TKe News-Journal
The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
Volume LXXV Number 43 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA $10 PER YEAR 25 CENTS Thursday, February 16, 1984
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Dousing the flames
These members of the Puppy Creek Fire Depart
ment clear away debris and douse the remaining
flames which destroyed this Hoke County mobile
home on Friday, and took the life of a three-vear
old who was trapped in the blaze.
Child Dies In Trailer Blaze
By Sherry Matthews
Fire that swept through a mobile
home around 8:45 Friday morning
claimed the life of a Hoice County
youth and destroyed the dwelling.
Coniel McDuffie, three, who
was apparently trapped in the blaze,
died from smoke inhalation,
sheriff's reports show.
The child's mother, Angela
McDuffie. escaped the dwelling,
which was located in Carolina
Country Estates, but was ap
parently unable to rescue the sleep
ing youth.
The blaze, apparently started
when a "kerosene heater" sitting in
the hallway exploded.
Puppy Creek volunteer firemen,
who were assisted by firefighters
from Hillcrest. foueht the blaze
for nearly an hour while rescue
workers attempted to free the trap
ped child, reports show.
The child was found "lying in
the front bedroom. ..face up" and
apparently still alive, reports show.
Hoke Rescue Squad members
and Hoke Emergency Medical Ser
vices (EMS) workers helped pull
the youth from the trailer.
EMS workers transported the
child to Cape Fear Valley Hospital
in Fayetteville.
The child apparently died,
around 9:15 a.m., in route to the
hospital.
Although details were unclear at
press time, sources at the scene say
some confusion occurred in the
way firefighters and emergency
personnel were dispatched to the
scene.
One source said, EMS person
nel, who played a key role in get
ting the child out of the burning
building, were not dispatched by
the Hoke Sheriff's Department,
and there was also confusion over
fire fighting backup equipment
needed.
Members of the Hoke County
Commission denied a request last
week from Hoke EMS Director
Bill Niven to establish a central
dispatcher for emergency services.
Reward Offered For Slaying Info
North Carolina Gov. James B.
Hunt Jr. is offering a $5,000
reward for any information
leading to the arrest and conviction
of a person or persons involved
with the December slaying of Rae
ford businessman Daniel Morri
son.
Anyone who has information
about the December 22 murder at
Morrison's Grocery on Harris
Avenue should contact the
Raeford Police, Detective James
Murdock said Monday.
"We asked for the reward, and
we got it. I just hope it helps,"
Police Chief Leonard Wiggins
said.
Around Town
By Sam Morris
What a difference a week has
made in the weather. As this col
umn was being written last week,
snow was on the ground. Now on
Monday, February 13th it looks
like rain, but the temperature is in
the 70s. Maybe spring will come
early this year, even if the ground- ?
hog did see his shadow.
The snow didn't hang around
very long in Raeford last week, but
it was still around in Wake, Lee,
Vance and Franklin counties last
Thursday, I went up to Henderson
last Thursday and they still had
about four inches of snow on the
ground. The highways were in ex
cellent condition and driving was
the same as always. Bfy the time I
returned, the sun had melted a lot
of the snow during the day. The
weather this weekend must have
cleared it all away.
The forecast is for the
temperatures to remain above 60
^ (See AROUND, page 4A)
Although both state and local
authorities remain mum about any
leads they may have uncovered in
the investigation, local police have
placed witnesses at the crime scene
"just a few minutes" before the
shooting apparently occurred.
"We have some leads but
nothing concrete," State Bureau
of Investigation (SBI) senior agent
Frank Johnson said. %
"We have got it down to be
tween three and five minutes before
the shooting," Wiggins said.
"There is still a little blank spot
we have got to fill," he added.
"We are still working very hard
on this case," Johnson said.
