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Volume 87 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, December 5, 1984 Number 49
Yuletide Parade
Slated Saturday
The sounds and sights
of Christmas will travel
through Warrenton on
Saturday, Dec. 8, beginning
at 4 p. m., during
the annual Christmas
Parade. Walter Gardner,
heading a group of
Warrenton merchants
who have assumed sponsorship
of this year's
parade, announced that
approximately 30 entrants
have reserved
places in the procession.
Marching bands,
floats sponsored by area
businesses, civic
organizations, and
school groups, antique
cars, horse-drawn and
(Continued on page 8)
Everlyna Norwood, (right) recently named Outstanding
Woman in Apiculture in Warren County,
is shown above with County Extension Chairman
Russell King and Extension Agent Miss Margaret
Perdue Construction Plans Revealed
By KAY HORNER
News Editor
Plans are underway for construction of a
breeder hatchery in Warren County by Maryland-based
Perdue Industries, one of the nation's
largest poultry firms.
Director of Engineering Howard Yerges confirmed
yesterday that Perdue hopes to begin
construction by Feb. 1 of a 30,000-square-foot
facility for breeding laying hens for poultry production.
The operation would produce approxi
Woods after she was presented a certificate of
recognition. Mrs. Norwood, who has a Per*ue
poultry operation, is married to Jake Norwood and
they have four children. (Staff Photo)
Manufacturing Plant And Outlet
To Operate On North Main Street
By MARY C.HARRIS
Staff Writer
Two new faces in the
business district of Warrenton
are those of
Janice and Tony Johnson,
owners of
Warrington Manufacturing
Co. on N. Main
Street, in the building
formerly occupied by
Western Auto.
Johnson and his wife
have recently opened a
retail store, offering
ladies' wear and sportswear
for sale, and they
are making preparation
for beginning a small
manufacturing operation.
The factory will include
the cut-and-sew
process for T-shirts and
sportswear, as well as
screen-printing. Manufacturing
is expected to
begin by midDecember,
according to
Johnson, who has 17
years of experience in
the business.
Future plans include
the construction of a
Murder Trial Is Scheduled
A man accused in the
1979 murder of Inez
merchant William
Kearney Thompson is
scheduled to go on trial
in Warren County
Superior Court next
week.
Hollister Man
Takes Post Here
A Hollister man has
joined the staff of the
Warren County Sheriffs
Department as a child
support enforcement
officer.
Willie Junior Richardson
of Rt. 1, Hollister
began his part-time
responsibilities here this
week.
Richardson, 22, is a
1980 graduate of Eastman
High School in Enfield.
He has worked as a
jailor for the Halifax
County Sheriffs Department
for the past two
years.
In his new post,
Richardson will be
working with Title IV-D
non-support cases.
Richardson succeeds
W. D. Bartholomew in
the position
%
Jeffery Perry, who
eluded authorities for
five years, was arrested
in New York last May,
concluding joint efforts
by the FBI, State
Bureau of Investigation
and Warren County
Sheriffs Department to
locate him.
Thompson's badly
beaten body was found
Sept 24 in a storage
area of his general merchandise
store.
Also on the docket is
the murder trial of Hattie
Kersey, accused in
the shooting death of her
husband in their Ridgeway
home in October
1963. The case has been
continued during past
sessions of Superior
Court.
A total of 144 cases are
on the court docket.
Court convenes Monday
morning at 10 a. m.
Norlina Board Handles
Short Business Agenda
The Norlina Town
Board disposed of a
short agenda of routine
business Monday night
including renewal of a
franchise agreement
with Carolina Power k
Light Co. granting the
company the right to
operate within the town
limits.
The last agreement
was signed in 1925, and
by N. C. General Statute
must be renewed every
60 years.
The board also approved
payment of $350
for an audit required in
connection with the
town's recent application
for a Community
Development
Block Grant. Although
the grant was denied,
town officials hope to
reapply for funds during
the next grant cycle.
James Boyd with the
town Maintenance
Department reported
that two seals on the
town's sewage pumping
operation had malfunctioned
during the
weekend, but had been
repaired. No damage
resulted.
sizeable manufacturing
plant in the county, at
which time the building
currently under lease on
N. Main Street will be
taken completely by the
retail store.
Johnson stated that he
is taking applications
for sewing machine
operators and sales personnel.
He expects to
employ 25 to 30 people in
the initial phase of the
Warrenton operation.
Natives of Virginia
Beach, Va., the Johnsons
plan to move to
Warren County in the
near future.
mately 100,000 chicks a week.
The facility will be built on a 15-acre site on S.
R. 1113 about one-third of a mile from its intersection
with S. R. 1112 on what was at one time a
part of the Soul City complex.
The site is in the southeast corner of a 1,353acre
tract owned by Perdue.
Yerges estimated that the hatchery would employ
about IS and that it would not be in production
until nine to 10 months after the start of construction.
^eraue Dougnt its first parcel of 500 acres in the
Soul City area in 1979. At that time, the company
was considering the site for a poultry complex
expected to employ more than 1,000 people with
an initial investment of $20 million.
However, Yerges said Perdue is now interested
in selling 750 acres of its 1,353-acre tract.
Perdue has facilities in Bertie, Northampton,
Halifax ard Hertford counties and is a multimi'lion
dollar investor in North Carolina.
