Stye Uarren Secorii '
Volume 91 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, April 13, 1988 Number 14
Warren Retail Sales Jump With Food Sales Leading Way
Retail sales in Warren County in
creased from $42,286,000 in 1965 to
146,354,000 in 1986 or by 9.6%, accord
ing to figures recently released by
Sales and Sales Management Corpo
ration, one of the nation's most widely
read and respected private economic
reporters.
Retail sales in North Carolina were
6.1% greater in 1986 than those of 1985.
Total national retail sales were
$1,476.2 billion in 1986 or 5.8% greater
than 1965 national retail sales of
$1,395.2 billion.
For a number of obvious reasons
both government and private
economists carefully monitor retail
sales and other retail activity. Retail
sales are almost by themselves
evidence of both national and local
economic conditions. The over
whelming majority of consumer
goods are obtained on the retail level.
Retail demand almost immediately
translates into demand for manufac
tured goods and agricultural prod
ucts. Other sectors of the economy, in
cluding credit and transportation, are
also inevitable, and almost as im
mediately, affected by the require
ments of retail trade.
There is considerable discrepancy
between methods used by various
state and local governments to report
retail sales. Many rely upon state and
local tax figures (particularly sales
taxes). Since many states and
localities exempt certain and dif
ferent items from various taxes, it is
often difficult to obtain comparative
figures from one locality to another.
This is one of the reasons that private
reports which use a standard
definition for retail sales throughout
the country are often considered to be
more reliable sources of retail sales
information.
For statistical purposes, retail sales
are divided into several categories.
These include food, eating and
drinking places, general merchan
dise, furniture and appliances,
automotive, drugs, and all others.
These definitions are somewhat ar
I Continued on page 11 )
Number
Of Voters
Increases
The number of registered
voters in Warren County in
creased from late January, a
report given by Ruby Jones,
supervisor of the Warren County
Board of Elections, indicates.
On January 21 of this year,
10,122 voters were registered in
Warren County. When registra
tion ended on April 4, Warren
County had 343 more voters, a
total of 10,465.
According to Mrs. Jones, of the
10,465 registered, 10,018 of the
voters are registered as
Democrats. Republican registra
tions total 372, while there are 75
unaffiliated Warren County
voters.
A total of 50 absentee ballot ap
plications have been received.
Absentee ballot voting began on
March 14, and the deadline for
absentee ballot requests is May 2
at 5 p.m.
Besides the gubernatorial,
state and congressional races,
there will be several local
primaries in Warren County.
There are two seats available on
the Board of Education, two seats
available for county commis
sioner, and the Warren County
Register of Deeds position is
open.
For more information, contact
the Board of Elections at 257-2114.
Registration
For Youngsters
Being Planned
Registration for all children in
Warren County who are eligible
to enter kindergarten in Sep
tember will be held at area
elementary schools listed below.
Registration for kindergarten is
open to every child who is five
years old on or before October 16,
1988.
Registration will be held at
Vaughan Elementary School on
Tuesday, April 36 from 9 a.m. un
til 2 p.m. ; Northside Elementary
School on Tuesday, April 26 from
3 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. for children
with last names A-H and on
Wednesday, April 27 from 3 p.m.
until 6:30 p.m. for children whose
last names begin with I-Z; South
Warren Elementary School on
Wednesday, April 27 from 9 a.m.
until 2 p.m.; and at Mariam Boyd
Elementary School on Thursday,
April 28 from 9 a.m. until.
Parents should bring their
child, a birth certificate and im
munization record.
A pre-school Screening Pro
gram will be available for all
registering children. This 30-45
minute screening will include
hearing and speech and basic
skills screening. Results of this
screening will be available to
parents at a later date.
Each child entering kinder
garten is required to have a
Health Assessment between
January 1 and December 31, 1988.
Health Assessment forms are
available at area doctors' offices
and the health department. Any
questions concerning this assess
ment will be answered at the
screening.
Down To The Wire
? r 1 a ? . '*.?
