The
ews
If it happened, it's news to
Journal
snr Bl
No. 15 Vol. 95
Wednesday, July 10, 2002
Hoke’s top stories
are on the web
www.thenews-journal.com
This week
Tyler memorial
scholarship set up
f)age 4A
Adorations,
Joy Grim to
perform here
page 9A
Autry's peach stand
opens
page 10A
1 Index 1
Births
2B
Calendar
3B
Classifieds
6-7B
Deaths
6A
Editorials
.... 2-3A
Legals
4-5B
Public Record
6A
Religion
9A
Socials
2B
Sports
5A
Filing for school board opens with 5
By Victoriana Summi rs
. Staff writer
A flurry of activity occurred when the
filing period opened on July I for three
Hoke Board of Education seats available
in the upcoming election. In the course of
nine days, three incumbentsandtwooiher
candidates — all Democrats — have
announced they will run in the non-parti
san category during the November elec
tion.
“To have all incumbents and one chal
lenger file in the first week, and another
candidate this week, indicates to me a
significant interest in the positions,” said
Carolina Shook, Board of Elections di
rector “We have had inquiries from an
other person who has expressed an inter
est in filing.
“Those candidates filing will not run in
the primary race, but their names will
appear on the ballot for the general elec
tion."
Incumbents included Russell C. Smith,
a Raeford attorney, Tom Pilkington, re
tired from the N.C. Wildlife Commission
and Teddy Locklear, environmental health
supervisor in Scotland County. Other can
didates included Gloria Hill, an employee
with Sprint Communications in
Fayetteville and Roosevelt McPherson,
an associate principal in the Cumberland
County school system.
Newcomer McPherson, a Silver City
(See FILING, page 7A)
ohn and Ruth Pecora sample the peach ice cream at Autry & Son peach stand, which opened July 5. See
more photos and an article on page lOA.
SBI ends Hoke
embezzlement
investigation
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
After more than an eight-month criminal probe into the alleged
embezzlement of county funds by at least one former county
employee, the State Bureau of Investigation said it is over. The bulk
of the investigation has been done, and the file was turned over to
District Attorney Kristy Newton, said Special Agent Janie B.
Pinkston, an SBI supervisor in charge of the inquiry.
“We have completed our investigation into allegations of em
bezzlement against former Hoke county manager Bernice MePhatter
for all intents and purposes,” Pinkston said on Monday. “Our
investigation found records that indicated the scope is well beyond
misappropriation of funds.
“I am sure the case will be handed over to the grand jury for an
indictment. We did a thorough examination of the allegations
against her.”
Pinkston did not want to specify if more than one person could
(See INVESTIGATION, page 7A)
1 .
'' ’»»>•
Drought now severe, drops crops, profits
Eddie McNeill keeps up with a demand for beans at Home
Feed and Garden on Main Street despite a dwindling county
supply.
By Victoriana Summi-.rs
Staff writer
Four years after farmers complained of
drought conditions and hoped for “wetter”
weather in .sea.sons to come, severe dryness has
persisted in Hoke's agriculture communities.
Continued dry spells have resulted in dusty
fields, crops withered from the heat or disease.
It is the driest year local farmers have seen in the
"Ifl thought it would help,
I would do a rain dance."
- Farmer, Bobby Wright
last decade, and it could cause some to lose
more than 35 percent of their crops, said farmer
Robert “Bobby” Wright, who partners with his
son, Bobby Jr. on the family farm off June
Johnson Road.
“If you would compare our drought to a class
five hurricane, our weather conditions would be
about a class five drought.” Wright said. “We
got some scattered showers recently that have
really helped, but the majority of the county is
still awfully dry.
“If 1 thought it would help, 1 would do a rain
dance. All we can do is pray because most of the
types of plants we are growing are already as
drought-resistant as possible.”
Wright’s comparison is echoed by records
monitored by Ron Fairbanks, E-911 supervisor
in Emergency Management. “According to the
U.S. Weather data. Hoke’s drought is ranked in
the extreme to excep
tional range in severity,”
Fairbanks said. He .said
the total rainfall forsome
areas of Hoke in June
was only 2.7 inches —
and it was far less in other
areas of the county.
