The
ews
J ournal
if it happened, it's news to us
No. 3 Vol. 94
50 cents
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
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www.thenews-journal.com
This week
Southern Association
visits Sandy Grove
page 1B
Kelcey Carter
remembered
at Row wow
page 3A
City, county top
volunteers selected
page 7A
Index
Births 3B
Calendar 3B
Classifieds 8-9B
Deaths fiA
Editorials 2A
Engagements ..3B
Legals 7,9B
Public Record 4A
Religion 6A
School 1,4,1 OB
Social News 3B
TV Listings 5-6B
Around Town
Contributing Editor
Summer didn’t last very
long. We went from winter to
summer last week and this
week we went from summer
to winter. The air conditioner
was turned off Sunday and it
didn’t take long for the heat
ing system to start up. Now if
we could just get some rain to
wash the yellow pollen off the
cars and porches. It has rained
all around Raeford, but we
only got a drop or two of rain.
Someone did say, Sunday, that
it rained a little at the Easter
Sunrise Service. Not enough
to get you wet.
The forecast for the remai n-
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
high Wednesday to be in the
60s and the lows in the 30s.
Thursday the high will be in
the 60s and the lows in the
40s. Friday and Saturday the
highs will be in the 70s and the
lows in the 50s. There could
be rain early Wednesday.
:1c )|c *
Have you purchased your
tickets for the annual banquet
of the Raeford-Hoke Cham
ber of Commerce? The ban
quet will be held Tuesday,
May 15 at the West Hoke
Middle School Cafeteria. It
will begin at 6:30 p.m. Come
out for a good meal and you
can also see who will direct
the chamber for the upcoming
year. New officers and direc
tors will be installed at this
meeting. Tickets can be pur
chased at the Chamber office
(See AROUND, page lOA)
Hollingsworth picks Qeo Bratcher
Qerk chooses former commissioner to replace McLaughlin, end stalemate
By VicroRiANA Summers
Staff writer
Vera Hollingsworth, a Democrat and
Clerk of the Superior Court, appointed
former county commissioner Cleo
Bratcher Jr. on Tuesday to fill a vacancy
on the Hoke Board of Commissioners.
Bratcher, a proponent for better educa
tion, mai ntain i ng low taxes and econom ic
growth, returns to the board with 16 years
as a veteran commissioner. He has also
been a registered Democrat for 38 years.
Bratcher is the proprietor of El wood Bar
ber Shop in Raeford.
He will fill the vacancy left when Com
missioner L.E. McLaughlin Jr. died of
cancer on Feb. 16. Bratcher always de
scribed “Mr. Mac” (McLaughlin) as a
strong mentor in his memory.
An egg just to dye for
Cleo Bratcher jr. Vera Hollingsworth
Hollingsworth described her decision
to appoint Bratcher as “soul wrenching”
— achieved after much agonizing.
-“I have made a decision that in my
judgment and discretion would allow this
board to move forward with a minimal
amount of interruption,” Hollingsworth
said. “I do not want to further polarize the
board by appointing one of the two indi
viduals (Clyde Thomas Jr. and John D.
McAllister) that have been considered by
the board.”
Thomas, former Raeford city council
man, subsequently became the
Democrat’s choice for recommendation
to the commissioners. He won the major
ity of votes at the party’s March meeting.
He was supported not only by party chair
man Charlotte Kelly and other executive
committee members and precinct offi
cials, but by Commissioners James A.
Leach and Tony Hunt, who voted for him
as commissionersduringa split vote more
than three times.
(See BRATCHER, page 8A)
U.S. Justice official
conducts interviews
here regarding audit
Chelsea Bennett, a student at the Children’s Developmental Center, shows off the
egg she dyed last week in advance of Easter.
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Commissioners Bobby Wright and
Charles V. Daniels are optimistic that a
recent audit on the Hoke Sheriff’s Office
conducted by the Governor’s Crime Com
mission on behalf of the U.S. Justice
Department’s division of fraud will turn
out in a favorable manner. Sheriff Jim
Davis has accused county officials of
wrongdoing with a C.O.P.s grant.
Special Agent Christina Casis
Andreozzi arrived in Raeford this week to
interview all county officials involved in
the administering of the $88,000 federal
policing grant that was place on hold by
the state.
Daniels said it is one of the final phases
before the Inspector General’s office in
Washington D.C. determines if there was
any wrongdoing.
“I have been looking over the budget
and grants that County Manager Bernice
MePhatter has handled and 1 can find no
wrongdoing,” Wright said. “1 am looking
forward to the audit results so that all of
Hoke County will know the results and
the truth.
“We certainly do appreciate Mrs.
Andreozzi coming down, and we thank
her for working with the county and help
ing find out the facts.”
