Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / Aug. 5, 1992, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The ews Journal The 17th issue of our 84th year RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA 25 CENTS Wednesday, August 5,1992 County planning to revamp public transportation system It won’t be so hard for the needy to get around the county anymore. At least not once the county wide transportation system is implemented. The system, approved Monday at the County Commissioners’ meeting, will expand transporta tion services already offered by many county agencies. The director of the Department of Social Services, Bob Mercer, said the interagency network would better use county funds by pro viding consistent transportation for the needy without agency overlap. “We could spread our resources to a larger part of the population,’’ he said. “We would take money that we already have out there, put it in the same pot, and spread it among more people in the county.” County Manager Barry Reed said currently, transportation services in the county receive 90 percent their funding from state and federal sources. The agencies’ collaboration, he said, could potentially save the county money. Ini tially, the system will operate on a break-even basis. “We’ll spend the same amount of money and provide more services,” he said. And savings are on everyone’s minds. “From a DSS perspective, transportation is close to the third largest item in our budget,” he said. “We need to look at this and look at alterna tive methods to decrease costs or hold them so (See TRANSPORTATION, page 5) I M'l Too much fun These Hoke County 4-H campers reached the end of the day and the end of their ropes — they're just too tired to have any more fun. AshleyAtkinson (left to right), Patricg Peatherstone, Melissa Godwin, TriciaSubocran and Tora Watkins were at Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Camp near Reidsville. Questionable taps prompt erackdown Change in 801 project proposed Fort Bragg officials say they are showing more consideration for Army junior enlisted personnel by altering the original plan for the 801 housing unit in Hoke County. Mike Ackerman, director of hous ing at Fort Bragg, said his department submitted a proposal to change the rank of tenants from pay grades El through E9 to E4 and higher. The reallocation, Ackerman said, stems from a concern for the junior enlisted person’s ability to make the commute to the base without leaving family members without transporta tion. “We’re more concerned about the junior enlisted that maybe only have one car,” he said. The 250-unit site of two- and four- bedroom houses is located off Rock- fish road in the eastern part of the county. “The new proposal hasn’t been ap proved yet,” Ackerman said. “I think it’s feasible.” And so do county officials. “The higher the disposable income, the more potential money is spent locally,” County Manager Barry Reed said. The 801 project, still under construc tion, recently posted a $661,843 bond for road improvements in the area. “It’s a way to speed up the process, as allowed by our subdivision regulations,” Reed said. R aeford’s city manager will act as a watchdog for water and sewer tap violations as he tight ens supervision of lax enforcement. In a memo issued Tuesday, City Man ager Tom Phillips said no violations of city ordinances regarding water and sewer taps will be permitted. Also, he said, the utilities director and his subordinates are not authorized to make any taps/connections or turn water on without proper payment of fees and possession of a bonafide work order is sued by the Water/Sewer Administra tion. Tap dance The more stringent review of city ordi nances results from recent confusion over sewer and water taps involving the city utilities director, Utilities Director Jerry Jackson placed an unauthorized sewer tap last year on property he co-owns with Frankie Gil bert, said city and county officials. The problem surfaced in July when Jackson and Gilbert requested the prop erty on the comer of Rockfish Road and U.S. 401 business to be annexed by the city. The pair said they wanted police pro tection for the property they planned to develop into a convenience store, laundromat and car wash. But their plans stalled as the city re fused their requestandreprimanded Jack- son for the tap. The city declined to specify what disciplinary actions were taken be cause of employee confidentiality rules. Jackson said County Manager Barry Reed gave approval for the pressurized tap. Reed said he told Gilbert he would discuss the possibility for a tap with engi neers, but no action would be taken yet. However the Gilbert-Jackson contrac tors, Me AithurConstruction of Red Springs, placed a tap on the property. Then some conflict arose over who would pay the price for the tap when a letter from the contractor addressed to the county man ager surfaced. The letter, dated July 24, states: “Mr. Jackson called John McArthur and in- stmeted McArthur Construction to install 4” sewer service and submit bill to the Town of Raeford.” The letter then says the bill was returned and the company was instmeted to forward it to Frankie Gilbert. McArthur said he did not know who returned the bill, but the second bill, dated November 11,1991 was mailed to Frankie Gilbert, who paid it December 9,1991. Jackson said he did not tell McArthur to bill the city for his sewer tap. “I told him he’d have to bill Frankie Gilbert,” Jackson said. “He sent Frankie a bill and he paid it. The sewer line — the sewer tap were handled above board. The city manager didn’ t have a problem with it. I don’t know why it has come down like it has.” ‘Too much to lose’ Jackson said his billing the city for such a service would be “crazy.” “I’ve got too much to lose.” City Manager Tom Phillips said the city has no record of a bill from McArthur. ‘To the best of my knowledge it has not come to the city,” he said. McArthur insists his letter states every thing “exactly” as it occurred. (See TAPS, page 5) k £ ..