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No. 25 Vol. 96
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
State official:
save old hotel
S'! Pa I Ai I I N VVii SON
Editor
Historic buildings and demolition catcli his
attention, Bob Murphrey told city councilmen
Monday night.
The former Bluemont/Racford Hotel, con
structed in 1926, has Murphrey's attention. He
thinks the abandoned and dilapidated building
at the corner of Central and Main can and should
be saved. “Renovating the hotel is more finan
cially advantageous than tearing it dov\n.” he
said.
Contacted by Mary Archie McNeill of
Raeford’s Downtown Revitalization Commis
sion, Murphrey said he believes in economic
development through historical preservation.
“It is an important building to the community. It
deserves to be restored to prominence.” he said.
Murphrey recommended the city help main
tain the building in a reasonable state of repair.
“The building is sound. We just need to get that
water out of there.” he said, referring to a
leaking roof.
Murphrey suggested money the city set aside
for demolition be used to protect the building.
No grants or moneys are available for reno
vation through his agency. Murphrey said, but
he .said Small Town Development is good at
being stewards and finding someone to “take it
to the next level.”
The drawing card for would-bc developers is
a tax credit that could bring in $6()(M)()() -
$800,000, he sttid.
General contractors are not usually inter
ested in projects like the proposed hotel renova
tion, he said. Those developers who would be
interested are "people who are experienced in
historical remodeling projects.” He said that is
because they like old buildings and tax credits.
Murphrey said he knows twodevelopers who
are “very interested.” and others have talked to
fSt'c HOTEL, page 5A)
Community’s frantic search
turns up missing Raeford woman
Hundreds comb region looking for Pam Frederick since Monday morning
mwi
BV VlC'IORIANA SUM-
MI-.KS
Staff writer
A massive search by
land and air was
launched to find miss
ing Raeford husiness-
woman Pam Frederick
on Monday and Tucs-
day, but her discovery
in the popular moun-
Pam Frederick resort of Maggie
Valley in safe condi
tion today is nothing short of a miracle, according
to Major Kevin Locklear. Raeford assistant police
chief.
“Two family friends. Rick Sandy and David
Kitchens, drove up lo Maggie Valley, which was
one of the favorite places that Pam loved to visit,”
Locklear said. "They hoped they would find her,
and they did. 1 do not know the circumstances, or
if she was in her van. She appeared to be upset, but
that is all 1 know until they bring her back.
“All I know is that they had to calm her down.”
The friends contacted her husband. Garry
Frederick, and told him they had found her in
Maggie Valley at approximately I ():.'^() this morn
ing. He quickly notit ied Detective GregThomas at
the Raeford Police Department, who relayed a
message to Locklear and Lt. Greg Spradlin at the
Hoke Sheriff’s Otfice.
Frederick vanished early Monday after driving
away from her home on West Edinborough Av
enue at about 7;45 a.m. — presumably on her way
to work, Locklear said.
“There has been no foul plav involved in her
(See MISS! \'G WOMAN, pcigeSA)
Ki. - 1
kV
Ut5l
X'
■ ■i s ■■
Top; Asst.Fire Chief Tim Frahm briefs volunteers
on the search. Right: .A forlorn Garry Frederick,
perched on his pickup truck at home, waits in
vain. Above: State Troopers board a helicopter.
111 2
\ ^
Kershaw still making
Hoke proud
pogL ()A
Bucks defeat
Cape Fear
page 7 A
Educators challenged
to Fun Walk
page
Special Raeford
vehicle tags available
p)gt‘ HA
Births .3B
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 7-8B
Deaths 5 A
Editorials 2A
Legals 5-6B
Religion 4A
Schools 4-.5B
Social News IB
Sports 6-7 A
Hoke’s top stories
are on the web;
send us stories,
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y^ww.thenews-journal.com
Hoke High students closing gap on SAT scores
B> ViriORIANA SCMMI KS
Staff writer
Hoke High students raced “uphill” aca
demically with a.'59-point average gain on
the Scholastic Assessment Test from 2002
to 200.3.
