will be entering Duke
Divinity School this fall.
The Rev. Martin
Armstrong, now pastor at
Macon, will become
associate pastor of Jarvis
Memorial in Greenville.
Coining to Jerusalem
Zion is the Rev. LaYerae
B. Womack, Jr. who
appointed last June as
associate pastor at
Englewood in Rocky
Mount.
The Rev. Gordan Allen,
now at Jerusalem-Bon,
will be going to AllanvUle
Church near Rostaro.
The Rev. Charles R.
Cooper will be coming to
Bethlehem-Shady Grove
from the lferritts
Ebenezer charge in the
Sanford District. An
Arkansas native, Cooper is
a student at Duke Divtnity
School.
The Rev. John ]
will be leaving I
Shady Grow lor Spring
Valley and Flat Rock,
outside <4 \
the Vance District
The *
effective tomorrow
r).