? The Hoke County News - Established 1 928
VOLUME LXXTV NUMBER 27 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
journal
25
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
$8 PER YEAR
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1982
Around
> Town
BY SAM C. MORRIS
The storm that hit the coast of
North Carolina over the weekend
did damage to many cottages and
the beaches had erosion. The
meetings of the two fronts caused
the weekend in Hoke County to be
bad. It was cold and rainy the
I entire time. As this is being written
" late Monday afternoon, it is still
cold and it is very misty outside.
We will say that the forecast is
for warmer weather Wednesday
and on into the weekend.
* ? ?
The Raeford Kiwanis Club is
helping to sponsor the Halloween
Li Carnival that will be held at the
" Upchurch school on Saturday,
October 30 starting at five o'clock
and lasting until 10 that night.
There will be games, prizes,
food, entertainment, radio show,
costume judging, country store and
raffles. The admission is free and
the games will be 25 cents & 50
cents.
The Carnival is for the TMH
special classes at Hoke County
| Schools.
So for a night of fun on
Halloween, go to the Upchurch
School.
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The Hoke County Athletic
Booster Club will have its annual
Barbecue Supper Friday night,
October 29 starting at 3 o'clock and
'continuing to 7 o'clock. The meal
will be served at the Hoke High
Cafeteriaand it will be TAKE OUT
ONLY. The price per plate will be
S3.50. You can't beat this price.
All proceeds will be used for the
mhletic. ..programs at Hoke Jiigb.
and Upchurch schools.
? ? ?
Don't forget that Election Day is
Tuesday, November 2. The polls
will open at 6:30 a.m. and close at
7:30 p.m.
The final time for getting an
absentee ballot application is
Thursday, October 28 at five p.m.
The absentee ballots must be in the
Board of Elections office by five
p.m. Monday, November 1. So if
you are going to be out of town on
that day, Nov. 2, go by and pick up
your ballot.
If you become ill, there is a way
to vote and it will be explained to
you by the supervisor of Elections.
So if you don't vote it will be your
fault, not the election officials.
? ? ?
It came to me from a reliable
source that a group of our local
citizens that gather around the
table at a local restaurant decided
to go fishing at Bogue Sound. The
group that went last Wednesday
were all Methodists and their
names are Vernon Hubbard, Neil
Senter, John Haire, Irvin Currie,
and Joe and Clyde Upchurch. They
went to the Upchurch cottage at
Bogue.
It seems that they went out in a
boat to fish in the sound and that
the water was somewhat choppy. I
don't know if they caught any fish
that day or not, but they all got
seasick and had to return to shore.
On Thursday another fellow,
Robert Gatlin, arrived and joined
the group. Now as most folks in
Hoke County know, Gatlin is a
Baptist, so this made the group
consist of six Methodist and one
Baptist.
Now the next event has not been
explained to me very well, but it
seems that while Currie was on the
pier with a net catching minnows
for bait with Gatlin, he ended up in
the sound and Gatlin was standing
on the pier. It would seem that he
was pushed into the water.
A Presbyterian, a good friend of
both and also a coffee drinker,
stated that Gatlin was trying to
make a Baptist out of Currie.
When 1 questioned Gatlin, all he
would say was that they returned
Saturday because all the group was
in the same Sunday school class at
the Methodist Church.
Anyway reports are that they
caught plenty of spots and mullets.
- ? ? j
Events Slated For Halloween
The witches are riding and the hobglobins and
spooks will prowl and shriek and moan in Hoke
County as everywhere else next weekend. The
traditional trick-or-treating is scheduled for Sun
day night, Halloween.
Some special events are planned, besides the
trick-or-treat visiting by costumed youngsters going
j from door to door.
The Hoke County Community Halloween Carni
i val is scheduled for Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10
p.m. at Upchurch Junior High School. It is a
v -bcTKrtit- for-Hho ohtkireft- iiv Multi
! . handicapped classes.
I The Raeford Jaycees are hosting their Haunted
i House from Thursday through Sunday, from 7 till
j! 10:30 nightly, in the old house at the corner of
Edinborough Avenue and Stewart Street, across
the street from the Hoke County Sheriffs
Department.
The Raeford Police Department injected a
warning into the anticipation of traditional fun:
children going trick-or-treating should be accom
panied by their parents or other responsible adults
while they are making their calls.
Police Chief Leonard Wiggins Monday said
children should not go to houses that arc not
lighted on the outside, and that people who
welcome children on trick-or-treat visits should
have their outdoor lights on.
