The
ews
Journal
If it happt iied, it’s news to us
50t
No.44Vol.99
Raeford & Hoke County n.c,
Wednesday, January 19,2005
School board asks state legislators for help
Hoke leaders seek followup to Leandro ruling, hear pitch for lottery vote
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Inequities in qualifying for military
and separate low wealth funding for
Hoke — labeled as a disadvantaged
county — were discussed at a recent
breakfast hosted at the central office by
the Hoke Board of Education for local
state representatives.
Hoke School Superintendent Allen
Strickland and School board chairman
Russell Smith hope to enlist State Rep
resentatives Garland Pierce and Doug
Yongue, guests for the event, to support
more funding for Hoke and other low
wealth counties in the coming legislative
session in Raleigh.
Yongue and Pierce pledged their
support in helping Hoke obtain future
funding for education, as well as other
low wealth counties.
Strickland told the group that Wake
Superior Court Judge Howard Manning
has basically approved a new formula
proposed by the state to determine which
counties are entitled to low wealth fund
ing. Criteria to qualify includes having
students who have at least one parent
with only a high school diploma, de
termining the number of students in at
tendance with family incomes below the
poverty level, and showing the number
of students between five and 21 years
■ (See SCHOOL BOARD, page 3A)
Woman shot to death
at home by intmder
Investigators suspect robbery is motive
April Pate with her daughter, now four.
By Victoriana Summers
Staff write
A west Hoke mother of afour-year-old
girl was shot to death before daylight on
Saturday morning in a home intiusion
that turned deadly, according to a spokes
man from the Hoke Sheriffs Office.
April Michelle Pate, 23, of Hunter’s
Run, a supervisor with Deb’s Cleaning
Service, was pronounced dead at
the University of North Carolina
Hospital at Chapel Hill. She was
transported there by helicopter
from FirstHealth Moore Regional
Hospital.
“There was massive bleeding
from a wound to the torso,’’ Major
Freddy Johnson, supervisor of
the Sheriffs Office major crimes
division, said yesterday. “Unfor
tunately, she died while they were
operating.”
Pate’s body was sent to the N.C.
Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel
Hill. However, Johnson said they are
still awaiting the preliminary autopsy
results.
Johnson said Pate’s mother was
caring for Pate’s daughter at the time
of the robbery. However, Pate was not
alone at the time of the shooting. A
male friend, who was employed as a
(See MURDER, page 8A)
Shown from left are Hoke school board members William Hollingsworth and Russell Smith, Representatives Garland Pierce
and Doug Yongue, school board members Tom Pilkington and Rosa McAllister McRae, and Hoke School Superintendent Allen
Strickland.
EC
isWedc
1
,.r
Qiurches mourn
pastor’s wife
page3A
King’s dream
remembered
page 8 A
Warm weather’s impact
on plants explained
page4A
Support group to fete
returning troops
page 5 A
dex
Calendar 3B
Classifieds 7-8B
Deaths 6A
Editorials 2A
Engagements 3B
Legals 4-6B
Religion 2B
Socials 3B
Sports 7 A
We're on the web at
www.thenews-journaI.cow
Deputy shoots driver after ‘reckless rampage’
Officer placed on routine suspension, felony chaiges pending against hospitalized man
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
An officer in the Hoke Sheriff s
Office narrowly escaped harm
from a motorist after die fleeing
man collided with another driver
on Arabia Road and allegedly
tried to run over the deputy, ac
cording to Hoke Sheriff Hubert
Peterkin.
Captain Gary Hammond has
been placed on routine, admin
istrative suspension with pay
after shooting the suspect, John
Dexter Murr. Peteiicin said Murr
allegedly turned violent during
his “reckless rampage” down
Rockfish Road last Wednesday
night. Hammond’s pursuit and
subsequent shooting of Murr re
sulted from a traffic stop al legedly
resisted by Murr.
“The suspect was wanted
on outstanding warrants in
Cumberland County,” Major
Freddy Johnson, supervisor of
the Sheriffs Office major crimes
division, said. ‘The man was also
driving in spite of his license be
ing revoked.
“When Captain Hammond
fired at the suspect, he was in fear
for his life.”
With an array of new criminal
felony charges pending, Murr is
listed in stable condition in Cape
Fear Valley Medical Center. He
was wounded by Hammond at
the end of a chase across east
ern Hoke County, according to
Johnson.
Once released from the hos
pital, Murr will be arrested on
charges of felony assault of a
police officer, felony assault of
a female, and felony fleeing and
eluding a police officer. The
N.C. Highway Patrol will also
be charging Murr with additional
traffic violations, according to
Johnson and Peterkin.
“Mr. Murr collided head-on
with another driver during the
pursuit and attempted to run over
Captain Gary Hammond in order
to evade capture,” Peteiicin said.
“I think that Captain Hammond
acted within department guide
lines, and I support the actions
of my officer.”
Peterkin said his suspension of
Hammond was based on policy,
and procedures in place at the
(See RAMPAGE, page 8A)
Lafayette Ford to close Raeford location next month
By Victoriana Summers ■
Staff writer
Lafayette Ford, the only new
car dealership in Hoke County,
will be closing its doors on U.S.
401 on the first of February after
operating for almost 10 years.
Once closed, the building may
be purchased or leased by another
company, but all is still undecided,
according to Don Price, owner.
“The business started with a
lucrative beginning and now is
ending on the decline in Raeford,”
Price said. “I think it is somewhat
a reflection of the economy, and
since we expanded in Fayetteville,
it has driven more customers that
way.”
The facility was owned by
Hoke Auto Parts before Lafayette
Ford purchased it. Price said.
Gordon Ragsdale, Lafayette’s
sales manager in Raeford, said
he regrets the loss of the local
dealership, but is optimistic for
the future.
“We have 16 employees at our
location, but only two are local
folks,” Ragsdale said.
“All of us have been offered
jobs at the Fayettevi 1 le dealership,
and we are grateful for that.”
Ragsdale said the county and
city officials were loyal in pur
chasing and leasing automobiles
from the local dealership over the
years. However, he said, Hoke
citizens did not patronize the
automobile firm enough to keep
it open.
“So many Hoke residents
worked out of town, and they ap
peared to be shopping elsewhere
for automobiles,” Ragsdale said.
Price echoed Ragsdale’s as
surances that the Raeford staff
would definitely be offered
(See DEALERSHIP, page 6A)
Opponents of traditional school calendar
told they need to get their plans on table
Though it appears from a distance that a Raeford business is on fire,
it’s actually an old unused produce stand burning. See story, page 6A.
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Staff or parents at any Hoke
schools opposed to the new tradi
tional calendar scheduled to begin
for all local schools in 2005-06
need to be preparing alternatives
before it is too late, according to
Hoke School Superintendent Al
len Strickland.
A draft presented yesterday
proposes the new traditional
school schedule for all schools to
begin in 2(X)5 on August 25 and
end on June 8, 2006. Requests
for calendar choices will need to
be submitted to the Hoke Board
of Education by March and no
later than April to potentially
incorporate them in the coming
year, according to a consensus of
school board members.
This followed adebate between
veteran school board chairman
Russell C. Smith and new board
member Hank Richard,-, lasi
week. They discussed whether
principals, staff, and parents
were kept informed. Smith said
he thought that the school staffs
knew the options available.
While smiling and verbally
sparring. Smith and Richards
made their somewhat opposite
positions clear to fellow board
members.
Smith thinks each school
should exercise “reasonable”
choices in their bids for alternate
calendars such as a year-round
:.clicdi.le, which was cancelled
out by the school board for next
year.
(See CALENDAR, page 4A)