y'arrentonMen.Llbrar
117 S . Ma 1 n St.
V.'arrenton, N.C. 275
ath t larwn Hecarii
Volume 90 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, July 29, 1987 Number 29
Vehicle Is Stolen,
Break-Ins Occur
After Jailbreak
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
Staff Writer
A man wanted by Mecklenburg
County officials on charges of
breaking and entering and lar
ceny, scaled the fence behind the
Warren County jail, where he
was being detained, and bolted
for freedom.
Stephen Calvin Forrest, 25,
escaped Sunday afternoon after
overpowering Mack Williams,
jailer, who had opened Forrest's
cell to admit a "weekend in
mate." Forrest lunged toward
Williams, knocked him down, ran
down the stairs and scaled the
fence.
Jailer Williams called imme
diately to report the incident and
a search involving both Warren
ton Police and Warren County
Sheriff department personnel
was begun.
Reports placed Forrest in the
woods behind Car Quest Auto
Supply on E. Macon Street, and
later on the Norlina Road. He has
continued to elude law enforce
ment officials.
Forrest had been arrested on
July 23 by Warren County Depu
ty Mack McCowan at a Lake
Gaston residence. Mecklenburg
County officials had been ex
pected in Warren County on Mon
day to transport the offender
back to face charges there.
A series of weekend crimes in
Warren County are believed, but
unproved, to be attributable to
Forrest.
The Child Development Center,
located in the basement of All
Saint's Episcopal Church at the
corner of Front and Franklin
Streets, was entered by a person
or persons who gained entry
through a window at the back of
the building. Entry is believed to
have been accomplished by
breaking the rear window and
then using a trash can, found up
side down on Monday morning,
as a booster to reach the broken
window.
According to Robert Harris, All
Saint's senior warden, equipment
valued at about $50 was taken. "A
drill motor with three drill bits,
as well as other small items, are
missing," he said, "but we are so
fortunate that none of the church
property was damaged or
stolen." No property has been
reported missing from the Child
Development Center.
Front Street Auto Sales, a busi
ness located directly across
Franklin Street from the church,
was also entered. According to
Fred Powell, owner, someone
gained entry into the building by
picking the lock on the front door
of the establishment. "He must
have known something about
that," Powell speculated. One of
Powell's dealer license plates
was found Monday affixed to an
automobile in Powell's inventory.
"I guess he couldn't find the
keys," Powell said.
Forrest Knisely, owner of R &
H Service Center, a business next
door to Front Street Auto Sales,
reported Monday that his estab
lishment had been entered and a
customer's car stolen. The 1984
Ford LTD belonging to Dr. Sam
uel Massey was taken early Mon
day morning. "I was here at the
shop until 1:15 a.m., or so,"
Knisely said. The vehicle had
been locked mside of the shop
awaiting repairs.
Also missing are the keys io a
Warren County ambulance also
there for repairs, which is still on
the lot of the establishment.
According to Knisely, a per
son or persons gained entry by
cutting the glass in a door on the
body shop side of the building.
Although no change, cigarettes
or parts were taken, Knisely
found an empty Coke bottle on his
floor, believed to be the last trace
of the man, polite enough to close
the door behind him as he exited
from R & H, before vanishing to
points unknown.
Warren, Vance Report
All Industries 'Clean'
Warren and Vance counties
were among 21 North Carolina
counties whose industries re
ported generating no hazardous
waste during 1986.
Information concerning
generation, storage, treatment
and disposal of hazardous waste
in North Carolina is contained in
the just-released 1986 annual
report of Ihe N.C. Department of
Human Resources.
The report revealed that ap
proximately 2.14 billion pounds
of hazardous waste were gener
ated in the state last year. Well
over half the amount was gener
ated in Mecklenburg County.
Also reporting no generation
of hazardous waste was neigh
boring Northampton County.
Franklin and Halifax each
reported hazardous waste
production of less than 500,000
pounds.
Of the total amount of hazard
ous waste handled during 1986,
more than 89 percent was
treated in North Carolina.
