TheN
ews
-Journal
Volume LXXIX Number 37
RAEFOm NORTH CAROLINA
25 CENTS
Thursday, December 31,1987
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4
1987 in review
The year in review: From the front pages of 1987:
•January 8: Hoke Drug goes out of business on the last day of 1986.
The store’s history dated back to 1911 when it was opened as McPher
son Brother Drug Company.
•January 22: A new nursing home will be built in Raeford. The $1.4
million facility will provide 70 beds.
•February 5: A public hearing is set as the county considers a subdivi
sion ordinance to regulate Hoke County’s growth.
•February 19: A winter storm leaves Hoke County frozen with a
wind chill factor of zero and about an inch of frozen precipitation.
County offices and local businesses closed.
•Febrary 26: McLauchlin Hardware and Lock Company re-opens in
a former cotton warehouse. The store burned in early 1986. Hoke Com
missioners set a second public hearing on the subdivision ordinance
I after strong reaction from the public during the first hearing,
j •March 5: The county okays the subdivision ordinance. City Council
I begins reviewing improvements at the wastewater treatment plant in-
1 eluding a grit chamber and equipment for grease removal.
* •March 12: Hoke County will get a new 100 unit prison facility adja-
1 cent to McCain Correctional Facility. Funds to come from emergency
legislation enacted by the state Genera! Assembly.
•March 26: A site is found in Hoke County along Highway 211 for
two intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. The group
homes failed to get rezoning necessary for them to locate in Raeford.
•April 9: Jury selection begins in the murder trial of Edward Cumm-
• ings, accused of killing Karen Puryear and burying her body in a
shallow grave near McCain.
•May 7: Edward Cummings is found guilty of killing Karen Puryear.
•May 14: Edward Cummings is sentenced to death for killing Karen
Puryear. The sentence is automatically appealed.
•May 28: Widening Highway 401 to four lanes gets a push from local
leaders at a public hearing. The leaders are told the highway should be
( under construction by 1991 with completion set for 1995.
•June 4: Raeford City Council approves a $3.7 million budget that
includes no tax increase. The rate is left at 58 cents per hundred dollar
valuation.
•June 11: The Hoke County Firefighters Association endorses a cen
tralized communications system. Jailers would no longer dispatch
.emergency calls as well, but those duties would be turned over to full
time dispatchers.
•June 25: Raeford gets extended area phone service to Fayetteville
exchanges. Local leaders tout the service as a major inducement to
growth in Hoke County.
•July 2: Hoke County commissioners adopt a $6.9 million budget
that leaves the tax rate at 81 cents per hundred dollar valuation and
reflects no increase in taxes. The commission whittled 3 cents off its
proposal after encountering public opposition.
•July 2: Local citizens get new phone books with Fayetteville
numbers after the town got extended area phone service. But the new
books did not have Fayetteville yellow pages.
•July 9: The Olympic Torch passed through Hoke County, stopping
briefly for a ceremony at the high school.
•July 16; Hoke County’s judicial district is to be split. A result of
state legislation, Hoke and Scotland counties would be aligned in a new
Superior Court district, but for other court purposes, Hoke would stay
iligned with Cumberland County.
•July 23: Rockfish will get $5,000 for a community park.
•August 6: The president of the Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Com
merce asks Hoke County Commissioners for an ordinance to regulate
the appearance and safety of junkyards.
. •August 13: Hoke Representative Danny DeVane and Raeford-Hoke
Chamber of Commerce Manager Lawanna Hayes work to set up a
Btilities collection center where Hoke Citizens can pay utility bills.
•August 27: Hoke County gets a $500,000 community development
block grant to rehabilitate 40 residences in Tylertown.
i •September 10: Raeford gets a $457,200 Economic Development
jrant to provide 60 percent of $762,000 to be used on improvements to
The waste water treatment plant, and to extend utilities to a proposed in
dustrial plant.
•September 17:40,000 people flock to town (pardon the pun) for the
annuaJ Turkey Festival.
- •September 24: Hoke County could get a sizeable share of critical
needs funding for school costruction from the state legislature because
of the county’s poor economy.
•October 1:165 charges involving drug violations are filed against 47
people. In the first phase of the arrest roundup, 37 are arrested.
