Fire destroys home
See page 7A
The News-journal will be
closed Wednesday, Dec. 25
and Thursday, Dec. 26
'Tis the season to celebrate
See page IB
8 (ia^s 7// ^/irislmax !
No. 37 Vol. 88
Industry
has new
leader
The
ews
Journal
‘If it happened, it’s news to us'
HOKE COUNTY SO CENTS
Wednesday, December 18, 1996
By Amv Clarkson
Editor
liurl in^Mitn linlnslrics'
Racltird plant ssill vHin h.ivf a
new rnanaper, iteonliiip I(hiIIi
ci.iN .it the pl.int
Bill An her. who his tv-n
man.i^inj: iIk' nun ■ ..i; pl.nil
since h.is h- ■ n pronu'lnl
to the iiuliisirv 's - ^ V iitis ■ of
fices in ( l.irkssille \ ■ He will
he responsible lot ilisision
project mnn.i^'enu'iil In;
Biiiliiu'loii Miiis'-s, II ||. has
Kell in K : liTil ar l‘J
I akinc' hr pLuc at tti h liti-i|
the Kitloiil plant i- Bii Mill
Hill, J nati'.e ol ( ' '» ( .
Is. _Mn his. ar- ci * ilh l‘.rli . poll
in l*-rsj .itui .a ili.iiin, fr.iiTi
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dor of VI lenci ile . ' ii. jmhr
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11:11 h :a !■: a . ^ -t p-
Silloin .Silh Bill ; t a Iiitl IS
cum nils It- pl.irii M' •• H i .il
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her of the 1 i ns ( iiB tb- 11.
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BnrliiicMiiii IiuIlj Jf: h.r- two
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pl.int .md thi d\: :r p oil ihd
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Photo by Amy Clarkson
Visit with Santa
Daniel Salas tests the authenticity of Santa’s beard at the Heritage Village Christmas party Saturday
night Santa was on hand to listen to last minute gift requests from the military community.
Hoke fund
balance rises
By Nicole Gabriel
Staff writer
A fter two years of having
a general fund balance
below the state’s al
lowed levels, the county now has
an “adequate” balance, accord
ing to Frank Baker, a certified
public accountant who performs
the county’s annual financial
audit.
Baker presented the audit re
sults for fiscal year 1996 to the
board of commissioners Mon
day night. He reported the county
now has a fund balance of more
than 11.5 percent, a vast improve
ment from last year’s balance.
The lowest percentage the Local
Government Commission, the
state agency that regulates county
government, recommends is 8
percent.
While Baker commended the
board for their efforts at getting
the fund balance up to the appro
priate levels, he cautioned it to
ensure it stays at these levels and
to keep improving.
“It still is not a position...in
which you can deem yourself
rich,” Baker said.When the fund
balance gets to 18 to 20 percent,
then the county will be doing
really well, he said.
The financial statement
showed total revenues for fiscal
year 1996 were $13,744,835,
(See COUNTY, page 7A)
Theft doesn’t
dampen spirits
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
Despite a recent robbery, the
spirit of Christmas has not been
dampened at Hillcrest Baptist
Church. The congregation has
rallied to keep the joy in the
holiday season.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, mem
bers of the church gathered for a
Christmas covered-dish supper
and a time of fellowship. Instead
of bringing gifts to exchange with
each other, church members were
asked to bring a present for one
of their two missionary families.
For years, the Womens’ Mis
sionary Union, WMU, at
Hillcrest has been organizing an
annual generous gift-giving
project for at least one family in
the Hillcrest community.
“We usually pick a family in
the neighborhood or in the
(See CHURCH, page lOA)
State officers visit schools
By KnMin (lUlhm
Staff wnti-;
Tc.ichcr lurnciyci, school
safety and spec ial ediicalion cer
iificalion were hoi topics when
memK*rs of Ihe Departmeni ot
Public Instruction Icll iheir ol
fices in Raleigh and paid Hoke
County a \isil l ist week.
