The
ews
J ouraal
'W
■e County's newspaper
No. 20 Vol. 92
50 cents
Wednesday, August 18,1999
See us at
www.dicksonpress.com
This week
Hoke resident
is 4-H president
page 1B
Landlord, tenant
upset at county
inspector's manner
page 4A
Ihdex
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 8-9B
Deaths 5A
Editorials 2,3 A
Legals 7B
Public Record 6-7A
Sports 8A
TV Listings 4-5B
Around Town
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing Editor
We finally had a few days
where the thermometer didn’t
reach 100 degrees. One night
the temperature was in the 60s.
Saturday night we had about
eight-tenths of an inch of rain.
There were four days last week
when the thermometer regis
tered 100 degrees or more.
For about 30 days we have
had 90 degree weather. 1 can’t
remember the hot days and
nights staying around for that
long.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
highs to be in the 90s or high
80s and the lows to be in the
70s or high 60s. There is a
chance of rain for Thursday
and Friday.
*****
Don’t forget the 85th Anni
versary celebration of the
North Carolina Cooperative
Extension. The celebration be
held on Tuesday, August 24
from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. It will
be held at the Hoke County
Center at 116 West Prospect
Avenue.
Exhibits will be set up the
entire day which depict the
efforts of the North Carolina
Cooperative Extension over
the years. Refreshments will
be served.
If you would like to have
more information, call Betty
Green, County Extension Di
rector, at 875-3461.
(See AROUND, page lOA)
Architect hired
for complex
Hoke to spend $1 miUion on offices
r-i'-
V
K
By Victoriana Summers
Staff Writer
In a show of solidarity. Com
missioners voted on Monday
night to select Boney Architects
of Raleigh to conduct architec
tural planning and design for the
new $1 million County Govern
mental Complex. The future gov
ernmental facility will house an
administrative headquarters.
slated for a 20-acre campus lo
cated just of Highway 211 in
Raeford.
“1 think the citizens trust the
Commissioners to do the right
thing for this County,” Commis
sion Chairman James A. Leach
said. “1 think our teasing space
will pay for this building.”
What County agencies will be
provided space at the new ad-
(See OFFICES, page 9A)
Task force targets
local teacher shortage
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
Astounded by the teacher short
age with which Hoke County be
gan its school year. Board of Edu
cation Member Russell Smith de
cided to organize a task force de
signed tocombat reoccuningprob-
lems with teacher recruitment and
retention.
The Task Force Regarding
Teacher Recruitment and
Retainment, as Smith calls it,
met for the first time a few weeks
ago just to lay the foundation for
what the task force would strive
to accomplish.
Smith, along with Personnel
Director Sharmaine Butler, a lo
cal principal, three teachers and
(See SHORTAGE, page 9A)
Teal is finance director
Out with the old...
Tyrone Lilly of Lilly’s
Welding and Repair,
works to remove a
section of a flag pole in
front of the Raeford Post
Office — and draws a
crowd in the process.
The Post Office now
sports a new pole. The
old one was donated to
Hoke County Emergency
Services for its new
location at the old
National Guard Armory.
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
Dale Teal has been hired as
City of Raeford finance director.
He will replace Helen Huffman,
City employee of 25 years, who
announced her resignation, ef
fective September 1, more than a
month ago.
Teal is currently the Hoke
County tax assessor. He turned
in his resignation there on Mon
day.
In announcing Teal’s hiring.
City Manager Mike McNeill said
(See TEAL, page lOA)
Dale Teal
County to bait industry, business with policy on incentives
By Pat Allen Wilson
Staff writer
County Commissioners
agreed unanimously Monday
night to hire an attorney to help
them lure new industry and busi
ness to Hoke.
Ernest Pearson of the Sanford
Holshouser Law Firm of Raleigh
has been hired to draft an indus
trial recruitment incentive policy.
He will bill the County $2,500
plus expenses for the firm’s ser
vices.
