TheN
ews
-Journal
Volume LXXX Number 38
RAEFORD. NORTH CAROLINA
25 CENTS
Wednesday, January 4, 1989
i f:
Returns victorious
Hoke High Band Director Gary Stemple (center) and
band members Teicher Patterson (left) and Ann Weath-
ersbee display trophies won during the band's trip to the
Gator Bowl over the weekend. The center plaques are
awards for placing fourth in field show competition and
sixth in parade competition. Patterson and Weathersbee
received top honors in drum major competition.
’Gator Bowl Band’ is back
One hundred and six students and
their 19 chaperones got off their char
tered buses Monday morning as a
very tired Gator Bowl Band returned
to Hoke High School after four days
on the road.
The Hoke High Marching Band
pulled into the school parking lot at 8
a.m. and was greeted by parents, stu
dents and school officials.
Among the first off the buses were
the Trophy Carriers—the guardians
of four honors captured by the band
during competition associated with
the Gator Bowl. Of 13 bands from
around the U.S. invited to participate,
the Hoke High Band placed fourth
overall in field show competition and
fifth in the parade competition. And
Drum Majors Teicher Patterson and
Ann Weathersbee placed first in both
field and parade competitions.
Band Director Gary Stemple de
scribed the trip as “fantastic.” And he
thanked those who supported the band.
especially those who helped raise the
$44,000 needed to make the trip.
Stemple called the trip a “once-in-a-
lifetime experience.”
“It’s an experience they’ll carry with
them their rest of the lives,” he said.
Several students agreed. “It was excit
ing,” said Damon Dockery, whose fa
vorite portion of the trip was the per
formance.
Stemple says he believes the band
members enjoyed most being with each
other, worldng with each other and
meeting students from other areas of the
country.
The band left Hoke County Thursday
morning and arrived at their hotel that
evening^just in time for practice. Fri
day morning brought another practice
session, and the afternoon, the first
competition. Saturday morning—you
guessed it—another practice, this one
with 1,400 other players from other
bands. That evening, the band marched
in the Gator Bowl Parade. Sunday,
brought still another “massed band”
practice before the afternoon’s pre
game concert, and, finally, the Gator
Bowl half-time performance.
Of course, the trip was meant to be
fun as well as “games.” The band
spent one evening in Jacksonville’s
largest shopping mall and the better
part of a day at Disney World.
Stemple says there were a few
minor problems, most notably the heat.
Paramedics were called to assist four
or five members of at least one other
marching band who suffered heat-
related problems during the parade.
And a few Hoke High students found
the itinerary a bit tiring. Stemple said
one highlight turned out to be an old
fashioned nap.
Other than the obvious rewards of
tlie trip, Stemple also cited “many
compliments from people associated
with the Gator Bowl, motels and res
taurants on what a classy bunch of
young people we had.”
N. Raeford Fire Dept, gets truck
May mean lower insurance rates eventually in North Raeford
By June Lancaster
News-Journal Slajf Writer
It was celebration time at North
Raeford Fire Station last Wednesday
morning as the volunteers of the
department took delivery of their
brand new custom-built fire truck,
the first new pumper the department
has bought in 19 years.
First to take the truck out for a
trial spin up Highway 211 was
Leland Strother, North Raeford
assistant chief, but others were eager
to hitch a ride.
Buying the $109,000 automatic
transmission pumper took years of
planning, years spent in figuring
finances and looking at designs.
Department officials spent the time
deciding exactly what they wanted in
order to serve the needs of their
district, not only right now, but in
the future also.
North Raeford Fire Chief Johnny
Baker says he and others in the
department spent two to three years
looking at trucks, trying to decide
exactly what they wanted. "You
know, it's like building a house," he
says.
"We're looking at the future. We
didn't need that truck years ago, but
we do need it today and we will really
need it in the future."
The 1,250 gallon-per-minute
pumj)er with its 1,000-gallon booster
tank should go a long way to making
North Raeford eligible for lower fire
insurance premiums. Baker believes.
He has been looking at getting a
lower fire rating for his district for
some time, but says it is a slow
process and you have to spend money
to do it. With the new pumper,
"We’re looking at a savings in
Pumper pride
Members ofb'irthRaeford Fire Department line up beside the newcustom-built
pumper the department acquired last week. Left to right are Assistant Chief
Leland Strother; and Firemen Johnny Baker Jr.; David Frye; Jason Branch;
Roy Harris Jr.; Vancleef Whittington; Ken Moser; Robert Colson; and Ron
Fairbanks.
insurance premiums," he says.
