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VOL. XXXXV11I NO. 3 USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE, NC 28349 JANUARY 19 1984 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
MURPHY FILES FOR HOUSE - Representative Wendell
Murphy of Rose Hill filed January 16 for re-election to the
North Carolina House of Representatives Tenth District
seat. Murphy is currently serving his first term as Tenth
District Representative serving Duplin and Jones counties.
Pictured above, Murphy signs notice of candidacy at the
Duplin County Board of Elections office in Kenansville.
Also pictured, Duplin Elections supervisor, Carolyn
Murphy.
4 Kirby Receives Kenansville
Distinguished Service Award
Dennis Kirby, director of
the Kenansville Employment
Security Commission, was
presented the Distinguished
.; Service Award at the
" Ketiansvrtie Jaycee Awards
banauet January 14.
Dennis Kirfoy
According to Kenansville
Jayc^e President Woody
Brinson, the DSA is given
each year to a member of the
Kenansville community for
outstanding contributions.
Kirby is the director of the
Kenansville Employment
Security Commission and he
attends Johnson's Baptist
Church. At Johnson's, Kirby
is a deacon, church clerk and
chairman of the finance com
mittee. He also serves as a
member of the Kenansville
United Carolina Bank Board
of Directors, the Kenansville
Recreation Commission, the
business department of
James Kenan High School
Advisory Board, the
Kenansville Community of
Excellence Committee and
secretary/treasurer of the
Warsaw midget football
league. As a member of the
Kenansville Jaycees, Kirbv
serves as first vice-president
in charge of individual de
velopment programming.
And, at the mid-year state
Jaycee convention, Kirby
was recognized as one of the
10 top Jaycees in North
Carolina.
The Distinguished Service
Award is among eight recog
nitions made each year by
the Kenansville Jaycees.
Recognized this year for their
participation with the
Kenansville Jaycees efforts
to help raise $50,000 for the
Ashley Quinn Trust Fund
was WTRQ radio. The
Kenansville Jaycees and
WTRQ sponsored a radio
thon for the Quinn fund.
Accepting the award for
WTRQ Radio were station
managers Mo and Winnafred
Moseley.
The Kenansville Jaycees
recognized Janet Brock as
the Outstanding Teenager of
the Year. Janet is a student
at James Kenan High School
and the daughter of Mt. and
Mrs. Kenneth Brock of
Kenansville. Jerry Blackburn
received the Outstanding
Young Fireman award and
Mike Brown was presented
the award for the Outstand
ing Young Farmer. Lorena
Vestal was presented the
Outstanding Senior Citizen
award and Denise Dail
Garner of the James Kenan
High School staff was recog
nized as Outstanding Young
Educator. Randy Hammonds
with the State Highway
Patrol and a resident of
Kenansville and member of
the Kenansville Jaycees. was
presented the Outstanding
Young Law Officer award.
*
Watson Seafood
Liquidation Underway
Liquidation of the bank
rupt Watson Seafood &
Poultry Co. assets in the
Rose Hill area, Raleigh and
Smithfleld is scheduled for
completion In the next two
months.
The company, headed by
A Ebern Watson Jr. of Rose
Hill, petitioned for voluntary
bankruptcy under Chapter 11
of the federal bankruptcy
code April 11, 1983. On May
31, 1983, it valued its real
property at $7,576,550 and
personal property at
$1,999,221, including poultry
inventory and equipment. It
claimed liabilities of
$6,282,881.
? At the time, It was growing
out about 285,000 broilers a
week under contracts with
about 12C. farmers. Its output
provided employment for
about 200 workers in one
shift at the Rose Hill Poultry
Corp. broiler processing
plant in Rose Hill. The
company's failure meant'an
estimated loss of $15 million
a year to the area's economy.
Sealed bids for the feed
#mlll In Rose Hill will be
accepted by bankruptcy
trustee Algernon Butler of
Wilmington until 5 p.m. Feb.
15.
Bids will be opened at 11
a.m. Feb. 16 in the trustee's
office at 111 N. Fifth Ave.,
Wilmington.
Possible upset bids will be
received from Feb. 16 until
11 a.m. March 2 at the
rustee's office.
% If a legitimate upset bid is
received, the property will be
sold at auction at 11 a.m.
March 16. The auction will
be conducted in the bank
ruptcy courtroom of the
federal courthouse building
on Fayetteville Street Mall in
Raleigh.
