Warren tonlden. Library X
117 S.Maln St.
Warrenton. N.C. 27599 A|4|^ %_ ^
Stye barren lEmtrfi
Volume 86 25° Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, February 2, 1983 Number 5
OBSERVE ONE-MAN OPERATION - Some of
the approximately 70 Warren County residents who
attended a demonstration of a one-man sawmill at
Areola Lumber Company on Thursday observe a
sawing exhibition. Sponsored by the N. C. Forestry
Service, Warren County ASCS Office, Soil Conser
vation Service and the Agricultural Extension Ser
vice, the two-hour demonstration showed how por
table sawmills can do custom sawing for local land
owners. The costs of operating a portable sawmill
will range from five cents to 10 cents per board foot.
Hundreds of millions of board feet of timber are lost
yearly in North Carolina because landowners can
not sell their trees that die from insects, weather or
natural causes, those attending the demonstration
were told. The portable sawmill makes it easy to
convert these trees into useable lumber.
(Staff Photo)
Plant Inspection Ordered
Dangerous Situation Found
In Wing Of John Graham
A makeshift cafeteria
has been set up at John
Graham Middle School
in Warrenton after
school officials found de
fective roof supports
which pose a safety
hazard in both the audi
torium and normal
feeding area of the
school.
Members of the
Warren County Board of
Education, meeting in
emergency session at
John Graham at 5:30 p.
m. Monday, received a
full report on the
dangerous situation
found at the school, and
unanimously authorized
a Rocky Mount ar
chitect to examine the
entire school facility to
determine its physical
condition.
Superintendent Mike
Williams told the board
that the auditorium and
old cafeteria area which
is situated beneath the
^auditorium would be
placed off limits for
faculty and the school's
300 students.
It was in the roof of
the auditorium that a
routine inspection turn
ed up a water damaged
roof truss, one of four
which support the audi
torium roof. School
board members and
administrative person
nel Monday indicated
concern that all four
trusses may have suf
fered damage and could
give way if excessive
weight is placed upon
the roof.
Assistant Supt. James
Jordan told board
members that the
situation with the roof
was getting "progres
sively worse" and that
there are several other
problems associated
with the auditorium. He
said mortar joints be
tween bricks in the
north and west wall of
the auditorium "are in
bad shape" and that
water is coming in
through walls. He said
exterior decorative edg
ing is cracking and
some is falling off.
Supt. Williams told
board members that the
situation at John
Graham could cost be
tween $80,000 and'
$100,000 to correct.
Williams questioned
whether it was worth
putting "that kind of
money" into a building
constructed in 1915.
Appearance Is Slated
Here By Bloodmobile
The Warrenton Lion
ess Club is sponsoring a
Bloodmobile next Wed
nesday (Feb. 9) from
noon until 5:30 p. m. at
the Lions Den.
"Donating blood is
quick and relatively
painless," Lioness
President Alice Robert
son said recently. "Af
ter a brief interview and
tests for such things as
weight, temperature,
pulse rate and blood
pressure, one pint is
taken while the donor is
in a comfortable,
Criminal Court Term
Will Begin Monday
Three murder cases
are scheduled for trial
during a term of Warren
County Superior Court
scheduled to begin here
at 10 a. m. Monday.
Judge John C. Martin of
Durham will preside.
District Attorney
David R. Waters is ex
pected to prosecute the
docket for the state.
Contained among the 40
cases set for trial are
murder cases in which
Joseph Smith, Haywood
Perry and Sam P.
Cheek, Jr. are listed as
defendants.
A variety of cases
ranging from speeding
to manslaughter are in
cluded on the trial
calendar. One case is on
probation docket, two
cases are on the for
feiture docket and nine
cases are on the appear
ance docket.
Members of the Grand
Jury are expected to
determine whether to
find true bills of indict
ment in eight cases.
reclining position."
Blood must be collec
ted seven days a week to
meet the needs of
patients in the 104
hospitals served by the
Carolinas Blood Ser
vices Region, Mrs.
Robertson said. She ad
ded that over 4.5 million
people live in this geo
graphical area, com
prised of 57 counties.
Actual blood donation
takes only about seven
minutes. A short rest
period with light
refreshments follows.
Blood volume is
restored within several
hours, and red cell
volume within several
weeks.
Anyone between the
ages of 17 and 66, weigh
ing at least 110 pounds,
and in good health, is
eligible to donate blood.
