The News-Tournal
Established 1928 . ? - -
The Hoke County News - Established 1928
Volume LXXV Number 19 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
$10 PER YEAR
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
25 CENTS Thursday, September 1, 1983
Judge Dupree Calls It Quits
Retiring
Judge Joseph E. Dupree
Around Town
By Sam Morris
The weather has become almost
normal for this time of year and it
suits me fine. The hot days seem to
take something out of you and
^ staying in the house in air condi
tioning feels good, but 1 don't
believe it is good for anyone.
The rains came last week (Tues
day night) and it was welcomed by
everyone. We had over two inches
in Raeford and I believe most of
the state had some rain. It rained
Saturday afternoon in the Wayside
Community and they had rain at
Arabia on Sunday afternoon.
I was looking at television Satur
day afternoon and the weather
reports stated that the only rain on
the map was in Hoke County. It
wasn't in Raeford, but you could
hear the thunder as the cloud went
toward Fayetteville.
The forecast is for normal
temperatures for the remainder of
the week.
* ? ?
Don't forget that the school
buses Will be running today
(Thursday) and some of the
children will be on the highways
before it is good light. So be
careful and watch for them from
now until next summer.
? ? ?
I It was good to see Kathy
* McMillan Ray's name in the
headlines again. The daily papers
Monday carried a story of Kathy
breaking the long jump record in
Caracas, Venezuela at the Pan
American Games. This jump was
longer than the jump she made
when she won the silver medal at
the Olympics. Kathy won a gold
medal at Caracas.
I Kathy has always been a good
' will ambassader for Raeford and
Hoke County with her jumping
ability. It is good to see that she
was not mixed up in the drug scan
dal in which so many of the other
participants were involved.
Everything that she has done has
made the people of Hoke County
proud to see her name associated
with the county. Her parents
I brought her up to know the dif
ference between right and wrong
and it has paid off in her career.
Now on to Los Angeles and the
1984 Olympics where we hope the
gold medal will be won by Kathy.
If you had your television on last
weekend you couldn't help but see
) and hear about the marchers in
Washington. I don't believe the
founders of this march encouraged
some of the participants, but they
were there anyway.
This week, many leaders of the
march have commented that one
of the reasons for the march was
that they wanted work, not hand
outs. This is a good reason to
march and I hope the unemploy
ment will soon go down and all
? people will be back to work.
Monday will be Labor Day. It is
a day set aside to commemorate
workers on the jobs they have done
during the past year. We think the
day is a good one, even if personal
(See AROUND, page II)
Seeking job
Attorney Warren L. Pate
By Warren Johnston
Hoke County District Court
Judge Joseph E. Dupree will retire
from the bench December 1, The
News-Journal has learned.
A letter has been mailed to
North Carolina Governor Jim
Hunt and to other court officials
outlining the resignation, the judge
said Wednesday.
"I am resigning for purely per
sonal reasons," the 63-year-old
Dupree said, noting that he is look
ing forward to retirement.
Dupree has been Hoke County's
only representative on the bench in
the 12th Judicial District, which is
made up of Hoke and Cumberland
counties, since the District Court
was formed in 1966.
Dupree's retirement will leave
his seat up for grabs by a qualified
candidate from either Hoke or
Cumberland.
Raeford attorney Warren L.
Pate said this week that he is ac
tively seeking appointment from
Gov. Hunt to fill the remainder of
Dupree's unexpired term.
Pate, who serves as president of
the 12th Judicial Bar Association,
was unanimously endorsed for the
job this week by members of the
Hoke County Bar Association.
"1 believe that Hoke County
needs and deserves to have a
District Court judge, and 1 would
like to be that judge," Pate said.
Presently four of the five seats in
the 12th District are held by Fayet
teville residents. There are no re
quirements that a Hoke County
resident be on the court.
Since starting in practice in
Raeford in 1974, the 38-year-old
Pate has had a broad base of legal
experience which he believes would
qualify him for the judgeship.
In order to be named by the
Governor to fill the three-year
unexpired term, Pate must first be
one of two candidates nominated
by members of the 12th Judicial
Bar Assoication.
Storm damage in Dundarrach
Last Tuesday's relief from the humid temperatures brought heavy
winds to the Dundarrach area. Some believe a tornado touched down in
different areas of the community leaving trees down and roofs ripped
apart. This shelter, owned by the Dundarrach Trading Company ,
received some roof damage during the storm.
School Opens For Year Thurs
By Sherry Matthews
Although temperatures are still
hovering around the 90? mark,
summer is almost over, at least for
those who must load up their pen
cils and notebooks and head back
to school.
The Hoke County^ Schools are
no exception, opening their doors
to the eager and not so eager
students September 1. n
Although school does not of
ficially open until that date,
teachers have been on the job since
mid-August preparing for the com
ing year's activities.
Since August 9, teachers and ad
ministrators have been attending
workshops and county-wide
meetings geared to help the adults
provide a better learning at
mosphere for the students.
With school beginning this
week, buses will be traveling the
highways again and safety has
been emphasized by the ad
ministrative office.
