Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / April 5, 1984, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News-Journal The Hoke County News - Established 1928 The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 Volume LXXV Number 50 RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA $10 PER YEAR 25 CENTS Thursday, April 5, 1984 Twist of fate The mangled remains of a stained glass window that was smashed out of the First Presbyterian Church of Red Springs during last Wednesday's tornado. The church suffered heavy damage In the storm, leaving only a few windows and walls left standing. In the background, the remains of a Red Springs water tower can be seen. By Sherry Matthews Hoke County residents have pulled together over the last week to "do whatever they could" to help area neighbors recover from the disastrous tornadoes which hit North and South Carolina last Wednesday. Rescue squad members, am bMince,yrvice personnel, police, ^^tpurtfsTcity work crews, firemen, banks, local store owners, chur ches and neighbors banded together last week and most of this week to help ease the damage in curred by those who were hit by the storms. "Everyone has worked together over here to help out all those we could," a National Guard spokesman said. Canned goods, home-cooked meals, homemade soup, ice, clothes, personal articles and money donations from local residents have been "flooding" in to the Raeford Armory which was designated to take the contribu tions. "We have received an abun dance of donations. It was well ap preciated," the guardsman said. In addition to food and clothes donations, many locals con tributed hours of their time to help cut trees, erect poles, clean yards, clear streets, man food stations and prevent looting in areas where power had not yet been restored. Within an hour after the massive storm hit, rescue squad workers and Emergency Services personnel were on the road traveling through the state and into South Carolina rendering medical aid to the hun dreds injured or trapped. "We had two crews out during the storm and a third ready to roll Around Town By Sam Morris This spring weather for the past few days is all anyone could ask for at this time. The farmers were in the fields Monday and if it doesn't rain this week, they should catch up with the land breaking. According to the forecast, it seems the weather will remain warm, but we could have showers on Wednesday. *' * * Most times when we hear about and vV** scenes from tornadoes we will just fey how bad it is and then forget it. The tornado that came through tmi area last Wednesday night hasn'V been forgotten by anyone In HoVjCounty. Many of xir friends wef&yt with loss of property and mVtov othcT hard_ ihips. It was surprising Vae to hear V how many people from out-of state were hearing the news on Thursday morning. Many people have told me of kinfolks that call ed early Thursday morning inquir ing about their welfare during the storm. Of course we were thankful that our telephone lines were not down and that the folks that were worry ing were able to get the message of our safety at once. I imagine that many people tried to call Red Springs and couldn't get through because of the downed lines. Yes^ we have many things to be thankful for after last Wednesday night. * * * When we read the newspapers these days and read about all the (See AROUND TOWN, page 14) if they were needed," EMS employee J.C. Cook said. "Our first crew was initially sent to Laurinburg. From there we were called to Maxton," Cook said. EMS crews worked to free trap ped residents, transported the in jured and worked at medical relief stations until the early morning hours. "I could not believe what we saw when we arrived," he added. According to Cook and others, the streets in all the towns were dark and eerie and the roads that lead into the destructed areas were "almost impassable." "There was no power, people were walking around in a daze car rying flashlights while the injured were lying everywhere, waiting to be treated," Cook said. "This was the worst wide-spread (See VOLUNTEERS page II) Rehab funds sought for T ylertown area By Sherry Matthews About 74 homes and at least two streets in the Tylertown area are targeted to receive rehabilitation funds if members of the Hoke County Commission are successful in. obtaining a state-administered Community Block Grant. During a regular meeting Mon day, the commissioner's unanimously agreed to apply for over $726,000 in federal funds distributed by the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development (NRCD). A similar application for $540,000 from Hoke County was denied by the state funding agency last year. "The competition is tough, but I think you have a good chance for funding," Lumbee River Council of Governments (COG) spokesman Jim Perry said. "This is a good application," he added. The proposed activities included in the application calls for the rehabilitation of houses, clearance of houses, household relocation and street and drainage im provements, Perry said. "In that area there are at least 55 houses that need rehabilitation and three units that are beyond restora tion," he added. "Those three need to be demolished," Perry said. The housing rehabilitation and street repairs have been estimated to cost $638,083 with demolition cost running over $11,000. "The total application is asking for $726,133," Perry said. "It is a lot of money, but we believe it will be needed to do what we want to do in that area," he ad ded. "This is a real competitive ap plication process, and there is just so much money to go around," Perry said. "We have high hopes of scoring enough points this go round," he added. According to the COG represen tative, any application must meet all the state requirements to "even have a chance at getting funded." The target area needs to show that the rehabilitation will "clearly benefit" 80^o low and moderate income families, Perry said. "The application must show that there is real human need in the area. 1 think the Tylertown ap plication does that," he added. Approximately 15 Tylertown residents and five Shawtown residents were present at the public hearing, but no opposition to the application was voiced. Commissioners had discussed plans to apply for funds to benefit the Shawtown area. Work in that area would have