Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / May 15, 1975, edition 1 / Page 2
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ew6 - m SKUNK HKt-1171 (3a/to6ma PRESS ASSOCIATION | Published tvery Thursday at Raefosd. N. C. 28376 119 W. k I wood Avenue Subscription Rates In Advance Per Year S5.00 6 Months - S2.7S 3 Months - SI.SO PAUL DICKSON Publisher- Editor SAM C. MORRIS General Manager LAURIE TELFAIR Avsociate Editor MRS. PAI L DICKSON Society Editor MARTY VkC.A Reporter Second Class l\)stane at Raclord. N. ('. THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1975 As We See It by Laurie Telfair Directors of the Chamber of Commerce approached city and county officials last week with a request for a boost in tax revenues to the Chamber. ? They are considering hiring a full time manager-planner, with the idea of expanding the chamber's activities to help take advantage of some of the state and federal programs this area has been missing. Other C of C projects, such as more aggressive industry hunting, have also been mentioned. A more active chamber, with a fulltime director, is, in itself, a good idea. But a closer look ought to be taken at the current C of C plans. To begin with, the county's citizens, through city and county taxes, are being asked to fund the expansion. A total of SI 1,000 ? $8,000 from the county and $3,000 from the city ? is being asked this year for the Chamber. This is a $5,000 increase ? $3,000 from the county and $2,000 from the city ? and more than pays the proposed director's salary, tentatively set at $10,000 a year. Yet, these are funds over which elected officials, and thus the citizens, have no control. Tax funds are funneled into the Chamber to perform the industry hunting and economy building functions for local government, as neither the city nor the county has any type of industrial development structure. Year after year, some $6,000 in tax money has gone to the Chamber and is it a fair question to ask what has been received for the money? And what will be received if the additional funds that have been requested are approved? As far is industrial development goes, in the past few years, attracting the Knit-Away plant to Raeford has been the major accomplishment of the Chamber ? and city officials as well. And there are a number of deficiencies that might be cited: the failure to produce the long-awaited city brochure is one. Now for the second question that ought to be raised: Who will the Chamber hire? Since public money will, in essence, be footing the bill, the public has more than just an academic concern here. The citizens have a right to expect to get their money's worth and that means hiring someone who meets the qualifications of expertise and experience. When asked by the county commissioners, if the chamber would object to hiring a professional planner. Chamber president Bob Gentry conceded that there might be some opposition to hiring someone who wasn't local. This is not to say that a local resident wouldn't qualify. But being a Hoke resident shouldn't be the primary qualification either. If local government is going to spend money on economic development, perhaps some consideration ought to be given to creating a joint development office accountable directly to city and county officials, rather than channeling the money through the Chamber. If it is decided that the Chamber can best meet that need, then some concrete requirement should be agreed upon and met. The public should get full value for its tax dollar. Browsing in the files of The News-Journal 25 years ago llmnday.May 11,1950 The registration books for Hoke County will close on Saturday,May 13, and this will be the last chance you will haw to register to be able to vote in the primary to be held on May 27. John Thomas Daniels suffered a Stroke last Saturday morning and passed r Monday in a Fayetteville hospital. In a Report of Condition dated April 1950 the assets at The Bank of \ were $2,647j617.70. News: from Rockfidt to Arabia be paved had the priming week. 15 years ago Thursday. May 12, 1960 1960 population of Hoke County is 16,363 accotding to the report. In Raeford the new population is 3,057, a gain of 1,027 over the 1950 figure of 2,030. The town commissioners of Raeford managed to adopt a tentative budget almost SI 2,000 higher than last year, but to maintain the same proposed tax rate at their meeting of the budget this week. People of Raeford and Hoke County were urged this week to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of infectious hepatitis, a virus infection that affects the lives and strikes with varying degrees of seriouaiess. You mean we haven't lost a Vietnam, we've gained a Cuba?' Life Goes On-Sometimes The wonderful part about life is that it goes on, at least it should, unless your mind becomes fixed on some horrible experience and you must draw upon every bit of strength you possess to drive the memory out. For me, the battle is the night the toilet blew up and we had to call the fire department. I thought I'd all but forgotten that awful night,but I got to reading that out - of - town newspaper again that uses an eight column layout, and there was an item about the tornado season. Suddenly it all came back to me in a rush of tumbled, blurred images. 