The
ews
J ournal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
IH
No.47Vol.108
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, January 29,2014
New tax valuations to reach public soon
10% overall property value increase expected, board told
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Hoke County property tax
revaluation is almost eomplete,
Tax Assessor Jennie Gibson told
commissioners last week during a
brief regularly scheduled meeting.
“Where are we as far as being
totally completed?” Commis
sioner Tony Hunt asked.
“We’re 99 percent. I hope to
send the data to the printers hope
fully by next week and the notices
go out the first week in February,”
Gibson said.
“Overall, we’re probably go
ing to net some increases in the
values?” Board Chairman James
Leach asked.
“Yes sir, we are,” Gibson said.
There are some places in the
county that went down in value,
some went up, and many also
stayed the same.
“I’d say overall about 10 percent
(increase), close to 10 (percent) on
the average,” Gibson said.
The changes will take effect
when the new fiscal year starts
and tax bills will go out in July.
Gibson and the commissioners
also discussed setting up work
shops for the tax revaluation.
Tax collections for the month of
December was over $1.3 million.
and the county’s collection rate is
up by two percent over the same
time period last year, according to
county tax collector Daphne Dud
ley. The county also collected over
$800,000 in prior year taxes.
In other business, the board
granted a fee refund for the
(See BOARD, page 6A)
DOT employees Simon Jacobs, Kory Hannibal
and Travis Fikes prepare for the storm Tuesday by
gassing up snow plows and loading salt and sand.
(Catharin Shepard photos)
Hoke stares down
barrel of snowstorm
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The bread and milk started flying off store
shelves Monday as meteorological projections
moved Hoke deeper into the snow zone for the
first big winter storm the county has seen in
several years.
Different forecast models predicted any
where from three to six inches of snow in the
northwest section of Hoke to three to eight
inches of snow, or even more, in the eastern
(See STORM, page 4A)
Beloved
coach dies
unexpectedly
By Catharin
Shepard
Staff writer
A Hoke High
teacher and coach
from Red Springs
died last week two
days after suffering
an apparent seizure
on campus.
Kim Ray, a
Kim Ray
coach and exceptional children’s teacher at the
high school, was in an administrative office
Thursday when she began suffering a medical
episode. Principal Roger Edwards said.
Assistant Principal Stephanie Burney
was with Ray at the time and called for help
from 911 and the school’s on-site emergency
first responders. A first-aid-trained coach, an
on-campus nurse and sheriff’s office student
resouree officer Corp. Steve Lynn all went
to Ray’s aid, Edwards said. Hoke emergency
communications records showed that dispatch
ers sent an ambulance to the scene at 11:53
a.m. and EMTs arrived at the high school at
12:14 p.m.
An ambulance took Ray to an intensive care
unit at an area hospital where she underwent
medical treatment. Edwards received an email
about 1:30 a.m. Saturday telling him that Ray
passed away in the hospital.
Ray coached a number of sports, including
track, volleyball and basketball. She worked
primarily with junior varsity teams. She was
versatile and well liked among students. Ath
letic Director Gary Brigman said.
“She was a very talented coach,” he said.
Ray coached Brigman’s daughter at one point.
“Some of the things I remember about her
are she was always a good natured person,
(See COACH, page 5A)
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State orders faster processing of food stamps
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The state Department of Health and Human
Services last week issued a deadline for county
social services departments to tackle a backlog
of food stamp applications, or risk the entire
system losing nearly $90 million in federal
administrative funding.
Across the state, food stamp application pro
cessing is currently not meeting United States
Department of Agriculture requirements.
DHHS division director Wayne Black said in
a letter sent out January 24 to all county social
services directors.
“Over the past several months, we have been
discussing the critieal need to improve the
(See FOOD STAMPS, page 6A)
OTHSiMiff
Ken MacDonald
I was out for a walk Saturday in gale force winds. I
looked like one of those Weather Channel guys reporting
from a hurricane, with my jacket sleeves flapping, and at
times, my cheeks too, making silly noises like I do with
the grandbaby on Skype. Except that I could barely hear
the raeket beeause the wind was so loud.
Because of this, and the fact that the wind chill was
surely a negative number, I pretty much had the place to
myself... until I noticed a woman walking a dog.
When she got near, her dog alerted, she stopped and
called through the wind, but I couldn’t hear her. So I got
closer. The dog strained against his leash.
“Are you dog friendly?” she yelled.
(See OTHER STUFF, page 4A)
Student arrested
for stolen gun
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Deputies with the Hoke County
Sheriff’s Office arrested a Hoke
High student last week after finding
a stolen gun in his possession, and
additionally charged him with hav
ing the weapon on school property,
according to reports.
Last Tuesday, officers arrested
William Lawrence Bethea Jr., 17,
(See GUN, page 6A)
McKnight named
Sandhills director
Twana McKnight has
been appointed director of
the Sandhills Hoke Cen
ter in Raeford. Dr. John
Dempsey, president, made
the announcement. “The op
portunities at Sandhills Hoke
Center are growing and we
are excited that Twana will be
leading that growth,’ ’ he said.
A native of Brooklyn, New
McKnight
York, McKnight moved to North Carolina in 1997 to
accept a position with the managed care organization
(See SANDHILLS, page 6A)