Mrs. Robertson would
also like to remind coun
ty residents who gave
blood samples to the
Warren County Health
Department in the
recent sampling of those
in the area adjoining the
PCB landfill that they
can still give a pint next
Wednesday. The small
sample taken at the
Health Department will
not effect one's
eligibility to give again.
There is no money
budgeted for the repair
work. An engineering
finn which spent 26
hours studying the
situation and presenting
its finding to school of
ficials has submitted a
bill of $1,040, Williams
said.
John Graham Prin
cipal Ben F. Howard
told members that after
the -structural defects
were discovered several
weeks ago, school food
personnel "did a fan
tastic job" of providing
meals for the student
body. For two days
students were taken to
Hawkins School where
they were fed while ef
forts to relocate the
John Graham cafeteria
were undertaken.
Howard said an
automobile mechanics
building, constructed in
1972 but vacant since a
school consolidation two
years ago, had been
pressed into service and
that food preparation
equipment from the old
cafeteria had been
transferred and in
stalled.
Mrs. Ann Kilian, food
service supervisor for
the county, told board
members that the im
provised cafeteria had
received approval from
the county sanitarian,
and that some baking
was being done at
Hawkins School. She
said she knew of no
reason why the stopgap
measure could not be
utilized until the end of
the current school year.
Henry Faulkner, who
directs the county
schools' maintenance
department, said that
there is not sufficient
electrical service to
operate all the equip
ment found in the old
cafeteria, and that some
sewer problems at the
new feeding site could
develop because of lade
of proper elevation in
the sewer line serving
the building.
Principal Howard
(Continued on page 8)
Tests Are Negative
No PC6 Trace Found
In Afton Area Wells
• »
No trace of PCB has
been found in water
samples taken from 36
private water wells
located near the PCB
Landfill at Afton,
Warren County Health
Director Joseph l^ennon
reported yesterday.
lennon said that he
had received a report
showing that each of the
wells tested had less
than one part per billion
of the banned chemical.
He said equipment used
to test the concentration
of PCBs is unable to
detect amounts below
one part per billion. The
Environmental Protec
tion Agency has said 50
parts per million or less
in soil is not a threat to
public health, Lennon
said.
The sampling was
done by Thomas C. Kar
noski, an environmental
engineer with the Solid
and Hazardous Waste
Management Branch of
the State Division of
Health Services. The
state's Occupational
Health Laboratory in
Raleigh completed the
analysi? lennon said.
The well sampling
was the latest in a series
of tests performed in the
area to determine if
PCBs from the landfill
were entering the en
vironment. Monitoring
wells on each side of the
landfill and samples of
both water and
sediment from nearby
Richneck Creek and a
tributary examined late
last year detected no
PCB contamination.
Lennon said the most
recent testing — that of
air samples at and near
the landfill — was con
eluded early this week.
In this testing, done by
the Battelle Memorial
Institute of Columbus,
Ohio working under con
tract with EPA,
sophisticated equipment
was put into operation
on Wednesday of last
week and operated until
early this week. Sam
ples were taken near the
main vent pipe in the
center of the landfill and
at various distances
from the landfill, in
cluding a sampling in
the yard of Dennis
Harris, nearest resident
to the landfill.
Lennon said the Ohio
research organization
"is trying to do a
thorough job" and that
he expects to receive a
report on the air sam
pling shortly.
In Wake Of Dispute
Hospital Problem Solving
Steps Are Being Discussed
By KAY HORNER
Staff Writer
Three Warrenton
physicians were con
tinuing coverage of
Warren General
Hospital's emergency
room today, despite a
letter of January 6 to the
hospital's board of
trustees stating their in
tention to cease
providing evening and
weekend emergency
room coverage as of
ypsterday.
vRoy Pat Robertson,
chairman of the hospital
board, said this week
that the possibility of
staffing the emergency
room with resident doc
tors from Duke Medical
Center on weekends
was being looked into.
He said that this alter
native would be less ex
pensive than the one
previously discussed
where physician ser
vices would be secured
through an agency. He
estimated the cost of the
Duke services at $50,000
to $60,000 per year, as
opposed to $250,000 a
year for agency ser
vices.
"They're taking steps
in the right direction,"
Dr. Donald R. Coffman,
one of the three
physicians involved,
said yesterday. "As long
as everybody is acting
in good faith, we'll
negotiate."
