If'f ? ? ? '
PROGRESS SENTINEL
E ?
VOL. XXXXV NO. 22 USPS 162 860 KENANSVILLE. NC 28349 MAY 28, 1981 ' 20 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
? - 1
Verdict is Guilty in
landmark Death Case
A Duplin County man was
found guilty of manslaughter
last week after his wife
testified against him in a
shooting death.
District Attorney Dewey
Hudson had said it was the
first case in North Carolina
involving a spouse testifying
? against a spouse. That was
allowed under an April 7
rulling by the N.C. Court of
Appeals.
Superior Court Judge
Napoleon B. Barefoot of Wil
mington sentenced defen
dent George Dewitt to 15-18
years in prison. He will be
eligible for parole after
serving four years.
Dewitt has been charged
^ with second-degree murder
?? ? ? _
in the shooting Jan. 13 of
Freddie Lee Neal outside
Dewitt's home in Kipgs
Court subdivision outside
Warsaw.
Mrs. Dewitt testified that
Neal had come to their home
after her husband accused
her of seeing Neal and con
fronted her with long-dis
tance telephone bills from
their home to Neal's office.
A deputy sheriff told the
court that Dewitt called him
and said he had shot Neal.
Mrs. Dewitt had testified
that a rifle-carrying Dewitt
took Neal outside the home
following a "discussion,"
not an argument. Later, she
said, she heard three shots.
According to the earlier
testimony of a pathologist.
Neal died from a wound in
the back by a .22-caliber
bullet.
While he sat in the room
talking with Neal. Dewitt
testified, Neal and his wife
were laughing at him. His
wife insulted him in front of
Neal, Dewitt said.
As the two men were going
outside, Dewitt said, he
stumbled and the rifle dis
charged twice accidentally.
Voluntary manslaughter is
the unlawful killing of a
human being without malice
in the heat of passion, Judge
Barefoot said.
Albertson
Area
Water
District
Meeting
A meeting will be held
Thursday. May 28 at 8 p.m.
at the Albertson Ruritan
Community Building to
discuss the formatiqp ?f an,
Albertson area water district.
All landowners and residents
of Albertson Township and
) surrounding Duplin County
townships are encouraged to
attend and learn more about
the proposed water system.
According to Wiley
Cannady. spokesman for the
organizers, the purpose of
the meeting is to explain how
a water district functions and
to determine if there is
sufficient interest and sup
port in Albertson and sur
^ rounding areas to form a
9 central water system. Engi
neers from Rivers and
Associates of Greenville will
be present to assist in ex
plaining how the system
would operate and procedure
for organizing the district.
Still No Arrest in
Jernigan Case
Sheriff Revelle reaffired
there is one prime suspect in
the Inez Jernigan murder
case, and he is not from
Duplin County. He refused to
give further information at
press-time Tuesday.
There has been no arrest '
in the murder of the promi- ;
nent Kenansville business- '
woman who owned Jernigan '
Tractor Company. She was c
jrutally killed by crushing
>lows to the head. She was
ilso stabbed and found dead
n her home about three
niles north of Kenansville |
>ver a month ago.
Democratic Chief
Criticizes Clark
fitter
The chairman of file
Duplin County Democratic
Party is criticizing state Rep.
Douglas A. Clark for backing
a new six-county state House
"superdistrict" against the
wishes of county Democrats.
Party Chairman Melvin G.
Williams, in letters last week
to al! county elected officials
and party executive com
mittee members, urged
those officials to call Clark at
home personally this past
weekend to complain about
creating the new district.
He said the county Domo
cratic convention passed a
resolution "strongly oppos
ing" putting Duplin County
in a six-county district with
Columbus. Brunswick,
Bladen. Pender and
Sampson counties. The reso
lution, one of the major acts
of the convention, called for a
one- or two-cofl%ity district
with Jones, S&mpson or
Lenoir in that order of pre
ference, the letter said.
