The
ews
J oumal
If it happened^ it's news to us
No. 36 Vol. 89
50 cents
Wednesday, December 10,1997
West Hoke
Middle Tigers
are champs again
8A
Folk-Arks
and Primitives
in biz spotlight
6A
Highwaymen strike
in Hoke
lOA
Hoke native forms
cancer group
IB
Index
Business 6A
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 9B
Deaths 4A
Editorials 2A
Legals 8B
Public Record 4A,7A
Religion 5 A
School 8A
Sports 8A
TV Listings 6B
Weather 3A
Around Town
It is still a couple of weeks
before winter officially starts,
but on Sunday and Monday
mornings it felt like it had
already arrived. The tempera
ture was below freezing both
mornings. There was a heavy
frost and this should have
made all the green grass dis
appear. I am glad that the snow
and ice have escaped us so far.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
temperatures to rise. The highs
will be in the 50s and the lows
in the low 40s or high 30s.
There is a chance of rain on
Wednesday, Thursday and
Saturday.
* ♦ * * ♦
There is still time for you to
make a donation to the “Share
Your Christmas” project spon
sored by the staff and volun
teers of H.E.LP. If you would
like to help, mail your dona
tion to “Share Your Christ
mas”, P.O. Box 1038, Raeford,
NC 28376, or take it by the
H.E.L.P.officeon MainStreet.
*****
John Jordan, chairman of
the Hoke County United Way
drive called me Monday and
gave me some information on
(See AROUND, page 9A)
Knight Chamberlain
Editor
ELIZABETHTOWN —
Rodriguez Ferguson, convicted
of multiple murders three weeks
ago, was spared the death pen
alty by a hopelessly deadlocked
Bladen County jury Saturday
after three days of deliberation.
Judge D. J?ick Hooks imposed
five life sentences and an addi
tional nine to 12 years upon
Ferguson, to be served concur
rently, for murdering five people
and wounding a sixth three years
ago this month. Ferguson’s at
torneys immediately filed notice
of appeal.
Ferguson, 20, stood expres
sionless as the sentences were
imposed, then offered a casual
wave and faint smile to family
members as he was led from the
courtroom.
Family members and friends
Staten to chair board
By Pat Allen Wilson
Staff writer
Derrick R. Staten, chief ex
ecutive of BB&T, was elected to
chair the Hoke County-Raeford
Joint Economic Development
Board at its organizational meet
ing held Monday. A.K. Leach
Jr., president of FCl, an agricul
tural service company, was cho
sen as vice chairman.
The board, established at a
joint meeting of the Hoke County
Board of Commissioners and the
Raeford City Council last month,
is charged with overseeing in
dustrial growth in the county.
Other board appointees are
’ rt
-♦v
Sheriff: Hicks violated
no policy in shooting
. Knight Chambcrlain/Ncws-Journal
Ferguson’s attorneys Lisa Dubs and Henderson Hill review court
documents with Rodriguez Ferguson prior to sentencing.
Ferguson gets life
By Pat Allen Wilson
Staff writer
Hoke County Sheriff Wayne
Byrd will not reprimand Deputy
Frank E. Hicks following an ad
ministrative inquiry into the
shooting of a Hoke County man
on Aug. 29.
Hicks, 41, has been on paid
administrative leave since he
killed David Michael Sivak, 32,
in western Hoke County. The
officer said he shot Sivak when
he tried to run him down with his
van.
“1 cannot find anything in any
of the information I have in the
administrative inquiry that
(Hicks) violated the policy of
this department. I reviewed the
inquiry with the idea to see if
there was disciplinary action to
take against Officer Hicks or to
see if there was anything I needed
to address in the policy and pro
cedure,” Byrd said.
The sheriff explained that an
administrative inquiry is not an
investigation. “It is between an
employee and an employer and
the employee is required to an
swer questions. It has nothing to
do with criminal law or state
law,” he said. State privacy laws
forbid him from divulging what
was said during the inquiry, the
sheriff pointed out.
“If he violated the policy, there
would be disciplinary action. My
inquiry now stops,” Byrd said.
Hicks will stay on administra
tive leave until a Grand Jury de
cides if judicial action should be
taken against him. On Oct. 21 a
Hoke County grand jury found
probable cause to believe that
Frank Hicks committed volun
tary manslaughter when he shot
David Hicks in the back on Aug
29. The grand jury action, called
a presentment, asked the district
attorney to investigate the case
(See HICKS, page lOA)
of the victims were stunned that
the nine-woman, three-man jury
spared the person it found guilty
of first-degree murder on No
vember 20 of the shooting deaths
of Jamie Hunter, 38, his wife,
Debbie, 37, Tim Powell, 20, and
Steve Locklear, 18, at the Puppy
Creek Family Fun Center in Hoke
County on New Year’s Eve 1994,
and James Morrison Jr., 31, at
the Zodiac Lounge near Raeford
two hours later on New Year’s
Day.
