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Warrenton. N.C. 27589
Stye Warren {Record
Volume 94 25e Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, N|orth Carolina Wednesday, April 12, 1989 Number 14
Cows were found Tuesday morning looking for grazing land near
this abandoned bouse located off U. S. 158 Business between Macon
and Warrenton. Monday night's unseasonal snowfall left nearly one
inch of the white stuff throughout the county.
(Staff Photo by Dianne T. Rod well)
For Town Employees
Dismay Is Expressed
Over Insurance Hike
Notification by Blue Cross that
the town's employee health in
surance may be increased by as
much as 42 percent had Warren
ton commissioners buzzing Mon
day night, and even had one com
missioner offering a motion that
the town board go on record in
favor of socialized medicine.
Upon completion of a report
by Town Administrator V. R.
Vaughan showing that individual
and family coverage provided by
Blue Cross might be substantial
Druggist Named
To Another Term
Warrenton pharmacist
Palmer W. (Woody) King, Jr.
was elected to his third straight
one-year term as president of
the Warrenton Merchants Asso
ciation on Thursday night.
Directors of the business
group chose King to head the or
ganization, and elected Helen
West as vice president. The two
operate neighboring stores on
Warrenton's Main Street.
Meeting in the Economic
Development Commission's of
fices here, directors chose Sarah
Kearney Watkins as treasurer
and Cathy Wilson as secretary.
Two vacancies on the board of
directors are expected to be
filled as soon as nominees can be
contacted, King said this week.
ly increased later this year, Com
missioner Eddie Clayton called
on fellow commissioners "to go
on record that we work toward
socialized medicine." Clayton's
motion died for lack of a second,
but served to indicate the mood
of the board members who ex
pressed strong displeasure with
prospects of an insurance hike.
Board members noted that
coverage for Norlina town
employees is running less than
for Warrenton under a policy
secured through the North
Carolina League of Municipali
ties. However, comparable provi
sions of the policies were not
available Monday night.
Town officials indicated that
they would seek quotes for
similar coverage to be provided
by other insurance companies
prior to the May 20 deadline for
accepting the increase by Blue
Cross.
Town fathers also agreed to
have the town administrator set
up a meeting with Byrd's Food
Stores to see if a proposal by the
Warrenton Rural Fire Depart
ment to have three fire hydrants
placed at the Hall's Spring Shop
ping Center where Byrd's is plan
ning an addition to its Warrenton
store can be agreed upon.
Fire Chief Kenny Clayton and
Capt. Walter Gardner appeared
before the board to unveil a plan
to provide adequate fire protec
Toil-Free Telephone
Service Is Goal Here
Warrenton commissioners voted unanimously Monday night
to call on Carolina Telephone to provide toll-free telephone ser
vice for residents of Lake Gaston wishing to place calls on the
Warrenton exchange.
The call to provide such service was accompanied by an in
formal plea from hoard members that other local governmen
tal, business and civic groups join the effort to eliminate the toll
for lake phone customers.
The resolution seeking toll-free service was passed after
Mayor B. G. White reported to commissioners that Carolina
Telephone officials, meeting with local officials in a recent open
forum held at The Rafters, indicated that "there is a good
possibility that people on the lake could be put on the Warren
ton exchange."
Many residents of Lake Gaston are now served by the Littleton
exchange, and Warrenton commissioners indicated Monday
night that this causes problems for lake residents wanting to
transact business by telephone with businesses and government
agencies located in the county seat.
The motion to seek toll-free service from Lake Gaston to War
renton was made by commissioner W. A. Miles, seconded by
commissioner Phil Daniel, and received the support of all com
missioners who were at the session. Commissioners Bobby
Edmonds and Charles White were not present.
tion to the shopping center by in
stalling over $6,000 worth of
hydrants, fittings and pipe at the
same time that Byrd's under
takes its 5,000-square-foot expan
sion for a deli and bakery.
The firemen indicated that
Byrd's officials had been con
tacted about the proposal and
were "in favor of trying to put a
water supply on the lot."
Although two hydrants served
by six-inch mains are adjacent to
the Byrd's property, firemen told
the board that sufficient water to
fight a major fire at the shopping
center was not now available.
The foliage and (lower* of this Warren County
dogwood tree boar the effect* of this week'* mnMual
(nowfall. Warming temperature* Tneoday morn
ing remored all bat a trace of the white blanket
before oooa, bot (reeling temperatures were ex
pected to follow to the wake of the nnrtall.
(Staff Photo hy Ptiylll* H. King)
The firemen said they had met
with Macon Robertson of the
town's water department in ar
riving at the cost figures, and that
Robertson said that the town
crew could probably put the new
pipe and hydrants in place in
three working days.
In a report from police com
missioner A. A. Wood, board
members learned that during
March police made 14 arrests,
issued four tickets for speeding
and one for a stoplight violation,
wrote 36 parking tickets, in
vestigated 13 accidents and in 36
instances opened vehicles for
motorists who had locked
themselves out of their cars.
The town administrator in
formed board members that the
League of Municipalities was
having a series of regional
meetings around the state this
month. He reported that the
nearest meeting will be held in
Durham on April 13. Cost of at
tending the session will be $13 per
board member. No one indicated
Monday night that he would be
able to attend.
Mayor B. G. White reported
that the measurement of 41
streets in Warrenton containing
7.4 miles of paving are eligible for
Power Bill funding had been
completed, He said the town, by
taking in portions of streets not
previously included, had quali
fied for an additional eight-tenths
of a mile of state funds for road
maintenance.