1 wouldn't have been reading that paper anyway, and could have avoided all this unpleasantness, except with eight columns, you just somehow feel you're getting more news that with a six column layout. But the tornado story shook me up, not that the toilet blew up during a tornado. In fact, there were no reported tornadoes anywhere in Louisiana that night. But there COULD have been, see, and the outcome could have had far more tragic consequences. Now some people might ask, why call the fire department if your toilet blows up? The answer is, who else are you going to call? We were not completely Puppy Creek Philosopher Dear editor: 1 know President Ford has said we ought to forget about the Viet Nam war and turn our thoughts to other things here at home, and 1 intend to, but there's one last thing I'd like to say. As I understand it, one of the stated reasons for our being over there was the domino theory, that if South Viet Nam fell to the Communists then another country would, then another and another, like dominoes do when you sland them on end in a row and push the first one over. I have thought this over and while I haven't figured out who stood those countries on end in the first place and who set them up in rows, I followed the war in the newspapers and on television, noticing that the more we bombed the less we won, that the Generals who kept saying they could see the light at the end of the tunnel didn't seem to know the war wasn't in a tunnel, it was out in the jungles. In fact, we went through countless tunnels, only to find they led to nowhere. Therefore I've come to the conclusion that the game over there wasn't dominoes, it was checkers. But it wasn't played by the rules of checkers used here in Raeford. The Viet Cong played like all its checkers were kings from the start of the game and you could move them forward or backward any time you pleased and jump in any direction you wanted and over as many spaces as you liked. If it looked like they were losing they'd grab their checkers and move to another board in another part of the jungle. I don't know why it never occurred to our leaders that you can't play dominoes on a checker board. And the thing I guesS we'd better be thinking about is that the Generals who kept saying we've got the Viet Cong and the North Viet Namese mortally weakened and on the run,all we need is a few hundred thousand more men and a few more billion dollars and well have victory by Christmas, are the same Generals who will be in charge if the U.S. ever gets into a really genuine war of survival. President Ford is right, we ought to turn our thoughts to something else, and that may be one of them. Yours faithfully, 1A. unprepared, as (here had been some very definite indications for weeks that something was going to happen. It's just that we were not prepared for it at one a.m. We didn't ignore die warnings, no, we brought them to the prompt attention of the landlady, although we were not armed with the "necessary repairs" clause of the lease for our bargaining. Actually we were not armed with any lease at all, which probably was the smartest and dumbest thing we ever did. The fact that our rented quarters was a $45 a month trailer ('spacious mobile home, quiet' in the ad) and we were, to all appearances, impoverished Army wives who couldn't afford anything better, did not deter us from exercising our rights as tenants. It only made it more embarrassing to do so. The very nature of living in a dump makes negotiations with the management difficult. You must be careful not to malign the accommodations in any way, as this will not bring results. For this reason, it was very unwise for my roommate to state "Look, Myrde, die place is a rat trap, but you could fix the john to work halfway". The response to this, of course, was designed to remove any leverage we had to bargain, "Well, if you two are so refined, whal arc ya doin' here?" Myrtle was a bit of a refined type in her own way. as throughout our many discussions, she never used the word 'toilet', but referred to the problem as the 'commode'. Site even had us saying it after about the second or third week. She had us saying some other words, too, because tempers were growing short before matters came to a head, you might say. We got some satisfaction. An earnest looking young man came to the door one day and announced he was here to fix the commode. He wasn't wearing any sort of a work uniform, and he didn't have any tools, but we let him in, since he obviously spoke Myrtle's language. He interrupted his labors once, to ask if we had any plastic wrap. He was given a four inch section of a Wonder Bread wrapper, and in less than five minutes, he was through. We had a small celebration that night