Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Jan. 5, 1984, edition 1 / Page 10
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Toxic waste sites This transformer dumping site was one of three areas in the Ashley Heights section of the county found to contain PCH residue and toxic levels of lead. State and local health officials worked with a Cioldsboro businessman, who udmitted using the sites for dismantling butteries and electric transformers . to dean the areas. Hy the end of the year the sites were declared clear of debris, but further testing is schedul ed for later in January. Remains The remains of the Cessna ISO airplane that crashed one mile from the Raeford Airport in June. This pic ture is identical to one that was apparently stolen from the Hoke Rescue Squad Building in December, which added further mystery to this already bizarre story. Rolling toward a winning season The Hoke High Hacks ' hirsity hoot hull team started on a uphill roll, slumped during the middle of the season hut gained control in the end to finish the season with a 5-5 record. The record gave the Hocks their first winning season since IV7N. Drugs, Murder, Weather Make '83 News (Continued from page 1) Burnette was charged with the February 8 slaying. The first armed robbery of the year was also recorded in February, after two men held up the Dixie One Stop on state Highway 211. March Tragedy struck a Hoke County family early in March after fire erupted in a mobile home killing five-year-old Saundnate McDougald. She was the only fire related death of the year. The Hoke High Bucks' basket ball team capped a good season by capturing the Southeastern 4-A Conference Tourney title with wins over Reid Ross, 55-53 and Terry Sanford, 77-50. During March, three county men were charged with the Dixie One Stop armed robbery, as well as one at Jack Tucker's store. Members of a county commis sion appointed dog pound commit tee recommended the construction of an animal shelter on a 2.5 acre North Main Street site. It was decided later in the year to build the facility at the city-county land fill. However, by the end of the year construction still had not started. Two Raeford National Guard unit sergeants, who resigned in February, were given three-yea? suspended sentences after pleading guilty to charges of misap propriating funds. Suspended sentences were also handed down for 10 Wilkes Coun ty residents who plead guilty to lesser charges stemming from a 1982 bust of a Hoke County mari juana field. In March, Raz Autry served his last day on the job before retiring as school superintendent, and a proposal surfaced that the state's last tuberculosis treatment facility at McCain Hospital be converted to a prison care unit. Two more county men were charged with the armed robbery of Davis Cash Mart. The month ended in a flurry as six inches of snow fell on March 31. April The Franzen Bros. Circus delighted audiences of more than 2,000, and the Kiwanis Club spon sored event raised about $1 ,900 for the Hoke County Children's Center. Lines for food siamps grew dur ing the month, as over 1 ,300 coun ty residents found themselves mired in new federal regulations. Also during April, Nelson was chosen as the best of 43 applicants who applied for the superinten dent's post, and members of the Lumbee co-op board rejected a se cond recall petition offered by the action group. Weather took its toll on the county's farming industry, delay ing spring planting and wiping out the peach crop. May A legislative budget committee voted in early April to convert Mc Cain Hospital to a prison unit. The hospital would be ready for oc cupancy by the new patients in December and the staff of the facility would be increased from 176 to 215. Those leaving McCain would be given jobs elsewhere or allowed to retire with full benefits. Members of the city council voted to accept the recommenda tions of a Blue Ribbon study com mittee on future airport opera tions. Most of the suggestions were still unacted on by the end of 1983. At the annual Chamber of Com merce dinner, Faberge announced its intention to add a $2 million ex pansion and to create 50 to 100 new jobs. State and local officials began a probe of three Ashley Heights sites suspected of being dumping areas for toxic waste. May was also marred by the county's first traffic fatality. A 42-year-old county man was killed in a one-car accident. June A bid in early June was made by members of the school board to get $20,000 appropriated by the coun ty to fund a ROTC program at Hoke High. After several heated meetings, the county commissioners and the board of education members worked out their differences and funds were provided for the pro gram. United Carolina Bank began foreclosure proceedings against three tracks of land owned by Commissioner Hunt, as his finan cial woes continued to plague him in June. During the month, the commissioner was arrested and jailed twice in Scotland County on bad check charges. Associate School Superinten dent John McAllister retired in June, and the United Way Cam paign exceeded its goal of $23,631. Federal Aviation Authority of ficials were apparently confused by the mysterious crash of a small plane just short of a runway at the Raeford Airport. Photos taken of the crashed plane were later stolen during a break-in at the Hoke County Rescue Squad headquarters. Members of the county commis sion gave all employees a 7?7o raise as they approved the annual budget in June. Despite increases, taxes were not raised. July A Raeford man became the county's second traffic fatality of the year, after the car he was driv ing ran head-on into a tractor trailer truck. George Maynor ap parently died at the scene of the crash on U.S. Highway 401 five miles from Raeford. Commissioner Hunt continued to make the news in July as he received nine suspended sentences for bad checks and was directed to seek psychiatric help by District Court Judge Joseph Dupree. The county also recorded its fourth armed robbery after the Pantry on E. Central Avenue was held up in Raeford. