The Hoke County News - Established 1928
The News -Journal
Established 1928 -
Depot restoration project receives $6,500 grant
By Ron Anderson
A grant which will assist in
renovations of the Aberdeen
Rockfish Railroad Depot was
awarded to the Raeford-Hoke
Economic Development Commis
sion last week.
The $6,500 grant from Advance
ment, Inc. will enable the offices
of the Raeford-Hoke Chamber of
Commerce and Economic
Development to move into the
depot around the first of the year,
according to Economic Developer,
John C. Howard.
"We need money now at this
juncture of the job," Howard
said.
Part of the money will be used to
construct a safety wall adjacent to
the railroad tracks to satisfy an
agreement made with Aberdeen
Rockfish Railroad when the
railroad donated the depot to
Raeford and Hoke County,
Howard said.
Although the grant will assure
occupancy of the depot "we still
need additional community funds
for the finishing touches,"
Howard said.
Howard estimates that an addi
tional ' $4,925 will be required to
complete the $43,975 project.
The depot project received
about $18,000 in contributions
from local residents and
businesses.
An additional $13,000 was pro
vided from the North Carolina
Legislature's "pork barrel" funds.
Gerald Wright, who is a member
of the Raeford-Hoke Economic
Development Commission and
also a board member of Advance
ment, Inc., said the main purpose
of Advancement, Inc. is the crea
tion of new jobs.
Since its creation in 1968, Ad
vancement Inc., has funded over
51 projects in Hoke, Robeson,
Bladen and Columbus counties,
Wright said.
Those projects have led to the
creation of 6,043 jobs with a
potential of 8,542, according to
Wright.
The corporation was originally
funded with money from the Na
tional Office of Economic Oppor
tunity and up until 1984 loans
made by the corporation had to be
approved by the Farmers Home
Administration (FmHA), Wright
said.
Currently, the organization
operates independently of FmHA.
Wright said while the organiza
tion usually does not make
outright grants for projects, "we
made an exception within policy
guidelines to fund the depot."
The exception was made because
housing the Economic Develop
ment Commission, and the
Chamber of Commerce in the
depot will help to stimulate in
dustry and create jobs in the area,
Wright said.
"The bottom line is to create
more jobs for the community,"
Wright said.
In the past. Advancement Inc.
funded the Hillcrest water system,
the North Raeford water system
and has awarded a grant to the
football stadium at Hoke High
School.
Original Hoke County board
members were W.T. Allen, Ralph
Bamhardt and Ivery McNair.
Besides Wright, current board
members are Ivery McNair, W.E.
Carter, Steve Parker, John C.
Howard and William T. Altman.
City worker jailed
for stepson's death
A Hoke County man has been
charged with murder in connection
with the shooting death of his step
son in front of a food store Satur
day night.
Sheriff David Barrington said
officers found James Thomas
Rickerds, 27, lying in front of
David's Food Store on Davis
Bridge Road at approximately 6:1 1
p.m.
"There appeared to be a gun
shot wound to the upper chest,"
Barrington said.
Rickerds was transported to
Cape Fear Valley Medical Cfenter
where he was pronounced dead on
arrival by Dr. Joseph Dees.
Charged with the shooting, was
Rickerds' stepfather, John Baxley
Jr., 59. ? ...
There wer "several witnesses to
ihe shooting, Barrington said.
Records say that both Baxley
and Rickcrds lived at Rt. 12, Box
616, Fayetteville.
The address is just inside the
Hoke County line and is a short
distance from the scene of the
homocide, the sheriff said.
Rickerds was employed at Riley
Crane and Equipment Company,
in Raeford.
Baxley is employed by the City
of Raeford as chief mechanic at
the municipal garage.
Baxley was arrested at his home
a short time after the shooting,
Barrington said.
The sheriff said a small caliber
weapon was located at Baxley 's
residence.
Baxley is being held without
bond on an open murder charge in
the Hoke County Jail.
Wet weather hurts
Hoke soybean crop
Hoke County farmers are hav
ing difficulty harvesting soybeans
this year and the problem will
eventually hit rhem in the pocket
book, according to Hoke County
Agricultural Extension Chairman
Willie Featherstone Jr.
"We've got beans that should
have been combined in September
that are still in the ground,"
Featherstone said.
Featherstone says the problem
has been an exceptionally moist
autumn that has left fields too wet
for combines.
"A lot of the beans are molding
and are beginning to shatter,"
Featherstone said.
Damage to the beans means less
money at the market place, accord
ing to Featherstone.
Beans will be examined at the
market and prices will be dis
counted in relation to the amount
of damage done, Featherstone
said.
Farmers may check their beans
by taking them out of the shell
with a razor blade, the extension
chairman said.
"If the bean still has a tan color
inside, its still good," Featherstone
said.
Hoke County farmers plant ap
proximately 28,000 acres of soy
beans in a normal year with yields
of approximately 22 bushels per
acre.
Featherstone said he believes
farmers will not be planting as
many acres of beans in 1986.
Farmers are experiencing an ad
ditional problem due to the late
bean harvest.
The planting of small grain
crops has been delayed because
farmers have not been able to get
the beans out of the fields.
Only 30^0 of the wheat and rye
crop normally in the ground this
time of year has been planted,
Featherstone estimates.
DSS needs more agents
for support collections
Hoke County needs additional
child support agents to handle the
county's current number of
caseloads, members of the Board
of Social Services were told during
a recent meeting.
Child support Agent Mary
Barefoot told board members two
agents are currently handling 905
cases and between 25 and 30 cases
are added each month.
