ews
Journal
•i*
oke County's newspaper
No. 19 Vol. 92
See us at
Hoke resident
saves child
from choking
page 6
Congressman Hayes
speaks to Hoke
veterans
page 6
Extension's 85th
anniversary
is Aug. 24
page 10
index
Calendar 17
Classifieds 19-20
Deaths 5
Editorials 2
Legals 17-18
Public Record 3-5
Socials 13-14
TV Listings 15-16
Weddings 13-14
Around Town
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing Editor
We finally got some rain
Monday morning. It was only
eight hundredths, but any rain
helps. We are still having hot
weather. Sunday the thermom
eter registered KX) degrees and
this was after a week of the
same kind of weather. Records
have been set in North Caro
lina in the past two months in
both the number of hot days
and dry days. I guess it will
take a hurricane to bring the
water level back to normal.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
highs to remain in the 90s and
the lows in the 70s. I hate to
get the electric bill this month!
There is not much chance of
rain during the period.
* * * ♦
1 seems that many people
want to be on the City Coun
cil. The filing deadline was
last Friday at noon, and seven
people have placed their name
on the ballot. There are only
three seats open so we can
look forward to seeing ads in
the newspaper. Maybe the can
didates will inform the voters
why they want to be on the
council.
Even when I was on the
(See AROUND, page 10)
50 cents
Wednesday, August 11,1999
www.dicksonpress.com
This week
* *
/ \
Seven in race
for council
Three file at deadline, one drops out
SO'
A'
-,«s«
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
At noon last Friday, filing for
a seat on the City Council closed
with three additional candidates,
long-time Raeford resident James
R. “Dick McNeill, newcomer
Wayne Mills and current Coun
cilman Clyde Thomas. After
McNeill withdrew from the run
ning on Monday this week. Mills
and Thomas remain the two new
est candidates in the race.
Other candidates filing earlier
for a seat on the Council include
incumbents Earl McDuffie and
John Jordan, and newcomers
Eddie Jim White, James Brent
Clark and Gregory Johnson.
Wayne Mills, 52 and a native
of Concord, N.C., has claimed
Raeford as his home since the
early 1970s. He lives on Pros
pect Avenue with his wife Teresa,
(See COUNCIL, page II)
Hoke’s teen pregnancy
rate state’s 2nd highest
Coalition formed to combat it
Woman
-
Hi
house fire
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
An 87-year-old woman was
rescued from her blazing home
at 209 St. James Street yesterday
morning.
A young man, who declined
to give his name, heard Sally
McRae screaming as he
walked down the street, and
he and a neighbor helped her
through the front door, where
she had fallen.
Said one of the rescuers,”We
couldn’t get in because of the
smoke.”
Hoke County Fire Marshal A1
Schwarcbher said he did not think
McRae would have gotten out of
her house if the young man had
not come to her aid.
The fire was reported at 8:26
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
Hoke County has the second
highest teen pregnancy rate in
the state. Approximately 120 teen
mothers give birth each year and
within two years almost one-third
of them will have another baby.
Step-by-step efforts are being
made here to prevent those preg
nancies from occuring.
According to Linda Riggsbee
of the Adolescent Pregnancy Pre
vention Coalition of North Caro
lina, statistics show some corre
lates surrounding teenage preg
nancy: a student working below
grade level, low self esteem,
abuse and the lack of a caring
adult in the life of the child.
Riggsbee says it has been
proven nationwide that the num
ber one strategy in preventing
teen pregnancy is the role of a
caring adult.
If the extended family is not
there, enough caring adults be
ing part of the lives of a teen
ager— including both males and
females— makes a significant
difference, she says.
The Blue Springs-Hoke
County Community Develop
ment Corporation began a pro-
(See TEENS, page 12)
Burlington announces
management changes
Hoke County Fire Marshal Al Schwarcbher speaks to Sally McRae
(top) shortly before she goes by ambulance to a local hospital.
a.m. Schwarcbher said a prelimi
nary investigation points to a
kerosene heater as the cause of
the fire.
Relatives spoke of the family
dog being inside the house, which
had heavy fire damage to the
living room and front porch, but
Schwarcbher said no dog was
found inside the wood frame
building.
Mrs. McRae received some
bums and was taken to Cape
Fear Valley Medical Center for
treatment.
North Raeford, Pinehill and
Hillcrest fire departments re-
(See FIRES, page 12)
Burlington Industries Inc. an
nounced yesterday that Chris
Angell, currently manager of the
Raeford dyeing facility, has been
named plant manager of its Hurt,
Virginia plant.
The two plants, which are part
of the Raeford complex, will be
operated under one management
team headed by Tom Lander.
The Raeford complex includes
a dyeing facility and spinning
facility for worsted wool fabrics.
It has been operated by
Burlington since 1956 and em
ploys approximately 1,000
people.
Landers said, “The operations
of these two plants are very
closely linked and we believe
they will operate at maximum
efficiency under one manage
ment team.”
Burlington also announced
that Calvin House, manager of
its Oxford, North Carolina plant
has been named production man-
(See BURLINGTON, page 12)
Despite sightings, family’s search for Butler continues Unilever gives
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
An intensive search for Johnny
Butler failed to find the 52-year-
old man, missing from his
Pittman Grove Church home in
eastern Hoke since July 28, but
his family continues to look for
him.
Several positive sightings
were made of Butler, who suf
fers from post traumatic stress
syndrome, schizophrenia and
emphysema, at the intersection
of Camden and Hope Mills Road
in Cumberland County.
Saundra Ashley, Butler’s sis
ter, said a woman named Loretta
Chavis identified her brother by
a photograph that appeared in
The News-Journal last week. She
called the family last Wednes
day afternoon and said she had
seen him as she passed by a Hope
Mills shopping complex at about
11:15 that morning. “She de-
X
A member of the Cumberland County Search and Rescue Team seeks information about the habits of
Johnny Butler from his sisters, Linda Owens, on the left, and Saundra Ashley.
scribed him to a tee,” Ashley
said.
When he disappeared, Butler
was wearing a white t-shirt, black
pants, shiny dress shoes and no
jewelry. He walks with a slight
limp because of an artificial leg.
Then around 8:30 Thursday
night, a woman called the fam
ily, whose phone number has
been published in several news
(See MISSING, page II)
. -m
computers
to schools
By Jessica S. McDaniel
Staff writer
Unilever HPCdonated 83 per
sonal computers and 47 moni
tors to the Hoke County school
system Tuesday, according to
Harry Wilkerson, IMC site ap
plication manager.
East Hoke Middle and West
Hoke Middle will each receive
16 computers and 16 monitors
for classroom use, while Hoke
High will receive 51 computers
and 15 monitors for use by teach
ers.
Unilever began a company
wide communications overhaul
a year ago. This project was com
pleted at the end of June, and the
company intended to sell the old
eomputers. However, Wilkerson
and others at the local plant knew
(See UNILEVER, page 12)