Attonrl The Liberty Cart
nTT^WtU I IIV ? j **? ^|HjP~
? ? " " cl,I1IL I11IYln ,11-w _ H P \<.I S THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
VOL. XXXXm NO.29 KENANSV1LLE.NC 28349 JULY 20.1978
?
? %l t-.:.'^,;. ",i. . - .;y,,t .' v ,'.?,, ?*'???? * 'M
Son Of A Gun
By Jo# Loni#r
? '*3
County Vehicles? Misaes
Monday the Board of County
Commissioners advised the
department heads -r ever so
nicely ? to please cut down on
the misuse and abuse of county
vehicles. . .They also requested
the department heads to
suggest ? in writing ? ways to
accomplish this. . .Rumors have
been circulating among the
county employees of the estab
lishing of a car-pool or a central
dispatching auto agency., .That
would mean county employees
having autos would no longer
drive these vehicles home, but
would check them in and out
each day and be forced to drive
their private autos td and from
work. . .But no such action was
taken or even mentioned at
Monday's meeting. . . Before
going any further. I will
| "alleged" violations. . .Or per
I haps better yet. to ask if the
" following would be misuse or
abuse. \. .or just par for the
course?.. . . Is misuse using a
county vehicle to go on vacation
using county gas at the same
time?. . .Is misuse using a
county vehicle on personal
chores such as running to the
store for cigarettes or drinks? . .
What about letting your wife
use the vehicle to go grocery
shopping?. . .Or how about
hauling farmhands?. . What
about leaving your job site to go
to a bank (25 miles round trip)
to cash your county paycheck
and then return to your job site?
.. Or driving past several eating
establishments at lunchtime to
travel some 20 miles extra to
save the employee 50 cents on a
plate lunch? . . (County gas
used on this trip would amount
to about SI.20.) . . Or several
county vehicles capable of
carrying several persons, but
only carrying .the driver and a
passenger to an eating estab
lishment. with all leaving the
same place,,going to the same
place, and returning to the same
place? . . .The abuse could be
jack-rabbit-starts, excessive
speed, over 55 miles an hour,
and sudden stops. . .and much
more...
But before we jump up and
say the taxpayer is uettins
ripped off again (for this b
stealing county money and a ,
waste of energy), let's first find
out what a county employee is
allowed to do with the vehicle
issued to him.. .Guess what? . .
There are no rules. . .Indivi
duals have been told by one or
another that this would be OK'
and that would be OK. . And no
one knows for sure what is. or is
not. OK . . .So eveo though the
taxpayer seems to be the one
getting ripped off by paying the
bill, the employee is making up
the rules because no une else
-has. . ..Taking ar* restricting
vehicle use is very unpopular,
politically. ? .Therefore, 1 doubt
if any drastic change will take
place until orders come from
Washington restricting all of us.
. . Or when a "Proposition 13"
forces elected officials and
bureaucrats into making hard
decisions....
?**?#
I guess you have seen The
Captain and Tenillc bulldogs. .
A picture of them anyway? . . .
Well, Ernest Grady has a couple
of bulldogs very similar, and the
other day Mrs. Grady was
mowing the lawn . . .pushing
the mower forwards and pulling
it backwards. . .The pair of
bulldogs decided she was trying
to tease and play with them. .
They, being almost as large as a
small pony, grabbed the lawn
fttower and it was a tug-of-war
with the two dogs pulling one
way. and Dallace yelling for
help and pulling the other. . .To
get the lawn mowed nowadays,
someone has to carry the dogs
off for a ride. . .Son-of-a-Gun . i
Wallace Takes Action
To Annex Airport
The Wallace Town Board
has instructed Tom Phillips,
town administrator, to take the
necessary action to start annex
ation procedures at Henderson
The airport is owned by the
city of Wallace but is outside
the city limits and also outside
the county. The entire airport is
Reward
Offered
Following
" flreak-ln
According to Kenansville
Police Chief Tyson Bostic, a
$100 reward has been offered
for any information leading to
the arrest and conviction of
those responsible for breaking
into the Duplin County Surgical
Association office on Duplin
Road last weekend. Entrance
was made by breaking out a
N6-03w' ' 2%*
located in Pender County.
Annexation of the airport
would enable the town to re
ceive peraonal property taxes on
private property (i.e.. airplanes)
based at the airport. All county
personal property taxes have
been going to fender County
without Pender bearing any of
the airport costs.
During the month of June. 10
planes were based at the
airport.
? '? * ,J ?; i ' >7- ? .
