ii ur reii to 11 iem . L i brary X
117 S.Uatn St.
Va;*ronton, N.C. 2758
Styt Uamn Eecorft
Volume 91 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, February 3, 1988 Number 5
Selby (1. Benton, center, former chairman of the
Warren County Planning Board accepts an
engraved plaque from County Manager Charles
Worth, left, and O. L. "Butch" Meek, who was
elected chairman of ihe Planning Board to sue
ceed Benton. Benton, a real estate developer and
former owner of a furniture company in Warren
ton, served on the Planning Board from 1964
through 1987. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones)
Kidnapping And Drug
Charges To Be Heard
Five persons will stand trial
next week in Warren County
Superior Court on charges
resulting from two major crimes,
which occurred last fall near
Littleton.
Four defendants will appear
before Judge Henry W. Hight, Jr.
of Henderson on charges associ
ated with the $3 million mari
juana bust that occurred Sept. 29
of last year.
Robert Paul Drevvyore and
Kimberly K. Drewyore, both of
Virginia Beach. Va.; Dean D.
Foland of Naples, Fla.; and Mat
thew Edward Purdy of Mara
thon, Fla. were arrested in the
bust that seized about 900 pounds
of marijuana, $52,000 in cash and
numerous weapons.
Following arrest, the four
suspects were confined in the
Halifax County Jail under bonds
of $200,000 each.
Although arrested in Halifax
County, the four defendants had
rented a cottar a Warren Coun
ty. where 25 >ounds of mari
juana, $1,000 hi cash, electronic
scales, cam > iflageclothing, two
AK-47 rifle an M-l carbine for
a .357 calih Magnum and a .44
calibre revolver were confis
cated.
Acconung to Warren County
Deputy Theodore Williams, the
street value for the marijuana
found > about $3 million.
Robert Drewyore, Foland and
Purdy will face charges of traf
ficking marijuana and con
spiracy to traffic marijuana.
Kirnberly Drewyore will face one
count of trafficking marijuana.
In a non-related case to be tried
on the court docket. Ronald Ed
ward Price of Roanoke Rapids
will face charges of second
degree kidnapping and discharg
ing a weapon on occupied
property.
Price was arrested on Nov. 1(J
of last year after holding his
estranged wife hostage four
hours at Camp Willow Run near
Littleton.
He was placed under $30,000
bond and transferred to John
Umstead Hospital at Butner for
psychiatric evaluation.
Warren County Criminal
Superior Court will begin Mon
day, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. at the War
ren County Courthouse.
Mrs. Copley Named
Chairman Of Board
Mrs. Ann Copley of Warrenton
was elected chairman of the War
ren County Board of Health Mon
day night, succeeding County
Commissioner George Shearin,
who had served nine years on the
board.
Mrs. Copley, in her second
term on the board, is a registered
nurse.
County Commissioner J. T.
Fleming was elected vice
chairman.
State statute requires that a
county commissioner serve on
the board, and Fleming replaced
(Continued on page 14)
Two Incumbents
Get Free Ride
The filing period for the
November elections drew to a
close Monday with two more hats
thrown into the ring for seats on
the Warren County Board of
Commissioners and the non
partisan County Board of Edu
cation.
However, longtime County
Commissioner William T, Skin
ner of District 5, and Richard
Roddy, one-term incumbent from
District 2 on the Board of Educa
tion, will face no opposition in the
November election.
Areola businessman Weldon C.
"Chip" Capps, Jr. filed Mon
day for the District 5 seat on the
Board of Education being
vacated by Mrs. Cora Watson of
Vaughan, who is not seeking re
election. Filing earlier for the
seat was Mrs. Barbara Lynch
Brayboy, a teacher at Hollister
School in Halifax County
A Warren County native and
graduate of N.C. State Universi
ty, Capps, 28, is co-owner and
president of Areola Logging
Company.
He is married to the former
Scott Pinnell, a nurse at Nash
General Hospital in Rocky
Mount.
On Friday, Mrs. Patsy T.
Hargrove, a Warren County
native and legal secretary and of
fice manager for Clayton and
Clayton, P. A. filed for the District
1 seat on the Board of Commis
sioners. (See related story on
Page 18). Mrs. Hargrove's filing
assures a three-way race for the
seat now held by one-term incum
bent J. T. Fleming. Bruce H.
Rose, Jr., a retired employee of
the N.C. Department of
Transportation, has also filed.
