2A THE NEWS-JOURNAL
Rieford, N.C.
October 9, 1996
Viewpoints
World has changed
since good old days
It was a happy week.
Forbes Magazine included in
this issue the list of the world’s
richest people. I felt slighted —
there wasn’t a peach grower in the
crowd. When those who work on
such things got to $800 million
they cut off the list. Our folks are
a little below that figure. Some
people know how to make money,
others know how to spend it, yet
no one has figured out how to take
it with them. However, the friendly
“undertaker” is working on it. My
generation started their journey
through life as poor as Job’s tur
key. When they got a chance to
leave the house of poverty, they
did so. Some of them have done
pretty well. Most have enjoyed a
life better than they started out
with. All of us valued a dollar
when we were growing up; al
though we were grown when we
saw one. Our homes weren’t plush,
but we knew what morality meant
and manners were taught along
with reading, writing and arith
metic. I wasn’t quite as bad off as
the fellow who said he lived so far
back in the country that they hunted
toward town. He said his mother
took in washing - and they kept it.
Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a
world of political advertising
r • A View from
the Country
Raz Autry
where one’s opponent says, “You
know he is a nice person, he has
done a good job; however, I have
some different ideas and I would
like to try them, please vote for
me.
Never in this world will we see
such an endorsement. If people
listen closely to what is said about
opponents, they would think they
had been voting for the devil. They
call each other liars and cheats.
Not once have we been blessed
with one of those running for of
fice to accuse the opposition of
having religion. Our language has
changed a lot, but as to speaking
well about the other candidates,
nothing has changed a lot in poli
tics. In the turn of the century, it
was reported that a group of men
were sitting around the lobby of a
hotel, just shooting the breeze
when the subject turned to poli
tics. One of the men who was a
known Democrat turned to an
other who was a member of the
opposite party. “Who are you Re-
Letters
Woman sends thanks
for credit denial
To the Editor;
An article on the front page of
The News-Journal for Sept. 25
prompted me to write.
The article, by Jen Osborn, told
of two residents of Lantern Lane
Apartments who were arrested and
charged with dealing, manufac
turing and maintaining a drug
dwelling, while living in their Lan
tern Lane apartment.
I would like to publically thank
the resident manager at Lantern
Lane Apartments. She recently
denied my application for hous
ing. Being a single parent of teen
agers, I realize now what a favor
she did for me, and how truly
grateful I am to her.
I was denied because I have a
poor credit record - which by the
way, I gave a copy of it to Thomas
when I applied. Long-deferred stu
dent loans cover two long pages.
Divorced 10 years ago, I worked
very hard for, and received my
bachelor’s degree in 1991^ I was
thinking the world would then be
mine on a silver platter. Reality set
in. I got a job working for a non
profit organization ( no money
there), and was supporting three
children with no financial support
at all from their father.
When rent, food, clothes and
medical care are top priorities,
paying back student loans kind of
falls by the wayside.
Oh, I tried. I deferred and de
ferred until I could no longer de
fer. I tried to consolidate; I tried to
publicans going to nominate for
President?”
“Theodore Roosevelt, I hope,”
was his reply.
A Republican friend who was
an admirer of Mr. Taft, turned to
him and said, “Why do you want
Roosevelt?”
“1 think Mr. Roosevelt is the
biggest man in the country, in fact
I would go further, 1 think he is the
biggest man in the world.”
“Well, with an endorsement like
that I expect you think he is the
biggest man who ever lived."
Getting a little hot under the
collar, he replied, “There were few
in history who were any greater,
barring, of course, the Savior.”
“Do you think he is a greater
man than Moses was?”
“I don’t know that I would say
that, Moses was a wonderful
leader.”
At that point another man in the
crowd spoke up. “1 don’t know if
Teddy is a greater man than Moses,
but I’ll bet one thing — If Teddy
had been leading the children of
Israel I’ll be durned if it would
have taken ‘em 40 years to get out
of the wilderness.” Enough said.
My parting thought — When a
man gets too old to set a bad ex
ample, he starts giving advice.
work with Consumer Credit Coun
seling. But even with their help I
would have had to pay over $800
monthly on one loan payment.
And, that amount was about 80
percent of my take home pay at the
time.
So, yes, 1 had bad credit. Not
only did 1 tell her, but I gave her a
copy of the credit report. When I
received hercertified letter inform
ing me that I had been denied, 1
almost laughed. I had already
found a nice place to live, with an
understanding landlord.
I just had to publically thank
the manager, after reading that ar
ticle, for denying my children and
myself a home at Lantern Lane
Apartments.
Sincerely,
Lola A. Smith
Raeford
Voters rieed to get ready
It is time to get ready — now.
How do I talk about this subject
without seeming patronizing?
How can 1 keep what I want to say
from sounding like platitudes?
1 don’t think I can. But I am
going to have my say anyway.
It is less than a month from
Election Day — November 5, just
a few days after Halloween. We
are probably better prepared to
deal with our “trick or treat” re
sponsibilities on October 31 than
we are to vote the following week.
