The
ews
J oumal
The 51st issue of our 83rd year
RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA
25 CENTS
Wednesday, April 1,1992
Hoke taxpayers will be asked to pay more for social services
Hoke taxpayers will be asked to pay more for
public services at county budget time, says the
director of the Department of Social Services.
Bob Mercer said Monday he expects to ask for
about $1.43 million in county money, a 10
percent increase over last year that will mean
about five or six cents more on the tax rate.
Inflation is partly to blame, Mercer said. A
new agreement over a court ruling against the
state is another; the state itself is also to blame,
he said.
“The state is doing some good and bad and
ugly,” Mercer said.
For instance, he said, the state changed the
Medicare matching rate for counties from 5.003
percent to 5.067 percent.
“That... becomes significant when you start
talking about two million dollars,” Mercer said.
The county will pay $557,000 this year in
Medicaid compared to last year’s $443,000, he
said.
“I increased it a little over the state budget,”
Mercer explained, “because they always come
back around in May and say, ‘oops, we made a
mistake.’”
The state changed the rate at which Hoke will
pay for Aid to Families with Dependant Children
(AFDC), too, from 16.730 percent to 16.965
percent. With inflation, Mercer said, that will cost
the county an extra $33,000.
Perhaps the biggest kick to Hoke taxpayers, at
(See DSS, page 14)
1 McDougald Downs
2 Bayfield
3 Bet-Lee Pines
4 Wayside Park
5 Woodberry
6 Bilt-Well Homes
7 Black Branch
8 801 Housing
9 Maple Hills
10 Twelve Oaks
11 Homestead Land
and Timber Co.
Niew or fytyre development
in eastern Hoke County
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Pate: zoning sparks building boom
Hoke’s zoning law has spurred hous
ing development in eastern Hoke County.
That’s the assessment of Ann Pate,
chairman of the Planning Board.
Eastern Hoke County is the site for 11
housing subdivisions that have either
started or been planned by a mix of local
and Fayetteville developers in the last
three years, according to county records.
By far the largest of those planned
subdivisions is 801 Housing, which will
provide military families with 250 homes.
The nextlargest is McDougald Downs,
a neighborhood of double-wide mobile
homes nestled against Fort Bragg’s bor
der. Built in phases by Fayetteville devel
oper Dan Kinlaw, McDougald Downs
will eventually comprise 198 lots.
Local developer Steve Connell, along
with area investors, plans to build on 141
lots near McDougald Downs.
Next in size is Woodberry, well under
way with a total of 116 lots planned for
development. Fayetteville developer John
Koenig is building single-family brick
houses on the site.
Only three lots in the 41 -lot Black Branch
subdivision have been built; however, all
three are large, expensive homes, promis
ing a boost to the county’s tax base should
the subdivision take off
“About the time the ordinance was
adopted a lot of these developments sort of
took off,” Pate said yesterday.
Hoke’s county commissioners put zon
ing on the books October 1 last year.
“Some of the developers that would
come...might look elsewhere without it,”
she said.
The new county water system and current
widening of U.S. 401 to four lanes have also
been cited by county officials as sparking
the growth.
Pate says the list of new subdivisions
jives with the length of her board meetings,
which used to be over “just like that.” Now,
meetings last as late as 11 p.m., she said.
“I can see how our agendas have extended,”
she said.
Part of the reason Planning Board meet
ings run so long is the addition of public
hearings on zoning issues. Most of those
hearings, Pate said, are on zoning changes for
proposed housing subdivisions.
“Most of them are directly (related to)
requests for subdivision sketch reviews,” she
said.
Pate said zoning has been opposed by
some who thought, or found, it would hurt
them.
“There are those that resent zoning be
cause they think that it restricts,” she said.
But planning is necessary to good growth,
she said, and the recent spate of new develop
ments shows zoning works.
“Hoke County’s right at that point where
all those issues are becoming just that much
more important.”
(See DEVELOPMENT, page 14)
Cable TV rates to go up
Raeford cablcvision subscribers
will see their rates increase June 1.
Cablevision Industries (CVI) has
announced a rate increase to offset
the increases in “our single largest
operating expense—the cost of pro
gramming.”
General Manager Ted Crane cited
TV rights contracts, escalatingsports
salaries, big star guarantees and the
cost of live coverage of world news
events, such as the 1991 war in Iraq
as factors increasing the cost of pro
gramming.
“Sacrificing service in an effort to
contain costs is just not acceptable to
our customers or our company,” he
said.
On June 1 the cost of the Basic
Reception Service will increase from
$10.95 to $11.50. Full CVI Service
(basic reception service, plus ex
panded channels) will increase from
$18.95 to $20.95.