Inside Today
These Hoke students are par
ticipating in a school store ac
tivity sponsored by the
Distributive Education classes
at the high school. We take a
look at the distributive educa
tion classes and the general
vocational education program
at Hoke High during Voca
tional Education Week in this
week 'i B-section of The News
Journal.
The slaying, which look placc
nearly two months ago, is still a
"top priority" with both Wiggins
and Johnson.
"I still believe that we will get a
break in this case," Wiggins said
earlier.
The body of the 54-year-old
Morrison was found around 9:35
p.m. by a customer. He apparently
died from multiple gunshot
wounds.
Police are still investigating rob
bery as a possible motive for the
slaying although nothing had been
reported missing from the store.
"We are checking every possible
motive," Johnson said.
In 107 Years
Decision On College
Could Come By March
A decision on the feasibility of a
satellite college in Hoke County is
expected to be made within the
next three weeks. Sandhills Com
munity College President Dr. Ray
mond A. Stone said Friday.
Stone, who was in Raeford Fri
day with other Sandhills officials
to tour a possible site for the Hoke
County branch, said a decision on
whether or not to go foward with
the school would be reached at the
beginning of March.
"We're looking at this seriously.
We're going to try to make it fly,"
Stone said about the Hoke County
satellite.
The Sandhills president, along
with Sandhills Board of Trustees
Chairman Ed Causey, Assistant to
the President George Lewis and
three local representatives, toured
the downtown branch of the
United Carolina Bank (UCB) Fri
day.
UCB is slated to close the facility
in March and has offered the
historic 72-year-old building as a
gift to Hoke County for use as a
college satellite.
Sandhills board members will
decide on the Hoke plan during a
regular meeting around the first of
March, Stone said, adding that he
expects the board to approve the
satellite.
Before giving the OK to the
UCB site Sandhills officials are
checking to see if the three-story
building complies with state fire
and safety codes.
In addition, Sandhills needs
reassurance from county officials
that they will accept the financial
responsibility of a college branch
in Hoke County,
The initial "start-up" burden of
the school would fall on the coun
ty. However, Chamber of Com
merce Director Earl Fowler said he
is working on a plan which would
limit the expenses placed on Hoke
taxpayers.
Fowler, who is spearheading the
drive to get the satellite branch in
Hoke, said he believes the costs of
renovating the UCB building and
bringing it up to Sandhills stan
dards can be handled from private
sources.
Although he was reluctant to
discuss it. Stone also said there was
a "slight" possibility of state
funds being provided for the Hoke
satellite.
"We need to work with the local
legislators on that," the Sandhills
president said.
Sandhills is planning an expan
sion of its Moore County campus.
The shifting of Hoke students to a
Raeford facility would ease the
burden on the Southern Pines
school, and some state funds might
be available for the satellite, Stone
said.
About 800 Hoke County
residents attend fulltime classes on
the Moore County campus.
Another 1,200 local students at
tend Sandhills extension classes, or
take courses at either Fayetteville
Technical Institute or Robeson
Tech, Fowler said.
In preparation for the school.
Sandhills officials plan to survey
students in the Hoke High
graduating class, members of the
industrial workforce here and the
county's general population to
determine the type of courses
which should be taught at a
satellite facility.
Following the tour of the UCB
building, Stone said he believed the
structure would work well for the
school's needs.
The second and third floors of
the building are divided into small
rooms which could easily be com
bined for classrooms, Lewis said.
A large third floor ballroom,
which once was the meeting room
for the Woodmen of the World,
could easily be used by the school,
the assistant to the president said.
The UCB building contains ap
proximately 12,000 to 13,000
square feet.
Parking for the school would be
available on a lot owned by UCB
behind the building and on a
county-owned lot near Candlestick
Crafts on Elwood Avenue.
"What we need in downtown
Raeford is a parking problem,"
Fowler said.
Payback Method Changes
For Sandhills Mental Health
By Sherry Matthews
The stale Department of Human
Resourses (DHR) has agreed to a
new "payback schedule"
presented to them by the Sandhills
Mental Health Center for over
S200.000 in state funds that were
allegedly "misappropriated"last
year, Sandhills Director Michael
Watson said Monday.
