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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME Lxxrv NUMBER 31 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
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journal
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
$8 PER YEAR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1982
k, 'Goofer Dust'
Anoints Court
Who spread the goofer dust
around the judge's bench?
And why?
These questions apparently can't
be answered unless the spreader or
an eye witness comes forth with the
answers.
^ The goofer dust was reported
^ found spread the morning of
November 17 not only around the
judge's bench but also around the
prosecutor's table and the jury box.
It was cleaned up promptly and
court proceeded without much
delay.
The dust was described by a
member of the Hoke County Su
^ perior Court clerk's staff as dirt
from a grave.
On the other hand. Sheriff David
Barrington told an inquiring re
porter Monday morning that goofer
dust also can be formed of ground
up spiders or other bugs or
materials.
After it is prepared, he said, a
witch goes to work on it, then it is
spread.
? He said the purpose of the hex
^ (or whatever) depends on what the
witch intends. It may be to alter
someone's behavior or determine a
course of action.
In last week's case, he said, he
didn't know what the spreader of
the dust intended.
The spreading was done during
the night or another time between
the time the court was closed the
day before and when it was
reopened.
(See COURT, page 11)
Around Town
bySwNwrit
This has been a perfect weekend
fin Hoke County for outdoor activi
ties. It might have been a little
warm for the opening of bird
season, but otherwise it was per
fect.
The forecast is for rain to come
about Thanksgiving Day. The
weather folks have been wrong
right much lately, so maybe they
will continue, and we will have a
sunny Thanksgiving Day.
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Football appeared once again
Sunday afternoon as the NFL
resumed play for the season. A
game is scheduled for Monday
night, Nov. 29 and should be
played by the time you read this
column.
The players are to vote Tuesday
on whether to accept the contract
or not. If they don't accent it, then
^ the season will once again come to a
standstill. More than likely the
remaining games will be cancelled.
It is hard for us on the outside to
understand why people would
strike when the minimum pay for a
player is S30.000 a year and many
fringe benefits.
Anyway the sport is gone from
the game and it should be classified
| as entertainment not a sport.
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The other night a commentator
on TV was talking about a strike in
the National Basketball Associa
tion. Of course, this didn't surprise
me until he said that the lowest pay
for a player in the NBA was
5200,000 a year. Now this raised
my eyebrows and I wondered what
they would strike for with salaries
) like that.
Then, being of the retired age, I
guess my thinking is not like the
present generation.
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Woody Durham, the popular
announcer for the Tar Heel net
work had the misfortune of having
to miss his first basketball game of
the Tar Heels last Saturday since he
P has been broadcasting the Carolina
sports.
The football team was playing
Duke and he had to broadcast that
game and it made it impossible to
get to the basketball game because
they were played at the same time.
1 don't believe Woody could have
helped the basketball team because
he couldn't pull the football teams
through.
| (See AROUND TOWN, page 7)
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This is the turkey who was elected to be a Thanksgiving gift for President Ronald Reagan.
Local Turkey Sent To White House
A live torn turkey weighing over
, 50 pounds, born and reared at Tar
Heel Turkey Hatchery Farms in
Hoke County, was given to Presi
dent Ronald Reagan Tuesday for
Thanksgiving.
The torn, a Nicholas breed about
one year and about one month old,
was presented by Bill Prestage of
Clinton, N.C., partner of Tar Heel
Hatcheiy's President, Wyatt. Up*
church.
Prestage is president of the
National Turkey Federation and
was following an annual Thanks
giving tradition. Each year, the
President is presented a turkey by
the federation.
The turkey, however, was a gift
from Prestage's family.
Prestage is president of Carroll's
Foods in Clinton. The turkey was
picked from a flock at one of Tar
Heel Turkey Hatchery farms by
Dennis Murphy, Carroll's nutri
tionist, and was taken by plane
Monday to Washington.
Rural Housing Suffers Blow
Low income housing for the
elderly in the unincorporated areas
of Hoke County has received a
setback following a recent federal
Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) opinion.
HUD officials have rejected an
attempt to locate 25 units of
housing for the elderly proposed for
the Rockfish area and 25 units
proposed for South Hoke, the
project's developer said Friday.
Members of the Lumbee River
Development Association were at
tempting to locate the housing in
communities where the proposed
residents are now living, however.
HUD did not concur, Association
Director Murphy Woods said.
The Assocition is being encour
aged by HUD to locate the housing
in the Raeford area, so residents
will be closer to doctors and
shopping, Woods said.
Other funding possibilities are
being looked into for the SI. 6
million project in order to keep it in
the rural areas. Woods said.
The 25 units proposed for the
Rockfish area would have served
not only that community, but the
Stonewall area also.
The South Hoke project would
have also served Antioch, Blue
Springs and Allendale.
Developers and members of the
Raeford Housing Authority, who
would have managed the projects,
feel that it would have been better
for the residents to remain in their
own communities rather than being
placed in unfamiliar surroundings.
HUD will back the units, if the
Association finds a site near Rae
ford, Woods said.
Although HUD is asking that the
housing units have water and sewer
available. Woods said the project
could be served at the Rockfish site
by the local water system and with
septic tanks.
At South Hoke, well water could
be used, along with septic tanks,
until the county rural water system
is constructed, he added.
The Association had hoped to
build 25 one-bedroom units at each
site. The buildings would be one
story. Woods said.
"We feel that people want to live
closer to their families. It is not as
big of shock when they live in a
familiar area," Woods said.
Younger people do not mind
relocating and adjust to change
better than elderly citizens, he
added.
Upchurch Sees Closer Ties
Between County And City
by Bill Lindau
New Hoke County Commissioner
Wyatt Upchurch "would like to see
our local governments working
closely together, and both bodies of
government working closer with
industry" to improve the county's
economy.