Visits In Raleigh
Mrs. Howard Oakley spent
several days last week in Raleigh
visiting with her sister, Mrs.
Jesse Teague. Another sister,
Mrs. Katherine Uverimore, of
Chapel Hill Joined them.
School Budget
Awaits Tuning
By Board Today
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
Warren County's Board of
Education will convene a special
"numbers crunching" session to
day (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. to
begin the task of fine-tuning its
request for local funds for the
next academic year. The board
will also begin its review, in ex
ecutive session, of the 27 appli
cations received for the post of
county superintendent of schools.
The proposed request before
the board for 1989-90 totals
$1,953,720 and is composed of
three broad elements: continua
tion of existing services and pro
grams ($1,610,796); expansion
items as recommended by the
central office leadership team
and school personnel ($155,424);
and capital outlay expenditures
($187,500).
Among the proposed expansion
items are: a full-time director of
Indian education to enhance
drop-out prevention and scholas
tic efforts ($25,000), an increase
in the local supplements for
teachers and principals ($18,112),
installment of security systems
at Northside, Mariam Boyd and
Vaughan ($15,000), purchase of
materials needed to implement
the BEP program in art in grades
seven through 12 ($15,000); and
participation in an area teacher
education consortium ($3,000).
The main elements of the pro
posed capital outlay budget are:
acquisition/replacement of fur
nishings/equipment, including a
portion of that to be used in the
new high school addition and
middle school ($147,500), pur
chase of maintenance vehicles
($25,000) and renovations to the
heating system at Vaughan
($15,000).
After today's fine-tuning ses
sion, the request for local funding
will be submitted to County
Manager Charles Worth for in
corporation into the budget pro
posal to be presented to the War
ren County Board of County Com
missioners for the next fiscal
vear.
The board also received a
report on drop-out prevention ef
forts in the county. Since last
summer, about 25 students in
grades eight through 12 have
dropped out, "about one-half the
number seen at this time last
year," Mrs. Junell Blaylock told
the board. WCHS principal
James Wilkerson also stated that
the percentage for the first six
months of this academic year
was two percent. "That didn't
just happen overnight... our peo
ple are putting forth a great ef
fort," he said. Drop-out rates
reported by Mrs. Blaylock begin
ning in 1984-85 were: '84-'85 (8.1),
'85-'86 (7.7), '86- '87 (7.4) and
'87-'88 (5.4).
In other business, the board:
? Adopted a resolution declar
ing April 24-28 as Smoke-Free
Awareness Week in Warren
County Schools, in support of the
nationwide aim to ensure that the
"Class of 2000" is comprised of
non-smokers;
? Heard a report on the After
School Program in operation at
Vaughan and plans for expansion
next year;
? Approved a proposed Chap
ter I ESSIA program for the next
academic year;
? Received from WCHS prin
cipal James Wilkerson, on behalf
of all of the county's principals,
a request that four additional
traits be considered in the selec
tion of a new superintendent of
schools;
? Heard a report on one vacan
cy? a kindergarten teacher at
Northside;
? Resolved to send congratula
tory letters to students and staff
who had received various honors
and awards; and
? Received from John Hawkins
an invitation to participate in the
dedicatory ceremony to be held
May 5 at 5 p.m. to unveil the his
torical marker erected in honor
of U.S. Congressman John Adam
Hyman, a Warren County native
and the first black senator with
roots in North Carolina.
The board also met in ex
ecutive session on personnel and
litigation matters, but no action
was taken after reconvening in
open session.
Registration
By Mail Seen
In House Bill
Legislation designed to boost
voter registration has been in
troduced in the form of three bills
presented in the 1989 session of
the North Carolina General
Assembly.
According to Mrs. Ruby Jones,
Warren County Board of Elec
tions supervisor, copies of the
three bills have been received
and are under review. The mail
ing had been accompanied by a
request from Alex Brock, State
Board of Elections director, that
the proposals receive careful
study.
House Bill 343 would allow
those voters who, due to age or
disability, are unable to go to the
polls to receive absentee ballots
for a full calendar year after sub
mitting only one application. Cur
rently, separate applications
must be filed.
According to Mrs. Jones, adop
tion of that process would be
similar to a service which exists
already for military personnel.
"That would make it a lot better
for the voter," she said.
House Bill 547 would expand
the number of registrations by
permitting the process to occur
by mail, or through certain agen
cies, among them driver's license
offices, whose applications could
double as voter registration
forms.
Mrs. Jones said that enactment
of House Bill 547 might result in
instances of fraud, especially if
there were no way of verification
of identity. She also wondered if
use of the driver's license ap
plication forms might result in
duplications.
House Bill 548 would allow
voter registrations on election
day.
"In larger counties where com
puterization is the norm, election
day registration might work,"
(Continued onpageSB)
Warrenton Man
Facing Charges
A Warren County man has
been scheduled to appear on
April 26 in Warren County
District Court, following in
vestigations by the Warrenton
Police Department of a March 25
crime at a Warrenton residence.
Calvin Kearney, 19, of Rt. 2,
Warrenton, has been charged
with felony-grade breaking and/
or entering and larceny and
misdemeanor-grade breaking
and/or entering, following in
vestigations of reports of crimes
at the 315 Ridgeway Street
residence of Mr. and Mrs. Claude
T. Bowers. Reported missing
after the alleged March 25 break
in was $14. The suspect's mis
demeanor charge relates to a
March 27 break-In at the Bowers
residence.
Following his arrest by War
renton Police Sgt. George Alston,
Kearney was placed under an
unsecured fSOO bond.