DUPLIN COUNTY RECEIVES AWARD - Duplin
County officials received a National Association
of Counties (NACo) achievement award at the
group's 43rd annual conference. From left to
i,f ^3?;"i \ , *.? 1
;;vaj
right are: Russell E. Tucker, finance officer;
Arliss M. Albertson, chairman. Board of Com
missioners; and Mary F. Stevens, personnel
director.
County Receives Award
sSJmllyxF. ?. '?'* ^ ' - ' i'Jk iU ' . M'"'.?' w"?"*?'*" ??????. if& m*
Duplin County was presented
with its 1978 Achievement
Award at the 43rd annual con
ference of the National Asso
ciation of Counties (NACo). The
annual awards are given to '
counties who have been
specially honored for their out
standing citizen service and for
innovative programs leading to
morr efficient, modern county
government.
Duplin County received its
award for Omega Enterprises.
There are five levels of mental
Ik -"V.?v' *
retardation: borderline, mild,
moderate, severe and profound.
The majority of mentally re
tarded under the category of
"mild mental retardation" are
capable of leading a fairly
normal and productive life in the
community. Omega Enterprises
was established to help mildly
and moderately retarded citi
zens. It began modestly in 1972
to provide a day activity pro
gram for the mentally retarded
in Duplin County. The ultimate
aim is to help individuals to
maximize their potentials for a
meaningful and productive life,
instead ' of custodial care at
home or in an institution. The
major objective of the program
is to provide an opportunity for
the mentally disabled, mentally
' retarded and physically handi
capped to maximize their
potential through sheltered
work and training for a produc
tive life as a contributing
member of society.
NACo is the national spokes
man for county government in
the United States.
Joil Completion Delayed Due
Si?* Standard Material
Delay in the completion of the
new county jail was reported
Monday at the Duplin Commis
sioners meeting. Architect J.T.
Pegraiu reported the cement in
the first-laid portion of the jail
roof met only 80 percent of the
strength specifications. The
cement is being torn out and
replaced. Pegram reported in a
letter to the County Commis
sioners.
County Accountant Russell
Tucker said cost of the replace
ment will be born by the
subcontractor who supplied the
cement. Samples of cement are
regularly taken and sent to
Kateign for analyses.
Tucker. Monday, estimated
the cost of the removal and
replacement at S40.000.
The board also agreed in
principle with Guilford East of
Kenansville on a request to the
industrial bonding authority to
issue SI million in bonds for
machinery and installation in an
existing facility and $300,000 for
a waste treatment facility. The
plant is located on N.C. 11 east
of Kenansville.
Interest paid to buyers of such
bonds is tax-free, which allows
companies to sell the bonds at
lower interest rates than con
ventional bonds would pay. The
industrial bonds do not cost the
counties anything, but must be
approved by county industrial
facility and pollution control
authorities and by the state
before they can be issued.
Jim Dudley. OSHA represen
tative from Raleigh, inspected
construction and renovation
work at the courthouse for
alleged violations of OSHA
regulations. He said he saw two
violations, but did not specify
what they were, and observed
OSHA had received a complaint
from a county employee.
County department heads
were called in and asked to
establish guidelines on use of
automobiles among other
matters and to report to the next
meeting.
The board said it has been
getting reports of employees
abusing county vehicles to
which they are assigned. Duplin
has about 60 highway vehicles,
which are assigned to
employees.
Sheriff Elwood Reveile was
asked if his department could
use cars with less power and
more fuel-efficient engines. He
said many or most of the
department vehicles could be
replaced with less powerful ones
when replacement time comes.
Kenneth Futreal invited the ;
county board to attend the
public hearing on the Lime
stone-Muddy Creek Watershed
Project, scheduled for 8 p.m.,
July 24. in the National Guard
Armory at Beulaville.
Kenneth Futreal. county soil
conservationist, said it seemed
to him that county employees
sometimes treat a customer
asking for information as if they
were doing him a favor. "In
some instances, the employees
seem to have forgotten they are
being paid by these people to
serve the people." he com
mented.
Tri-County EMC
Receives Federal Loan
ship Corporation, which serves
several counties in eastern
Worth Carolina including
Wayne. Duplin. Johnson and
Sampson Counties, has received
a 12,809,000 Rural Electric
Association loan from the
United States Department of
ii
ttonai consumers 89 miles of
distributive lines, and other
system improvements including
sub-station facilities.
Tri-County EMC. Whitley
said, will also obtain supple
mental financing from the
National Rural Utilities Cooper
ative Finance Corporation.
Ground Breaking Sunday
Grove ftesbyterian Church
will break ground for a fifty-four
foot addition to its Christian
Education Building on July 23 at
12 Noon. The Session of the
church has appointed the
lullowina to the building com
Jftri...
