25
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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXX1I NUMBER 29 R AFFORD, HOKF COI NTY. NORTH CAROLINA
journal
25
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
S8 PKR YKAR
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13. 1980
Around
Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
A call came into the office last
week and Pam Frederick informed
me that the caller asks that I not
seek rain when the weather is
mentioned. It seems that many
farmers are still harvesting soy
beans and as is the same For all
f?grain, etc. rain will rot the crop in
? the fields. Now I like the faith the
lady that called has in my forecast
of the weather, but 1 certainly don't
claim to have anv control over it. As
Will Rogers or Mark Twain wrote
long ago, "We all talk about the
weather, but we can't do anything
s about it."
Yes and this is as it should be,
j because we don't all want the same
l^cind of weather.
j? Anyway, the weather has been
| perfect for the farmers and the
I soybeans and also for the golfers.
a
Ken McNeill, county chairman
of the Democratic Executive Com
i mittec, came by the office last week
> and stated that a mistake must
$ have been made in a couple of races
^hat were listed in the unofficial
|weturns in the paper last week. He
5 said there was a difference of over
100 votes in two races in McCain
I precinct compared to all the other
s races.
? Thursday afternoon Rose Stur
I geon, clerk for the Board of
Elections was by the office and 1
jj asked her for the official returns.
* The unofficial returns showed
"?hat Carter received 201 votes and
l|^*eagan 202 votes in the McCain
1 precinct. The official returns
showed that Carter had 201 votes
| and Reagan 102 votes. The county
fi total for Carter 3376 and Reagan
1168. Carter took every precinct in
the county. *
The vote for Sen. Robert Morgan
should have been 188 and John
East 100 in McCain. The county
total was Morgan 3217 and East
2^166.
.W We regret the error but in the
T* rush and lateness of getting the
'% votes in. we can not be perfect.
ij Most of you have read in the
daily papers and seen and heard on
.? TV and radio about the fuss of
politicians on the west coast about
the results of the election being
broadcast three hours before the
polls closed out there. Some of the
candidates went so far as to say this
^ caused their defeat. Of course this
is hard to sav.
$
We do think that this is wrong
fand some steps should be made to
correct it before the next election.
Some of the pollholders here in
v; Hoke County said they didn't feel
15 too good about tabulating votes
'^|fter the candidate for president
iff ad already said he had lost.
I know how they felt, because
here at the office the race for
president was over before we had
posted the first precinct, maybe in
the future we will not have a
landslide like this one.
Anyway, something should be
worked out so this will not happen
sain.
The following letter is self- ex
planatory:
Dear Sam.
On behalf of the Hoke County
Music Booster Club. 1 sincerely
thank you and your staff for your
continued support for our Band
^nd Chorus and Chorale.
? Thanks to the fine people of
| Hoke County, our Chicken dinner
was a great success and as you
know, all the proceeds will help
finance the music programs for
these students.
We are most fortunate to have
such dedicated instructors working
vith our young people as Jimmy
ames. Mary Archie McNeill.
?inda Huff, and Ann Freeze. It is
hrough their encouragement that
>ur students strive to do their very
?est.
I cannot think of a better
nvestment for one to make,
hether time or money, than the
iuth of our county; they are our
catest natural resource. They are
e future of our country and they
II be as great as we mold them to
Most Sincerely,
At McCain Correctional Center
New Addition Lacks Oldtime Prison 'Look'
t JU aau ? - .?* ? ? ? ? ?
McCain Correctional Center 's new addition.
Photos and text by Bill Lindau
The private citizen who's gotten
his ideas of prisons from movies
like "The Big House," or "Bird
man of Alcatraz," or even tours of
Raleigh's Central Prison or the old
conventional prison camps has to
forget them when he visits the new
addition to the McCain Correc
tional Center of the State Depart
ment of Corrections.
Visitors were taken on guided
tours of the new facility Saturday
afternoon during the 2-to-4 o'clock
open house held for the general
public.
