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of Moore County high school graduates
on Pages 5-B, 6-C and 8-C.
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Plnecrest.—Page 1-D.
Vol. 53-No. 31
40 Pages
Southern Pines, North Carolina Wednesday, June 6, 1973
40 Pages
Price 10 Cents
*
Pinehurst
To Change
Town Plan
Officials of Diamondhead
Corporation and members of the
Pinehurst Village Council met
together on Tuesday and an
nounced that they are in the
process of making changes in the
Revised Town Plan which,
among other things, would
change the majority makeup of
the Council.
This has been one of the issues
raised by the Concerned Citizens
of Pinehurst in newspaper ad
vertisements published in recent
weeks.
In a statement issued following
Tuesday meeting the corporation
and council said:
“The Proposed Amendments
would give the Council greater
power to act independently of
Pinehurst, Inc. so long as its
actions do not not cause an
economic detriment to
Pinehurst, Inc., or Eiiamondhead
Corporation.”
“The Council will formulate
suitable ordinances for traffic
control, registration of voters
and election rules, and for such
other matters that may arise
from time to time.”
In addition to the Council
members, also present at the
meeting was William H. Maurer,
president of Diamondhead
Corporation, and other officials
of Diamondhead and Pinehurst,
Inc.
“We are aware of the Con
cerned Citizens of Pinehurst,”
said Maurer, “and we will an
swer their open letter very
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Index
Book8-2-B
Classified Ads-3-4-5-6-D
Entertalmnent-6-A
Editorials-l-B
Obits-7-A
Pinehurst News-l-C
Public Speaking-l-B
Sports-l-2-D
"5s
Tax Rates Are Same
For Town and County
SUMMER TIME—There’s nothing like a lake to draw boys to the water in the
summer time. Here Photographer Glenn Sides catches a whole bevy of boys
heading head-first into the lake at the Whispering Pines Marina.
Nude Woman Speeder Tale
Ends With Police Firing
A high speed chase by law
enforcement officers from
Moore, Montgomery, Randolph
and Chatham Counties shortly
after 6 p.m. Sunday resulted in
drunken driving charges against
Carthage policeman William
Watkins Sr.,
Watkins was “relieved of his
duties” Sunday, according to
Town Qerk Mrs. Jeane S. Horne.
(Dhief Arthur Benner was not
available for comment.
According to Trooper J.W.
Alexander this is what haiqiened,
in tx'ief:
He was called Sunday at
around 6:30 p.m. and told that a
police car was _ ?!,tt*®E5)ting r. to
overtake a woman in a black
Dodge, wearing no clothes, and
going South on 15-501 towardl
Aberdeen at speeds of up to 120
miles per hour.
Attempting to overtake
intercept the car, he said he was
informed first that the car was
then headed north, and then
turned around and took Highway
211 toward West End. Later he
was told that the car was located
near Eagle Springs.
With the swarm of officers
tearing through the county, the
car was next reported at Robbins
headed for Biscoe, then later in
Robbins.
Last report of the car was that
it was headed south on Highway
22 near Parkwood. Trooper
Alexander, following Chief
Benner, finally stopped the
Watkins car when it drove into a
ditch at Parkwood at a speed of
some 30 miles an hour, the
Patrolman said.
Trooper Alexander charged
Watkins with driving under the
influence and he is under $200
bond for appearance in Moore
District Court at Carthage on
June 27. The alleged naked
woman speeder has never been
found.
Council
Increases
New Budget
The Southern Pines Town
Council in special session last
Wednesday evening tentatively
approved a budget for 1973-74
totalling $1,090,850, retaining the
Current tax rate of $1.50 per $100
valuation, based on a property
evaluation of around $29 mMon.
This represents an increase of
$51,807 over the 1972-73 budget
total of $1,039,043, then based on
a property evaluation estimated
at around $25 million. Definite
figures arriving later from the
county tax office pushed this up
to $27 million. The present
estimate, representing a $2
million increase, is also subject
to later revision.
The budget is on file at the
town office, where it may be
examined by any interested
citizen for a minimum 2(kninute
period required by law, and may
be protested or revised in public
(Continued on Page 8-A)
11^'
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-
Aberdeen
Gets Fund
Masked Bandit Robs Cafe For Lake
Operator of $2200 Cash
Ukr .
or
Cafe Fight is Aired
At Beck Hearing
BY VALERIE NICHOLSON
Incidents surrounding a fight
at a local restaurant Satur
day night, April 14, leading to the
arrest of four out-of-state golfers
who were spending the weekend
here, were aired at a four-hour
hearing held last Wednesday
night by the Southern Pines
Town Council on request of the
arresting officer, former PoUce
Sgt. L. D. Beck.