“It’s a mockery of justice,”
said Charles Stanton, the great
uncle of Mary Ann Hunter who
was paralyzed from the chest
down by a bullet that struck her
neck as her mother attempted to
shield her from gunfire. “As hard
as the prosecution worked and to
have a spur like this thrown in...
it’s just not right.
“1 wish those jurors (who held
(See FERGUSON, page lOA)
Hoke student is Morehead finalist
From staff reports
Six high school seniors from
the South Central region of North
Carolina were named finalists
for Morehead scholarships, in
cluding Hesham Manzoor
Hussain of Hoke County High
School, the son of Manzoor and
Kaneex Kausar Hussain of
Raeford.
The Morehead Award offers a
full undergraduate scholarship
covering four years of tuition
and expenses at UNC-CH, val
ued at $50,000 for N.C. resi
dents, from the John Motley
Morehead Foundation.
A Morehead South Central
regional selection committee in
terview 16 candidates on Nov.
21. The candidates were nomi
nated by local selection commit
tees in the nine counties that make
up the South Central region:
Chatham, Harnett, Hoke, Lee,
Moore, Randolph, Richmond,
Robeson and Scotland.
Secondary schools across the
state nominated more than 900
students to interview before the
local selection committee. Four
teen regional committees inter
view 218 of these students and
select 70 finalists to be inter
viewed by a central selection
committee.
About 55 nominees from se
(See MOREHEAD, page lOA)
1i
Hesham Manzoor Hussain
>
Duncan McFayden, an attorney;
Gene Carter, Carter Realty, and
Bill Hill, Burlington Industries
plant manager. City manager
Mike McNeill and county man
ager Mike Wood serve as voting,
ex-officio members.
By-laws were also adopted
Monday. They call for board
members to come from the pro
fessional disciplines of law, fi
nance, banking, and business
with one at-large member.
Initially, law and finance rep
resentatives serve two-year terms
with the others serving three-
year terms. After the initial terms
of all board members have ex
pired, terms will be three years.
Pat WilsonNews-Joumal
More syrup, anyone?
The Pancake Supper sponsored by the Raeford Kiwanis Club last Thursday night at Gibson Cafeteria was
a success. As usual the pancakes and sausage were first class. The Kiwanis do a excellent job in keeping
your plate full and offering assistance in any way.
Even Santa needs return address
Mullet Roast a success Knight Chambcrlain/News-Joumal
Once again the annual Mullet Roast sponsored by the Raeford-Hoke
Chamber of Commerce and the Committee of 100 was a success.
More than 150 attended the event at the Raeford Civic Center on
Tuesday, Dec. 2. About all the industries, businesses and county and
city officials were on hand to give reports for the year 1997.
Every year about this time,
children perform the time-
honored tradition of writing
letters to Santa listing all of
their wants and wishes. These
Santa letters have already
started streaming into the
Raeford post office. Naturally,
Santa knows where everyone
lives, but his postal elves, who
answer most of his mail, are
not that magical. In order to
send a personal response to
each child, the elves need a
complete return address on
each envelope.
Postmaster Steve Holden is
asking that kids place their
return address in the upper left
hand corner of the envelope.
The letters should be ad
dressed to Santa Claus, North
Pole, c/o Raeford Post Office.
Some of the letters the chil
dren write are amusing, like the
child who said he was tired of the
educational toys his parents
bought for him and wanted some
thing really fun like a pogo stick
orrollerblades. Others are touch
ing like the one from the little
girl who wanted Santa to make
her grandmother all better.
“The most heartbreaking let
ters are the ones that ask for the
basic things that every child
should be guaranteed such as a
bed, shoes or more food to eat,”
said Holden. “Many times the
child is not requesting these
things for him or herself, but for
a brother or sister.”
Whether it is with tears of
laughter or sadness, the postal
elves at the Raeford post of
fice will read every letter the
children mail and send a re
sponse letter from good old
Santa himself—every letter,
that is, with a useable return
address. The letters with spe
cial needs will be forwarded
to appropriate agencies that
may be able to provide assis
tance to these families.
And just who are these
postal elves? They are the
same women and men who
provide your daily postal ser
vices.
When they slip that yellow
card in the time clock at the
end of the work day, they
magically become postal elves
who enjoy making children
happy.