Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / June 25, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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^/te The Hoke County News - Established 1928 VOLUME LXXIII NUMBER 9 RAF.FORD, HOKE COUNTY. NORTH CAROLINA journal 25 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 58 PER YEAR THURSDAY, JUNE 25. 1981 Tax Rate Not Increased $3,499,884 Hoke County Budget Adopted l| Around ! Town BY SAMC. MORRIS The weather is hot and I don't j even remember a June this hot. When people say that is has cooled ! off, and it is still in the 90s, then it is truly hot. A picture in a daily paper was of a small child sitting in a cake of ice H and the caption said it was really ^ hot in California with the tempera tures in the 80s. Maybe they should spend a day in North Carolina so they could warm up. As far as the forecast is con cerned, it doesn't show much relief in sight. ? * ? In an item in this column last week concerning the redistricting, a ft word was left out of a sentence that changed the meaning of the sen tence enough for me to make a correction this week. In the second paragraph it should have read: "Of course this is NOT the first time we have been changed." We have been in the 8th district before. ? * ? ? Mrs. Alfred Quick, who resides "at the Open Arms Rest Home, was by the office last week and had an old clipping from a newspaper that she wanted published in the paper. When asked why she wanted the article published, she said that people kept saying what a good president this man was, or that man was, but they never mentioned Franklin D. Roosevelt. She said this article stated how people her feage felt about Roosevelt. The article or editorial is as follows: Franklin D. Roosevelt "On April 12th, 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt, the only man ever elected President four times, died at the "little white house" in Georgia; thus ended the political career of a man both bitterly detested by some opponents and idolized by millions. "Roosevelt was president during the World War II and died shortly before the German surrender and a few months, the Japanese sur render. "As for domestic policies a vast number of reforms and social services resulted from the Roosevelt years. It is to Roosevelt's everlast ing credit that he brought new hope to a nation sunk deep in despair K and depression when he took office in 1933. The little man who was fighting to keep his home, or to get food for his family in those days, always afterward felt Roosevelt his champion -- which indeed he was to millions." Yes many people remember the great depression and how Roosevlet turned the tables on it. In the May 21 issue of The News-Journal was a letter from Mrs. Barbara A. Purifoy of New Bern and she was wanting help in tracing the Edwards family tree. Last Thursday night Mrs. Frank Culbreth of Raeford called and said that she was writing to Mrs. Purifoy and giving her some of the informa tion that she was asking for in the ? letter. Mrs. Culbreth stated that she had some information that would correct some of the dates listed in the letter. She also said that Mrs. Ed Mercer was also a descendant of the Edwards'. So you see that a letter to the editor sometimes pay off. * ? ? Joe Huffman, Bill Lancaster, Harvey Warlick and Neill McFad yen belong to the Senior Golfers Association of North Carolina and they are away on tour every month or so for a couple of days on the weekends. On June 14th the tournament was played at the Foxfire Country Gub above Pinehurst and we had a winner from the group. Jm Huffman won his flight at ' (See AROUND TOWN, page 1 1 ) The Hoke County commis sioners Monday night adopted a 1981-82 county budget totaling $3,499,884 for the general fund, about $99,000 greater than the 1980-81 budget. The commissioners also voted to keep the tax rate at the 1980-81 figure of $1.01 per $100 property evaluation. The new budget provides for a five percent pay raise for employees including the county manager. The total budget is composed of the general fund, $556,500 expected in federal revenue sharing money, and $74,754.12 for the county's share of the costs of building a new National Guard Armory. The armory money has been appropriated at the rate of $20,000 per year. At their mid-month June meeting, the commissioners approved the $74,754.12 for the armory. The National Guard Bureau is pro viding $712,000 of the cost. The general fund figure ap proved Monday night is $46,460 greater than the total approved at the June 15 meeting because Assistant County Manager Lester Simpson came up with newly acquired data which raises the county's total evalua tion of property subject to the $1.01 tax to $209 million from the $204 million estimated earlier and included in the budget proposal approved June 1. Applying the $1.01 tax rate, the increase in the evaluation will add the $46,500 in revenue. The increase also allowed the commissioners to approve the five percent pay raise for em ployees, higher than that pro posed previously -- four percent if starting October 1 , and three percent i? starting July 1. After adding amendments, the general fund for 1980-81 amounts to $3,397,8%, about $40,000 more than it did when the budget was adopted last year. The $99,000 difference be tween the past year's and the new budget consists principally of $58,000 in employees' pay raises and added fringe bene fits, including increases in the Social Security and retirement funds; about $23,000 addition for the county school system's current-expense budget; and more for medical and aid to dependent children in the De partment of Social Services budget. The upward revision of the