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I ournal
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75f
No.21Vol.105
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
V^fednesday, August 4,2010
Two schools exit intervention program
By Tori Hamby
StaffWriter
Hoke County Schools’
officials say that two schools
will no longer face govern
ment sanctions after meeting
federal benchmarks for two
consecutive years.
Scurlock and Sandy Grove
elementary schools have ex
ited the federal Title I School
Improvement program under
the No Child Left Behind Act.
Schools enter the program
if they do not meet Annual
Yearly Progress - or AYP -
standards for two years. AYP goal forreading and math will forboth reading and math be- 2010. One school-Hawk Eye
standards are proficiency
target goals, set by the federal
government, for the percent
age of students performing
at or above grade level in a
certain subject. By the 2013-
14 school year, the AYP target
be 100 percent.
According to Hoke County
Schools Executive Director
of Federal Programs and
School Improvement Stacey
Stewart, Sandy Grove was in
its second year of intervention
fore meeting AYP standards
in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Scurlock, which exited Title
I Improvement in math in
2008-09, was in its fifth year
of intervention before also
exiting in reading in 2009-
Elementary School -remains
in the program.
Stewart said Title I School
Improvements Schools are
required to offer supplemental
education services - such as
(See SCHOOLS, page 6A)
Above, Sam Lowery, safety director,gives atourto public safety officers at the Ethanol
plantSaturday.At right,firemen get a look at safety equipment on site. (Hamby photos)
Ethanol plant hosts public safety officers
By Tori Hamby
StaffWriter
As officials and employees
atthe state’s first ethanol plant
prepare to begin operations,
public safety officials in Hoke
and surrounding counties are
training for a new fire risk
that will hit local streets once
production begins on Aug.
12 - ethanol fires.
According to Doug Ar
cher, general manager of
Clean Burn Fuels LLC,
about 20 loads of denatured
ethanol, ethanol mixed with
gasoline, will be transported
from the plant to destinations
throughout the state. Because
firefighters use different
methods to extinguish an
ethanol blaze, fire districts
must become educated on
how these fires differ from
gasoline fires, said Hoke
County Emergency Man
agement director and fire
marshal Freddy Johnson.
“I’m more concerned with
over-the-road accidents than
an on-site fire,” Johnson said.
“Even in its denatured form,
ethanol flames are barely
visible and the fire produces
little smoke.”
Clean Bum Fuels’ officials
invited members from all
emergency service depart
ments that would respond
to an ethanol-related emer
gency to a public safety open
house on Saturday morning.
Members from the differ
ent departments toured the
facility and were given the
opportunity to ask questions
about ethanol production
and the plant’s emergency
(See ETHANOL, page 4A)
4 file for
school
board
Roosevelt McPherson and
incumbent Barbara Buie have
filed for the Hoke County
Board of Education.
School board terms are for
four years. The Hoke Board of
Elections office said McPher
son declared his candidacy on
the last day for filing, August
2. Filing began on July 6.
Two other incumbents,
Della Maynor-Bowen and
Irish Pickett, filed earlier in
the month.
Lock your
doors, says
police chief
Raeford Police Chief Mike
Dummett urges Raeford
residents to lock their doors,
vehicles and gates due to a
recent increase in thefts and
larceny.
He stated that while vio-
(See LOCKS, page 6A)
This Week
k
Raeford native
finalist for Chicago
recognition
page 5 A
WiUiams to head
Flora Macdonald
page6A
Shooting suspect
arrested
page4A
Conunissioners
deny rezoning
request
page4A
Calendar 3B
Classifieds 7B
Court 3 A
Deaths 3 A
Editorials 2 A
Legals 4-6B
Screech 3 A
Worship 3B
We’re on the web at
www.thenews-joumtd.com
Readby4,500 each week
Hoke’s first vineyard intends to be ‘fussy’
Dr. Neil Griffin (center) with farm manager Jason Davis and
business manager Mandy Davis.
By Pat Allen Wilson
It is interesting that the land
of the Winecoff estate will
soon be producing grapes that
will be used to make wine in
Wagram.
They are not going to be
just any grapes either; they’ll
be “fussy” grapes.
Dr. Neil Griffin has pur
chased the 460 acres once
belonging to the Winecoff
family in western Hoke and
has planted nine acres in
grapevines. His farm carries
the name, “Fussy Farms.”
“We’re basically trying to
do gourmet quality for the
local community, and we’re
going to be fussy about how
we do it,” Griffin said.
Last month Griffin was
looking over his new vineyard
with farm manager Jason
Davis and business manager
Mandy Davis. Jason Davis
was training the vines to the
trellises.
The vines - there were
1,800 of them - were one and
two years old when bought,
according to Griffin. Some
came from North Carolina,
and others were started in
Georgia. The plants arrived
May 4 and were planted that
month.
Four varieties were plant
ed. Carlos, a bronze grape,
and Noble, a black grape, are
juice grapes that will be used
for winemaking at Cypress
Bend Vineyard winery in Wa
gram. Some may be marketed
for fresh grape juice.
Two varieties are for pick-
your-own crops. The Su-
(See VINEYARD, page 6A)
When it rains, apartment dwellers warn each other by phone
By Tori Hamby
StaffWriter
When storms rolled
through Hoke County last
week, knocking out electric
ity for about an hour, some
residents had to deal with
more than just a bit of time in
the dark.
Those living at Raeford
Green Apartments at 300
West Southern Ave. watched
as about two feet of water
filled their parking lot. Most
Shopping center gets nod
By Bill Lindau
A shopping center near
the Hoke campus of Sand
hills Community College is
in the works. The Raeford
City Council approved a
bid to rezone some property
along U.S. 401 Business from
residential mobile home to
highway commercial Monday
night.
At its regular monthly
meeting. Council held apublic
hearing on an application by
Sujan Neupane to rezone two
parcels of land on Oakdale
Gin Road and U.S. 401 Busi
ness. The property has an
area of 2.15 acres, according
to a report from the planning
board. The board met on July
20 and recommended approv
al. According to Neupane’s
application, the purpose of
the rezoning request was to
build a strip mall.
The site is now a vacant
manufactured home park,
according to the planning
(See REZONED, page 5A)
A resident of Raeford Green Apartments traverses knee-deep water after last week’s heavy rain.
residents were able to move
their cars to higher ground
before the water could cause
much damage, but at least
one vehicle had to be towed.
Standing water also blocked
the entrance to the complex.
“People here are stranded
and need to leave for work,”
said Crystal Quick, who has
livedattheapartmentcomplex
for three years. “Our jobs
aren’t just going to keep letting
us off work every time it rains.
This is about the fourth time it
has happened this year.”
Carlina Simmons, who
manages the complex on be
half of United Management
II- a company located in Fay-
(See RAINS, page 5A)