The ews Journal Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905 75^ No. 12 Vol.114 Raeford & Hoke County n.c. Wednesday, May 22,2019 Closed health center fails to get grant South Central Community had pinned hopes to reopen on getting money Closed; health center fails to get grant. (File photo) Two charged in dramatic dmg bust The Hoke County Sheriffs Office, United States Homeland Se curity and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation collaborated on a drug bust Tuesday, seizing over half a kilo of heroin with a street value of more than $30,000. The ar rest was made on Main Street. Investigators intercepted and apprehended two suspects wanted in connection with the drug bust, according to Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin. Authorities (See DRUG BUST, page 4) No bedbug infestation at school By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Panicked parents flooded social media in recent weeks spreading ru mors about bedbugs at Sandy Grove Middle School, but Student Support Services Executive Director Dr. Peggy Owens said the school has found only one confirmed bedbug. “We had some parents saying that (See BEDBUGS, page 10) By Catharin Shepard Staff writer A nonprofit health center that was forced to shut its doors last month, and then evicted from its rental space, was passed over for additional grant funding from a federal agency. South Central Commu nity Health Center in Raeford closed last month. Staff shut the doors after not receiv ing their paychecks, a former employee told The News- Journal at the time. The Hoke County Sheriffs Office later confirmed that a deputy also served a summary ejectment notice that ordered the health center to move out of its rental space on Southern Avenue. Chief Executive Officer Delvin McAllister said last month he was waiting on the results of a possible grant re newal that could allow the cen ter to continue operating. The three-year grant was up this year and grantees had to go through a competitive process for seeking additional operat ing funds, McAllister said. However, that particular (See GRANT, page 4) Nick Bakes talks to kids before they enter the mobile planetarium last week. All students at Don Steed Elementary School got a chance to see the stars inside, right. (Catharin Shepard photos) ‘Is this heaven?’ Children awed by visit from Moorehead mobile planetarium By Catharin Shepard Staff writer “Is this heaven?” a child whispered in awe, peering up at the trillions of tiny white specks of stars displayed on the blue dome overhead. In the dark space inside the inflated dome, even quiet whis pers echoed loudly. “What we have to do is speed up the rotation of the earth... usually in the real world we have to wait second by second, but in here we can speed it up,” astronomer Nick Eakes said. He hit a key on his laptop and the image in the dome changed as stars whirled past. “Whooaaaa,” the group of fourth-graders exclaimed as the moon appeared over the horizon and zoomed high. “This is what the sky would look like overhead here in Hoke County if there were no clouds and there were no extra lights from all our cities and towns,” Eakes explained. Pointing out the features of the night sky and several con stellations was just the first of many astronomy lessons last week for students at Don Steed Elementary School. The Moore head Planetarium and Science Center’s mobile planetarium visited the school for a few days thanks to the school’s parent- teacher organization, and a spearheaded effort by teacher of the year Marian Elliot. (See PLANETARIUM, page 5) Hoke’s school dropout rate lower than state average By Catharin Shepard Staff writer In the last 10 years the Hoke County Schools dropout rate has decreased from 7.65 percent in 2007 to lower than the state aver age. A total of 48 students in grades 7-12 dropped out of school in the 2017-18 school year, setting Hoke County’s current dropout rate at 1.89 percent. That’s lower than in neighboring Cumberland, Robe son, Sampson and Richmond county schools, and below the state dropout rate of 2.18 percent. The North Carolina Depart ment of Public Instruction collect ed and published the data. Student Support Services Executive Direc tor Dr. Peggy Owens shared the report with Hoke County Board of Education members last week. The 2017-18 data is the most current information available, as the 2018-19 school year is still in progress. In a sampling of benchmark schools, Hoke had the fourth lowest dropout rate. Only Moore, Scotland and Columbus counties had lower dropout rates among the group of benchmark school systems. Other school systems in Bladen, Harnett, Brunswick, Person, Duplin and Anson coun ties had higher dropout rates than Hoke. The State Board of Education defines a “dropout” as any student who leaves school for any reason before graduation or completion of a program of study without transferring to another elementary or secondary school. In the 2017-18 school year 38 Hoke High students, nine Turling ton Alternative School students and one SandHoke Early Col lege student dropped out. That number includes 19 freshmen, 12 sophomores, 12 juniors and four seniors; and one eighth grade student at Turlington Alternative School. The state also tracks demo graphic data of school dropouts. Of the 48 students who dropped (See DROPOUT, page 4) By Ken MacDonald One thing that’s proved enjoyable about this job is tooling around in the archive looking for interesting stories from Hoke County’s past. In the old days—say, 75 years ago—the story telling in newspapers was better than nowadays, when we’re taught to stick to a rather objec tive and structured but blah style. And nobody seemed to keep information from reporters. Politicians often laid their cards (See OTHER STUEE, page 5) For officer, it was a close call Story recalled at officer remembrance service By Catharin Shepard Staff writer Raeford Police Chief Marc God win still recalls a night many years ago when he could have lost his life in the line of duty, and another of ficer nearly did. While he and other law enforce ment officers were out on a call, a man started shooting at them. They took cover behind their vehicles. but one officer didn’t manage to get there in time. Godwin recalled spot ting his fellow police officer lying on the ground. “He was white as a sheet. He had been shot,” Godwin said. The offieer survived, but the shooting change his life forever, Godwin said. Life-threatening situations like that can make law enforcement (See REMEMBRANCE, page 10) . 'I' ' Godwin recalls close call. (Ken MacDonald photo) The INewS-

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