We usually postpone until the
last minute the task of preparing to
vote, don’t we?
Sometimes we are totally un
prepared. We get to the polling
booth and face a long ballot listing
of names we don’t recognize.
What do you do then? Close
your eyes and pick candidates at
random? Pick names that sound
right to you? Ask for immediate
divine guidance? Flip a coin? Pass
by the chance to vote on those
races that you are not sure about?
Whatever your answer, will you
join me in confessing that I am not
proud of the way I have made
some last minute voting decisions?
Innextmonth’selection we will
have a long list of decisions to
make. Bonds, constitutional
changej^jjUjggj^omrn issioners,
St
ibai
booth this time^
We often say that it is our duty
as a citizen to vote. But merely
voting is not enough. Our duty is
to cast informed, reasonable, and
thoughtful votes.
One on One
D. G. Martin
Agree? Want a simple plan to
be better prepared? Here is some
help.
Check List For Preparing To
Vote — The Basics:
1. Decide to vote. Mark No
vembers on your calendar. If you
are going to be away, make ar
rangements to vote by absentee
ballot now. Think about the time it
'N'ill be convenient to go to the
polls and write that time on your
pchedule. Do it now.
■ 2. Get a copy of the ballot or
ballots. If the ballot is not avail
able yet, get a list of candidates to
use until you can get a sample
ballot. Look it over. Put a copy on
the bulletin board.
You probably know how you
are going to vote on the high pro
file races — president and senator
for instance. Mark them off. Then,
note those contests on which you
are undecided — and where you
don’t even recognize the names of
the candidates. Go over the ballot
sion — at least a tentative one —
on every race.
3. Get a big envelope. Put it on
your bulletin board under the bal
lot or candidate list. Tear out news
articles and editorials from the
newspapers and save them in the
envelope. Gather and save other
material about the candidates and
issues and save them in the enve
lope for reference. Make and save
notes when you hear comments
from people you respect. Keep
adding to the envelope and refer to
it as you narrow your choices.
4. Ask for help. Talk to people
who know more than you do. Ask
them for their recommendations.
Ask them why. Even if you don’t
agree with them, they will help
you move towards your own deci
sion.
5. Set a deadline. Resolve to
have your decisions made — at
least tentatively by a week before
the election. If you do, you will
enjoy the last week of frenzied
campaigning. Fully informed and
mind made up, you’ll know what
everyone is talking about. (There
is nothing, of course, to keep you
from changing your mind during
the last week.)
As good citizens, there is much
more we should be doing to sup
port the election process. Helping
good candidates with time and
money is just an example.
But casting informed votes on
Election Day is a good start—and
our basic duty.
Election Day should be our
utcome, as long as
we have the election days where
real decisions are made, we will
all be winners.
And it will be an even better
day for you and me if we start
getting ready now!
m ECOMONW KEEPS
GETTING &ETTER.
UNEMPLOmm FIGURES I
KEEP GETTING BETTER.
WNGEGROWTHSIMISTICS
KEEP GETTING GETTER.
INFLKTIONNEWSKEEPS MAEWCKSMOOD KEEPS
GEHING better. 11 GEUING BETTER
KK, COULD THINGS BE ,
GEniNGNiYVfORSE?!
This year’s ballot is hill
RALEIGH —With Bob Dole.
Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt all
looking unbeatable in North
Carolina, voters might not think
that there’s much reason to go to
the polls on Nov. 5. rhe\ should
think again.
The l‘>96 North Carolina bal
lot has five measures of major
importance to voters, measures
that might be more pertinent to
our e\eryda\ lives, and more
crucial to the state’s long-term
governance, than any indie idual
politicians.
Foremost on the ballot are two
bond referenda. They are sepa
rate and voters can choose to
vote for both, against both or for
one and against the other I he
first would provide lor $1 N bd
lion in school construction bonds
and the other tor $95(1 million m
highway bonds
The schotil bonds are designed
to help reliesc some $b billion-
plus in demonstrated schtuil e api
tal needs. While the state is not
generally responsible lor school
construction - that is a local
responsibility — the bonds are
being proposed because the task
is too big for local districts
If the bonds pa.ss. school dis
trictswillget ashareof the funds
based on the wealth of the dis
trict, average daily school popu
lation, and rate of growth of the
school population.
The highway bonds are de
signed to move a number of high
way projects up on the current
construction schedule. Propo
nents of the bonds say that ac
celeration will save the stale
money while opponents say it
will cost money.
If the bonds pass, urban loops
and unpaved roads will be the
two most visible construction
projects.
Three constitutional amend
ments are also proposed.
The most visible will be gu
bernatorial veto. North Carolina
is the only stale that does not
allow its governor some form of
veto, although some other states
have a very restricted veto.
If the veto is approved, the
next governor can begin to use it
when the legislative session
opens in January. Vetoes will
require a two-thirds override.