Remember how the smell of a freshly opened
bag of potato chips can drive you up the wall?
It's apparently no different for members of the
bovine family as this picture of two calves
fighting over the last potato chip while grazing
between Warrenton and Norllna will attest.
(Staff Photo by Phyllis H. King)
Before Camp Approved
Zoning Changes
Needed At Lake
By DUNE DAVIS
Staff Writer
Changes in zoning for the tract
of land which is the proposed site
for a multi-million dollar develop
ment on Lake Gaston are needed
before the Warren County Plan
ning Board can give approval for
Bright Horizons Camp.
Bright Horizons Camp is a $3-4
million development which was
proposed by New Jersey doctors
Willie Carter and Hoy Jones.
Cathedral Designs has been con
tacted by the doctors to provide
architectural services.
Their plan is to develop into a
campground and commercial
area the 145-acre tract of land ad
jacent to lake Gaston Baptist
Church and owned by Union
Camp Paper Company.
Although the land is now zoned
residential, the Warren County
Planning Board recommended
Effectiveness Rankings Are Given
Warren's Delegation Is Evaluated
An election-year evaluation of the effectiveness of North Carolina's
legislators released yesterday by the North Carolina Center for Public
Policy Research of Raleigh suggests that lawmakers representing
Warren County vary widely in terms of their effectiveness.
Effectiveness rankings were released for all 50 members of the N.C.
Senate and 120 members of the House of Representatives for the cur
rent 1987-88 N.C. General Assembly.
For the fourth consecutive session, both Senate Majority Leader
Kenneth C. Royall, Jr. (D-Durham) and House Speaker Liston B.
Ramsey (D-Madison) were rated the most effective legislators.
"Since the Center's first effectiveness rankings in 1978, the survey
has been a consistently fair measure of the effectiveness of
legislators," said Ran Coble, executive director of the Center. "Those
who assess effectiveness and who make the rankings are the best
qualified people to make these judgments? the legislators
themselves, registered lobbyists who work with the General Assembly
regularly, and capital news correspondents who cover the legislature
daily."
Among the three members of the N.C. House representing the 22nd
District, which includes a large portion of Warren County, William
T. Watkins (D-Granville) ranking second among his 119 colleagues
was rated the most effective. John T. Church (D-Vance) was ranked
23rd in effectiveness, and James W. Crawford, Jr. (D-Granville)
was ranked 36th.
The remainder of Warren County falls into the 7th House District,
represented by Thomas C. Hardaway (D-Halifax), who ranked 82nd.
Ranked ninth among the most effective senators was J. J. Har
rington ( D-Bertie ) , who represents that portion of Warren in the Sec
ond Senatorial District. The remainder of Warren County lying in
the 13th Senatorial District is represented by James E. Ezzell, Jr.
(D-Nash), who had a ranking of 17th.
There's a high correlation between chairing a major money com
mittee and being rated among the most effective legislators, the
survey shows.
"The two seem to march together in lock-step," Coble noted. "But
it's more than a matter of the spoils belonging to the victor. The
legislators who chair appropriations and finance committees usual
ly get high effectiveness ratings? but they get appointed to chair those
committees because they already are effective members of the House
or Senate."
Longevity of service was a key factor in obtaining a high ranking,
whether Democrat or Republican. Of the legislators ranked in the
bottom 40 in the 120-member House, only seven had served more than
one prior term. In the Senate, only four of the SO senators ranked in
the bottom ten had served more than one prior term.
The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research is an independent, non
partisan, nonprofit corporation created to examine state govern
ment policies and practices. It does not endorse candidates.
last Wednesday that the zoning
designation of the site be con
verted into a multiple-zone area :
residential, commercial and
camping.
The board is working with
County Attorney Charles Johnson
and the N.C. Department of
Natural Resources and Com
munity Development to make
sure that all the proper steps are
taken to rezone the land.
Once the planning board makes
its request for the rezoning to the
Warren County Commissioners,
there will be a public hearing to
receive citizens' comments on
the project. If there is no opposi
tion and the commissioners ap
prove the request, the plans for
Bright Horizons Camp will be
under way.
