N The RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA
ews-Journal
Covering Hoke County Like A Roof Since 1905 ^ ^
Freezer jams
taste great
On page 6
Upchurch students
take field trip
On page 9
T
Volume LXXIX Number 6
Thursday, May 28,1987 2^'CENTS
Residents push for widening US Highway 401
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Area residents and leaders are con
tributing to the push for the completion of
the widening of US Highway 401 which is
on schedule for 1995, according state of
ficials.
Richard K. Pugh, a commissioner on the
NC Board of Transportation for Division 8
in which Hoke County is included, said last
week that, “nothing has changed” since
last year in regard to the schedule for the
401 project. The NC Department of
Transportation (DOT) is holding public
hearings this spring for the purpose of
receiving comments on the project.
“I want to get input from everyone in the
division 1 represent,” Pugh said, in
reference to the hearing for Division 8 in
Asheboro on Wednesday.
Along with Hoke, Division 8 includes the
counties of Randolph, Chatham, Moore,
Montgomery, Scotland, Lee and Rich
mond.
Hoke County leaders attended the hear
ing during which DOT representatives
gleaned information which will go into a
statewide evaluation of roads project
priorities to be published in late 1987.
Earlier this month, the county commis
sioners passed a resolution in support of
the widening of 401 which addresses the
issues of safety and economic growth in the
area.
Pugh said the project could be moved up
on the schedule if the results of this study
indicate it should be, but Pugh was not
hopeful on this count.
“I don’t want to imply it will be speeded
up,” Pugh said. “We want to keep it on
schedule, and at least make sure it doesn’t
slip. This is the only commitment 1 can
make now.”
Pugh said that currently the project is in
the design stages and that right-of-way ac
quisitions will begin in 1989. He said actual
construction will begin in 1991; with the
projects’s completion scheduled for 1995.
During the hearings, community
representatives may present new projects
for the Transportation Improvement Pro
gram. Pugh said usually these newly pro
posed projects get into the program “on
the tail end” and work their way up in
priority.
Pugh said that the project, which will en
tail the widening of US 401 from 71st High
School in Cumberland County to the
Raeford Bypass, is “in better shape now
than it was a year ago”, referring to work
that had been done on designing the pro
ject.
The progress of each DOT project will
depend on available federal funding. In
early April, the House and Senate passed
the Surface Transportation and Uniform
Relocation Assistance Act, more common
ly known as the Federal Highway Bill.
Kevin Brown, DOT federal program
coordinator, said that the bill resulted in
$288 million coming to North Carolina for
roads improvement projects with a similar
amount coming to the state each year for
the next four years.
However, this funding is significantly
less than the $400 million that North
Carolina is paying in the form of the
gasoline tax. Brown said.
“We will still be getting back far less
than we are paying in,” Brown said. “The
state hoped to receive a larger return in
relation to the state’s cost through the
tax.”
Brown said the bill was a compromise
between the House and Senate and that an
earlier version of the bill passed by the
Senate would have meant more money for
road improvement in North Carolina.
(See 401, page 10)
Satellite campus
in state of flux
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
The future of the Sandhills Community College
satellite in Hoke County is currently in a state of flux,
according to a college spokesman.
Sandhills President Dr. Raymond Stone said that
the future of the satellite depends on budgetary alloca
tions from the state which have recently been cut two
percent across the board.
Stone stressed that Sandhills wants to keep ties with
Hoke County. However, he said recent financial con
siderations have required that the college administra
tion reexamine any marginal activity they have been
conducting “within the context of whether or not it
can be carried on.”
“We are considering several different options,”
Stone said.
On the main campus, the Licensed Practical Nurse
Program may be suspended for a year, while concen
trating on building up enrollment for the program.
Stone said.
He said enrollment in Hoke County has decreased in
recent months and this will be a consideration in conti
nuing existing programs or starting new ones.
“Sandhills will continue to operate the literacy and
occupational extension programs,” Stone said. “It
will be organized from the main campus.”
We are considering the establishment of a one-year
horticulture program for farmers in the area which will
build on their knowledge of plant production.
(See COLLEGE, page 10)
X-
- -■.x
Dusty days
A local farmer stirs up a cloud of dust Monday as he plows a farmers throughout the county have been dealing with similar
field off Bethel Road. Because of the recent dry weather, dust storms.
Production to increase this summer at House of Raeford
By Sally Jamir
News-Journal Staff Writer
Production at the House of
Raeford will be increased at the
end of June when equipment
scheduled for installation results in
a second shift, according to a com
pany spokesman.
“Currently, production at the
House of Raeford is at 600,000
pounds of product per week,” said
Joe Zaleskas, director of research
and development. “With the new
equipment, production could be
upped to one million pounds per
Around Town
By Sam Morris
week.”
Zaleskas described the equip
ment and some of the production
process at the turkey plant.
A new turkey thigh scorer cuts
up the surface of the meat on the
turkey thighs so it will be more
readily used for ham, he said. Use
of the machine results in more
tender ham and improves it’s
quality for selling.
The vertical high-speed brine
mixer will have the capacity to mix
meat-basting solution which is
made up of water, phosphates and
and salt, he said.
The double-needle meat injector
will be able to inject the solution
into the meat more efficiently.
A tenderizer with 900 surgical
needles will cut the muscle fiber of
the meat before it is sent to mixers,
Zaleskas said.
New hydraulicly-driven mixers
with modified lids will mix the
meat under vacuum pressure, he
said. The new mixers both have a
7,000 pound capacity and can mix
up to 25 revolutions per minute.