Mounting Debts Force Action
Closing Of Hospital
Authorized By Board
By KAY HORNER
News Editor
After month? of deliberation on what to do with
financially ailing Warren General Hospital, county
commissioners and hospital trustees agreed Monday
to close the hospital effective January 1 to begin
renovation of the facility and preparation to offer an
alternative to the traditional hospital care now
available at the 37-bed facility.
The boards had hoped to delay a decision on the
hospital's future until completion of a state study on
the hospital due in February. But mounting debts
prompted action this week.
Like hundreds of other small, rural county
hospitals throughout the country, Warren General
has been unable to compensate for reductions in
federal Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements,
spiraling costs of health care delivery, and steadily
declining patient eensus.
However, local county and hospital officials are
Apparently "the first in the nation to seek ways to
convert an in-patient hospital into a health care
facility offering other services better designed to
meet the medical needs of the community.
Pending the report from the N. C. Office of Rural
Health on how the county can accomplish that goal,
commissioners and trustees have adopted an interim
plan that calls for the establishment of an
urgent care center to treat minor injuries and
medical complaints during hours when local
physician offices are closed, primarily between the
hours of 6 p. m. and 2 a. m. The plan also provides
for the relocation of the Warren County Ambulance
Service to the hospital grounds. The service is on
call 24 hours a day.
During the next six months, extensive repairs to
the roof and interior of the hospital building will be
underway thanks to funding from a federal grant,
and commissioners and trustees have pledged to
work together on reducing the debt of the hospital
which is currently in excess of $200,000 and increasing
daily.
In addition, Warren County commissioners Monday
voted to amend the county budget to provide
from the county's contingency fund $60,000 to the
hospital for operational expenses and to accelerate
the current budgeted allocation of $10,000 a month
by four months to provide the hospital with $40,000
immediately.
Details on the start-up of the urgent care ™»nter
and the suspension of in-patient services are being
Leonard Kfllaa, left, district technician with the Sofl Conservation Service la
Warren Canty for M years, was hsoered for his leag service at a testimonial
banqaet held oa Wcdaeoday night of last week at the MkkDebnrg Steak Hense.
KlUaa, a Warn native, Is aow working as a soil conservatiaa technician hi
Vaace Cannty. He Is sbawa being presented aa engraved plaque by Nat While,
saperviaeref the Wairea Sail aad Water Canoervatlea District Kflha'sfrieadi
aad fellow waiters were present far the steak dinner aad award prestate
tloa. *{•- ■ * (StaffPhete)
worked out this week by the hospital board.
However, Denise Runde, hospital administrator
said yesterday that the hospital and emergency
room would continue to operate until the Jan. 1 conversion.
Trustees last week faced the possible termination
of ER and inhalation therapy services, which are
contracted out, because payment for past services
had not been met.
That problem has been resolved and those services
will continue, Mrs. Runde explained, on an
around-the-clock basis, but radiology will operate
only eight hours a day Monday through Friday.
Ms. Runde said she anticipated that some of the
hospital's 41 full-time and 10 part-time employees
would be retained for the urgent care unit, but added
that final determination on personnel matters
had not been made.
Only one patient was hospitalized this past
weekend and the average daily census for November
was 5.6.
Despite the current crisis, state officials at Monday's
meeting were optimistic about the future of
health care in Warren County.
Jim Bernstein with the state Rural Health
Department told a group that there were resources
available to "put together a first class primary care
health system in Warren County."
While cautioning that his office's report had not
been finalized, he said his staff felt that there was a
need for "three, four or five physicians in a group
with ample time for care during the day and a fine
(Continued on page 2)
Proposal Is Accepted
Saving Is Seen
In New Tax Plan
The process by which
vehicles are listed and
appraised by the
Warren County tax
supervisor's office will
soon be streamlined
with the help of a
Charlotte data
processing firm.
Warren County commissioners
Monday accepted
a proposal from
Automatic Data Processing
Systems (ADPS)
Inc. to provide a list
of the approximately
16,000 vehicles in
Warren County by
owner. Also included on
the list will be the
owner's address, the
year, make and model
of the vehicle, the identification
number, title
registration number,
and the license plate
number.
The list will also include
the appraised
value of the vehicle, information
which Tax
Supervisor Janice
Haynes told the commissioners
will save untold
hours of research
for her staff.
Currently, the tax
supervisor's office must
verify the vehicle listing
submitted by each taxpayer
with a computer
printout from the
Division of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) and
then determine the appraised
value of the
vehicle from the
National Automobile
Dealer's Association
value book. The process
takes several months,
according to Mrs.
Haynes.
Cost of the ADPS service
was estimated by
John Farthing, company
representative at
about $2,600 annually,
based on a flat fee of
$2,500 for ADPS and an
estimate of $70 for the
DMV printout and $30
for a reference manual.
The commissioners
approved the service for
one year at a cost of
$2,600 plus the cost of the
printout and manual, to
allow for unanticipated
expenses.
The program's efficiency
is to be evaluated
at the end of
November by the tax
supervisor. ADPS has
guaranteed a full refund
to the county if the
program is not cost efficient.
In Wake County, Farthing
told the commissioners,
savings
from the program in
terms of labor and lncrease
in revenues have