The
ews
J oumal
Serving Hoke County for 88 years
No. 32 Vol. 89
50 cents
Wednesday, November 12,1997
School
report card
8A
Business
of the week
3A
Joint planning
board again
being considered
6A
Home
and health news
IB
Index
Accent IB
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 9B
Editorials 2A
Legals 8B
Socials 3B
TV Listings 6B
Weather 3A
Around Town
By Sam Morris
Contributing Editor
The rain ended Saturday,
so the entire weekend was not
a washout. The temperatures
are about normal for this time
of year. There was frost on my
windshield one morning last
week. I hope that the weather
will continue in this pattern.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday calls for the
highs to be in the low 60s or
high 50s and the lows to be in
the low 40s. There is a chance
of rain on Thursday and Fri
day. One forecaster predicted
that the lows on Sunday could
be in the 20s.
The election turned out like
I expected. I was a little disap
pointed that more people
didn’t vote. It would be good
to see 75 percent or more vote.
Then people would show that
they are interested in who is
elected and how they are do
ing their jobs.
All the candidates on the
ballot were qualified, but most
of the voters felt that the city
government is in good hands
and that the financial condi-
(See AROUND, page 11 A)
Hoke County
honors veterans
*
By Pat Allen Wilson
Staff Writer
Some came with canes, some
in wheelchairs and others walked
to the courthouse lawn on Main
Street to pay honor to comrades
in arms.
On the 11th hour of the 11th
day of the 11 th month, the Veter
ans Day ceremony—“a time set
aside for this nation to recognize
the vanguard of freedom” —
began.
For many who attended, the
sleepy country town of Raeford
was transformed into foreign
battlefields as they recalled the
ones whodidn’t come back, those
who could not stand to honor and
be honored. And a vacant chair
held a place of homage for those
missing in action who are yet to
be accounted for.
U.S. Army retiree Alex
Schwarcbher, keynote speaker
for the ceremony, said the MIAs
are missing from our lives but
are in our hearts and prayers.
“We will close no books, write
no last chapters, reach no final
conclusion until we have the full
est possible accounting for every
service man and woman missing
in action.”
Schwarcbher, a three-tour vet
eran of the war in Vietnam and a
combat participant in the Do
minican Republic, praised fel
low veterans as “unsung heroes,
ordinary citizens who did their
duty and gave unselfishly. Their
deeds have never been
chronicled.
“There are many who need us,
many who seem forgotten,”
Schwarcbher continued. He said
some veterans have lonely fu
tures, having lost family and
friends, some are homeless, and
some struggle with war-related
(See VETS, page 12A)
vosr
r
Pat Allen Wilson/News-Journal
A vacant chair served as a reminder that the fate of many who served during wartime is still not known.
DAV Commander George Balsh is at the podium.
Department of Social Services may lose funds
By Nicole Gabriel
Staff writer
State officials say new child
welfare law will make signifi
cant improvements in child pro
tection, but if the state cuts Hoke
from a list to receive state money
Hoke’s. DSS personnel remain
skeptical as to whether this legis
lation will really help Hoke’s
children.
A child protection package
passed during the last legislative
session made several changes to
the state’s child protection, fos
ter care and adoption services.
The new laws provide additional
state funding for training and
additional personnel for coun
ties who show a need for addi
tional resources.
During a recent biennial re
view of Hoke County’s Depart
ment ofSocial Services, the Child
Protection Services department
earned high marks, but state in
vestigators said Hoke’s foster
care section remains overworked
and understaffed. State investi
gators said Hoke’s foster care
worker’s caseload “far exceeds”
the state’s recommended
caseload and said Hoke needed
an additional worker.
Despite the findings, the state
Department of Health and Hu
man Services told Hoke DSS
Director Bob Mercer, Hoke will
not receive any state-funded po
sitions, which leaves Mercer
wondering, he said, whether this
package will help or hurt the
children its supposed to serve.
“Those counties that have
done really well with little re
sources are going to be penal
ized,” Mercer said.
Mercer said the state’s deci
sion to decline Hoke funding for
additional personnel appears to
be a way of putting money into
programs that have problems
while letting those counties that
do well, but have little resources
to fend for themselves.
“Everybody in the state of
North Carolina is overworked,
but you don’t throw money at the
people that have bad track
records,” Mercer said. “You
make them do better.”
State’s initial cut
In the wake of this newly
passed legislation, the state asked
each county for information that
was not as comprehensive as the
biennial review and based its ini
tial decision on that information,
Jo Ann Lamm of the state’schild
services section said.
Despite what the state found
during its biennial review, the
state based its initial decision for
which counties will receive the
state’s help under the newly
passed child protection package
on a few select criteria and left
out a slew of other factors cov
ered in the review, Lamm said.
“It’s like comparing apples to
oranges if your asking for a com-
(See DSS, page 11 A)
Schools to upgrade computers
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
At Monday night’s meeting,
the Hoke Board of Education
unanimously approved the ini
tial step in gaining $1,0(K),000
for updating the computers
throughout the school system.
With the approval of the
Board, Superintendent Don
Steed, Associate Superintendent
Jeff Moss and other supporters
of the project can approach the
county commissioners for their
support. Moss said they will try
to get on the commissioners’
agenda for their next meeting.
Assuming that the Commission
ers fully support the local school
board in its venture, the Board
will head up to the State Depart
ment of Public Instruction with
its proposal. As with the Com
missioners, Moss said he hopes
the State Department will hear
the Board’s request in a timely
manner. Hopefully, the State will
respond within 30 days of the
County’s request. Moss said.
Ifallgoeswell, the $1,000,000
could be in the hands of the local
(See SCHOOL, page 11 A)
Prosecution presents
case in Ferguson trial
' 4k
In the playoffs
See Story Page 5A
Nicole (lahricl/Ncws-Journal
By Nicole Gabriel
Staff writer
The prosecution will con
tinue to present evidence in
the Rodriguez Ferguson mur
der trial throughout the rest of
this week, calling on patholo
gists, SBl lab personnel and
more of the victims’ family
members to give testimonies.
“1 feel like we’ll probably
finish this week as far as our
evidence,” District Attorney
Jean Powell said. “I’m not sure
what day.”
Ferguson, 20, continues to
stand trial for allegedly kill
ing Jamie Hunter, 39, Deborah
Hunter, 37, Steve Locklear,
18, and Tim Powell, 20, at the
Puppy Creek Game Room on
New Year’s Eve 1994. He is
accused of shooting the
Hunter’s daughter who sur
vived.
Ferguson is also accused of
shooting and killing another
victim—James Morrison Jr.,
31,— a few hours later at the
former Zodiac Lounge.
Yesterday a friend of
Morrison’s and an eye wit
ness to the murder at the Zo
diac Lounge finished his testi
mony, Powell said, as well as
another eye witness and a de-
tective that
investigated
the Zodiac
Lounge
shooting.
Telly
^ Stephens tes-
Ferguson tified a fight
broke out at
the club on Vass Road and
Ferguson shot Morrison in the
head.
Earlier this week Dr. Ricky
Thompson, a pathologist who
performed the autopsies on
Morrison and Hunter, said he
found bullet fragments in
Morrison and he recovered a
bullet from Hunter.
Thompson testified
Morrison died from a gunshot
wound to the left side of his
head. He testified Hunter died
of a gunshot wound to his head,
which entered under his left
eye in his cheek.
Powell said a firearms ex
pert will testify later about the
bullets.
Last week former Sheriff’s
Det. Bob Conerly finished his
testimony concerning a sworn
statement he took from
Ferguson the day after the
shootings.
Defense attorneys tried to
(See FERGUSON, page 12A)