Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / May 14, 1981, edition 1 / Page 2
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^/te <=Ylew* - journal NATIONAL NEWSPAPER IBKUBW Faaaiti UM m SVSTAININC MCMKI - 1978 0MO&*UL PRESS ASSOCIATION Published E?er? Thurtda) at Racford. N.C. 28376 119 W. tlwood Avenue Subscription Rate* In Advance Per Year? M.00 6 Month*? S4.25 3 Month.? S2. 25 PAUL DICKSON Publisher ? Editor SAM C. MORRIS General Manager BILL LINDAL Asaociate Editor MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor Second Clan Pottage at Raefonl. N.C. (USPS 388-2601 ? THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1981 Housing project The Raeford City Council is holding a public hearing June 1 on a Planning Board recommendation that a request for a variance to allow construction of multifamily federal rent-subsidy housing on a north Raeford tract be denied. Opposition to granting the variance and to "public housing" was expressed by most of the people among the nearly 100 who spoke at the planning Board's public hearing of April 30. Whether the City Countil accepts or rejects the Planning Board's recommendation following the June 1 hearing, the housing will be built, the developer's spokesman, John Loving, said after the April 30 hearing. The audience at the hearing was told essentially the same thing by Raeford City Manager Ron Matthews. The only question that the Council decision will answer is what kind of arrangement will be built: will it consist of two-family duplexes of four-family two-story buildings? Loving said after the Planning Board hearing that if the council accepts the board recommendation the company would have to build the two-family duplexes in 15 buildings instead of the four-family in eight, which would mean the company would have to buy more land and extend the buildings toward North Fulton Street and in open areas. The four-family unit plan calls for concentrating the buildings in the northernmost corner of the present company-owned 3-5-acre tract, which lies on the south side of U.S. 401 north and between North Fulton and North Magnolia Streets. The less-desirable two-family duplex plan had been explained during the hearing and before the Planning Board acted. Essentially, the conflict is between the Raeford Housing Authority and others who see the need for the rent-subsidy housing for low-income people and the private property owners of the North Fulton area and also in other sections of the county who are opposed to such housing. The opposition is based on the conviction that opening of such housing brings police problems to a neighborhood, in addition to more noise and an increase in traffic volume, and tfiat the latter creates an extra hazaird, particularly for children. Of these objections, the police problem is regarded as the most serious. Opponents of variance and the project pointed to housing projects elsewhere for low-income people without mentioning police problems specifically. On the other hand. RHA and company spokesman said screening of people for admission as tenants would be done, with attention to records of criminal behavior and reputations at previous residences, and credit standing; and that tenants would be required to comply with the terms of the leases to remain as tenants. The RHA will manage the project, using the rent receipts to pay the management staff. Since the project would be privately built and owned, a needed boost in tax revenues for the city and Hoke County also would come with its establishment: the company would apply to the city for annexation of the tract. Some police problems can be expected, of course, and an increase in traffic certainly, with the addition of 30 families to an area, and, unfortunately, crime rates are higher in low-income neighborhoods than in residential areas of middle to upper income families. The meat of the matter is: the need for decent housing for low-income people but the creation of hazards of more police problems and more traffic among other undesirable things. Since the housing is coming to the area regardless of the council's decision about the Planning Board recommendation, the most desirable of the two alternatives in the arrangement of the housing should be accepted: the four-family units; and. after the residences are occupied by previously screened tenants, the rules, of course, should be strictly enforced by the management. It just doesn't seem right for people to be denied decent homes because of what might happen. ~BL browsing in the files I of The News-Journal] 25 years ago Thandty, May 10, 1956 The schedules of closing activi ties for the White, Negro and Indian schools of Hoke County were released this week through the office of county Superintendent K.A. MacDonald. ? ? ? The voting law passed by the last Legislature and aimed at curbing "single shot" voting does apply to Hoke County. Board of Elections Chairman W.L. Poole reminded voters of the county this week. * ? * Winners in recent school elec tions at Hoke County High School and officers ofi he itudent govern ment for fit rr are:' ^Edward Langst on, president; Landis Sat terwhite vice-president; Allen Mc Donald, secretary; and Bobby Bos tain, treasurer. 