jJHtplm PROGRESS SENTINEL VOL. XXXXVIU NO. S ^ USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE. NC 28349 January 31.1985 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX Hospital Auxiliary Donates Funds For Equipment The Duplin General Hospital Auxiliary donated $1,500 to the facility for the purchase of a bronchoscope. Pictured above, Duplin General Hospital Auxilary ^ members, left to right, Louise Mitchell and Sallie w Ingram, present Hospital Administrator Richard Harrell with a check for the new equipment. According (o Harrell and Auxiliary members, the bronchoscope is used to view the upper airway passage, larynx, trachea and bronchi. The Auxiliary now has a membership of more than 30 volunteers. Anyone wishing to join will be welcomed. Arts Council Fund Drive Begins "Run With The Arts" t "Run with the Arts!" is the theme of the 1985 Duplin County Arts Council fund drive. "We want to try to maintain the good things in Duplin County Board Buys 100 Voting Machines Duplin County will say "goodbye" to paper ballots in future state, county and national elections. The board of commissioners last week agreed to buy voting machines. It accepted a bid of $81,075 from Computer Electronic Systems of California to provide 100 voting stations to equip all 20 precincts. Government Data Systems of Charlotte bid $89,100 on the project. The board had asked for bids on voting equipment during its Jan. 7 meeting. In other action the board: ? Approved the request of James Sprunt Technical College President Carl Price for $60,000 to complete the funding for an 11,700-square foot student center scheduled for the JSTC campus. JSTC has $500,000 from a state construction grant, $40,000 from a state equipment grant, $50,000 from its capital re serve and $50,000 from unbudgeted reserves for the project. ? Approved the request of Rich Boyd and Lois Britt for a $10,000 loan to complete the interior of the Kelly-Farrior house in Kenansville so the Cowan Museum can be moved into it. ? Went into secret session but did not state a reason, as required by state law. ? Scheduled a public hearing at 7 p.m. Jan. 28 in the commissioners' room of the courthouse on the Urban Development Action Grant request from Carroll's Foods of Warsaw and Goldsboro Milling Co. of Goldsboro to help finance a turkey processing plant being planned for northern Duplin County. ?? Set April 1 for the start of the annual series of department budget hearings. ? Heard a report by Hiram Brinson, emergency management director, that 85 percent of the members of three rescue squads had been inoculated against hepatitis B. He said 24 members of the Faison squad. 28 in Wallace and 29 in Chinquapin received the shots to protect them from possible infections from cuts suffered during rescue operations. He said some members were advised not to take shots because of possible reactions to medication they are taking. Kenansville Area Chamber Of Commerce Banquet The annual Kenansville Area Chamber of Commerce membership banquel is Feb. 5 at the Country Squire restaurant. Chamber officers will be installed. Guest speaker is A1 Calloway, director of the Division of Business Assistance of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Calloway has been instrumental in the recruit ment of industry to the state, said Woody Brinson, Duplin Develop ment officer. Brinson will introduce Callaway and brief Chamber members on the recruitment efforts for new industry within Duplin. Current and prospective members are urged to attend the banquet beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 5. Dinner is $5 per individual. Officers to be installed include Gray Morgan as president, Emily ? Killette as vice-president, and Katie Brown as treasurer. Members of the Executive Board include Frank Quinn, Bert Alabaster, John Ramerez, Paul Phillips, Charles Ingram. Emily Killette and Gray Morgan. Governor Jim Hunt recently ap pointed A1 Calloway of Raleigh to serve as a special representative for textiles in the state Department of Commerce. Calloway will work specifically with the textiles industry in this new position and will be the industry's personal contact in st?te government. Calloway, 56, previously was assistant director of the Business Assistance Division of the state Department of Commerce. During the first seven month* t-f. last year, textile and apparel imports were up 44 percent over the com parable period last year. The year before, those imports were up nearly 70 percent compared to just four years before. Nationwide from 1980 to 1983. the textile, apparel and fiber industry has lost 240,000 jobs, including 27,000 in North Carolina. Calloway, as assistant director of the Business Assistance Division since 1977, has worked closely with the textile industry helping companies locate sites for expan sions and new plants, and working with them on environmental matters and on buyer-supplier conference. He is a native of Cabarrus County, which is in the heart of the state's textile industry. His cur..-n' res p >nsib;1i''e: will bt d' ded mong oritur staff isterubers. 