•October 22: Hoke County Commissioners pass the Junkyard Or
dinance. Sandhills Center begins looking for a new building.
•October 29: Burlington Industries in Raeford announces it will hire
about 1(X) new employees by around the first of the year.
•November 5: City Council incumbents Joe Upchurch, Vardell
Hedgpeth, and Earl McDuffie are re-elected. The Hoke County School
.Board deliberates changing to a middle school system.
•November 19: Dr. George Barth confirms that he is leaving after
finishing contractural obligations in Hoke County.
•December 3: Owners of L&S Auto are charged with violating the
county’s new junkyard ordinance by locating a mobile home on
premises of their Highway 211 business.
•December 10: Fire damages the Page Trust building on Main Street.
The building is left standing after a kerosene heater apparently sparked
the fire. The Maxway store in the Edinborough Shopping Center con
firmed its closing at the end of the year.
People in review
•January 1: Mary Archie
McNeill was one of 400
nominees honored from across
the state for her work in the
schools and contributions to the
county.
•January 8: The Rev. J. Max
Evington preached his first ser
mon as new pastor of Raeford’s
First Baptist Church on Sun
day.
•January 29: Over 500 people
attend a banquet honoring Jim
my James, called “the father of
the Hoke High Band.’’
•March 14: Raeford gets a
new postmaster. She is Clara
Robinson.
•March 19: Pam Foster,
Hoke County’s new Home
Economist, will soon begin
work.
•June 18: Hank Richards,
Principal of South Hoke
School, is named Principal of
the Year for the South Central
Educational District.
•June 25: Betty High no
longer is director of Sandhills
Community College’s Raeford
satellite campus.
•August 13: Gary Stemple is
named Hoke High School’s new
band director.
•September 10: Economic
Developer John Howard an
nounces his resignation.
September 24: Richard Travis
becomes the new head of the
Hoke County Department of
Social Services.
•October 15: Sarah Schmidt
is named the new Director of
the Hoke County Public
Library.
•November 26: The John G.
Balfour and Earl Hendrix
families are named Hoke Coun
ty Farm Families of the Year. In
addition, the Hendrix family is
a district winner.
•December 24: Delia McNeill
is Hoke County Teacher of the
Year.
Hearing set on widening 401
By June Lancaster
\ews-Joiirnal Staff Hriter
Hoke County leaders and
residents will have another oppor
tunity to push along the widening
of Highway 401 next month. A
public hearing oii the project will
be held on Tuesday, January 12 at
7:30 p.m. in-the 71st High School
Auditorium in Fayetteville.
The proposed widening to four
lanes of the road from the intersec
tion of 401 Bypass and 401
Business in Raeford to 71st High
School in Fayetteville is still in the
current Transportation Improve
ment Program (TIP), according to
W. A. Garrett Jr. of the N.C.
Department of Transportation
(DOT) in Raleigh.
The project is now in the plann
ing phase, although some design
work has been done. It is expected
the land acquisition phase of the
project will take place in fiscal year
88-89, probably in early 1989.
Construction is scheduled to begin
in 1991.
Garrett will moderate the public
hearing which will include an ex
planation of the proposed design
and also right-of-way requirements
and procedures.
I he proposed design will add an
additional 28-foot roadway with a
46-foot median to the existing two
lanes from the beginning of the
project in Raeford to SR 1400
(Cliffdale Road) in Cumberland
County. From that point the pro
posed road will swing south of the
existing US 401. The relocated seg
ment of the road is designed to go
around the state fish hatchery at
Lake Rim.
The relocated segment will re
join the existing road at the Trinity
United Methodist Church. An ad
ditional two lanes will be added
from that point to SR 1409 (School
Road) which runs between 71st
Elementary School and 71st High
School.
US 401 is already four lanes
from that point all the way into
Fayetteville.
There are no immediate plans to
widen US 401 from Raeford to the
Scotland County line. Garrett says
the current TIP is for the years
1988-1996 and the US 401 South
widening is not included.
In addition to making the road
safer for traffic, the widening of
(See ROAD, page 3)
Map shows changes planned for US 401 between
Raeford and Fayetteville. To accommodate four
lanes, engineers plan to divert the road south of the
fish hatchery at Lake Rim. The project is still years
away from completion.
