%t 15* eu?a - journal The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 Merchants, City Take Action On Trash Around Town By Sam C. Morris Don't forget that if you ate not registered to vote in the November General Election, the books will be o|>cn Wednesday, Friday and Monday. The books will close at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 7. Also, persons who have moved from one precinct to another within the county must go by the Board of Elections office and change their registration to the proper precinct. Civilian applications for Absentee Ballots may be made in person or in writing to the Election Board. Deadline for voting by Absentee Ballot will be Wednesday, October 30. If you have any questions concerning registration or the election, go back to the Election Office or call 875-4526. The Beautification Committee of the county has been taking pictures of yards and homes over the county that made one proud of the citizens. For the past couple of weeks the pictures have been of lots and alleys in town where trash has accumulated, and also around the dumpsters scattered Iwer the county with overflowing ygarbage. This must have caused some checking by city officials, because Monday, Chief Leonard Wiggins came by this office and showed me some things that needed cleaning up behind the Dickson Press building. I immediately had the weeds cut and the trash put in the bin. I thank the chief for calling this condition to my attention and know that other businessmen will Ice! the same way when they are approached by city officials. All of us get careless, and when conditions arc looked at day after day, they don't seem very bad, but when you put them all together, it can turn out to be a problem. So let's all cooperate with the Beautification Committee and make Raeford and Hoke County a cleaner and healthier place to live. ^ The Hoke High Bucks came through ffine fashion last week against umberlon, winning by a score of 27-7. They are again at home this week meeting the Dunn Green Waves at Hoke High Stadium Friday night. Be a Hoke Booster; go to the game Friday night. Buddy Blue, Republican spokesman for Robeson and Hoke County, has been in and out of this office many times in the past few weeks giving Laurie Telfair information about the road work and other things concerning his party. Becky Jones stated the other day that the last straw would be for the party to call for Blue at The News-Journal office. Well, as could be expected, last Friday the district highway commissioner called and asked for Blue. He was not here, but the number of a certain restaurant was given, and I understand that the call was completed. CLEAN-UP ~ The back alleys of downtown Raeford got a good cleaning this week as businessmen, spurred by newspaper articles and the chief of police, had trash and debris removed. Alexander McNeill and James Gibson clear awav an old bin behind the Elwood Avenue and Main Street building that houses Value-Mart, Popes, Lundy's Shoe Shop and other shops. Gregory Floyd spent a day cleaning up around the building occupied by Pittard and Perry accountants and Bvrd's Fabric Shop. Autry Gears Up For Bond Vote County school superintendent Raz Autry opened his campaign to sell the upcoming SI,250,000 school bond issue to the voters by addressing two departments of the Raeford Woman's Club Tuesday night. RWC Education Department and the Home Life Department did not endorse the bond issue as a group, but members pledged their individual support. A heavy schedule of talks to other groups is also planned. In an Oct. 1 letter mailed to over 100 area women, Autry said it was his job lo try to convince voters to approve the bonds. The superintendent will present the needs of the schools and plans for the use of the money at a meeting next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the courthouse. Autry outlined areas which the money would be put to use if the bonds win approval at the polls. At Hoke High, one gymnasium would be extended by 50 feet, creating a "gymtorium", suitable for the production of plays, recitals, and other events. At the present time, the high school has no facility where the entire student body can be seated. Air conditioning lor the Gibson Building and the addition of two more shops are in the plans for the high school. At West Hoke, a media center (library) would be built and four more classrooms added. Raelord Elementary School would get a new cafeteria and improvements to the gymnasium and dressing rooms, for use in the physical education program. More classrooms will be added at the Scurlock School, according to Autry. Autry emphasized the needs of the high school and the relation to the bonds. "We've either got to do something or il is certainly going to affect our accreditation", he warned. An accreditation review from a regional school council is due this year. Hoke High is accredited by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges, which is the highest accrediting agency in the Southeast. In keeping with his promise lo try to sell the bond issue to voters, Autry scheduled an appearance at a meeting of the Junior Woman's Club on Ocl. 2, and also announced plans for a bumper sticker campaign. He is also planning to meet with the extension homemaker clubs. Hoke Ahead Of State In Food Stamp Use Ilokc County is well ahead of many of the other counties in the state in participation in the federal food stamp program. According to figures compiled by the