V< arrenton Men.Libra r,
117 S . Ma in St.
Warrenton, N.C. 27
M\\t Harrett HUcorfo
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Volume 89 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, November 19, 1986 Number 47
Escapee Remains At Large
County safety personnel (left to right) Fire Com
missioner George Shearin, Norlina Fire Depart
ment Chief Gene Medlin, Warren County Am
bulance Service Director Dennis Paschall, Robbie
Ross, emergency medical technician and fireman,
and Emergency Management Coordinator Gary
Robenolt inventory new accident equipment. Pur
chases to date include (front row, left to right) a
30 inch Hurst ram, a Hurst cutter, a 27 inch
spreader, (back row, left to right) a power unit, ac
cessory box and hydraulic hose.
(Staff Photo by Howard Jones)
Emergency Extraction Tool Ready
For Use In Warren Co. Accidents
By THURLETTA BROWN
Staff Writer
Every second counts in life
threatening situations. With the
aid of high-technology extraction
devices, safety personnel are
able to minimize the length of
time required to free accident
victims for transport to medical
care. But what about the time in
volved in transporting special
ized equipment to the scene of the
accident?
"Just think back to the recent
car wrecks. What could have
been done in 10 or 15 minutes took
over an hour," Gary Robenolt,
county emergency management
coordinator stated. "These new
tools will prevent a lot of needless
suffering," he continued.
It all started late last year
when county ambulance and fire
department personnel looked at
the accident history of the area
and the length of time required to
get extraction devices to the
scene of the mishap. At that time
the closest extraction devices
were some 25 to 30 minutes away
in Henderson, South Hill or at the
Warren County Rescue Squad at
Lake Gaston.
A proposal was submitted to
the Emergency Management
Council for Region K to secure
funds for extraction tools to serve
the western portion of the coun
ty. Region K funding levels are
uncertain, ranging from $12,000
to $20,000 annually. Proposals
awarded funding in some years
are unsuccessful in others. Last
year was not the year for ap
proval to purchase extraction
tools for the county.
But, that was not the end of it.
The closing of Warren General
Hospital meant that there was no
rescue squad on the western side
of the county. Region K guide
lines required that an accident
vehicle be operational before
funds could be awarded.
According to O. L. (Butch)
Meek, the Norlina Volunteer Fire
Department agreed that some
thing had to be done. "We spent
over $13,000 to refurbish a rescue
vehicle and an additional $6,000
for handtools and other equip
ment." The Norlina department
received rescue certification in
Jan. 1966.
On its second submission to the
Region K Emergency Manage
ment Commission, the proposal
for extraction tools met with suc
cess. An award of one-half of the
needed $9,864 was received and
the county matched the balance.
The tools help to modernize the
accident response capability for
Hie western portion of the county
and help to ensure timely release
of trapped victims.
"What is needed now is an in
creased awareness of the ex
istence of the equipment and a
working familiarity with the
operation of the devices,''
(Continued on page 8B)
Annual Dinner Is Held
By Friends Of Progress
Approximately 125 members,
potential members and their
guests attended the Second An
nual Committee of 100, Inc. Kick
Off Dinner and Meeting last
Thursday evening at the Warren
ton Lion's Den.
Welcomed by Robert U. Jen
kins, president, all in attendance
were treated to fine food and
hospitality as well as thought
provoking commentary from
speakers, Lewis H. Myers, Assis
tant Secretary in the N.C.
Department of Commerce;
Robert E. Leak, Jr., vice presi
dent for Economic Development
at First Union Bank; and J.
Bryan Smith, director of Agri
Business Development at the
N.C. Department of Agriculture.
Lewis Myers, formerly asso
ciated with Soul City, inspired all
to be proud of the accomplish
ments of the county. Citing the re
cent acquisition of the Perdue
facility as but one example, he
challenged all to go forward with
even more development.
Robert Leak, Jr. spoke on the
value of leadership urging the
Committee of 100 to continue to
push for more expansion.
J. Bryan Smith explained the
importance of agri-business and
stressed the value of positive
thinking with regard to the many
resources available in the area.
The Warren Committee of 100,
Inc. is a non-profit corporation
established to enhance economic
growth and job opportunities in
Warren County. It relies on tax
deductible membership dues and
contributions to provide financial
assistance for economic develop
ment in the county and the
region. According to Jenkins,
membership is a vote of con
fidence in the future of Warren
County and a positive step toward
helping ourselves in difficult
economic times.
Warren Committee of IN, Inc. President Bob
Jenkins and associates (left to right), N.C. Depart
ment of Commerce Assistant Secretary Lewis
Myers, First Union Bank Vice President for
Economic Development Bob Leak, Jr., N.C.
Department of Agriculture Director of Agri
Business J. Bryan Smith, Warren County
Economic Development Commission Executive
Director Cathy Wilson and First Citizens Bank
Assistant Vice President Brad Carroll foUowtaf the
Second Annual Kick-Off Dinner and meeting held
Nov. IS at the Lion's Den.
(Staff Photo by Howard Jones)
Suspected In
Vehicle Theft
By MARY C. HARRIS
Staff Writer
An escapee from the local unit
of the N.C. Department of Cor
rection remained at large Tues
day and was considered a prime
suspect in the Saturday morning
theft of a vehicle belonging to a
Warrenton couple.
Inmate Richard Thompson
scaled the perimeter fence from
the single-cell facility at Warren
County Unit 5037 at 11 a.m. Fri
day, according to Assistant
Superintendent Ervin Manning,
Jr. Thompson was reportedly
handcuffed at the time of his
escape.
