&W6
The Hoke County News - Established 1 928
Volume LXXV Number II RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
25
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
$10 PER YEAR Thursday, July 7, 1983
Lightning destroys
Although the rains that fell on Hoke County last week were much needed
and appreciated, some of the thunderstorms that passed through the area
last Wednesday destroyed a Hoke County man 's barn and tractor. Accor
ding to Elwood Baker, his barn caught on fire after lightning struck a pine
? ? ? ?? ^ ww v ? W m*.
tree near the facility. The fire demolished the barn and its contents, in
cluding Baker's tractor. According to Baker, the blaze was nearly out of
control. Several pine trees behind the shelter were burned, too. Hillcrest
and other county fire departments assisted in putting out the blaze.
Courthouse Remodeling Grant Likely
By Sherry Matthews
Members of the Hoke County
Commission were told Tuesday
that grant monies for the preserva
tion of the county courthouse may
be forthcoming.
County Manager James Martin,
who applied for the Federal Jobs
Act Preservation Grant, told the
commissioners during a regular
meeting Tuesday morning that
there was a "good" chance that
Hoke County would be funded.
Grant monies of more than
SI 89,000 were applied for in the
Jobs Act application. That money
will be provided on a 50-50 match
ing grant with the county paying
half of the total amount.
According to Martin, Hoke
i County has also applied for an
S85.000 North Carolina Legislative
Grant.
If both the state and federal
grants are awarded to the county
some of that money can be used
for the 50-50 matching funds that
the county must pay, Martin said.
Around Town
by Sam Morris
It is impossible for me to give you
a weather report for Hoke County
and Raeford. I can write that it has
stopped raining in Texas, that is in
western Texas. This is being writ
ten from El Paso and the tempera
ture is near 100 degrees.
Just hope that some rain has
fallen in Hoke County.
? * *
Now to get on with our trip west:
We left Natchez. Miss, on Saturday
morning and came to Vicksburg.
The rest area is just before you
cross the Mississippi River and as it
is on a hill you have a wonderful
view of the river. Many boats with
barges were on the river. It was not
at flood stage like you read about
the rivers further west.
After sightseeing on the river
banks, we crossed the river and
headed for Gilmer. Texas. My
brother. Spec, lives in Gilmer, so
besides the visit with the Texas
Morrises, it was also free lodging
and good food.
Early Sunday morning we left for
San Antonio, Texas and stopped
for a visit at the home of the
Alamo. We toured the Alamo area
of the city late Sunday afternoon.
On Monday morning we parked
the car in a parking lot and took a
bus tour of several old Spanish
missions in and around San An
tonio.
The missions on the tour were
Mission Immaculate Concepcion,
which featured the oldest unre
(See AROUND, page II)
(
"We may have a pretty good
shot at getting those (Jobs Act)
funds," Martin said.
The project, which was ap
parently started some months ago,
is to upgrade the condition of the
Hoke Courthouse.
According to the Jobs applica
tion prepared by Martin, monies
will go towards repairing the roof
and windows along with masonry
work that apparently needs to be
done.
Other work includes extensive
painting and plaster repair of more
than $39,000 and improvements in
the mechanical, electrical and
plumbing systems at a cost of over
$80,000.
According to Martin, Hoke was
"further along" in the process
than most counties when the Jobs
grant became available.
"I think we may have some
good luck with this project," Mar
tin said.
In other action, the commis
sioners unanimously voted to en
dorse the addition of five new
housing units that may be made
available through the North
Carolina Commission on Indian
Affairs.
According to Martin, 30 addi
tional housing units will apparent
ly be available in North Carolina,
five of which may come to Hoke.
The units are privately owned
and leased to low income families
in the area.
According to Commissioner
James A. Hunt, these houses must
be kept in good condition and are
checked annually by the Depart
ment of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).
"It is a good thing for
everyone," Hunt said.
According to Martin, there are
already some 155 similar housing
units in the Hoke area.
In further business, the commis
sioners:
--Voted to forward a resolution
<m j mi w ?
n
to the North Carolina Department
of Transportation (DOT) asking
that Andrews and McLaughlin
roads be added to the state system.
--Decided to cancel their July 18
board meeting.
--Authorized the county
manager to approve the annual
certification of firemen if the fire
district board of directors failed to
do so.
-Voted to change the "tem
porary" designation of new posi
tions included in the budget to
meet benefit requirements.
?Agreed that all county ap
pointed boards present the minutes
of their meetings to the county
commissioners. Commission
members serving on those boards
will also report action back to the
full body as a result of the move.
-Approved a two year term for
tax supervisor Larry Holt that will
expire July 1, 1985.
-Appointed five members to the
Domiciliary Home Community
Advisory Committee.
. . ^ V
Play time
With school out and the sun encouraging youngsters to head for the outdoors, these kids hare apparently decid
ed to take advantage of the summer months. Play time at the area park means swinging, sliding or just monkey
ing around until the sun falls behind the clouds.
Bid Launched
To Save ROTC
By Sherry Matthews
Although program funds were
trimmed from the budget earlier,
members of the Hoke County
Board of Education voted Tuesday
night to make another bid to save
the ROTC program planned for
Hoke High School.