The plans for the project in
clude lodging, national industry
camping tourism such as KOA
(Kampgrounds of America),
restaurants, supermarkets, con
venience stores, etc. Recrea
tional areas are also included in
the plans.
In other matters, the board:
?Approved revisions on a
preliminary plat for Gaston
Heights, a subdivision located off
S. R. 1316. Revisions included six
lot changes and a road change.
?Approved revisions on a
preliminary plat for Buck
Springs Plantation east and west,
which included cutting out a
natural ravine for future develop
ment, changing the location of a
recreational area, and revising 26
lots within the subdivision.
?Approved revisions on a
preliminary plat of River Forest,
Section III which changed the
property line between lots 22A
and 22B.
?Approved revisions on a
preliminary plat for Summer
Woods, Section IV, a subdivision
located near the Warren/Halifax
county line. The revisions in
cluded having lots 29A and 29B on
individual septic systems, while
lots 30A, 30B, and 30C will use a
community well.
One Person Injured During Narrow Escape At Afton Fire
Warren County firefighters
battled an early morning house
fire on Tuesday in which one per
son was injured in a narrow
escape.
A fire broke out in the kitchen
of a home located in the Afton
community, destroying nearly
half of the single-story wood
structure.
At 8:30 a.m., Afton and War
ren ton Rural Fire Departments
were called to the scene of the
fire at the home of Girtie
Williams. Apparently the fire
started near an electric stove on
which Mrs. Williams had been
cooking breakfast.
The fire spread quickly into the
back bedrooms of the house,
where moat of the family was still
sleeping. Stanley Williams awoke
to the smell of smoke in the
house. He was unable to open the
bedroom door and finally
escaped by crashing through a
window with his two children.
After his escape, he went
around to another window and
helped his cousin, Lory Taylor,
10, escape from the burning
structure.
Taylor suffered minor cuts on
the shoulder and legs while
escaping through the window. He
was transported to Maria
Par ham Hospital in Henderson
for treatment.
Firemen from both depart
ments stayed on the scene for an
hour and a half making sure that
the Are was completely out.
There was heavy smoke and
water damage to the sections of
the house which vere not burned.
Afton Fire Chiei Dean Andrews
determined the house a total loss.
He estimated damages to the
home and its contents at $20,000
or more.
A fire call came in on April 7 at
1:50 p.m. from WUma D. Alston
of Rt. 2, Warrenton. The paneling
in her living room caught fire
around the chimney, causing part
of the wall and ceiling around the
chimney to ignite in flames.
According to Chief Kenny
Clayton of the Warrenton Rural
Fire Department, the paneling
was located too close to the
chimney connection. When the
area became too hot, the panel
ing was ignited, sending flames
up the wall and onto the ceiling.
Clayton stated that some of the
wall and ceiling had to be torn
down to put the fire out.
Damages to the home were
estimated at $1,500.
On April 9 at 6:40 p.m., Ray
mond Yancey called firefighters
from the Warrenton Rural
department to his residence on
Plain view Rd., located off the
Baltimore Road.
Yancey stated to the firemen
that he had been control burning
some of the debris from his
trailer that had caught fire a few
weeks ago. The fire apparently
had gotten away from him, caus
ing him to call for assistance.
Damaged in the fire were a
camper and some building sup
plies, estimated at $1,100.
On April 11, firefighters were
called to the residence of Sherry
Bullock, on Rt. 3, Warrenton in
the Perrytown community.
One of the electrical sockets in
her trailer had shorted out, caus
ing minimal damage to the re
ceptacle.
No other damage was reported
in the incident.
Hawkins School
Is Ransacked
Hawkins Elementary School
was the site of unauthorized en
try last weekend by a person or
persons who ransacked offices
and classrooms and made off
with items valued at about $340.
During a routine check at noon
last Sunday, Hawkins Principal
Joseph Richardson found that
glass in the display area of the
snack machine in the faculty
( Continued on page JB)