Beck denied there had been
any grounds in the events of that
ni^t for Chief Earl S. Seawell to
fire him, as he did on May 9,
charging “dereliction of duty and
insubordination.”
Seawell, however, accused him
of failing to investigate the in
cident fully, and, when he
himself undertook an in
vestigation later, of being in
solent to him. This Beck
categorically denied.
Beck, a Southern Pines police
officer for 16 and a half years,
had sought to protest his
discharge to the council, while
petitioning at the same time for
reinstatement.
The council, stating it had no
statutory authority in matters of
hiring and firing (the respon
sibility of the town manager,
(Continued on Page 8-A)
An armed bandit wearing a gas
mask robbed Larry Russell of
$2,200 Thursday night shortly
after midnight as RusseU was
leaving his place of business,
Russell’s Fish House, about a
half a mile north of Southern
Pines on Highway 22.
Sheriff’s officers said Russell
called them after he freed
himself from tape the thief had
used to tie his wrists behind his
back.
They said the bandit, armed
with a rifle, fled in Russell’s
nickup truck, which they later
found abandoned. A total of $800
in the truck was not taken.
Bloodhounds were used in a
chase for the robber, but lost the
scent.
In the darkness, Russell told
officers, he was unable to see
anything to identify the man by
except that his skin seemed
somewhat dark, possibly like
that of an Indian.
The investigation is con
tinuing.
Pate, Leslie Winners
Of First Rainey Award
Library Expansion Plans
Given by Trustees Head
Plans for an $85,000 expansion
program at the Southern Pines
Public Library were announced
this week by W. Lament Brown,
chairman of the Board of
Trustees.
Brown said the new town
budget will contain an ap
propriation for the building
program, the allocation coming
from federal revenue sharing
funds.
“We hope to have enough funds
available from revenue sharing
to build the addition by the time
we are ready to start con
struction,” he said.
Tentative plans call for an
addition at the rear of the present
Library building to provide 1,000
square feet of space.
The Library staff and board
are now in the process of
determining what form ex
pansion plans will take to provide
additional rooms for staff offices,
workrooms, storage rooms, a
visual aids room, and new
restroom facilities. Among plans
(Continued on Page 8-A)
It was a very special
graduation Tuesday night for two
members of Pinecrest High
School’s Class of 1973.
These were Phyllis Diane
Leslie and Mark Alan Pate, both
of Southern Pines, both 18—and
both of whom had a surprise
which left them “thrilled-
excited—delighted beyond
words,” as they said later when
they somehow found words to
say it.
Phyllis and Mark heard their
names called by Southern Pines
Mayor E. Earl Hubbard, who
summoned them to the platform
to congratulate them as
recipients of the first scholar
ships of the Francis F. Rainey
Education Foundation.
The awards carry $1,000 each
for a boy and a girl, to applied
to expenses at the college or
university of their choice. 'Iliey
were not announced at the
regular awards program, held
Monday at Pinecrest, because
the work of setting up the
Foundation had been completed
only on Friday, and the work of
nomination and sdection of the
recipients took a while.
Honoring the memory of
Francis F. (Bud) Rainey,
Southern Pines town manager
who died last March, and
saluting his love for his com
munity and its young people, the
Foundation was established by
Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Fisher of
Pinehurst, with three others of
his close friends participating—
Col. Graham C. Douglass, Dr.
R.B. Warlick and W. Lamont
Brown, all of Southern Pines.
The indenture papers, drawn
up by Brown, who as i^uthem
I%ies town attorney worked
closely with Rainey for more
than a decade, spell out the
(Continued on Page 8-A)
The Town of Aberdeen has
received a grant of $100,025 from
the Bureau of Outdoor Rec-,
reation for use at Aberdeen Lake
and surrounding property.
Director of Administration
William Bondurant wrote Robert
N. Page III, Mayor Pro Tern of
Aberdeen this week.
The money is matching funds
to be used by the Aberdeen
Recreation Commission in
buying land for the lake.
Major Jack Taylor is making a
gift of property he owns in the
area to the town.
He said that the matter was
being handled by the Mayor Pro
Tern because in this capacity as
Mayor it would be unsuitable for
him to act in the proceedings.
