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No,23VoI.116
Raeford & Hoke County n.c.
Wednesday, August 4,2021
Hoke students will mask up
Return to school this month is amid lowest vaccination rates
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
When students attending Hoke County
Schools return to classrooms later this
month, they and their teachers will need
to wear masks indoors even if they’re fully
vaccinated against COVID-19.
Following updated guidance from state
and federal agencies, the Hoke County
Board of Education voted last week to
implement pandemic precautions for the
upcoming school year, including the mask
requirement.
Most Hoke students and staff will return
to in-person instruction five days a week for
grades prek-12 beginning August 23. Sand-
Hoke Early College High School follows
the Sandhills Community College schedule.
The school system will use a “layered
approach of prevention strategies” to mini
mize the spread of COVID-19, school ad
ministrators discussed during the meeting.
The state updated its Strong Schools NC
Toolkit to include new strategies and rec
ommendations, based on guidance from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Masking up indoors regardless of
whether or not a child or teacher is vacci
nated was part of the update. The CDC now
recommends even fully vaccinated people
start wearing a mask in indoor public set
tings again if they’re in an area with high
COVID-19 transmission rates, like Hoke
County.
“With rapidly accelerating viral trans
mission and the increased contagiousness
of the Delta variant, on July 27, 2021, CDC
updated the guidance to include recommen
dations for universal indoor masking for all
teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12
schools, regardless of vaccination status,”
the Strong Schools NC Toolkit stated.
(See MASK UP, page 6)
The Hoke High School Class of 1996 and theTia Hart Community Recovery Program got together to hand out food
boxes Saturday—the Class’s 25-year reunion. (Catharin Shepard photo)
Tia Hart Center, Bucks Class of ‘96 celebrate
The Tia Hart Community Recov
ery Program and the Hoke County
High School Class of 1996 gave out
more than 100 food boxes Saturday
while celebrating the Bucks’ 25-year
class reunion.
The two groups joined forces to
hold the community event July 31 in
honor of the class reunion. Shirley
Hart, Pounder of Tia Hart Com
munity Recovery Program, said she
was grateful to the Class of 1996 and
looks forward to working with them
in the future on more events.
“Recovery works! Coming to
gether with the Class of 1996 was a
pleasure and a huge step in the right
direction as a community!” she said.
The Hoke County Health Depart
ment and Dr. Karen Smith’s Office
(See REUNION, page 6)
Lewis Pratt won the ‘Millionaire Maker.’
Raeford man wins
$ 1 million in lottery
A man from Raeford who just got married won a $1
million prize last week in the North Carolina Education
Lottery.
Lewis Pratt of Raeford has a lot to celebrate.
“I just got married,” Pratt said in a statement. “So, me
and my wife are just going to relax a little bit, pay some
bills, and get ahead.”
Pratt bought the winning Millionaire Maker ticket from
(See LOTTERY WINNER, page 6)
Mayor candidate’s
residency challenged
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
Bowling alley, children’s center coming
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
A “classy” bowling alley and a kids’
entertainment center are coming to
Hoke County and will be built next to
the James A. Leach Aquatics and Rec
reation Center on U.S. 401, a project
representative said Monday.
“What we’re going to put there, and
you’re going to be so proud of it, is a
classy bowling alley,” Steve Phillips
of J&K General Contractors said. “I
mean upscale, nice family entertain
ment center. And then adjacent to
that will be a children’s entertainment
center for children’s activities, video
games and stuff like that.”
The entertainment center will be
like a kid-friendly version of the popu
lar Dave and Buster’s, Phillips said.
“It will really be an asset to our
county, especially out in that area
where we’ve had explosive population
growth,” Phillips said.
The topic came up as part of a pub
lic hearing held Monday night at the
Hoke Board of Commissioners’ meet
ing. J&K General Contractors submit
ted a rezoning request to rezone an
approximately 6.25-acre unaddressed
parcel of land from Residential
(See BOWLING ALLEY, page 4)
i
k
Subdivisions set off controversy in West Hoke
They just **** on us,’ resident says after Commission vote
By Catharin Shepard
Staff writer
The Hoke County Board of Com
missioners Monday approved two
major subdivision plats set for con
struction on Horace Walters Road in
the Five Points area.
The decision was against the wishes
of a number of residents who protested
the development. Two commission
ers said they felt their hands were tied
by the requirements of state law, and
one said he was personally against the
development but legally had to approve
it.
The plats submitted by Double D
Engineering proposed to build a 64-lot
major subdivision named Carolina
Crossing located on a 40-acre parcel
at 1685 North Horace Walters Road,
and a 67-lot major subdivision named
Walters Meadow located on a
(See SUBDIVISIONS, page 3)
A Raeford City Council
member filed a challenge
last Thursday against a
candidate running for the
city mayor’s office, ques- Parker Willis
tioning whether he meets one of the requirements to seek
election.
Council member Wayne Willis filed a challenge July 29
against Raeford mayoral candidate Chris Parker, who an
nounced his campaign for the office last month.
“The challenge is a question to his residency,” Hoke
County Board of Elections Director Towanna Dixon wrote
in an email.
Parker filed to run against incumbent Raeford Mayor
John K. McNeill, who is seeking his fifth four-year term in
office this year in the municipal elections.
Parker said Monday that he plans to respond to the chal
lenge.
“Absolutely, without question I meet the requirements,”
he said.
His legal address is in Raeford, but his wife and children
live elsewhere in Hoke County, Parker said.
When Parker filed with the Board of Elections to run for
mayor, he provided the address of 418 West Sixth Av
enue in Raeford. That address is the location of a building
owned by Abundant Life Ministries, according to the Hoke
County tax office map system.
(See CHALLENGE, page 6)
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