“We are elated with our re.sults,” Allen
Strickland, Hoke school superintendent
said. “1 heard that some of our students
individually scored above 1,300 on the
test.” Strickland said Hoke students' av
erage score totaled 899 on the SAT in
2003, cresting 49 points above the mean
score of 850 in 2001.
The recent figures released by the state
Department of Public Instruction indi
cated Hoke is still well below the state
average. However, Strickland said, the
improvement is significant.
"Our average score did not exceed the
state's average of 1,001, but the scores
were an important indicator that Hoke is
coming back up,” Strickland said. “Our
scores were the highest point gain of any
school in the Cape Fear Region — maybe
in the entire state. We had 47 percent of
our students to participate.
“Bladen County experienced a 30-point
jump, but they only averaged 882 on the
SAT, which was below our score. They
had a participation rate of 62 percent.”
According to Strickland, the highest
average Hoke students have attained was
about 12 years ago when they hit above
the 900 mark on the SAT. Hoke students
missed achieving a mean score of 900 in
2003 by just one point, he added.
“We attribute our success to hard-work-
ing teachers at the high school, SAT pre
paratory classes, and a website SAT acad
emy that 27 students were enrolled in last
year to improve their strategies,”
Strickland said. “This year, we have 52
students participating in the website acad
emy because a lot of students are getting
very excited,” he said.
“That is a plus because most colleges
rely on the SAT results to determine ad
mission eligibility for a student.”
For the 129 Hoke students taking the
SAT, the average score in mathematics
was 461, and the average in verbal score
was 438.
In 2002, Hoke SAT scores improved
over 2001, averaging 860 with a mean
score of 440 in math and 420 on verbal. In
2001, SAT scores averaged 850, reflect
ing a mean score of 430 in math and 420
(See SA T SCORES, page 5A)
Smart Start corrects issues found in 2001-02 audit
By Viciori \n \ Sommi r.s
Staff writer
An annual state audit of the Hoke
County Partnership for Children —popu
larly known as Smart Start - has found the
agency did not provide adequate eontract
management and monitoringof some poli
cies and pay ments, or exercise sufficient
“internal control” in 2001-02, according
to Ralph Campbell Jr., state auditor.
However, Smart Start executive direc
tor Jean Squier said she already took
corrective actions prior to the audit. Real
izing some improvements in the system
were needed last year, Squier switched to
a private accounting firm. South Central
Multi-Accounting and Contracting, in
August 2002. Tracking expenditures and
contract payments for Hoke’s child care
referral agency. South Central also per
forms accounting for five other Smart
Start agencies in the region.
“We no longer do in-house account
ing,” Squier said. “We do not hold checks
here; they are kept with our accounting
firm.
“We have moved forward in a positive
direction. We have worked closely with
our parent organization in Raleigh to im
prove, using their guidance and technical
assistance tocorrect the former findings.”
An auditing team led by state auditor
Dennis Patterson completed the annual
audit in Raeford in June 2003, conducting
a random sampling of financial records
from the previous fiscal year. During the
five-day visit, auditors discovered two
“material weaknesses.”
“The accounting practices that were
cited for Hoke were fairly serious,”
Patterson said. “There were similar dis
crepancies reported from the previous
(See SMART START, page 4A)
mie News-f journal
News
Other stuff
iT
By Kln M \(’Don \l[)
General Manager
I was in the pressroom last
week, conducting a tour for two
groupsof kindergartners. Wc had
reached the part where I show
them the final product - a com
pleted newspaper. 1 reached for
a copy of The News-Journal and
thought, “Whoa! Can’t show
them this!”
Judging from the number of
INI,
phone calls, letters and visits,
nobody else wanted to see a front
page photo of Michael “Pistol”
Monroe with his middle fingers
up either.
Suffice to say it wasn’t our
intention to offend; merely to
show, as a reminder, what we as
a society arc up against. There in
1 iving color was t he contempt of
an accused drug dealer before
lawyers put a coat and tie on
(See OTHER STUFF, page 6A)
Remembering
those who
serve
Janice Chason-
Griffie with a
church display
honoring "heroes”
who risk their lives
for the public they
serve. She said the
U.S. flag shown is
from the funeral of
her father, a U.S.
Army veteran. See
story and more
photos on page 3 A.
'a
f