RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA
Covering Hoke County
ews - Journal
Public Health Week
April 12 -18
On page 10
Computers
and libraries
Volume LXXVIII Number 51 Thursday, April 9,1987 2^'CENTS
Council
approves
ordinance
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Members of the Raeford City
Council approved the revised
Flood Damage Prevention Or
dinance at their regular meeting
Monday night.
The decision came after a poorly
attended public hearing held to
receive public comment on the
matter.
City Manager Tom Phillips said
the document “more clearly
defines a set of ordinances to con
trol any kind of construction in the
flood plane area.”
Phillips said the city is required
to adopt an ordinance of this
nature in order to obtain flood in
surance.
The ordinance states that its pur
pose is to protect the public
welfare through beneficial flood
prevention practices.
In other business, council
members reviewed correspondence
from Representative Danny
DeVane stating his support in the
legislature of the city’s needs for a
centralized utilities services office.
The matter was discussed at the
council’s March meeting in which
the need was expressed for a cen
tral billing and services office for
gas, water, electricity, phone and
cable television.
In further business, council
members approved a resolution
authorizing the sale of a 1949 Ford
fire Truck by the Raeford Fire
Department.
The resolution requests a
minimun bid of $1,500 was
designated. The department also
requested in the resolution that
funds received from this sale be ap
plied to the fire department capital
(See CITY, page 3)
Photo by Ron Andenon
Tracks
Early Sunday afternoon clouds form over railroad tracks just outside of Raeford, In the distance
are grain bins belonging to Farm Chemicals.
Buie appointed to Literacy Commission
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Hoke County Literacy Council
Director and N.C. Literacy
Association President Barbara
Buie was appointed last Friday by
Governor Jim Martin to serve on
the newly formed Governor’s
Commission on Literacy. Buie was
one of 15 education leaders to be
appointed to the commission.
The public announcement of the
appointments was made after a
noonday luncheon given in honor
of commission members at the ex
ecutive mansion in Raleigh.
In making the announcement,
Martin said the problem of il
literacy is a complex one but that
through a collective effort, a
Around Town
greater number of people could be
helped to “be a part of what is
happening” in communities across
the state.
Martin said that through a varie
ty of individual and institutional
approaches, this problem could be
resolved in order to “bring people
forward into the next century” by
raising a public awareness of the
problem and giving hope to the im
portant group of people who are il
literate.
Martin said resolving the pro
blem of illiteracy would result in
economic growth in many areas.
The commission advises the
governor on difficulties and
recommendations for eliminating
illiteracy in the state.
The commission further serves
as a sounding board for consti
tuencies concerned with adult
literacy as well as facilitating the
coordination of programs among
those concerned with literacy.
In addition, the commission
defines problems, issues and solu
tions for increasing literacy in the
state.
Reports on the commission’s
findings will also be produced for
public record.
Among the other members of
the commission are William Fri
day, president emeritus of the
University of North Carolina;
Robert Scott, community college
system president; Craig Phillips,
state superintendent of public in
struction; Patric Dorsey, Depart
ment of Cultural Resources
secretary; David T. Flaherty,
Employment Security Commission
chairman; Ann Tyndell, N.C.
Literacy Council executive director
and C.D. Spangler Jr., UNC
System president.
Hoke County has an active
literacy education program. On
March 25, eight county residents
were certified as Laubach tutors.
The tutors are Lester Baker,
Gracie Breeden, Cindy Cham
pagne, Martha Mackie, Barbara
A. McKinnon, Anna M. McPhat-
ter, DeEtra Purcell and Jerome
Ross.
Buie served as trainer for the
workshop session.
By Sam Morris
Winter weather returned to
North Carolina over the weekend.
There was over 12 inches of snow
in the mountains and snow fell into
the heart of the state. It didn’t get
as cold as we had expected so it
seems that the peach crop came
through this late spring storm.
If you were watching the GGO
Golf Tournament on television,
maybe you noticed all the clothing
the golfers and fans were wearing.
It was almost impossible to
recognize the golfers with all the
extra clothing.
The forecast is for the
temperature to rise every day and
for the temperatures to be in the
70s by the weekend.
^ «
Congress overrode the veto and
the highway bill is now law. This
will allow states to raise the speed
limit to 65 on rural Interstate
highways. New Mexico has already
put up their signs and increased the
speed.
If you travel much on the super
highways, this will be a welcome
sign. The only thing about raising
the limit, is that most drivers are
(See AROUND, page 3)
Trial begins
Edward Lee Cummings, right, is escorted to the Hoke
County jail between Superior Court sessions on Mon
day. Cummings is charged with two counts of first
degree murder.
County OKs
housing grant
preparations
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Members of the Hoke County
Board of Commissioners
unanimously approved the con
tinued preparation of an applica
tion for a Community Block
Development Grant during their
regular meeting Monday morning.
The commissioners also approv
ed the appointment of an advisory
committee to act as consultants to
the staff preparing the grant ap
plication.