Their mission was not to ad
minister any new program or
evaluate the sehcnil system, but
to discuss the problems facing
Hoke C'ounly .Schools. T.\enlu
ally, Ihe board hopes to visit ev
ery count) in Ihe stale.
During Iheir early morning
meeting last Thursday, Deputy
Superintendent of Ihe Depart
ment of Public Instruction Rich
ard 1 hompson said Ihe goal of
the sisiis is to “help the state
Board of 1 clucation make belter
decisions because of the visits.”
Some of the issues on tap in
cluded professional educator is
sues, standard course of study,
basic education programs, pre-
kiiiclergartem/K alternative mod
els, legislati\e issues, technol
ogy. .satisfaction with public
sctuK)ls and funding.
One of the biggest concerns
across the stale seems to be the
lack of available teachers.
“Eiveryone seems to be talk
ing about the difficulty of re
cruiting and keeping teachers. Is
it a problem in Hoke G)unty?”
asked Thompson. The whole
room responded “YES!”
School systems all over the
state complain that teacher turn
over is a real problem, said Jim
Barbour, associate superinten
dent for financial and personnel
services.
“With growing enrollment,
reduced class sizes and turnover,
we have a problem,” Bat hour
said.
He said most teachers leave
the profession for personal rea
sons — family, lack of support
or lack of compensation.
Things may be looking up,
according to the state officials.
Thompson said the governor
is planning to push the state to
the national average in teacher
pay and to deal with
(See SCHOOL, page 8A)
\
THIS WEEK
Accent IB
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 6B
Deaths 4A
Editorials 2A
Legals SB
Social News.... 3B
School News... 5A
Around Town
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing editor
The weather was nice over the
weekend and many of the towns
and cities across the state had
their Christmas parades. Mon
day it was damp and the thermo
stat didn’t reach 50 degrees. It
was warmer on Tuesday.
The forecast is for colder
weather for the remainder of the
week. Wednesday the high will
be in the 50s and the low in the
30s. Thursday, Friday and Satur
day will see the highs in the low
40s or high 30s and the lows will
be in the 20s. There is a chance of
rain on Wednesday.
I haven’t heard any long-range
forecast for Christmas. 1 hope it
will be warm and sunny.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
This will be the last time I will
ask people to donate to the “Share
Your Christmas” fund. This
project helped more than 500
families last year and the need is
great again this year. I know it
will make you feel better Christ
mas morning to know that every
child in Hoke County has had a
visit from Santa.
So get out your checkbook
and send your donation to: “Share
(See AROUND, page 8A)
Photo by Jen Osborn
The county has broken ground on the new jail, which will be adjacent to the current building. The
prefabricated jail will be completed in 1997.
Jail progress is good, officials say
By Nicole Gabriel
Staff writer
Construction of the county jail
addition is going as planned, ac
cording to county officials.
Although the county post
poned construction last year be
cause of a low fund balance.
County Manager Mike Wood
said that this year the county is in
much better fiscal shape and
money should not be a problem.
The Local Government Com
mission, the state agency that
oversees county borrowing, froze
all borrowing last year when the
fund balance dropped below the
permitted 8 percent. According
to the results of this year’s audit
presented at the Board of Com
missioners meeting Monday
night, the county now has a fund
balance of over 11.5 percent.
The jail annex will cost
$850,000 — about $100,000
above the original estimated cost.
Wood explained that the LGC is
aware of the situation and he
does not anticipate any problems.
He said the County only has to
amend its application to reflect
the additional amount.
Wood said the prefabricated
jail units are complete and ready
to be shipped once the contractor
is ready for them. He said that
should be after the first of the
year.
SheriffWayne Byrd is pleased
with the progress of construc
tion.
“It’smovingalongquitewell,”
Byrd said.
He said the addition is needed.
He explained the present jail has
28 beds and has three medical
isolation cells. Because of a cap
on the jail population, the county
cannot exceed 31 prisoners in
(See JAIL, page lOA)
+