School board members will re
quest a joint session with the Hoke
County Commission to discuss a
"compromise" budget figure that
will provide funds for the ROTC
program.
At last week's budget session,
county commissioners cut the
school board's requested 17.2^0
increase to only 10^o which
eliminated the $20,000 earmarked
to start the ROTC program.
"1 think we should go back to
the county board and discuss a
2.3?7o increase over the approved
funds to allow for ROTC," board
member Bobby Wright said.
"That program is something we
need. 1 think it is worth our efforts
to try," Wright added.
ROTC was placed in the school
budget this year and drew "con
siderable" support from the com
munity and students.
"If the program is cut, we will
have to wait another three years
before becoming eligible again,"
board Chairman W.W. Cameron
Jr., said in an earlier interview.
"It is just very disappointing,"
Cameron added.
Since the plans for ROTC were
announced, more than 100 Hoke
High students have expressed an
interest in the program, school of
ficials have said.
The approved budget, which
provides the school system with
$961,650, is 7.2^o less than the
$1,024,799 that was originally re
quested.
"We were notified of the budget
cut and an increase in expen
ditures. We will have to work
against those figures," Superinten
dent Robert Nelson said.
"We spread the decreases over a
lot of different areas. Everyone
will feel the pinch, but it won't be
too painful," Nelson said.
At Tuesday night's meeting,
Nelson told board members that
the ROTC program was presenlly
deleted from the new budget.
"We did that in an attempt to
balance the budget that the com
missioners gave us to work with,"
Nelson said.
In order to add the ROTC pro
gram back into the budget, Nelson
said the commissioners would have
to allow for a 2.3% increase over
the already approved figure.
"There are ways to keep the pro
gram and appealing to the commis
sioners is our right," Nelson said.
"It does not, however, seem
reasonable to eliminate services we
are presently providing to add a
new service," Nelson added.
Board members voted
unanimously to go back to the
(See SCHOOL, page 11)
Commissioner Faces
Robeson Co. Charges
By Sherry Matthews
After stints in the Hoke and
Scotland county jails last week,
Hoke Commissioner James Albert
Hunt was taken into custody Mon
day on a third arrest warrant.
Under the third warrant, issued
in Robeson County, Hunt was ar
rested and placed under a S3, 500
secured bond.
The commissioner was taken in
to custody on Monday by Hoke
Sheriff's deputies, but was not
taken to the Robeson County Jail.
According to Hoke Sheriff's
records, Hunt paid the S3, 500
bond through his own bonding
agency.
Records show that the arrest
order was issued after Hunt failed
to appear in Robeson County
Court June 24 on worthless check
charges.
Hunt must now appear in
Robeson County District Court
July 13 for failing to appear earlier
in June, sheriff's records show .
In addition to the arrest war
rant, Hoke sheriff's reports show
that lour new criminal summonses
have been issued against Hunt in
Harnett and Robeson Counties for
worthless checks totaling
$2,354.67.
Harnett County Court records
show that there are three other
worthless check charges pending
against Hunt for over $500.
Hunt, who was in the Scotland
County Jail under a "no bond"
order, was released last Thursday
afternoon following an appearance
in district court on eight worthless
check charges.
Hunt apparently requested a
speedy trial to avoid spending
some three weeks behind bars.
Scotland County District Court
Judge Charles G. McLean gave
Hunt a six month suspended
sentence with two years probation
in each of the eight cases tried
Thursday.
In addition to the sentence,
Judge McLean ordered that Hunt
repay the checks as well as pay
court cost and eight $10 fines.
Hunt, who has served on the
county board for the past nine
years and is presently vice
chairman of the County Commis
sioners, has been plagued with
financial troubles since January
when he was first charged with
passing bad checks in Robeson and
Hoke counties for more than
$13,000.
The South Hoke Commissioner
attended Tuesday's regular county
commission meeting.
Crash Kills Raeford Man
B> Sherry Matthews
A Raeford man was killed instantly Monday night when the car
he was driving struck another vehicle on U.S. 401 about five miles
north of the city, State Trooper A.J. Beason said Tuesday.
George Maynor, of Rt. 1, Raeford, was killed after colliding
head-on with a tractor-trailer truck around 9:55 p.m. Monday
night.
The driver of the truck was uninjured, according to Beason.
This was the first traffic fatality of the year for Hoke County,
eight less than last year's total of nine deaths on area highways.
According to Beason, who witnessed the accident, Maynor was
headed north on Highway 401 when he was spotted "swerving"
across the lane.
Beason says he turned around to follow Maynor's car and saw it
swerve across the center line and hit an "oncoming" vehicle head
on.
"Maynor was killed instantly," Beason said, adding that it was
raining lightly at the time of the accident.
Blood alcohol tests have been sent to the State Bureau of In
vestigation (SB1) lab in Raleigh, but no results had been returned by
Tuesday, Beason said.
Maynor was a former 15-year employee of Hoke Auto Company
of Raeford.
a
v