This is one of the statments he
made Thursday in an interview
three days after he was appointed
to serve the remaining two years of
the unexpired term of Danny
DeVane.
DeVane resigned effective No
vember 4, two days after he was
elected to the State House of
Representatives. DeVane won one
of the three seats allocated to the
district composed of Hoke, Robe
son and Scotland counties. He will
take office the first of the new year
and had to resign his other public
elective office before he could be
sworn in.
Upchurch was speaking of the
Raeford City Council and city
administration and the Hoke Coun
ty commissioners and administra
tion of the county when he referred
to "our local governments."
Upchurch said, "Our industry is
a very big part of the backbone of
?
our economy. I'm proud of our
industry." He pointed out that, for
one thing, Hoke industries have not
had any large layoffs.
"We also have to keep our school
system up," he added.
"If there is something we can
invest in that's justifiable," he
added, "I'm for it."
Upchurch added, "I'm proud of
our school system and of the
progress that has been made in it,
and I'd like to see more progress
made."
He said his main objective as a
county commissioner is to be sure
the Hoke County taxpayers get a
good return on their tax dollar. "I
realize," he said, "we have young
people, middle-aged people, and
old people."
Upchurch said he was looking
forward to serving the people "to
the best of my ability, because the
people of Hoke County have been
very good to my family and me,
especially in time of need."
(See UPCHURCH, page 12)
Man Gets Life
| For May Killing
by Bill Lindau
After almost a week of testi
mony, a 25-year-old Pembroke
man was found guilty of a May
slaying and sentenced to life in
prison during last week's term of
Hoke County Superior Court.
The jury returned the guilty
verdict after deliberating only 37
minutes Friday, ending the week
long trial of Perry Wayne Lowery.
Judge Albert Brannon of
Bahama, Durham County, im
posed the sentence. Earlier, he had
instructed the jury not to refer to a
sentence if the verdict was guilty.
The sentence was life because no
aggravating circumstances were
found by the judge in the trial. If
there had been, the sentence could
have been death.
Lowery was accused and found
guilty of shooting Terry Wayne
Locklear, 25, of Pembroke in the
back in Brady's, a club on N.C. 21 1
in Hoke County at the Robeson
County line. May 9 shortly after
midnight.
The defendent pleaded not
guilty. He didn't deny shooting
Locklear but said he didn't re
member anything that he did or
what happened between about
10:30 p.m. May 8 in Red Springs
and May 9 when he awoke in the
Hoke County Jail.
The court was told Lowery had
been drinking and also, after going
to the club, had taken a pill.
The judge after sentencing
Lowery pointed out to the de
fendant's attorney, John Campbell
of Lumberton, that he had 10 days
from the date of sentencing to file
notice of appeal. This would go to
the State Court of Appeals.
After- the jury returned the
verdict, the defense attorney made
separate motions: that the verdict
be set aside; and that the defendant
be granted a new trial.
The judge denied the motions.
The jury was composed of eight
women and four men, and the 12
were divided evenly racially be
tween white and nonwhite.
The selection of the jury was
started November 15 and was
completed the following day.
The state's first Mrs. Elizabeth
Brice, was called to the stand then
and testified through most of
Tuesday, stating she was six to
seven feet from Lowery and saw
him raise his arm and fire at
Locklear after Locklear, who was
walking away, stopped when
Lowery called, "Hey, Terry."
She said Locklear was 20 to 25
feet away at the time and that
Locklear had not spoken to Lowery
when he passed between Lowery
and Mrs. Brice.
Another witness's testimony in
dicated the shooting resulted from
a fight in May 1980 between
Lowery and Locklear in which
Lowery was cut.
The prosecution, which consisted
of Assistant District Attorney Jean
Powell and a privately employed
attorney, Evander Britt of Lum
berton, attempted to show this was
(See PEMBROKE, page 11)
Airport Committee
Seeking Conference
FA A, State Agencies
Members of an airport stud)
committee are attempting to set up
a conference with federal and statt
officials during the next few weeks
to determine requirements for ex
panding the Raeford Airport.
Both federal and state officials
have said the city needs to 'get
a handle on managing" the facility
and to move a currently operating
parachute landing zone away from
the airport runway area.
Committee members hope that
Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)
and state Department of Trans
portation Aeronautics Division of
ficials will clarify their positions by
determining:
?How far the jump landing site
has to be moved away from the
airport.
?If an alternative takeoff and
landing pattern will ease or elim
inate the hazard caused by the
landing parachutists.
Both state and local officials
believe that a well run small airport
with good facilities is essential in
order to attract industry here.
"This thing is no longer a luxury
item," Hoke County Chamber of
Commerce Executive Director Earl
Fowler said.
One of the first requirements an
industry has for locating in a
community is a good airport facility
where company planes can takoff
and land. Fowler said.
Although committee members
said during a meeting Thursday
night they recognized that the jump
school, which is owned by Gene
Paul Thacker, had played a major
role in building the present airport,
they, along with the federal and
state officials, also feel that if the
committee carries out its task and
expands the facility, the jump
school could no longer be compat
ible.
The increased air traffic could
make a collision with a dropping
parachutist more likely, officials
have said.
"We're going to have to address
this parachute operation, or we're
not going to get federal or state
money." committee member Bill
Moses said.
The landing site for the jumpers
should be moved to a place away
from the field that is safe for the
parachutists and causes no hazard
(See COMMUTE!:, page 12)
Inside Today
The Raeford Sewage Treatment Plant has been under fire
recently for dumping polluted effluent into Rockfish Creek.
News-Journal Associate Editor Bill Lindau takes a look at the
plant after SI million in improvements have been made. Please
turn to Page 1 of Section II.
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