Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / March 5, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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25 <~Y[ ew6 - journal "nuntv/ Nova/c _ Cc+nki;^u?^ moo 25 The Hoke County News - Established 1928 County Commissioners Informed Re-appraisal 75% Complete; Values To Rise Around Town BY SAM C. MORRIS The Hoke County Booster Club's annual golf tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 at the Arabia Golf Course. Entry fee for the event will be S25 which includes green fee and cart for both days. There will be six flights; trophies will be given for first and second place in each flight. Golf balls will be awarded to each third place winner. So if you like to play tournament golf, go down to Arabia and get in two rounds of golf and help a worthy cause. * * * Things have been quiet for the past week, and we haven't even received a letter that we can run in this column. Of course as the old saying goes, that it is the "calmest just before the storm." So maybe things will liven up and we can have some real choice items next week, anyway we must fill this column, so we will write about things other than around town. * * * I noticed that the bankers are asking the legislature to take the cap off interest rates on auto mobiles. We agree that the bankers have an argument in their favor because of the interest rates on money, but we feel that with inflation like it is at the present time, that if things come down, the rates would still stay up. The sale of cars is at a low ebb at this time and most dealers are offering rebates in trying to move new cars. If interest rates go sky high, it seems to me this would further reduce sales. Of course this is just an old country boy's opinion. While on the subject of "taking the cap off," the decontrol of gas prices seemed to set off a price increase in gasoline and fuel oil. It was predicted that prices on oil products would rise approximately five cents per gallon, but as of today the increase had doubled that figure. This was one of the first acts by President Ronald Reagan and the polls are already stating that he is going down in the opinion of the people. I believe the president must soon turn inflation around or his popularity will continue to go down. ? ? ? Now don't you good Hoke County Democrats fall over, but I think that Congress should go along with most of the president's program. We will never know whether his program will work unless it is tried. We all admit that the country is in a bad state of affairs and something must be done and a solution to solve the problem must be found. President Jimmy Carter went into the White House four years ago all cocked and primed to solve the problems of the country. One program after another was defeated in Congress and he was soundly 4 defeated by Reagan in the election in November. If the Congress can't try these suggestions of the president, then I believe that the people will clean out more of the liberals in 1982, so it seems to me that they should give the president a chance to solve the problem. Maybe we would then have a few statesmen in Congress and less I politicians. \ i * * * Well, the ACC tournament is this weekend and from there to the NCAA finals. This will bring down i the curtain on basketball for the season. All the games of the tourna ment will be on TV so many soap ; operas will be missed this week. 1 have already said that it takes a ' (See AROUND TOWN . page 1 0) 4 . /it Tylertown Home Child Dies In Fire; Mother Also Burned A 5 ? year - old boy died in a fire that destroyed his parents' home in the Tylertown community about five miles northeast of Raeford the night of February 24. North Raeford Fire Chief George Baker said the boy was Gary McCall, son of Willie and Margie McCall of Rt. 1, Raeford. He said Mrs. McCall picked up her month - old son, Sandy, and took hold of Gary to get them from the burning house but Gary broke loose from her and ran down the hallway farther into the house. Mrs. McCall ran to the family car and laid the baby in it, then tried to get back into the house to get Gary but was beaten away by the flames and heat. She was treated at a Raeford physician's office for burns on her hands and arms. Baker said firemen George Baker, Jr., (the chief s son) and Sandy Mansfield suffered steam burns on their arms above their protective gloves when they tried to find the boy, in the hope he was still alive, somewhere in the burning house while other firemen were fighting the blaze. The steam was created by the heating of the water from the firemen's hose by the flames in the house, the fire chief explained. The younger Baker found the child's body against a wall in the bathroom. Seeing that the child was dead, he left Gary's body where it was, in compliance with law requiring a victim's body be left where death occurred till a coroner or medical examiner investigated. Dr. Riley Jordan, Hoke County medical examiner, investigated, then the body was removed by Jim Henley of the Hoke County Ambulance Service and Robert Conoly and Conoly's son Lawrence, both of the Hoke County Rescue Squad. Baker and Mansfield were treated at the Hoke County Medical Betterment Association clinic in Raeford for their burns. V7;' ? ' av*w?r ? - ?