Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Jan. 4, 1989, edition 1 / Page 1
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? 17 3- M* In St. *arr?nton, N . C . 27539 Ulije Harren Hecorti Volume 94 2t>c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, January 4, 1989 Number 1 Bye-Bye Birdie This oat appi-ars tci be wondering where all the birds have gone, but actually she is pausing for a drink at a bird bath which is supposed to be strictly off limits to animals of her kind during most part of the year. (Staff Photo b> Phyllis H. Kingi Police Cruiser Is Damaged During High-Speed Road Chase Thursday \ high-speed chase along US 1 has resulted in damage to the vehicles being driven by the suspect and a Norlina police officer Early last Thursday morning, Willie Thames, of Norlina, was arrested, placed under $5, (KM) bond and ordered confined to the Warren County Jail op. charges of first- and second-degree burglary and two counts of injury to per sonal property. Since the initial confinement, Thames has been charged with four traffic violations: speeding 80 mph in a 35 mph zone, careless and reckless driving, failure to stop for blue light/siren and try ing to elude an officer. According to Sgt Harold Sea man, the Thursday morning ar rest followed two reports of break-ins before 2 30 at the Pines Apartments in Norlina. Both the Warren County Sheriff's and Nor lina Police departments re sponded to the calls. Thames was sighted by Sgt. Seaman and Norlina Police I.t James Champion traveling south on US 1. as they approached trie apartments. The two officers gave chase and followed the suspect? at speeds between 85 and 100 miles per hour for five or six miles along US 1, SK 1231 and the Oine Road. After losing control of the Nissan he was driving, Thames wrecked the vehicle on the Oine Road. The police cruiser being driven by l.t. Champion was also Magistrates Take Office For New Two-Year Terms By THURLETTA M. BROWN News Editor Warren County's three magis trates?Ulysses S. Ross, Carson S. Pridgen and Curtis E. Mustian, Jr.? on New Year's Day were each sworn in for another two year term by Richard E. Hunter, Jr., clerk of superior court. Ross, who has held the position for eight years, is based primari ly in the Warrenton magistrate's office. Pridgen, a 19-year veteran in the position, man? 'he Norlina office, while Mustian, a three year veteran, works in both offices. According to Ross, about 100 cases are handled each week by the county's magistrates. But, Pridgen has noticed a reduction in the caseload rou tinely handled during his 19 years of service Prior to the reciprocal agreements that exist now for many states, "every tourist in violation on ti.? interstate or on US 1 was brought into this of fice," Pridgen said. Pridgen recalled his first day in the position: "I went to Warren ton to be sworn in and after everything had become official, I was talking with the clerk of court The telephone soon rang, and I was summoned to my post by Trooper Wallace Brown, who said 'what's the use of being sworn in, if you are not going to do your job.' " Pridgen returned to Norlina immediately to pro cess his first traffic violation Since those beginnings, Prid gen has kept records of all cases he has handled. "I have a box filled with notebooks and, al though it might take a lot of look ing, one could search through those files to find the details of each case I have handled in 19 yea vs." As in other counties across the state. Warren County's magis trates are employed by the ad ministrative offices of the North Carolina Courts and are officers of the county's district court. Their offices are the first through which potential cases pass before reaching district and superior court. Ross, Pridgen and Mu:tian each work five days per week and are on call for two nights each week. A new work schedule is ex pected to be implemented on Feb. 1, but details of the changes were not available at press time Magistrates perform a variety of functions, which include: ? Setting the conditions of a suspect's release -using either secured bonds, unsecured bonds or custody release ? based on guidelines that consider county residency, gainful employment and other factors; ? Writing criminal summons and arrest warrants; ? Writing search warrants; ? Signing year's allowances for widows; ? Writing criminal, as well as civil, papers; ? Presiding over small claims suits involving claims of less than $1,500; ? Imposing jail sentences of up to 30 days for contempt of court and fines of up to $50; and ? Performing marriages, since the elimination of the position of justice of the peace. "It is really interesting work,'' Ross said, "and we are all very pleased to be are able to serve in this capacity " wrecked ami declared a total loss. Both Champion ai'd Thames were transported to Maria Par ham Hospital, where they were treated and released. I.t Champion has returned to work and has been assigned one of the town's Chevrolets. Thames hn been schedule:1 to appear in court on Jan. 25 for his traffic violations Information concern in'! the court date for the other charges were not available at press tune. Leaf Referendum Will Be Held Here Flue-cured tobacco growers m Warren County will vote Jan. 9-12 in a mail referendum to decide whether marketing quotas on an acreage-poundage basis will continue," Lynn S. Carr, ASCS executive director, said this week. According to Carr, the referendum occurs every three years and must be approved by tobacco producers by a two thirds margin before the present tobacco acreage-poundage sys tem can continue. Warren County will have 248 eligible voters who will receive ballots Ir. the mail around Jai>. 