The
ews
Journal
If it haul *ened, if s news to us
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N0.35V01.100
Raeford & Hoke County n.c,
Wednesday, November 16,2005
FEMA trains officials, stages disaster here
Hoke gets rare chance for training by state, national emergency experts
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Rubber bullets are fired into a riot to
disburse a crowd without inflicting fatali-
des. A major fire hits a Raeford factory or
1 category four hurricane sweeps across
Hoke with massive casualties.
These are some of the simulated sce
narios being taught this week to Hoke
County and City of Raeford officials,
who are enrolled in a crash course taught
by the national FEMA agency.
“You think it will never happen here?”
Robert Park, battalion chief of Graham
fire and rescue from Washington, said.
“Whoa! It can happen, and you need to
be prepared.
“What if you had an industrial fire
at House of Raeford? A lot of people
might die.”
(Someone quipped: “Yeah, and there
could be a lot of dead turkeys.”)
Local officials participate today in a
full-seal^ “mock” disaster that is being
held at the former Sandhills Youth Center
at McCain through tomorrow, the disaster
recovery day. The seminar and subsequent
disaster demonstration objectives are to
prepare governmental leaders to handle
future disasters and to protect citizens’
lives and property, according to Major
Freddy Johnson, chief of operations of the
Hoke Sheriffs Office, Hoke emergency
(See FEMA, page 5A)
3 Raeford
students killed
NCA&T sophomores
die in Greensboro wreck
Xalnii
f
By Victoriana
Summers
Staff writer
A wreck in
Guilford Coun
ty last night
killed three
former Hoke
Marshall Thorne
High School students.
Carla Maria Marshall, of the 100 block of
Arbor Street in Raeford, Tiffany Helene Cat-
trell, of the 600 block of Gatlin Farm Road in
Raeford, and Lynai Bree Thome, of the 1800
block of Glenburaey Court in Raeford were
I all 19 years old and students at North Carolina
A&T University in Greensboro.
Highway patrol spokesman Sgt. A.W. Wad
dell of Guilford County and formerly of the
Aberdeen-Hoke office said speed was a con
tributing factor in the accident.
Marshall, driver of the vehicle, apparently
(See ACCIDENT, page 5A)
V
No whining, just dining
The state of business and industry in Hoke was generally reported as.good at the annual Chamber of
Commerce Mullet Roast. Above: Deborah Carpenter (center), Hoke schdols director of child nutrition,
offers a feast to Andrew Callihan (left), Hoke schools finance officer, and Allen Strickland, Hoke school
superintendent; top lefeCommissioner James Leach gets ready to dine; bottom left: N.C. House of Rep-
resenative DougYongue flaxes his muscles like Popeye after devouring a tasty fish. See story, page 4A.
This Week
Shaw lifts Bucks
over Rams
page 6 A
Genena Perhealth
whistles up the wind
page 1B
Veterans honored
page 3 A
Locklear receives
Eagle Feather award
pt^c 4A
1 Index j
Births
3B
Calendar
...4-5B
Classifieds
7B
Deaths
8A
Editorials
2A
Engagements
3B
Legals
...5-6B
Religion
2B
Socials
3B
Sports
6A
Weddings
3B
We’re on the web at
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Daniels: county still deficient in money controls
Problems persist four years after former county manager convicted of embezzlement
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Four years have passed since
then-county manager Bernice
MePhatter embezzled $269,000
of county funds and went to
jail.
But, in the meantime, irregu
larities have occurred in several
other county departments, ac
cording to Commission Vice
Chairman Charles V. Daniels,
involving State Bureau of Investi
gation inquiries and a recent probe
by Sheriff Hubert Peterkin.
“No unannounced, ‘spot’ in
ternal audits have been conducted
for almost one year, which' is
contributing to problems, in my
opinion” Daniels said. ‘‘Until
more accounting policies are
established, I am concerned that
more incidents may occur until
sufficient controls are in place.
“For at least five years, the
county has been told by oqr an
nual auditor that some employees
are not depositing money iqto the
bank within a 24-hour period,”
he said.
“That is against accounting
procedures, but we are still too
lenient about not correcting the
problem.”
However, Allison Walters, an
accounting technician in finance,
said some internal controls have
been i mproved. An employee may
not purchase any item for more
than $100 without first submit
ting a purchase order to Hoke
finance for approval. Also, two
employees—as a checks and bal
ances procedure — are involved
in the process of accepting cash
or checks, verifying the amount,
receipting the payments received,
and depositing funds, she said.
(See FINANCES, page 3A)
County pins hopes for new day at Parks and Rec on Jackson
By Victoriana Summers'
Staff writer
County Manager Mike Wood has
named William David Jackson Jr. the new
Parks and Recreation director for Hoke
County. His first day on the job was last
Monday.
The hiring of Jackson comes after al
most a three-month search to replace fired
Hoke athletic director Jose Yepez. With
tenure. He had argued with some parents, tions prior to Jackson’s appointment,
and there were allegations he misused “We qre fortunate to get David,” Wood
county funds. said. “We have .been looking for a person
Wood said Jackson, the former general with finq qual ifications who is a high-cali-
recreation supervisor for the City of Fay- ber kind of individual. David is exactly the
etteville, comes with impeccable creden
tials and more than 20 years or experience
in the field of recreation. The 46-year-old
received a bachelor of science degree from
North Carolina State University in recre
ation resource administration. Although
kind of person we have been seeking.
“He is someone with a lot of experience
that can step up our Parks and Recreation
department to a higher level that will
(See JACKSON, page 4A)
the hiring of Jackson, Hoke officials look Wood had the authority to directly hire
forward to erasing turmoil during Yepez’ Jackson, he advised the board of his inten-
The news
News
J Journal
Ott^ stuff
1
By Ken MacDonald
Publisher
It’s Monday morning and my son Ben
jamin is in London, about to board a plane
to Islamabad, Pakistan. In our family’s
true style, he is on his way without a visa,
trusting a man we know only as “Mr.
Tamir” from New York, and at last word,
two congressmen who happen to be on his
plane, to get him into the country.
The plan is for him to live with my
cousin Lauren, a specialist in international
women’s health, and her husband Tamur,
a dcK'tor tapped by UNICEF to work with
the thousands of people injured by an
earthquake that devastated the region Oct.
8. Because they have in their household
three children of their own and four who
are victims of the quake, Lauren has been
unable to spend much time in the field, and
so Ben is en route to help out.
That makes him an “earthquake relief
worker” in my mind.
Unfortunately, that is what he is in his
mind too, and so that’s what he listed
on the visa application as his reason for
traveling to Pakistan. Suddenly he was no Tequoi-ra Green was named Miss Hawkeye Indian Culture Center 2005-06 in conjunc-
longer a simple tourist, but was bumped t'on wjth the 8th annual HICC pow-wow.Tina Goins, chosen Miss Congeniality, models
(See OTHER STUFF, page 7A) f®galia. See more photos and story on page 4B.