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IvOL. XXXXVII NO. 14 USPS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE. N.C. 78.149 APRIL 7. 1983 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
JSTC To Ask
, For Half A Million
James Sprunt Technical
College will request $498,838
from the Duplin County
Commissioners for the
1983-84 fiscal year.
The total breaks down to
$212,324 in operating ex
penses, $177,190 in capital
expenses and $109,324 for
?housekeeping expenses.
President Carl Price said
the county provided $185,272 '
for the school's operating
budget and $76,000 for the
capital outlay budget for the
current fiscal year. The
housekeeping request is the
same as the school received
last year. It includes the
salaries of 10 county-paid
maintenance workers.
The County provides funds
)for physical plant mainte
nance and construction. The
state pays for most instruc
tional supplies and faculty
salaries.
Price said the requested
$35,000 current expense in
crease would be spread
"across the board."
He said the school is
asking for $123,654 for elec
tricity and water costs, com
pared with $118,898 last
year.
The request for contracted
services, such as some repair
work, is up sharply because
cuts last year left much
needed work undone. The
school is asking for $17,000
for this purpose. Last year, it
received $4,000.
The largest item in the
capital outlay request is
$75,000 for a construction
reserve fund.
Alfred Wells reported last
week that 485 students have
signed up for the spring
quarter. The winter quarter
enrollment of 816 is 25
percent more than the 651
enrolled in the winter quarter
last year, he added. Wells
attributed the increase to the
depressed economy and lack
of job opportunities.
The J.P. Stevens Co.
worker retraining program
conducted by the school for
the company's Wallace
plants will reduce the
amount of money the school
must clip from its current
budget under the state's
efforts to save money. The
state had directed a 6 percent
cutback, which would have
meant slicing $117,000 from
the budget. The retraining
program reduced the roll
back to $96,392, business
manager Bob Lee said.
Price said the school will
ask the county board to
transfer $11,300 from the
school's unbudgeted cash
reserve to current expense
and maintenance accounts. It
has $19,247.14 in reserves
but must obtain permission
of the county board to use the
money.
It also plans to ask the
county for $3,675.71 from
county capital funds to add to
$1,200 the school has on
hand to build a field house
with two rest rooms, a con
cession stand and storage
room at the Softball field.
James Sprunt, part of the
state college system, is on
N.C._11 south of Kenansville.
Duplin General Board
, Ponders Hospital Options
County commissioners are
looking at possibilities for
financing the Duplin General
Hospital, including private
management.
The 80-bed hospital's
? iterating expertses :: ieec.it '
its income.
Last week at the com
J missioners invitation, a rep
resentative of Hospital Corp.
of America (HCA) of Nash
ville, Term., described the
corporation's "for profit"
hospitals.
Edwin L. Childs, director
of domestic development for
HCA, told the 100 people at i
the meeting that the county
would have to continue its
subsidy if the hospital oper- <
k
ates at a loss under a private
management or ownership
firm.
HCA owns, manages and
builds hospitals. Childs said
he did not come to make a
proposal, but to des^ibe
. ICA and answer qodfctibns. ^
If his firm bought the
hospital and the institution
operated at a loss, he said,
"HCA has staying power to
await a turn-around."
He said a company like
HCA can operate at 10 to IS
percent lower cost than most
small hospitals because of
volume buying power and
management capabilities.
The commissioners took no
action but indicated they will
study the situation further.
Commissioner D.J. Fussell
of Rose Hill commented,
"It's money against mercy."
Beulaville pharmacist
Russell Bostic said he thinks
the hospital situation will
improve. He noted that mote
physicians are practicing at
the hospital than in past
year, delivery of infants has
been resumed, and patient
load has increased.
Commissioner Chairman
W.J. Costin said the county
has appropriated whatever
funding the hospital needed
in addition to its operating
revenues.
Childs said HCA owns 225
hospitals. Of its 160 clients,
60 percent are cities and
counties. The firm owns four
hospitals in North Carolina
and manages 10 others.
The 14-year-old firm has
125,000 employees, most re
tained after HCA took over
management or owner'! iip 4.
public hospilits. It has built
% hospitals and has 19 under
construction, including a S23
million unit in Statesville.
Dr. Oscar Redwine, a sur
geon at Duplin General for 24
years, said he can remember
when "we had patients in the
halls."
He said daily rates a quar
ter-century ago were $5 for
semi-private and $12 for
private rooms. Daily rates for
private rooms now range
from $110 to $118.