15 years ago Thunday, May 12, 1966 Approximately twice as many Negro students will be assigned to formerly all-white schools in Hoke County when the 1966-67 term opens next fall as are attending them this year, it appeared at the board of education met-ting Mon day night when the more than 5,000 students of the county were assigned for the next year. ? * * Hoke County's Democratic exec utive committee will have a Negro and an Indian member for the first time when it meets at the county courthouse Saturday afternoon. May 14, following the county Democratic Convention. ? ? * Showers didn't come in April this year, but they have been welcomed by Hoke County tobacco growers during the month of May. Larry Richardson, of Southern rfnes had an experience, though a far less serious one than Steve Streater's. Steater's promising professional football career was ended recently not long before it was to have begun. Streater. a UNC star of last season, suffered a paralyzing neck injury in a one-car traffic accident near Raleigh - Durham Airport. He had just arrived by plane from Washington after signing with the Redskins. His car skidded on a slick place on the highway. Richardson had driven to David son College to sign a grant-in-aid (scholarship) for track, as his older brother. Tommy, had done several years before. As he got out of the car. he slipped on a patch of ice on the pavement. One of his ankles was broken. That ended his promising college career in his sport. It didn't end his connection with sports, though. He became a fulltime sports writer for a Moore County news paper. ? ? * "Real People" on May b had this story about federal bureacratic thinking. For a long time. A farmer had been buying regularly rat poison made up in Puppy Creek Philosopher Dear editor: According to a newspaper article 1 read on an inside page because 1 guess the editors didn't consider it very noteworthy. Washington has hired some private collection agen cies to collect 139 billion dollars owed the Federal government by U.S. citizens. How private citizens can owe that much to the government is hard to explain, unless you're a Congress man. but since it's so easy to borrow I'd like to have the name of the government's loan officer. He and I could do some business in a hurry. What's more interesting is that some of that money, it has been discovered, is owed by Federal employees. Can you imagine a bank having to hire a private collection agency to come in and collect a past-due loan owed by one of its tellers? Moreover, that government loan officer operates also on the interna tional level. In the same paper I read that Poland owes 15 Western nations, including the United States, 26 billion dollars. Not only does it owe it. it can't pay it back. In fact, repayment has just been re-scheduled, extending the loan for 8 years with a 4-year grace period when Poland won't be bothered with past-due notices. I m sure I don't know enough about this, but why doesn't Russia, who is so all-fired interested in Poland, pay off the debt herself? And why didn't she lend Poland the money in the first place? On the other hand, why should she. as long as somebody else will? And if Russia takes over Poland, you reckon she'll take over repayment of that 26 billion? International affairs are a mil lion miles beyond me, and I sometimes get the feeling they're about that far beyond the people engaged in the profession. Yours faithfully, J. A. little red pellets. One day, he went to the dealer to get a fresh supply, only to find that the little red pellets were no longer red. Replying to his question, "Why?", the clerk only assured him that they were just as effective as the red ones had been: in fact, they were the same as the red ones, only they weren't red anymore. The farmer persisted, however, asking why they were no longer red. Finally, the clerk, showing acute embarrassment, told him the reason was a study had found that the red coloring matter caused cancer in rats. This recalls the headline that appeared over a news story from Columbia, S.C., one day: "South Carolina Electric Chair To Be Repaired." followed by this ex planation: "Found Unsafe." Then there was the old story making the rounds in the Army 'way back in World War II. A commanding officer ordered the clerks in an administration office to clean out certain files. "Destroy all papers." he directed them. "But first." he added, "make seven copies of each." Then there was the true story of the 11th Airborne Division. After World War II ended and a lot of replacing had to be done as the war veterans were discharged, the divi sion fell on hard times, to put in charitably. So the higher command had the division reorganized and generally spruced up to A-l con dition, a superior model, one might say, for all other Army field outfits. Then the division was deacti vated. Read John 3:16-21 The