Mayor Pro Tern Page said:
“Mr. Taylor owns several tracts
of land in the lake area. He is
making a gift of some one-half of
the totd as a matching half in
kind to the project.”
The state and federal funds
will buy the rest of Mayor and
Mrs. Taylor’s land in the lake
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Pot Farm
Sheriff’s officers raiding 205
Piney Lane off Youngs Road
near Southern Pines Sunday
around 6 p.m., found not pines,
but 51 lushly growing young
marijuana plants, they said.
They arrested Edward Noland
Marshall, 24, and charged him
with manufacturing marijuana,
a felony offense.
He was placed under $3,000
bond for court appearance June
21.
MISS SOUTHERN PINES—Marian Blue Powell, Miss
Southern Pines for 1973, will be competing next week
for the title of Miss North Carolina. Here she is on the
eve of departure for the State pageant.—(Photo by
Glenn M. Sides).
She Leaves Sunday
To Seek NC Title
County
Has Big
Surplus
The Moore County com
missioners last Thurs(^y night
tentatively adopted an estimated
budget for 1973-74 with a grand
total of $6,059,809—enough to
meet practically every budget
request, including the schools,
while retaining the tax rate at
$1.25.
Natural growth, the com
missioners said, permitted ex
pansion of the property valuation
by $15 million, up to $195 million,
as compared with an increase of
only $5 million last year.
niis conservative estimate,
with budget total of $4,500,886,
has resulted in an anticipated
surplus of $827,718, considerably
easing the coiiunissioners’ tasks.
Also helpful in pushing up the
budget tot^ by $1,558,923 over
last year’s is a brand-new budget
item, the Profit Sharing Trust
containing federal revenue
sharing funds. Tliese included
holdover from the current year,
with nothing spent as yet, plus
anticipated receipts for the
coming year—a total of $661,554.
Public Hearing
The tentative budget is on fUe
in the office of Mrs. Estelle
Wicker, county accountant, to be
kept open to tiie public during a
20-day period. A new legal
requirement, said Mrs. Wicker,
is the holding of a public hearing
on the budget sometime during
the 20 days, and the com
missioners have set it for 2 p.m.
Friday, June 15. Final adoption
of the budget will, however, not
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Marian Blue Powell, Miss
Southern Pines for 1973, will
leave Sunday for the Miss North
Carolina Pageant at Charlotte,
sponsored by the Jaycees.
Her chaperone is Mrs. Wayne
Hicks of the Jaycettes.
Miss Powell, 19, is attending
Sandhills Community College
this summer. She hopes to
transfer to North Carolina State
University at Raleigh after
winter quarter and major in
Elementary Education.
Swimming, tennis and jogging
are among Miss Powell’s
favorite activities. Also she says
that she enjoys going to see
movies. Her favorite music is
blues and she will sing, “Cry Me
A River,” in the state pageant.
Tuesday night Miss Powell will
begin her competition in the
evening gown category. On
Wednesday night she will per- tvt 171 j
form her talent. On Monday all of 0 W J/ UIlClS
the contestants will visit
Carowinds, a new park near
Charlotte.
Hospital
Reports
When asked about her
presentation gown she described
it as baby blue with a long blue
train and blue plumes at the
bottom. The neck of the gown is
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Drinking Beer in Public
Said No Longer Illegal
THE
PILOT LIGHT
Moore Given Funds to Expand
Kindergartens to Five Units
Moore County will receive
$90,435 to advance public kin
dergartens during the 1973-74
school year.
Allocation of funds for the
various school units in the State
was made by the State Board of
Education on Friday.
The 1973 General Assembly
appropriated $12.3 million for
kindergartens serving 16,000
children out of an estimated
86,000 for the coming year. A full
statewide kindergarten program
is being phased in on a five-year
program ending in 1978.
Allocations were based on an
estimated cost of $18,000 per
‘ class.
. Superintendent of Schools R.E.
iLee said that five kindergarten
' centers will be operated in Moore
next year. They will be at
Aberdeen, Carthage, Robbins
and two in Southern Pines. He
said that the centers were being
established where the largest
number of five-year-olds live.
The State Board has
established guidelines for the
selection of children to attend the
kindergartens, but each school
unit must devise its own selection
procedures.
Supt. Lee said that the
guidelines specify that there
must be a racial balance, with
a balance between boys and girls
and also on an economic basis.
The Moore County Board of
Education has not yet
established its student selection
procedures, but is expected to do
so at an early date.
