The Hoke County News -
The News-Journal
Established 1928 ? TU- tl_l ? ^ ?
The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905
Volume LXXVl Number 22 RAKFORD, HOKK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA S10 PER YEAR Thu^y, Sep, ember 20. 19.4
"Bid for deputy pay hike put on hold
By Ed Miller
An effort to secure higher wages
for sheriffs deputies was tabled
until October by members of the
Hoke County Commission Mon
* day, after two motions to grant the
hikes failed to gain support.
Hoke County Sheriff Dave Barr
ington requested that money left
over from salaries earmarked for
new deputies be used to raise
salaries of present deputies.
"The money is already in this
year's budget," Barrington said.
Because of a selective process us
ed to screen deputies, it has taken
longer than expected to pick three
additions to his staff, the sherriff
said.
There was money allocated in
the budget for salaries beginning in
August, he added.
While the money may be in this
year's budget, the county will have
to come up with additional funds
next fiscal year if the deputies are
to keep their increases, Commis
sion Chairman John Balfour said.
Commissioner Wyatt Upchurch
asked the sheriff why he had not
brought the matter up at budget
time.
The commission met with Barr
ington in a session to discuss mat
ters in his department while work
ing on the budget in the spring.
During that meeting the sheriff
was asked if he would rather have
more men on his force or raises for
the ones he already has.
Barrington answered that he
would like to have the extra man
power, but he also requested a
lOVo raise for his staff.
Former County Manager James
Martin cut the number of re
quested new deputies from five to
three and the pay increase from
lOVo to 7.5%.
Barrington said that he has to
train a deputy only to have him
move to another county or another
job paying more money.
Two deputies have already left
this year and another is expected to
leave within the next month, Barr
ington said, adding that it takes
about $15,000 to train a new depu
ty.
Deputies in Hoke County are
also overworked for the amount of
pay they receive, said the sheriff.
"For every week any other
county employee works, my men
work two weeks," he said.
In 22 years, the sheriff's depart
ment has turned over 24 times,
Barrington said adding that a
detective in Hoke County can
move to another county nearby
like Cumberland or Moore and
make more money and work fewer
hours as a patrol officer.
There was no action taken after
the hour long discussion except to
table consideration of the matter
until the next meeting.
Ambulance bought
Acting on recommendation of
Hoke County Emergency Services
Director Bill Niven, the commis
sion voted to buy back a recently
wrecked ambulance from the in
surance company, which is pur
chasing the new one.
"The engine (of the wrecked
vehicle) is in perfect shape," Niven
(See WRECK, page 11)
Shades of March
Last Saturday, a tornado touched down In the Dun
darrach area throwing down trees and reaping
destruction. Here, Walter Malone helps saw T. W.
Jones ' truck out from under the tree that fell on the
vehicle. There were several large pecan trees down
in the yard. When one of them fell, it took a large
grape vine down with it. The truck sustained
damage to the windshield and hood. Jones' house
made it through the twister intact.
Pupil attendance bothers
county school officials
By Ed Miller
A steady increase of school
enrollment on each day of the first
nine days of this year could be
costing Hoke County state funds
and students a proper education,
members of the Board of Educa
tion were told last week.
According to approximate
figures from the first week and a
half of school, there were about 87
more children in school on the se
cond day of classes than on the
first, Superintendent Dr. Robert
Nelson said during a board
meeting Tuesday.
There were about another 76
new faces on day three and still
more on day four, the first day
after the Labor Day break, Nelson
said.
Nelson said that apparently,
many children are staying out of
school until after Labor Day and
missing valuable instruction time.
"Students need to be there for
180 days," Nelson said.
There is also concern from
Nelson that this county may not be
getting all the funding due it from
the state because the "average dai
ly membership" (ADM) is lowered
by children missing the first few
days of class.
After the fourth day of school,
the ADM was about 4,880
students, but on the ninth day,
almost 4,951 children reported to
Hoke County Schools, Nelson
said.
These figures were not official as
of Tuesday night, the superinten
dent said.
Wandering students
On another matter board
members also expressed concern
about unconfirmed reports of
Hoke County children going
across county lines to schools in
other counties.
In addition the elected officials
also noted a concern for several
county students who are attending
a county private school where
there is apparently only one
teacher, who is allegedly
uneducated.
"It is not that I mind Hoke
County children attending private
schools, but I am concerned that
these children are not getting the
type of education they need. There
is not one thing I can do about it,"
Nelson said.
The school was never called by
name during the meeting.
Members of the board could not
recommend any remedies for the
problems.
In other action, the board ac
cepted a bid to reroof four addi
tional county school buildings.
By doing the work on the addi
tional schools, about $200,000 will
have been spent from the roofing
fund set up by the county for
repairs this year, Finance Officer
Don Steed said.
The accepted bid, from Temple
Construction Company for
$69,934, was the lowest of three
received by Steed.
Because of careful shopping and
low bids from contractors, the
overall plan to repair all bad roofs
in the school system, due to be
completed in 1987, is about a half
a year ahead of schedule. Nelson
said.
The construction should begin
sometime this week on ine roofs at
Hoke High and McLauchlin
schools, Steed said.