After an Oregon-based firm
passed over Hoke as a possible
site for its expansion, Dooie
Leach, chairman of the Raeford/
Hoke Economic Development
Board (EDB), said a lack of in
centives played a key role in the
$80 million industry’s decision
not to locate here.
County Manager Bernice
McPhatter, a member of the EDB,
introduced the proposal to Com
missioners. She described the
policy as “hopefully one to en
hance economic development in
the future for Hoke.”
Commissioner Chairman
James Leach joins the EDB in
the belief that the county hasn’t
been competitive regarding en
ticements for industries to relo
cate or locate here. “It is vital to
have something in place— we
have to be competitive,” he said.
“1 think now we’ll be real strong
and ... be on the right track in
recruiting industry.”
James Leach added, “We’re
seeking long-term industry—
small or large.”
Dooie Leach called the County
Commissioners’ action “out
standing.” He added, “We are
very pleased the County has cho
sen to hire Ernie Pearson. We
think Commissioners have taken
a serious stand on economic de
velopment and applaud their ef
forts.”
The EDB was created in No
vember of 1997 after Hoke al
most landed a $400 million mini
steel mill for the Dundarrach/
Arabia area.
(See INDUSTRY, page 9A)
Planned mobile home park fails first hurdle
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
After several residents told
Hoke County Planning Com
mission members they were
concerned about their prop
erty values being lowered.
Commission members voted
to recommend that County Com
missioners deny a request from
Joe Gillis to change the zoning of
a 107-acre tract of land on
Phillippi Church Road from RA
(residential agriculture)-20 to
RMH (manufactured home
park).
RA-20 calls for a minimum
lot size of 20,000 square feet
and mobile and manufactured
housing is allowable in that
district under conditional per
mit use.
Gillis said he had no prob
lem with the 20,000 minimum-
square-foot-lot size require-
(See PLANNING, page 9A)
Marijuana seized after
sky sweep discovery
Summers joins NJ staff as reporter
Victoriana Summers has
joined the staff of The News-
Journal as news reporter. A na
tive of Fayetteville, Summers
brings 20 years of photojournal
ism, feature writing and news
reporting experience to share
with local readers.
Summers more recently
served as editor of The Harnett
County News, where she was
employed for almost five years.
Initially hired as a news reporter
in 1993, the journalist covered
county government, school board
meetings as well as Lillington
Town Board affairs. She was
active in Harnett community
civic activities, named as Board
of Director for the N.C. Coop
erative Extension Service, The
American Heart Association,The
Humane Society of Harnett
County and publicity chairman
of the Lillington Business Pro
fessional and Women’s organi
zation.
While affiliated with The
Harnett County News, Summers
was awarded The Media Excel
lence 1997 honors by the Asso-
(See REPORTER, page lOA)
Victoriana Summers
By Victoriana Summers
Staff Writer
State and local law enforce
ment officers discovered a
bumper crop of marijuana plants
last Thursday during a county
wide aerial, drug search.
However, instead of awaiting
harvest, these giant plants were
burned.
“We recovered plants that
were ranging from 10 to 13-feet
high,” a Sheriff’s undercover
detective said. “It was placed into
evidence.
“The investigation is ongoing
regarding suspects.”
The recovered marijuana, es
timated to be worth $23,000, was
spotted growing in a secluded
woodland of the Antioch com
munity in Hoke County.
This one-day long operation
was conducted by the SBl,
Raeford Police Department,
Hoke County SherifK Office
and agents from the North Caro
lina Joint Counter Drug Task
Force.
Hoke County Sheriff James
A. Davis said he kept an eagle-
eye on the seizure mission.
“This drug eradication project
is an ongoing effort with the
counter drug task force and the
SBl,” Davis said. “This is part of
a long range project to address
the concerns of citizens of the
county about drugs.”
Davis urged the unity of ail
local citizens in helping find the
sources for drug smuggling.
“Absolutely, we need the co
operation from our general popu
lation to fight against the growth
of illegal drugs, the manufacture
and distribution,” Davis said.
“We’re slowly developing rela-
(See DRUGS, page 9A)