Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Aug. 5, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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Wirrintoa^on.Library X 117 S.Hain St. Iirrenton, N.C. 27589, 0\\\t Harren Hecnrfc 254 Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, August 5, 1987 Number 30 Warren Escapee Escapes Again Steven Calvin Forrest, 29, the man who escaped July 26 from the Warren County Jail, has defied confinement again by bolting from officials in the Morehead, Ky. courthouse. Forrest, who was being held in Warren County on a warrant from Mecklenberg County, N.C., had been taken to court in Ken tucky on a fugitive warrant drawn on charges in North Carolina. Prisoners awaiting their hearing before the Morehead court are detained in a lock-up area in the courthouse. When guards opened Forrest's lock-up unit, he bolted away. There are no fences or barriers to prevent escape from the Morehead court facility. Forrest had been recaptured in Kentucky Thursday after authorities investigating several burglaries traced him to a motel room. Also taken into custody there was Kimberly Ann Bennett of Route 3, Littleton, said to be Forrest's girlfriend. Forrest was originally apprehended July 24 by Warren Sheriffs Deputy Mac McCowan at Miss Bennett's home near I.ake Gaston. Warren County authorities will seek Forrest's return to face charges of attempted breaking and entering and felony posses sion of a stolen vehicle, as well as jail escape, according to Chief Deputy B. D. Bolton of the Sheriff's Department. Forrest is believed by Warrenton police to have broken into R&H Service Center following his escape and stolen a 1984 Ford LTD belonging to Dr. Sam Massey of Warrenton. The vehicle, which has not been recovered, is thought to have been used in the getaway. Warrenton Police Chief Freddie Robinson also wants to ques tion Forrest in connection with several other break-ins in the town during the hours following Forrest's escape. Forrest, who resides in Cabarrus County, escaped from the county jail here when Jailer Mack Wiliams opened Forrest's cell to release another prisoner and was overcome by Forrest. School Spending Given Approval By THL'RLETTA M. BROWN Staff Writer rhe full capital outlay budget of $225,000, tabled at the July meeting of the Warren County Board of Education due to per ceived lack of funds, was adopted in its entirety Monday night. Superintendent Mike Williams reported that the perceived deficit of $25,000 I the difference between the original budget re quest submitted by the board and the $200,000 in funding allocated for 1987-88 by county commis sioners ) did not exist. Computa tion of the unobligated funds left over from the last fiscal year netted $28,437.54 available to the board for capital outlay. The "found money" comes from in creased sales tax revenues ($14,000), earned interest ($4,000), disposition of assets ($1,000) and smaller than an ticipated expenditures of funds earmarked for specific projects ($9,000). The board had thought it nee cessary to eliminate some items from the capital outlay budget and had planned to do so at the Monday night meeting. In view of the superintendent's report, by motion of Richard Roddy, sec onded by Mrs. Cora Watson, the board agreed to fund the full package. Line items which comprise the $225,000 package are: ?A greenhouse at WCHS? $12,000; ?Enclosed storage for com modity foods -$2,000; ?Heating system repairs in the Vaughan cafeteria?$7,000; ?Parking at Northside? $10,000; ?Contracted roof repairs? $27,000; ?Garage office/work space? $14,000; ?Lawn/field care equipment storage at WCHS?$13,500; ?Foods lab exhaust at WCHS -$4,000; ?Computer system for five media centers?$24,500; ?Furnishing/equipment allot ment of $17.50 per child?$54,250; ?Media center A/V equip ment?$15,000; ?Miscellaneous furnishings and equipment?$12,500; ?Summer youth employment materials?$2,000; ?Maintenance two-way com munications equipment?$3,500; ?Maintenance pick-up truck? $8,750; and ?Motorized maiitenance equipment?$15,000. The board also approved new report card formats as recom mended by a committee of par ents, teachers and admini strators. Mrs. Jennie Franklin, commit tee chairman, reported that "grades are, at best, our prinary assessment of student achitre ment." Her committee had bien directed in March by the boarc to study the matter of reporting sb formatted cards had been pro posed for K through grade one. grades two through six, grades seven through eight, and grades nine through 12. The academic section is consis tent with those assessment areas prescribed by the Basic Educa tion Plan. Space is provided for grades earned in each of the six reporting periods as well as a yearly average in each subject area. Space is also provided for written teacher comments. To reduce the possibility of loss, periodic reports will be pro duced