* ?V> ? V* .-~t" ' I, The McCall home the Jay after the fire. The photo shows the back side. [Staff photo. | but then returned to the McCall house to help fight the fire. The fire chief said the fire was caused by a kerosene heater in the living room "blowing up." He said the flames ignited Gary McCaU's clothing. The living room was in the front part of the house, and the front door opened on it. Mrs. McCall was alone at home with the baby and Gary, the McCall's only children, when the fire struck. Her husband was at work at the Burlington Industries Raeford Plant. Mrs. McCall also works at the same plant but on a different shift. The elder Baker said the McCalls lost everything they had. He said the fire truck had trouble (See FIRF.. page 10) i ?? wmm * Remains of the bathroom where the hoy 's body was found. [Staff photo), Between State Indian , City Groups City Council Okays The Raeford City Council Monday night adopted a resolution that Hoke County commissioners adopted earlier in the day ap proving an agreement between the State Indian Housing Authority and the countywide Raeford Housing Authority concerning the proposed housing project for low ? income Hoke County people. The establishment of the project if approved by the federal Depart ment of Housing and Urban De velopment would be Financed by the federal department. The plan tentatively calls for construction of 100 housing units, 25 of them for elderly people with no children living at home. Buddy Blue, chairman of the Raeford Housing Authority, told the council at its Monday night meeting the agreement would give the RHA local control of the project, in that it would manage it, after it is completed; and would participate with HUD and the Indian Housing Authority jointly in approving the sites and the archi tectural design of the buildings. He told the county com missioners at the latters' meeting also that the Raeford authority would select the tenants from among the applicants for the units and that the authority would select people who met the authority's standards and, after they moved in, would comply with them. The new agreement changes what city and county officials had objected to in the original, which would have placed the housing Croject under control of a Raleigh - ased state agency (the IHA). City and countv officials considered this undesirable since the control would lie outside the county, and they feel that a county project should be managed by a county - based agency. RESOLUTIONS In other business at the Monday night meeting, the council's regular session for March, the council adopted another resolution, which the Board of County Commis sioners had adopted Monday also: one to establish a city - county Blue Ribbon Airport Commission. The resolution was presented by Earl Fowler. Raeford - Hoke County Chamber of Commerce manager, who also had presented it that morning to the county commis sioners. The nine - member commission would explore the value of the Raeford Municipal Airport to Hoke County's future economic growth and ways it could be used to serve Hoke County people better. The council postponed appoint ing to the commission the three city representatives. The county com missioners also had postponed appointing the three county mem bers. Fowler said the three chamber members have been ap pointed (Cecil Bond. Harold Brock, and Bill Moses). Fowler said the study would be completed in six months but there was no timetable for the ap pointments of the members to the commission. The other resolution adopted was that "Congress do not include the Economic Development Adminis tration in the reduction package for complete elimination of the Agency ... that ... Congress through its proper committees, examine the industrial development record of Housing Agreement EDA... that the Industrial De velopment Programs of the Economic Development Adminis tration remain a vital part of the federal budget." The county government has been informed that FDA cannot fund its application for a $24,000 grant to finance a study of possible in (See COUNCIL, page 10) Cameron Is Elected School Board Head Bill Cameron was elected chair man of the Hoke County Board of Education Tuesday night by a 3-2 vote, tilling the vacancy created by the resignation last month of Dr. Riley Jordan. The election was held during the board's regular meeting for March. Cameron was nominated by board member Ruth McNair. and new member Bobby Wright also voted for him. giving Cameron the winning margin over board Vice Chairman Mina Townsend. who had been nominated by member Walter Coley. Cameron and Mrs. Townsend voted for themselves. The vote was taken right after Wright -was sworn in by Clerk of Hoke Superior Court Juanita Ed mund as a member of the board filling the vacancy created by Jordan's resignation. Mrs. Town send was reelected vice chairman later in the meeting by a unani mous vote. Also during the meeting, the board adopted motions