The
ews
J oumal
If it hapix^ned, it’s news to us
NaSlVoLlOO
Raeford 8t H''ke County n,
Wednesday, March 8,2006
2 Hoke teachers charged with child pm
m
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
TWo schoolteachers have been
suspended with pay for 30 days
after they were arrested by the
Fayetteville Police Department a
week ago for allegedly possessing
and distributing child pornography
videos over the Internet.
Hoke interim school superinten
dent Don Steed said he would like
to have recommended to the board
that teachers Ronald Dennison and
Christian Alvin Baumgart be termi
nated, but said he “could not.”
‘'We were told by our school
board attorney that we need to wait
until they have received due process
from the law,” Steed said during a
special called board meeting last
evening. “I immediately suspended
the teachers last week when we
learned of their arrests.”
Discussing the personnel issue
in a closed session last evening, the
school board did not publicly com
ment on the pair’s arrest.
The scandal involving suspects
Dennison, an East Hoke Middle
School teacher, and Baumgart,
a Hoke High chorus teacher,
has “shocked and concerned”
local parents and school staff,
according to one school official,
(See TEACHERS, page 7A)
Palmer Street
extension
faces delay
Leaders fight for project
By Victoriana Summers
Saff writer
For the second year in a row, the state Department
of Transportation may postpone the lon^-awaited
Palmer Street extension start-up date. Tlte unpub
lished 2007-2013Transportation Improvement Plan
may push the project from 2006 to beyond 2008.
The proposed project would connect Highway
211 West with a bypass beyond East f>almer to
Highway 20 on to Interstate-95 at the St. Pauls
exit. It would alleviate congestion of cornmercial
traffic in downtown Raeford and enhance economic
development, according to Hoke Economic Devel
oper Don Porter.
“This would be entirely detrimental to our plans
for the Hoke County Regional Industrial Park
on Highway 20 to postpone this project,” Porter
said. “We have been hearing rumors thiat Palmer
Street is still not going to be extended ^ soon as
we thought.
(See PALMER STREET, page )
Baumgart
Dennison
Junior Miss Lumbee Alexis Jones (right)
sings at an opening ceremony for the Boys
and Girls Club of the Lumbee Tribe es
tablished at South Hoke. Above, children
enjoy the festivities. See story on page
5A. (Photos by James A. Wilson)
This Week
Mystery cloaks
Bowmore school
jx^elB
Teachers teach
teachers
page4B
Smith takes
Gimpbelljob
page 3 A
\^^lliaI1ls named
to Human Relations
Board
page 5 A
Index
Births 3B
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 7,8B
Deaths 8A
Editorials 2A
Legals 5-6B
Religion 2B
Schools 4B
Socials 3B
Sports 4A
Weddings 3B
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Commissioners support traiie for Medicaiii bill
Hy Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
Hoke’s board of commissioners
unanimously supported a resolution
generated by Scotland County’s com-
missiotiers, agreeing to rel inquish one
cent of Scotland and Hoke’s sales tax
revenue to the state.
If the N.C. General Assembly heeds
the wishes of a number of counties, a
trade-t)ff will be negotiated with the
state So counties will avoid paying
future Medicaid tabs of its citizens,
according to Commission Chairman
Bobby Wright.
North Carol ina is one of the few re-
mai ning states that mandates counties
must be responsible for Medicaid bills
incurred by disabled, senior citizens
and low income families. This has
created dissension among counties
toward the state’s policy not to con
tribute funds toward Medicaid.
Hoke’s portion, required to be paid
annually toward Medicaid, totals
approximately $2.3 million. Hoke
l3epartment of Social Services interim
director Barbara Brooks estimates
that figure could increase by 8 percent
next year.
“Medicaid is the biggest county
subsidy,” Brooks said. “We believe
we are running on target, but we are
running a little over two million dol
lars this year.
“Medicaid will not go down. We
have increased our caseloads.”
Commissioner Charles V. Daniels
supports the resolution, but criticizes
the state for not paying for Medicaid
“outright.”
“I think it is a fancy political way
for the state to get out of not having to
pay for Medicaid,” Daniels, a member
of the Social Services board, said. “But
we have to lose some revenue. It will
probably still be worth it because our
taxpayers won’t have to bear the extra
burden of paying for our Medicaid
costs.”
Wright said Senator Tony Rand of
Cumberland County has proposed the
measure to the N.C. General Assem
bly. Although it is being considered,
HokeCommissionerCTiairman Bobby
Wright said, some counties are protest
ing the idea. Wealthier counties “stand
to lose” more revenue from returning
(See MEDICAID, page 6A)
Sixtieth drug raid nets cocaine
Nelson Tyler (right) is arrested during a Thursday raid.
By Victoriana Summers
Staff writer
A raid targeting a sus
pected crack house in Shan
non marked the 6()th drug
raid conducted by the Hoke
Sheriffs Office under the ad
ministration of Hoke Sheriff
Hubert Peterkin, he said.
The Hoke sheriffs narcot
ics unit surrounded the North
Shannon Road residence of
Nelson TylerJr. last Thursday,
executing a search warrant.
Several Pit bull dogs and a
Rottweiler protected Tyler’s
compound that included a
doublewide mobile home
and new storage buildings.
Drug agents also seized his
all-terrain vehicles and other
vehicles.
“What’s going on?” a curi
ous neighbor, driving up in her
car to the chained driveway at
1045 N. Shannon Road, said.
“Was there a shooting? I was
just wondering.”
A Hoke Sheriffs detec
tive offered no information.
“Miss,” he said. “If you persist
with asking questions about
this situation and remain on
this property, I will have to
request you to be searched.”
Posthaste, the unidentified
motorist backed out of the
driveway.
When Tyler’s residence
was searched, Hoke drug en
(See RAID, page 6A)
Irhe News4 Journal
News stuff
1
Groups seek AIDS awareness
By Ken MacDonald
Publisher
Seven thousand miles away - nearly
half way around the world-and would
hospitable. Well, to men at least.
My wife and I were in Pakistan for
the la.st two weeks to visit our son. In
October, when an earthquake struck
an area of the mountains just north
you believe all the people in Paki.stan- of the capital city of Islamabad, my
just lilce usherc-gocounierclockwise
around their walking tracks? Other
revelations: there are tall people there
(bu| not many bald), and the people
are not out to kill all Americans, but
are actually quite kind, gracious and
cousin. Lauren Mueenuddin sent out
a plea for help to our extended family.
She has 1 ived in Pakistan for years with
her husband, a Pakistani doctor, and
suddenly found herself in the middle
(See OTHER STUFF, page 5A)
By Sonia Jackson
The News-Journal intern
Organizations such as the Hoke
County Health Department and the
Cape Fear Regional Bureau are doing
what they can to spread awareness and
infonnation about HIV/AIDS to the
Hoke County community.
It’s “very important” to keep the
community abreast ofHlV/AlDS and
how it affects the rural community,
Ashley Rozier 11, di rector of the Cape
Fear Regional Bureau forCommunity
Action, said.
“There are numerous people in this
county that are infected by this dis
ease, now, and they don’t even know
they are infected. So, it’s so important
to educate the public, inform them
about the affects of this disease and
early diagnosis,” Rozier said.
The organizations understand
the meaning and importance of
outreach, Rozier said. They go
out into the community and talk to
people in a nonjudgmental way about
(See AIDS, page 7A)