and went to bed early. The next morning dawned bright and clear, and as we awoke to the warm Louisiana sun and the smell of the magnolias, we felt renewed, in perfect harmony and contentment, secure with our knowledge. The toilet worked. How we spent our time that last fateful day, neither of us remembers. What happened that night we shall not easily forget, though, as each of us is doomed to carry it with us for a lifetime. "We've gone over it again and again in our minds, but it happened so fast, we're not sure of anything anymore. We figure the handle must have been depressed, but how, oh how, were we to know that this time it would unleash the fury of the spillway at Grand Coulee Dam and the deafening noise of Niagara Falls, both at the same time. As the flood washed over our feet, then our ankles, the sickening realization that we couldn't contain it also washed over us. Fear gripped us. Surely if the geiser did not abate, it would certainly exhaust the entire city's supply within minutes, and what the legal consequences of this could be to us was more frightening than the present danger of just drowning. So it was plain to see someone had to take quick action, and that someone was me. "What should we do?" my roommate yelled above the din. "Call the fire department, what ebe?" I CLIFF BLUE ... People & Issues BAD LEGISLATION? - This practice of the General Assembly enacting l.w providing that the House Speaker and the Lieut. Governor name members of boards and commissions from membership of the House and Senate appears to be getting completely out-of-hand. We are supposed to have three seperate branches of government - legislative, judicial and executive. Up until the election of Governor Holsnouser, a Republican, this system operated very well. Now, with a Republican governor and the General Assembly overwhelmingly Democratic, the legislature appears to have moved rather far into the field of usurping the prerogatives of the executive. With the governor making the appointments the great majority of the appointments were made from the lay citizens across the state. Now, with the House Speaker and the Lieut. Governor making appointments, they choose from the respective legislative bodies over which they preside. This policy does not forebode for lay-citizenship participating in government, but in reality could wink at double office-holding, although complying legally, which in instances is not in the best interest of good government. The General Assembly is supposed to make the laws and the executive department, headed by the governor, is supposed to administer the laws. Recently, Senator Herman Moore, Mecklenburg Democrat, introduced a bill to add four legislators to the membership of the State Wildlife Commission, later saying, "I'm not willing to trust the crowd in power in the selection of an executive director of the Wildlife Commission based on their performance." Since Governor Holshouser took office, it appears that far too many legislators have been named by the presiding officers of the General Assembly to boards and commissions where lay-participation might well have served better. SENATOR HELMS - With Ronald Reagan having all but ruled out the idea of leading a Third Party movement if he loses out in his expected try for the GOP presidential nomination, don't be surprised if North Carolina's Senator Jesse Helms heads a Third Party as its r candidate for President in 1976. Senator Helms can run for President on a Third Party ticket and if he loses out will still have his seat in the United States Senate as he will not be up for re-election until 1978. There has been some feeling that Senator Helms might, when seeking reelection, do so as an Independent as did Senator Harry Byrd, Jr. in Virginia. Senator Byrd changed his party designation from that of a Democrat to Independent and won easily. Some of Helms supporters feel that he might be able to do the same thing in North Carolina. LAY JUDGES - In a close vote last week the State Senate voted to kill a bill that would require all judges to be lawyers. We suspect that one of the best ways that lawyers can safeguard judicial posts for attorneys is to uphold justice in the courtroom. Last week a 54 - year old woman chasier was held up at a bakery in Charlotte. This, according to the Charlotte Observer, was the second time Mrs. Edna Lewter was held up this year at gun-point. The first time the robber got $200, this time $70. Mrs. Lewter said it was the same man who held her up both times. The District Judge allowed the accused robber to be released from jail twice without posting any bond money! In between the two times that Mrs. Lewter was robbed, the same man was arrested for dragging a 57 - year old woman 30 - feet and stealing her purse in a parking lot of a Charlotte grocery store. In this case the accused was put on pre - trial release! Coddling criminals who have no appreciation for mercy is not what the public wants. The great majority of our people want justice in the courtroom