Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Feb. 13, 1985, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Varrcntonics.Library X 117 S.Mala St. larranton, N.C. 27389 Warren lecnrfc Volume 88 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, February 13, 1985 Number 7 Warren School Year Lengthened By Three Days Warren County's public school children, who enjoyed six days of vacation during January due to inclement weather will have to make up three of those days at the end of the school year, the County Board of Education decided Mon day night. One day was made up on Saturday, Feb. 2, and two days were "forgiven" by the board, which has the power by state statute to declare that up to five days can be missed without hav ing to be made up. The other three days will be made up on June 7,11, and 12, previously scheduled as teacher workdays. In other business, the board heard a request from John Hawkins and Curtis Palmer, members of the Warren County Recreation Committee, that local citizens be per mitted to use free of charge gymnasiums at Hawkins Elementary School or John Graham Middle School for recrea tional purposes. A fee of $45 at Hawkins and $53 at John Graham is charged for use of the gyms for a four-hour period from Sept. 15 through May 15 to cover the cost of heating the facilities. Hawkins and Palmer suggested that a small fee be charged for par ticipants and spectators and earmarked for a Warren County Recrea tion Fund. "We want a real, honest to goodness recreation program for Warren County," Hawkins said. "It takes many things to set up a program like this, but we're not talking about buildings. We have buildings. We're talking about use of your school buildings." Palmer, who owns a cleaning service in War renton, has volunteered to supervise recreation, which would be open to anyone in the county. Board members Richard Roddy and Yar borough Williams were appointed to look into the proposal and report back to the full board at the March meeting. The board also dispos ed of the following items of business: —Excused students of North Warren Elemen tary School from having to make up a day of at tendance missed on Jan. 15 due to failure of the school's water system. Teacher pay was also ap proved for that day since teachers reported to work as usual. —Accepted the resignation of Nellie J. White, language arts and social studies teacher at John Graham Middle School, effective Jan. 31.' Mrs. White is going on disability retirement due to health problems. —Accepted the resignation of Cindy R. Pharo, math and science teacher at Norlina Mid dle School, effective Feb. 2. No reason was given for the resignation. —Approved the employment of Catherine A. Hightower of Oxford as speech and language clinician, effec tive Jan. 30. —Approved the employment of Artelia Covington, a graduate of Norlina High School and Elizabeth City State University, as English teacher at Warren Coun ty High School effective Feb. 13. Ms. Covington formerly taught in the public schools of New York City. —Approved maternity leave without pay for Gwendolyn Levister, reading teacher at John Graham Middle School for April 4-May 20. —Approved an over night trip to New York for the secondary academically gifted students April 25-27 and an overnight trip for the Deca Club of Warren County High School to at tend a career develop ment conference In Asheville March 14-16. Many Women, Children May Need Calcium Women and children in Warren County may not be getting the calcium they need to avoid serious health problems, according to Mrs. Mag gie Kiah, director of the WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) nutritional program at the Warren County Health Department. Mrs. Kiah, who recent ly attended a national conference, "Calcium Update," at Duke University, said there is much misinformation being circulated about the need for calcium in the well-balanced diet. Among these, she said, is the notion that milk causes kidney stones and that needed calcium can be provided from pills rather than dairy products. A lack of sufficient calcium in the diet is one of the prime causes of osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to break easily and cripples millions of older Americans. In addition, too little calcium may cause some women to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy, Mrs. Kiah said. More information on calcium-enriched diets is available from Mrs. Kiah. She especially urges pregnant women, those who are nursing infants, and mothers of children under age five to contact the Health Department for more information on the WIC program and for nutrition counseling. Food supplements are also available for those who qualify. Mrs. Kiah can be reached at the Health Department on Ridgeway Street in War renton or by calling J57-1U6. Henry (David Compton) attempts to scare away the hiccups for Katie, the Irish maid (Katy Krider), in last week's performance of "Peck's Bad Roy" at Mariam Boyd Elementary School. The three-act comedy was part of the 1985 tour of UNC-G's Theatre for Young People and was presented in all six of the county's elementary schools. The play was sponsored by Warren County Schools' Cultural Arts Program. (Community Schools Photo) Mrs. Kersey Is Sentenced To Six-Year Prison Term Hattie Mae Kersey of Ridgeway last Wednes day was sentenced to six years in prison after a Warren County jury found her guilty of se cond degree murder in the October 1983 shooting death of her husband, James E. Kersey. Mrs. Kersey could have