accepting the recommendations of County Schools Supt. Raz Autry that Don Steed, director of the school sys tem's community-school programs, be appointed the system's business manager and finance officer; and that Frank H. (Hank) Kichards. assistant principal of Scurlock School. be appointed director of community-school programs, suc ceeding Steed. Following a closed session for discussion of nearly two hours of personnel, the board after reopen ing the meeting approved these recommendations changing the principals of the county elementary schools: ? ?James Bowles, J.W. Mc Lauchlin principal, assigned to be director of remedial programs at Hoke County High School. Bowles, who holds a master's degree in mathematics, will work with stu dents who failed the state compe tency tests, which covered mathe matics and English. ??Floyd Caldwell, Scurlock School principal, assigned to Mc Lauchlin as principal. ??George Wood. South Hoke School Principal, assigned to Scur lock as principal. -?Woodrow Westall. West Hoke principal, assigned to South Hoke as principal. ? Milton Williams, assistant principal of Hoke High, promoted (Sec BOARD, page I 1 ) The state-required reappraisal of Hoke County property for 1982 county taxation is 75 percent complete and "1 have told everyone their property will double in value," except for a few tracts, Bill Allen of Allen Appraisal of Laurin burg informed the Board of County Commissioners Monday. Allen and his company are doing the reappraisal. The state requires every county to have one done by an out-of-county appraiser every eight years. Allen said the last few parcels in Stonewall Township were being finished, the work in Raeford Township was under way. and the job in the six townships outside of Raeford Township would be com pleted in about two weeks. He termed the progress of the job good but added a lot more work is to be done between now and fall. With taxable values of land increased, Allen said, he felt sorry for the elderly. He said their current exemption of $7,500 doesn't help much when property valued at $8,000 a few years ago is now appraised at $20,000. John Balfour, chairman of the commis sioners" board, said, however, the General Assembly now in session may raise the amount of the exemption. Allen said he anticipated holding informal hearings on the re appraisals in September or October and that "we eliminate 75 per cent" of the complaints the county Board of Equilization and Review could expect to get from dissatis fied property owners. Later during their meeting, the monthly session for March, the commissioners scheduled a Board of Equilization and Review Hearing for April 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Courthouse Annex conference room. HOUSING PROJECT The commissioners adopted by a three-vote majority a resolution stating an agreement between the Raeford Housing authority and the North Carolina Indian Housing Authority in reference to the pro posed housing for low-income people. The negative vote was cast by Commissioner Mabel Riley, who said the action should be postponed to allow more time for studying the agreement. Commissioner Danny DeVane said the resolution should be adopted now so the federal funding of the project would not be jeopardized. The construction of the project, if given government approval, would be financed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Currently. 100 hous ing units 25 of them for the elderly, are envisioned. The countywide Raeford Hous ing Authority under the agreement would have management of the project and would have a voice in designing it and selecting the sites for the units. Buddy Blue, chair man of the Housing Authority, was quoted in a letter he wrote to this effect to the county commissioners and also appeared during the morning at the meeting. He told the commissioners dur ing the discussion that the Indian Housing and the Raeford Housing Authorities, and the U.S. Depart ment of Housing and Urban De velopment. the agency which would fund the project, would have to agree on site and design. He said the intent of the agreement is to reserve approval of the project for the local housing authority and also to have someone local for people with complaints to turn to. During the discussion also. Blue told the commissioners the Raeford authority would choose the tenants for the units. He said the people considered would have to meet and. after being selected, abide by the housing project's standards. Replying to a question asked by Mrs. Riley. Blue said the housing rent for the elderly would have to be subsidized but subsidied for the other tenants would be minimized. He also said the RHA would take measures to prevent undesirable conditions which have developed in other public projects from develop ing in the Hoke County project. DAY CARE A motion to have the county manager work with the South Hoke Day Care Center Board of Direc (Sce RE-APPRAISAL, page 10)
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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March 5, 1981, edition 1
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