Warrentonllem .Library X
117 S .Main St.
larrenton, N.C. 27589
She Harrat iUcorfo
Volume 89 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, April 30, 1986 Number 18
Two men were killed in a fiery collision Thursday morning near
the ramp leading from U.S. 1 at Wise onto the northbound lane of 1-85.
Firemen are shown above extinguishing the flames that engulfed a
paltry truck, which rear-ended another truck, shown in the
background. After the collision, the pastry truck burst into flames.
(Staff Photo by Howard Jones)
School Board Races
To Be Determined
By Warren Voters
All Warren County voters,
regardless of party affiliation,
will be eligible to vote In Tues
day's primary election on two
races for the county Board of
Education, a constitutional
amendment on elections and a
statewide referendum on nuclear
waste.
In the non-partisan Board of
Education race, incumbents
Henry T. Pitchford, Jr. and Yar
borough Williams, Jr. are facing
opposition from Sonny A. Peoples
and Loree Strickland Harris,
respectively.
Pitchford is seeking his second
full term as Warrenton's
representative on the board. He
was appointed in 1981 to fill the
unexpired term of Dr. L. B.
Henderson, who resigned. Pitch
ford was then elected to the board
in 1982.
A foreman at Peck Manufac
turing Company in Warrenton,
Pitchford is a 1960 graduate of
John R. Hawkins High School.
He is president of the Warren
County Chapter of the NAACP
(Continued on page 10)
Senate And House Seats
Up For Grabs Tuesday
Facing Democratic voters in
Tuesday's primary election will
be races for the District 2 N.C.
Senate seat and District 7 N.C.
House seat.
Warrenton Attorney Frank W.
Ballance, Jr., who has
represented District 7 in the
House for two terms, is now seek
ing the District 2 Senate seat held
by J. J. (Monk) Harrington of
Lewiston.
A native of Bertie County,
Ballance earned both his
undergraduate and law degrees
from N.C. Central University.
He came to Warrenton in 1966
as law partner of Attorney T. T.
Clayton. That partnership was
dissolved in 1979, and since that
time Ballance has had other law
partners and now has offices in
both Warrenton and Weldon.
Prior to coming to Warren
County, Ballance was a librarian
and professor at South Carolina
State College School of Law in
Orangeburg.
A member of Greenwood Bap
tist Church, Ballance has been
active in politics locally and has
served as attorney for the War
ren County Board of Education
and chairman of the county
Board of Elections.
He is chairman of the Second
Congressional District Black
Caucus and is on the Board of
Governors of the N.C. Associa
tion of Black Lawyers.
He is also vice chairman of the
Warren County Political Action
Council.
He and his wife, Bernadine,
also an attorney, have three
children.
Harrington, resident of
Lewiston, has served in the
Senate continuously for 23 years
and is the first ranking member
of the Senate in seniority and in
continuous service.
Now serving as Senate presi
dent pro tempore, the third
ranking position in state govern
ment, Harrington represents
North Carolina at the National
Conference of State Legislatures
(NCSL) and the Southern
Legislative Conference (SLC).
He is a member of the SLC Ex
ecutive Committee and the NCSL
Legislative Organization and
Management Committee.
In the Seventh District race,
Hamilton agribusinessman Roy
Everett faces Enfield attorney
Thomas Hardaway for the seat
now held by Ballance.
Everett, who operates a fami
ly farm equipment business, now
serves as mayor pro-tern of the
Hamilton Board of Commis
sioners and is in his third term on
the board.
Everett, who attended Atlantic
Christian College in Wilson,
North Carolina State University
in Raleigh and East Carolina
University in Greenville, served
as a delegate to the district and
state Democratic Conventions in
1984.
He has helped to obtain Com
munity Development Block
Grant funding in excess of 81
million for the Town of Hamilton.
He is married to the former
Vickie Powell of Gold Point. They
have two children.
Hardaway, a native of Halifax
County, is a graduate of Howard
University and N.C. Central
University School of Law.
A former law partner of
Ballance in Weldon, Hardaway
has been engaged in the solo
practice of law since 1984.
He serves as an at-large
member of the Halifax County
Economic Development Com
mission and as second vice
(Continued on Page 10)
Commissioners And
Clerk Destinies
Will Be Decided
Warren County Democrats will
decide the outcome Tuesday of
races for clerk of Superior Court,
county commissioners from
Districts 3 and 4, and sheriff.
Incumbent Richard E. Hunter,
Jr., in his fifth year as clerk of
Superior Court, is being chal
lenged by Robert D. Kirk, Jr., a
park ranger at Kimball Point on
Kerr Lake.
The son of Edward and Louise
Hunter of Warrenton, Hunter is a
graduate of John Graham High
School. He holds a B.S. degree in
business from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
also attended Louisburg College.
He was first appointed clerk in
1981, following the death of then
Clerk Anne F. Davis. Prior to
that. Hunter served for seven
years as administrative assistant
to the district attorney for the
Ninth Judicial District.
A former member of the War
renton Town Board, Hunter is a
member of Wesley Memorial
United Methodist Church.
He is married to the former
Mary Lang of Farmville, and
they have two sons.
A native of Salisbury, Kirk
received his undergraduate
degree in recreation from N.C.
A&T University in Greensboro.
He also holds a master's degree
(Continued on page 10)
Lawmen Investigate
Lake Gaston Break-Ins
Two break-ins at homes in
Lake Gaston subdivisions have
been reported in recent days to
the Warren County Sheriff's
Department.