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) agent Andrew Dove received a two-year suspended sentence in Superior Court on charges that he mishandled evidence in some Hoke County marijuana cases. As temperatures rose over the 106? mark in July, the county recorded its second murder of the year. Seventy-two-year-old James Harris was arrested and charged with shooting and killing an Ashley Heights neighbor. Two Hoke residents were in dicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly falsely swearing on a CETA job application. One of those charged would later plead guilty, and the other was found in nocent in the FBI's Robeson County probe. Huffman's Grocery became the fifth victim of armed robbery in the county during July. The Mill Prong house received a $23,000 grant from the state legislature for restoration. A similar bid from the county to gain state funds to restore the county courthouse fell abort. August During the month. Judge Dupree went a step further and ordered Commissioner Hunt to resign from office or face jail for writing worthless checks. Hunt ap pealed and had the verdict over turned in October. A group of county business, civic and political leaders met for breakfast to discuss the need for a motel, community college, direct telephone service to Fayetteville, downtown revitalization and in dustrial development. The August meeting was the last public state ment made by the Progressive Ac tion Committee during 1983. Two separate accidents claimed the lives of two Raeford residents, as the county recorded its third and fourth traffic fatality of the vear. A Goldsboro businessman began cleaning up three dump sites in the Ashley Heights area which were found to contain dangerous levels of lead and medium levels of PCB. Members of the county commis sion also approved the raising of sales tax here by one-half cent. A portion of the money will go to im prove the physical condition of the schools. Three mobile homes burned in separate incidents on August 25, as temperatures soared over 1 10?. September After 17 years on the bench, Judge Dupree announced that he would retire December 1. After a strong lobbying effort by local and state leaders, Raeford attorney Warren Pate would get the nod from Gov. Jim Hunt to replace Dupree. The appointment would not come until December. Two Hoke men were arrested and charged with the armed rob bies of Huffman's Grocery and the Pantry. County commissioners decided to go into the ambulance business, taking the operation away from sub-contractor Jim Henley. The cost of operating the services was estimated to be $200,000. Approval was also given to the use of the landfill as a site for the dog pound. The commissioners later voted to OK a structure which would run about $45,000 to con struct. City and county officials also agreed to get their heads together to operate the Raeford Airport. It was agreed to establish a commis sion to run the facility, but no members were officially appointed by the end of the year. During September, McCain Hospital closed its doors as the last tuberculosis sanitorium in the state. Associate Superintendent Dr. Ginny B. Hayes was hired from Alamance County during the month. October The Lumbee Co-op Action Group made a last ditch effort to unseat the utilities board of direc tors, but was overwhelmed at the annual meeting in October. Three of four directors were re-elected and all of the Action Group's can didates failed to reach the board. Commissioner Hunt began pay ing off bad checks during the month. Members of the county commis sion voted to require all depart ment heads making over $15,000 to live in the county. The move af fects county finance officer Larry Holt and health department Direc tor Lloyd Home. A Moore County man died in the county jail while being held on a driving while impaired charge. He was the first inmate in recent memory to die in the facility. November Members of the Raeford Kiwanis Club, the Jaycees and others worked together to raise over $2,000 from a Halloween Carnival for the children in the Trainable Multiple Handicapped classes. Victoria Burnette was sentenced to seven years in jail for the February slaying of her stepfather after a week-long trial filled with testimony of the deceased's sordid sex life. A committee of 21 members was appointed to survey the condition of the schools and make recom mendations for improvements. Also during November, former Mayor G.B. Rowland died at 93. Voters went to the polls in November and returned all five in cumbent members of the Raeford City Council to office. Mayor John K. McNeill was also re elected after running unopposed. Raeford Manager Ron Mat thews announced his intentions during November to take* ppst in Elizabeth City. Matthews had been with the city for five and a half years. A rash of Hoke citizens were ar rested during November and in carcerated to raise money for the Cancer Society. Over $7,000 was raised by the Jail-A-Thon drive. The National Guard Armory was also dedicated during the month and local American Legion members sponsored the first an nual Hoke Veterans Day Parade. City and county officials receiv ed the word in November that bids for state and federal community development funds had failed. The city had hoped to use the money to improve a municipal neighbor hood, while Hoke County wanted funds for a water project and two parks. December Local, state and federal authorities got together to start December off with the bust of an airplane loaded with $750,000 in marijuana. By the end of the year, no arrests had been made. Raeford store-owner Danny Morrison was gunned down in his store just before Christmas. Mor rison was shot four times, and no arrests were made in 1983. The Hoke Reading and Literacy Council was saved from going out of business by a county increase in the group's budget. State health officials announced in early December that dirt had been removed from toxic waste sites in Ashley Heights and the dumps appeared to be clean. County poultry farmers and turkey processors were eyeing an Avian Flu virus which was killing millions of chickens in other states. Thus far the virus has not ap peared in North Carolina. A Fayetteville man was arrested and charged with the armed rob bery of the Safeway Finance Com pany in Raeford. Also in the news in December, a Raeford funeral director was ar rested and charged with six counts of writing insurance policies without a license. Two airplanes at the Raeford airport were apparently sabotaged. Owner Gene Paul Thacker found sugar in gasoline tanks and pennies in the oil reservoirs of the planes. Weather continued to be the dominant story during December as temperatures dropped to a low of 4* during the Christmas weekend and 12* just before New Year's Eve.
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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Jan. 5, 1984, edition 1
10
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