property evaluation means the county's $1.01 tax will yield $1,942,028 in revenue in 198 1 - 82, instead of $1,895,568. The budget adopted Mondav Soybeans , Cotton i Seem All Right 9 Heat Brings Problems To Farmers The recent hot weather has been hard particularly on Hoke County corn, and a few swine have died from the heat, Wendell Young, county Agricultural Extension Ser vice chairman, reported Tuesday in an interview. He said there's also been some burning of tobacco leaves but it's been erratic and the damage hasn't been assessed yet. Temperatures as high as 104 degrees were reached Monday in Raeford. This was the same as Fayetteville's highest, which was reported the state's highest of the day. Young said it is hard to evaluate just yet how much damage the Hoke corn crop has suffered. "It's the first time I've seen leaves of corn burn at the top," he said. Usually the burning starts at the bottom and moves upward. Young said. Swine producers also are having some trouble keeping their animals cool. The Blue Springs area had most of the heat deaths. Young said. No serious losses have been reported at the turkey hatcheries. Young added. He said most of the houses in Wyatt Upchurch's Tar heel Turkey Hatchery can be opened at the sides, providing more ventilation, though the high temp eratures still can be troublesome. Soybeans and cotton seem to be doing all right, "No problems," he said. "Real high" counts of boll weevils have been found in some cotton, he said, but most of the Hoke growers have sprayed at least twice to control the insects. The county still has some real dry areas, he also said, because the rainfall has been spotty. Wheat yields have ranged from a low of 10 acres per bushel to a high of 55, he said, with the lack of rain early in the season blamed for the lowest yields. In a season of normal weather, he said, the yield averages about 35 bushels per acre. . "We need another inch of rain sometime this week, if we can get it," for the crops generally, Young added. He said the northern and north eastern sections of the county seem drier than the others. Irrigation of tobacco has really paid off this season, Young said. There's been more irrigation this year than in the past, he added. "In the future, we'll probably see more," he said. Young also reported an increase in acreage in snap-bean production this year. He said 500 to 600 acres have been planted in the crop, and the yields have been totalling about three tons per acre, which he called "pretty good." The reasons he said were the beans got enough mois ture. and were harvested before the Jjigh temperatures occurred. The yields of cucumbers being raised for pickling, he said, haven't been good. The crop got a late start in early spring and didn't recover, he said. By State Senate, House Separately Hoke-Scotland District Plan Approved Hoke and Scotland counties' voters probably will elect a member to the State House of Representa tives in 1982 to represent both counties in the lower chamber of the North Carolina General As sembly. Majorities in the State House and Senate, acting on separate but identical plans to redistrict the area, recently approved the plans to have the two counties compose a new district. Both have been in a three-county district which in cluded Robeson County and repre sented by three members of the State House. The bills are expected to be enacted formally into law. Robeson County in the new arrangement would be in a district of its own and will have two people representing it in the State House. The new Hoke-Scotland district officially is the 2lst. Robeson's is the 10th. The present three-county district is the 21st, and its representatives are David Parnell, William Gay, and Horace Locklear, all Demo crats and all residents of Robeson. So far, the present 12th State Senatorial District, which is com posed of Hoke and Robeson coun ties is not up for changing. Sam Noble, a Robeson Democrat, is the district's senator. A House subcommittee plan would put Hoke County in the Third Congressional District, in stead of the Eighth, as a previously announced plan would have. Hoke is currently in the Seventh. The addition of Hoke and a township of Moore County is proposed to make up a loss of population in the Third. No action has been taken by the full House on the plan yet. Federal Funding Stops Literacy Program Needs More Help Miss Barbara Buie has asked the Hoke County commissioners to provide $5,000 in the county's 1981-82 budget for the Hoke Reading/Literacy Council and Hoke Education for Literacy Pro ject (HELP) program to teach il literate adults how to read and write. The program prepares its students to take the Sandhills Community College Adult Basic Education courses. But the county has not been pro viding $5,000 a year in the past for the project, Miss Buie, director of the council, said Thursday, as The News-Journal report in Thursday's edition says. She said the county has been providing $1,000 a year for the NEW PASTOR ?? The Rev. Arthur W. Winstead. the new pastor of Raeford United Methodist Church, is shown in his office in the Raeford 'church. He and his wife arrived last week. Winstead has been a Methodist minister the past 23 years and was transferred to Raeford from the pastorate of First United Methodist Church ofWilliamston. The Rev. Kelly Wilson, whom he succeeded here, was transferred to the pastorate of St. James Church ofTarhoro. This picture was taken Monday afternoon. I Staff photo. J past two fiscal years. She explained she has asked the county for $5,000 for the new fiscal year because the literacy program will not get anymore funds from the Library Services and Construction Act of the federal Title