Legislators from all six
counties have backed creat
ing the "superdistrict."
Duplin is now in the 10th
House district, a one-county
district with one legislator.
Williams' letter com
plained that Rep. Daniel T.
Lilley, D-Lenoir, chairman of
the state House re-districting
committee, told him the
General Assembly cannot
put Duplin County in a one
or two-county House district
while Clark ba;%s a stx
county district.
"His actions in Raleigh are
diametrically opposed to the
express wishes of the Demo
crats of Duplin County,"
Williams said of Clark in the
letter.
"The six-county district
could easily mean that
Duplin will not have anybody
in the legislature for the next
10 years," the letter said.
"This is especially true be
cause the counties in the
southern part of this district
have a history of sticking
together close'ly in elec
tions."
Clark's home telephone is
296-9383. His home address
is Box 237, Kenansville, NC
28349.
, Stroud Dekalb Award Recipient
James Kenan High School
senior Stewart Stroud is the
winner of the 1980 Dekalb
Agricultural Accomplish
ment award.
This award is presented to
the senior agricultural stu
dent attaining the highest
| degree of proficiency in
" scholarship, leadership and a
supervised agricultural pro
gram. Dekalb Ag Research.
Inc. sponsors the award
nationwide.
As recipient of the award,
Stroud receives a pin and
certificate, and his name will
be inscribed on a special
plaque to be displayed in
James Kenan's main lobby.
. The Dekalb award is pre
' sented in 4,000 schools
annually and is often con
sidered the highest honor a
vocational agricultural stu
dent can receive on a local
level.
While attending James
Kenan. Stroud has been a
member of the Future Far
mers of America for four
years, a Federation deiegate.
and has attended many face
to-face contests. His agri
cultural program consists of
corn, soybeans, tobacco and
cattle.
Mroud is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Cla'" Stroud of
Kenansville. Upon gradua
tion from James Kenan, he
plans to continue his work on
the farm, and possibly enter
into the mechanical field.
Dixon S. Hall Scholarship
The James Sprunt Tech
nical College scholarship
committee met May 14 in the
board room of the McGowen
Building. The purpose of the
meeting was to select a
recipient of the Dixon S. Hall
Scholarship.
The scholarship was
awarded to Miss Debra Hali.
a senior at East Duplin High
School. Debra is a member of
the Buisness Education So
ciety, Student Government
Association. Math Gub and
Spanish Gub; treasurer and
president for the National
Honor Society. She is a
member of her church choir
and secretary of Sunband
Gass. Debra has received a
typewriting award, and ex
cellence in Spanish awatj.
Other scholastic honors re
ceived are outstanding
senior, honor roll, marshal.
and alternate for EMC
Seminar. Her hobbies In
clude singing, reading and
working with children.
Debra will enter James
Sprunt Technical College in
the fall to major in executive
secretary. Debra is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Sylvanus Hall of Beulaville,
according to Doi.na S. Thig
i>en. chairman of the scholar
ship committee.
Cable Contract
Awarded in Magnolia
The Magnolia town board
awarded a cable television
franchise to Clear-Tel of
Hope Mills last week
The firm will provide 18
channels of programming,
according to the franchise
agreement. Fourteen chan
nels will be offered for $9.50
per mon'h. Four movie
channels will be available for
additional fees.
The town will receive 5
percent of gross receipts.
Gerald Michaux of the
company said the town has
270 homes. If 50 percent are
connected to the cable, the
city should receive about
SI .000 a year, he added.
Two new board members.
Clifton Chestnutt and
Charles Bowman, attended
their first meeting as mem
bers. They were appointed
last month to succeed Com
missioner Melvin Pope, who
was named mayor, and
Commissioner Hubert Lee
Howard, who resigned.