Following Inspection In January
Work Session Is Scheduled
$18.4 Million Required
To Meet Capital Needs
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
An $18.4 million price tag has
been placed on the capital needs
of Warren County by the Warren
County Board of Education and
th< Warren County Capital
Development Committee, the
Wan en County Board of County
Commissioners learned Monday
morning in their regular monthly
meeting.
The requests, in the form of a
petition from the Warren County
Boh; d of Education and a letter
from the Warren County Capital
Development Committee, were
received as information by the
board of county commissioners,
with t o action being taken.
A work session, which is open
to the public, is being scheduled,
but a specific date and time were
not available at press time. Dur
ing that session, the board of
county commissioners will
assemble to study and analyze
the reports.
A public hearing will be sched
uled at a later date to receive in
put from citizens and to assess
the county's response to whether
bonds should be issued and in
what amount. Warren County
voters will make their wishes
known when they go to the polls
on May 3.
'Our needs are obviously
severe," Chairman Eva Clayton
lamented. Some of them are due
to years of neglect," she added.
"We've got to come to grips < with
the state of things) and make
some hard decisions," the chair
man said. Chairman Clayton also
noted that Warren County must
determine its priorities and its
ability to pay for what wouid be
deemed necessary.
School needs in Warren Coun
ty have been estimated at a max
imum of $11.4 million. This
amount will fund the construction
of a new middle school; addi
tional classrooms, expanded
atliletic facilities and paved park
ing at Warren County High
School; and various expansions
at Mariam Boyd, Northside,
South Warren and Vaughan
Elementary schools.
The remaining $7 million of the
bond issue would fund the other
needs of Warren County.
Warren County has been man
dated to build a new jail. Inspec
tion reports, the most recent of
which is discussed elsewhere in
this paper, have always cited
shortcomings of the present
facility, especially those filed in
the last five years. According to
the most recent report, the War
ren County Jail was built in 1900.
Commissioner William Skinner
was unable to specify with cer
tainty when the newer back por
tion was added to the building,
but he shared with the board the
fact he had heard that a dungeon
(Continued on page 7)
As Lawmen Look On
Building Entered,
Vehicle Is Stolen
Warren Satellite
To Open By Sept. 5
The Warren County satellite
campus of Vance-Granville Com
munity College is expected to be
ready by Sept. 5 in time for fall
quarter opening. Building Com
mittee Chairman John T. Church
has told VGCC trustees.
Church said that land is
already being cleared for the
6,290-square-foot facility to be
built off Ridgeway Street behind
John Graham Middle School. The
cost of the building construction
is $470,723.
Trustees were told that while
actual construction has not
begun, the electrical contractor
has completed necessary elec
trical changes.
Church said the project-access
road for the Warren satellite is
about 80 percent complete. The
Department of Transportation is
making $25,000 in funds available
for this project.
An 18-year-old Henderson man
has been charged with breaking
into a Warrenton business and
stealing a vehicle while a town
policewoman and a sheriff's
deputy watched every move.
(leorge David Langley of Vir
ginia Avenue in Henderson was
charged with stealing a Honda
4X4 four-wheeler from Carolina
Chain Saw early Tuesday morn
ing after he allegedly broke into
the business showroom after
forcing open a window and push
ing through a panelled wall.
Langley was taken into cus
tody by Policewoman Sara
Solorz and Deputy Richard Cole
man after the vehicle he is
charged with stealing stalled af
ter he drove it through the front
door of the chain saw business
and headed up Hall Street onto
East Franklin Street.
Officer Solorz said the four
wheeler stalled in front of Ideal
Florist after chain saw gas had
been put into the gas tank.
The officers said I.angley was
under surveillance from the
time he allegedly cut a screen on
a side window and entered the
building which formerly housed
Randy Currin Chevrolet on East
Macon Street.
Officer Solorz said law en
forcement officers, acting on an
anonymous tip, watched as the
suspect reportedly broke a lock
on the front door and drove off in
to the night.
He was arrested two blocks
away and charged with breaking
and entering and larceny. He
was jailed after a $5,000 bond
was set by Magistrate Ulysses
Ross.
Flames Destroy
Pulpwood Truck
Near Elberon
A pulpwood truck was
destroyed by a fire of undeter
mined origin early Thursday
afternoon on Sulphur Springs
Church Road, according to Dean
Andrews, chief of the Afton
Elberon Rural Volunteer Fire
Department.
The truck belonged to William
Pulley.
Two men and a pumper ex
tinguished the blaze.