The actions followed a poorly-
attended public hearing scheduled
to receive residents’ comments on
the proposed application. The
commissioners will not be able to
officially approve the application
until a second public hearing for
the grant is held, according to
County Manager William (Bub)
Cowan.
The second public hearing will
be held on May 4 at 9 a.m. in The
Pratt Building.
The grant application, if ap
proved, will allow the county to
apply for up to $600,000 in federal
development monies to be used for
the rehabilitation of substandard
housing.
The application is being
prepared through the Economic
Development Commission (EDC)
office and part-time employees
Barbara Rogers and Maj. Ronald
S. Scurry (USA, Retired).
EDC Director John Howard
presented to the commissioners a
progress report on the grant ap
plication.
.Rogers and Scurry have been
collecting data for use in the grant
application. They wilt also be in
terviewing householders in areas of
the county where clusters of ten or
more units of substandard housing
exist.
Howard said that part of the
county’s obligation in applying for
the grant is to provide a cash
match of anywhere from 10 per
cent to 15 percent of the total
amount of money that is re
quested.
The figure decided upon by the
commissioners may be considered
local option money to be used at
their discretion for the purpose of
“a project or projects that would
also benefit basically low to
moderate income persons but does
not have to be tied to areas under
housing rehabilitation for which
the overall grant is requested,”
Howard said.
Examples of how this local op
tion category of funds could be
used is for improvements to
streets, creation of water facilities
extensions or general community
improvements such as recreational
facilities.
In March, a planning grant was
awarded to the county in the
amount of $4,323 for the purpose
of preparing the CDBG applica
tion.
Howard said the competition for
the development grants “is fierce”
but that the EDC has “the inten-
(See COUNTY, page 17)
Governor's Literacy Commission
Hoke Literacy Council Director and N.C. Literacy Association President
Barbara Buie stands with Governor James Martin outside the Executive
Mansion in Raleigh. Buie and IS other educational leaders in the state
were appointed last Friday to the Governor’s Commission on Literacy.
Jury selection begins
in Hoke murder trial
Eight jurors were selected on Tuesday in the trial of
Edward Lee Cummings, charged with two first degree
murders. The trial began Monday in Hoke County
Superior Court, presided over by the Honorable Judge
Robert Farmer.
Cummings, 45, formerly of Willow Springs, is
charged with the shooting deaths of two sisters Karen
Marie Puryear, 22, and Teresa Annette Puryear, 15
from Raleigh.
One man and seven women were chosen as jurors in
the second day of jury selection held at the county
courthouse in Raeford.
Assistant District Attorney Jean Powell said on
Monday that the state had nine “challenges for calls”
in which potential jurors had been dismissed because
they have been judged as an unfair selection by either
the state or the defense.
“The defense has not finished their challenge for
calls yet,” Powell said on Tuesday morning.
Earlier Powell had said she speculated that the jury
selection might take one to two weeks and the entire
trial, five to six weeks.
Judge Farmer granted a motion filed by defense at
torneys James R. Parrish and Mike C. Boose for two
separate trials to be held for each of the murder
charges based on the ruling by Farmer that the two
cases were not “related in time or place and are
without a transactional connection.”
The two women died at different times, Karen
Puryear in November of 1985 and Teresa Puryear in
September of 1983. Their bodies were found in
January of last year near the McCain Prison grounds
in Hoke County.
Harold Gillis elected
Democratic chairman
Harold
Gillis was
elected chair
man of the
Hoke
Democratic
Party at the
party’s con
vention held
Saturday at the
county cour
thouse. C///K
Gillis, who describes himself
as a Democrat who “believes
strongly in the party,” was
elected by a unanimous vote.
A native of Hoke County,
Gillis has been active in the par
ty and in local politics for a
number of years. He served as
the party’s county chairman in
1981 until 1983 and was re
elected to serve another term
from 1983 until 1985.
“1 deem it a privilege to again
serve the Democrats of Hoke
County,” Gillis said. “The 1988
election is an important one for
the state as well as for Hoke
County.”
As party chairman, Gillis will
represent Hoke County on the
state executive committee.
Other party officials elected
on Saturday include: Betty
Rogers, first vice chair; Ernest
Sutton, second vice chair;
Dwight Jackson, third vice
chair; Duncan McFadyen,
secretary; and Artie McPhatter,
treasurer.
The keynote speaker for the
convention was state Represen
tative John “Pete” Hasty who
cited the party’s progress in the
last general election and
challenged Hoke County
Democrats to get involved in the
work of the party.
Hasty spoke of his strong
connections to Hoke County.
His father chose a local woman
to be his wife, and Hasty did the
same when he married the
former Betty Upchurch,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom
mie Upchurch.
Norma Campbell, who served
as the party’s county chairman
from 1985 until 1987, presided
over the convention. Campbell
announced that the district and
state conventions will be held in
the upcoming months. She also
said that the annual Jefferson-
Jackson Democratic Dinner will
be held on Saturday, April 25.