The
ews
If It happened, it's news to us
J oumal
No. 7 Vol. 96
OUMTY INi.C,
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
911 supervisor, technician demoted in shakeup
Controversy over control of department culminates in disagreement with sheriff
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Two managers in the Hoke Commu
nications department were demoted last
week as controversy over control of the
department escalated to a disagreement
with Sheriff Hubert Peterkin.
Emergency Management Director A1
Schwarcbher, supervisor of 911 com
munications, was relieved of 911 super
vision by County Manager Mike Wood,
but remains as fire marshal and emer
gency management director.
Ron Fairbanks, 911 data base techni
cian, was reassigned to the county map
ping department, but resigned Friday.
Both had received salary cuts of $5,000.
Wood said he took disciplinary ac
tion last Wednesday against the two
after Fairbanks sent an “unwarranted”
e-mail message to Peterkin, allegedly
threatening to refuse requests for crimi
nal records checks for the sheriff’s de
partment unless an updated contract was
signed. Wood said.
The county manager was also critical
of Fairbank’s telling the State Bureau of
Investigationofthedisputewithoutcon-
sulting him.
“This was not taking one side over
the other,” Wood said. “1 believe this
issue could have been handled better by
the 911 department. Based on my evalu
ation of 911, the changes were war
ranted.
“It involved more than one incident.”
The disagreement came to a head
when a deputy radioed in a request for a
records check from the SBI’s Division
of Criminal Information (DCI) system
on a stolen out-of-state vehicle, but was
told by a dispatcher to get the informa
tion directly from the sheriff’s depart-
(See SHAKEUP, page 9A)
Fire chief calls shakeup
‘dangerous situation’
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Some Hoke volunteer fire chiefs are
alarmed since County Manager Mike
Wood promoted 911 telecommunicator
Harvey “Chris” Jacobsen as the interim
911 supervisor, relieving both Supervi
sor AJ Schwarcbher and Data Base Tech
nician Ron Fairbanks from duties at the
communications department.
These changes leave the future orga
nization of the 911 center unstable, es
pecially since Fairbanks has resigned,
according to Schwarcbher, Hoke’s fire
marshal and emergency management
director.
“This is a tremendous liability for the
county,” Schwarcbher said. “Chris
(See DANGEROUS, page 9A)
City follows suit, rejects
Bragg buffer endorsement
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
The Raeford City Council didn’t buy
into a land use plan for Hoke property
that would create property buffers around
Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg
even after changes were made and “ca
veats” were offered.
Councilman Wayne Mills moved to
reject the plan, presented by N.C. Dept,
of Commerce chief planner Jim
Dougherty, with these words: “It’s a
very good plan, beautiful and all that but
for Hoke County it’s not fair and if it’s
(See BRAGG BUFFER, page 4A)
S
Last mission
LCDR Karl W. Rauch. F18 pilot on the USS Constellation, his wingmen at his side, after their last flight over Iraq. The center
man behind the flag, he is pictured with some of the crewmen in charge of carrier landings, who welcomed the men with an
American flag. Rauch is the son of Ginny Rauch of Raeford.
>8754091
Brewer family racing
on wheels and prayer
page 8A
Robert Tyner
worked at Burlington
almost 47 years
page 8A
Sutton signs with
UNC-Wilmington
page 7A
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 7-8B
Deaths 4A
Editorials 2A
Legals 5-6B
Public Record 4A
Religion 5B
Schools 4-5 B
Socials 3B
Sports 6-8A
Hoke’s top stories
are on the web;
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www.thenews-journal.com
Three charged with robberies in ring that targeted Hispanics
One of three suspects in a ring that preyed on Hispanics
is handcuffed.
ByP \r Allen Wilson
Editor
Three Hoke County
men found themselves in
the wrong place at the
wrong time Thursday
evening and found them
selves facing 50 criminal
charges.
After being spotted
riding on Old W ire Road
near Antioch and stopped
by Raeford pol ice, SBI and
ALE officers, they are in
Hoke Jail, charged by city.
Hoke and Robeson officers.
“We’ve had a series of robberies in the
city, county and in Robeson County,” said
Raeford Police Chief Mack High. “Most
were Hispanics who were being robbed.”
Raeford Detective John Pierce said one
of the suspects, a passenger in the car,
attempted to start it again after the driver
had stopped for the officers at around 6
o’clock. Officers had to break out a win
dow to stop the car, he said.
