The Hoke County News - Established 1928 Volume LXX1V Number 37 ^ > RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA - journal The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 S10 PER YEAR Thursday, January 6, 1983 AILMENTS MINOR -- The Hoke County Courthouse, 70 years old, is basically in pretty good shape, the county commissioners were informed at . their Tuesday meeting. Defects exist and were described as "minor but im w portant." The general condition and the specific ills were described by William K. Dodge III, and George T. Fore, Jr., both of Raleigh firms, who are doing a study of the building under a county contract. Dodge is with Dodge and Associates, architects and planners, and Fare with Building Preservation Consultants. Unemployment Up Again The jobless rate in Hoke County ^ rose .6 of one percent during ? November as 40 residents, who worked the previous month, joined the ranks of the unemployed. Despite the opening of the Raeford-Hoke Village Shopping Center, which created over 100 new jobs here, the number of per sons working in the county as well as those available for work, decreased in November. ^ Figures released by the North f Carolina Employment Security Commission last week showed that during November, 7,050 persons worked in the county out of a possible work force of 7,910. During the previous month, revised commission figures showed that 7,150 persons had worked and the job force had been 7,970. Although last week's figures for ^ November show that the number ? of persons unemployed here rose to 860 from 820 jobless during Oc tober, local officials have said they feel many more persons are not working in the county. The figures from the state reflect only those persons, 16 years or older, who did not haOe a job dur ing the week surveyed and who were actively seeking work. . Official state figures do not in ) elude persons who have been laid off and are subject to being recall ed, or persons waiting to take a new job. The November rise in unemploy ment was the first increase in the county for the last several months. The 10.9^o figure recorded in November was still below the highest mark reached in the coun ^ ty. In January Hoke County recorded a 13.4fy> unemployment rate. The lowest rate for the year was reported during June, when the figure dropped to 9.2%. Hoke County had reached the same 9.2% last year during the same period in November, and had been dropping since August of this year before the current upturn. In October, the rate reached 10.3%. State officials attribute the hikes in the jobless to seasonal unemployment in farming and agriculture related businesses. Hoke was among 60 counties in the state where the jobless rate in creased. In the surrounding counties, unemployment rose in Moore, Richmond and Robeson. The rate dropped in Scotland and Cumberland counties during November. In Richmond County, the rate increased from 16.5% to 18.4% with 3,370 persons out of work. Robeson County's rate rose slightly from 14.3% to 14. 6% with 7,000 persons out of work. In Moore, there were 2,010 per sons unemployed during November and the rate increased from 8.2% to 8.5%. Over 500 persons found jobs in Cumberland County, where the rate dropped from 9.6% to 8.9%, but 6,620 persons still remain jobless there. The Chapel Hill area in Orange County recorded the lowest rate in the state. There only 3.9% of the work force were out of a job. Graham County registered the highest unemployment rate, which was 32.7%. Statewide, the total unemploy ment rate was 9.5% in November up from 9.3% in October. During November, there were 278,000 jobless in North Carolina. The national rate during the month was 10.8% with 11.4 million unemployed. Around Town by Um M?rit The weather over the New Year's holidays was cold and rainy. This meant that most folks stayed indoors and watched the bowl games. There was all kinds of weather for the games, but mostly the weather was good. The forecast is for warmer weather for the remainder of the week. Elsewhere in the paper is a report on the rainfall for the month and year. The rainfall end ed the year at about what is ex pected here for a year. It was a lit tle over 52 inches and that is what is normal for Hoke County. ? ? ? There was plenty of football on television over the holidays and it (Sec AROUND TOWN, page 14) I Co . Mulls Costs Of Running I Hoke Ambulance Service by Bill Undau Hoke County commissioners Tuesday postponed action on renegotiating a new contract with the Hoke County Ambulance Ser vice until a committee to be ap pointed completes a study of the financial situation and reports its findings to the commissioners. The commissioners were inform ed that the service had been unable to collect $54,000 due by in dividuals since July 1, 1979, when the contract period started. The report is due at the commis sioners' meeting on February 1, rescheduled from the standing first-Monday date, because Chair man John Balfour said he would be out of town on the regular date ? February 7 -- and it was not cer tain that Commissioner James Albert Hunt would be able to at tend that day either. Moore Memorial Hospital at Pinehurst reported Hunt, admitted Thursday, was still in the hospital for "observation and treatment" Tuesday. The commissioners adopted mo tions affecting the Ambulance Ser vice in several ways. One provides that a committee of at least five people be appointed, to study the service's financial condition and its bookkeeping system. People are to be recommended by commis sioners to County Manager James Martin by Thursday for appoint ment to the committee. Another motion authorizes a $5,500 advance to the service repayable during the year and a half remaining on the current five year contract and the advance will be secured by a lien on one of the ambulances. Before taking up the contract, the commissioners adopted mo tions asking the area legislators to include Hoke County in state laws concerning payments to the am bulance service and people's call ing the service. The laws make failure to pay an ambulance service bill a misde meanor and provides punishment for anyone calling for an am bulance without needing it. The commissioners discussed in an executive session of about 70 minutes the renegotiation of the contract, part of the time with Jim Henley, the owner of the Am bulance Service. Balfour after the meeting was reopened told a reporter of the un collectable bills, in replying to a question; why was the advance needed. The county has been providing the service with a subsidy of $64,000 per year under the con tract. Extensive Service The commissioners in other business turned down one request and tabled another made by Coun ty Agricultural Extension Service Chairman Willie Featherslone. Featherstone had asked the com missioners to authorize advertising and hiring of an assistant agent to work with field crops production. The new assistant would fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Banks Wannamaker. The other motion adopted, tabl ed the request for use for buying a $2,000 electronic typewriter. These funds were budgeted for other pur poses. The tabling was done to allow County