State help sought
In administrative action, the
Hoke school board has promised
$1,000 to the State Board of
Education for the building of a
new facility to house that group.
The board plans to raise the
money by asking for corporate
contributions, Board Chairman
Bill Cameron said.
If they cannot raise it that way,
(See SCHOOL, page 11)
Airport taxiway grading creating a problem
By Ed Miller
Taxiway grading at the Raeford
Hoke Airport is apparently not be
ing done properly, and a meeting is
being scheduled between members
of the Airport Commission, City
I Manager Tom Phillips and City
Engineer Bill Sellars to correct the
problems.
The decision to ask for the
meeting was made at the regular
session of the airport authority last
Thursday night.
During a past meeting of the
? Around Town
By Sam Morris
The weather Monday made one
think of October days in the fall of
the year. The low was down in the
50s and the high for the day was
near 70. The wind was blowing and
. a sweater or jacket felt good in the
* morning hours. The forecast is for
it to remain cooler for a few days.
? * ?
Hurricane Diana, after keeping
everyone on their toes, finally hit
land early Thursday morning with
winds of about 113 mph and left
about 17 inches of rain on the
coast. We can be thankful that it
) came in at low tide.
After talking to many Hoke
County people who own cottages
at the beach, they stated that some
damage was done, but not as much
as you would expect. It seems that
the hardest hit were tome buildings
at Carolina Beach. The beach ero
sion was not as bad as many
thought it. would be.
It seems that warnings given to
) (See AROUND TOWN, page 12)
commission members had asked
that the city do some soil moving
to clear drainage ditches and level
out the taxiway.
The earth movement has started,
but Commission Vice-Chairman
Wayne Byrd said it would appear
that workers moving the soil are
unclear about where to move the
dirt.
It was determined, before the re
quest to do the construction, that
the top of a hill in the taxiway be
removed and the dirt be used to fill
low spots in the taxiway.
Part of the request was for the
city to go to a nearby location and
put top soil over the existing clay
base so grass will grow on the strip.
Apparently, there has been some
confusion about the instructions,
Commission Chairman Frank
Baker said.
It was agreed that the persons
running the equipment should also
be at the meeting to see for
themselves what needs to be done.
In other action during the
Preparing to feed multitudes
More than 1,500 plates of fish were sold Saturday during tht annual
Shrine Fish Fry hold at Edtnhorough Shopping Cantor. Here A.J.
Lundy Jr. dips the fUlets In flour to prepare them for the fryer. The
proceeds from the event will go to help burned and crippled children.
_____
meeting, new Commissioner Car
roll Scarboro was sworn into of
fice.
Scarboro, a licensed pilot, was
chosen by the Hoke County Com
missioners to replace resigned
member Marianne Baker.
As per the Airport Commission
Charter, the governing body that
appoints a member is responsible
for replacing that member if the
appointee is unable to complete his
term in office.
Manager's
job offer
rejected
By Ed Miller
An anonymous candidate who
was offered the job of Hoke Coun
ty Manager Monday has rejected
the position, members of the
County Commission said Tuesday.
After making a telephone call to
the candidate, who was not nam
ed, Commission Chairman John
Balfour, announced to fellow
board members that they would
have to "start from square one."
However, further efforts are be
ing made to change the candidate's
mind, commission members said.
According to Balfour, the man
was made the offer Monday night
with the provision that he answer
to commissioners within 24 hours.
"The reasons he gave (for rejec
ting the offer) made me respect the
gentleman even more," Balfour
said.
According to- Commissioner
Wyatt Upchurch, the candidate
who did not accept the offer is ask
(See JOB, page 11)
A study in emotion
The faces of these Hoke High cheerleaders show varying degrees of
emotion during Friday's close loss to Seventy-First High School. We
take a look at the game and other sports on page 8 in today's News
Journal.
Prisoner attempts suicide
By Ed Miller
A prisoner in the Hoke County
Jail allegedly attempted suicide last
Friday and is now in the hospital
of Central Prison, Sheriff Dave
Barrington said Monday.
John Jr. Clark, who was sup
posed to appear in Hoke County
Superior Court this week, was seen
by other prisoners in the jail as he
passed out after cutting an artery
in his forearm, the Sheriff said.
According to Barrington,
prisoners are issued encased
razors, that are approved by the
state, each morning for about 30
minutes to shave.
Clark, 22, apparently crushed
the casing and extracted the razor.
Clark was facing the sink of his
cell, which is on the back wall,
when he injured himself. He stood
there and bled until he passed out.
That is when the other prisoners
saw what had happened, Barr
ington said.
"He lost what appeared to be a
large amount of blood before
anyone saw him," the sheriff said.
When finally alerted, deputies
administered direct pressure to the
wound until medical personnel
could get there and put about nine
clamps on the arm to stop the
bleeding, Barrington said.
Later Friday, Barrington obtain
ed a "safe-keeping" order on the
prisoner and had him transferred
to Raleigh, he said.
Clark was to appear in court
charged with discharging firearm
into occupied property, second
degree kidnapping, two counts of
first degree burglary and felonious
larceny.