The
ews
I
Journal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.29Vol.lll
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, September 21,2016
Hoke High evacuates after gas leak
Students sent home around noon, pipe break repaired, no injuries
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hoke High School students walk to the Gibson side of campus. (Ken MacDonald photo)
A natural gas leak at Hoke County High
School forced students and teachers to
evacuate campus Tuesday morning while
workers tried to repair the problem.
A gas leak was reported in the outdoor
corridor area between the high school band
room and the McAllister building around
10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Principal Roger Ed
wards said.
It appeared that a piece of construction
equipment hit a two-inch natural gas line
that supplies gas to the MacDonald side
of campus, rupturing the line and causing
it to spew gas into the open air. Someone
quickly noticed the strong smell of gas in
the air and alerted school administrators.
“You could smell it a little bit from the
other side of campus,” Edwards said.
School officials immediately moved all
students attending classes on the
(See GAS LEAK, page 9)
Local team
emotional
after fatal
bus wreck
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Eootball coach Demetrius
Hollingsworth’s team held
practice Monday preparing
for their next game, even as
their thoughts turned to the
young men they were sched
uled to play Saturday before
a fatal wreck intervened.
“They are very, very
(See ACCIDENT, page 6)
HATS
wins service
award
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Hoke Area Transit
Service received first place
in its peer group from the
North Carolina Department
of Transportation for its ser
vice to customers, according
to HATS Director Nancy
Thornton.
(See AWARD, page 6)
This Week
Splash pad
delayed
Page 6
Browsing the Files 2
Calendar 2
Classifieds 8
Deaths 4
Editorials 3
Worship 9
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Riley Walker (above) waves from a float manned by Antioch Boy
Scouts, and The Turkey (left) is still very much a part of the festival.
The parade was well-attended. (Photos by Catharin Shepard and
Ken MacDonald)
Fun, music, business reported good at FaU Festival
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
While the sounds of Chris
tian hip-hop music drifted down
Main Street, a dark orange fallen
leaf took shape under artist Jecia
Anderson’s brush strokes.
Anderson is a roadie of a dif
ferent stripe - one who travels
with His Push Team, a gospel
hip-hop group, and captures the
atmosphere of the day on her
canvas.
“I go on road trips to different
venues and paint what the event
is, how the environment is,” she
said as she worked from her
easel set up by the stage on Main
Street.
Anderson’s portrait of the
first annual North Carolina Eall
Festival breathed a breath of
autumn air into Raeford even as
warm breezes and mostly clear
skies greeted the thousands of
locals and out-of-town guests for
the big day downtown Saturday.
For the first time in years, the
live entertainment and vendor
booths moved back to
(See EESTIVAL, page 10)
Developers back incumbent commissioners
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writers
Two Hoke County commis
sioners running for reelection have
received thousands of dollars in
donations from Fayetteville-based
developers in the current election
year, according to campaign finance
records.
Ralph Huff of H&H Homes and
Watson G. Caviness of Caviness
& Cates, developers that have built
hundreds of homes in Hoke County,
have donated a total of $7,000 to
local campaigns to reelect Commis
sion Chairman James Feach and
Commissioner Bobby Wright.
Huff donated $2,000 to the
Committee to Re-Elect Robert A.
Wright and $2,500 to the Commit
tee to Elect James Feach, the re
cords show, while Caviness donated
$2,500 to Reach’s campaign.
Reach’s reelection campaign
reported receiving $27,625 total
in donations, much of it from real
estate developers located in Cum
berland County. The reports showed
donations of $2,500 from Gregory
Floyd of Floyd Properties in Fay
etteville; $2,500 from developers
Joseph and Trina Riddle of Riddle
& Riddle in Fayetteville; $1,000
from developer Carroll Thomas
of Fayetteville; $500 from Harold
Kidd of Kidd Construction and
Development in Fayetteville; and
$1,000 from architect Robert Ferris
of First Floor, the company that de
signed Sandy Grove Middle School.
The campaign finance records also
showed donations of $1,000 each
(See CONTRIBUTIONS, page 9)
Festival brings out not just poultry, but love birds
r ‘fJC
n
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The proposal (left) from a Facebook video, Clark and
Daniels (right)
While many people who attended the Fall
Festival this year walked away with funnel
cakes, handmade crafts and plenty of happy
memories, Amanda Daniels left with some
thing a bit more substantial: an engagement
ring.
Daniels’ boyfriend, Tyler Clark, made a
surprise marriage proposal at the Sand Band
concert Saturday night.
The couple had known each other for many
years, Daniels said. Their families hunted
together and the two had grown up spending
time with each other.
“We actually had known each other our
whole lives,” she said.
The two started dating about a year ago,
with their first date a trip to the North Carolina
State Fair. They attended the Fall Festival this
year and made plans to go to the concert at the
Old Armory ballpark.
What Daniels didn’t know was that Clark
had something special in mind for the evening.
(See LOVE BIRDS, page 6)