The schedule calls for SI 14,500
to be paid back from this year's
state allocations with the re
mainder being reimbursed to the
state in July, 1985.
"The state has agreed to deduct
the first $114,500 from the money
they will allocate us this year,"
Watson said
With the money being deducted
from state funds allotted to the
center, no local tax dollars will be
used to pay off the mishandled
state tax fund.
"The proposal has its advan
tages," Watson said.
According to the director, all the
money allocated by the state
"must be matched" with local
funds.
"With the state reducing our
allocation, it reduces the amount
of local dollars we will have to use
this year," Watson said.
"If we fall short in local
revenues this year, our agreement
with the state will be helpful," he
added.
Despite the payback agreement
and a earlier state audit that shows
funds were "mishandled," Wat
son said "no actual money had
been taken out of the center."
"There has never been any
money missing," Watson said.
"It was just misspent," he add
ed.
Raeford attorney Phil Diehl,
who served on the Sandhills
Board, agrees.
"All the dollars were accounted
for in the audit," Diehl said.
"The funds were just spent
without any authority," he added.
"I think the state is making
them pay it back because they used
and transferred the monies within
the center without the proper
authority," Diehl said.
According to the Raeford
lawyer, the entire $1.1 million in
tax funds were "never missing"
just "mishandled."
The state audit, a "private
audit" by the center and a audit
prepared by the Raeford Pittard
and Perry Accounting firm showed
that there were "never any monies
missing," Diehl said.
According to the audit, $800,000
was used for land purchases by the
center.
"Those funds were not
misallocated," Watson said.
"We just transferred the land
back to the center. That took care
of the vast majority of the excep
tions the state found in the audit,"
a DHR spokesman said.
"We are satisfied with the
payback arrangements," DHR
spokesman Bryant Haskins said.
Once the state is assured that the
funds, which were misap
propriated, are returned to the
department, the investigation will
probably be over, he added.
"Right now it is hard to deter
mine if we will be in the financial
shape to pay the remaining money
back next July," Watson said.
"That is 15 months away," he
added.
"We are going to make every ef
fort to get it paid back so we can
(See NO PROBE, page 11 A)
There Has Been A Lot Of Living
Nearly a 100 years ago, Raeford
and Hoke County were a "lot dif
ferent" than they look today, ac
cording to 107-year-old Mary Jane
Waddell Bention.
Bention, who came to Hoke
County before Raeford was incor
porated, remembers dirt roads and
"lots of trees and farms" where >
the city stands today.
"Things were a lot different
back then," Bention said.
"There was a lot of religious
folks and down home farmers here
back then," she added.
Although Bention recalls
"tough times" in the Hoke area,
she said things were "really" easier
then than they are today.
"Kids today don't know what
work is," Bention said.
"When 1 was growing up, we
worked from sun up to sundown
for fifty cents," she added.
"That was a lot of money back
then," Bention "said.
"It was appreciated then. ..it
ain't now." she added.
Despite the "hard work" and
long hours, Bention recalls a "lot
of good times" in Hoke County.
"I used to love to fish," Bention
said.
"I remember going down to the
x river, when we didn't have to
work, and sit all day just fishing,"
she added.
"It was my favorite hobby,"
Bention said.
Although Bention admits she
"can't do any fishing now," she
said she passed that hobby down to
her daughters.
"They love it as much as I did,"
Bention said.
During her 107 years, Bention
has given birth to five children.
"All five were born at home,"
she said.
"I never needed a doctor for
that," Bention said.
(See THERE'S, page 2A)
? ? 1
Two generations together .
Mary Jane Wad dell Ben lion, 107, Is pictured here with one of her wawy
relatives, remembers the " way It used to be" when people "worked hard
for little money.