The mill is producing feed
for Murphy Farms of Rose
Hill on a contract basis,
Burrows added.
The mill was built by
Ramsey Feed Co. of Rose
Hill ln.1970. Dennis Ramsey,
owner of the company, later
retired and sold the firm to
the Watson company.
The mill has a capacity of
SO tons of feed per hour and
Is operated by four people
per shift. It Includes grain
receiving facilities and a
testing laboratory.
The property has 1,200
feet of rail siding that can
hold 13 rail cars. It also has a
500,000-bushel grain storage
facility.
Auction sales of equip
ment and furniture are sche
duled for 10 a.m. Jan. 17,
9:30 a.m. Jan. 28, 10 a.m.
Feb. 3 and 9:30 a.m. Feb. 4
at the mill site In Rose Hill.
Some of the Watson
properties have been sold,
Butier said. All sales are
aubiect to aoDroval of .Inrlna
A. Thomas Small of the
'ederal bankruptcy court In
talelgh.
"We sold the Smlthfleld
natchery to Hartland Hatch
eries Inc. for $128,300 just
today," Butler said Wed
nesday of last week, that
company, he said, Is part of
DeKalb Industries.
Hy-Pro Industries, Inc., a
southeastern Pennsylvania
market egg company, pur
chased Watson Oak Plains
Poultry farm, which includes
15 acres in Sampson County.
Hi-Pro also purchased
Watson Boone Lake Poultry
Farm, including 14 acres In
Duplin County, and hatchery
equipment In Rose Hill. Hy
Pro paid $135,000 for those
properties last month.
The company has' an ex
tensive market egg produc
ing operation in the Green
ville area, said Richard Bur
rows, a lawyer for Coastal
Production Credit Associa
tion, a major creditor of the
bankrupt firm. It sells eggs
under the brand name
Sunnyside.
The company , has opened
operations In the Rose Hill
area facilities.
Burrows attributed the
Pennsylvania company's In
terest in expansion here to
the epidemic of a severe
strain of avian flue among
chicken and turkey flocks in
southeastern Pennsylvania.
In efforts to prevent the
spread of the epidemic,
Pennsylvania and U.S.
poultry officials have killed
and buried millicr.s ef chick
ens and applied strict
quarantines in the affected
area.
Butler said the misfortune
of Pennsylvania poultry
farmers has made N.C.
poultry facilities more at
tractive to them than usual.
Sale of the old Watson
Seafood and Poultry Proces
sing Plant site in Raleigh for
$305,000 to Roy L. Watson
was closed Dec. 30.
Burrows said the Watson
firm owes PCA about $2.1
million. The debt amounted
to $3.6 million at one time,
he added
Butler, in his first trustee's
report, wrote, . ..the peti
tion values of the debtor-are
greatly over-Inflated and the
appriased values submitted
by the creditor (Coastal
PCA), CPCA, appear to be
unrealisticaliy conserva
tive."
Several attempts to obtain
financing for a reorganized
company failed last year.
Butler reported reorganiza
tion was not feasible for
several reasons, Including
lack of processing facilities
and probable loss of the
company's growers.
Audit Reveals
Problems At Goshen
Medical Center
Goshen Medical Center
Board of Directoss faced the
loss of federal funding for the
clinic and administrative
mismanagement resulting in
a suit with the U.S. De
partment of Labor at the
January 10 meeting of the
Board in Faison.
In a meeting, Rural Health
Initiative official Marlene
Lockwood of Atlanta told
Goshen directors of a change
in funding regulations pro
hibiting th use of monies to
. gradually take the medical
center into private self-sup
porting unit. Grant funds
were extended Goshen for
the first two months of the
fiscal year which began Jan.
1, until the medical center
board makes a decision on
future operations. Rural
Health Initiative of Public
Health Services is a federal
agency providing funding for
clinics in rural areas with
inadequate health services.
Adding weight to the deci
sion to temporarily withdraw
federal funds was the report
from federal auditors.
Resulting from the audit and
review of Goshen Medical
Center conducted in late
October of 1983 by Thomas
Bovkin of Public Health Ser
?Avt %s are reports of instances
where the clinic failed to
comply with federal guide
lines under the Rural Health
Initiative program. And, the
audit revealed unpaid
overtime for nine Goshen
employees. The medical
center is currently in the
process of settling the
$19,773 suit with the U.S.
