ews
I ournal
Hoke Count3^s newspaper since 1905
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No.50Vol.112
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, February 14,2018
Hardware store heist suspect charged
Same man alleged to have attacked teacher at elementary school
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Nivens
A man already in jail awaiting trial
for allegedly attempting to kill a West
Hoke Elementary School teacher in
December and breaking into four
churches has now also been charged
with stealing 52 weapons from Ra
eford Hardware just five days before.
Officers with the Raeford Po
lice Department charged Michael
Lee Nivens, 35, of the 200 block of
Piney Grove Mobile Home Park with
breaking and entering, larceny of a
firearm and possession of firearm by
a felon. A magistrate issued Nivens a
$500,000 bond.
“On November 29, 2017, Michael
Lee Nivens entered Raeford Hard
ware while the business was closed.
Michael Nivens then removed 52
firearms from inside the business
along with the cash registers and other
items,” a release from Raeford police
said.
Nivens was a suspect in the case
long before he was charged because
investigators were working with the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Lire-
arms in trying to retrieve as many of
the weapons as possible first, Raeford
Police Chief Marc Godwin said.
“We’ve gotten several of the guns
back, we haven’t gotten them all back
by any means, but we had him as a
definite suspect for some time,” the
chief said.
Nivens allegedly took multiple
(See HARDWARE, page 10)
Overturned
A two-vehicle accident near the intersection of U.S.40I Business and Rockfish Road clogged traffic for over an hour Monday
afternoon just around the time local schools were letting out. One vehicle overturned on the side of the road, and a pickup
truck also sustained damage in the accident. Hoke County EMS transported the injured to an area hospital, according to
the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Names of those involved were not immediately available. (Catharin Shepard photo)
McNeill
Hudson
Huffman
Hudson, Hufiftnan,
McNeill announce
for Congress
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Three charged in prostitution bust
Martin
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Deputies with the Hoke
County Sheriffs Office
arrested three people last
Fu Dai
week in connection with al
leged prostitution at a spa on
Layetteville Road, and the
Department of Homeland
Security is assisting with
further investigation into
whether human trafficking
is involved.
Investigators arrested Jef
fery Martin, 34, of the 2400
block of Bells Lord Road in
Greenville on a charge of
soliciting prostitution; Jin-
miao Dai, 54, of the 3000
block of Layetteville Road
on a charge of aiding and
abetting prostitution; and
Lifang Fu, 42, also of the
3000 block of Fayetteville
Road on a charge of pros
titution. All of the charges
are misdemeanors. Martin
received a $1,000 unsecured
bond while the two women
received $500 secured
bonds.
Investigators with the
Sheriff’s Office Special
Operations Unit, along with
agents with the State Bureau
of Investigation and Home
land Security, began looking
into the matter after au
thorities received a tip about
unusual activity at Serenity
Beauty and Spa, located at
3999 Fayetteville Road.
“Investigators conducted
(See PROSTITUTION,
page 10)
Two people including the Republican incumbent and
a Democrat candidate have filed to run for election to the
House of Representatives in North Carolina’s Eighth Con
gressional District, which includes Hoke County.
Incumbent Congressman Rep. Richard Hudson, a
Republican from Cabarrus County and former Aberdeen
Mayor Frank McNeill, a Democrat from Moore County
have both filed to run for election to Congress. Hudson
filed Monday and McNeill filed Tuesday.
A third candidate. Navy veteran Scott Huffman, a
Democrat from Charlotte, has also announced his inten
tion to run for election to the office but had not filed as
of The News-Journal deadline Tuesday. Election filing
opened Monday and runs through February 28.
Hudson was first elected to office in 2012 and is now
serving out his third term, which is his first represent
ing Hoke County following Congressional redistricting.
District 8 includes Hoke, Moore, Montgomery, Stanly and
Cabarrus counties and parts of Rowan and Cumberland
counties.
Hudson defeated Republican candidate Tim
D’Annunzio and Democrat candidate Thomas Mills in
the 2016 primary and general elections. The congress
man, described on his website as “one of the most conser
vative members of Congress,” has announced his bid for
reelection.
“I’m running for re-election to continue to be a con
servative, common sense voice for the people of North
Carolina’s 8th District,” Hudson said in a media state
ment. “Now more than ever, we need conservative leaders
who will stand up to the Washington elites and fight
(See CONGRESS, page 10)
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City no longer accepting glass in recycling
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Hoke County!
By Ken MacDonald
Trash collection in Raeford this week. Glass is out of favor. (Ken MacDonald photo)
The City of Raeford is
no longer accepting glass
from residents for recy
cling. City Manager Dennis
Baxley says a letter is going
out instructing residents to
stop putting glass contain
ers in curb bins, because
the company that processes
Raeford’s recycling will no
longer accept it.
“Basically the way it was
given to me last Friday,”
says Public Works director
Travis Sutherland, “was
that they will stop taking
glass in our mainstream
recyclables.
“They just said—they
gave me some reasons—
basically there’s no market
for it,” says. “When it’s
combined with other waste,
glass gets broken, so it
becomes trash instead of
recycling,” he said.
If residents continue to
put glass in recycling curb
containers, the entire recy
cling program is in danger,
he said.
“I’ve asked for tolerance,
and she has basically said
there is not going to be any
tolerance,” he said.
Beginning Feb. 15 glass
also won’t be accepted at
the city’s recycling station
behind Unilever.
Baxley and Sutherland
says it all boils down to the
value of recycling. Though
there’s a public misconcep
tion that recycling pays,
Baxley and Sutherland say,
(See GLASS, page 9)