Manager James Martin time to investigate the situation. Featherslone said the new machine was needed to cut out repetitions in typing and generally speed handling of paper work of the Extension Office. The commissioners, adopting a motion made by Cleo Bratcher, Jr., declined to give the authoriza tion. Bratcher explained in making the motion that they should wait till they saw what the state was go ing to do and to see how Featherstone and livestock Assis tant Agent Richard Melton would do by sharing the field crops duties. Featherstone had pointed out that the state, for budget reasons, had frozen vacancies in the Exten sion Service till July 1, the first day of the 1983-84 fiscal year. Commissioner Wyatt Upchurch and Balfour said people had told them they didn't believe the county needed the second assistant, in view of the county tax dollar situa tion. Upchurch said he had received calls from people expressing the opinion, and Balfour said he had received the same statements from every farmer he had talked to. Featherstone replied that the Ex tension Service in Hoke would continue providing the agricultural programs with or without a Held crops assistant but that if he had to work in the programs, then he'd have no time for working with housing assistance for the low income, and with other valuable community development projects. He pointed out that building of a new home adds to the county's property tax revenue. Courthouse Two building specialists in formed the commissioners that their study showed the 70-year-old Courthouse is "basically in good shape" for a building of that age but described leaking and insula tion defects that should be cor rected. The specialists are William W. Dodge III of Dodge and Associates, architects and plan ners, and George T. Fore, Jr., ar chitectural conservator, of Building Preservation Con sultants. Both firms are based in Raleigh. (See COUNTY MULLS, page 14) Antique Dealer, 83, Robbed By Two Men An 83-year-old Hoke County antique dealer was robbed by two men last Thursday evening outside his place of business on state Highway 21 1. Fred Riley 83 was robbed of $60 and some change, his watch and a ring about 6:40 p.m. Thurs day in front of his Riley's Antiques on N.C. 211 west in Ashley Heights, the Hoke County Sheriff's Department reported. The report said Riley's coat was pulled over his head, and he was wrestled to the ground, and the two took off his wrist watch worth $40 and his Mason ring worth $75, then went through his pockets, get ting his billfold and the change. Riley said the two men then drove off in a car they parked near the store. He told the investigating officer these other details. One of the men rang the bell outside the back door, and when Riley opened it the man told him he wanted to copy the number of a heater so his son could pick up the stove later. Riley agreed to let him note the number, so Riley went through the store and out to the front where the heaters stood. As Riley was taking items off the top of the stove and bent over to see whether the stove had a grate, the other robber pulled his coat over his head. Riley described both men as be ing black. One man, he said, had a light complexion, brown eyes and a heavy build, weighed about 175 pounds, stood about 5 feet 9 inches and was 20 to 30 years old. The other man he could describe only, besides being black, as being about 6 feet tall. No arrests had been made by noon Tuesday. Inside Today Hoke High's Greg Holl ingsworth helped the Bucks past Prospect last Thursday night for a win in the consolation game of the school's holiday tournament. We take a look at the game and other Buck action on Page 8 of today's News-Journal. OLDTIMER - This old building stands behind Center Missionary Baptist Church in the Antioch community, and some of the materials for putting up another, or maybe giving the old one a face lift, can be seen nearby. No one who could answer the questions of the purpose of the sand and blocks was around when the picture was taken. Public TV Gets Dumped In Cable Realignment By Warren Johnston North Carolina public television could be restored to local cable subscribers and to those in six neighboring cities by the end of this week, a spokesman for Jones Intercable said Monday. The public station was removed from the system, along Charlotte's Channel 18, when the Atlanta bas ed firm made abrupt unannounced changes in programming last week in an effort to "improve service", and as a result some subscribers are upset. Jones hopes to borrow equip ment this week from one of its sister systems in Gaston County, which will enable the firm to re establish public television on a sharing basis with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), local manager Harrison Daniels said. If the equipment cannot be bor rowed, Daniels said it would take longer to restore the public station, but the programming would be available before the end of January. The decision to change the pro gramming was made from the firm's Atlaata office, and was made without informing subscribers, Daniels said. Since the moves were made, the firm's Red Springs office has received a number of calls from angry subscribers, he said. Initially the company had plann ed to show public television only during daytime hours to ac comodate schools, and to show CBN at night. However, reaction from viewers caused the company to re-think the move, and the public station will now be shown from "sign on to sign off," Daniels said, adding that CBN will be shown after the public station signs off. In an apparent reaction to re quests made by managers and mayors from the six-city franchise area during a December meeting held in Raeford, Jones bumped Channel 18 and the public station to add the Cable News Network (CNN) and a 24-hour sports net work (ESPN). The changes in programming were also made in anticipation of a rate hike for the cable company, Daniels said. Representatives of the firm will appear before city councils this month in Raeford, Red Springs, St. Pauls, Pembroke, Elizabeth town and Fairmont to request a 60 cents a month hike, Daniels said. Prior to last week's program ming changes, Jones had a North Carolina and a South Carolina public station, and many programs were duplicated. South Carolina public television will remain on the air until it will also be removed to make room for Federal Communication Commis sion (FCC) required Channel 3 of Wilmington. That Wilmington station is an ABC affiliate, and will also duplicate programming on three other stations on the system, Daniels said. "There is nothing we can do about that. The FCC requires that we carry them," he said. Of the 12 channels on the Jones system, seven are required by the FCC because of their close prox imity to the receiving station, Daniels said. Presently, Jones has three ABC stations, one NBC and two CBS channels. In addition, the firm carries Showtime, Fayetteville's Channel 40 and Atlanta's Channel 17 and the other mentioned stations. One of those calling the Jones' office was Hoke County Board of Education vocational studies coor dinator Harold Gillis. A video taped presentation of (See PBS, page 14)