The
ews
journal
Hoke Count3^s newspaper since 1905
75zi
No.42Vol.lll
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, December 21,2016
County approves phone system upgrade
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Hoke County Board of
Commissioners Monday approved
contracts with ATCOM Business
Technology Solutions to replace
telephone systems for the sheriff’s
office and other departments.
The phone replacements for the
sheriff’s office, the Department
of Social Services and the Hoke
Area Transit Service (HATS) of
fices, as well as installation of call
reporting software for all county
departments, cost about $141,000.
The proposal was approved
as part of a five-item consent
agenda at the regularly scheduled
and last commission meeting for
2016. Other consent agenda items
included a declaration proclaiming
January 2017 as National Mentor
ing Month by request of Maggie’s
Outreach Economic Development
Center; budget amendments for
the Department of Social Services
and the sheriff’s office; and an
amended contract for the company
that annually conducts the county
audit process.
The commissioners additionally
voted not to approve a tobacco-
free/smoke-free policy for the En
vironmental Health office on East
Central Avenue on the request of
the Hoke County Health Depart
ment.
The department is in the ac
creditation process and is going
through a list of about 140 items
that must be addressed during the
process, director Helene Edwards
reported. One of the issues is that
(See COMMISSION, page 10)
Shopping with the Sheriff...and Santa
Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin and deputies
with the Sheriff’s Office took seven families shopping
for Christmas atWalmart this week. The depart
ment has for several years donated toys to local
families in need at Christmas, but this year decided
to take Santa with them and spread the joy by letting
children and their families “Shop with the Sheriff.”
At right, Sheriff’s Office Deputy Dedrich Graham
helps with the shopping. (Catharin Shepard photos)
Horse rides elevator, roams nursing home, all in a day’s work
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
His name is Rusty Nails
fictory Lap by Voltage,
ut you can call him Vic-
This Week
Man charged
with child
sex assault
Page 6
Mosque threat
case continued
Page 6
tor; a short nickname for a
short, though adventurous,
little horse.
Victor, a miniature horse
born and bred in Hoke
County, has set his hooves
on everything from a retire
ment center elevator to a fan
cy show ring to a tent at the
North Carolina State Fair.
For the second year in a row,
he’s received a special honor
recognizing the work that he
- and owner Randy Crosier
- do in the community.
Crosier, a longtime Hoke
resident, has been keeping
horses for more than 60
Victory Lap, better known to his fans as Victor, is a champion halter horse
and a community service volunteer with his owner, Randy Crosier.
years. She got Victor several years ago as a
way to continue working with equines.
“As most older people do, I was downsiz
ing. I had full sized horses at one time, then
I went to ponies, and now I’m into miniature
horses,” she explained.
She found just the horse she was looking
for without even having to leave the county.
Local businesspeople Mac and Tammy Cox
breed and train miniature horses at their local
farm. That’s where Victor’s name came from
- Rusty Nails is the name of their ranch, and
Voltage is the name of Victor’s dad.
“The Victory Lap part of his name comes
from the fact that Mackie races cars,” Crosier
said.
Victor was bred to be a show horse and
compete against other miniature horses
(See VICTOR, page 6)
Look for
this symbol
to find stores
amsm
that sell The
News-Journal
By Ken MacDonald
www.thenews-journal.com
wvvw.raefordnj.com
The final hurdle—getting back into the U.S.
for the third time in three days after fiestas with
children and friends in Mexico. At the border
this time of year, the wait can be measured in
hours as cars filled with holiday shoppers line
up for their chance at McAllen, Texas-area
stores, which seem to me to be more in num
ber per capita than anywhere I’ve seen. Never
a parking space at a Walmart or even the mall,
and that’s at least until midnight. If you didn’t
know the shortcut in Reynosa, the wait to get
into the U.S. could be half a dozen hours, but
even with it, it’s sometimes two or three.
But our final fiesta was in Miguel Aleman, a
much smaller town of maybe 15,000 people, on
(See OTHER STUFF, page 6)
Performers
Two students of musi
cian and performing
arts instructor Ebony
Peterkin, also known
as Ladysticks, perform
for the audience during
the Ladysticks Presents
Christmas Eve held De
cember 9 at Mt. Pisgah
Community Resource
Center. Students of the
world-renowned drum
mer gave instrumental
and vocal performances
along with dramatic
performances during
the evening, which was
catered by Olive Garden.
Peterkin is opening a
new studio in Fayette
ville to continue offering
lessons.