TheN The Hoke County News - Established 1928 VolUM LXXVI N amber 37 <5^/ RAEFORD, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA nr. The Hoke County Journal - Established 1905 $10 PER YEAR 25 CENTS Thursday, January 3, 1985 February ' Jflfe second month of the year opened with taMMtom in the MBlji ipmm^npanwni from the stirie Department of Nafianl ? ? "im m ? _ _ ? ^ A. i" m? ? - ? S ^ ? ? ? ? -- Resources and Community development (NKtU) tnat a sewer mDftnriimi ini|" "I nn TTnrfnril fnrlSai||^jiBi)^riL|hii1 firm uitod. ^ - !^im A committee of Hoke residents was appointed to study the 6anH ty's sdiooh. Both Raeford and Hoke County cranked up efforts and appttca* tious for community development funds. The bids later in mi year fell short of the mark and were rejected. ; Members of the Poppy Creek Fire Department and others fought a blaze at Carolina Country Estates, but were unsuccessful in saving the life of three-year-old Conetia McDuffy. A $5,000 reward was offered by the Governor's office for infor mation leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers of Danny A new animal' cruelty ordinance was adopted by iniahbcfs of the rait County Commission. The law allows aritail control officers to animal* who are being mistreated. j rose mo^gi* $Jf End of the year The sun sets here through trees in the Bethel Church area of Hoke County bringing a close to the 1984 year. Local residents brought in the New Year with parties and fireworks, but no major disturbances were reported by authorities. County wells thought clear By Ed Miller Although there have been over 250 drinking water wells throughout the state reported to be contaminated with petroleum poisons, there have been no reports from Hoke County, area health officials say. Both Scotland and Cumberland counties have had polluted wells reported in the past year. The leakage of petroleum pro ducts from underground storage tanks and pipelines is one of the state's most common sources of groundwater contamination, a release from the North Carolina Department of Health says. According to the release, more than half this state's population depends on groundwater as a ma jor source of drinking water. Although . the Hoke County Health Department is available for taking samples and testing for petroleum contamination, there are no regular checks made on rural drinking water supplies, said Diane Dalton, State Environmen tal Engineering Technician. Routine monitoring is not re quired, Dalton said. According to Dalton, the En vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now in the process of set ting "health effect" limits, or the maximum amount of contamina tion tolerable for human use. "It (groundwater contamina tion) is obviously something that's not going to disappear," said Dalton. "1 would imagine that there will be regular testing established sometime," she said, adding that she did not know when. Discovery of petroleum con tamination has usually been made initially by the consumers of the water, said Head of the Water Supply Branch of Statewide Health Services Charles Rundgren. "Usually you will find a taste or odor that will make you keep a\yay from the water," Rundgren said. Petroleum contamination can usually be smelled before it can be tasted, he said. People should avoid using petroleum polluted water, said Rundgren. Continued use of contaminated water could make people sick and could cause skin rashes, Rundgren said. In some cases, contaminated water may go undetected. In these cases, babies or older persons are likely to become ill (See HOKE, page 9) New EMS system could aid Hoke By Ed Miller A new certification for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel may quadruple the number of cardiac patients sav ed by ambulance crews in the state and could provide a lower cost way to upgrade the qualifications of Hoke County ambulance person nel. The new type of training, called Cardiac Tech, will mainly allow the use of a defibrallator, or an electric device used to shock the heart back into a regular, steady rhythm, by EMS workers before transportation to the hospital. Currently, the program is under study in three or four counties in North Carolina, said Hoke County EMS Director William Niven. Around Town By Sam Morris The weather in Hoke County over Christmas has been unbelievable. The temperatures have been in the 70s and have broken records all over the state. Today, (Monday, December 31) the temperatures are in the 60s and are expected to be the same again tomorrow. One person mentioned to me that before the end of time, the Bi ble said, we wouldn't know one season from the other. I guess the person thought the end of time is near. Let's remember that would be for the whole world and they are having winter weather out west. I believe that before long, winter will hit Hoke County, too. ? * ? Warren Johnston, editor, told me Monday that for a while he couldn't see why I wrote about the weather. He said after compiling the yearly report for 1984, he saw a good reason for the item. It will be a record of the weather for Hoke County put down and kept on file for anyone to refer back to at any time. We started using the item when Gatlin was using a weather chart each month and we would com pare years and months. Also many people outside of the county would comment to me about the weather item. Glad to know it can be useful in years to come. ? ? ? Walter Thomas, who is employed by the ASC office in the county, was by the office last week and had a tax receipt dated February 11, 1898. It was made out to Mrs. C.F. Thomas of (See AROUND, page 12) If the system is approved by the state, Niven will be able to recom mend it to the EMS Board and then to the county commission, he said, adding that he has no plans right now to make a a commenda tion. According to Niven, the initial cost of the transition to the system will be the only major one incurred by switching over. Heart monitors and additional training of personnel to read them will be needed for each ambulance, said Niven. At last check, the monitors cost about $5,000 per unit, said the director. "They're finding (the defibrallator) to be the most im portant piece of equipment in sav ing cardiac arrest victims," Dr. Ronald Milowski of Moore Coun ty Hospital said. "I'd rather have that than anything else," he said. According to Milowski, without a defibrallatoi, only 3Tc to 8^0 .if cardiac arrest victims it to the hospital. * , With the device, 33^o to 50% of the victims can be saved. "If you can't get the patient alive to the hospital, you can't save them," Milowski said, adding that heart attack is the number one killer of adults in the United States. A steady heart rhythm must be gotten within 6-8 minutes or the patient probably will not make it, said the doctor. Studies show that cardiac techni cians are saving about as many heart attack victims as paramedics, said Milowski. The studies have been going on in larger states and major cities around the country since 1967, he said. According to Milowski, the ma jor differences between a paramedic and a cardiac technician is that paramedics can stick tubes into brcxjhial passages to clear air ways and can start intravenous medication. North Carolina should approve the Cardiac Tech program this year sometime, said the doctor. According to Milowski, there is not yet an established outline for cardiac technicians. "It varies from county to coun ty," he said. Nice day for ride These girls seem to be enjoying a sunny 70? December day as they take their Christmas dolls on a bike ride near McLauchlin School last week. Band heading to inaugural parade, fund raising effort is underway About 190 members of the Hoke County High School Band will leave Raeford at about 9 a.m. Saturday for Raleigh and the Governor's Inaugural Parade. The group will leave if a needed S2.000 for transportation costs can be raised to move the band to the capitol city. Funds raised for the trip will in clude only the money needed for ? ? ? the one-day trip to Raleigh and will not include lodging, Hoke County Superintendent Or. Robert Nelson said Monday. "We will leave in the morning and come back after the parade," Nelson said. Hoke High's band will be among approximately 120 units performing in the parade, which will follow the inauguration ceremonies of Governor James G. Martin. The parade will begin about 1 :30 p.m. The band is asking for contribu tions from county businesses, in dividuals and industries. Any donation will be a0^ < predated and all should be sent to the Hoke County High School Band Parade Fund, Post Office Box 370, Raeford.