9
Manslaughter Sentence
Seems Light By Comparison
B A manslaughter conviction
I in July 1982 brought Alton
Earl Warren a six-year
prison sentence, but con
viction this past week on
burglary and larceny
charges, stemming from the
same incident, has brought
him an additional 14-year
sentence.
Warren, 56, of Jackson
ville faces 20 years in prison
as a result of the 14-year
P; sentence handed down this
past week by Judge Bradford
Tillery of Wilmington in
Duplin County Superior
Court in Kenansville. War
ren was convicted of first
degree burglary and larceny.
The new sentence is to be
served at the end of the
previous six-year sentence.
Warren is in Duplin
County jail. He will be taken
P to Central Prison in Raleigh
for processing, including as
signment to a prison.
Warren w as found guilty
of manslaughter July 12,
1982, in Duplin County Sup
erior Court for the Jan. 29,
1982. shooting of Dorothy
Emma Kilpatrick Peterson,
58, of Teachey.
Evidence at the trial did
not indicate aggravating cir
cumstances. Judge Frank
Brown of Tarboro sentenced
Warren to six years in
prison.
Assistant District Attorney
Dewey Hudson said Friday
that was the longest term the
judge could give the defen
dant, based on that evidence.
The theft of the victim's
purse, discovered after War
ren's manslaughter trial,
would have been considered
an aggravating circum
stance warranting a stiffer
sentence.
Two weeks after the trial,
Mrs. Peterson's purse was
found lying in bushes near a
Topsail Beach street. As a
result of the ensuing inves
tigation, Warren, who was
then serving his sentence,
was charged with first-de
gree burglary and larceny
Dec. 12. 1982.
Hudson said Warren told
officers that on the day of the
killing he took a pistol from
his mother's house in Topsail
Beach and went to Mrs.
Peterson's mobile home.
There, he said, he laid the
pistol on the table and talked
with her. According to Hud
son. Warren said that when
he got ready to leave, he
picked up the pistol and it
discharged.
The bullet struck Mrs.
Peterson. Warren told of
ficers he went for help but
ran his car into a ditch. He
said he returned to Mrs.
Peterson's home to get her
car, but had to break in to get
the car key. While in the
house, he said, he took the
purse, which he later threw
into the bushes.
Warren went back to his
mother's house and told his
stepfather about the shoot
ing. His stepfather called the
police and Warren was
charged with the slaying.
Officers knew nothing about
the purse at that time.
Hudson said the first trial
jury knew nothing about the
purse and the judge had to
give the minimum sentence.
Warren couid have been free
in as little as 2'/> - 3 years on
that sentence, Hudson said,
but now will have to serve at
least 9'/i years in prison,
Hudson added.
Budget Requests May Force TaxHike
The Duplin County Board
of Commissioners will face a
nearly impossible job of
holding the county tax rate
- to 70 cents per S100 assessed
K valuation for the next fiscal
year if it grants budget
increases being requested by
county departments.
With the budget-making
process barely underway , in
creases of S2.2 million al
ready have been proposed ?
SI million by Duplin General
Hospital in Kenansville, SI
million by the Board of
Education, and $200,000 by
I James Sprunt Technical Col
lege.
One cent of county prop
$62,000. The proposed in
creases would devour the
equivalent of about 35 cents, 1
half the present tax rate.
The total county budget for
1982-83 including state and
federal funds was $8.5 mil
lion, of which the property .
tax provided about $4.4 mil
lion.
The Board of Education is
expected to ask for an in
crease of $1,062,684 in next
year's schools budget during
budget sessions next month.
The school board last week
approved a budget totaling
$3,647,942 in local funding
for the fiscal year starting
July 1, an increase of about
S2.58S.2S8 the commis
sioners authorized for the
current school year.
For the current school
year, the state allocated
Duplin County's school
system about Sll million, 2
percent of which has been
withheld by the state be
cause of a financial crunch.
Superintendent L.S. Guy
said the sch" ' board asked
for a 32 ) ent budget
increase and received 4 oer
cent, which he said barely
paid for the increase in utility
costs.
The school board is re
questing $2,789,067 in cur
rent expense and $858,875 in
coming year.
