Editorials
Housing Authority
could be salvation
Hoke County residents have a good many things to be thankful
for, and one of them is the Raeford Housing Authority.
Although those who oppose publicly subsidized housing in this
community may blame the group for the recent deluge of apart
ments flooding the Raeford market, the housing authority has had
little to do with the cause of the boom in government-backcd units
here.
In fact, the housing authority has been somewhat of a thorn in
the side of the developers who are taking advantage of good invest
ment opportunities available in Hoke County.
It is true that authority members have seen a need here and have
encouraged the development of additional housing in this county.
The group has also worked with developers to make sure the pro
jects had the basic necessities of adequate sewer, water and zoning.
However, in a unique move, the authority has compelled the
developers to give up the management of the new units and has ob
tained the right to oversee the operation of the apartments on a
local level.
For some, public housing may be repugnant, but like it or not, in
Hoke County it is a fact of life.
It was not the Raeford Housing Authority that drew developers
to Hoke County; it was the smell of money.
According to the North Carolina housing coordinator for the
Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), towns and cities with
populations of less than 20,000 have been targeted in every state for
publicly funded housing.
In addition to having a need, a community must have adequate
water, sewer and zoning.
Raeford meets the utility and zoning requirements, and prior to
the recent development boom, the only subsidized new housing in
the county was Countryside Apartments.
Currently in Hoke County there are 96 new units, either recently
completed or under construction. Census data updated in July
shows that after the new apartments are Filled, there will still be 542
local families living in inadequate housing, a spokesman for the
federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
said.
Inadequately housed families are those who are paying more than
30% of their income for rent, do not have indoor plumbing or are
living in overcrowded dwellings, HUD ofFicials say.
If additional housing were provided, HUD estimates that 90
families would move out of the inadequate units into new dwellings.
Also, when new apartments opened for occupancy this year in
Raeford, more than 200 qualified applicants signed up for the 30
units.
What all this means is that Raeford and Hoke County have not
seen the end of the subsidized apartment building boom.
As long as the "need" exists in Hoke County, developers who
qualify, can apply to HUD or FmHA and will probably have a shot
at getting funding assistance for more units.
FmHA and HUD do have safeguards for insuring that developers |
choose tenants carefully and that the units are maintained, but on
site inspections to verify the condition of the projects are probably
conducted only about once a year, agency spokesmen say.
The Raeford Housing Authority deals with the units and their
problems on a daily basis. Unlike the developers of the projects,
authority members live in the community and can respond im
mediately to complaints or questions from other residents.
There is no profit motive for the authority and members serve
without pay. |
County residents should be thankful for the Raeford Housing
Authority because they are the only group associated with the hous
ing boom here whose concerns are entirely for the good of the com
munity.
The authority has no other reason to exist.
Eviher X m\SSed a
holiday or "these
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are. up ^ut>V a b\Y
No pay backed for workers
taking federal holiday off
By Cliff Blue
FEDERAL DEBT. ..Recently,
we advocated that in setting aside
federal holidays, only people who
worked on that day be paid.
It would be all right to pay the
people if Uncle Sam had the
money, but frankly speaking, he
does not have the money, and is
one trillion, 389 billion in debt!
We are not speaking of just the
King holiday, but all holidays
which are paid for.
Any considerate person thinking
of the great debt that Uncle Sam
has obligated the nation to pay
should be glad to forego pay on a
holiday on which he or she does
not work!
This is the reason we felt that the
Martin Luther King holiday should
be without pay, unless the person
worked on that day.
Senator Helms 'toas advocated
the idea that no federal employee
be paid for a holiday unless he or
she works on that day, and it will
be necessary for a number of
federal employees to work on
holidays. We would feel that the
number needed to work will be less
than 10%. We hope that Senator
Helms and others will push the
idea, and also a balanced budget.
This will be a constructive move in
the right direction.
FALL OF THE YEAR. ..Here in
Carolina this is the most beautiful
time of the year for all of us who
like fall colors, invigorating air
and nostalgia. Whether one lives in
the west among the picturesque
People & Issues
mountains, the piedmont or in the
east it's a time of the year to ap
preciate and enjoy the beauty and
wonder of nature.
Just the knowledge that the days
are growing shorter, that fire wood
or fuel for heating needs con
sideration, that warm clothing is
soon to be needed, and that foot
ball, hunting and cold-weather
dishes are here, gives fall a certain
nostalgia.
Who can smell the first burning
leaves, or watch the children on
their way to school again, or hear
the school football band, or feel
and see the first cold rainy spell of
autumn and not get the mood or
memory message?
BQB WINDSOR.r.3>Ton Gup
ton, editor of the UNC Journalist
of Chapel Hill featured "Bob
Windsor: the man and his
newspaper," in a recent issue.
Bob Windsor established the
Landmark in June, 1982, since
which time he has gained
subscribers in the 100 North
Carolina counties and the 49 other
states.
Windsor, who dresses in bib
overalls, covers meetings of his lik
ing, is a champion of Lt. Governor
Jimmy Green, and sometimes
works all night to get his paper
out. His shop is located between a
liquor store and a massage parlor
on Hwy. 15-501 a few miles south
of Chapel Hill. He was an en
thusiastic supporter of Lt. Gov.
Jimmy Green in the days before his
trial.