9," Carr said. Persons who ar< considered as eligible voters for referendum purposes are those who are currently engaged in the production of tobacco by cash renting or sharecropping. "Per sons who receive a fixed cash rent amount will not be con sidered active in tobacco produc tion and they will not be eligible to vote," he added. All ballots mailed to area tobacco producers must tie re i Continued on page 7 ) Warren Superintendent Accepts Post In Halifax Special Meeting Held On Friday Warren County School Supt Michat 1 Forrest Williams has tendered his resignation to accept a four-year contract as superin tendent for the Roanoke Rapids (iraded School District and, ac cording to board president Patsy l'owe, will receive a $12.000-per year supplement after assuming the position on Feb 1 Williams, a l(i'j-year veteran in the Warren County School sys tem. accepted the new position last Friday afternoon The de parting superintendent had been notified the previous evening by the chairman of the Roanoke Rapids board that the group would assemble on Friday at 5:3U p.m. and that an offer would be made. Williams, who will assume the post to be \ acated on Jan. 31 by retiring Roanoke Rapids superintendent Or. Robert Clary, was selected from among an ap plicant pool of 22 candidate.-,. I am sure he will promote the ex cellence in education concept this community has come to expect." Clary said After receiving the call last Thursday. Williams telephoned all members of the Warren Coun ty Board of Education to schedule for last Friday a called meeting at 8 p.m. It was at that meeting that Williams submitted his res ignation, which was accepted unanimously by the Warren County board. Williams is an alumnus ot the University of North Carolina. His teaching career began in Roa noke Rapids in January of 1967, where he served for three and one-half years before accepting a position as principal at Enfield High School in 1970 After two years in the Enfield post, Wil liams came to Warren County as principal of Mariam Boyd Ele mentary School. A believer in education, Wil liams since 1968 has pursued graduate studies, culminating first in a master's degree from East Carolina University, and he will soon receive the Ed.D. degree from the University of North Carolina. With the excep tion of one course that was taught opiv during morning hours, Wil !' m.- has completed the 34 ter hours of coursework at ? ... in evening sessions. following the retirement in the spring 1978 of longtime Warren County Superintendent J. R Peeler, Williams began his ten ure in that position on July 1. During that lO's-year period of time, building and organizational projects have been completed When I assumed the position of superintendent, work had just begun on Warren County High School," Williams said. "The new ( Continued on page 4 ) Warren School Supt. Mike Williams prepares to record the vote as ?Hoard of Education Chairman Yarborough Williams, left, calls for a show of hands of those members wishing to give approval to the superintendent's request that his letter of resignation be approved during Friday night's special board meeting. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones ) New N.C. Report Shows Infant Mortality Rate Is Highest In State Folks in Warren County and in other .small pockets of rural North Carolina have reason for concern, a report released re cently by the North Carolina Kural Economic Development Center, Inc. suggests. According to the report, con siderable social and economic differences exist between rural and urban areas in the state and? in many cases? the dis crepancies are growing. Called the "North Carolina Rural Profile," the report is drawn from a 100-county data base prepared for the Rural Center by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at North Carolina State University. The report compares predomi nantly rural and urban counties, showing that urban areas gen erally have lower levels of unemployment, are experiencing faster growth in employment and have higher levels of per-capita income. According to the report, rural areas lag behind urban areas in educational attainment, access to health care and quality of housing. In Warren County specifically : ? The infant mortality rate for the years 1982-1986 was 20.44, ranking it at the bottom of all 100 counties; ? The percentage of housing without plumbing in 1980 was 19.8, ranking it above only Gates County with its 20.2 percent of comparable housing; ? The "persons-per-physician" ratio in 1982 was 8,218:1, sur passed only by the 1 1,224 : 1 rank ing reported for Caswell County; and ? The percentage of persons below the poverty level in 1980 was 30.1, ranking it the worst in the state. In rural North Carolina as a whole : ? The proportion of population in poverty is 60 percent higher; ? The proportion of population with less than a ninth-grade education is 48 percent higher; ? The proportion of elderly is 23 percent higher; ? Unemployment is 44 percent higher; ? Per capita income is 22 per cent lower, with the gap in per capita income between rural and urban areas growing from $1,745 in 1980 to $2,692 in 1984; ? The proportion of housing that is overcrowded is 49 percent higher; ? Local educational expendi tures per pupil are 35 percent lower; and ? Job growth is 36 percent slower. "This report reinforces our belief that many rural North Carolinians are currently mis sing out on the growth and pros perity enjoyed by the state as a whole, and that they will continue to lag behind unless trends are reversed," Billy Ray Hall, presi dent of the Rural Center, said recently. "As long as one in five persons lives in poverty in parts of rural North Carolina, we must continue to strengthen and diver sify our rural economy." The data used in the study were obtained from public sources, in ( Continued on page 6 ) ? . Warren County Clerk of Superior Court Richard E. Hunter, Jr. (far left) rwean In the county'* three ma (titrates for two-year termi. They nrp, left to right, Carson S. Pridgen, a 19-year veteran; Hysses S. Rom, an eight-year veteran, and Curtis E. Mnattao, Jr., a Uiu> year veteran. (Staff Pboja by Howard JaMa)
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Jan. 4, 1989, edition 1
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