The
ews
I ournal
Se e successo, e ima nolizia per noi
No.50Vol.106
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, February 22,2012
Schools must return $550,000 to state
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hoke County Schools mustretum
more than half a million dollars in
funding because state officials over
estimated how many new students
would enroll in the 2011-12 school
year.
The reduction may mean slightly
larger class sizes for some grades and
a loss of funding for eight teacher
and support staff positions, officials
said during the Board of Education
meeting last week.
‘ ‘That was kind of a blow we didn’t
expect,” Superintendent Dr. Freddie
Williamson said.
The board last week approved
a budget amendment sending
$550,445 back to the state. The
school system has about $200,000
ready to go and is scanning the bud
get to find other ways to make up the
rest of the funding without cutting
the eight jobs, Williamson said.
The school system is seeking
ways to cut another $365,162to make
up the repayment. Officials said next
year’s budget may be tighter because
of the cuts.
The state Department of Public
Instruction is responsible for cal
culating the projections and funds
positions based on a formula the
office uses, the superintendent said.
“They’re normally on the mon
ey—we’ve never had any problems
or issues other than this year,” he
said.
During the second month of
school in fall of 2011, the school
systemreported atotal studentpopu-
lationof8,065, which was 126 fewer
students than the state expected. The
figures showed the state was off by
255 students in the first month but
more enrolled in September.
The school system has until June
30, the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year,
to return the money.
In other business, the Board of
Education voted unanimously to
approve proposed changes to the
{See SCHOOLS, page 8A)
FirstHealth to build
after-hours clinic
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
FirstHealth of the Carolinas an
nounced Tuesday plans to build an after-
hours clinic in Hoke County.
The organization hopes to break
ground for a new facility in front of
WalmartonU.S. 401 Highway sometime
in early March. The clinic will likely be
finished in early summer. Public Relations
Assistant Director Emily Sloan said.
The clinic will be open for after-hours
service on weekdays and weekends to
treat acute-onset illnesses and injuries
for adults and children. The clinic will
offer a variety of non-emergency ser
vices, including treatment for ear and eye
infections, insect bites and stings, sore
throat, minor burns, cold and influenza
symptoms, bronchitis, wheezing and
asthma attacks, strep throat, nose bleeds,
nausea and vomiting. Routine x-rays and
lab services appropriate for the clinic will
also be provided.
(See CLINIC, page lOA)
Food fight continues
Confusion reigns as issue debated nationwide
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Other Hoke County parents have come
forward with stories about lunchtime
complications for their preschool chil
dren after one mother’s report, released
through an elected official’s office, made
national headlines and sparked debate
about government influence over chil
dren’s lunchboxes.
A four-year-old attending the North
Carolina Pre-Kindergarten program at
West Hoke Elementary was given a school
meal including chicken nuggets after
a state worker declared her brown-bag
lunch of a turkey and cheese sandwich,
potato chips, banana and apple juice
didn’t meet United States Department of
(See LUNCHES, page 5A)
Two more file for election
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Two more people have filed with the
Hoke County Board of Elections to run
for public office this year.
EldaThacker, aRepublican, filed to run
for a four-year term on the Hoke County
Board of Commissioners. Thacker
will be running against incumbents
Bobby Wright and James Leach, both
Democrats, who filed Feb. 13 seeking
re-election. The board’s five seats are all
at-large positions. Thacker unsuccessfully
ran for a seat on the commission in 2010.
If no more candidates file for the com
mission seats, Wright, Leach and Thacker
will not be on the primary ballot in May
because they will automatically become
the nominees for their respective party.
Board of Elections Director Caroline
Shook explained.
“In order for there to be a primary,
(See FILING, page 8A)
Darius Book goes up for two of his 14 points in the Bucks win last week over Scotland County
in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. See story, page 9A.
i
his Week
I
Coffee shop
to hold MS fundraiser
page4A
SandHoke debater
makes finals
page 3 A
East Hoke students
to compete
at state science fan-
page 7A
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 5B
Deaths 3A
Editorials 2A
Legals 3-4B
Sports 9 A
Worship 2B
We’re on the web at
www.thenews-joumal.com
Readby4,500 each week
Fight against litter in Hoke still rages
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Jackie Hargrove didn’t
flinch as tractor-trailers roared
past just feet away from
where she stood on the side
of Highway 211. After more
than 20 years of coming out
every few months to clean the
roadside, the passing vehicles
didn’tbother her, but this time
the sheer amount of litter did.
“I picked up six bags of
trash in a quarter mile,” she
said.
It was more litter at one
time than she recalled seeing
in the two decades since her
former business, Ms. Jackie’s
Day Care, adopted the stretch
of road a few miles outside
of Raeford. In that time Har
grove and the parents and
former students who volun
teer to help her have cleaned
up fast-food wrappers, dirty
diapers and everything else
imaginable, she said.
It takes litterbugs just a
second to toss garbage out
a car window, but cleaning
up the combined mess takes
hundreds of volunteer hours.
Besides Hargrove and her
fellow volunteers working
on Highway 211, the Raeford
Woman’s Club, Mt. Pisgah
Missionary Baptist Church,
Macedonia Youth for Christ,
the Hoke County Sheriff’s
Office and RockFish Church
are also among the 18 groups
(See LITTER, page 8A)
Jackie Hargrove in action.
Board hears health update
By Ken MacDonald
Even at this stage of life, there re
mains a bit of junior high boy inside.
And so last weekend in Mexico, when
a fellow from Fayetteville named Herb
dropped a concrete block on his toe
and raised the mother of all blood blis
ters, three of us—Herb included—had
to find out what happens if you pop it.
It began as an earnest deed—build
ing walls on a lady’s house in Reynosa
before the organization’s board meet
ing. To move a large stack of blocks
into the house for assembly, we had
formed a human chain and were
swinging blocks from one person
to another with great enthusiasm,
because the day was young and we
weren’t so tired that we had to stop
pretending we did that sort of work
all the time. Plus, there were women
around, so we had to look manly.
Someone flung a block to Herb, who
is an accountant, and in mid-swing,
(See OTHER STUFF, page lOA)
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hoke County citizens need greater
access to healthcare education and
recreational activities, Hoke County
Health Director Helene Edwards told
the Board of Commissioners Monday.
Edwards presented the results of
the 2011 Hoke County Community
Health Assessment at the board’s
regular meeting. The assessment data
is collected every four years by all
county health departments in the state.
The results of the 2011 survey are
similar to the results from 2007, the
last time the department collected the
data. In 2007 citizens ranked teenage
pregnancy/STDs, heart disease, dia
betes and hypertension (high blood
pressure) as the most important issues.
The 2011 survey ranked diabetes,
teenage pregnancy, hypertension and
cancer as the top issues.
“There continues to be a significant
concern within the 2007 and the 2011
community that addressed nutrition,
(See HEALTH, page 8A)