maintenance man replaced several burned-out bulbs in our office. They had gone out gradu ally. Each fixture had four recessed bulbs, and the loss of one bulb at a time did not make the room noticeably darker. Finally, so many bulbs were out that we complained about the darkness. As each bulb was replaced, the office became brighter and brighter. Ruth, a co-worker, said, "We have been in the dark so long that we had forgotten what it was like to have light." That is the way it is when we drift away from God, We stay in the darkness so long we forget what it is like to have the light of God's presence. We must walk and commune with God each day to be sure of having enough light to see our way through all the days of our lives. PRAYER: God of light, keep us so close to You that we can earnestly say as Christ did, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen." THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Why do we continue to live in the shadows when God wants us to live in the light? -copyright-THE UPPER ROOM --June S. Morris (Florida) Letters To The Editor The following letter, written by Dr. Sarah T. Morrow, secretary of the State Department of Human Resources, was written to McCain Hospital employees. A copy was left with The News-Journal Thursday by Jim Woodall of Pr. Morrow's staff, on his way to McCain. McCain Hospital was faced with closing on the basis of information supplied a state legislative sub committee by Woodall, who ad mitted later that he subsequently found that the information was erroneous but failed to correct it. Hoke County civic and govern ment leaders voiced opposition to the planned closing on the basis of misinformation, and on April 9 the Legislature's Joint Base Budget Committee on Appropriations voted favorably by a heavy majority a proposal that would leave the hospital open and reduce the number of beds to 115 from 150, the present total. Morrow's letter to the McCain employees follows. To All McCain Hospital Employees: I am writing to you for two reasons that are equally important as you continue to do your jobs at McCain. First I want to thank you for your interest in McCain and its patients. I recognize this interest from your letters to me and from the valuable advocacy from several legislators in the area. Second. I want to set the record straight on the decision to keep McCain open, and how this decision has been reached. Please allow me to go into more detail. During the last several months there has been much uncertainty about the future of McCain, its patients, and our employees. De spite this, you have continued to do your jobs well and with your usual devotion. This describes the kind of employees we have at McCain better than anything else I know. Morale and attitude is a problem in all the Department as the Legis lature makes budget reductions. So far this year approximately 500 of our 18,500 positions have been identified for elimination, and the potential for even further reduc tions caused by federal cut-backs exists later this year. It has. and will be, a challenging time for all of us. As we face the next several months, the most important thing we can do is to do our job well, as the people of North Carolina expect. I have little doubt that we can depend on you to do just that. I also would like to discuss the process that led to a preliminary decision to close the hospital, which was then changed to keep it open at a reduced bed capacity. As most of you know, the State operated three "Specialty Hospi tals" for many years. They were at McCain, Black Mountain (near Asheville), and Wilson. I became convinced in 1978 that it is not necessary to have inpatient hospi tals to treat moct TB patients. Years ago it was essential, but new drugs, new methods of treatment, and better outpatient services in clinics and health departments changed this. I did not reach this decision alone. I was advised by the leading TB professionals in North CLIFF BLUE. . . Carolina. Obviously, this decisioJ is not popular, but it is one I felti necessary to make. As a result of this, the Wilsc(S Hospital was closed in 1979, then we closed the Black Mountain Hospital in 1980. Many of you probably realized that the idea of closing McCain would be con sidered by the 1981 Legislature. Governor Hunt and I recom mended that the Legislature d?:ide whether or not to close McCain. 