Wiggins said the Police Department has not had
any problems with Halloween night as other
communities have and doesn't foresee any for
Sunday night. Elsewhere, some people have given
trick-or-treat visitors fruit containing razor blades
or other shaqf*>?>jects buried in them.
The Carnival is "being sponsored by the Parent
and Volunteers Committee for the TMH Students
of the Hoke County whool system in cooperation
with the Raeford Kiwanis Club.
There will be costume-judging, a Cake Walk, a
Haunted House, raffles, games, pie-in-the-face. an
artist at work, a dance exhibition. Target Practice,
pumpkin judging, and an, old fashioned country
store among other attractions.
Church, civic and youth organizations and
businesses of Hoke County are supporting the
Carnival.
Local Races Key To Voter Turnout
Hoke County voters in the gen
eral election Tuesday will elect
three county commissioners and
three members of the county board
of education and help choose a
congressman and officers in dis
trictwide contests.
The voting booths will open in
the 13 Hoke precincts at 6:30 a.m.
and remain open till 7:30 p.m.
Rose Sturgeon, supervisor of
county elections, said a total of
8,804 people are registered to vote
in the county, and of these 8,324
are Democrats, 414 Republicans
and 66 others. Mrs. Sturgeon said
indications are the turnout will be
light.
Of the total registered, 4,369 are
white, 3,556 are black, and 879 are
Indian.
Six candidates are running for
the three school board positions,
and four, including one Republi
can, are running for the board of
county commissioners.
Day Care
Members of the Hoke County
Department of Social Services
(DSS) voted unanimously Monday
to increase payments made for day
care service to four homes here.
The increase is needed to cover
the cost of providing the service and
transportation to four family day
care units located around Raeford,
DSS Director Ken Withers poon
said.
Payments will be increased from
S120 per child per month to S140
per child per month for care.
Transportation payments will be
increased to S34 from $30.
Some of the homes are barely
making a living from the care
service, and the children in the
program need special attention,
Wither spoon said.
Increased cost of providing
In the school board races are
three incumbents -- board chair
man Bill Cameron and Walter N.
Coley and Roberts (Bobby) Wright.
The other candidates are J.H.
(Buddy) Blue, Onnie Eratcher
Dudley, and Charlotte R. Kelly.
The terms are for four years. The
winners will join Mina Townsend
and Ruth McNair on the board.
Mrs. Townsend and Mrs. McNair
were reelected in 1980 under the
staggered-term system to four-year
terms.
The school board election is
non-partisan.
The county commissioners' race
has Republican Evelyn Manning
trying for a seat in the face of
Democratic opposition. The other
candidates include board chairman
John Balfour and Commissioner
James A. Hunt, and Cleo Bratcher,
a Raeford businessman up for his
first try for elective office.
Three other county officials are
up for reelection but are un
opposed. They are Sheriff David
Barrington. Clerk of Superior
Court Juanita Edmund, and
Coroner G. Frank Crumpler.
Hoke County voters will be
participating in an Eighth District
congressional election Tuesday,
thanks to the redistricting made by
the General Assembly because of
the population changes shown by
the 1980 U.S. Census. Hoke has
been voting in the Seventh District
in recent years, though at one time
the county was in the Eighth.
U.S. Rep. William G. (Bill)
Hefner of Kannapolis, a Democrat,
is running for reelection against
Republican Harris Blake, a Pine
hurst merchant. Don Scoggin, the
Libertarian Party candidate also is
on the ballot.
Candidates for six 12th District
judges and a district attorney are
on the ballot also but only one
(See ELECTIONS, page 2)
Homes Get Raise
transportation has hurt the income
of the day care providers, he added.
DSS also uses the South Hoke
Day Care Center for children in the
county, however, that facility does
not provide transportation and
department staff are finding it
difficult to fill all of the vacancies
there.
That center will not be effected
by the payment increase.
South Hoke has 1 1 slots for DSS
children, but only five or six are
being used, program coordinator
Robin Russell said.
DSS may alto be facing the
possible loss of the South Hoke
Center, Russell said, adding that
changes in state regulations may
affect the accreditation of the
center.
Under the new regulations, the
day care staff in centers must have
high school degree, and some of the
South Hoke staff do not have
degrees, Russell said.
In other business, Witherspoon
said a recent survey of the DSS staff
showed that 81% of those working
in the Hoke County office live in the
county.
The survey was conducted in
response to questions from other
residents about where local DSS
workers live, Witherspoon said.
Since Witherspoon assumed the
directorship in 1979, he had hired
16 employes, of those 13 or 81%
were county residents.
