The
ews
Journal
The Sth issue of our 84th year
RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA
25 CENTS
Wednesday, May 13,1992
Last jurors picked for Morston murder trial
Lawyers finished picking jurors Tuesday for
the trial of Kerry Morston, accused of murdering
Southern Pines drug detective Ed Harris in his
western Hoke home. The long-awaited trial will
start Thursday morning.
On Tuesday, Jean Powell, district attorney for
Hoke County, and Woodberry Bowen, Morston’s
lawyer, picked the two alternate jurors for the
trial, which is set to start Thursday morning.
Ed Harris was gunned down over a year ago in
the doorway of his Ashley Heights home.
Morston is one of nine Moore County men
charged in the murder.
Investigators believe Morston fired the shots
that killed Hairis; if found guilty, Morston would
face one of two sentences: life in prison, or death.
Morston is also accused of conspiracy in the
slaying along with eight other Moore County
men. Morston is further charged with attempted
murder and shooting into an occupied house.
Harris’ wife Judy and their son, Charles, were
also at home when Harris was shot. Judy Harris
suffered a gunshot wound in her hand.
John Gregory Chisolm, Terry Lee Evans,
Benjamin B. Jones, Bernice Hugh McDougald of
Aberdeen, Mitchel Evans McNeil, and Leroy
Medley Jr. are also charged with first degree
murder.
Two men — Timothy Darnell McKayhan and
Shannon Martel McKenzie — pled guilty in
April to the lesser charges of second degree
murder and conspiracy to commit Harris’ murder.
The two made a deal to testify against their
alleged co-conspirators in exchange for the lesser
charges; sentencing for McKayhan and
McKenzie will be delayed until after the trials of
the other men charged in the murder.
Fire breathing monster
Employees of Chesebrough-Pond’s Raeford plant practice putting out
burning propane Monday afternoon. People who live across S. Main Street
from the plant said they could feel the heat from the intense flames. The
practice session was supervised by Fayetteville’s Firefighters LP Gas
Mobile Training Unit and Terry Tapp, Raeford’s fire marshal. More photos
on page 9.
Crowder, Leach call for runoff
Four candidates for two County Com
missioner seats will face each other June 2
in a runoff primary.
Charles Crowder and James A. Leach,
the third- and fourth-highest vote getters in
last week’s primary election, both called
for the second primary.
Leach submitted a letter requesting the
June 2 primary to the county Board of
Elections Friday; Crowder turned his letter
in Monday.
Crowder and Leach will face Riley
Jordan and Jean Hodges, the top two vote
getters last Tuesday night.
Jordan received 1,183, just shy of the
1,248 votes — 20 percent of total votes
cast — needed to win the primary outright.
Hodges got 811 votes, Crowder got 758
and Leach had 731.
The seven remaining candidates who ran
for County Commissioner are out of the
race.
The June 2 Democratic primary will
decide who becomes Hoke’s two newest
commissioners because no Republicans ran
for the office.
Democrats who were registered before
April 6 may vote June 2.
The two seats came open as incumbents
Wyatt Upchurch and Neill McPhatter
decided not to run for office again.
Upchurch is the chairman of the board;
McPhatter is the vice-chairman.
Rockfish students will start at Upchurch
Students slated to attend the new
Rockfish Elementary School will go
to Upchurch School in Raeford in
August.
That’s because school officials
don’t expect Rockfish School to be
finished before December.
The School Board voted as one
last night to send those students to
Upchurch, which has been empty
since middle school students and
teachers moved to the new East Hoke
Middle School when it opened in
January.
Superintendent Bill Harrison said
he expects to be able to use 16 to 18
classrooms at Upchurch with little
renovation.
The alternative, he said, was to
crowd Scurlock Elementary School
—which is already overflow! ng wi th
students — even more.
“If we didn ’t have any growth, we
would be opening with 28 to 29
children in a class,” said Harrison,
“and that’s not the right thing to do
for the children.”
(See SCHOOLS, page 5)
Upchurch chosen
’91 Man of the Year
The Raeford Kiwanis Club pre
sented businessman and Hoke Com
mission Chairman Wyatt G.
Upchurch with its Citizenship Man
of The Year award at the club’s an
nual Ladies’ Night banquet Thurs
day.
Upchurch, a Raeford resident
since 1953, was honored for his work
in business, local government and
civic affairs.