benefitted approximately 43 families and would have dealt with housing rehabilitation plus sewer and street improvements. "The Tylertown application is more likely to get funded right now," Perry said. "If the county receives funding this year, maybe we can do the Shawtown area in our next ap plication," he added. "Once you establish a track record, things might run smoother," Perry said. Perry also told commissioners that if the county received more funding than was needed they could "expand" the targeted area. "We have to do everything we had planned for the target area first. If there is any money left over we can expand the area," Perry said. "That cannot be decided until after the county receives the grant," he added. County officials should know by mid to late June if their application was approved, Perry said. "If the application is funded, the money should come within 60 to 90 days," he added. In other business, commis sioners asked County Attorney Duncan McFadyen to "draw up" a joint airport commission resolu tion that allows for both city and county officials to "retain some control" over the running of the Raeford-Hoke Airport. Commissioners agreed that the resolution should give the govern ing bodies "some ultimate authori ty" over decisions made by the yet to be appointed authority. (See AIRPORT PLANS, page 11) renews pact with CP&L By Sherry Matthews Raeford officials agreed Tues day night to renew a 60-year fran chise agreement with Carolina Power and Light (CP&L). The pact will allow the utility to continue to have poles and run lines on city owned property. At a March meeting, councilmen had decided to slice the franchise agreement in half and asked for a review of the franchise by both parties every 10 years. "We met with three CP&L of ficials and their attorney last Wednesday," City Attorney Palmer Willcox said. "They had rather not have a franchise for less than 60 years," he added. "We took a look at the fran chise, and I don't see that it really amounts to that much," Willcox said. According to the city attorney, the agreement "does not" give the multi-state utility exclusive fran chise rights. "This does not say you can't go out tomorrow and let another power company in if the utilities commission approves it," Willcox said. "All we are really agreeing to do is to allow CP&L to keep their poles and lines on city property for the next 60 years," he added. 1 Minor damage This Hoke County barn suffered minor damage during last Wednes day's storms which swept through the area. Surveys of the county have shown that the barn was one of the hardest hit. Some residents lost power for several hours, cable television was interrupted and a few trees were damaged. Hoke County appears to have been lucky. "It really does not affect us that much," Willcox said. In addition, the city attorney told councilmen that CP&L of ficials would not agree to a clause in the franchise calling for a 10-year review by both parties. "They just did not like how it read," Willcox said. Although the clause was eliminated from the franchise agreement, Willcox told the coun cilmen that CP&L agreed to send a "separate agreement" calling for a "review that could be requested at any time." "They are not saying that they will change the agreement, they are just saying that they will review it," Willcox said. "Personally, I don't have any problems with the franchise. It satisfies what we wanted," he add ed. Councilmen unanimously ap proved the first reading of the franchise and are scheduled to ap prove the second reading at their May meeting. "Everyone else that has been ap proached approved a 60-year fran chise," Willcox said. In other business, city coun cilmen are gearing up for a second try to revamp a portion of the city by applying for $750,000 in Com Hoke schoo child abuse Hoke County Board of Educa tion members approved a measure Tuesday night which will allow school administrators to seek federal funds to help prevent child abuse. "We know that there is abuse in the county. I don't really think it is more than anywhere else, but it does exist," School Superinten dent Bob Nelson said. The proposed SI9,162 program is designed to prevent the problems with abuse rather than correct them, he added. "We have designed this pro posal as an intervention approach," Nelson said. Of the total monies applied for, $4,790 will come from the county in the form of "in-kind services." The "in-kind services" include office space, furniture, phones. munity Development Block Grant (CD) funds. Councilmen will hold a public hearing Thursday, April 12 at 7 p.m. to receive public suggestions on how the funds should be used. At present, the council has cited the Wooley Street area as a target site for the application. The city will be trying to garner 5750,000 in CD funds to improve housing, streets and drainage in the area. The application calls for 27 homes in the Wooley Street section to be rehabilitated and im provements to portions of Max well, Magnolia, Southern and Oak streets, consultant Skip Green said. "I think the application looks good," Green added. "We want to do this right," Raeford Mayor John K. McNeill said. The city applied for CD funds last year on a similiar project but failed to receive approval by the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Communi ty Development (NRCD). In last year's application, there were two areas that were not ac ceptable to the committee which oversees the distribution of the federal monies. (See CITY, page 12) Is seeking monies secretarial assistance, printing and mailing. No cash will be involved in the county's 25^o share of the fund ing, Nelson said. "We designed this proposal because it is an area where there is an opportunity to help protect the children and educate the parents," he added. The proposal was drawn by Nelson, Associate Superintendent Dr. Ginny Hayes, a school guidance counselor, a school prin cipal, the Hoke County Health Director and the Hoke County Social Service Director. "We had a lot of thinking going on with this effort," Nelson said. Under the approved proposal, 10 strategies will be used to prevent child abuse and neglect. (See SCHOOLS, page 14)
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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April 5, 1984, edition 1
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