The report pointed out that the
number of generators of hazard
ous waste in the state had de
creased from 806 in 1981 to 655
last year, and that total billions
of pounds of hazardous waste
generated had dropped from a
high of 7.3 billion pounds in 1983.
New Firm To Be Represented
When Warrenton Market Opens
The Warrenton Tobacco
Market will open on Wednesday,
Aug. 12, at 9 a.m. with the first
sale at High Dollar Warehouse,
Mrs. Alice R. Robertson, sales
supervisor, has announced.
Second and third sales will
follow at Fanners and Centre
warehouses, respectively.
Tobacco companies repre
sented on the 1967 market include
The Austin Company, American
Tobacco Company, W. A. Adams
Company, R. J. Reynolds Tobac
co Company, J. P. Taylor Tobac
co Company, C. W. Walters, Inc.,
Thorp-Greenville Tobacco Com
pany and Eastern Processors of
Rocky Mount, a new company for
this market.
Sales are also scheduled for
Thursday, Aug. 13, beginning at
Farmers and followed by Centre
and High Dollar warehouses.
The following week's sales are
set for Monday, Aug. 17, and
Wednesday, Aug. 19, the sales
supervisor reported.
Taking a break during the antique car tour which made stops in
Warren County last Wednesday are Mrs. Maggie Hayes (left) and
Vlrs. Emma Evans, both of Norliua. Mrs. Hayes donned a costume
befitting the period of the 1911 Empire automobile which was driven
in the tour by her son, Irving Hayes. The four-cylinder car, made
in Indianapolis, was restored in 1955 by her late husband, Roy Hayes.
The annual tour, which is sponsored by the North Carolina Regional
Group of the Horseless Carriage Club of America, is the only tour
of its kind east of the Mississippi River. Local chairpersons were Fred
and Ann Mulchi of Norlina. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones)
Norlina Is Home
For New Course
In excess of $51,000 has been
spent to date in preparation for
the new cosmetology program to
be offered this fall by Vance
Granville Community College.
Similar in concept to the weld
ing and calculus classes offered
already by VGCC to Warren
County students, the cosmetology
course will be housed at Norlina
Middle School. Under the current
agreement, VGCC provides the
instructional staff and materials.
Warren County provides the
building.
Because the building that has
been scheduled for use by VGCC
instructors had been used pre
viously as an instructional shop,
about $15,000 in renovations was
necessary. According to Dr. El
ton Newbern, VGCC vice presi
dent, included among the renova
tions were the installation of ad
ditional heating and air condition
ing systems and a dropped ceil
ing; new plumbing for wash sta
tions; new electrical wiring for
styling stations; and new floor
covering.
An additional $36,000 has been
spent to purchase equipment for
the 30 stations, the minimum
number required by the state
cosmetology board. Among those
items purchased are styling sta
tion furniture, basins, styling
equipment and dryers.
(Continued on page 4B)
Principal Howard
Goes To New School
A former Warren County prin
cipal, has been named principal
of Southern Alamance High
School in Graham.
Ben Howard, 42, has replaced
Gordon Isley, who retired.
Howard taught and coached at
John Graham High School from
1970-79. He was also principal at
Vaughan Elementary School
from 1979-82, and principal at
John Graham Middle School
from 1982-84. He left the John
Graham position in 1984 to
become principal at Woodlawn
Middle School in Mebane.
The administrator is a grad
uate of East Carolina University.
He has served on the board of the
N. C. League of Middle Schools
and has been named in Who's
Who in Outstanding Men in
America. Howard is president of
the Alamance County Principal s
Association.
Howard is married to the
former Helen Andrews of Afton.
The couple reside in Haw River
with their two children, Beth, 18.
and Jeff, 15.
Heat Wave Brings Some Problems
To Growers In Warren County
Warren County has suffered
with much of the state in several
days of temperatures over the
90-degree mark and isolated sec
tions of the county are feeling the
effects of prolonged dryness, ac
cording to reports from the coun
ty's official weather observer and
the agricultural extension office.
Extension Chairman Russell
King said the intense heat has
caused some local tobacco to
begin "firing up" in the fields.