Beginning January I, the agents
will also be required to handle
medicare cases which will further
increase their workloads, Barefoot
said.
The Division of Social Services
recommends a caseload size of
300-325 cases per agent.
Based on that statistic alone, the
agency needs two additional
agents, Barefoot said.
Social Service agents managed
to collect $101,179.37 during the
summer months, Barefoot
reported.
But she also said that arrearages
on collection cases amounted to
over $1 million.
According to Barefoot, the
failure to have time to work on
location and enforcement means a
loss in funds to the county in in
centive payments.
"We're anxious to put as many
people under either voluntary
agreements or court orders to pay
child support," Director of Social
Services Ken Witherspoon said
during a recent interview.
"We have one of the better pro
grams in the state, but we would
like to collect from every father
back what we have paid to support
the children and mothers,"
Witherspoon said.
The director said that in the last
90-day period, 15 fathers were
placed under orders to pay support
for their children.
Witherspoon asked board
members for their assistance in
(Sec DSS, page 2A)
New monument
The Hoke C ounty Veterans monument by sculptor Art Gore will soon
be displayed in Raeford. Members of the county building and grounds
committee are studying possible locations for the piece which is being
donated by Boy Scout Troop 404. An inscription on the front of the
monument reads: " When the guns of war are forever tombs of rust,
and the innocents have no need for arms. " The monument will be
Hoke County's first and is the Eagle Scout project of Hoke High
students Josh and Jay Pate.
Morrison murder case remains on books
This December 22 will mark the
second anniversary of the shooting
death of William Daniel Morrison.
Morrsion, who was a well
known businessman in Hoke
County and a one-time candidate
for the Raeford City Council, was
murdered in his convenience store
on Harris Avenue sometime be
tween 7 p.m. and 9:25 p.m. in
1983, according to an investigation
by the Raeford Police Department
and the State Bureau of Investiga
tion (SBI).
The case remains in the unsolved
files of the Raeford Police Depart
ment.
Even with a $10,000 reward,
$5,000 from the state and $5,000
from the family, offered for infor
mation leading to the arrest and
conviction of the murderer, there
have been few additional leads to
turn up over the last two years.
"We've had just little bits and
pieces which we've followed, but
nothing conclusive has been turned
up yet," Raeford Police Chief
Leonard Wiggins said this week.
Wiggins said the case is still
open, and as far as he knows, the
rewards are still in effect.
According to previous reports,
Danny Morrison, was found dead
in his store, slumped near the cash
register at 9:35 p.m. on December
22, 1983.
SBI agents and local police of
ficers established the time of Mor
rison's death at 9:25 p.m.
Former reports indicate that no
money was missing from the store,
but law enforcement officers say
the motive for the slaying was rob
bery.
Neither Morrison's wallet or
store receipts of about $1,600 were
found disturbed after the shooting,
the reports say.
Apparently, the 54-year-old
store owner was shot four times.
Morrison had been working at
the store about two and one-half
hours when the shooting occurred,
reports indicate.
A women cashier had been
relieved by Morrison at about 7
p.m..
A gun which Morrison kept near
the store's cash register was found
undisturbed, and reports say there
was little sign of a struggle except
for one broken jar of honey.
Witnesses near the store
reported seeing at least one, maybe
two black males in the store near
the time Morrison was killed, but
there were no actual eye witnesses
to the shooting.
Also, there was a red car seen
near the store around the time of
the shooting.
Police searches for the car and
two men reportedly seen inside the
car have revealed nothing.
Road blocks set up at the in
tersection in front of the store
turned up few clues.
The investigation is continuing,
Wiggins said.
Downtown commission
eyeing revamp goals
Revitalization efforts for
downtown Raeford should be
directed towards quickly ob
tainable goals, like planting trees,
unified signs and better merchan
dising, members of the Downtown
Revitalization Commission were
told Monday night.
"Don't undertake efforts like
burying utility lines. It is not cost
effective," state Natural Resources
and Community Development
(NRCD) planner Jim Dougherty
said.
Signs and logos can be used to
build a new image for downtown
Raeford and to advertise the
district as one shopping area.
The downtown logo should be
used on all parking signs, direc
tional signs, in advertisements and
on shopping bags, Dougherty said.
Merchants and building owners
should also be encouraged to,
repair and paint.
Incentive grants for part of the
cost could be used to help the work
to be completed, Dougherty said.
Recent donations to the commis
sion may give the group the funds
needed to get started.
Commission members received a
check for "bver S600 from the
Raeford Merchants Association to
be used towards the revitalization
effort'.
The association also donated the
funds to repair this year's
Christmas decorations and to pro
(See RAF.FORD, page 2A)
-V
Inside today
Male nursing assistant Jotl Her
ron listens to Joe Chestnutt's
heartbeat during a recent visit to
the Chestnut t residence. We
take a look at the St. Joseph
Home Health agency on page
one of Section B in today's
News- Journal.
Around Town
By Sam Morris
The weather over the weekend
was cold. Winter arrived a few
weeks ahead of schedule. It was a
bad day Friday with the rain and
the cold air. It has been nice Mon
day with the temperatures in the
60s. It is supposed to remain this
way until Wednesday night. Then
rain is forecast for that night.
The forecast for the weekend is
for more cold air to come into the
state and the temperatures will
have a high of about 45 ?.
? ? ?
Christmas is about with us and
most folks will be shopping for the
next few days. Remember to lock
up all your packages you leave In
the car. It is best to put them la the
(See AROUND, page 2A)