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The Hoke County News - Established 1928
VOLUME LXXIV NUMBER 34 H AEKOKI). IIOKK COL \l'\ . NORTH C AKOI.IN \
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The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
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State Highway Patrol Trooper R. V. Lee examines remains of 1978 Oldsmobile which slammed into the Rockfish
Creek Bridge on US Highway 401 business early Saturday morning. A Raeford man was thrown from the vehicle
following the collision and drowned in the creek, Hoke County Medical Examiner Ramnik Zola said.
Two Killed Here Saturday
In Separate Accidents
The Hoke County traffic death
toll climbed to nine Saturday
morning as a Raeford man and a
Wagram resident died within
minutes of each other in separate
accidents.
The deaths of Willie Edward
Buie Jr., 29, of 321 Silver City St.,
Raeford, and Michael Wayne
Locklear, 23, of Rt. 1 Box 177
Wagram, brought the county total
to four more than the number kill
ed in traffic accidents last year.
Locklear died at the scene, 8.9
I miles south of Raeford, shortly
after being struck by a vehicle as he
walked in east bound lane of North
Carolina Highway 211, state
Highway Patrol Trooper Bill
Bow den said.
The accident occurred around
3:35 a.m. Saturday, when
Locklear was hit by a 1978
Oldsmobile driven by a Shannon
man, Bowden said.
* The driver, who apparently had
his family in the car with him, told
Around Town
fcy S?r Mwrfs
Monday morning every where I
went people were asking me, 'why
I aren't you on the golf course?" This
* to me was a stupid question
because the temperature was about
25 degrees at the time. Maybe the
foursome 1 play golf with on
Monday have the reputation of the
mailman, but not this fellow. 1 will
admit that my ball could skid
across a frozen pond at the second
hole, but it wouldn't be worth
getting across the water to play in
? this type of weather.
The wooly - worm was right,
winter will be cold this year. The
low for Tuesday night was to be in
the teens and then it was to warm
up for the remainder of the week. 1
hope so because it is bad to miss
playing golf for a week.
? * ?
^ A call from John Howard last
Saturday morning informed me
that the Christmas Parade sche
duled for last Saturday had been
postponed and had been resche
duled for Saturday, December 18
at 2 p.m. I hope that the weather
will cooperate for the day and that
the parade will come off* as
scheduled.
So get the kids ready again and
If bring them to downtown Raeford
for the parade. This is a special
time for the kids, but remembering
back 30 years, it is also a happy
(See AROUND TOWN, page 6)
?
investigating officers that lights
from an on-coming vehicle had
blinded his vision, and that he did
not see Locklear, who was ap
parently in the middle of the lane,
Bowden said.
"All he knew was that he hit
something," the trooper said.
The right front finder of the
vehicle sustained-Jicavy damage
from the impact.
A hat, which was apparently
worn by the Wagram man, was
about 30 feet from his body in the
same lane of the highway.
Locklear was pronounced dead
by Hoke County Medical Ex
aminer Ramnik Zota.
An autopsy is being performed
and the investigation into the acci
dent is continuing, Bowden said.
About 10 minutes after Locklear
was struck, Buie, who was ap
parently traveling at a high rate of
speed, struck the bridge on U.S.
Highway 401 Business at Rockfish
Inside Today
Raejord Kiwanians raised over
$2,500 for local chanties with
last Thursday 's pancake dinner
and raffle. We take a look at
some of the activity on Page I
of Section 2 in today's News
Journal.
Yule Parade
Here Dec. 18
The Christmas Parade through
downtown Raeford has been
rescheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday,
John Howard, general chairman
of the Raeford Merchants Associa
tion Parade Committee, announc
ed Tuesday morning.
Saturday's rainfall caused the
postponement.
The parade will form at J.W.
Turlington School and proceed on
West Prospect Avenue to North
Main Street, then turn south on
North Main and move to the Edin
borough Shopping Center where it
will end near the A&P.
"It's looking good," Howard
said.
Creek and was killed, Trooper
R.V. Lee said.
The Raeford man's body was
recovered from Rockfish Creek by
Hoke County Rescue Squad divers
Kemp Crumpler and Lawrence
Conoly around 6:30 a.m. after a
search of about an hour and a half.
