The
ews
J oumal
If it happiMU'tl, it's news to us
No. 29 Vol. 92
50 cents
Wednesday, October 20, 1999
See us at
www.dicksonpress.com
This week
Ipchurch School
begins pilot day care
program for staff
page 8A
Chamber to County:
please stay
downtown
page 5A
Next week
Winners
of the News-Journal
Halloween costume
contest
Index
Births....
10B
Calendar....
2B
Classifieds....
8-9B
Deaths....
12A
Editorials....
2-3A
Legals....
7B
Public Record....
4A
Religion....
6B
School....
8A
Socials....
....3,10B
TV Listings....
4-5 B
Weddings....
....3,10B
Around Town
B'* Sam C. Morris
Contributing Editor
Once again wc in Hoke
County can be thankful that
Hurricane Irene didn’t cause
us too much damage. We re
ceived between 2 1/2 to three
inches of rain and a road was
closed because of a washout. 1
haven't heard of any power
outages or of anyone getting
hurt during the storm. The Rev.
Kevin Campbell, minister of
the Raeford Presbyterian
Church, stated from the pulpit
that someone said he had
brought the hurricanes with
him. Maybe this will be the
last of the year.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
highs to be in the 60s and the
lows will be in the high 41 Is or
the 5()s. There is a chance of
rain on Wednesday and Thurs
day.
Don’t forget that the
Antioch Presbyterian Church
Ingathering is this Thursday,
October 21. It will begin at 11
a.m. Not only is the food the
best, but you can also see many
people who w ill return tor the
event.
* * 4: * 4:
For the past several weeks I
have written about the upcom
ing Centennial of the Raelord
Baptist ('hurch. The biu dav
will be Siiiula), Now-iiiIh’i J I
beginning at 10:30 a.m. A ca
tered lunch will be served fol
lowing the worship service. I
(See AROUND, pat’e lOA)
Arabia residents evacuated as dam fails
By VicroKiANA Summers
Staff writer
Hurricane Irene lashed out on
Sunday with a deluge of rain in
Hoke County, causing major
flooding.
Irene lingered long enough to
dump three inches of water that
was measured by Hoke’s Emer
gency Management from 10p.m.
on Sunday night until Monday
/
morning. However, this didn’t
include rainfall throughout the
day on Sunday that wet road
ways, streams and lakes already
saturated from Floyd’s retreat one
month ago.
Some homes couldn’t ward
off advancing groundwater that
rose in the early morning hours
of Monday before daybreak.
Sheriff’s deputies and Ron
Fairbanks, E-911 supervisor.
along with fire department vol
unteers, went door to door in
Arabia asking residents to vol
untarily evacuate. In River Bluff
subdivision near Davis Bridge,
(See FLOOD, page 11 A)
^ 'I
* 2*
I*
Spectators and residents gawk as rapid flood waters whisk through River Bluff subdivision on Arabia Road Monday morning. Sunset Lake dam burst at 11 a.m., unable to retain
Hurricane Irene’s rains, sweeping through the upscale neighborhood. (Photo by Victoriana Summers)
Divided planning board
to push ‘strip development’
By Pat Ai.len Wilson
Editor
The Hoke Planning Commis
sion recommended last Thurs
day that County Commissioners
make changes in the Minor Sub
division Ordinance that would
pave the way for land owners to
develop more land.
Under the current Minor Sub
division ordinance, five lots arc
allowed on road frontage. With
the Planning Commission’s pro
posal, a land owner would be
permitted to go before the Plan
ning Commission after 12
months to receive permission to
add five more lots, waiting an
additional yeareach time forper-
mission to add five more.
Not all Planning Commission
members favored the proposal.
Former Commission chairman
Donald Louya voted against it,
calling it stripdevclopment. Vice
Chairman Harold Brock coun
tered saying whether or not one
likes strip development is a mat
ter of opinion.
Commission Chairman
Brown Hendrix Jr. began a dis
cussion that lasted less than half
an hour by asking, “Are we con-
trollingsomebody beyond where
wc should he controlling them?"
He opened the Boor to an audi
ence of mostly realtors and dc-
(See DEVELOP, page 7A}
Air war waged on mosquitoes
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Scat, mosquitoes!
Most residents around Hoke
County are fed up with the blood
sucking, droning pesky invasion
of thousands.... millions...
zillions of mosquito pests, seen
airborne since Hurricane Floyd.
Now, thanks to the efforts of
Board backs
voting official
in allegation
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Nipping at the heels of the
upcomingCity election, a reque.st
was made on October 5 to re
move a Hoke County Board of
Elections chief Judge.
Thecomplain letter originated
from the law office of attorney
Gregory B. Thompson, former
campaign manager for James
Davis, now elected Hoke sheriff,
fhompson sent the letter on Oc
tober 5 to Willie McCaskill,
chairman of the Board of Elec
tion. The letter refers to a former
affidavit filed in December, I
by a voter, concerning the No
vember Sheriffs race that oc
curred
"I don’t belic'M the Icttei was
sent to undermine the present
election,” McCaskill said. “But,
1 do have a problem with it com-
(See ViDTING, page 9A)
County Manager Bernice
MePhatter and Health Director
Don Womble, Hoke plans to get
some reprieve from the flying
insects seen morning, noon and
night. A county-wide .spraying
program began on Tuesday after
County Commissioners ap
proved an application for state
aid for mosquito control, along
with a plan to eradicate the pests.
“Mosquito spraying must be
done.” MePhatter told the com
missioners on Monday night. “I
have been getting an astronomi
cal amount of calls. I’ve even
been getting 25 to M) calls at
home about getting rid of mos
quitoes.”
Although aerial spraying be
gan yesterday across large sec-
(SeeSPRAYING, page M)
Stadium named
after Raz Autry
By Kristin Githrie
Staff writer
Board of Education mem
bers voted during their Octo-
1 ber meet
ing to re-
I name the
1 H o k e
County
High
School
stadium
after
n A 1 o n g -
Raz Autry ?
' time edu
cator and well-known Hoke
County citizen Raz Autry.
After hearing that the sta
dium would be officially
named after him, Autry said,
“I deeply appreciated it. I was
deeply humbled and
moved....I can’t think of any
thing I'd be more honored to
have my name on."
Touched that the Board de
cided to honor him in such a
meaningful way, Autry was
still humble and gave credit
where credit wasdue. He said,
“The stadium is a monument
to the people of Hoke County.
Everybody pulled together to
build it.”
Coming to work in Hoke
County in 1 %7, Autry remem
bers that the stadium was built
the second year he was em
ployed with the local public
school .system. Before that,
Autry recalls that Hoke
County school sports teams
played their home games at
the Old National Guard Ar
mory park.
Claiming 36 years total in
education, Autry worked in
North Hampton and Mont
gomery counties before arriv
ing in Hoke County in 1967.
Between his work in these
counties and in Hoke, he
worked as a teacher and a
coach, a high school principal
STADIUM, page 9A)
4^:
6
‘Where’s the water?’
"Whore's rho water?” asks Tei es.i johnson, whoTo stoinge trailer is
in flames on Mad arlaiid Blue Ko.id. Fii eligliters seem to ponder the
same question as they deal with empty hoses. Water was forthcoming
from another pumper which arrived quickly on the scene. That area
of western Hoke is not connected to the county’s water system.
(Photos by Cary A. Wilson)