Guy said $123,000 of the
increase requested in the
current expense budget will
be for eight positions for
merly financed by the Com
prehensive Employment and
Training Administration
(CETA) and for the equiv
alent of 2'/> full-time assis
tant principal positions. Guy
said the positions are needed
for the system to remain
accredited by the Southern
Association of Schools and
Colleges.
The proposed $858,875 for
capital outlay is an increase
of $498,211 from the 1982-83
total of $360,664.
i ?,
DUPLIN RESIDENT CELEBRATES 103RD BIRTHDAY -
Martha McKiver was 103 years old Monday. April 4. She
was born in Alabama and moved to North Carolina around
the age of 20. Pictured above, Ms. McKiver shows off the
two birthday cakes she received from local Kenansville
residents. The cakes were served to Ms. McKiver's
friends at Guardian Care Rest Home in Kenansville. where
she is now a resident.
WHITLEY VISITS JAMES KENAN CLASS Representa
tive Charles Whitley visited James Kenan High School
junior class as part of the social studies curriculum March
30. Whitley briefed the audience on current topics of
concern in Washington. D.C. and then answered student
questions. The students touched many topics from the
current political scene such as nuclear war and missiles,
social security, equal rights amendment, social services
and new drunk-driving laws. Pictured above, left to right.
Representative Whitley talks with James Kenan juniors
Sandra Kornegay, Lisa Quinn and Wanda Carter.
Wallace Man Didn't
Pay All His Taxes
U.S. Charges
A Wallace man is on trial
in federal court for willfully
evading income taxes in a
case that prosecutors de
scribe as a "devious
scheme," complete with a
"mystery man."
John L. Sorrell Jr. is
charged with failure to report
$295,000' in income. He al
legedly acquired the money
in 1976 by selling timber
that belonged to five rela
tives, including his mother.
According to federal
prosecutors, Sorrell planned
as early as August 1976 to
sell timber from land known
as S and J Farms Inc. to
Georgia Pacific Corporation
for $475,000.
At that time, half of the
stock ot b and J Farms was
owned by Mae Johnson Sor
rell of Dunn, the defendant's
mothef, and the other half
was owned by four of his
cousins: Cora Jane Johnson
Bostic, Carson Johnson,
Fletcher Johnson and
Dorothy Johnson Lane.
Prosecutors contend the
owners of the property had
no knowledge of the pro
posed timber sale.
On Nov. 22, the govern
ment contends, Sorrell ar
ranged the sale of S and J
Farms to on individual iden
tified as Ronald ti. Braswell.
Under the terms of the sale,
Braswell was to exchange
Dixie Farms Inc. with Mae
Johnson Sorrell for her half
interest in S and J Farms.
Braswell was to pay $45,000
to each of Sorrell's four
cousins for their shares.
The timber sale to Georgia
Pacific and the sale of S and J
Farms to Braswell were
competed by Dec. 31. 1976.
Prosecutors contend, how
ever, that Ronald H. Bras
well does not exist. They say
Sorrell deeded Dixie Farms
documents to his mother,
paid $45,000 to each of his
four cousins from the
$475,000 Georgia Pacific
timber payment and pock
eted $295,000 in cash, which
he failed to report as income.
U.S. Attorney Justin
Thornton of Washington told
the jury Sorrell met a Geor
gia Pacific representative in
the vault of a bank in
Whiteville on Dec. 31, 1976.
Sorrell left with $295,000 in
$100 bills in his briefcase,
partial payment for the tim
ber sale.
Defense lawyer William
Shell of Wilmington main
tains Braswell exists and the
$295,000 was paid to him.
Shell also contends that al
though no lands were ever
purchased to compose Dixie
Farms, a promissory note
from Braswell protected the
interests of Sorrell's mother
-? -it
THE NORTH CAROLINA SYMPHONY under the baton
of Associate Conductor, James Ogle, will appear in concert
on Thursday, April 7 at 8 p.m. in Kenan Memorial
Auditorium, in Kenansville. The program, sponsored by
the Tar Heel Fine Arts Society, will feature selections by
Rossini, Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Gershwin
and others. Ogle is now in his fifth season as associate
conductor. Winner of the Symphony's first Young
Conductor's Competition in 1974, he was also a 1974
winner in the Malko International Conducting competition
held in Copenhagen, Denmark. A limited number of
tickets will be available at the door.
american
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MEMORIAL GIFTS
Send to: THE AMERICAN
CANCER SOCIETY
c/o Mrs. Macy Brlnaon ,
P.O. Box 31
Kemnavtlle, NC 38349