Buie's body was found down
stream from the bridge.
The accident apparently occur
red after Buie ran off the road
about 200 feet from the bridge,
lost a muffler, swerved back in the
road and hit the southeast corner
of the structure, Lee said.
After the collision, the car
traveled to the other side of the
bridge.
The impact demolished the cor
ner of the bridge, and spread parts
of 1973 Buick over a large area.
"He was traveling at a high rate
of speed," Lee said.
Buie was pronounced dead at
the scene by Dr. Zota at 6:50 a.m.,
Lee said.
Sheriff s Probe
Of Beating Death
Still Ongoing
Hoke County Sheriff David Bar
rington said Tuesday the investiga
tion into the death of a man whose
body, with skull fractured, was
found Thursday morning in
Drowning Creek at Camp Mackall
is continuing.
The man was identified as James
Edward Mcintosh, 35, of near
Carthage, the sheriff said. The
body was found by two Ft. Bragg
soldiers above the U.S. 15-501
highway bridge and along SR
1225.
The sheriff said several suspects
have been checked but no arrests
have been made yet. He said it was
believed Mcintosh was killed at a
place other than the place where
his body was found and that his
body was carried to the creek.
Also found December 8 in
woods on the Blue Farm about five
miles away were the remains of a
man identified later as James Blue,
80, of 6946 Kinston St., Laurin
burg, the sheriff reported. He said,
however, that the investigation
showed no foul play was involved
in Blue's death, but that the cause
of the death was not known.
Blue had been reported to the
Laurinburg Police Department
September 22 as missing, the
sheriff said.
Blue's car, a 1970 Chevrolet,
was found at 15-501 Used Parts
where it had been towed for
storage.
Little Help Predicted
For Hoke Co. Patrol
B> Warren Johnston
When two men died in separate
wrecks Saturday, the traffic death
toll increased to four more than
were killed in Hoke County ac
cidents during all of 1981.
Despite the increase in fatalities,
state Highway Patrol authorities
see no immediate assistance for the
county's undermanned patrol unit.
"We're concerned about Hoke
County, but we don't have any im
mediate plans to ship anyone in
there," operations supervisor Ma
jor L.J. Lance said Monday.
Lance is stationed in Raleigh
and oversees the duties of Troop
H, which includes Hoke County,
as well as other units in the state.
"We have several counties that
need men more critically than
Hoke,"' Lance said, noting that
Harnett and Mecklenburg counties
have a greater shortage than exist
here.
? i -j ?, 1 ? n "i ?'
Hoke County troopers have
been working a man shori since
April when Trooper Joe Stanley
left to work interstate traffic going
to the World's Fair in Knoxville,
Tennessee.
Stanley was permanently
transferred to Richmond County
after the end of the fair in October.
All of the unincorporated roads
in the county are now patrolled by
troopers R.V. Lee, Bill Bow den
and Ken Weston, who arc putting
in long on-duty hours, their im
mediate supervisor has said.
Because of the manpower shor
tage, local troopers are also spend
ing more time "on call" and must
restrict their off-duty activities,
Sgt. Delbert Menshew said earlier.
Another man is not likely to be
assigned here unless a trooper on
duty requests a transfer to Hoke
County, I ance said.
SH ORN IN -- Members of the Hoke Courtly Board of Education were
shown sworn into office Thursday by Hoke County Superior Court Clerk
Juanita Edmund shortly before the board's monthly meeting for
December opened. L-R are Bobby Wright, Bill Cameron and H alter Col
ey. Cameron later was reelected board chairman. The board's other
members, Ruth McNair and Mina Townsend, were reelected in I9S0 to
four-year terms. Wright, Cameron and Coley were reelected to the same
length terms in last month 's election.
Superintendent Search
To Go Outside District
Members of the Hoke County
Board of Education will concen
trate initial efforts to replace retir
ing Superintendent Raz Autry by
interviewing applicants from out
side the school district, the board
chairman said Friday.
However, applicants from
within the county will not be ig
nored, Chairman Bill Cameron
said.
"Nobody has the inside shot at
this thing," Cameron said.
It was determined during a clos
ed door executive session following
the regular monthly board meeting
Thursday that the consensus of the
body is to go outside the district
first, Cameron said.