The two mixers will be able to
mix 14,000 pounds of product per
hour, he said. One older model
mixer will still be used which has a
2,500-pound capacity. Two
tumblers will still be used which
will be able to mix 7,500 of meat
every four hours.
Large frozen blocks of stored
poultry products will be broken by
a roto claw frozen block breaker.
Zaleskas said the machine can
break the large blocks into fist-size
pieces for easy processing and
temperature control.
An automatic dispenser will
weigh out a pre-set amount of pro
duct and be packaged by a roll
stock machine which will ready the
meat for cooking, according to
Zaleskas.
Five new ovens will each have a
capacity to cook 33,000 pounds of
product per day, Zaleskas said.
Products such as turkey breast,
turkey ham and pastrami, turkey
bologna and rolls and chicken
breast will be affected by the in
creased capacity for processing.
Committee
increases
momentum
The Hoke County Committee of
lOO’s is growing, according to act
ing chairman Steve Parker. More
than 75 persons have now signed
up and many more have pledged to
participate.
Parker and Harold Gillis, acting
secretary-treasurer, have been ac
tive since early March as part of a
formation team seeking to get the
local economic development
booster established.
The Hoke County Committee of
lOO’s has as its goal to improve the
quality of life in Hoke County by
promoting economic development
and growth. It will be a non-profit
corporation composed of area
citizens and friends to this com
munity who have an interest in
assisting with positive growth and
change.
“Change is inevitable,” said
Parker, “and our aim is to do it in
concert with existing agencies of
government and the Chamber of
Commerce. We want to be
especially supportive of the plans
and objectives of the Raeford-
Hoke Economic Development
Commission.”
Gillis added, “our best successes
will come from a unified effort of
hundreds of members par
ticipating. With a large county
population, we should be able to
do that. Other communities do,
and so can we.”
Parker announced that a second
general membership meeting is
now scheduled for Monday, June 1
at 7 p.m. at the Hoke County
Library on Main Street in Raeford.
He discussed the purpose of the
meeting to be for establishing the
election of officers and setting up a
charter. This meeting will also per
mit a further discussion of objec-
(See lOO’s, page 10)
Extended telephone service
goes into effect on June 27
The weather has been hot for the
past week. The temperature has
been in the high 80s and with the
readings being in the 60s at night,
it doesn’t get to cool off before it is
hot again.
The forecast is for the same kind
of weather for the remainder of the
week, and of course we could have
afternoon thunderstorms any day.
* * *
The deadline for advertisements
in the Graduation Section of The
News-Journal is May 28 (Thursday
noon). It is hard to get in touch
with every business, so if you
haven’t been contacted, please get
in touch with Pam Frederick at
The News-Journal office. The
phone number is 875-2121.
♦ ♦ *
Over the years, by dealing in
politics you make many friends.
By the same token you can make
some enemies.
Monday, Leon Lewis, whom 1
have become acquainted with in
politics, was by the office and
wanted me to do him a favor. He
explained that it was not of a
political nature, but something
(See AROUND, page 10)
The Extended Area Service for
phone customers in Hoke and
Cumberland counties is scheduled
to begin serving the area on June
27, a Carolina Telephone Com
pany spokesman said last Friday.
“According to previous studies
of areas where EAS has been
established, there will be a 500 per
cent increase of phone service
usage in this area over the next one
to two years,” said Bernice Bar
rett, district commercial manager
for Carolina Telephone.
The new service will allow coun
ty residents to call Fayetteville toll
free.
Major changes in the equipment
used for the present service will
need to be made, according Bar
rett.
“We will need to rearrange the
Fayetteville trunking network, in
crease circuit quantities and make
software changes in digital and
electronic switches,” Barrett said.
EAS was passed last spring after
numberous public hearings were
held for the service in Hoke Coun
ty.
Support for EAS by area
residents was overwhelming.
Hoke man injured in accident
A Hoke County man was
seriously injured in a single-car
traffic accident over the Memorial
Day weekend, according to a
Highway Patrol spokesperson.
Betty MacDonald of the N.C.
Highway Patrol Headquarters,
said records show that Louis Sher
man, 38, of 638 Edgehill Rd.,
Fayetteville, was involved in a
single-vehicle accident on U.S. 401
at noon. May 23.
Records say that Sherman, driv
ing a 1975 Oldesmobile, was
traveling east on US 401 nine and a
half miles north of Raeford when
he ran off the left shoulder and
struck a tree.
Sherman was injured and taken
to Cape Fear Valley Hospital in
Fayetteville. According to a
hospital spokesperson, Sherman is
in serious condition in the intensive
care unit.
The car received $2,500 worth of
damage.
According to records, Sherman
was charged with Driving While
Impaired.
“I’m glad we didn’t have any
fatalities in any of our counties,”
said MacDonald.
FE/ffHERED LAW
Turkey Festival
A patriotic Turkey Festival s planned for September '^America's Fkrst Feathered Lady'' this yetff. The
17-19. The Bicentennlel of the signing of the U.S. Con- feminine figure is wearing jgwtery and looks as though
stitution on September 17 has inspired the Board of she is ready to burst into "God Bless America."She
the North Carolina Turkey Festival to adopt a wiU be featured on blue T-shirts this year with red,
patriotic theme for the 1987festival. The festival logo white and blue colors,
which proclaims "Strut Your Stuffin' ” wiU feature