(Continued on Page 8-A)
CHECK-UPS-Governor
Holshouser is using the SBI to
check-up on State employes,
especiaUy to see that there is no
unauthorized use of State cars.
There have been crackdowns
in past administrations on the
use of State cars for personal
business, and that was one
reason the State motor pool was
established several years ago.
There’s a feeling on the part os
some people, however, that the
current SBI surveillance is a way
for the Republican ad
ministration to get rid of some
State employes they want to fire
anyway.
ALLEN—Senator Gordon
Allen of Roxboro the president
pro-tem of the State Senate, says
that Democratic legislators Will
be watching closely to see if
Governor Holshouser puts in a
wholesale purge of State em
ployes.
He pointed out that the General
Assembly doesn’t have to wait
for a call from the Governor to
come back in special session—it
can do it on its own if 60 percent
of the members request it.
The inference is that if a
political purge is instituted the
Legislature might come back to
put a stop to it.
MORGAN—Attorney General
Robert Morgan says now that he
will wait until around the first of
the year before making a
decision on seeking the U.S.
Senate seat now held by Senator
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Public beer drinking is no
longer illegal in Southern Pines.
In a ruling last Friday the
North Carolina Supreme Court
declared a Mt. Airy ordinance
against drinking beer in public
was invalid.
Town Attorney W. Lamont
Brown said that in view of the
court’s ruling that a similar
ordinance in Southern Pines is
also invalid. He said that he had
told the police department that
the local law was no longer in
force.
In a 5-2 decision written by
Justice Dan K. Moore, the N. C.
Supreme Court said that there is
no prohibition to possessing an
opened can of beer. The major
decision was that the Mt. Airy
ordinance was in conflict with a
state law which provides that
unless there is state law to the
contrary, the use of beer by
persons over age 18 “for their
own use is permitted without
restriction or regulation.”
The ruling applies only to malt
beverages with low alcohol
content and not to liquor, which
is controlled by separate
statutes.
Brown said that the ruling is
consistent with similar decisions
in which local laws must con
form to statewide statutes. He
expressed the opinion, however,
that “better control” is needed
by municipalities, especially as
to beer outlets.
As it now stands, if the State
ABC Board grants a beer license
a county or municipality must go
along with the board action.
The Moore Memorial Hospital
Campaign Expansion Drive
reported additional funds of
$86,777 Thursday.
Bob Ewing, general chairman
of the drive, said, “It is
significant that out of &e $86,777
reported this week, $50,000 came
from a generous contributor in
Montgomery County.” He said
the gift was presented to the
campaign organization at
Thursday night’s report meeting
(Continued on Page 8-A)
Budget
Approved
By Council
The Board of Directors of the
Pee Dee Council of Governments
anoroved its 1974 budget at its
meeting in Troy on May 30.
The $112,900 budget is made up
of $88,600 of Federal and State
funds and $24,300 of local
government money. The COG
budget includes funds for the
South Central Comprehensive
Health Planning Council and the
Areawide Aging Planning Task
Force.
(Ck)ntinued on Page 8-A)
Largest Class in History -605
Graduate From Moore Schools
The Qass of 1973, totaling 605,
the largest in Moore County’s
history by 10 over last year,
graduated Tuesday amid pomp
and pageantry, caps and gowns,
and music and speakers at
Pinecrest, Union Pines, and
North Moore High Schools.
Principal Phillip McMillan
gave the main address at
Pinecrest’s fourth com
mencement where 304 seniors,
the same as last year, graduated
at 8 p.m. in the courtyard.
The seniors, some misty-eyed,
jubilant, reminiscent or pensive,
entered the courtyard to the
traditional “Pomp and Cir
cumstance” performed by the
Pinecrest Band.
Mrs. Barbara Geer played the
prelude, “For All the Saints,”
arranged for piano by Williams.
Invocation was by Linda Ann
Fowler, senior class reporter,
and special music by the
Pinecrest mixed chorus. They
sang “Morning Has Broken” by
Stevens, and “Turn, Turn,
Turn,” by Seeger.
Lawrence Earle Richardson,
Senior Class President, in
troduced McMillan. After the
commencement address Mc
Millan and Assistant Principal
Stan Hedrick awarded diplomas.
Susan Lee Taylor, vice
president of the Senior Class,
made the closing remarks, after
which the Pinecrest Chorale
Ensemble sang the benediction,
“Jesus Speaks.”
The band played “The Grand
March” for the recessional to
(Continued on Page 8-A)