One of the suspects, Steven Ray
Locklear, resisted and received superfi
cial wounds in an altercation and was
taken to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hos
pital to be “checked out,” according to
Pierce.Pierce was also nursing an injured
hand at the scene.
Detective Earl Johnson of the Robeson
County Sheriff’s Dept, said two of the
men plus two other men in custody were
involved in robberies where Hispanics
were targeted. “There was a little group
doing around targeting Hispanics. The
investigation is ongoing. We received
some help from Raeford PD and the Hoke
County Sheriff’s Office that helped us
make some arrests in these cases.”
HSOChiefDeputyTroy McDuffie said
his office’s investigation is ongoing even
though “a bunch of charges” have been
(See THREE CHARGED, page 9A)
Jail houses females for first time, sheriff retreives money owed to county
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said the
Sheriff’s Office has reined in spending by
no longer transporting female inmates
outside the county for detention, saving
the county more than $96,000 annually in
transport, boarding and medical treatment.
It is the first time since the jail opened in
1967 that females have ever been housed
at the local jail, according to Peterkin.
Peterkin also announced tocounty com
missioners on Monday evening that his
law agency has been reimbursed $91,000
from the state for past-due detention fees.
The accrued charges were never submit
ted to the state by the previous sheriff’s
administration, he said.
“It was disappointing to me that the
budget for the Sheriff’s Office was al
ready overspent when 1 took office in
December,” Peterkin said prior to the
Monday night meeting. “It was a tough
pill to swallow.
“We found old records for boarding
inmates that had never been processed
where refunds were due for months of
boarding,” he said. “These savings along
with us now housing females inmates at
the jail are just some of the many ways we
are using moneys within our budget to
better serve the county.”
Peterkin has raised daily rates to the
state and federal governments for housing
prisoners from outside the county who are
waiting for trials in Hoke. Fees have in
creased from $18 per day to $40 daily for
state inmates and to $50 for federal pris
oners.
“By raising the rates for detaining state
and federal inmates, we will save a sub
stantial amount of money for the county,”
(See JAIL, page lOA)
1rhe.He.wsJ Journal
News
Other stuff
"IW
By Ken MacDonald
General Manager
A conjunction of three planets and a
comet must have occurred last week, the
only way to explain how chicken was
served at a Hoke County school on Tues
day. Everyone knows Thursday is
Chicken Day. The cafeteria staff (God
bless them!) at West Hoke Middle outdid
themselves for a dinner honoring Hoke
Teachers of the Month and mini-grant
winners.
Partners In Education holds the dinner
each year to say thanks to some of the
finest teachers in the system.
Wayne Simpson, the P.I.E. president,
and Superintendent Allen Strickland were ,
(See JOURNAL, page lOA)
Child’s book on coping with cancer to benefit Relay
A* «
t
■*
4
U- ■
By Pat Allen Wilson
Editor
J.J., Chad, Cliff and Lauren Jones will
be spending their first Mother’s Day
without their mom, Victoria “Vicki”
Frahm Jones, who passed away in Janu
ary of cancer at the age of 52.
Left: Vicki Jones; Above: Amelia Frahm and children
Tabitha and Jordan
J.J. and her family be coming from
Hypoluxo, Florida this month to join
other members of her mother’s large
family as well as members of Vicki’s
church, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catho
lic, on The Vicksters, a Hoke County
Relay for Life team that will be helping
raise money for research through the
American Cancer Society. Chad and wife
Misty, also Cliff, all of whom live in
Wilmington, will drive up and, of course,
their 15-year-old sister Lauren, a Raeford
resident, will be here.
The idea for The Vicksters —that
was V icki ’ s e-mai 1 add ress—came from
a letter from J. J., who asked her mother’s
family to participate in the Relay event
that held May 16-17 on the football field
at Hoke High.
Amelia Frahm, Vicki’s sister-in-law,
herself a cancer survivor, took an interest
in the Relay for Life after J.J. asked the
family to participate in Vicki’s name. “I
thought it was such a positive thing to do.
It would be so easy for her just to go back
to Florida (after the funeral) and just
grieve along or wallow in self pity,” said
Frahm. “1 know she has got to miss her
(See VICKSTERS, page 9A)