The
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I ourn^tl
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.42Vol.l09
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, December 24,2014
Cape Fear hospital president resigns
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The president of Cape Fear
Valley’s Hoke Healthcare facili
ties resigned this month and will
Valley administrator, the hospital
system announced last week.
Officials did not say why Cape
Fear Valley Hoke Healthcare
President Velvette Jones resigned
from the role she had held since
be replaced by another Cape Fear 2013. As of the first week in De
cember, Jones was busy oversee
ing the final days of construction
and the moving-in process for
the 41-bed hospital set to open in
February.
Dr. Roxie Wells, Cape Fear
Valley’s Associate Chief Medical
Officer, is stepping in to fill the
vacated position as head of Hoke
Healthcare. Officials announced
the leadership change December
18.
Wells most recently served as
associate chief medical officer for
the hospital system, where she was
responsible for leading the health
system’s network of primary care
and specialty practices.
“She will continue with these
duties along with her new duties
(See RESIGNS, page 4A)
Firemen and a passerby try to get water on this fire but they were unable to save a
woman who perished in the rear of the house.Two children escaped through this door.
Woman dies, 2 hurt
Passersby tried to save fire victim
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Although civilian rescuers and
firefighters battled smoke and flames
to try and save her life, 70-year-old
Myrtle Brewer died Monday in a
house fire that also injured two other
family members.
Passersby called 911 around 8
a.m. when they spotted flames com
ing from a home on the 5300 block
of South Old Wire Road. Lorene
Chavez, 51, and her two grandchil
dren, ages 11 and 8, were able to get
out of the house. Two citizens who
stopped to help tried to get Brewer out
of a back bedroom through a window
but could not due to the extreme heat
and smoke, according to a report from
the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office.
The South Antioch Fire Depart
ment and Stonewall Fire Department
along with other emergency personnel
responded to the scene and immedi
ately attempted to rescue Brewer but
found her dead in the rear bedroom.
Chavez suffered from severe smoke
inhalation while trying to get to
(See FIRE DEATH, page 6A)
A passerby suffers from smoke inhalation. He and others
had tried to save 70-year-old Myrtle Brewer but were
unable. (Photos by Ken MacDonald)
House destroyed last week.
House fire
IS arson,
official says
Authorities suspect arson was to
blame for a fire last week that burned
a Hoke County family out of their
home.
Investigators looking into the
house fire that happened on Law
rence McCollum Road now have
a suspect in the case, Maj. Freddy
Johnson of the emergency manage
ment division of the Hoke County
Sheriff’s Office said.
“We have a suspect, we’re just try
ing to locate them,” he said.
The family was not involved in
setting the fire, Johnson said. No one
was injured.
The fire was started in a storage
room in the garage area, according to
reports. It appears that the suspect set
some clothes on fire, and the flames
then spread through the garage and
into the attic, Johnson said. The
house was about a 50 percent loss
with smoke damage to the unburned
sections of the structure.
The American Red Cross and lo
cal donors assisted Candice McCall
and four other members of her fam
ily, collecting clothing and Christmas
presents for a 13-year-old girl and
two-year-old boy.
The fire happened in the morning
hours of Tuesday, December 16.
This Week
Calendar 2B
Classifieds 4B
Deaths 3 A
Editorials 2A
Sports 5 A
Worship 2B
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Teen court is back, helps first-time juvenile offenders
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
A program that lets stu
dents learn about the court
system and helps young
first-time offenders avoid a
criminal record is now back
up and running after fund
ing problems shut it down.
Suzanne Maness, founder
and director of the Called
Into Action nonprofit group
that seeks to support local
youth, helped get grant
funding to get the program
going again.
The program is for kids
and teens ages 10-17, both
those who want to volunteer
and those who have com
mitted a minor crime and
are facing charges, coordi
nator Sherra Washington
(See TEEN COURT, page 4A)
Santa visits all ages
Santa visited 125 patients atAutumn Care in Raeford last week. Here, he gives
Barbara Nunn her Christmas gift for being good last year. (Hal Nunn photo)
Beware IRS phone scam
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Audrey McDowell knew
something wasn’t right when
someone claiming to be with the
Internal Revenue Service called
her elderly mother, demanding
money to pay overdue taxes that
didn’t exist.
“They called her by name and
they tell her she owes money to
the IRS, and they just constantly
call her every day. They’ve been
doing this now for about three
weeks,” McDowell said.
First it was just a few phone
calls, but it quickly became a
daily hassle.
“They call every day, twice
a day, usually around 9:30 and
somewhere around 2:30 p.m.,”
McDowell said.
Then the scammers starting
calling McDowell, trying to pull
the same tactic, but McDowell
quickly caught on.
“She was saying, I heard her
say that she was calling from the
IRS and that I was being sued for
fraud. When she said that, I hung
up on her,” McDowell said. “.. .1
called the Attorney General and
reported it and I called the sher
iff’s office and reported it.”
One phone number showed up
on her caller I.D. as unknown,
(See SCAM, page 4A)