75 Percent Collected Duplin Taxpayers Pay Up Duplin County taxpayers paid 75 percent, or $4,344,849.33, of their 1984 taxes on time, Tax Collector Norman Sandtin Jr. said. More than half of the total, $2,397,271.50, came in during De cember and the first week of January, he said. The first week in January was the last period in which 1984 taxes could be paid without penalty. A two percent penalty is in effect for the remainder of January. Sandlin's department mailed per sonal and real property tax bills totaling $5,316,885.93 for 1984. The overall rate of collection for the past 10 years is 95.8 percent, he said. "We hope with our new fore-' closure process we can up that rate. We have to use some persuasion on some people to get them to pay." Sandlin said it is unfair to people who pay their taxes to let anyone "get by without paying." "I am surprised at how well the farmers have been paying because of the low prices of many of their products," he said. The uproar about the tobacco pro gram is building concern for the future, Sandlin said. The ultimate fate of the tobacco program will affect farmland values. Duplin County's 1984 tax rate was 75 cents per $100 assessed valuation. Total valuation was $700,910,7%. The 12 largest taxpayers included four textile firms, four public utili ties, one wholesale firm, one pickle maker and two agricultural enter prises. The companies and their tax bills were: Guilford Mills of Kenansville, $157,657.66; J.P. Stevens Co. of Wallace, $145,164.37; National Spinning Co. of Beulaville and Warsaw, $120,363.48; Quinn Co. of Warsaw, $105,001.35; Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Co., $84,690.86; Carolina Power & Light Co., $82,813.23; Charles F. Cates & Sons of Faison, $57,772.32; Nash Johnson & Sons Farms of Rose Hill, $54,268.22; Reeves Bros, of Kenans ville, $38,808.18; Four County Elec trical Membership Corp.,$30,240.86; and Carroll's Foods of Warsaw, $30,069.37. Carol-Ann Tucker To Speak At Warsaw DSA The Warsaw Jacyee Distinguished Service Award banquet will be held on Thursday. Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Country Squire restaurant. Ms. Carol-Ann Tucker will be tbe guest speaker. Originally from Duplin County. Carol-Ann is an associate director at the East Carolina University training center. She conducts seminars over a 17 county area on subjects such as Drug and Alcohol Education. Stress Management, Time Management, and Building a Better Image. Carol-Ann was recognized in "Out standing Young Women of America 1975" and is very active, in com munity organizations. She released an album with Jimmy Aycock in June of 1984, "Our Days, Our Times." The Jaycees will present awards to many outstanding young persons who have given outstanding service I to the Warsaw community. Cost for the meal is $9 per person. A small 1 price for a great meal and an enter taining. supportive evening. Reservations would be appre- ) ciated but are not mandatory. Contact one of the following: Ed Holt of Branch Bank & Trust, 293-7156; Phil Denlinger, 296-19% or Bill Cttsrin Jr. at 293-7483. Annual Tobacco Stabilization District Meeting Feb. 12 Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation, the grower-owned cooperative which administers the price support pro gram for flue-cured tobacco, has scheduled its 27th annual district meeting for North Carolina growers in District #5. District #5 includes Duplin, Green, Harnett, Onslow, Pender, Sampson and Wayne counties. F.H. Shackelford Jr. of Hooker ton, director of the district, and Fred G. Bond, general manager, announced that the meeting will be held in the Hoffler Auditorium at James Sprunt Technical College in Kenansville on Tuesday, Feb. 12 beginning at 2 p.m. The meeting will be important to flue-cured tobacco growers us well as to others interested in the tobacco program. For the past three years price support loan operations have been administered under provisions of the No-Net-Cost legislation. The impact of this legislation has placed a financial burden upon the growers. Under the law, growers must under write any potential losses through an annual assessment. The amount of the assessment each year depends upon many factors such as the amount and the initial cost of tobacco which growers deliver to Stabiliza tion, prevailing interest rates, and length of time tobacco remains unsold. The effects of this legis lation, along with other related matters, will be a major part of the program presented at the meeting. V In addition to Stabilization's report on the 1984 season, reports will be given by representatives of Tobacco Associates, Inc.; Tobacco Growers' Information Committee; DSDA's to bacco division of Agricultural Marketing Service; and other allied organizations and agencies. Ample time will be provided at the meeting for discussion. A brief business session will be held following the regular program to select Stabilizations advisory committee members from each of the flue-cured tobacco producing counties in the district. Shackelford added, "Flue-cured growers are urged to make every effort to attend the meeting in order to get a better understanding of the cooperative's operations." ?