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 ' *;