Once inside the building, the
visitor sees few signs of the conven
tional prison. Institutions like Mc
Cain's aren't even called prisons
anymore ? they're "correctional
centers." Guards are called correc
tional officers, and the men serving
sentences are "inmates." not "pri
soners" or "convicts."
These name changes were made
years ago, but the design of the
McCain center is "now."
Inside the building, the visitor
sees no signs, other than the
uniforms of correctional officers, of
old-style prison. The dining rooms
and kitchen look like similar places
which serve unconfined people and
so does the visitors' rooms.
" " " **" K?ad
Car- shows effects of the collision Friday afternoon. [Staff photo hv Bill
Lmauu |.
Drivers Suffer Minor Injuries
Wreck Causes $50,000 Damages
A car and a tractor-trailer col
lided about 4:15 p.m. Friday at the
intersection of Bethel Road and SR
I 149 about three-quarters of a mile
southeast of Raeford. injuring both
drivers and causing about S50.000
in damages, the State Highway
Patrol reported.
aS&Sfe1.' , -V*Y ? ? :
State I rooper Joe Stanley, the
investigating officer, said the dri
vers were treated at the scene for
their injuries, which were not
serious enough to require hospital
treatment.
He said the driver of the car.
Debra Donnella Kershaw McNeill
of Tylertown. was charged with
failing to stop for a stop sign.
The Plymouth she was driving
southeast on Bethel collided with a
GMC truck being driven west
toward U.S. 401 from the Faberge.
Inc.. Raeford plant on N.C. 211.
the officer said. The trailer was
carrying a cargo of Faberge pro
ducts and was being driven by
James Bert Hancock of Fay
etteville. Stanley reported. He said
the truck was owned by Spector
Freight System.
The truck left the mad and
turned over on its right side after
the collision occurred.
County Taxes
P aid In Pennies
L-R, with 11,558 pennies: Tax Collector Elizabeth Livingston ( center )
with members of her staff , Magdalene McKenzie (left) and Judy Pitt man.
Mrs. Livingston is holding the lax bill that the pennies paid.
A Hoke County citizen paid
$115.58 in personal property taxes
in full Friday morning -? all in
pennies.
Barry Nixon of 803 McLean St.,
Raeford. brought them in pack
aged. in a small cart. Mrs. Eliza
beth Livingston, the county tax
collector said.
Mrs. Livingston commented,
"Just so people pay. we don't mind
how they bring it." She said she
and her staff had a good laugh over
the manner of payment. Mrs.
Livingston said it was a prank.
She said the pennies paid
Nixon's personal property taxes for
1978. 1979 and 1980.
Mrs. Livingston said she and the
members of her statt didn t have to
count the pennies one by one. Since
the packages had come from The
Bank of Raeford, all that was
necessary, she said, was counting
the packages.
At The Bank of Raeford. Mrs.
Sue Davis, assistant cashier, said
the pennies didn't have to be
counted out. either: they were
already packaged. She said Nixon
took them away in a wheelbarrow.
Mrs. Livingston had the pennies
returned to the bank for deposit in
the county's account. The bank
didn't have to count the money,
since it was returned in the same
packages, unopened, it had been
sent in.
At First Baptist Church
Community Thanksgiving Service Set
1 he 1WHJ Community Thanks
giving Service will be held Novem
ber 26 at First Baptist Church of
Raeford. Father Paul Strassle.
publicity chairman, announced
Monday.
It will start at 7:30 p.m.
Father Strassle said, "We wel
come every person attending this
service of worship. This unique
opportunity to gather together is a
delightful and heartwarming cus
tom. Let us be in much prayer
before God our hat her as we share
in offering Him praise and adora
tion and Thanksgiving."
The sermon will be given by the
Rev. Fred Sharrai, pastor of Four
Square Gospel Church.
The service is under the auspices
of the Raeford Ministers' Associa
tion.
The ministers of the area have
for many years found it agreeable
to unite in such an association.
Their regular monthly meeting is
usually held on the second Tues
day.