Baker says his district has a class
nine rating now, the same as other
volunteer fire districts in the county.
He said the city has a five or six
rating which is a great savings to tax
payers.
Ratings are determined in part by
the equipment and the manpower a
fire department has.
Baker thinks he'll be ready very
soon to have someone from the
Insurance Services Office come in
and check out North Raeford to see
if the district is eligible for the lower
rating. He says the rating for his
district was established when they
had only one Puck. Now, with the
new pumper, "We're looking
conservatively at dropping to a seven
or maybe a six," he says.
The only other pumper the
department has could only pump 750
gallons of water per minute. Baker
says. That is enough capacity for
smaller buildings, but is not designed
to handle larger buildings.
The new pumper will not only be
able to handle larger buildings, but
could result in a savings to the tax
payers in the North Raeford Fire
District, too.
That fits right in with Baker's
plans. "It's a plan. It's like a puzzle.
The pieces all fit together," he says.
The new piece of equipment is
one piece of that puzzle. Baker says.
More equipment needed
for new dispatch system
Just minutes before the new city/county Central
Communications system went into effect yesterday
morning, Hoke County Commissioners approved spend
ing approximately $4,600 to buy new equipment and re
program other equipment to accommodate the new fre
quency soon to be used in law enforcement radio com
munications in the county.
Jimmy Stewart, communications director, presented
proposals relating to the change in radio frequency, which
officials said is required because Scotland and Hoke
Counties have been broadcasting on the same frequency
with "bleed-over" being experienced by both counties.
In a four-page memo to commissioners, Stewart said
seven Midland mobile radios and three Motorola radios
plus some other equipment can be re-programmed to ac
commodate the new frequency, but recommended the pur
chase of 12 new Midland radios to replace current crystal
radios.
Chairman Wyatt Upchurch asked if this expenditure "is
going to put the communications system in top shape or
are we going to come back in a month or two?"
County Manager Cowan said he did not bring to the
board today a proposal to replace walkie-talkies used by
sheriffs deputies because that would cost an addition^
$10,000. He said he planned to present that at a "more
appropriate time."
Commissioner Mabel Riley asked Sheriff Alex Norton
"isn't that walkie-talkie just as important to your men as
the ones in the car?" He replied that it was.
Sheriff Alex Norton said later eight of the walkie-
talkies in question are more than 15 years old and are in
the shop more than they are in use. Commissioners de
cided to spend approximately $2,000 to replace crystals in
the walkie-talkies until new walkie-talkies are purchased.
Total cost of changing to the new frequency is to be
shared with Scotland County on a 50/50 ratio, Cowan
said, with a $4,500 grant from the General Assembly to
offset some of the expense. Hoke County's share will be
$4,625.40, Cowan said.
After deciding on that issue, commissioners then con
sidered the purchase of a 60-kilowatt generator to provide
emergency back-up power for the new communication
system.
Jack Ellis, county maintenance supervisor, presented
proposals on both diesel and LP generators.
Commissioners opted to purchase a 60-kw Onan LP gen
erator at a cost of $18,913.66 from Ezzell Electric Com
ponent Service. Installation costs and purchase of a 325-
gallon tank bring the cost up to $22,233.66.
At a previous meeting, commissioners had decided to
purchase an 80-kw generator but at a recent meeting of
Cowan, Upchurch and Ellis the decision was made to drop
back to a ^-kw generator.
Ellis said although the 80-kw generator would give
more capacity for the future, the 60-kw will work. It will
operate the complete lower end of the sheriffs department
building where the central communications system is lo
cated, he said.
With those two major expenditures, Cowan told com
missioners capital outlay for the new system is already
over the $108,000 budget, but he expects some money to
be left over from operational costs.
In other business, commissioners denied Maggie Hunt
a variance from the Mobile Home ordinance. Hunt had re
quested a variance after she failed to renew her license to
operate a mobile home park in the county, despite receiv
ing four written reminders. Hunt told commissioners she
simply forgot to renew the license this year.
Hunt'*-, mobile home park had been "grandfathered" in
when the ordinance was adopted. Her failure to renew her
license meant she either had to bring her park up to min
imum standards or seek a variance.
In other planning board matters, commissioners grap
pled with the issue of a conflict between what authority
has been granted to the recently formed Raeford/Hoke
Planning and Development Commission and what
authority the County Commission has retained for itself.