The dispute over
emergency room duty
came to a head last
week. Drs. Coffman,
Kirit Trivedi, and Mark
Pomerans had stated
their intention and the
hospital board respond
ed that failure of a doc
tor to provide emergen
cy room coverage when
scheduled would result
in that doctor's loss of
staff privileges at
Warren General.
Dr. Pomerans said
last week that the doc
tors were seeking relief
from having to be on call
every week for two or
three nights and one or
two weekends each
month.
Robertson and Frank
Hinson, hospital ad
ministrator, had ex
pressed concern that the
hospital could not con
tinue to operate under
state law without an
emergency service with
appropriate facilities
and one or more duly
licensed physicians
available or on call for
emergencies at all
times.
Dr. Pomerans' office
said this week that a
two-week schedule for
rotation of emergency
room duty had been
drawn up and was ready
for distribution to the
doctors.
Although his
signature appears on
the Jan. 6 letter from the
physicians to the board,
Dr. Pomerans is under
contract to the hospital
until March 8, and has
stated his intention to
honor his contract.
The hospital is also
seeking to fill two staff
positions following the
resignation of a medical
technologist and direc
tor of nursing. However,
Hinson said these resig
nations were received
prior to the recent
developments over staf
fing of the emergency
room.
Warren County
Jobless Rate Up
Warren and 42 other
Tar Heel counties ex
perienced a rise in the
unemployment rate
during December,
figures just released by
the Employment Securi
ty Commission (ESC)
reveal.
Warren County's
unemployment rate for
December stood at 14.2
percent, up from a
November jobless rate
of 13.6 percent.
The ESC report
showed that 750 of
Warren's employment
pool of 5,270 workers
were idle in December.
In December 1982, 52
counties recorded
double digit unemploy
ment. In the same
month a year ago, 19
counties had unemploy
ment rates of 10 percent
or more.
The statewide total
unemployment rate was
9.0 percent in December
and 9.5 percent in
November.
Among Warren's
neighbors, Vance had a
December jobless rate
of 12.9 percent, Frank
lin recorded 10.1 percent
unemployment, and
Halifax had 11.2 percent
of its work force idle.
At Soul City
Industrial Facility
Ready For Occupancy
Officials of Central
Sportswear are eyeing
Monday as the starting
date of operations in
their 73,144-square-foot
facility in Soul City.
Jerry Costa, vice
president of manufac
turing with Campus
Sportswear, parent
company of both Central
Sportswear and Caro
lina Sportswear in War
renton, said operations
in the Warren Industrial
Building at Soul City
will be handled initially
by some 35 workers who
will be transferred from
Carolina Sportswear.
The Soul City facility
— known as SoulTech I
when built in 1975 at a
cost of more than $1
million — will be the site
of an operation in
volving the cutting of
knit shirts.
The move to the new
facility will open the
way for 60 new jobs at
Carolina Sportswear in
finishing, sewing and
supervision, Costa said.
In two years, it could
mean 120 new jobs at
Carolina Sportswear.
Because of the state of
the economy, Costa
would not predict the
number of new jobs
created by the expan
sion to Soul City, but he
said estimates on the
work force have not
changed since the com
pany announced plans to
locate in Soul City last
August. Then it was
estimated that the move
would create between
150 and 175 new jobs.
Some 50,000-square
feet of the Soul City
building has been
renovated to make room
for cutting equipment
Work on the remainder,
to be developed as office
space, is expected to
proceed shortly.
There will be no ex
pansion in the physical
layout of Carolina
Sportswear, Costa said,
although more em
ployees will be able to
work in the 60,000
square-foot Warrenton
plant with the transfer
of the cutting depart
ment.
Scouts In Area
Face Activities
Special activities are
on tap later this month
for 115 Warren County
Scouts who will be
taking part in Anniver
sary Week activities,
Scout Executive Dave
Flory said this week.
The events will begin
with a Feb. 5 gathering
at the Henderson Mall
where all troops, packs
and explorer posts have
been invited to set up
displays, Flory said.
On Feb. 6, which has
been designated Scout
Sunday, all Scouts are
invited to participate in
Sunday services at their
churches.
On Feb. 8, the Boy
Scouts' 75th birthday,
Scouts are encouraged
to wear their uniforms
to school and later at
tend a 6:30 p. m. birth
day party at the Haider
son Mall. During the
party Scouts will enjoy
free cake and juice and
will see North
Carolina's largest Scout
emblem, Flory said.
Warren County now
has 11 troops and packs.
(Continued on page ST