Parents arrested on abuse charges See page 9A Habitat holds second meeting See page 10A m m Where there's a will there's a way See page IB The No. 27 Vol. 88 Consortiiiin joins comity Group to help businesses B» Jen (Htx»m Assistant editor H oke Count) residents wishing to start or ex pand a small business now have a place to turn for technical assistance, professional serv ices and information. At Monda) night’s regular meeting ol the Hoke (’ount) Hoard of Commssioners. offi cials approv ed a request from the Southern Sandhills Micro- enterprise Loan Program (SSMl.P) to include ffoke (’ount) in Its sers ice area. What that means is local resi dents w ho w ant to take p.irt in the program no longer have to drive to MtHire, Montgomerv, Scot land or Richmond (’ount) and till progr.im can hold informa tional meeting- 'n (’ount) The program comes from a con- .sortium of the Small Business (’enter of Sandhills Community College, and Montgomery and Richmond Community College. Beth Henderson. South Sandhills Microcnterpri.sc Fund enterprise agent, siiid the SSMLP offers a peer-to-peer lending technique in which funds are made available through the North Carolina Rural Center by the (Jeneral As.sembly. .According to information from SSMLP. after attending an introductory meeting, those who wish to participate in the pro gram complete a mandatory six- session orientation that teaches gu ide I i nes of t he program as w el I as business training. During regu lar meetings the group members hear business plan presentations, select loan recipients, proce.ss loan payments and (St'e ( Ol /S'jy, pui’i’ 11 A) Shelnutt seeks coimnissioii seat Bj Jen (Kbum Assistant editor l ilitnr'-- Sow: The Sews- Journal is profiling eai h of the candidates for UhmI office. The senes has hi en on-^oin^for sev eral H eeks. This neek'sprofile is county commissioner candidate dene Shelnutt. For the past few years, (Jene Shelnutt said he and a few ac quaintances gather together and naturally end upon the subject of county government. Through the discussions, people quickly realized he had strong convictions about where things are and where things should be in county politics. “In December of last year I was asked to become a candidate because of my strong beliefs about how county government should run,” Shelnutt explained. He said he thought it was his duty as a citizen to step in and do what he can to enhance the stan dard of livingforeveryone in the county. So in May, Shelnutt y Gene Shelnutt joined nine other residents in the race for one of two open seats on the Hoke County Board of Com missioners. “I’m just a concerned citizen,” Shelnutt said and explained that he makes no promises to anyone but the local voters. “I’m not a (See SHELNUTT, page 7A) ews Journal If it happened, it's news to us* HOKE COUNTY 50 CENTS Wednesday, October 9, 1996 k:£=- Photo by Jen Osbom T wo separate accidents sent eight people to the hospital on Monday. Above, emergency medical personnel examine victims of a car accident on Scott Currie Road. Below, workers stabilize a man who was hurt in an early morning accident on Rockfish Road. Car wreck sends child to hospital By Jen Osbom Assistant editor Several people were injured Monday morning during ve hicle accidents caused when drivers failed to see oncoming cars or traffic signs, said Trooper J.D. Hoover of the N.C. Highway Patrol. At about 9:25 a.m. on Mon day, a two vehicle accident was reported at the intersec tions of King Road and Rock- fish Road. Hoover said a ve hicle operated by Rhoda Cantleberry, 20, of Fay etteville was traveling on King Road toward Rockfish Road. Apparently Cantleberry didn’t see a stop sign, ran through the intersection and her vehicle was hit by an oncoming car. (Cantleberry and two passen gers in her vehicle, Wes Sherman, 30, and 4-month-old Chance Sherman, both of Fayetteville, were all injured and transported to Cape Fear Valley Medical (Center for treatment. Flooversaid Phillip Mills, 48, of Lumber Bridge, a passenger in the sec ond car, was also taken to Cape Fear Valley for treatment to inju ries he received in the accident. (See ACCIDENTS, page llA) uiHlllANC I Photo by Kristin Guthrie —— THIS WEEK Accent IB Calendar 2B Classifieds 6B Deaths 3A Editorials 2A Legals 5B Social News.... 3B School News... 8A Around Town By Sam C. Morris Contributing editor The fall weathercontinuesand it has been cold early in the morn ings. We haven’t had any frost, but it could come at any time. As I write this column Monday af ternoon, the weather forecasters called for a heavy rain Tuesday. There is a tropical storm coming up from Florida. We don’t need anymore rain in North (Carolina. The forecast for the remain der of the week, Wednesday through Saturday, calls for the highs to be around 70 degrees and the lows will be in the 40s and 50s. Maybe we will be dry after Wednesday. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Caroline Shook, clerk to the Hoke (County Board of Elections, brought me the ballots Monday for the election in November. 1 didn’t count them, but there were a handful of yellow sheets. She said that all these would be on the voting machines but it is good to see what you must face when you go behind the curtain. 1 hope that she will have the number of registered voters by next week. The deadline to reg ister is Friday, Oct. 11. (See AROUND, page 5A) Registration deadline nears By Jen Osbom Assistant editor Citizens still have a few more days to register to vote, accord ing to information from the board of elections office. Caroline Shook, clerk to the board of elections, said Friday at 5 p.m. is the deadline to register for anyone who wants to vote in the upcoming Nov. 5 general election. Those with mail-in reg istrations must have them post marked on Friday'. Shook said local residents can register at several places in the county including the board of elections office in the Pratt Build ing; the Hoke County Public Li brary; while doing business at the department of motor vehicles, the department of social services, the economic security commis sion office (job service), the health department. Sandhills Mental Health Clinic and ADAP; through armed forces recruiters or at Hoke County High School. It’s not necessary to register in the precinct in which you live and a person can go to any site to register in the county. On Tuesday, Nov. 5, polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. To cast a ballot local voters must vote at the designated loca tion for their precinct, which are listed below: Allendale, Allendale Cbmmu- nity House, Old Wire Road; Antioch, Antioch Fire Depart ment, Highway 211 East; Blue Springs, South Hoke Gymna sium, Old Maxton Road; Buchan, Pine Hill Fire Department, Ashemont and Calloway inter section; McCain, Shiloh Presby terian Church, Highway 211 West; Puppy Creek, Puppy Creek Fire Department, North Pittman Grove Church Road; Raeford #1, Hoke (bounty Public Library, 334 (See ELECTION, page 7A)