The escapee was serving a
10-year sentence for misde
meanor larceny and has also
outstanding charges in Upper
Marlboro, Md. for housebreaking
and in South Carolina for second
degree burglary, Manning
reported.
The local unit serves as a
holding facility for prisoners who
have serious outstanding charges
and who are considered to be
escape risks.
A description at the prison
department listed Thompson as a
32-year-old white male, measur
ing 5'11" and weighing 160
pounds, with brown hair and blue
eyes.
Various sightings of the
escapee were reported during the
afternoon Friday, but Manning
said none of the leads
materialized.
Thompson is considered a
suspect in the theft on Saturday
morning of a 1980 white Subaru
station wagon belonging to
Gladys and Macon Wemyss of
Country Club Road.
The Wemyss couple reported
the car missing at 6:45 a.m.,
shortly before the vehicle, bear
ing license WNT-626, was seen
leaving the Mid Mart between
Warrenton and Norlina.
The manhunt for Thompson
has been discontinued in Warren
County but persons with informa
tion regarding the escapee are re
quested to contact the Warren
County Department of Correction
at 257-2776 or the local sheriff's
department at 257-3364.
Paige Wrenn of Warrenton feeds her adopted squirrel friend Eosco
a mixture of baby formula, egg and cereal during a feeding that has
become routine in the month since Joe Greer of Embro found the
abandoned animal in the woods. The squirrel lives in a bird cage com
plete with electric heating pad and appears comfortable with its sur
rogate mother. (Staff Photo by Dianne T. Rod well)
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Are Planned At High School
Parent-teacher conferences
will be held at Warren County
High School on Thursday, Nov.
20, from 3:17-6:30 p.m. and from
8 a.m. until noon on Friday, Nov.
21. Parents are encouraged to
visit their child's teachers at that
time. Appointments are en
couraged but not necessary,
Principal James Wilkerson said.
The following teachers will not
be available for conferences on
Friday due to a required effective
teacher training workshop:
Eunice Evans, Evelyn
Goolsby, Rebecca Neece, Mary
Shields, Roosevelt Alston, L. G.
Hawkins, Barbara Jones, Sandra
Lynch, Wanda Traylor, Noel
Robertson, Linda Tillery, Lois
Williams, Vilma Gatling, Mary
Jordan, Edwina Rooker, Robert
Marlin, Esther Delbridge and
John Hudgins;
Also, Ann Laonipon, Julia
Townes, Gene Medlin, Mary Ar
lington, Helen Sanders, Yvonne
George, McCoin Brown, Patty
Bugg, Artelia Covington, Audrey
Davis, Susan Dickens, Jeffrey
Evans, Georgia Exum, Brown
Hawkins, Charles Holmes, Wan
da Hunt and Martha Overby.
Military Police
Training Finished
Army Reserve Private
Charles A. Lynch, Jr., son of
Charles A. and Henryetta Lynch
of Rt. 3, Warrenton, has com
pleted training as an Army'
military police specialist under
the one station unit training
(OSUT) program at Fort Mc
Clellan, Ala.
OSUT is a 13-week period
which combines basic training
with advanced individual train
ing.
Shortage Of Textbooks
Draws Televised Report
A textbook shortage at Warren
County High School received
regional news coverage last week
on WTVD-Channel 11.
Principal James Wilkerson
said this week in a telephone in
terview the Durham-based news
crew approached him last week
after learning of the shortage
through a review of the Board of
Education agenda for the
November meeting.
"We issue 6,000 books per
year," Wilkerson said, "and we
are 86 short." The books yet to
come are for llth-grade gram
mar and composition classes, he
said.
"This is the fourth year in
operation for the book and book
companies don't stock books that
old generally," Wilkerson ex
plained. "The companies have
been contacting warehouses and
trying to locate them for us and
we have been calling surrounding
counties" (to inquire about possi
ble surpluses).
Wilkerson said the shortage is
to some extent the result of the
change this year from the
trimester system of scheduling to
a semester system. "In the
trimester system only 70 percent
of the students took English at
any given time and now 100 per
cent are enrolled in English
classes all year."
"We want to put a book in each
student's hand on the first day of
school," the principal said, in
dicating he and his staff are not
minimizing the situation. The
books are expected to arrive any
day, he added.
English classes at the high
school use a literature book in ad
dition to the grammar text, he
said, and in the meantime
teachers are emphasizing the
literature portion of the year's
study.
Break-Ins Probed
Investigation is continuing in
two break-ins which were
reported over the weekend to the
Warren County Sheriff's Depart
ment, according to Deputy Betsy
Frazier.
Reported missing Monday
morning from the residence of
David Wade at Wildwood Point
were two guns, a 19-inch color
television, video-cassette
recorder, stereo component set
and sleeping bag.
Deputy Harold Seaman, in
vestigating officer, estimated the
value of the goods at $1800.
In a Saturday report, Bobby
Cash of Rt. 1, Manson reported
the theft of an assortment of
tools, including wrenches, elec
tric drills and handsaw, along
with two pairs of shoes, from a
storage shed behind his
residence.
Deputy IJoyd Newsome in
vestigated the theft which was
reported at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Receives Honor
Air Force Sgt. Michael P.
Williams, son of Clara A. Robins
of Elkhart, Tex. and Charlie R.
Williams of Rt. 3, Warrenton, has
been named