The
ews
Journal
Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
751
No.9voi.113
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, May 2,2018
30 shots into car kills man, injures family
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The victim: Locklear,
from his Facebook page
Richard Locklear, 26, of
Raeford was killed in front
of his family early Sunday
morning when robbers fired
at least 30 rounds of ammu
nition into their car in south
Hoke, according to the Hoke
County Sheriffs Office.
Law enforcement au
thorities in Hoke County
and Virginia have arrested
three people wanted on
murder charges in connec
tion with the fatal shoot
ing. Investigators charged
Laroyce McLean, Sherron
Leach and James Quick
with first-degree murder and
three counts of attempted
murder. Officers located and
arrested McLean and Leach
in Red Springs, while Quick
was found and apprehended
in Richmond, Virginia. All
three suspects were held
without bond.
Locklear was pronounced
dead at the scene of the
shooting. His cousin Vincent
Locklear, who was driving
the vehicle, was also shot
and suffered non-life-threat
ening injuries. Flying glass
from windows broken by
the gunfire injured Richard
Locklear’s girlfriend Jessica
Chavis.
The three adults and the
couple’s two-year-old son
Quick
were traveling together in a
pickup truck at the time of
the shooting. The child was
not injured.
McLean
Leach
Authorities suspect the
robbery and shooting was a
planned crime, not
(See ATTACK, page 11)
Gardeners
Some of Raeford’s Open Door Soup Kitchen’s food will soon come straight from the garden. Girl Scouts and leaders from Troop
1077 have built what they’re calling Edible Gardens at 357 Oakdale Gin Road, near the soup kitchen, and they’ll be tending it once
a week to try to harvest tomatoes, snap peas, beans, sweet corn, bell peppers, sweet onions, kale, blueberries and even zucchini.
Troop leaders Jenkaker Beck and husband, Sharon Nelson and Nikki Thomas, several construction workers, and girls ages five to
16 started this weekend.The soup kitchen feeds hundreds of people each week. (Contributed photo)
Primary
is Tuesday
Early voting ends Saturday
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Hearing set for Clark residency appeal
Saturday is the last day to cast an early one-
stop ballot in the 2018 primary election, with elec
tion day set for Tuesday, May 8.
Three seats on the Hoke County Board of
Commissioners, the office of Sheriff plus several
state and national positions are up for election
with candidates facing primary challengers. The
winners of the primary will go on to face candi
dates from other political parties in November.
Voters have been turning out strongly for early
voting, according to numbers from the Hoke
County Board of Elections. By Tuesday after
noon, 1,893 Hoke voters had cast ballots during
the early voting period. That figure includes 1,491
registered Democrats, 99 registered Republicans
and 303 unaffiliated voters.
Voters can still cast their ballots ahead of time
at one of two locations in Raeford and Rockfish.
The Board of Elections located at 227 North
Main Street in Raeford will offer one-stop early
voting until May 4 from 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. and on
May 5 from 9 a.m.-l p.m. The Rockfish Com
munity Center at 2749 Lindsay Road is open for
early voting through May 4 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
and on May 5 from 9 a.m.-l p.m.
Filing for the Hoke County Board of Education
(See ELECTION, page 10)
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
An appeal filed by Spring Lake Aider-
man James O’Garra means the matter of
state Sen. Ben Clark’s residency will go
before the North Carolina Board of Elec
tions and Ethics Enforcement Thursday.
After a three-person panel determined
last month that incumbent state Sen. Ben
Clark provided sufficient evidence that he
does live in Hoke County, O’Garra filed
an appeal to the panel’s decision.
The state Board of Elections will hear
the matter at a meeting set for Thursday,
May 3 at 3 p.m. The meeting will be held
in the agency’s boardroom located at 430
North Salisbury Street in Raleigh.
Whatever the state board decides, the
matter could potentially end up going to
the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
O’Garra challenged Clark’s residency
in February, claiming that Clark lives in
the Vander area of Cumberland County
which is located in state Senate District
19. Clark denied the allegation and argued
that he still lives in the home he helped
his parents build in the late 1980s, located
on Lake Ridge Road in Hoke County,
which is part of District 21.
If the state board confirms the panel’s
decision, Clark can continue to seek
reelection to the office. If the state board
rules differently, Clark would no longer
be eligible to hold the office. His challeng
er in the Democratic primary election,
candidate Dr. Naveed Aziz, would win
and go on to face Republican candidate
Timothy Leever in the November General
Election.
Attorneys for Clark and O’Garra
(See CLARK, page 6)
Campaign finance
reports in for April
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Candidates for local office have largely spent
their campaign funds on signs, business cards,
ads and other promotional materials, according
to campaign finance reports filed with the Hoke
County Board of Elections.
(See CAMPAIGN EINANCE, page 12)
Fundraiser to help teacher kidney transplant
Sandy Grove Middle
School will host “Kick For
A Cause” Friday, May 4 to
help raise money for a teacher
scheduled to receive a kidney
transplant from another local
teacher to combat a serious
illness.
Fifth-grade science teacher
James Kline has suffered
from a chronic kidney disease
known as focal segmental
glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS,
since he was 18 years old, ac
cording to fundraising infor
mation. Last summer, Kline
went into kidney failure. Ever
(See EUNDRAISER, page 12)
Look for
this symbol
to find stores
that sell The
News-Journal
By Ken MacDonald
On a freezing-cold, blustery day in December, 1995 I took a teen
ager sailing on Mott Lake. “Toshi,” I said, as we zipped to the center
of the lake, “I’m going to let you steer, but if we get going too fast and
start tipping too much, turn into the wind—I don’t want to get wet.”
Not even two minutes later we were swimming. When we got back
to his house and were dripping water on his kitchen floor, and sipping
hot chocolate, his mother clearly wasn’t happy with me. But he never
was in any real danger of dying, or even of getting sick. (That bit about
catching pneumonia from sailing with Ken is a myth.) We had taken
(See OTHER STUEE, page 10)
Quite a catch
Joy Dorety, art teacher at MonarchVocational Options, hams it up with a fish created
by students there.The organization is celebrating 60 years of work in mental health
with intellectually and developmentally disabled people. (Ken MacDonald photo)