According to the U.S.
Seasonal Drought Out
look, some improvement
in drought conditions
may be expected in
North Carolina between
now and the beginning
of September.
“A lot of statistics re
flect the El Nino world
weather conditions have
affected our lack of pre
cipitation in North Caro
lina,” Fairbanks said.
Wright is joined by other farmers such as Earl
Hendrix and Roscoe McCollum, and by Eddie
McNeill, ownerof Home Feed & Garden. Wright
and Hendrix are predicting the federal govern
ment will likely declare Hoke a disaster area
because of the drought. If federal aid is ap-
(See DROUGHT, page 8A)
Drought Severity Index by Division
Weekly Value for Period Ending 6 JUL 2002
Long Term Palmer
t
A
'*9
IQ] -4.0 or less (Extreme Drought)
Q -3.0 to -3.9 (Severe Drought)
O -2.0 to -2.9 (Moderate Drought)
O ■'••9 to +t.9 (Near Normal)
WJi
ciiiMtt mweiiee aimit. i
■ >2.0 to >2.9 (Unuaual Molat Spall)
■ >3.0 to >3.9 (Very Molat Spall)
B >4.0 and abova (Extremely Molat)
Hoke veterans first to tell their war stories
for national archives history film project
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
Lawrence “Bud” Wilson ate nothing
but boiled cucumbers for two weeks.
John Mims ate snails, rats and snakes.
Wilson was a prisoner of war during
the Korean War, and Mims during World
War II. They and another Hoke veteran,
Paul Sides, spoke of their wartime expe
riences before a video camera recently.
The film will become part of the
archives of personal histories of North
Carolina veterans preserved in the Li
brary of Congress.
Hoke veterans were the first to be
interviewed by Congressman Robin
Hayes (NC-8) for the American Folklife
Center Veterans History Project. Inter
views took place in the commissioners
meeting room at the Hoke County of
fices. The meetings were coordinated
by Tom Squier, Hoke County Veterans
Service Officer, and by VFW Post 10
Commander George Balch.
“There are 19
million war veter
ans living in the
United States to
day, but every day
we lose, on aver
age, 1,500 of
them,” said Hayes.
“We’re fortunate to
have lots of infor
mation about the
lives of our great
military leaders,
but we do not have
nearly the same
amount of informa
tion about the aver
age soldier. These
men and women
are the ones who truly carried the bur
den of our fight for freedom and their
(See VETERANS, page lOA)
 rv
I
T,
/
While Congressman Robin Hayes (left) listens, Paul Sides tells
of his wartime experiences for a video camera
McPhaul misses out on bid
to becxtme unafSliated candidate
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
After almost five months of seeking
signatures on a petition to run as an
unaffiliated candidate for one of three
available commissioner seats, Scurlock
resident Freddie McPhaul missed his
goal by 92 signatures. He squeaked in
by the June 28 deadline, providing 39
pages of signatures that should have
garnered him a bid in the commission
ers’ race. However, discrepancies pre
vented him from succeeding, accord
ing to McPhaul.
“I was out of town traveling on my
job,” McPhaul said. “1 almost did not
get back in time to turn in my sheets of
signatures.
“Mrs. (Caroline) Shook was very
nice about helping me coordinate ev
erything, but 1 did not have enough
signatures.”
After a careful review of voting
registration records and double-check
ing of signature authenticity, Hoke’s
Board of Elections officially informed
McPhaul at their Monday meeting that
he did not qualify as an unaffiliated
candidate. The board cited reasons that
included accidental duplication of sig
natures from registered voters, and
many of those signing were not regis
tered to vote. Some did not even reside
in Hoke County, according to board
findings.
A disappointed McPhaul said he
appreciated their efforts in trying to
certify his petition even if he was miss
ing an adequate number of signatures.
According to regulations, McPhaul
said, he was required to submit 725
signatures of valid, registered voters.
He acquired 768 signatures, but only
633 were certified as eligible voters.
(See MCPHAUL, page 5A)