The
ews
J oumal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
No.25Vol.U2
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, August 23,2017
Eclipse Fever
Hoke wasn’t in the zone of totality, but the sun was 96 percent obscured by the moon here
Monday.Top.'The line to view the eclipse was long at Scurlock School Monday (contrib
uted photo). Center: Folks used different means to view (Ramon Rivera photo). Bottom:
Adults and children visited numerous booths set up to measure temperature and UV light
levels, provide information on protection, and view the eclipse. (Ramon Rivera photo)
Commission, sheriff
talk cutting overtime
Set aside $30,000 for 2 months
By Ken Macdonald
Hoke County commissioners and Sheriff
Hubert Peterkin are talking about ways to
fix the sheriff’s overtime problem. The sher
iff appeared before the board Monday night
and asked to move $30,000 from a
salary to overtime in the budget to
get the department through the next
two months.
Chairman James Leach was
happy to oblige: “Sheriff, the good
part about this—^you made it real
easy. You found the money,” he
said. “The LGC (Local Government
Commission) loves it when we stay
within our budget. And find it within
our budget. And if they love it, you
know we gotta love it. Because they
pops our hand—I’m almost gotten
sore,” he said.
Commissioner Harry Southerland
asked about a longer term solution.
“In regards to the overtime, what do
you think the commissioners can do
to help you and your office with the
overtime? Is there something we can
erland. “Safety—safety of the employees
and safety of our community. So we gotta
work together.”
“On overtime,” Peterkin continued, “we
gotta look at the liability it’s become for the
officers and the inmates.”
do as a team? To make this thing work?”
“Yeah, we’re going to have to,” the sheriff
answered. “I actually told the county man
ger— this is something we’re going to have
to put our heads together on.
“And the key is the citizens,” said South-
County Manager Letitia Edens. (Ken MacDonald photo)
Commissioner Bobby Wright asked Peter
kin about a measure the board had previ
ously offered.
“Did you consider the extra five percent
we offered for night workers at the jail?” he
asked.
(See OVERTIME, page 9)
Buses will be rolling Monday
Nearly 9,000 students will be in school Monday.
Many will be arriving on buses.
Schools open Monday for most of the
nearly 9,000 students in Hoke County, and
that means area roads are going to be much
busier.
Hoke Schools spokesperson Jodie Bryant
is reminding parents whose children ride
buses to ensure they follow recently estab
lished guidelines for boarding and exiting
buses. Last year Hoke had a “really close
call,” Bryant said, when a child was nearly
hit while getting off a bus. The guidelines
are credited with saving the life of the child.
Children boarding buses should:
• Stay on the side of the road 12 feet away
from traffic
(See SCHOOE BUSES, page 10)
Number of booths tops 100 as N.C. Fall Festival nears
More than 100 vendors will
set up on the big day—Saturday,
September 16—of the North
Carolina Fall Festival this year,
says spokesperson Melissa Pitt
man.
That’s 23 food vendors in
the food court, 18 commercial
vendors (including 31, Scentsy,
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LuLaRoe, Paparazzi), 17 spon
sor vendors, 14 informational
booths and 31 craft vendors.
There may be others, because
applications are still being ac
cepted.
Meanwhile entries are still
being accepted for the festival
parade, which will be held
Thursday, Sep 14.
Tickets are ready for the
Stuffin’ and Stompin’ Dinner
on Friday, September 15. The
menu is turkey, dressing, green
beans, candied potatoes. Tickets
are $8 and are available from
the festival board of directors
and Child Nutrition Services
employees, and at the festival
office located in the Chamber
of Commerce. The money
raised during the dinner is split
equally between the festival and
Child Nutritional Services of Hoke County, as it was
in the festival’s beginning when Clara Pope began the
favorite event of the Festival.
Another highlight this year: the festival will remem
ber Ray Burrow and acknowledge the impact of the
(See EALL EESTIVAL, page 9)
By Ken MacDonald
Eclipse in Dalzell.(Ken MacDonald photo)
We left Raeford around 10 on Monday, headed south for “totalitar
ianism,” as one comedian school principal called it. “No, that’s our
current government,” someone quipped as we drove down US 15. We
had picked Dalzell, South Carolina for its smallness (2,600 people),
and therefore supposed lack of traffic, and for its location, firmly, but
just barely, inside the 70-mile band of eclipse totality.
My job in our group of friends and family had been to scout a lo
cation where we could experience total darkness, eat some barbecue
and see something called shadow bands and a pink corona, which I
thought might be a Toyota you were awarded for selling lots of Mary
Kay.
On the barbecue front, I had found a place called the Chicken
(See OTHER STUEE, page 6)
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presenting
fo /'V}'Fav'etteville
Observer
www.HokeCountyFair.com
September 19-24, 2017
2950 Lindsay Rd • Rockfish
Rockfish Speedway & Fairgrounds cRscubs
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