Peers work
to solve problems
See page 10
Merry Christmas
from The News-Journal
The News-Journal will be
closed Wednesday, Dec.
25, Thursday, Dec.26 and
Wednesday, Jan. 1
1
JKerrt^ Gfirisimas /
No. 38 Vol. 88
Lumberton
killed
man
By Nicole Gabriel
Staff writer
A l,umbcrlon man was
shot to death in his car
and two others were
wounded in Antioch earl\ Satur
day morning according to
Sheriffs reports.
According tr) Chief Deputv
Wayne Gardner. Travis Coo
per, 1 of l.iimberlon w as shot in
the torso and killed about 4:3(1
a.m. Saturday morning after he
and four others left the HalHield
nightclub in Anitoch.
C'ooper was a junior at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, w here he w as studv -
ing pharmacologv. A dean's list
student, he graduated from
Lumberton High SchiHil.
Two others in the car were
wounded. Gardner said. (!ar\
McDougald. 20. ofCaplc Street
in 1 umberton and Gerard
McRae. 10.of haxterStreet were
treated at .Moore Region.il H(*s
pital in Pinehurst after be-ingshot
in their arms. Two other men in
the car were not iniured.
According to Gardner. Coo
per and the others left the night
club. drov e off in his I londa and
were apparentb lost w hen a sus
pect or suspects in another ear
drove up next to Ciniper's ear
and fired shots into it
His friends tried to give him
(.Sec \// Rm R.
Judge delays
motion decision
■ Ferguson
back in court
By Nicolf (iabrifi
Staff writer
After heated debate during a
pretrial hearing, a superior court
judge postponed ruling on the
defense 's request toobtain met!i-
cal recordsof a v ictim of a shoot
ing incident involving a Raetord
man.
Rodriguez Ferguson, a
Raetord man charged vsiih five
counts of murder and one count
of assault w ith .i deadiv we.ipon
with intent to inflict serious m-
jurv. appeared in court last
SSednesdav with his defense at
torney. Henderson Hill
l erguson ischarged with kill
ing Jamie Hunter. 3*^ his wife.
Debbie Hunter. .37; '! im I’owell.
2(1; and Steve Locklear. IS; at
the Puppy Creek family 1 un
Arcade on New Year's I ve.
IW4. and with killing James
(.See I RIM., 1(1)
Board selects linns
■ Takes first step
in building schools
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
Last Thursday evening, the
Hoke County I3oard of Hduca-
tion met in a special session to
interview and select architect
firms to renovate the county’s
present schools and build a new
elementary school.
Over the next several years,
the board plans to spend almost
$21.5 million dollars they were
recently granted through a bond
referendum during the Novem
ber election.
l ive North Carolina architect
I i r rn s w e re i n te rv ie w ed a nd t h ree
were awarded commitments for
Hoke County work in the next
few years. Among those inter
viewed were lioney Architects
of Wilmington; Hayes& Howell
ofSouthern Pines; Shuller. I'erris.
Johnson & Lindstrom of l-'ay-
etteville; Stogner & Kanoy of
Rockingham and IJ'V of l ay-
etteville.
The board selected Shuller.
Ferris, Johnson & Lindstrom to
take responsibility for designing
and constructing the elementary
school. “The need is in the east-
(See SCHOOI, paf(e 14)
ews
Journal
'If it happened, it's news to us’
HOKE COUNTY SO CENTS
Wednesday, December 25, 1996
?
V
A.l,,
iQ
J{oliday
semes
Christmas scenes adorn
Raefordas the holiday ap-
prmches closer, showing
ex'cryone s anticipationfor
the holiday. Houses and
trees glow with bright
Christmas lights while
lawns are decorated with
brightly colored Santas
and nativity scenes.
Inside the homes of
Raeford are lovely deco
rations as well. Pictured
above ((re pictures from
the home of the Rev. David
Dummon. To the left, is
another holiday decora
tion. (Photo by Kristin
Guthrie)
THIS WEEK
Calendar
....6
Classifieds
.. 13
Deaths
..11
Editorials
....2
Legals
.. 12
Social News...
7
•••• /
School News..
....5
Around Town
County loses funds in computer crash
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing editor
Winter came in officially De
cember 21 and itcame in as win
ter should with cold weather. For
the past few days, we have had
the coldest weather of the year.
The lows have been in the teens
or low 2()s and the highs have
been in the 4()s. Last Thursday
night, we had a cold rain but in
Southern Pines they had snow
that was still on the ground Fri
day morning.
The forecast for Christmas
Day is for the high to be in the
40s and the low in the 30s. Thurs
day and Friday will see the tem
peratures rise and the highs will
be in the 5()s and the lows in the
high 20s or low 30s.
I don’t believe that we will
have a white Christmas!
* ♦ « « *
In the Raeford Presbyterian
Church newsletter recently was
an item that read “You are cor
dially invited toaChrLstmasOpen
House at the home of Ernest and
Jere Frame, 1004 N. Fulton St.
on December 18,1996 from 2:30
p.m.-5:30 p.m.” Later the item
was corrected to senior citizens
over 50 years of age.
(See AROUND, page 8)
By Nicule Gabriel
Staff writer
A combination of a computer
crash and a billing program
change for the Hoke County
Emergency Medical Service
caused a loss of more than
$500,000 worth of unpaid bills
in June 1995. Despite the loss,
the ambulance department still
collected more money that year
than ever before, according to
the county manager.
Although the county-run am
bulance department accumulated
$584,140 worth of outstanding
bills when its biding computer
hard drive crashed in June 1995,
accordingto financial statements,
the county went on to collect
over $14'7,000 in revenues for
fiscal year 1996.
Mike Wood said the exact
amount in billing lost as a result
of the computer glitch could not
be determined. The actual por
tion of bills lost covered a six-
month billing period.
However, according to Mel
issa Pittman, the billing system
data entry clerk, after the system
crashed, the county purchased
an upgraded billing program
which was incompatible with the
back up disks she made. She was
directed to start entering billing
dataasofJuly I,thebeginningof
fiscal year 1996.
The combination of these two
factors resulted in the loss of the
$584,140 in unpaid bills accu
mulated until that point, accord
ing to Pittman.
Wood, who was previously
unaware of any back up disks for
the lost data, said the crash was
nobody’s fault. He said Pittman
properly backed up the system
and she could not have done any
thing more.
“The data,entry personnel
were doing everything they
(See COMPUTER, page 4)