"We want to go outside and see
what is there," he added.
Autry formally tendered his
resignation during the meeting
Thursday, and the move was
unanimously accepted by the
board.
The resignation will become ef
fective on March 17 in order to
give a new superintendent time to
work on a school budget prior to
the beginning of the fiscal year on
July 1.
"I've given the job my best
shot," Autry told board members.
"My record speaks for itself.
Time will either vindicate or con
demn me for the decisions I have
made," he said.
Some of the roughest spots dur
ing his service in the superinten
dent's job were battles with the
county commissioners, primarily
over budget matters, Autry said.
"I have no animosity toward
anyone," he added.
Many things about the job will
be missed, "but I won't miss those
long board sessions and some of
the publicity 1 have received,"
Autry said.
The board was to meet Wednes
day afternoon at 4:30 p.m. to
develop a procedure for hiring a
new superintendent, as well as an
application form for the job.
Application forms should be
ready for distribution quickly.
Cameron said, noting that the
board wants to begin interviewing
applicants as soon as possible.
"We hope to name someone in
March or April," he said.
In other business during the
meeting Thursday, members heard
a presentation on the state of the
arts in Hoke County schools by
program coordinator Mary Archie
McNeill.
"We may not be the highest
academically in the state, but we
have some of the best talent in
North Carolina," McNeill said.
Hoke County schools offer
dance, drama, creative writing,
music and art, but some of the
county's most talented students are
being wasted because programs
taper off at the high school level.
Student demand is there to war
rant more teachers for the pro
grams, particularity at Hoke High
School, she said.
No action was taken by the
board on the matter.
In still further action, the board
voted to guarantee the purchase of
a van if funding for the Indian
Education Act (IEA) is suspended.
"We had one request lor Hoke
Counts , but it was denied," l.anee
said.
I lie request came from Harnett
County where the patrol is short by
three men.
To transfer a man from Harnett
to Hoke where there is only one
vacancy would not make sense,
l.anee said.
Chances of Hoke County getting
one of the 12 graduates from the
highway patrol academy this
January are also slim. Lance said.
Those graduates will probably
go to fill the most critical vacan
cies, he added.
There will be another graduating
class in September, and if enroll
ment is up then Hoke would have a
chance at one of those recruits,
state authorities have said.
The state highway patrol is
about 200 men short statewide.
Health Board
Holds Action
On Waste Bill
A move to stiffen regulations
governing the disposal of solid
waste in the county was delayed
Monday night until the next
quarterly meeting of the Hoke
County Board of Health.
Board members also decided to
drop a plan which would require
mobile home park owners to im
prove garbage collection pro
cedures.
After a survey of the trailer
parks in the county, health officers
found that most of the owners are
complying with existing regula
tions, Board Director Lloyd Home
said.
During the next meeting, ten
tatively scheduled for February,
board members hope to recom
mend to the Hoke County Com
mission an ordinance which would
regulate the kind of debris dumped
into the county's garbage collec
ting boxes.
If adopted by the commission,
the ordinance would prohibit the
dumping of stumps, hog waste, car
bodies and other material now be
ing placed in the boxes.
By correcting the problem at the
boxes, officials also hope to im
prove the quality of the materials
beinu dumped at the county land
fill.
The ordinance would also pro
hibit scavaging from the boxes,
Home said.
Savaging poses a danger to the
health of the individuals who could
be injured as they climb inside the
boxes, he added.
"We're partieularily concerned
about the kids," Home told board
members.
"The thing that bothers me is if
anyone depend* on that as their in
come, 1 would hate to stop it,"
board Chairman Sarah Leach said.
Board staffers will re-work the
ordinance and present it during the
next meeting.
In other business during the
regular meeting Monday, members
voted to send a letter to the county
commission informing them about
changes in the law governing
medical consultants.
The board now uses the county's
three fulltime doctors on a loose
non-paid arrangement.
Changes in North Carolina law
would require a formal arrange
ment to be established and con
tracts to be signed.
If contracts are signed, the doc
tors would also be liable for their
work at the Health Center, board
(Sec WAST P., page 13)
iChristmas Parade- 2:00 p.m. Saturday