ihab ;-8039 h lah.com cial >99 LE ews J ournal If it happened, ifs news to u& No. 25 V0LIO2 Raeford & Hoke County h.c. 75t Wednesday, September 5,2007 County placed under water restrictions By Jason Beck Staff Writer Citizens of Hoke County no longer have a choice when it comes to conserving water — it’s the law. Last night the board of commis sioners unanimously approved a move to stage-two mandatory water restrictions. Violators will first receive a citation, and later a $100 fine and a disconnection of services on a second offense. Stage-two restrictions limit citi zens from watering lawns, gardens or shrubs to every other day. Even number addresses can water on even days of the month and odd number addresses can water on the odd days. In addition, it will also be unlaw ful to wash cars, trucks, trailers, boats or airplanes; clean houses. parking lots or sidewalks and to refill empty swimming pools. According to Utilities Director Mike Dean, the restrictions are necessary since Hoke has a limited supply of water. “With us being a ground water system, the recovery is going to be longer than the surface water systems,” Dean said. “The thunder storms we received, (other counties) will see quicker results than we will see. Our recommendation is we go to a more stringent stage of our ordi nance, which would allow us to en- (See COMMISSIONERS, page 6A) Jason Beck photo On his way to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the predicament of homeless people, Roy Gleiter pulls his trailer along US 401 Wednesday. Homeless guy makes his point Pulls trailer 1000 miles on way to Washington By Jason Beck Staff Writer Over the past two years Roy Gleiter has walked more than 1,000 miles pulling a wagon weighing as much as a pickup truck. His weathered sweaty skin, worn boots and blistered feet are the only thing he has gained so far on his journey. As he struggled to pul 1 the wagon into Raeford last week, Gleiter said he would not lay down his burden until he has raised awareness for the impoverished, desperate and homeless. “I’m going to do this until we get something done,” he said, as he took a break from pulling the hefty cart beside US. 401 Wednesday. “I’m crazy, but that works out for me because crazy is what gets stuff done. “My life is simple,” he said. (See HOMELESS GUY. page 7A) Tl % 'It G>unty Utilities director awarded pageSA $171K grant funds houses page6A Uteracy Sunday this weekend page2B Museum sets tour of church, battlefield page IB Index Calendar 2B Classifieds 5B Court 3 A Deaths 3 A Editorials 2A Engagements 4A Legals 3-4B Social News 4A Sports 5 A Weddings 4A We’re on the wd> at www.Aenews-jounud.com Readby4,000 eaA week FirstHealth protests lost bid for ambulances By Jason Beck StaffWriter Hoke County’s decision to change EMS providers again caused a ripple last night, as two people spoke out against the switch during public forum. Earlier in the meet ing, commissioners voted to approve a contract with American Medical Response, one of the largest providers in the country. However, not everyone is in favor of the decision to sever ties with FirstHealth, the Southern Pines company that has provided the county with EMS service for 11 years. Last month, 911-director Jimmy Stewart spoke out against AMR’s contract, which did not meet the RFP require ments set forth by the board but was substantially cheaper than runner-up FirstHealth. Last night, David Carter, systemdirectorforFirstHealth, showed his displeasure with the commissioners for reject ing his company’s bid. “FirstHealth was disap pointed, and we are disap pointed, because when the proposal was submitted, AMR did not follow the RFP,” Carter said. “If we were to have made the same proposal that AMR made, our proposal would have been at least $40,000 less. “Of the ones that respond ed to the RFP to the letter, FirstHealth was the lowest bidder.” Instead, FirstHealth fol lowed the suggestions set forth before bidding began. Carter said. The result was an AMR bid of just over $615,000 a year, nearly $305,000 cheaper than the one made by First Health. Stewart was concerned the new provider would not be able to meet the demands placed on it by a growing Hoke County. Last night Carter agreed. “AMR only operates con valescent non-emergency transport services,” Carter -said. “We have 300 staff within 30-35 minutes of (See CONTRACT, page 8A) Sheriff’s office arrests two during video poker raids By jason Beck StaffWriter Hoke County deputies hit the jack pot last week when they busted illegal gambling rings at two Raeford homes. Tvo men were issued citations, and six outlawed video poker machines were seized. Myron McGilvery 49, of 619 McGilvery Lane, and John McLaugh lin of 3103 L McLaughlin Road were both charged with possession of illegal video poker machines. Each of the men was allegedly operating three of the machines out of their homes. Video poker, which used to be regulated by the state, was banned completely on July 1. Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said siiKe then, many op erators have moved their gambling underground and out of sight. “What these people are doing is they are resort ing to doi ng t hei r i 1 legal poker in their houses,” Peteikin said. ‘The first offense is a misdemeanor; the second is a felony.” Last week’s Raeford bust was each suspect’s first gambling offense. Pe terkin said the operations were set up like two small casino halls with three machines and stools in a row. ‘These guys had three machines each,” he said. “They had a little bam where people would come and gamble. At one location we seized about $5,000cash and the other maybe about $1,000.” Peterkin said the machines often are filled with even more money, but are emptied often to avoid losing large quantities in a raid. Surveillance cam eras were also found and confiscated during the raid. Even when the machines were legal to own they caused problems, Peterkin said. (See VIDEO POKER, page 8A) Johnson Hall dedicated \ - -- SandHoke Early College’s new home, Johnson Hall, was dedicated Thursday as the latest addition to Sandhills Community College’s Hoke campus. The building was named for House of Raeford’s chair man of the board, E. Marvin Johason, a major contributoi I ‘ ■ ii iC buiiuiii^. Johnson was hailed as one of North Carolina’s great est entrepreneurs, having developed House of Raeford into the fifth largest privately owned company in the state, with sales approaching $1 billion. Paincij Hollmn“Wth photo* * —r Marvin Johnson

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