The association regularly spon
sors both the Community Thanks
giving Service and the annual
Easter Sunrise Service.
"The offering to be received
assists in giving the association
some ability to meet requests which
may from time to time be made
upon it. Thank you for your
generosity. Let us share a portion of
our bounty with those who have
less," said Father Strassle.
The officers of the association for
1980-81 are: President, the Rev.
George D. McKeithan. Second
Baptist Church; vice-president.
Father Strassle, St. Elizabeth's
Catholic Church; and Secretary
Treasurer, Rev. Thomas Hooger
land, Sandy Grove- Parker Metho
dist Church. The other members of
the Association are: Rev. Kelly
Wilson. Methodist Church; Rev.
Billy C. Beaver. First Baptist
church; Rev. Tex Deaton. Evan
gelical Methodist; Rev. Fred
Sharrai, Four Square Gospel
Church; Rev. Mac Musselwhite,
Pittman Grove Baptist Church;
Rev. Fino Ballesterio, Presbyterian
Church; and Rev. Kemper Finch.
Shiloh Bethel Presbyterian Church;
and Ephesus Baptist Church.
Arabia.
For security reasons, the doors
and gates are operated by remote
control from a center with windows
on all sides. The officer who mans
the center enters and leaves by way
of a tunnel. The control center has
no door opening directly to the area
outside. The room also contains an
overhead hatch leading to the roof
of the building.
Outside, the gates in the high
chain-link fences are opened and
shut the same way, from within the
guard towers. Inmates arriving at
McCain have to pass through these
gates at the rear of the new building
before they are taken into the
building.
The addition contains 144 cells,
for one man each, guaranteeing
privacy. McCain's superintendent,
Harold Griffin, who helped greet
the visitors Sunday, explained to
the reporter earlier last week that
about all the inmate uses the cell
for is for sleeping. It contains a
single bed with drawers at its
bottom; a commode, a small table:
and a sink.
Griffin explained that the in
mates spend most of their time in
recreation, therapy or training.
Part of this time is spent in the long
room that runs between the groups
of cells.
The living quarters in the older
building are "dormitory" style,
with up to a dozen inmates sleeping
in a single area.
The new addition also contains
the administration offices, a
nurse's station, a barber shop, and
a divided room for visiting between
inmates and their relatives, friends,
and people having legitimate busi
ness to discuss.
Griffin said the two-story build
ing and its furnishings and equip
ment cost about $2. 286.000. The
construction was started in Feb
ruary 1978 and the building is
ready for use except for making of
minor corrections to equipment.
McCain is a medium-security
institution containing 300 to 350
inmates serving sentences for viola
tions ranging from misdemeanors
to murder and other serious felon
ies. The inmates range from age 21
to 8? (one is that age), though a
few. sent to McCain for special
reasons, are about 18.
Inmates do all the preparation of
food tor the center's cafeteria -style
meals and handle the cleaning of
the yards, all under the supervision
of members of the center's start.
Griff in said the long-termers
come to McCain after having
demonstrated at a "tighter" unit
they have made a change for the
better.
The 87-year-old isn't the oldest
inmate McCain has had. Another
man was 100. He was paroled
earlier this year.
The older facility, about 23 years
old. will continue serving as the
center's hospital, for recuperating
and aged inmates. Griffin said.
The new addition is the third
major construction the McCain
institution has had. The construc
tion ot the first building was
authorized by the 1923 General
Assembly. It was erected about 200
yards north of McCain hospital and
was designed to house tubercular
inmates. The hospital was estab
lished in 1908. as the state's first to
treat people with tuberculosis.
The original prison building,
three stories high, contained 125
inmates. Griffin said.
That number is 27 fewer than the
number now on the present staff of
the modern McCain center.
The original building still is
being used, but for storage, instead
of people.
Saturday's visitors from "out
side" found the new addition
attractive.
"It's a nice place to visit." one
told Griffin, then added, "but 1
wouldn't want to live here."