The
ews
I ournal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.24Vol.l08
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, August 21,2013
Broken pipe floods courthouse
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
A pipe on the third floor of
the Hoke County Courthouse
developed a leak one weekend in
June and some operations are still
displaced while workers repair the
damage.
Courthouse employees arrived
at the office June 17 to find a
water line on the third floor had
developed a leak and damaged
multiple rooms and soaked some
court records, County Manager
Tim .Johnson said.
“Murphy’s law says it’s going
to break on a Friday night, and it
pretty much ran all weekend,” he
said.
The water ran from the third
floor down to the basement, caus
ing damage to areas such as the
judge’s chambers and the attorney-
client room. The walls and floor
ing suffered damage, and Johnson
said he had concerns about the
potential for mold growth in the
areas.
“Any time you have wet stuff
on carpet, immediately you’ll have
people saying there’s mold, there’s
mildew,” he said.
The county brought in air
quality specialists to test for mold
issues and found that there was
a higher than acceptable level
of mold spores in some of the
affected parts of the courthouse.
There was nothing dangerous, but
the levels were “higher than what I
liked,” .Johnson said.
Workers continue repairs by
redoing the affected plaster and
(See COURTHOUSE, page 6A)
Alleged AWOL soldier,
4 others face charges
Jenkins
Bauer
Branham
D e p u -
ties with the
Hoke County
Sheriff’s Of
fice searching
for a soldier
wanted for
deserting his
post arrested the soldier and
four others for operating a
methamphetamine lab out
of a Hoke County residence.
Authorities arrested Mi
chael James Gonzales, 30,
of the 300 block of Coppers
Drive in Raeford on charges
of desertion and manufac
turing methamphetamine,
according to information
from the Hoke County Sher
iff’s Office. He was held on
military warrants. He was
placed in the Hoke County
Detention Center under a
$200,000 secured bond.
Deputies also arrested
Trevis Donte Jenkins, 27,
of the 6600 block of Mus
cat Road in Hope Mills;
Tabatha Kay Bauer, 30, of
the 200 block of Fondern
Drive in Hope Mills; Tracy
Michelle Branham, 28, of
the 5000 block of Madison
Drive in Hope Mills and
Ashley Nicole Slade, 30,
of the 3100 block of Ash-
boro Street in Fayetteville.
(See CHARGED, page 4A)
Woman raped at home
Law enforcement officials
are searching for an unidenti
fied man wanted for raping a
woman at her home in eastern
Hoke County on Monday.
A woman called 911
Monday reporting that an
unknown assailant had at
tacked her on the back porch
of her home. The suspect
was reportedly armed with a
handgun and knife and sexu
ally assaulted the victim, ac
cording to information from
the Hoke County Sheriff’s
Office.
The victim was taken to
Cape Fear Valley Medical
Center for medical treatment
(See RAPE, page 4A)
Buses back on roads
By Catharin
Shepard
Staff writer
This file photo from 2012 is a reminder
to watch out for school buses.
Children and
teens will start
back to school this
Monday in Hoke
County, and local
and state officials
are asking drivers
(See BUSES,
page 6A)
Top; a youngster tries out the interactive touch screen
station in the main lobby of Sandy Grove Middle; the solar
trees (left) outside the new middle school; officials cut the
ribbon to markthegrand opening.(Catharin Shepard photos)
Magic day for Sandy Grove students
Energy independent school opens for families to see
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
joined elected officials and state
Starting Monday, the Sandy Grove
Middle School Panthers are on the
prowl.
Hundreds of parents and students
representatives in the newly com
pleted school’s gymnasium Saturday
to celebrate the grand opening of Hoke
County’s third middle school.
“Where do we go from this point?
We’re moving into the future,” Super
intendent Dr. Freddie Williamson said.
“.. .The future is now, as evidenced by
this beautiful, wonderful facility.”
The school is unlike any other in
Hoke County or North Carolina, and
officials hailed it a first in the nation.
(See SANDY GROVE, page 6A)
This Week
Bucks ready
for season opener
See page 5A
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 5B
Deaths 3 A
Editorials 2A
Legals 3-4B
Worship 2B
Residents tell board gunfire plagues area
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
plan to bring an updated
with commissioners dur- comment period about
eastern Hoke County near
Hoke County officials
are examining the existing
county gun ordinance and
version before commission
ers for their consideration
before the end of the year.
County Manager Tim
Johnson discussed the issue
ing the regularly scheduled
board meeting Monday
night after four residents of
the eastern part of the coun
ty spoke during the public
nuisance gun discharges in
their neighborhood.
Cathy Brewer said there
are often people repetitively
firing weapons in her part of
the Rockfish community.
“This is scaring the kids,
everybody’s frightened,
scared. Call the police, they
(See GUNS, page 4A)
ortmMifT
By Ken MacDonald
In the British TV comedy series Fawlty
Towers, the hotel owner Basil Fawlty has
ordered guests to leave, erroneously thinking
they were violating rules. Basil’s wife Sybil
sets him straight and tells him he has to go
up to their room and apologize.
“Well, what will I say?” Basil asks indig
nantly.
Sybil: Tell them you made a mistake.
Basil: Oh, brilliant. Is that what made Brit
ain great? T’m so sorry, I made a mistake’.
What have you got for a brain - sponge cake?
Basil makes his way up to the room mut
tering, “I’m so sorry, I made a mistake. I’m so
sorry, I made a mistake. I’m so sorry, I made
a mistake.”
Entering the room, he says, “I’m so sorry,
my wife has made a mistake.”
With this scene in mind, I made my way
over to Raeford City Hall Friday. Earlier in the
week, I’d taken my water bill to the office to
assert that somebody had made amost grievous
error. I was nice enough, I suppose, but I was
certain and persistent that somebody
(See OTHER STUEE, page 6A)
Council marks 35 years
of teaching reading
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
When Barbara Buie took
over as director of the Hoke
Reading and Literacy Coun
cil over three decades ago, the
operations were crammed
into a tiny office in the back
of the building and the first
funding came entirely from
local donations.
Now, Buie is joining cur
rent director Carole Taitt
and members of the council
board in a special celebration
to mark the 35th anniversary
of the organization dedicated
to improving literacy skills
for people of all ages in Hoke
County.
(See LITERACY, page 4A)