That matter came to a head when commissioners were
informed an item on their agenda regarding consideration
of final plat approval for the 0. L. Paul subdivision was
moot because the planning board had already approved the
request and the owner had recorded the property.
Billy Coxe, of the county inspection department, who
is also a member of the county subdivision committee,
said he had denied a request from 0. L. Paul but the joint
planning board recommended approval at its December
meeting.
(See COUNTY, page 10)
^ (see COUNTY, page 10)
Powell sworn in to office
Becomes state's first female district attorney
n mnUln/Y Kla,., Voor'c nTict hv memheTC nf the rVmrw-rtttir
In a history-making New Year's
Day ceremony in the Hoke County
Courthouse, Jean Powell was sworn
in as District Attorney of Hoke and
Scotland Counties.
Powell, elected last November to
a four-year term as the District At
torney of newly created Judicial Dis
trict 16 A, is the first female D. A.
in the stale.
The Courtroom was packed Sun
day as Superior Court Judge B. Craig
Ellis of Laurinburg opened the first
court session of the new judicial dis
trict for the 3 p.m. swearing-in cere
mony.
Powell was inuoduced to the court
by District Attorney Ed Grannis of
Cumberland County. He presented
her as "one of the most capable and
qualified prosecutors in the state of
North Carolina."
Powell has been an Assistant
District Attorney on Grannis's staff
since April 1978 and was assigned as
the full-time prosecutor in Hoke
County a few months later. She ran
unopposed for the new D. A. slot af
ter having been nominated for the
post by members of the Democratic
Party's District Executive Committee
in the two counties. She was also
endorsed by the Bar Associations of
both counties.
Powell has been second in senior
ity on Grannis's staff, after Assistant
D. A. John Dickson. Her primary
responsibility in Hoke County has
been to prosecute cases in criminal
court, on both the District and Supe
rior Court levels. She also prosecutes
cases in Juvenile Court.
After being sworn in by Ellis on
Sunday, Powell said "It is a uemen-
dous honor to be allowed to serve the
people of Hoke and Scotland."
She then introduced to the court
Mike Schmidt, also an Assistant D.
A. on Grannis' staff. Schmidt was
sworn in by Ellis as Powell's Assis
tant.
Powell, who selected Schmidt to
be her assistant, said he has had a lot
of prosecuting experience, particu
larly in trying drug cases in Superior
Court in Cumberland County. She
described him as "a man of high ide
als and a true gentleman."
f " 1 '
.j
! J
Jean Powell-sworn in
After the two had taken the oath
of office. Judge Ellis told the assem
bled crowd, "This is a special day in
Hoke County, Scotland County and
the state of North Carolina." The
ceremony was followed by a recep
tion in the Courthouse lobby.
Around
Town
by Sam C. Morris
The weather over the New Year's
weekend was wet. According to one
person I talked with during the
weekend we had over two inches of
rain last week. Most of the time,
when it is not a growing season, we
don't realize when it is dry.
The weather Monday was cold
and the temperature stayed in the 40s
all day. The forecast had called for
temperatures in the 60s.
The forecast is for cold weather
Wednesday and Thursday with highs
in the high 30s and low 40s. The
lows will be in the 20s. It will get
into the 50s by the weekend.
* * *
Last week I found a note on my
desk that stated that Charles Landon
Yarborough had been by the office to
see me and said to tell me hello. I
hate I missed Landon. He lived here
for many years and finished high
school here. Landon now lives in
Louisville, Ky and has published
music over the past few years.
« « «
This writer had hard feelings
toward Senator David Parnell when
he voted to move Hoke County out
of the Hoke-Cumberland judicial
district. Of course he gave excuses,
but they never did satisfy me.
Recently 1 read a letter in a daily
newspaper written by Senator
Parnell on the subject of the Hatcher-
Jacobs affair in Robeson County. He
stated that he had lived in that coun
ty all his life and hadn't seen all the
corruption that newspapers were
allegedly playing up over the state
by quoting Eddie Hatcher.
I admire David Parnell for his let
ter and I see, in him again, the man
that I have supported for many years.
It is hard to keep the good in a man,
even if it might cost him a seat in the
General Assembly.
Thanks David, you made a big
step in making 1989 a happy one.
4t «
A man who worked here at The
News-Journal many years ago
passed away last weekend. Bill
McFadyen sold advertisements for
awhile before he went to Raleigh to
work. He was in Raleigh when he
got to the point where he was unable
to continue to work.
(See AROUND, page 10)