faced a maximum of 15 years in prison, but Superior Court Judge Henry V. Barnette, Jr. of Raleigh cited mitigating circumstances and the lack of any aggravating circumstances as reasons for a reduced sentence. According to court records, the mitigating circumstances were the absence of a previous record and the mental state of the defendant. The judge found that Mrs. Kersey, 40, had suf fered from a mental disorder that had a bear ing on the offense but was not severe enough to absolve her from guilt. Mrs. Kersey had entered a plea of not guil ty by reason of insanity. She was represented by court-appointed attorney Charles T. Johnson of Warrenton. The jury, composed of seven women and five men, deliberated for six hours before returning the guity verdict at 4:30 p.m. Kersey, who was disabled by amputation of one of his legs at the thigh due to a work related accident, was shot in the right cheek with a 22-caliber rifle on October 2 and died two days later. Warren County Sheriff's Deputy Lawrence Harrison testified last week that the night of the shooting he found Mrs. Kerseylir the Kersey home kneel ing over her wounded husband and crying, "I didn't mean to shoot him." Harrison was the pro secution's only witness. Two witnesses, Dr. Drew Bridges, psychiatrist with the Area Mental Health Pro gram for Vance, Franklin, Granville and Warren counties, and Dr. John D. Butts, associate chief medical examiner for the state, testified for the defense. Dr. Bridges testified that Mrs. Kersey, when he first saw her a year ago, suffered from a "severly debilitating mental illness" that rendered her unable to tell right from wrong. The following cases were also disposed of by Judge Barnette: James Fields, Jr., guilty to four counts of misdemeanor larceny and three counts of misdemeanor breaking and entering, ordered committed as a youthful offender for two years in the N.C. Department of Correction. John Hargrove, Jr., forcible rape, voluntary dismissal. On a charge of incest, Hargrove was found guilty and sentenc --adjo four years and six months in the N.C. Department of Correc tion. The court recom mended immediate work release and that the defendant be psychi atrically evaluated and any treatment that is deemed appropriate be administered. As a con dition of work release, 40 percent of the defen dant's earnings must be deducted for support of his family. Lewis Edward Drumgold, continued un til taken. Order of arrest is outstanding. William Ulrich, guilty to two counts of felonious breaking and entering and four counts of felonious larceny, ordered confined in the N.C. Department of Cor rection for five years (Continued on page 9) Immediate-Care Unit Anticipated Despite Lack Of Federal Funds Plans are still under way for the start-up of an immediate-care cen ter at Warren General Hospital Monday, despite the fact that fun ding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had not been received as of Tuesday afternoon. The new center is slated to begin operation Monday and will be ad ministered by HealthCo of Soul City. HealthCo Executive Director Phil Williams said opening of the center was proceeding on schedule and that HealthCo would cover in itial expenses in an ticipation of receipt of $109,000 in federal funding. In-patient services at the hospital will be ter minated Friday and Mrs. Amy Norwood, act ing administrator, said yesterday local physi cians were aware of the schedule and were in the process of transferring patients to other facilities. There were 13 patients in the hospital on Mon day aqd six on Tuesday, Mrs. Norwood said. The hospital has 26 full-time employees, the majority of which are slated to be terminated. A skeletal crew of five, including Mrs. Norwood, business office, maintenance and medical records staff, will remain on board for the time being. HealthCo recently agreed to work with county commissioners to provide health care for county residents during the interim between clos ing of the hospital's in patient services and opening of an alternative health care facility. Plans call for a physi cian, lab technician, and a patient services clerk to be on duty at the center from 4 p.m. until midnight. An x-ray technician will be on du ty from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The center is designed to offer primary health care services similar to those offered by private physicians in their offices. Williams said he has submitted a total budget of $172,817 that calls for $109,000 to be provided by the federal govern ment, $33,500 by the center's earnings, and the remainder by the county. Renovation funded by a federal grant is cur rently underway at the hospital, and county commissioners hope to have a permanent health care facility in place by mid-summer. Public Not Heard At Public Hearing By MARY C. HARRIS Staff Writer There was no public response to a public hearing scheduled Mon day evening to allow Warrenton's townspeo ple to express their idea^ regarding the direction of a $7,500 planning grant awarded the town through the N. C. Com munity Development Block Grant Program. Rosemary McLean, representative of L. W. Wooten and Company, was present at the hear ing, which was schedul ed jointly with a meeting of the Warrenton Town Board, to explain pro cedures for making ap plication for a larger grant for revitalization of specific areas of the town. Ms. McLean explained that L. E. Wooten Com pany will undertake a complete needs assess ment study of the town and will present recom mendations at the March