Police seek missing man
&
5ee page 8A
Hoke Library remains
without needed staff
5ee page 5 A
Fort Bragg soldier
arrested for abuse
See page 10A
The
ews
Journal
No. 48 Vol. 87
'If it happened, it's news to us*
HOKE COUNTY 50 CENTS
Wednesday, March 6, 1996
Hoke heroes to carry Olympic torch
By Jen Osborn
Staff writer
When the Olympic flame for I he IWh
Olympic Games makes its way from
Olympia, Greece to Atlanta, (Jeorgia, it
will travel nearly 15,()(K) miles by run
ner, bicycle, horseback, boat, plane and
a 19-car train. It will make its way sia
three Hoke County residents and one
former citizen.
To help transport the flame, the At
lanta Committee for the Olympic (iames
(ACOG) has notilied •'.'siHi pti'pli n.i
tionwide iiKludmi' tline Im.il nun
of their st kition to t* po si nt
America's ■'( ommiinits Ikrois” as
torchbearers111 till l‘*‘V'( )|\mpu luuh
Relay.
HobCoiu rK lim( iii O'-ami I liiiil. i
Hirckhead, all Hoke ( oiiiii\ UMikiits
each were sell I. li d In oiii ■! I I'liii/m
e\ alualioii p.iiu K ii r p lit I loki
Counti. North ( itoliii. .1 li iii.'Uii
tr\ In earn me Itu loii'1 t .inmiinit\
Heroes Jninitir \1ort > uv J to
li\e and work m Iloke County and who
IS now Command Operations Chief for
the foreh Relas, also will be able to
t,irr\ the Ohmpie Marne as a member
ol the Iorih Relay Team.
I he lour wen chosen when the
\( (Xi.md local I'niled Wayorgani/a-
lionsiondin.lid a nationwide search tor
[Hople who make significant contribu
tions to others through volunteer work
.indionimunity leadership.by perform
ing aits ot generosity and kindness and
olber leals
By writing a l(N)-word description
about the qualities of the person. Com
munity Heroes w'cre nominated in a
national ratio of seven entries for every
one torchbearer spot awarded.
“'I he quality of all the people who
were nominated as heroes is ever so
impressive," said Billy Payne, presi
dent and Cl Oof ACOG. "'Fhese torch-
bearers represent what is best about
America and are exemplary models of
the many heroes who everyday make
significant sacrifices in serving others
in society.”
Forester chosen
Birckhead, the assistant regional for
ester in Hoke County, said being se
lected as a torchbearer is one of the most
exciting things toever happened to him.
“What an honor,' he said. “I’m
thrilled. To think that all the world’s
greatest athletes will compete under that
flame and I gof to help carry it..."’
Birckhead. who grew up in the ath-
(See HhRObS, page lOA)
I’liuiii hi Knslin (lulhnr
House fire
Firefighters spray the remains of a building on Sunset Drive ttiat cninjtii on fire Monday afternoon The fire completely destroyed the
structure. See page 9A for other fires in the county this week
Petition
drive half
complete
lt> jrn (bt»>m
Siaft writer
S upporters ol putting a
mixed drink referendum
on the ballot say they 're
about ti.ilf-wav to gathering the
nearly 4,101 signatures they'll
need lotoree a county -w ide vote.
Bob \',iimhn, :t member of the
Citi/ens tor the Right to Vote
lor or Against liquor By the
Drink, said a pig picking and
sign up event on Saturday
brought approximately 4(MI to
5IH) more signatures from Hoke
residents who want a chance to
vote on the issue. Several more
citi/ens also registered to vole at
the same time.
Other events, like hav ing sup
porters stand with petitions in
Iront of Bo’s and I'ood Lion, as
well as posting petitions in other
local businesses have brought in
numerous signatures, Vaughn
said.
As of Monday, only one sign
up sheet had been turned into the
election office, according to
Caroline Shook, clerk to the
board of elections. The nearly
8(Hf signatures on the sheet
haven't been verified yet, she
said.
Vaughn explained that al
though several more sign-up
sheets have been filled, they
aren’t being turned in until new
v oters can be registered with the
county. That way, he said, there’s
less chance of names being re
jected when the signatures are
verified.
■‘What we've been doing is
iSee LIQUOR, page 7A)
City tables annexation
Council plans lo study damage
to Northwest Water (Company
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
Raeford City Council members
voted unanimously to postpone
the decision of annexing more
property into the city limits at their
regular meeting Monday night.
Council member Earl
McDuffie led this decision with
a motion to “delay any aiiiiix
ation action until we (the coun
cil) look into the Norlhwesl Wa
ter System.”
Thewater system is presently
servicing the area currently be
ing considered for annexing as
well as the Silver Hill area.
" I he lost may be loo exces
sive lor the city to begin servic
ing till- pioposed annexation
aie.i, ” said Bhillips, “ faking the
business away from this small
company may cause financial
Iroulile."
('ouiicil members plan lo in
vestigate these cost issues before
going lorth with the annexation
issue.
The city plans lo annex sev-
(See CITY, page I2A)
—
THIS WEEK
Accent
IB
Calendar
2B
Classifieds
8B
Deaths
8A
Editorials
2A
Legals
7B
School News...
6A
Social News....
3B
Around Town
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing editor
The colder weather came in
over the weekend. It was not as
cold as the snowy weekend, but
the wind seemed to be of ice. It
warmed up the first of the week
with the highs in the 7()s and the
lows in the 4()s.
The forecast calls tor cooler
weather this coming weekend.
Wednesday the high will be in
the 70s and low in the 5()s. Thurs
day the high will be in the 6()s
and the low in the 5()s. On Friday
the high will be in the 50s and the
low in the 40s. Saturday we will
see the high in the 40s and 50s
and the low in the 3()s or 40s.
There is a chance of rain on
Wednesday and Thursday.
It is only a couple of weeks
until spring, so we can look for
both cool and warm tempera
tures for awhile.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
More and more posters are
being put up by candidates run
ning for office. It won’t be long
before you will be getting all
types of mail from the office
seekers. I just hope that what the
candidates promise will come to
pass after they are elected.
(See AROUND, page 12A)
Photos by Jen Osborn
Spring’s first
blossoms
’ While the cold weather is set to
begin again in earnest tomorrow,
with temperatures in the 30’s, this
Bradford pear tree burst into bloom
with the warmer temperatures last
week. The brief glimpse of spring
won’t last, but in a few weeks, the
cold weather will be gone for good