Growers who do not have access
to irrigation facilities are re
porting the condition more than
those who are watering their
crops, he said.
King said tobacco in irrigated
fields still looks good across the
county. He estimated 30 percent
of the local crop has been
primed at least once.
Rainfall throughout the area
has been inconsistent, King
observed, noting that test fields
scattered over the county attest
to the spotty precipitation. Oine,
for example, is particularly dry,
he said, while a test field at Odell
which has not been irrigated
looks "fairly good."
King said the intense heat often
poses a problem for livestock and
poultry producers, who must
sometimes take unusual mea
sures to keep their animals from
overheating.
Gray Williams at the Perdue
Farms hatchery said he has
received no reports from poultry
farmers of excessive problems
caused by the heat. The birds are
kept in a controlled environment
which automatically activates
fans and foggers as needed, he
said.
In spite of the heat, the records
show the summer's weather to
date has been more favorable
than last year when the crop
season started dry and continued
dry during crucial growing
months.
Lightning Draws Blame
For Ticket Booth Fire
Only two small fires have been
reported here this week.
Macon firefighters were sum
moned on both last Wednesday
and Thursday to a vacant lot in
Macon owned by Joe Ross. The
lot is located across the street
from Haithcock's Grocery, off
Perry Re-Election Bid
Is Official At Norlina
E. L. (Bill) Perry, mayor of
Norlina, has filed for re-election
to the office he has held for 14
years.
Perry was first elected to office
in 1971 and served five terms un
til, at the age of 51, he left local
politics to enroll in college. He
graduated in May 1983 from
Atlantic Christian College in
Wilson and the following
November was voted in again to
the office which he has held to the
present time.
Perry is a retired employee of
the former Seaboard Air Line
Railroad, which he served as a
telegraph operator-agent for 28
years. He was the depot agent at
the Norlina station when it
closed in 1974.
Active in the religious and civic
life of the community, Perry is a
past master of the Masonic
Lodge, past patron of the Eastern
Star, past president of the
Norlina Ruritan Club and
member of VFW Post 4096. As
president of the Norlina Library
board, he was instrumental in
getting a surplus army coach to
house the town library.
At Atlantic Christian College,
Perry earned a B.A. degree in
History, with a minor in
Literature. He was president of
Pi Gamma Mu, an international
honor society of social science,
and also received an award for
short-story writing.
Mayor Perry served in the Ar
my Air Corps, Pacific Theater.
In announcing his plans for re
election, Perry stated he is
proud of the accomplishments of
the present town board. He sin
gled out the fact that taxes have
not increased during his years at
the helm of the town board. Also
significant, he said, were changes
(Continued on page 3)
: i
PERRY
U.S. 158 Bus. According to Malvin
Haithcock, Jr., brush there
caught fire on July 27 "for no ex
plained reason."
Arriving firemen remained on
the scene for about 15 minutes to
extinguish the flames, but were
summoned back the following
day, again just after 2 p.m., to a
fire just a short distance from the
site of the original flames. No
damage estimate was available.
Sunday night's storm has been
blamed for a fire reported at
11:35 p.m. in Norlina. According
to Handy Garrett, Rosemart
Food Stores manager, lightning
struck an abandoned "shack"
located in the pines across U.S. 1.
"I was here in the store and it
sounded like a stick of dynamite
had gone off," he said.
According to Ebin Willis, Jr.,
Norlina Fire Department fire
man, the old, abandoned ticket
booth, once in use by the now
defunct drive-in theatre, was ig
nited. No damages have been
reported.
All Commissioners
Ready For Election
All seven incumbents on War
renton's board of commissioners
lhave filed for re-election, ac
cording to spokesperson Lori
Myrick in the town office.
Mayor B. G. White has made
no announcement of his intention
in the municipal vote set for Nov.
3.
Commissioners Eddie Clayton,
Phil Daniel, Bobby Edmonds, W. 11
A. Miles, Ray Shearin, Charles
White and A. A. Wood have paid
the filing fee and requested a spot ?
on the November ballot, Miss
Myrick reported.
(Continued on page 3) A