The department also respond
ed to a car and grass fire Satur
day on S.R. 1129 at the home of
Walter Royster, Jr.
The fire apparently began
while the car was being worked
on and spread to the grass.
Damage to the auto was
minimal, Andrews reported.
Ten men and one pumper
responded.
New Warren Jail Only Solution For Meeting Deficiencies, Board Told
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
A plan for corrective action and
delineation of the time frames
proposed for resolution of prob
lems have been requested from
Warren County Sheriff Theodore
R. Williams by the Division of
Facility Services of the N. C.
Department of Human Re
sources.
The request came in the form
of a letter received by the sheriff
from Area Jail Consultant Donnie
D. Byrd following a Jan. 5 inspec
tion of the Warren County Jail.
Sheriff Williams shared the
contents of the letter and the ac
companying report with the War
ren County Board of County Com
missioners in their monthly
meeting held Monday at the
courthouse.
The Warren County Jail was
viewed in compliance with 58 of
the items evaluated in the site
visit. The facility was viewed not
in compliance in the areas listed
below:
?Multiple cell areas do not
conform to the minimum bunks
per cell requirement. Sheriff
Williams explained that the
spaces now occupied by cells in
the building do not have sufficient
footage. "This cannot be cor
rected in the current structure,"
he said, "and (there is) no way to
correct it until'we build a new
jail."
?Ceilings have exposed pipe
work in most confinement areas.
The sheriff explained that water
lines in the building were now ex
posed. This too was viewed as im
possible to correct without new
construction. The sheriff also ex
plained that the reason for the
finding of non-compliance related
to inmate safety and the preven
tion of hanging or other self
inflicted injury.
- Windows are non-secure type
throughout. According to Sheriff
Williams, wneii the jailer walks
around cells, there is insufficient
space between the cells and the
walls. "They could reach out and
grab the jailer, if they wanted
to," he observed. The installation
of a solid screen would be the on
ly temporary solution to the prob
lem, the sheriff said.
?Several lights need protec
tive covers. This shortcoming
will be corrected soon, the sheriff
said. Covers have been unavail
able from the vendor of choice,
but may be constructed by the
contractor to whom the project
has been assigned.
?Safety vestibules are re
quired in cell areas of over-four
capacity. The sheriff explained
that there should be a two-level
secured door system to ensure
that inmates housed in the inner
portion of the building were
secure when other inmates were
being taken through the exterior
door for court-related or other
matters. Commissioner J. T.
Fleming noted that correction
was not feasible in the current
structure.
?A secure visiting area is re
quired in a county jail. "When
persons come to visit, there is no
secure area for this purpose," the
sheriff said.
?Medical clinic areas are re
quired in a county jail. In
response to a query from Com
missioner Shearin, the sheriff
noted that the old kitchen area
could be coverted to bring this
item into compliance. Chairman
Eva Clayton asked that the
sheriff explore the feasibility of
getting an arrangement with the
local health providers.
?Lights and non-secure win
dows are accessible to inmates.
The sheriff did not elaborate, but
the shortcoming seemed to refer
to the ability of inmates to reach
lights (creating darkness that
might inpact security) and non
secure windows.
?No showers are available in
the downstairs area. Sheriff
Williams noted that this was the
first appearance of that short
coming on the inspection reports.
Following the report on the
condition of the jail, Sheriff
Williams requested that the
board approve the 'expansion of
the inmate holding area in the
courtroom. An allocation of up to
$500 was made for this purpose.
Sheriff Williams made the board
aware of his need for cleaning
service in the jail and in his of
fice. These areas are not a part
of the contract awarded to
Palmer's Geaning Service for
county buildings. The board
agreed to study the matter.
In other business, the board:
?Received a report on county
mapping from Connie Wester of
the state Natural Resources
Department, and agreed to
award a maximum of $6,000 to
Floyd Brown Associates, Inc. The
funds will be added to $10,000
received from the state, savings
in survey costs to be found by
NRCD and an original commit
ment by commissioners to the
project of $10,000 for aerial
photography and land survey
work.
?Gave the county manager
authority to pay an outstanding
bill of $8,176.78 owed to an area
plumbing and heating contractor.
A portion of the bill covered work
completed in 1961. The board also
asked that contractors, who do
not already do so, be instructed
to bill on a regular basis.
?Scheduled for March 16 at
6:90 p.m. a public hearing on
revisions of subdivision
regulations.
?Tabled a request for permis
sion to discharge fireworks.
(Continued on page 14)