'? I , rft J; 1 . M
mittce: Mr. Lloyd Stevttv
Chairman. Roscoe Jones. N?v
David McKay. Mrs. Ralph
Brown. Winford Howard, and
Mrs. J- J- Wells. The publk is
invited to the ground breaking
James Sprunt Institute's
Accreditation Reaffirmed
James F. Strickland. Chair
man of the Board of Trustees of
James Sprunt Institute, is
pleased to announce that the
State Board of Education has
reaffirmed the accreditation of
James Sprunt Institute. The
reaffirmation follows a proce
dure designed to determine the
quality of educational offerings
at James Sprunt. Accreditation
of an institution assures the
students and public that the
educational programs are sound
and meet the standards of
performance required of similar
institutions throughout the
State.
From March 14-17 . 1978
James Sprunt Institute was
visited by members of an Eval
uation Committee of the North
Carolina System of Community
Colleges. These members visit
ed administrative offices, class
rooms. and evaluated day and
evening programs and offerings
provided at off-campus centers.
The comprehensive evaluation
was the culmination of nearly a
year's activities of the staff and
students of James Sprunt in a
Self-Study designed to assess
the strengths and weaknesses of
the total institution's
operations. The results of the
Self-Study provided to the Visit
ing Team coupled with then
assessments of the institution's
total operation formed the com
plete report presented to the
North Carolina State Board of
Education.
r From May.2-5, 1978 J*mew,
Sprunt Institute wis also vitned
by an accreditation team under
the authority of the Southern
Association of Colleges and
Schools. James Sprunt is
additionally seeking
reaffirmation of accreditation by
this organization and expects to
receive notification of their de
cision by mid-December.
Register Of Deeds
Office Collects
'71, 062 For Year
The Duplin County Register
of Deeds collected $71,062 in
fees during the fiscal year which
ended June 30. This exceeds
las{ {jscal year by $9,286.
increase in- activity ,
came in Deeds. Deeds of Trust
and Commercial Code filings.
One thousand six hundred
and fifty-four deeds were re
corded during the fiscal year
ending June 30 with the de
clared value of land being sold,
as shown by excise stamps
purchased. SI6.737.000. This
averages a little over ten thou
sandsand dollars ner sale
??^ I
One thousand eight hundred
thirty-seven deeds of trust were
recorded, which represented
S5S.239.160 in loans on real
estate, in addition to 45 open
end deeds of trust which did not
specify amounts borrowed.
The number of Commercial
Code filings for the year repre
senting encumbrances on crops
and other personal property
jumped to 4133 from 3507 for
lastye?r
r The number of marriages turns
down to 288 from 293.
Certified copies of birth certi
ficates issued were down to 2153
from 2342.
Two hundred seventy-four
copies of School Census Cards
showing birthdates were issued
in lieu of birth certificates for
persons whose certificates were
not recorded.
Amy Pickett In ECU's
Pre-College Program
Amy Susan Pickett of Bcula
ville will be a senior at East
Duplin Higb School this fall with
credit for college courses at East
Carolina University already on
her academic record.
She is among a group of high
school students attending a
special pre-college program
during the second summer ses
sion at East Carolina University
June 28-Aug. 3. Nine rising
seniors from as many high
schools are participating in the
program.
All have SAT scores of 1.000
or higher and all rank in the top
15 per cent of their class
academically. The participants
were invited on the basis of
recommendations by their high
school counselors and princi
pals.
"They arc ECU students in
every sense," says Gayle
Everett, assistant dean of ad
missions. The students- four
men and five women-are pay
ing regular expenses for tuition
and fees and dormitory rental
and arc participating in regular
campus activities. Their course
loads vary from five to seven
semester hours and a fairly wide
range of introductory courses
are offered.
"They are earning college
credit and wc hope the college
experience will be helpful and
useful," says Everett.
Miss Pickett is taking Intro
duction to Sociology and Intro
duction to Computers.
DIRECTOR RETIRES ? Kathleen Craven
(center). Director Of General Education at James
Sprunt Institute, is congratulated by Dr. Carl D.
Price, (left). President, and Gene Ballard. Dean
of Instruction, on the outstanding educational
leadership she has provided in the eight years
she served on the faculty M James Sprunt. In
19?1. she was named Director of General
' V r ' *;<r! *' ' ? ?- ;.:J? "vv
. . ? u.. ;
? ati s i' i - ' ''ei?
Education where she served ai^he primary c$or- ,
EtJP1 c~*W
appreciation on ^haJf^oftSrjSI atlfr
been named successor to Craven.
... va ,t. nA. ,:k A '