-I-
The
ews
No. 20 Vol. 94
On vacation?
Hoke’s top stories
are on the web
www.thenews-journal.com
This week
Couple's love
establishes
Chapel of Christ
page 1B
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Our readers
speak out
page 2A, 3A
Woman wants
her rabbit back
page 4A
Index
Births 3B
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 8-9B
Deaths 3A
Editorials 2-3A
Engagements 3B
Legals 4,7B
Public Record 4A
Religion 10B
Schools 10A
Social News 3,4B
TV Listings 5-6B
Weddings 3-4B
Around Town
U-11
m
By Sam C. Morris
Contributing Editor
The hot summer weather
came to Raeford last week. A
couple of days last week my
thermometer showed a read
ing of 100 degrees. It was in
the high 90s most of the other
days. The heat index for most
of three days was scored be
tween 105 and 110 degrees.
In my younger days we had
hot summer days and I can’t
remember feeling as hot as it
was last week. Maybe it is
because we have gotten used
to air conditioning. Our bod
ies haven’t become accus
tomed to hot weather. We did
receive about 1/2 inch of rain
last week, but other sections
of the state were flooded with
over five to six inches. Maybe
our time will come; the land is
very dry in the city and county.
The forecast for the remain
der of the week, Wednesday
through Saturday, calls for the
highs to be in the high 80s or
low 90s. The lows for the pe
riod will be in the 70s. We
could get rain on Friday and
Saturday.
4c *
1 was sorry to hear of the
deathofBill Kennedy. He was
a veteran of World War II and
then became a member of the
local National Guard unit for
many years. Maybe some of
you will remember when he
worked with Clarence Willis
at his garage. Recently he had
been attending church at The
Raeford Presbyterian Church
with Betty McDuffie. We of-
(See AROUND, page 6A)
Journal
If il happiMicd, il's news to us
50 cents
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
Officials: Silver City grant not stalled
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
County officials are hoping to move
forward with the $1.4 million Silver City
Sewer project, satisfying some Si 1 ver City
residents who are circulating a written
message around the county that criticized
delays in installing the sewer system. In
the latest grant award, the N.C. Rural
Economic Development Center an
nounced yesterday it will provide a
$400,000 supplemental grant to help con
nect the sewer system in Silver City. This
grant will be combined with a $850,000
Community Development Block Grant
that was awarded last year for infrastruc
ture in SilverCity, said engineer Stephanie
Closson of Hobbs, Upchurch & Associ
ates, designers of the project.
“The Hoke County-Silver City Sewer
Improvement Project is proceeding on
schedule,” Closson said. “The engineer
ing design for the sewer extension is com
pleted and will be submitted for final
permitting this month.
“We anticipate being able to establish
a bid date for September. Some of these
people in Silver City actually have raw
sewage in their yards, and there is a severe
need in the area.”
Closson said Hobbs, Upchurch appl ied
for the CDBG grant for Hoke County —
without charging a fee — because the
funding could not be obtained as origi-
{See SIL VER CITY, page 11 A)
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4
V A
At
E;T'
1
A summer visitor (barely visible on the blossom) basks in the warm welcome of a sunflower.
East Hoke families fear for life
living near Davis Bridge curve
I
Aggie Hales, left, and her sister Brenda Hardin
protect their children from a hazardous curve on
Davis Bridge Road near the Robeson County line.
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
For Aggie Hales and her sister Brenda Hardin
the 20-year “nightmare” of residing on Davis Bridge
Road next to a dangerous curve has never ended.
Hales and Hardin said the crashing sounds of
wrecks next to their rural home, and the constant
“zoom-zoom-zoom” of speeding vehicles is un-
Department of Transportation to make the sloping
curve close to the Robeson County line safer, but
she said so far their requests have gone unan
swered.
“We have experienced damage to fences, our
yard, parked cars, trees, mailboxes, and our ga
rage,” Hales said. “We even had our water pump
taken out by a vehicle that missed the curve, and
they had no insurance. We had to hook onto
county water just so we could have water to use.”
Even the N.C. Highway Patrol rates the Rock-
fish/ Davis Bridge roads among the most hazard
ous in Hoke County, estimating traffic has almost
doubled during recent years. Speed limits are set at
45 m i les per hou r on t he cu rve of the state road, and
posted signs indicate an increase to 55 after the
curve.
“The Highway Patrol would make a killing if
they came down here to give out tickets for just one
day,” Hales said. “One day somebody is not going
to walk away from one of these accidents, and it
will be a real tragedy.”
Limited visibility because of trees on adjoining
property, angled pavement, and no warning arrow
signs to indicate a curve, are factors that make it
more treacherous, said Hales.
“So far, no one has died in the wrecks we have
witnessed,” said Hales, a doting grandmother who
is afraid for her grandbabies to play outdoors.
“There have been at least five wrecks in front of
my home during the past two years—not counting
others about a mile down near the county line
where someone did die last year.”