Presently at DSS there are 31
employes, IS of those are white, 13
black and three are Indians.
Of the Hoke County residents 1 1
are white, 12 black and two
Indians, Witherspoon said.
NG Sergeants
Charged In
SBI Probe Here
Two fulltime Raeford National Guard sergeants will be
given probable-cause hearings November 4 in Hoke County
District Court on felony charges of misapplying state property
--money, court records show.
Sgt. First Class Richard Alfred Wolf, 32, of Rt. 3, Box
36C, Raeford is charged in three warrants with taking a total
of $1,037 last August 31 "and prior dates," and March 31,
1982.
Staff Sgt. Franklin C. Brown, 40, of Rt. 3, Box 46,
Lumberton, is charged in one warrant with taking $540 on
September 1, 1982, "and prior dates."
The complaints were filed by SBI Agent K.R. Snead of
Rockingham, and the warrants were signed by Maj. J.M.
Hall.
The warrants were served October 25, and the accused were
released from custody on unsecured bonds, Wolf under
$30,000, and Brown under $10,000 for their appearances at
the preliminary hearings.
The hearings are held on felony charges to determine
whether sufficient evidence against the defendant exists to
bound him or her over to Superior Court for grand jury ac
tion.
Wolf and Brown are on the staff of Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, Second Battalion, 252nd Armor.
They were still on the unit staff Tuesday. Wolf was on leave,
and Brown declined to comment in view of the legal situation.
Brown is supply sergeant for the Guard unit, and Wolf is
unit administrator, supervisor of the fulltime personnel.
Former Deputy Pleads
Guilty To Charges
Charles (Ronnie) Wilson
changed his plea in Hoke Superior
Court from not guilty to guilty of
involuntary manslaughter Tuesday
afternoon on the second day of his
trial in the shooting of his first
cousin, George Ernest Baker, 28.
Judge Britt sentenced Wilson to
three years and suspended the term
but ordered that Wilson serve six
months of it. The judge recom
mended work release and made
conditions of the suspension to
include payment of the $3,000 for
the funeral expenses for Baker.
The judge also recommended
work release for Wilson and
ordered him to report to the sheriff
Wednesday morning to be taken to
Piedmont Correctional Center in
Salisbury for processing. The judge
said, however, that this doesn't
mean Wilson will serve his term
there, that he may be sent to any
other unit in the prison system.
The judge imposed the sentence
after hearing Assistant District
Attorney Jean Powell summarize
state's evidence and defense at
torney Phil Diehl describe Wilson's
record of volunteer public service,
with the Rescue Squad and the
North Raeford Volunteer Fire De
partment, among other organiza
tions.
The judge placed Wilson on
probation for five years, suspend
ing the sentence for the same
period.
He ordered Wilson to report to
the probation officer no more than
30 days after Wilson finished
Inside Today
In today's Section U of The
News-Journal, we take a look
at the issues and answers of the
upcoming election.
serving the six -months sentence.
Wilson made his guilty plea in
the absence of the jury, which had
left the courtroom on the judge's
order.
Wilson pleaded not guilty Mon
day. and selection of a jury was
completed about 3:30 p.m after
about 3'/j hours of interviewing
members of the jury panel for the
prosecution and the defense to
agree on the 12 regular and one
alternate.
The jury finally chosen consists
of nine women. Two whites, six
blacks and one Indian on the body
hearing the evidence.
The opening statements of the
prosecutor, Jean Powell, assistant
district attorney, and the defense
counsel, Phil Diehl, to the jury
indicate the jurors will have to
decide essentially whether Wilson
acted recklessly and with indif
ference to the safety of the people at
the campsite when he fired his AR
15 semiautomatic rifle, reportedly
to scare the campers early in the
morning of last June 26.
Diehl said the defense evidence
will show that Wilson did not act
indifferently and recklessly.
The first witness, Lawrence
Conoly, took the stand for the state
at about 4 p.m. Monday and
testified in direct examination from
Miss Powell and in cross examina
tion by Diehl. then answered
questions put later by Miss Powell
and Diehl alternately till nearly 5
(See DEPUTY, page 2)
Low Income
Energy Loans
Open Here
An estimated 950 low-income
households in Hoke County will be
eligible for financial help with their
heating bills this winter through the
federal Low- Income Energy Assis
tance Program.
Ken Witherspoon, Director of
the Hoke County Department of
Social Services, said the program
provides a one-time payment to
help eligible households pay their
heating bills.
"It is not the purpose of the
program to pay all of the house
hold's heating bills, but to provide
some relief from the high cost of
(See LOW INCOME, page 2)