When Sheriff Jim Davis sent a letter to
the U.S. Attorney General’s office and
Justice Department last year, he requested
an investigation into alleged misappro
priation or supplantation of funds by the
county that were intended for the sheriff’s
agency. Davis said his agency never re
ceived the monies. He said he was to
receive funds to purchase four vehicles
(See US JUSTICE, page 8A)
Hoke Demo official ffles complaint with state party
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
After the deadline ended on Sunday to
select a commissioner to replace Com
missioner L.E. McLaughlin Jr., the four
commissioners remain polarized at their
Monday meeting on their candidates of
choice — former Raeford City Council
man Clyde Thomas, Hoke’s Democratic
Party nominee, and retired school board
chairman John D. McAllister. Some pre
cinct officials are disputing if a number of
party members who voted for a Demo-
Analysis of gender, race shows disparities
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
More than one race not represented in
proportion to the registered Democrats’
population, women not holding key pre
cinct positions entitled to them, and an
elected precinct vice chairman not even a
registered Democrat in Hoke County —
these are some of the irregularities rip
pling through Hoke County’s Democratic
Party. With Hoke’s Democratic Party’s
convention being held on Saturday, party
members may likely discuss recent pre
cinct election processes, said Willard Page,
(SeeANALYSIS, page 9A)
cratic nominee were even eligible to vote,
and one female precinct official has filed
a written complaint with the N.C. Demo
cratic Party about alleged party discrimi
nation on a local level.
According to another inquiry made to
Hoke’s elections board on Monday, Jane
Qu i nones, V ice chai r of Rockf ish ’s Demo-
cratic precinct, is not listed as a Democrat
on Hoke’s voter registration. Quinones,
who voted for the Democratic
commissioner’s election, said on Mon
day she is registered to vote in Cumberland
County.
In spite of controversy, state statutes
require Vera Hollingsworth, Hoke’sclerk
of Superior Court, to legally intervene
within lOdays. She appointed formercom-
missioner Cleo Bratcher.
Eva Jackie Haddon, precinct vice chair
in Raeford No. 1, is still not satisfied with
the way Hoke Democratic Party’s election
processes have been conducted. Haddon
considers part of the Democratic nominee
process as invalid and any vote cast as
“illegal.”
“Rules are made to be followed,” Haddon
said. “It is up to us to abide by what the
Democratic Party’s Plan of Organization
says we are supposed to do. You cannot
bend the rules for some and then change
them for others.”
In Haddon’s protest received on Mon-
(See FILES COMPLAINT, page 9A)
Number of vehicle fatalities in Hoke increasing
Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
Roads in Hoke County are getting more deadly.
N.C. State Highway Patrol statistics show a 60
percent increase in vehicular fatalities from 1999
to 2000 with five fatalities in 1998, five in 1999
Hoke^feads with the most wrecks
120
^ 0
US 401 NC211
{“ “ !
-J-
uJk
Rockfish
ilGaa
Arabia Old Maxton
Road Hwy
and eight in 2000. The 2000 statistics do not
include a fatality which occurred in Raeford city
limits.
In 2001, less than four months into the year, six
fatalities have already occurred in the county.
U.S. Highway 401 remains the leader in the top
five collision roads, according to data collected by
the State Highway Patrol’sTroop
H, District VI, which covers
Hoke County. In 2000, Highway
401 had 108 wrecks, 66 were
reported on N.C. Highway 211,
with 35 on Rockfish Road, 21 on
Arabia Road, and 16 on Old
Maxton Road.
Patrols were stepped up on the
top five collision roads over the
past year, according to Sgt. R.D.
Jacobs, and four of the five that
were targeted had reductions in
wreck rates. Highway 401 re
mains problematic, he said.
Another problem area is Rock
fish Road in the Davis Bridge/
Rockfish roads area. “Traffic has
(See FATALITIES, page 8A)
County seeks solution
to trash pickup inequities
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
It was back to basics at
Monday night’seommission-
ers’ meeting as the board dis
cussed household trash solu
tions, renewed the Hoke-
Raeford Humane Society’s
contract to operate the
county’s animal shelter, and
accepted a final bid on ve
hicles for the Hoke Sheriff’s
Office.
County Manager Bernice
MePhatter presented commis
sioners with a renewal con
tract to officially support di
rector Kim Shelton of the lo
cal humane society. The con
tract that takes effect July 2001
was unanimously approved by
commissioners. It endorses
Shelton’s continued operation
of the county’s animal shelter
off Doc Brown Road next to
the solid waste transfer sta
tion.
Shelton told commission
ers she was toeing the line at
$32,500 for all the expenses
associated with the shelter.
Shelton, who donates her own
time, said she prefers to uti lize
all the resources provided for
promoting a successful adop
tion program for the animals,
and meeting other slate re
quirements.
“Is that enough?” Commis
sioner James A. Leach said of
her budget request. I have been
out there, and it looks good out
(See TRASH, page 8A)