School board to consider improvements
By June Lancaster
News-Journal Staff Writer
A special meeting of the Hoke
County Board of Education has
been called for Wednesday,
December 30 at 7:30 p.m. to
discuss the next steps the board
will take in the planned additions
and renovations to six Hoke Coun
ty schools.
On the advice of architects, the
board did not include the total
package of planned improvements
when bids were advertised. The ar
chitects had thought there was in
sufficient money to undertake all
the improvement projects at one
time.
When bids were opened on
December 17 and came in lower
than expected it was realized some
additional projects could be
returned to the list of planned im
provements.
Board Chairman Bobby Wright
said the additional improvements
which are under consideration in
clude multipurpose rooms at West
Hoke and Scurlock Elementary
Schools, renovations to the
cafeteria at South Hoke Elemen
tary School, additional im
provements at Turlington Elemen
tary School and improvements to
the shop at Upchurch Junior High
School.
The Board of Education will
present their decision to the Board
of County Commissioners at the
next commissioner’s meeting on
January 4.
Contracts have been awarded
for $2,175,480 in additions and
renovations to six schools. Thai
figure was approximately $90,000
less than architects had projected.
The county is scheduled to sell
bonds to finance the school con
struction and renovations on
February 2.
Military Dealership
Vo, Hoke Auto is not selling Army vehicles. The
building on 401 Bypass has been leased to the Army
Corps of engineers for two years. The facility will be
the temporary home of the 120th A RCOM unit while
expansion is taking place at the equipment concentra
tion site at Fort Bragg, where the unit is usually hous
ed. The Hoke Auto site will be used for maintenance
of vehicles and testing of petroleum products by the
Army Reserve.
Around Town
By Sam Morris
The weather Christmas Day was
nice and most of the day children
could get outside and play with
their Christmas gifts. The day after
Christmas was about as warm as 1
can remember for this time of
year. The thermometer reached ap
proximately 75° and it was hot
even into the night. We had win
dows up most of the afternoon and
evening. This didn’t seem like
December.
Sunday and Monday the rain
came and it looks as if it will re
main into Tuesday.
The forecast is for the
temperature to drop to below
freezing Tuesday night and then
the high on Wednesday will stay in
the 30s, and with high winds, the
wind chill factor could make it
seem 10 degrees colder.
The temperatures should begin
to rise on Thursday and then get
into the 50s on Friday and Satur
day.
(See AROUND, page 3)
Hoke group travels to
hear Jordan announce
A group of supporters from
Hoke County will travel to Mount
Gilead on Monday, January 4, to
hear Lieutenant Governor Bob
Jordan announce his candidancy
for governor.
Jordan will make his announce
ment at noon at Jordan Lumber
Company, the family business of
which the lieutenant governor is
president.
Jordan is married to the former
Sarah Cole of Raeford.
Anyone interested in being part
of the delegation from Hoke
County going to Mount Gilead
should call Betsy Ann McNeill at
875-2169. McNeill is Jordan’s
sister-in-law.
Joshua Warren and Jonas J. Patt
Filing period opens
Pate is Morehead finalist;
brother is alternate
The filing period for candidates
seeking nomination for office in
1988 will open at 12 noon on
January 4, 1988. The filing period
will close at P noon on Febrttarv
1, 1988.
The first primary will be con
ducted on Tuesday, Mav .3, and a
second primary (if needed) will be
held on Tuesday, May 31.
Hoke County offices becoming
vacant this year include two seats
on the Board of Countv Commis
sioners; two seats on the Board of
Education; the Register of Deeds
and a Soil and Water Conservation
Supervisor.
Joshua Warren Pate of Raeford
has been selected as one of seven
district finalists in competition for
1988 Morehead Awards to study at
the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. His twin brother,
Jonas James Pate, has been
selected first alternate. The Pates,
who are seniors at Hoke High
School,are the sons ot Warren and
Ann Pate of Raeford and Dayna
and Dick Elliott of Charleston,
S.C.
The announcement was made by
Charles E. Lovelace Jr., executive
director of the John Motley
Morehead Foundation.
Seven finalists and two alter
nates were selected in District
Eight, which is made up of Anson,
Hoke, Mecklenburg, Richmond,
Scotland, and Union Counties.
Each of ten Morehead Districts
throughout the state select seven
finalists to appear for inteviews
(See PATES, page 3)