On Saturday, Leslie Randolph
Bass of Nashville reported that
his home in Hunter's Creek Sub
division was entered and equip
ment valued at $1,000 taken.
Commissioners Sit
As Board Of Review
Warren County commis
sioners, sitting last week as the
Board of Equalization and
Review, heard complaints fronts
24 county residents on their tax
listings.
The board granted no requests
for changes in the valuation of
land, but approved 17 requests
for corrections in listings, ac
cording to Tax Supervisor
Janice Haynes.
Those requests involved such
items as corrections in the(
number of acres listed, Mrs.
Haynes said.
Missing were two 19-inch color
televisions and a 35-millimeter
Canon camera, flash, lens and
case.
Entry, which was made by
kicking in the front door, ap
parently occurred sometime be
tween April 15 and 26.
On Tuesday morning, James
Harrison Boyles of 55 Gub Road
in Wildwood Point Subdivision
reported that the front door of his
home had been forced open while
he was away, but nothing ap
peared to be missing.
According to reports, Boyles
left home at 9:45 p.m. Monday
and found the door open when he
returned at 12:30 a.m.
Deputy J. A. McCowan In
vestigated both incidents.
On April 14, larceny of almost
$4,000 worth of items was
reported by Paige Lamberson of
445 Timber lane Drive, Littleton.
Included in the items were a
typewriter, vacuum cleaner,
video recorder and encyclo
pedias.
Two Men Killed
In Truck Wreck
On Interstate 85
Two men were killed early
Thursday morning in a fiery col
lision on Interstate 85 north of
Wise.
Ben Wilburn Young, 47, of
Lewisville and Dallas Benjamin,
29, of Charlotte died after the
truck in which they were travel
ing went off the highway, struck
a parked rig and burst into
flames.
According to a Highway Patrol
report filed by Trooper R. T.
Futrell, the truckers, who were
hauling pastries, were north
bound on the interstate about four
miles north of Wise when the ac
cident occurred, shortly after 1
a.m.
From all indications, the
pastry truck ran into the rear end
of another rig parked near the
end of a ramp leading onto the
interstate.
The occupant of the parked
truck, Richard Lewiski of
Nashville, Tenn., was not serious
ly hurt, according to reports.
He had apparently pulled to the
side of the road to fill out a log
book when his rig, which was car
rying 50-pound bags of pine-bark
chips, was rear-ended.
One fireman estimated the rig
was parked about 200 yards
beyond the base of the U.S. 1
ramp left ding to the interstate.
According to Bruce Perkinson,
chief of the Hawtree Volunteer
Fire Department, the fuel tank of
the pastry truck apparently rup
tured on impact, igniting the
gasoline.
When firemen from Hawtree
arrived at the scene, the pastry
truck was in flames and the vic
tims were still inside the cab.
Their bodies were removed and
and carried by the Warren Coun
ty Ambulance Service to the N.C.
Medical Examiner's Office in
Chapel Hill.
About 1,200 gallons of water
was required to extinguish the
Tax Collections
Placed At $49,725
Warren County's net collec
tions from the one-and-one-half
percent sales and use tax during
the month of March amounted to
$49,725.24, according to a recent
report by the North Carolina
Department of Revenue.
Collections statewide totaled
$33,685,031.18, the report
indicated.
Collections by neighboring
counties for March were:
Franklin, $89,381.63; Granville,
$124,046.73; Halifax, $242,728.88;
and Vance, $186,131.26.
blaze and clean the spilled fuel
and oil from the roadway.
The pastry truck was com
pletely destroyed. Damage to the
other truck was estimated at
$10,000.
Perkinson said firemen spent
almost three hours on the scene.
Both lanes of 1-85 were blocked
for a brief period and traffic had
to be rerouted for approximate
ly two-and-one-half hours.
Members of Hawtree Fire
Department returned to the
scene later that morning after the
fire rekindled.
Construction
Work Started
In Wise Area
Construction work has begun in
the Wise area to relieve telephone
facilities, according to Carolina
Telephone Company spokesper
son Richard R. Barnes, Jr.
The work order will place ap
proximately 22,700 feet of buried
cables. In addition, the proposal
includes placing in service one
Subscriber Carrier System
equipped with 182 lines initially,
with provisions for expansion to
310 lines as needed.
Plans are to abandon 44,951 feet
of air core cables in order to
avoid service troubles and high
maintenance costs. Some of the
cables have been in use since
1966, Barnes said. By placing
underground cable, Carolina
Telephone avoids setting poles to
support aerial wire and cable,
thus enhancing the environment
of the area. Underground cable
also is not damaged by winds, or
storms and provides more
reliable service.
There are at present 294 lines
and stations working in this feed
area, Barnes continued. A recent
development forecast indicates
an increase to 306 lines and sta
tions by cutover in June 1986, in
creasing to 506 lines and stations
by June 1996.
The Subscriber Carrier System
and cable proposed on this work
order, along with additional
subscriber carrier and channel
additions, will provide for the
10-year forecasted requirements
in the area and also condition the
subscriber network for new
services.
Barnes said the project is part
of Carolina Telephone's 1986 pro
gram of expansion and improve
ment and will cost about $83,000.
A pastry truck was reduced to a smoldering heap
following its collision early Thursday morning with
another rig on 1-85 near Wise. Volunteer firemen
mi
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