//I / Stuffed turkey? Promoting Festival "Get Stuffed" nnemorabilia: Which is the stuffed turkey? Bobby Averitte? Victoria Lynch? orhergrandmother, Pat Swindell? Turkey deadline approaches The annual N.C. Turkey Festi val is set to kick off September 17, and organizers said deadlines for booth and parade entry soon ap proach. Turkey Festival organizer Jackie Lynch said some food and craft booth slots remain unfilled, so those interested should apply as soon as possible before Sep tember 1. A tradition of the area, it will have new additions to the agenda this year. Some of the highlights are: •Hot air balloon rides. For $10 per person you can get a birdseye view of festivities. The rides, courtesy of Bungee Masters Inc. of Fayetteville, are for all ages (with proper supervi sion). •Local rap group UAP (unau thorized personnel). The youth group will bop crowds to anti drug and AIDS awareness lyrics. •Flimsy the Clown. He dances, he wriggles and he’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. •Reggae Mon. Reggae group Artists Awareness Ensemble, popular on the college circuiL will sway the audience to an island (See TURKEY, page 4) Hoke landowners eye Pope project Air Force officials began a pre liminary search for a site for a pro posed military family housing com plex last week. In a meeting held last Thursday, representatives from Pope Air Force Base, the surrounding counties and interested sellers met to discuss the hunt for land tracts. Pope representatives said they plan to review land offers from prop- Dial charged with shooting Former owner of Cousins’ Night club, Elisha Dial, was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle following a skirmish at a neighbors’ home. Dial alledgedly shot into the car of John Paul Bullard, according to Sheriffs reports. Det. Bobby Conerly said Bullard and his mother drove to the home of Sabrina Carter to visit his children. Carter’s brother Abner and Bullard got into a fight, and alledgedly Bullard stabbed him. When Dial heard of the distur bance, Conerly said, he came to the Carter yard and alledgedly fired into the car, wounding Bullard in the foot. Bullard was also charged. Church robbers on spree Great Hope Baptist Church on (See CRIME, page 5) erty owners within a 30 mile radius or 60 minutes driving time of the base, located on the outskirts of Fayetteville. Tentatively Pope plans to con struct 600 units of Air Force family housing in 1995 or later. According to an information packet distributed at the meeting, landowners have until August 14 to make submittals. Landowners must include a site map or sketch plan showing bound aries, size, location of access, zoning designation, location of water and sewer lines, location of schools and recreation, among other require ments. But Hoke officials say there’s more to the situation than just buy ing land. (See POPE, page 4) ArouneJ Town By Sam C. Morris It took longer for the cool weather to arrive than had been forecast. Sun day and Monday the temperatures were in the 80s and the lows were in the 60s. The rains on Friday, Satur day and Sunday totaled about 1/2 inch. We need more rain, but we missed it Monday, although the day was cloudy during the morning hours. Once again the weather forecast ers are calling for cool weather. The highs Wednesday through Saturday will be in the 80s and the lows will be in the low 70s and high 60s. There is a chance of rain any day, but Friday and Saturday are the best days. The Republican Convention is still a couple of weeks away and all you can read and hear is that some of the Republicans want to drop President George Bush and the Vice-President off the ticket If tJiis should happen it would be the first time I can remem ber the president not given a chance for a second term. I still think that if the economy picks up and the foreign policy re mains strong that Bush will be hard to beat. It is still a long time until November. Don’t forget that the deadline for an ad in this year’s Turkey Festival is noon Monday, August 10. The tab will appear in the issue of The News- Journal on Sept. 9. Call Tammy Ellis at 875-2121 if you need assistance in placing an ad. The News-Journal is doing some thing new this year that I think will be of benefit to both the parents of school children and the people that operate our schools. The new thing is a tabloid that will be published before school opens. The tabloid will have information about each school, the pri hcipals and teachers.This will include what they teach and where. (See AROUND, page 4 )
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 5, 1992, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75