Crane says with the increase in
cost comes a new channel for sub
scribers to the Full CVI Service.
CNN Headline News will be
added to the lineup and will appear
on CVI Channel 32.
Crane says CVI will also improve
its service to customers with the ad
dition of a new computer billing sys
tem operated by a subsidiary of
American Express.
CVI last increased rates 20 per
cent in June, 1990, less than two
months after City Council renewed
the company’s franchise. CVI serves
Raeford and parts of Hoke County.
u.
Adding insult to injury
Not only did these folks have their day
injuries, but Monday’s rain made matters
Hwy. 401 Bypass.
Candidates
seek votes
at forum
H oke County voters got
the chance for a peek Monday
night at candidates in the up
coming primary May 5. But other than
the candidates themselves, few took the
opportunity.
The Raeford Woman’s Club sponsored
a “Meet the Candidates” forum 7 p.m. at
the Hoke County Library in Raeford. Although the conference room
was standing room only, most of the attendees seemed to be candi
dates, family and campaign managers.
Candidates were given just a few minutes to introduce themselves
to the crowd; each finished to rousing applause.
Candidates for county commissioner, which will be decided in the
primary because qply Democrats are running, were the first to speak.
Some spoke in favor of economic growth in the county.
Jean Hodges, president of a Fayetteville advertising agency, said
Hoke should meet incoming developers “with some controlled expan
sion of our own.”
Elizabeth Jones, who owns a ceramics shop in the county, said she
wants Hoke Countians to keep their money in the county.
She said she would like to see “closed stores open up here.”
Maggie Hunt of South Hoke simply said Hoke County needs more
jobs.
The county needs to find a way, she added, to generate revenue
without raising property taxes.
Les Sandy of Arabia said the key to Hoke’s economy is encourag
ing business and industry to grow and enforcing “environmental and
zoning regulations.”
Herman Sanders, a manager at Fayette ville ’s Kelly-Springfield tire
plant, cited his experience dealing with environmental and safety laws
and state regulators. “I would like to see large scale industry encour
aged to locate in Hoke County,” he said.
Charles Crowder, who owns an advertising firm in Raeford, said
elected and appointed boards should meet once or twice a year to set
common goals and make plans for up to 25 years in the future. “You
hear negative mess all over the place,” he said. “I love Hoke County.”
Riley Jordan, a physician and former School Board member,
decried all the bad news he has heard recently about the county.
“It’s becoming actually almost an embarrassment to me,” he said.
“We’ve been on a continual downgrade.”
He said he was concerned with Hoke’s “splintering” into various
factions.
Jimmy Morrisey, president of Hoke’s chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP),
attacked concerns he said some might have about bias in favor of
blacks.
“I’m looking at the total picture,” he said.
District attorney race
Both candidates for district attorney cited their many years of
courtroom experience.
Incumbent Jean Powell said she has essentially acted as Hoke’s
district attorney since 1978 when then-DA Ed Grannis assigned her
(See CANDIDATES, page 10)
Around Town
ruined by an auto accident with
worse. The accident happened on
The weather has been spring-like for
the past week. The daytime tempera
tures have been in the 50s and 60s and
the lows at night have been in the 40s
and 30s. The fieezing weather seems to
have run its course, but with Easter still
about three weeks away, we could still
have some freezing weather. The rain
Monday and Tuesday helped, but we
could use some more.
The forecast calls for the tempera
tures to be in the 60s or low 70s Wednes
day and Thursday and the lows w ill be in
the 50s. It will cool off Friday and Satur
day and the highs will be in the 50s and
the lows will be in the 30s. There is a
chance of rain on Friday.
* * *
Raz AuUy said last week that liis
peach crop was hurt more than he frrst
thought He said that the two cold nights
in succession, with temperatures in the
20s, did considerable damage to his early
peaches. If the weather remains about
freezing for the next two weeks, he thinks
the crop will be about normal. Let’s
hope so!
* « *
I found a note on my desk last week
that stated James Currie had been by the
office and that he said he was in India
during World War II. In talking to
James on Sunday, he said he was in
India in 1945 and that he didn’t care
anything about going back there.
So, to set the record straight D. B.
McFaydcn, Berder Niven, Bcrnie
Brisk) w, James Currie and the Rev. Tom
Groome were in India during World
War II. Maybe we will have someone
else by next week. Some folks who take
The News Journal are a couple of weeks
late in receiving the paper. Anyway it is
pleasing to know that people read this
column dnd that they will inform me of
errors and left out names in items. Con-
(See AROUND, page 14)