on pressure-sensitive paper for release to parents. A card stock permanent copy will be retained by the school. Action on policy recommenda tions, among them scheduling of parent/teacher conferences and compensatory time for extended teacher work days, was delayed until the next meeting. In personnel matters, the board: ?Accepted the resignations of: Ms. Ruby B. Hawley (teacher at Vaughan), James Noel Robert son (teacher at WCHS), Ms. Mar tha Sloan-Clontz (unit-wide teacher), Ms. Faye Y. Spence (teacher at South Warren), Ms. Sandra W. Norwood (teacher at Northside), Ms. Susan Fletcher (teacher at North Warren) and Ms. Deloris J. Somerville (teacher aide at Northside). ?Approved the transfer of: Ms. Victoria Epps (reading teacher at Norlina to English teacher at WCHS), Ms. Glenda Solomon (reading teacher to first grade teacher at South Warren) and Mrs. Clarice R. Greene (kin dergarten teacher at Mariam Boyd to pre-kindergarten teacher at Northside). (Continued on page 8) FORREST Roherta W. King was honored by county officials and co-workers on the occasion of her retirement after 39 years of service in the Warren County tax collector's office. A reception was held at the courthouse and Mrs. King was presented a locket by fellow employees in the tax office and a silver tray and small television by friends employed elsewhere in the county. Mrs. King is shown above with Commissioner George Shearin who presented her a plaque on behalf of the Warren County Board of Commissioners. The plaque was given in recog nition of her faithful service. Also shown above (left to right) are Mrs. King's husband, Robert; and A. P. Rodwell, retired county finance officer and tax collector, and Julian Farrar, retired coun ty Social Services director, both of whom gave testimonial remarks. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones) Norlina Board Takes First Step Toward Town Manager System Town of Norlina officials Monday night took an initial step towards creation of a town manager form of government. Mayor E. L. (Bill) Perry ap pointed a three-man study commission to investigate the feasibility of hiring a full-time town manager. The action came during the regular August monthly meeting held at the Town Hall. Named to the investigative commission were Com missioners Dwight Pearce, Walter Newman and William Leonard. They were asked to provide recommendations con cerning a new town manager which would include such things as educational requirements and whether the manager should be required to be a resident of Norlina. In other business, com missioners unanimously ap proved the installation of a cen tral air conditioning and heating system in the municipal building and police departments to be in stalled by J. B. Martin Plumbing and Heating of Warrenton at a cost of $3,000. The board agreed to take the money from the general fund. The board discussed the par tially burned old Kelly house on High Street in Norlina and heard testimony that the proper ty was a haven for rats and mosquitos and should be de molished. Attorney Jules Banzet was requested to check applica ble state laws dealing with con (Continued on page 8) Hendricks Building Lots Eyed As Possible Detention Site By THURLETTA M. BROWN Staff Writer The acquisition of space for county operations and the man ner to utilize best that space were concerns addressed Monday morning by Warren County com missioners in their regular monthly meeting. In follow-up to a report pre sented at the May 20 meeting of the board, Ron Webb and Rich ard Andrews, architects from The Architecture Group, a Rocky Mount firm, returned to present additional recommendations, with a price tag of about $3,282,400, as a part of their on going county space anaylsis study. Not included in this amount were the cost of a new jail, major site development and professional fees. Commissioners had learned in May that about 53,500 square feet of space was needed for county operations. About 29,329 square feet are used currently for coun ty functions. The Architecture Group had asked that the vacant lots located behind the Hendricks Building, which border on Front Street, be surveyed as a possible site for parking and/or detention facili ties. All buildings located on the "courthouse block" were in cluded in the project specifica tions, too. Three bids, ranging from $1,750 to $3,165, had been received by County Manager Charles Worth. Upon his recommendation, the board approved the lowest bid and awarded the project to Bob bitt Surveying, P.A., a Henderson firm. Commissioner George Shearin noted the pressing need to estab lish county lines for future development. Architect Richard Andrews agreed, noting the lack of con sistency in information available from the office of the register of deeds. "The properties were ac quired at different times," he said. Andrews presented for infor mation a plan that would group