The
ews
J ournal
Hoke County^s newspaper since 1905
No.3Vol.l09
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, March 26,2014
Art Fillyew’s Model A was used in the movies “The Color Purple” and “Billy Bathgate.” (Catharin Shepard photos)
Above,eight Model A cars are visible from the balcony of the
Raeford Museum.At right, Ray Harris is at the wheel of his.
Model A enthusiasts gather at museum
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Some of the octogenarian cars
parked in a half-circle at the Raeford-
Hoke Museum were shiny black or
green, polished to perfection, while
others bore the scars of their long
history. But whether tuned up or
toned down, all of the Ford Model
As - and their owners - were wel
come at the Fayetteville Region
Model A Restorers’ Club drive-in
Saturday.
Local pastor and Model A enthu
siast Ray Harris said the early Ford
collectible vehicle is one of the most
popular cars on the road today. And
while the newest model is 83 years
old, many of them still run just fine,
even if their top speed is somewhere
around 55 miles an hour and the
backseat ride is bumpy.
“There’s 500,000 still in existence
and going,” Harris said. “It’s the
most collectible car in the world.”
The cars are hard to kill and
despite their age can be more reli
able than even modern vehicles, fans
said. One club member even took his
Model A all the way to the Arctic
circle.
When Henry Ford shut the Model
T factory in 1927, he’d sold 15 mil
lion of the first truly successfully
(See MODEL A, page 4A)
Grandfather left children to get milk
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Stanton Mark Moretti
Sr. allegedly left his three
This Week
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 8B
Deaths 3 A
Editorials 2 A
Legals 3-7B
Sports 5 A
Worship 2B
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grandchildren home alone
for just a few minutes to
run to the Food Lion half
a mile away to pick up
some milk. He returned to
find their house burning
to the ground, and now
faces charges for exposing
the children to danger by
fire.
Moretti, 74, of the
700 block of Club Pond
Road was charged last
week with three counts
of misdemeanor exposing
children to fire, according
(See FIRE, page 4A)
Three children narrowly escaped this fire on Club Pond Road.
Raeford Police Chief Kemp Crumpler blocks traffic at Fidelity
Bank on US 401.
Bank robbed
Suspect wrecks during chase
Authorities arrested
a man Tuesday after he
reportedly robbed a bank
and led law enforcement
officers on a high-speed
chase across three counties.
Hoke County Sheriff’s
Office deputies arrested
J.C. Suggs, 49, whose last
known address was Lairds-
brown Road in White Oak,
on multiple charges related
to a bank robbery Tuesday
morning at Fidelity Bank
in Raeford.
“We had a bank robbery
about eight minutes after
10 this morning. We got a
call of a bank robbery and
we responded to the scene,”
Raeford Police Department
Assistant Chief Maj. Marc
Godwin said.
Suggs allegedly used
a note to demand money
from a teller at the bank,
located on U.S. Highway
401 Bypass not far from
Hoke High School.
(See ROBBERY, page 4A)
State picks neither
election site plan
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
After hearing two
conflicting petitions from
the Hoke County Board of
Elections, the North Caro
lina State Board of Elec
tions decided not to accept
either of them.
Instead, the state board
came up with a third option
that combined aspects of
both plans and ruled that
the county must follow that
instead, according to Hoke
elections board secretary
Gene Shelnutt.
Shelnutt gave a state
ment Tuesday on behalf
of the Board of Elections,
reporting that the county’s
one-stop voting will be
held at the county building
in Raeford and at the Rock-
fish community building.
“They took portions of
each plan, put them togeth
er and accepted it,”
(See ELECTION, page 4A)
Daniels says experience
gives him advantage
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Eight years after leaving his
seat on the Hoke County Board
of Commissioners to run for
sheriff, Charles Daniels is once
again seeking political office.
Daniels, a Democrat, is one
of 12 people who have filed to
run for one of three seats up for
election on the commission this year.
Daniels
The late Raeford mayor Bob Gentry was Daniels’ men
tor when he ran for office for the first time in 1998. At that
time. Gentry told Daniels he could be one of two kinds of
commissioner: a dedicated commissioner, or one who ran
just to get his name out in the public.
“I said no. I’m running to serve the people,” Daniels
recalled.
Daniels served on the commission from 1998 to 2006,
when he chose to give up his seat in a failed bid for
(See DANIELS, page 4A)
manager to retire
By Ken MacDonald
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
As I was eating my chicken and dumplings at The Edin-
borough Restaurant Thursday at lunch with Monica, Donna
the waitress stopped her hurried walk at my table, reached
inside my jacket, which was lying on the seat beside me, and
tucked an air horn into it.
Not something you see every day, I guess, but hey, it’s
Raeford.
She leaned over and said, “I need to get to that real quick
when Johnny Melton leaves.”
(See OTHER STUFF, page 4A)
The city of Raeford is seeking a
qualified candidate to take over as
city manager this summer.
City Manager Mike Wood said he
plans to retire by June 30. Wood has
been the Raeford city manager since
2008. He worked with the county
from 1976 until he moved to the city
position.
(See MANAGER, page 6A)
Wood
Club names
Smith Citizen
of the Year
Raeford
K i w a n -
is Club
named Bet
ty Smith its
Citizen of
the Year at
Smith
a recent anniversary night.
Smith is Raeford city clerk.
(See CITIZEN, page 6A)