state department of human resources, the county has a total of 2,364 persons buying food stamps here. The department lists 4,560 persons as having incomes below the poverty level. However, not all persons with below poverty level incomes are eligible for food stamps, the department points out. The slate as a whole has less than a third of the persons with low incomes receiving food stamps. Only 310,052 persons in the state were receiving food stamps as of July I and 996,310 are considered to have incomes below the poverty level. Two lawsuits against the state are now pending for alleged failure to follow legal requirements to actively recruit persons who are eligible to use food stamsp. Only Mecklenburg County, with 31,287 of a possible 43,487 receiving stamps, has exceeded a recently state-set goal of 60 percent participation. Cumberland County has 36,271 listed below poverty level with 12,441 receiving food stamps. Robeson County lists 32,012 with low incomes and 10,259 buying the stamps. Some counties have very low levels of participation, such as Dare County with 285 on the food stamp program from a probable number of 1125 eligible. Hoke County should add 372 more persons to the program in order to meet the state goal, Ben Niblock, county director of social services, said. Niblock said lack of information about the program here is not the problem. "Our biggest drawback to maximum participation is that the biggest part of the users are in that income area where they have to shell out a large amount of money at one time for the stamps," he said. "People living on a marginal income, well, if anything goes wrong that month, the refrigerator breaks or a child gets sick, it throws them off the program for a month." A family of four making a net income of up to S500 can qualify for food stamps, Niblock said. But near the lop of the income bracket, stamps worth SI50 will cost the user $126. "When they get near the top of the scale, they are hard pressed to come up with that amount of money all at one time." he said. Niblock said he would like to see the program changed to a bonus plan where the user receives stamps amounting to the difference between what he would pay and what the stamps are worth. "As it is now, the program imposes on them the necessity to shop once a month. And most people don't do that. They shop weekly." he said. The pcrmissable income scale for food stamp eligibility ranges from SI04 per month for a single person to SW per month for a family of ten. The cost of SI SO in food stamps varies according to the income. For example, a family of four making a net income of S250 a month would pay S71 for the food stamps, Niblock said. A family of four with a net monthly income of S500 would pay SI 26 for the same amount of stamps. Cotton picking time has begun in the county. CO-CHA tRMFN - Mrs. Sarah Leach and Mrs. Joan Balfour will head the United Fund campaign drive this year. Co-Chairman Named To Head UF Drive Mrs. Sarah Leach and Mrs. Joan Balfour were named co-chairmen of this year's county I nited fund drive. A meeting to plan the drive will be held Thursday. L'F president Ashwell Harward said. Last week the directors ol' the fund approved a goal of 510,441.21 for the eight programs that will share in the drive. The budget is down from last year's goal of S21.325.5"'. ASC Lists Eligible Voters A list of ihe names of all persons to receive ballots in the upcoming annual ASC committeemen election is available in the county ASCS office, reports Tom Burgess, county executive director. ASCS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is responsible for farm program administration. On the local level, ASCS operated under a farmer-elected committee system. This year's election will be by mail ballot between Nov. 22 and Dec. 2. Anyone who meets the following requirements is eligible to vote in these farmer committee elections: any individual of legal voting age with an interest in a farm as owner, tenant. or sharecropper who is eligible to participate in any ASCS program. Persons not of legal voting age who supervise and conduct ? aiming operations on an entire farm arc also eligible to vote in ASC elections. No person can lie denied the right to vote because of race, sex. color, religion, or national origin. Seveial gencial provisions relate to ASC voter eligibility. A wife who operates a farm with her husband can vote if her name is on the deed of conveyance. A youth under IK years of age can vote if he runs a farm, and a legal guardian who runs a farm for a child can vote for the child. A person may cast a ballot in any See ASC. Page 15 By Marty Vega taL'SS im m "??, '* Bsy-stfe -rv-: iSraS-wsiift P"y tor the messy appearance behind has Store two weeks ago which drew the attention of the beautification group than the"faZTh t0? much. other when he m. r ,hc week prior to h2T T ?" "^"'"nd^me offi ssaass? Parnell said that he is eenerallv .ndi?,dedWi'h,,he Ci'y r?i,yh"Mo^ritd a.ityS employees stop working and we went loaded6? and raked Up everything and nfthe t ,??,PUr truck 3,1 d took it down to the landfill ourselves " Meanwhile, police chief Leonard ggtns was seen Monday in the allevs adjoining the main business district taking a close look at conditions. suggestions'6, S3,rd h? was making ggestions to a few people regarding the conditions he observed and waf forth Clean up action would be forthcoming. As the police chief was conferring with an unidentified store onTZ' ,heehind, P0PC'S ^ S