The
ews
J oumal
If it happened, il's news to us
No. 27 Vol. 92
50 cents
Wednesday, October 6,1999
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www.dicksonpress.com
In A
Fire Prevention
Week always
first week in Oct.
page 3A
InB
Stained glass
windows glimmer
with parables
IB
4-H week
marked with
pullout section
inside B
Index 1
Calendar
2B
Classifieds
.12-13B
Deaths
6A
Editorials
2A
Engagements
3B
Legals
11B
Public Record
6A
Religion
4B
School
9A
Socials
3B
Sports
4A
TV Listings
7-8B
Around Town
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing Editor
The fall weather is with us
and you don’t know whether
to have heat or let the air con
ditioner run. As I stated last
week, it was raining when I
was writing my column. We
didn’t get as much as some
parts of the state but we did get
from four to five inches of
rain. This just added to the
flooded conditions in the east
ern part of the state. Maybe it
will stop for a while and let
things get back to normal.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Friday,callsforcooler
weather, the highs for the pe
riod will be in the high 60s or
low 70s and the lows will be in
the high 40s or the low 50s.
Maybe the rain will hold off
during this period.
Most of us feel sorry for the
flood victims and we all want
to help in any way we can. Be
sure when you make a dona
tion that the person or organi
zation is on the up and up. It is
in times like this that the con
artists are at work. There are
many reliable places to place
your donations and they are
needed. Just be careful!
*****
Last week there was an item
in this column about the up
coming Centennial Celebra
tion ol the Racford Baptist
Church. The big day will be
on Sunday, November 21 be
ginning at 10:30 a.m. This
(See AROUND, page 5A)
X
»*•
County meeting
packed by aowd
Debates proposed subdivision change
By VicroRiANA Summers
Staff writer
The Hoke Board of Commissioners
devoted hours of debate over whether to
approve a proposed subdivisions regula
tion amendment, or oppose a reduction in
acreage from 10 acres down to 2-1 /2 acres.
A meeting room packed full of Hoke
residents pitted many in favor and others
against making any changes.
The County staff urged the subdivision
amendment not be passed; the planning
board was recommending it be consid
ered.
Commissioners were requested to
change the current definition of subdivi
sions from “the division of land into par
cels greater than ten acres where no street
right-of-way dedication is involved,” to a
proposed change that would allow “the
division of land into parcels greater than
2-1/2 acres where no street right-of-way
dedication is involved.”
(See SUBDIVISION, page 9A)
Labor of love
Phillip Musselwhite and
his wife, Beth, a stained
giass artist, finish installa
tion of a window in the
vestry at Hillcrest Bap
tist Church. All 19 of the
church’s windows were
handmade. In the vesti
bule, twin stained glass
mission windows depict
the symbol of the Lamb.
See page 2B for story
and other photos.
/
m
\
Court takes break, suit
on education prolonged
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Bridging the gap... The State of North
Carolina is defendant while five of the
poorest counties in the state are fighting to
balance the scales for public education
based on the right to learn, rather than it
being determined on how much tax base a
county earns.
Hoke County school officials contend
a schism exists; it divides the school
system’s status quo between students in
counties straining for more educational
dollars and affluent counties spreading
wealth to enhance educational opportu
nities for its own.
In the current low wealth lawsuit ad
dressing this controversial issue, culling
children to succeed educationally should
not be determined by whether they live in
a wealthy county or a poorer neighbor. A
responsibility rests on the state to ensure
(See LA WSUIT, page 5A)
Dog credited with saving
friends, deputy investigated
By Victoriana Summers food or water
Staff writer for the dogs.”
Neighbors al-
A “cruelty to animal” incident report was leged the dogs
filed by the Hoke County Sheriffs Depart- had been left at
ment on September 14. It lists one of its own the home aban-
employees as the alleged suspect. doned.