1 There have been a lot of accusa- 1 tions that my staff manipulate^ data so that it would seem McCafl should be closed. This has not been J done. I assure you. All the data we| used came from McCain Hospital. | During all the presentations made to the Legislature's committees, we have been careful to use the data properly. I admit the statistics are complicated, because some are patient discharge information, and some are patient census informa tion. I believe, however, that tt^ Legislature First decided to clo^ McCain on the basis of the larger j idea that a special State hospital was not needed. Whether there are 40 patients or 60 patients there with TB is not significant if nearly all of them can be treated less expen sively in other places. I regret that such an issue has been made of statistics, but let me again state that no one in the Department changed any data. My staff, whe^ it became clear that there was som~ confusion, immediately contacted the staff in the Legislature so that the proper interpretation could be made of all the data. After the tentative decision was made to close McCain. I requested that the Hospital Administrator be contacted to develop a phase-down plan. We were careful to tell him that no employees were to advised their job was to be elimi nated because the committee's decision was just tentative, not final. From some of your letters. 1 understand that many employees were told it was final, and that their jobs would be lost. That should not have happened, and the supervisors and department heads should have understood the problems this would cause. ^ It was at this time when youfU legislators got involved, and properly so. They represented Mc Cain exceedingly well. The commit tee changed its decision and agreed to leave McCain Hospital open, reducing the bed capacity from 150 to 1 15. Adjustments in budgets and positions were also required, rhis decision must also be accepted by the full Legislature, but 1 am confident it will be approved. I hope that this information wifF be helpful to you, and that it will also help you to understand how it works here in Raleigh. As indivi duals. my staff and 1 did not want to close McCain. I believed the Legislature should make the deci sion, based on our experience with the other two hospitals. 1 am confident that the best decision has been made, and 1 look forward to having McCain continue as valuable part of the Department foi* the next several years. Sincerelv, Sarah T. Morrow. M.D.. M.P.H. Secretary People & Issues SOUR GRAPES!. . . In the long run we don't believe that Joseph Califano helped himself by his criticism of Jimmy Carter in a book: "Governing America: An Insider's Report from the White House and the Cabinet." Had Jimmy Carter not dismissed him our thought is, Califano would have considered Jimmy a great president. It must be remembered that Jimmy gave him the "walking papers" the last year of his administration. CONGRESS. . . We are not going to be critical over Ronald Reagan's stewardship in the white house, but we believe that he could come nearer balancing budget had he held to a five percent, over a three-year period, instead of the ten percent. SOCIAL SECURITY. . . The Social Security administration an nounces that Social Security bene fits will be raised, effective July 1, 10.2 percent We understand that the Social Security program is paying out more money than is coming in. That being the case, we think that Congress should have eliminated that increase until the funds get in better shape. This is still a continuation of the Federal government spending more in this department than is coming in. We would certainly feel better knowing that, with each passing month, the social security funds are operating on a balanced budget rather than a deficit. Congress should remedy this situation. TWO CITIZENS. . . North Carolina lost two outstanding citi zens last week. Paul Green, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and North Carolina s dramatist laureate, died last week at the age of 87, at his home in Chatham County. Green the author of many outdoor dramas, was best known as m author of "The Lost Colony,"" which plays in Manteo each sum mer. The other dinstinguished Tar Heel who died was Thomas Pear sail, age 78, who served as Speaker of House in 1947. I knew Tom Pearsall well, having served as a freshman representative during his term as Speaker in 1947. In my 18 years in the General Assembly I consider Tom Pearsall a( one of the ablest Speakers to fill that post. In an assembly that could be un-ruly, he was always the captain of the ship. Pearsall was author of the 1956 school desegration plan, "Pearsall Plan", that defused racial tensions by giving responsibility for student assignments to local school boards. He had been in declining health for g, some months before his death,? Tuesday, May 5th. Tom Pearsall was a large farmer, attorney and businessman and lived in Rocky Mount. He managed Charlie Johnson's ill-fated cam paign for governor in 1948 when Kerr Scott, with the help of the "branch-head bovs," won. CHARLIE ROSE. . . Cong. Charlie Rose, of the 7th N.C. Congressional District gave the * address Thursday morning. Rose, ' by the way, is being mentioned as a possible successor of Massachusetts Congressman, Tip O'Neal, when the Massachusetts man retires. ESTABLISHED. . . The North Carolina system of community colleges was established by the north Carolina General Assembly. Their success has been overwhelm ing with 28 community colleges and technical institutes and colleges | established over the state, within reach of a great majority k
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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