Club member Harold Gillis de
tailed Upchurch’s life and accom
plishments, and member Bobby
Conoly, last year’s recipient, pre
sented the award.
Upchurch, president of Tarheel
Turkey Hatchery, came to Raeford
as a grader for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture at Priebe Poultry. In
the 1960s he formed and co-owned
Upchurch Turkey Farms. The com
pany built a turkey hatchery on
Campbell Ave. In 1972 he purchased
the hatchery and formed Tarheel
Turkey Hatchery. Currently, the
company operates two hatcheries and
20 farms, and employs more than
250 people.
Upchurch has also held leader
ship positions in industry associa
tions including presidency of the
North Carolina and National turkey
federations. In his tenure as National
Federation president, he presented a
(See CITIZEN, page 12)
Deal brings
doctors here
Non-profit clinic to open
staffed by 4 or 5 doctors
A non-profit clinic, employing four or five doctors, will
soon replace the practice of long-time family doctor
Robert Townsend in Raeford.
With ties to a clinic and hospital in Fayetteville, Hoke County’s
Health Department and with non-profit foundation money to get it
off the ground, the clinic will be unique, said Barry Reed, Hoke’s
county manager.
A result of a doctor search started two years ago by county
commissioners, the unusual clinic is the brainchild of Dr. Harvey
Estes, who heads the Kate Reynolds Foundation.
The Kate Reynolds Foundation recruits doctors to work in poor
counties.
In 1990, Estes identified Hoke as one of the hardest hit in the
medical drought that poor, rural counties are experiencing.
Hoke doctors Townsend and Ramnik Zota are the only family
physicians in a county of 22,500.
“Dr. Estes and a whole bunch of people have designed this sort
of new — it’s never been tried before — practice,” said Barry
Reed, Hoke’s county manager.
“They believe that this is really a model for rural health care,”
Reed said of Estes’ group. “They’re confident that it’s going to
really solve our problems for years to come.”
A three-year, $600,000 grant will fund renovation and equip
ment for the community-owned building which now houses the
office of Robert Townsend, a long-established family doctor in
Raeford.
The grant will also pay part of the salaries for three doctors.
The county will chip in up to $50,0(X), much of which is already
in the Health Department budget, to pay for one of those doctors,
Reed said.
After the first year, though, most of the doctors are expected to
make enough money to pay their own salaries, Estes’ group main
tains, Reed said.
(See DOCTORS, page 9)
Assistant resigns; principal
likely to leave high school
Hoke High School may be losing its principal
and will lose one of its assistant princip^s.
Mitch Tyler, for two years the principal of Hoke
High, will be leaving to pursue a doctorate in
school administration, said Bill Harrison, superin
tendent of Hoke Schools.
“He received a fellowship at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill,” Harrison said.
Tyler learned last Wednesday the fellowship
had come through, Harrison said.
(See RESIGNS, page 4)
I
Mitch Tyler
Around Town
Upchurch, left, with presenter Bobby Conoly.
by Sam C. Moms
The cold weather did come in last
week, but it was colder than had been
forecast The highs were in the 50s for
a couple of days and with the wind
blowing the wind chill factor was in
the 30s. It seemed like February
weather rather than May. Wehad some
rain, somewhere between one inch to
one and a half inches in the county. It
helped, but we still need rain. The
temperatures warmed up over the
weekend and the highs on Monday
and Tuesday were in the 80s.
The forecast calls for the thermom
eter to continue to rise and it looks as
if the rain may miss us. The highs
Wednesday through Saturday will be
in the high 80s and the lows at night
will be in the 60s. This is the kind of
weather we are used to in May.
♦ ♦ ♦
The Raeford Kiwanis Club held its
annual Ladies Night last week. One of
the Items on the program was the
naming of the Citizen of the Year.
This year, the honor went to Wyatt
Upchurch. This is just one of the many
honors that Wyatt has received in the
past several years. After his heart by
pass surgery this year, he decided not
to run again for the Board of Commis
sioners.
Congratulations to Wyatt Upchurch
as the 1991 Citizen of the Year. His
many friends in the county thank him
for his service for the past few years.
* *
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day
and I think most people were aware of
this. I don’t believe as many people
wear red and white rose buds to sig-
(See AROUND, page 12)