and protection for our law - abiding citizens. FUND-RAISING - Two fund-raising meetings are on hand among Tar Heel Democrats. A $50. per plate Shrimparoo to help Senator Bob Morgan pay off his $90,000 campaign debt will be held on May 22 at Scott Pavilion, N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. A S250 and plus reception will be held at the N.C. Country Club near Pinehurst, Friday, May 16 to raise presidential campaign funds for Terry Sanford. Report To The People by Senator Robert Morgan The Senate recently debated and then voted on the national budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1975. This was the first year that the Congress, acting under the Budget Control Act of 1974, considered the budget as a whole rather than piecemeal and this is going to be a valuable tool in years to come. But the results were not encouraging in this year of recession, as the final budget deficit figure was set at $67 billion. I believe this will bring back inflation, because interest rates will rise as the Government borrows to finance this huge additional debt. This trend toward more inflation may have already started. Several large companies, including Texaco and numerous utilities, have recently had to cancel bond issues because competition for money has driven interest rates higher. Savings and Loan institutions are reluctant to lend money at less than nine percent because they fear the funds they must borrow will cost more in the future. There was bound to be a deficit. The question was how big it would be. The President had advocated deficit spending of more than $50 billion. An amendment was offered during the debate to increase the committee's 567 billion by $9 billion. This was defeated and I voted against it. Other amendments to cut the deficit were offered, and I voted for each of these, but all lost by decisive margins. In the final vote on the committee bill, I voted for it because I saw it was the best deal we could get. If it had been rejected, and it had been returned for further study, it could well have carried a larger deficit. There was one amendment to set the budget at the amount of anticipated revenue, and I voted for this amendment, even though I knew it was not realistic and was doomed to failure. But I felt that in casting such a vote, I was voting the wishes of the people of North Carolina, who insist that our state operates always within its Income. In explaining my vote for this amendment to the Senate, I cited the way we operate in our State and I said: "We provide for the people of North Carolina, but we are willing to pay the price "I will vote in this Senate through the years that 1 am here for a lot of bills that will do a lot of things for the people of this country, but I am also willing lo vole foi taxes to pay for these programs. I do not think we ought to vote programs that wc are not willing to pay for." I hope I am wrong and that inflation will not grow again to erode our national economic strength. In any event, I want the people of North Carolina to know that I voted in every instance to reduce lite coming deficit and only accepted the Muskie Committee Report because I believed it was the lowest figure that the Senate would approve. This Is The Law Smith and Jones arc adjoining property owners. Smith's land is on a higher elevation and slopes toward die land of Jones. During heavy rainfalls the surface waters from Smith's land pour down and damage the property of Jones. Has Jones any legal remedy? No. An owner of lower land is legally obligated to receive upon it the surface waters which fall on adjoining higher land, and which naturally flow on the lower land. The law has conferred upon the owner of higher land a right of easement in the lower lands of his neighbors for the purpose of draining surface water flowing in its natural course and manner. Owners or occupants of higher land cannot, however, divert surface water or interfere with its natural flow by creating ditches, drains, or other antiflcial devices that injure the premises of the lower owner without incurring liability. Although the upper owner may drain his land, he cannot collect the surface water and cause it to flow on the lower land in a new channel or at a different place. He cannot remove natural barriers on his own land so as to cause to flow on his neighbor's land water which would otherwise have flowed in a different direction. The owner of higher land is privileged to accelerate and increase the flow of surface water from his land in its natural course of drainage. He is not liable if he levels his land, makes improvements, constructs ditches or drains, and does not cause the water to flow upon the lands of the lower owner in a different manner or in a different place from which it would have gone in the natural course of drainage.
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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May 15, 1975, edition 1
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