According to Hales, a drunk Raeford driver
struck her son while he was riding his bicycle on
Davis Bridge Road about 20 years ago.
bearable. They are pleading for help from the N.C. (See DANGEROUS CURVE, page llA )
School system gets grant for center
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
The Hoke Board of Education is the recipient of
a $125,000 grant to establish a Community Tech
nology Learning Center (TLC) at West Hoke
Middle School. Melynda Lamb is administering
the program to create a family learning center in
the school’s computer lab and media center on
week nights and Saturdays.
The TLC program will target at-risk students,
says Lamb. Students will be invited to participate
who may not have computers in their homes or
who have no one to help them hone their computer
skills. “Bridging the gap” is the way she describes
the opportunities provided by the grant. “If they
don’t have the resources at home, we are going to
give them every opportunity to use them.”
The WHMS computer lab and the media center
will each accommodate 30 people. “We hope to
have both utilized,” Lamb says.
At the beginning of the program, the learning
center will be open two nights during the week and
on Saturday mornings. Lamb says. The schedule
can be adjusted if demand calls for it, she adds.
A certified teacher and teacher’s assistant will
staff the family learning center plus a security
guard will open and close the center each night.
Lamb says.
The funding for TLC comes from the U.S.
I'echnology Literacy Challenge Fund and is dis
tributed through the N.C. Dept, of Public Instruc
tion. Goals of TLC grants are defined:
• to create a safe haven for families;
• to help families reach their full academic
(See SCHOOL GRANT, page 8A )
Ultimatum given
to utilities director,
‘resign or be fired’
By Victoriana Sum.mers
Staff writer
Hoke’s new utilities director, hired to supervise water usage and
billing and to maintain the regional water systems, was suspended
last week. After further evaluation on Monday, George Hughes was
told by County Manager Bernice McPhatter he has a choice of
“resigning” or his employment will be terminated immediately, said
County Attorney Neil Yarborough.
According to Commissioner Charles V. Daniels, Hughes was
initially told he could remain on the job until August 13 while
commissioners debated his continued employment. He was granted
an administrative leave with pay, but when more problems occurred
in the utilities department that offer was withdrawn, Daniels said.
Hughes’ suspension came as complaints from citizens flooded
county administration.
“Bernice McPhatter said she had no idea he estimated customers’
water bills and did not have their meters read one month and then
charged them the next month,” Daniels said of massive mix-ups.
“Mr. Hughes is not even a certified engineer, and we just found out
he had never worked in a supervisory capacity before — onh in
administration.
“Apparently, he must have mis-read the meters.”
In a special commissioners meeting held on Monday morning to
discuss Hughes’ status, no action was taken during a closed person
nel session. When The News-Journal sought further details about
(See ULTIMATUM, page 11A )
NCACC elects Leach
to serve at state level
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
lames A. Leacri
Commissioner James A. l^ach was
elected as a state representative at the
annual N. C. Association of County
Commissioners’ state convention held
in Fayetteville last weekend. Leach,
elected from among 1,000 of his peers,
will represent Hoke, Robeson, Bladen,
and Scotland counties, members of Dis
trict Five. He will lead the four counties
during a two-year term, serving as a
liaison for promoting the counties’well
being and economic growth at the state
level.
“I believe this is a golden opportunity to represent these counties
for the statewide association,” Leach said. “It is a great honor that my
board and the other county commissioners had the trust and confi
dence in me to accept this task.
“1 hope 1 can live up to their expectations.”
Since 1911, Leach is one of only three Hoke elected officials to
serve as a representative for the state association. His predecessors
included the late commissioners LE. McLaughlin Jr. and John
(See LEACH ELECTED, page 12A )
Woman arrested in death
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
An arrest has been made in the slaying of a Vass man Aug. 8.
Freda L. Slocomb was arrested Friday in the death of Thomas
Lamont Shields Jr. and was charged with voluntary manslaughter,
a felony. Sheriff Jim Davis said.
Shields’ death in Hoke’s Harmony Heights Mobile Home Park
followed a brawl. A history of violence between the couple and
mitigating circumstances ruled out a stiffer charge for first or second
degree murder, said Major Thomas Carlton, chief deputy at the Hoke
Sheriff’s Office.
Slocomb, 29, of 127 Dakota Drive, appeared before a Hoke
magistrate, and was placed on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Carlton
said her first court appearance was held on Monday in District Court.
“She was not surprised,” said Carlton. “She expected to be
charged, and she did not deny she did anything. When she came
home to her trailer and found Mr. Shields inside, she was accompa
nied by a girlfriend who left. Ms. Slocomb had other options
available to her such as leaving, or calling 911, but she did not.”
According to 911 reports, one of Slocomb’s relatives later called
in the report of Shield’s death to law officers after Slocomb left her
(See ARRESTED, page 12A)