Last year there was only one
school bus related accident in
Hoke County, and school officials
are hoping that even that error will
not be repeated.
The public should be aware that
buses are back on the road again,
Hoke County school spokesman
Woodrow Westall said.
"We would like to see an
accident-free year," Westall said.
The children's safety is our main
concern, Westall added.
Although the schools' doors will
officially open Thursday, students
can look forward to a Labor Day
vacation on Monday, September 5.
The calendar for the 1983-84
school year also shows other vaca
tion days coming up for students
who are not quite ready to study.
Here is this year's calendar:
--September 5-Labor Day holi
day.
-October 13--end of first six
weeks.
--October 20--report cards go
out.
-October 25--NCAE Meeting;
Vacation day in lieu of Veteran's
Day.
-November 1 1 -Parent-Teacher
conferences 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (no
school). .
-November 24-25--Thanksgiv
ing Holiday.
-November 30-end of second
six weeks.
--December 7--report cards go
out.
--December 19- January
I? Christmas-New Year \acation.
-January 25--end of third six
weeks.
Low Interest Loans Are Key
T o Downtown Revitalization
Editor's Note: This is the second
part of a three part series.
By Sherry Matthews
The cost of revitalizing the
downtown area of Raeford is a
major concern of both merchants
and property owners on the city's
Main Street, and now stands as a
roadblock in the way of the pro
ject.
"I am interested in doing all we
can to dress up the appearance of
our stores, but the prices are
unreasonable," Howell Drug
owner Tom Howell said.
"The element of expense involv
ed is probably too great for most
people downtown," Howell add
ed.
Other downtown property
owners agree with Howell.
"We need to revitalize all the
downtown property, but most
don't have the finances it will
take," J.H. Wright, who is part
owner of the Page Building, said.
"It's not that people don't want
to clean up downtown it's jusi that
we are talking about big dollars,"
Jimmy Wood, part owner of
Western Auto, said.
"I think some type of low in
terest money would spark interest
and get some things underway,"
Wood added.
Most merchants and property
owners seem to agree that low in
terest loans, which could be pro
vided by local banks in coordina
tion with the city and county
governments, would help get
things underway in the downtown
area.
Low interest loans will help
"cut the cost" of revitalizing a
downtown area, Clinton City
Manager Pete Connet said.
Clinton, Sampson County's
largest city, has been in the process
of "cleaning up" its downtown for
the last five years.
According to Connet, merchants
and. property owners "jointly"
petitioned the city council for a
special tax district that would bring
in extra dollars.
That money, some S25.000 a
year, has been helpful. Connet
said.
"We are also trying to establish
low interest loans for merchants,"
Connet said.
Getting banks to "pool" their
money and lend it to merchants at
lower interest rates is a good idea,
Connet said.
"1 think banks in the Clinton
area will be willing to do this,"
Connet added.
"It will help the merchants
which in turn will eventually
benefit everyone," Connet said.
"I think low interest money
(Sec LOW. page 1.1)
Although he has the backing of
the Hoke County members, Pate is
not assured of support from the
majority of the membership who
reside in Cumberland County.
The combined bar association
will meet before Dupree's retire
ment takes effect on December 1,
Pate said.
Prior to serving in his present
position, Dupree was the judge of
the Hoke County Recorder's
Court for two years, taking office
after the death of Judge Harry
Green.
Hoke and Cumberland were
(Sec DL'PRHE. page 13)
Jobless Rate
On Increase
With 30 more jobless residents
and an increased labor force, Hoke
County's unemployment rate rose
by .3% during July, making it the
second highest toll for the year.
During July, 1,010 people were
without jobs in the Hoke area with
a jobless rate of 12.0^o. ,
The highest rate for the year
came in January when the tally
rose to 15.4?7o with 1,260
unemployed residents.
January showed fewer residents
in the labor force and fewer jobs
while July figures, released this
week by the North Carolina
Employment Security Commis
sion, show that more people are in
the work force and fewer people
are without jobs.
July's figures were higher
than June's estimate of 11.7 ?7o
with 30 more unemployed
residents and 60 more people
within the labor force.
"I really don't know what has
caused the increase," Hoke's
Employment Security Commission
Manager Donnie Mann said.
"There have been no great
layoff's at any of the industries,"
Mann added.
Although Mann was unsure why
i Six UNEMPLOYMENT, page 12)
day
--January 27--workday (no
school)
-February 2-report cards go
out.
?March 9-end of fourth six
weeks.
-March 15-report cards go out.
-March 26-parent-teacher con
ference (no school). v
-April 20-end of fifth six
weeks.
-April 23-27-spring vacation
and holiday.
-May 4-report cards go out.
-June 8? last day for students
and end of sixth six weeks.
-June 11-15-teacher workdays.
No sign of life
On both ends of Main Street there are empty buildings n ailing to be filled.
The Raeford Auto Company, which dosed in January, still has not been
filled, "h e have got to get people in these empty stores, " Hoke Merchant
Association President h'.d Hasty said.