Department of Labor on
behalf of the nine Goshen
employees. The settlement
would represent 61 percent
of the total overtime due the
employees named in the suit
with Goshen.
The nine-page report of
the medical center also called
for the reimbursement of
$1,595 paid of $20,000 for
consulting fees in a contract
awarded to the husband of
Goshen Medical Center
Administrator, Alan Silver of
the firm Medical Support
Group, Inc. According to the
report, the $20,000 contract
was one of five Alan Silver's
firm had with federally fi
nanced rural health care
centers in eastern North
Carolina. The contracts were
part of a one-year health
promotion and disease pre
vention project approved by
the U.S. Public Health Ser
vice for Goshen and four
other medical centers in the
stale. The project was not
completed. The report
termed the contract with
Medical Support Group a
conflict of interest and stated
Goshen Medical Center,
under the administration of
Jane Silver, failed to
properly solicit bids from
other qualified organiza
tions. Also, the funding
agency was not notified that
the entire contract for
$100,000 was with one con
sultant.
Regarding Administrator
Jane Silver, the audit and
review recommended 10
days of compensatory time
be eliminated due to inade
quate support of the accu
mulation of overtime. And,
in the future the adminis
trator no longer claim com
pensatory time due to the
nature and salary paid in the
position. Recommendation to
adopt a policy for awarding
bonuses was included, and
Silver was requested to repay
a $400 bonus awarded to her
by the Goshen Medical i
Center Board. The report
stated the bonus failed to
meet past practices of the
Board.
Elimination of an order
forbidding citizens from the
engaging in private conver
sations about the center was
recommended. The order to
restrain private discussions
was aimed at member of the
Goshen Medical Center staff.
--The report suggested bet
ter procedures k> document
hours worked by employees
and log overtime be imple
mented. Also, the adoption
of a written travel policy was
recommended.
-The payment of cash to
medical center doctors as a
retirement fringe benefit was
recommended to be consi
dered part of the contractual
salary since the cash was
given with no actual re
quirement the funds be used
for an Individual Retirement
Account.
--The earned interest
income from two savings
accounts was recommended
to be paid to the United
States Treasury. The $3,688
interest was earned by the
center using grant monies
and future payment of cash
was aimed at members of the
recommended to be made in
accord with needs.
The Goshen Medical
Center Board said a reply to
the federal audit and review
would be completed by Jan.
15 and sent to the Public
Health Service.
Farmers Will Be Planting More
Acres Of Tobacco In '84
Duplin's effective tobacco
quota is about the same as
last year's but county
farmers will be planting
more acres this season, said
Duplin County Agricultural
Stabilization and Conserva
tion Service Director David
English.
The 1984 tobacco cjuota is
18,324,984 pounds, just
slightly higher than the pre
vious growing season. But,
English pointed out, the 1983
allotment was affected by a
dry growing season and
carry-over leaf from the 1982
crop. Due to the 1982 carry
over, farmers in Duplin
planted only 7,867 acres of
tobacco in 1983 and this
season 8,911 acres can be
planted under the allotment.
Adding to Duplin's 1984 base
quota of 8,577 acres are
pounds not produced in 1983
due to the excessive heat and
dry conditions. The pounds
not produced from the 1983
crop were added to the 1984
base quota of-17,566,184
pounds.
Lease and transfer for the
1984 season began Monday,
along with designation of
warehouses. According to
English, the double seven
cent assessment is no longer
effective for lease and trans
fer pounds. The seven-cent
assessment will only be col
lected once at the time of sale
at the tobacco warehouses in
1984. The double assessment
totaling 14 cents was col
lected at the time of lease
and transfer of tobacco
poundage and again at the
time of sale at tobacco ware
houses, English said.
Last season 816 farms
leased allotments in Duplin;
within the county there were
4,190 allotment holders.
Prices paid for the leased
pounds peaked as high as 70
cents in the previous season,
according to news reports,
and that was a jump of more
than 10 cents over the 1982
lease price per pound.
Although both English and
Duplin Agricultural Exten
sion Service tobacco agent J.
Michael Moore say local
farmers have been quiet
about plans for leasing to
bacco poundage in 1984, they
expect the trend set last
season to continue.
Duplin had 2,336 tobacco
allotments leased in 1983 and
many of the transfers were
from southern Duplin to
northern Duplin farmers.