DEDICATION CEREMONIES for the new CPCA and
FLBA of Kenansville were held May 21 at 3 p.m. Pictured"
above. C.W.S. Home, president of the Federal Inter
mediate Credit Bank and FLB in Columbia, spoke to a
huge crowd on the "more efficient service" the new
facility will provide to area farthers. Also pictured are John
Peterson, Arthur Kennedy. Roy A. Houston, John A.
Smith and other dignitaries.
GARLAND KING, ARTHUR KENNEDY, DEWITT CARR
AND JOHN PETERSON performed the ribbon-cutting
during open house and dedication ceremonies of the new
CPCA and FLBA building in Kenansville May 21.
Kenansville PCA and FLB
Open House % Ribbon Cutting
By Jonl Nethercutt
"This new facility will be
of greatest service. The
merger of these two huge
financial interests. Coastal
Production Credit Associa
tion and Federal Land Bank
of Kenansville, will provide
farmers more efficiently with
their credit needs," said
C.W.S. Home, president of
FLB and Federal Interme
diate Credit Bank of Colum
bia. S C. in a telephone
interview with DUPLIN
TIMES.
Home was the featured
speaker Thursday at the
ribbon-cutting ceremony for
the new Coastal PC A and
FLBA of Kenansviile.
A huge crowd was present
during the ceremony. The
new facility was open for
public viewing from 1-5 p.m.
with the ribbon-cutting at 3
p.m.
Garland King, a Duplin
native who was the firsi
general manager of PCA.
which began in Duplin in
1934, reflected that he wrote
the first loan application in
Duplin County for $64,000.
He commented that since
then, PCA has undergone
"phenomenal growth" over
the past several years. He
delivered the invocation.
Tom Morgan, regional vice
president of FLB and Federal
Intermediate Credit Bank in
Columbia, said that at the
present, the amount of
money the two associations
(FLB and PCA) have loaned
to farmers in this area is SI 75
!??... n.
Morgan stated that
"Duplin County is the
largest agricultural county in
the state" and that it is
"appropriate to have a
building of this stature."
"We are proud to work with
the local associations to build
such as this new facility,"
added Morgan.
Morgan went on to say
that "we look forward to
continued service to the
farmers of this area and with
this new facility, will be more
efficient in serving those
farmers."
During the dedication
ceremony, Roy A. Houston,
president of Coastal PCA,
and John A. Smith, president
of FLBA. were presented
commemorative keys.
The annual stockholders'
meeting of CPCA and FLBA
of Kenansville was held later
in the evening with enter
tainment provided by Charlie
Albcrtson and the Swing
masters. Slim Short presided
over the meeting at Kenan
Memorial Audttortum.
Mount Olive Medical Center to
Acquire Duplin Native Physician
Calypso native. Dr. James
Royall Lambert, will become
the fifth physician at the
Mount Olive Family Center
when he joins the practice on
August 1 st of this year.
Dr. Lambert attended
Duplin High School and
Mount Olive College where
he graduated with honors.
He graduated from Wake
Forest University magna
cum laude and then attended
medical school at the Bow
man Gray School of Medicine
in Winston-Salcm. Dr. Lam
bert is completing his third
year of post graduate train
ing in family medicine at
North Carolina Baptist Hos
pital.
Family practice residen
cies for Dr. Lambert consist
of extensive training in in
ternal medicine, pediatrics,
emergency medicine, family
dynamics and other medical
*
sub-specialties. He has par
ticular interest in obstetrics
and has completed several
rotations through the obstet
rical service."
Dr. Lambert, 28. is
mart ted to the former Mary
Jo Bundy of Mount Olive. He
is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
M.J. Lambert of Calypso.
Dr. Lambert has also pre
sented a scientific exhibit in
Pinehurst and in New Or- '
leans. La. at the National
, i
Academy of Family Physi
cians annual meeting. The
presentation, entitled
"Clinical Applications of
Aerobic Exercise." received
the Outstanding Scientific
Exhibit Award.
He is a member of the
N.C. Medical Society. N.C.
Academy of Family Physi
cians, and American
Academy of Family Physi
cians.
1 i