all court/legal functions in the courthouse square. The plan would double the space available now to the register of deeds and clerk of court; provide a new court room and ancillary support space to the existing court room; house the county manager and in dustrial development functions in the current library; relocate the finance and tax collection offices in the courthouse annex; and, depending on available space, provide parking and/or detention facilities behind the courthouse in the vacant lots to be surveyed. An artist's rendering of pro posed construction showed ex pansion behind the courthouse and attachment of the library and annex to the new structure. Chairman Eva Clayton compli mented the architects on their thoroughness, but stressed the need for citizen input in a project of such magnitude. She also stated that the board needed more clarification from the state regarding the placement and size of the jail, and from judges re garding specifications for a court room. The estimated cost of the pro ject is about $1,636,800. Three other sites were evalu ated by the architects: the health department and Hawkins and John Graham school plants. The plan to relocate the health department to the old Warren General Hospital building was seen as "well conceived" and im plementation of the proposal was recommended. Three Hawkins buildings were evaluated. The old high school building was recommended de molished. The elementary build ing, "though well-constructed," was not deemed suitable for "so cial service or other office ap plications." The gymnasium was seen as well constructed and "okay as a county recreational facility...with minimal roof work." The current use of the senior center and other buildings were recommended continued. If the survey of lots behind the courthouse reveals insufficient space to house a jail there, ar chitects noted the availability of about seven and one-half acres of land behind the Hawkins gym and elementary school building. Concern was expressed about ac cess problems to the site, securi ty and traffic conflicts with other buildings there. If a jail is not constructed there, the architects suggested, a new social services building could be built at an estimated cost of $566,000. The John Graham sit$ could house "social services, agricul tural extension and a plethora of other activities," Architect An drews said. Among those activi ties were emergency manage ment, agriculture, soil conserva tion, and building inspection. The firm recommended demolishing the auditorium, the old shop and old home economics facility to (Continued on page I) Murder Trial Is Slated A Philadelphia man will face charges of armed robbery and murder here on Aug. 10 in War ren County Criminal Superior Court. Judge Giles K. Clark of Eliza bethtown will preside over the trial of Willie Eugene Jones, Jr., 23, who faces the charges in the murder of William Thomas "Litt" Davis, 78, a Henderson taxi driver. Jones has also been charged with stealing $500 cash from Davis while in possession of a .22 caliber handgun. The de fendant had been employed by Sounds of Sixtieth Street at a reported salary of $145 per week. Frank Ballance is the court appointed lawyer for the trial. Jones first appeared in court on June 24. He has been held in Cen tral Prison in Raleigh by order of Judge D. B. Herring of Fayette ville since that date. The body of the slain taxi driver was found Jan. 5 by a hunter down a path off S.R. 1620, known locally as Lickskillet Road. The victim's taxicab was discovered later that day on Clark St. in Henderson. SS Director Stepping Down With feelings that the visions of change which brought him back from California on Jan. 12,1987 to his home town cannot be real ized, Charles Haywood, Warren County director of Social Ser vices, has tendered his resigna tion, effective Aug. 31. Haywood, son of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Haywood, grew up here with the challenge to excel. "I was always taught that it was im portant to achieve, and to then use your achievements to help other people," he said. "I would never have taken this position in any other place?only in Warren County, but when someone makes an investment, that person needs to be met half way along the professional path," Haywood observed. In his letter of resignation, the administrator cited as a contri buting factor to his decision a lack of support for the depart ment of social services. "Not on ly were the funds...(for)...some initial structural changes denied, (but) there was a denial of an op portunity for the...director...to provide consultation and recom mendations regarding the...bud get prior to...their decisions. (The) decision as well as the pro cess of decision-making provide (Continued on page 8)
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 5, 1987, edition 1
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