According to the written investigation Thus far, no
report. Deputy David Bloedoorn, who re- charges have
sided in a home on Sparrow Drive, alleg- been filed
ediy “had locked two golden retriever (See DOG,
dogs in his garage and did not provide page lOA)
m
Winnie
City Council annexes House of Raeford, receives clean audit report
By Kristin Guthrie
Staff writer
After a rather uneventful pub
lic hearing at the City Council
meeting Monday night. Council
members voted to annex the
House of Raeford into the City
limitseffective February 1,2000.
As described in the request for
annexation, the said property is
lying and being in Raeford Town
ship, lying on the south side of
and adjacent to U.S. Highway
401 Business, being bounded on
the east by D.P. Chaudhauri and
Hoke County Committee of 100s,
Inc., on the south and west by
Nash Johnson and Sons Farms,
Inc.
In other items of annexation, a
public hearing was set to take
place during the Council’s regu
lar November meeting to discuss
a request for annexation from
Oscar James Adams and wife for
their property at 826 West Av
enue and from Sandhills Com
munity College for its property
located South of U.S. Highway
401 Business.
After taking a close look at the
City’s books from the last fiscal
year, Frank Baker, CPA, reported
“a clean opinion of the financial
statements,” during the Council
meeting.
In his audit. Baker said, “In
our opinion, based on our audit.
the general purpose financial
statements referred to...present
fairly, in all material respects,
the financial position of City of
Raeford.. .as of June 30,1999 and
tht "results of its operations and
the cash flows of its proprietary
fund types for the year then ended
in conformity with generally ac
cepted accounting principles.”
Pointing out some of the
audit’s highlights. Baker com
mented that the City’s non-des-
ignated available fund balance
ended with $807,697, that is,
approximately 30 percent of a
current year’s expenditures. In
his professional opinion. Baker
said, this figure should be around
$1.1 millidi, or approximately
50-some percent of the year’s
expenditures.
Commenting briefly on the
City’s financial statements.
Baker pointed out only one ma-
(See CITY MEETS, page lOA)
County complex timetable delayed
by environmental assessment, survey
Director Dennis Baxley of Hoke’s public
building department. (F^oto by Victoriana
Summers)
By Victoriana
Summers
Staff writer
Nestled in a for
est of green pines,
the new Hoke
County Administra
tive Facility’s 22-
acre campus will
shelter a number of
department agen
cies under one roof
for the first time.
Encompassing
16,156 square feet,
the $2.3 million
project is estimated
for completion in
April, 2001. County
officials cited the
preliminary project
schedule for the
county complex is on
track. However, a few targeted
tasks are running behind sched
ule.
“Everything is running pretty
smoothly,” said Dennis Baxley,
Hoke’s public building director.
“The building programming is
completed and ahead of sched
ule for space needs. Most of the
smaller departments will be ac
commodated there. We really
haven’t had any of the larger
departments knocking on the
door asking to be included in the
new building.”
Baxley said the programming
entailed getting input from de
partment heads about how many
employees they would have and
the space needed. Department
heads were also interviewed, in
forming Baxley what type of
equipment they would prefer in
(See COMPLEX, page 9A)
$74,000 state grant approved
for teen pregnancy prevention
The Blue Springs-Hoke
County Community Devel
opment Corporation was re
cently notified that it has been
awarded $74,250 in teen
pregnancy prevention initia
tives funding by the N.C. De
partment of Health and Hu
man Services, Division of
Public Health.
Funding is expected to
begin this month.
Hoke County has the
(See GRANT, page 7A)
Rape Crisis Center opens
Crisis Volunteers of
Cumberland County, a non
profit organization estab
lished in 1923.
The organization is cur
rently opening its first Rape
What is one of the most
unreported crimes occurring
in Hoke and Cumberland
counties?
Rape.
That’s the consensus of
opinion coming from Rape (See OPENS, page 8A)
Local guardsmen deployed
The first line of assault is areas of North Carolina. The
to the noses of the Army Na- smell is described as that of a
tional Guard troops who are combination of animal car-
deployed to flood-stricken (See DEPLOYED, pagelOA)