The second amendment would
give crime victims a constitu
tional right to “participate” in
the judicial system. If it passes,
crime victims would most likely
be able to demand that they be
included in the prosecution of
cases and in the granting of pro
bation and parole.
The third amendment allows
judges to sentence convicted
criminals to a list of alternative
punishments, including commu
nity' service. This was a much
more crucial issue when the state
had a prison backlog and defen
dants, reportedly, were refusing
to serve probation and taking
active prison time instead. They
reasoned that they’d be paroled
in a matter of days under the
Watch iim
Paul I. O ( onniir
prison c.ip I hat i .ip is ;oiu' now,
there's room in prison md siim
lured senteneingoffers,I far less
.illraeliNc prison .illcrnalue to
proh.iiion
So. i\in it sou believe the
polls .iiul think Ih.it vour c.mdi-
dalts h.ive no ehante (»t win
ning. or that Ihev ,ire shoo-ins.
there’s pitniv of re.rsons to vote
Si hools. (uisoris. \ eto I h.it's.in
impressive I l•'ellon l)av menu
The INeWS
-Journal
Piihlivherl everv VVedni'sdav t»>
Ditksiin Pri's. Ini.. Paul Diik'on Pits.
119 \N. HwikkI \i(true .
\ Kacfiitd. North ( anilina 2X376 {pKhud nfirnl
i9|OiX'.5-2i:i [^SOVINK ,
( all tor fas niinihi-i
Hiimi-Pagi; http; mw" Vioa>-ldlnt l.iom i nnuxlia fJipost dpress.htnd
I'-niail. njoumal o loiislulnfl.ioni
n|oui rial " uiil.ioin
SiihsiIiption Kali'S lit Xilvunit’
In Hoke ( ounli; 514 one veili $X sis months
Out of loonlv: sf oni iur 59.5(1 six months
Out of stall; s2ll oiii->r,ii $11 six months
I anils M. fogitman. Jr Publisher
ken M.iiDonalit (.eneral .Manager
\iiix K. ( larkson Kdiliir
Jen Osborn Assistant Ldilor
Kiistin (lUthrie Kepoiier
Henry L, Blue Pioiluilion Supersivir
Sam ( . Moiris ( iintribiiting F'dilur
Susan Slauffer . Advertising Sales Manager
Kim Melliin Advertising Kepresenlative
Posim.isler;
Send addrt'ss changes to:
P.O. Bos 55(1
Kaefurd, N.( . 2X376
Periodical Postage at KacTurd, N.C’.
(t SPS3Mt-260)
The NewS'Journal is sold at these locations:
Bo
M. o\
* ■ No'd'UiRd Rockfish
Colt- Eftc p
Hwy 211 East
Wjigon Wh«l Rest
509H,itn>
Trading Post
Hwy 211 East
401 Shop N Save
Hunr. cod J01
.>(iuth Hoke Cuter
Old Maxion Rd
Short Slop #14
401 & Palii'cr
David'.»2
745 S Mam SI
Revco
401 Byp*"'.
David s #8
N Fulton St.
Food S Stop
W Prospect Ave
Wayside BP
Hwy 401 N
Fast Shop
W Prospect Ave
Bowmore Store
Hwy 401 South
David s #4
Hwy 211 West
Home Food Supermarket Mam St
Tucker's Grocery
E 7lh Ave
MePhatter s 401 & N Mam Ext
Poco
N Mam St
Aventte's . .
.. Central Ave
Daniels' Exxon
E Central Ave
WW Seafood
Hwy, 401 S
Edinborough Rest
S Mam St
Howell Drug
. Main St
Twins Country Marl
Arabia
Daniels' BP
401 Bypass
The News-Journal .
119 W El wood
Community Grocery ..
Five Points
Matt's Pic Kwik
. E Central Ave
Parks Grocer;
McCain
J&L Clover.... Scurlock School Rd
Pickier's Exxon
Hwy 15-501
Thrifty Mart
Hwy 401 Bypass
Community Fast Mart
Hwy 15-501
Shod Stop #23 .
Rockfish Rd &401
McNeil’s Grocery
Antioch
Jimmy's Exxon.
.Hv/y 401 N.
David’s #5
Hwy 20 & Central
Woody's Rockfish Rd. at King Rd.
Miller’s Cash & Carry,
Dundarrach
[SubscripTion FornT
_New subscription
Renewal
_Newcomer (3 free months)
_Gift (We’ll notify recipient)
Clip, mail with payment to:
The News-Journal
P.O. Box 550
Raeford, N.C. 28376
(910)875-2121 for more
Subscriber information;
Name
Address
City State _
Phone
Rstes (including N.C. lax)
In Hoke:
One year
$14
6 months
$8
Senior Oil
$12
Outside Hoke;
One year
$17
6 months
.. $9.50
Outside N.C.;
One year
$20
6 months
$11
Zip
Your name, address (if different from above)
Name
Address
City State ~
Phone
Zip,