Each year producers in Al
bcrtson. Faison. Glisson,
Smith, Warsaw and Wolfe
scrape draw pounds from
tobacco allotments in the
remaining townships of
Duplin. Last year 2.485,441
pounds over the base allot
ments in the northern Duplin
townships were leased and
transferred by the farmers.
Along with the changes in
the assessment, English
pointed out a new policy se<
for the 1986 growing season.
Starting in 1986, tobacco
allotments will have to be
planted two of each con
secutive three years or the
allotment will be lost. How
ever, English pointed out,
the policy will not have much
effect on area farmers be
cause lease and transfer of
allotments will be considered
ac iin.lhp.farm nri .Hnoti, >n
Warsaw To Discuss
Mobile Home Rules
Conflicting ordinances
concerning placement of
mobile homes In Warsaw will
require the Board of Com
missioners to hold a public
hearing at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13.
When J.H. Hlnes, who
earlier was denied permis
sion to establish a mobile
home park on property at
Chelly Street and Hill Street
extension, asked permission
to put a single mobile home
on the lot, the board dis
covered the ordinance con
flict.
The property is zoned R-6,
meaning a minimum lot area
of 6,000 square feet is re
quired for a dwelling. A
mobile home can be located
on an R-6 lot, according to
the zoning ordinance.
.The town's mobile home
ordinance, however, bars
location of mobile homes
anywhere in town except in
mobile home parks. The
mobile home ordinance also
requires a minimum area of
4,000 square feet per mobile
home.
Garrett Ludlum, town at
torney, said the ordinances
are in conflict. He also said a
public hearing will be re
quired before the board can
change a zoning ordinance.
Mavor Pro Tern Walter
Foster, who presided in the
absence of Mayor Sam God
win, said the board intended
to allow mobile homes in
areas zoned R-6 at the time
the ordinance was approved.
Commissioner Billy Ken
nedy said the board can find
out what people want to do
about placement of mobile
homes at the hearing next
month. Kennedy said that if
the mobile homes are
allowed In R-6 zones, "we'll
have a thousand trailers in
Warsaw."
In other business, the
board agreed to delay paving
in a federal Housing and
Urban Development rehabi
litation project until spring.
The paving contract origi
nally called for the worK to be
done in late 1983 but weather
delayed the work.
The board voted to allow
Turner Construction Co. 10
more days to complete over
due wprk on remodeling of
five houses in another HUD
contract. It authorized
Woody Brinson of McDavid
Associates of Kenansville,
acting as the town's agent, to
terminate the contract after
that time if satisfactory pro
gress had not been made by
the company. Brinson said
the work is 98 percent com
plete.
Duplin Man Charged In Ax Murder
Eli Falson Brown, about
65, of Tin City In Duplin
County, was murdered with
an ax at his home Sunday
afternoon. Tin City Is a
community that borders the
west side of Wallace.
Benny William Herring,
48, also of Tin City, has been
Charged with first-degree
nyurder, according to Duplin
Deputy Alfred E. Basden. He
said a preliminary investiga
tion Indicates Herring lived
with Brown.
Brown's assailant struck
him in the right side of the
forehead and the left leg with
an ax, Basden said.
"It looked like a hog-klll
Ing," Basden said of the
murder. "It was the worst
?
one I've seen with en ax and
I' ve been here 20 years.''
Herring was cut on the
back of his neck and shoulder
with a six-inch-long knife,
the deputy said. He de
scribed Herring's Injuries as
"slices" instead of stab
wounds.
Herring was listed In
serious condttfon Sunday
night at Pitt County Me
mortal Hospital ir
Greenville. A Duplin County
deputy is guarding the room
Baaden said.
Basden said a woman whc
refused to identify herseli
telephoned the sheriff's de
partment at 2:35 p.m. Sun
day and reported "a cut
ting."
aiate trooper vv.F.
"Woody" Sandy and Wal
i lace Police Officer John
i Dixon arrived moments later.
Brown's body was on the
floor between the living room
i and his bedroom. Sandy said
I1 an ax was near Brown's
body.
There was no one else at
the home, Sandy said.
Sandy and two other
troopers round Herring at a
nearby home. He wos re
leased Into the custody of a
Duplin County deputy and i
treated by members of the
Wallace Rescue Squad.
The rescue squad took
Herring to Duplin General
Hospital, where he was
treated before being trans
ferred to Pitt County Me- i
mortal Hospital, j M