We quote from the Gupton arti
cle in the Spotlight: 4
"Because he works very long
hours, often starting early in the
morning and working throughout
the night, Windsor has equipped
his offices with a bed, a television
set, a stereo and a makeshift kit
chen. He wears his pajamas when
he's working late. 'This is a satisfy
ing thing. I work hard and love
every minute, I wouldn't want to
do anything else, he says.' "
The News-Journal
ME3I
Published Every Thursday b>
Dickson Piw, Inc., Paul Dickson. Pres.
119 W. EJwood Avenue, P.O. Box 550
Raeford. N.C. 1*376
SabKriplloii Rale* In Advance I
In Coaaty Per Year? $10.00
6 Months ? S5.00
Oul of Coaaly Per Year? $12.00
6 Months ? $6.00
LOUIS H. FOCLEMAN. JR Publisher
WARREN N.JOHNSTON Editor
HENRY L. BLUE .... Production Supervisor
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
SAM C.MORRIS Contributing Editor
ANN WEBB Advertising Represeatallve
2nd Qui Postage at Raeford, N.C. ]
(USPS MS- 260)
Letters T o The Editor
Charity bazaar
was successful
To the Editor:
The Hoke/Raeford Humane
Society had a very successful two
days at the recent charity bazaar at
the Cross Creek Mall in Fayet
teville. We made over S350 from
the items which were donated to us
to sell.
Even more importantly we had
the opportunity to speak to a lot of
people and help them with their
questions concerning their pets.
We passed out a lot of educational
literature which will hopefully
educate people on the proper and
humane care of their pets.
We would like to thank everyone
who came out to the mall and
helped us sell our goods and we
would like to extend a big thanks
to everyone who made something
for us to sell.
The donated items were
beautiful and we had no trouble 'fc
selling them. Of course, it would
be impossible to sell everything
that we had so we did have some
items left over.
We will be selling these along
with a lot of baked breads and
cakes and cookies, etc. at our up
coming Craft and Bake Sale. These
goods will be available for sale just
in time for Christmas so we hope
(Continued on page 3B) ft
Changing Atlanta
is far from boring
By Warren Johnston
There's somebody in Atlanta who keeps moving things around.
Each time my wife and I go back for a visit, something else has
been moved.
I think they do it just so nobody gets bored with living in the same
place, but the constant reshuffling is a little disconcerting when you
only drop in every year-and-a-half.
"Didn't we eat lunch at a neat little cafe over there last
summer?" my wife asked, pointing towards a multi-story boutique
specializing in men's foundation garments.
Things move so rapidly in Atlanta that it is hard to tell exactly
who the movers are.
Someone suggested the powerful Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
could be behind it. They are always talking about moving Atlanta
"forward and upwards." However, we asked some local residents
during a recent visit, and they were reluctant to point a finger.
"Who's moving everything around?" we asked an Atlantan.
"We're not sure. Somebody just comes around every so often to
redo things. They're sort of exterior decorators," the Atlantan said.
"Sometimes we wake up in the morning, and it's a different place
than it was when we went to bed," another Atlantan added.
Ten years ago when I lived in Atlanta, I began to smell a few
changes in the wind.
The first tip came as I was sitting on the front porch of our old
family home. It was a beautiful fall day, and when They showed up,
/?
The Puppy Papers
I had been resting in a porch rocker after an exhausting morning of
watching pecans ripen.
"We're going to make a few changes in your lovely uncluttered
neighborhood. It won't take long, and when we get through, you
won't recognize the place," They said.
The next morning when I woke up, They had torn down about
half of our old family house.
From then on things moved fairlv rapidly, and now I hardly
recognize anything.
For example, where we used to raise cows and chickens, there is a
28-story office building. There are also a bunch of shops scattered
over what was our back yard.
The old branch that we dammed up to build the neighborhood
swimming pool has become an underground stream running
through a culvert. That memorable spot back in the woods, where
Johnny Albert clobbered Little Ralph in the head with a mud clog
and sent him home screaming, is buried beneath yards of fill dirt
and covered with an asphalt parking lot.
That's not all. Around the corner where Little Ralph lived,
They've moved the street and built condominiums.
"This is disgusting. I've lived here most of my life, and I don't
recognize a thing," I said to my wife as we wandered aimlessly look
ing for something familiar.
"Don't try that old shortcut down Little Ralph's street again,
she said, noting that the last time, 1 almost drove into someone's liv
ing room.
Although new Atlanta gets a face-lift about every six months,
there are still a few vestiges of old Atlanta lingering around.
There's the traffic. It hasn't gotten any worse or better in the last
20 years. It is easy to recognize the Northeast "Expressway." It is
still the largest parking lot in the world.
"I've spent many good days on this road," I said nostalgically,
after we entered our third hour and the second mile.
The tall and aged trees have also remained unaltered by the
change in Atlanta. ^
In front of a new 40-story hotel in Buckhead is the same oak tree
that used to stand in front of Freddy the Frog's house.
Freddy wouldn't recognize his old home place, but he would
remember sitting in that tree taking pot shots at passing buses with
his B-B gun. The Frog, who was six at the time, got thrown in the
slammer after he hit a police car. He blamed it on the tree.
"You know. All it takes is a weekend in Atlanta to make you
really appreciate small town living," my wife said on the drive back
to Raeford.
When we arrived home, it was comforting to see that They hadn't^
found Raeford, and that we could still recognize Main Street. ^