meeting of the commis sioners. This presenta tion, she said, would be followed by a second public hearing in April before application for funds is made in behalf of projects suggested by the study. All commissioners were present for the regular town board meeting, conducted by Mayor B. G. White. Councilmen agreed that police officers should be directed to en force the Feb. 15 dead line for displaying town tags on automobiles by residents of Warrenton. Town Administrator V. R. (Pete) Vaughan pointed out that pur chase of town tags had declined since the N. C. Department of Motor Vehicles adopted a stag gered system for pur chase of state tags. Bill Neal, water superintendent, inform ed commissioners that efforts by townspeople to cut off their water ser vice during the cold weather had caused a number of problems. Neal stated that residents should be reminded that the water meter and cut-off are town property and that they should notify the Water Department for assistance before tampering with them. Finance officer, Com missioner Eddie Gay ton, reported that figures showed that ap proximately 90 percent of the 1984 town taxes had been collected. Old Issue Is Finally Laid To Rest Board Votes To Sell 14 School-Owned Automobiles By KAY HORNER News Editor The long-debated issue of whether the Warren County Board of Educa tion should maintain a fleet of automobiles for use by the school system's central office staff and principals was finally laid to rest Mon day night when the board voted to sell the 14 cars it owns. The board also v oted to apply $14,065 available in the budget toward pur chase of a 15-passenger van for the school system. Board Chairman Henry T. Pitchford cast the only dissenting vote on the measures recom mended by Schools Superintendent Michael F.Williams. The cars will be declared surplus proper ty as of June 30 and of fered for sale at a price to be negotiated with the purchaser. Of the 14 cars current ly owned, only nine are in regular use, according to Williams. Six are used by members of the central office staff and three are used by principals. Two of the five not assigned for regular use are in operable and carry no in surance and three are used as replacements when needed. The average number of miles on the nine vehicles is 131,354, Williams said. In making his recom mendations, Williams cited the inequity in the assignment of cars, noting that three central office staff members and six principals are not assigned automobiles. Ten of the cars are at least 15 years old, and the latest model year for any of the 14 is 1973. "For seven years, we've been trying to replace vehicles to keep the pool, but each year there are more pressing needs," Williams said. "Some of the cars are very unreliable and the staff is reluctant to drive them...if we keep on keeping on, we'll reach the point when they'll not only be unreliable but unsafe." Williams estimated that the nine cars are driven 73,297 miles an nually. Reimbursement at 25 cents per mile would cost (18,324. Operating the current vehicles at 10.7 cents per mile would cost $7,843 and operating the cur rent vehicles and replac ing two vehicles each year would coat $25,343 annually,Williams figured. In the future, central office staff and prin cipals will be reimburs ed 25 cents per mile, the state rate, for use of their personal cars on school related business. Final approval was also given Monday to the contract terms for Superintendent Williams and Assistant Superintendents James R. Jordan and Rachael Ricks. Base salaries are mandated by the state, and the county supple ment of $3,350 for the superintendent and $1,000 each for the assis tant superintendents was unchanged from the previous contracts. The contracts are for two-year terms from Ju ly 1,1965 to June 30,1987.. The board also heard a brief evaluation of the Quality Assurance Pro gram (QAP) undertaken during the past year by the school system. Warren County was one of about 20 schools selected to participate in a pilot program to ensure classroom effectiveness among beginning tea chers through a six-year teacher preparation pro cess that will begin in the prospective teacher's freshman year in college and continue through the second year of em ployment. Both Sandra Russell, English teacher at War ren County High who served as a "mentor" in the program and Susan Fletdier, a fourth grade teacher at North Warren Elementary, had posi tive comments on the program. The statewide pro gram is expected to become finalized in the next two months and will become mandatory for all school systems in July. The board was also urged by Mrs. Eva M. Clayton, chairperson of the county commis sioners who spoke as a private citizen, to ap point a citizens commit tee to find new resources for meeting the needs of the county school system. Noting that reductions are being discussed in the federal Revenue Sharing program and the state sales tax, from which the schools in the past have received fun ding, Mrs. Clayton told the board that the coun ty was faced with "in creased responsibility" to other county agencies, Including Warren General Hospital and the substandard Warren County Jail. "You must garnish ad ditional support, which will be an advantage to this board," she said. "It's not all (Mian and cent*,...but there must be a maximum use of resources and skills." The board agreed to discuss her proposal at the March meeting.
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 13, 1985, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75