One, after this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The assistance from this source is limited to three years. The federal money has been pro vided to the Literacy Council through the Sandhills Regional Library System, of which the Hoke County Public Library is a member. Miss Buie said that the Literacy Council has gotten about $58,000 altogether in its 3'/* years of ex istence, and of this about $55,000 has come from Library Services and Construction Act funds. A total of $1,000 has been donated by private citizens and organizations, and $2,000 (in the past two years) by the county. The county gave nothing the first year and a half because all public funds came from federal Title I. She said the literacy program's 1981-82 budget has been set at $21,600, and "we hope" the dif ference between what the county provides and the total budget will be made up by private donations. She explained that the higher local budget is necessary because of the stoppage of federal money. Local money, for example, Miss Buie explained, would have to pay for library materials, since the literacy program because of the stoppage will no longer be qualified to use the public library's materials; and insurance, which has been available under the library's policy. The literacy. program is needed for adults who cannot read or write, or can read and write but below the level of the fourth grade of school. Miss Buie explained. She said the reason is that Sand hills Community College "picks up" adults for the basic education courses who have had the equivalent of fourth to fifth grade educations. Miss Buie calls the literacy pro gram "reading readiness," teaching adults to prepare them for the community college classes. The literacy program has a full course of five "skill books." but students set their own goals and stop whenever they feel they have gotten the benefits they need. Miss Buie said completion of three of the five leaves a student prepared to handle the community college course. If a student doesn't miss a class, he or she can complete the three skill-books lessons in six months. The classes are held twice a week for an hour and a half each. It takes a total of 18 months to complete all five-book lessons, she said, if the student attends every class. The last two books, of 24 (See LITh RACY. page II) night leaves unchanged the $773,627 budgeted for current expenses for the county school system in the new fiscal year, about $23,000 more than in 1980-81. The commissioners provided $20,000 in the new budget for development into a public park the 6.7 acres donated last spring by Burlington Industries to the county for public recreation. The commissioners however, agreed Monday night to require the county Parks and Recrea tion Commission to show them, before the money is turned over, a complete outline of what is to be done to the property and a plan of the site. The commissioners also de cided that money for the Hoke County Reading/Literacy Council program to teach Hoke illiterate adults to read and write should be requested by the county Board of Education but at the same time they added $5,000 to the county contin gency fund to leave the door open to the council for a new request. The council has asked the commissioners for $5,000 for 1981-82. which is $4,000 more than the county has provided each of the past two years through a county Board of Education budget line item. Barbara Buie, director of the council, explained to a reporter last week that the larger amount was being, requested because federal funds will not be pro vided for the program after this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The program has been receiving federal money for the past three years, -and three years is the maximum time the money is available for this purpose. County Manager James Mar tin explained Tuesday morning to a reporter that Miss Buie was to confer with him that day on the next step the Reading/ Lit eracy Council was to take in the effort to get county funds through the school board. It was understood that it was up to the school board to make the request to the county for the literacy funds. The commissioners also Monday night approved an installment-purchase arrange ment for obtaining a new com puter to replace the present one. The county is looking for a machine w hich will allow several people to teed the computer different kinds of information at the same time, where the pre sent computer can accommo date only one operator and feeder at a time. The machine the county is looking for will save time for the county's financial operations. Martin said the estimated cost ot the new computer is $65,000 to $70, (XX). depending on the type of equipment and hpw much programming it can handle. The county will advertise for bids, then open the bids re ceived and let the contract to the company which will have filed what the commissioners con sider the best bid. The commissioners also ap proved buying a new compacter for the city-county landfill in the next fiscal year. Martin said the county probably can get one for $165, (XX). though one list price is $1"77.00(). The money will come from federal revenue sharing. The commissioners approved a $3,700 addition to the Rae tord-Hoke County Chamber of Commerce 1981-82 budget for industrial and economic de velopment efforts. This provides a total of $14,000. The increase was approved after it was learned that the expenses of the effort would run higher than the $10,300 the chamber had re quested.
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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June 25, 1981, edition 1
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