PROGRESS SENTINEL
n
VOL. XXXXV1I1 NO. 11 USPS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE, NC 28349 MARCH 14, 1985 12 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Volunteers Recognized
Duplin County Agricultural Extension Service officials
and volunteers met with Rep. Wendell Murphy of Rose
Hill in Raleigh at the school of agriculture and life
^ sciences legislative dinner last week. Pictured, left to
9 right, front row: Jimmy Sauls Jr., Warsaw, chairman of
the advisorv system; Mrs. Lois G. Britt, chairman,
Duplin County Extension Service Rep. Murphy; Mrs.
Thelma Murphy, Kenansville, community and rural
development program committee; back row - Mark
Vinson, Kenansville, program participant for the home
economics committee; Mrs. Ruby Brinson, Magnolia,
4-H program committee; Mrs. Ruth Wells, Kenans
ville, community and rural development program
committee; and Woodrow Jackson, Beulaville, agri
cultural program committee.
Four Houses To Fall
Kenansville Opens Bids
Barns Construction Co. of Kinston
submitted the low bid at $27,935.50
for street work in Kenansville. The
town board opened bids at its
meeting last week. -
The project includes 10,270 square
yards of resurfacing and 560 yards of
patching. * ->
The board asked the company for a
"flKrfl*#y-strrs? bnr?kcMmr of the>j
cost, to determine how much Duplin
ifc County should cttifpbute for work on
Duplin 5freet. which lies between
the courthouse* akid fhe county
agricultural center. The county
board has approved up to $10,000 for
work on that street.
Mary Ann Jenkins, town clerk,
said the town has about $40,000 in its
Powell Bill allocation from the state
for street work.
The board agreed to have four
> houses in the Department of Hous
? ing and Urban Development target
area of southern Kenansville de
molished. Floyd Adams $f McDavid
Associates, the firm managing the
HUD priject, said the four-year-old
project must be completed in June.
Nine houses were scheduled to be
demolished. Notices were mailed to
the owners, f >ur owners responded
and agreed to allow the houses hs be
(rtofn do- ~? F did nqt reSpon.."*
Qrc notice was sent tp the wrong
addre. ? and the board agreed to wait
for a response from the owner before
doing anything about the house.
Houses of the four owners who did
not respond will be untouched,
although they m^v be condemned
later.
Owners of houses scheduled for
demolition in the target area have
.hree choices:
? Accept payment equal to the
value of the houses. They will be
able to build new structures on the
properly after the demolition.
? Repair the houses to bring
them up to acceptable standards.
? Take no action, in which cases
the town might condemn the houses.
It could force the owners to pay for
the demolition or reimburse the town
for demolition expenses.
The board also appointed Emil
Coggins to a three-year term as town .
Alcoholic Beverage Control board
chairman by a 3-2 vote to succeed
Bennic Prince. Commissioners
Ronnie Bu6tic, Ead Hatcher and
Jimmie Newkirk voted for the ap
pointment. Commissioners Mark
Vinson and Betty Long voted against
it.
Five or six parking spaces will be
eliminated at N.C. 11 and Beasley
Street near the Duplin-Sampson
Mental Health Department because
parked vehicles block motorists'
view of the intersection.
Car Lot Building Burns
Investigators last week were still
tryingfind the cause of a fire that
gutted the former Brewer Motor &
? Equipment Co. building on U.S. 117
W in Wallace The fire was discovered
by Wallace Police Officer Steve
Murray.
Forty-five volunteer firefighters of
the Wallace and Rose Hill fire
departments brought the blaze
under control in about 45 minutes,
said Wallace Fire Chief Thomas
Townsend. The heat reptured some
. pipes on liquid petroleum gas tanks,
causing a problem for fire-fighters
for a short time, he added.
^ Townsend said that he could not
^ place a value on the loss. While the
exterior walls are standing, tne
interior is extensively damaged.
Townsend said the State Bureau of
Investigation investigated the fire by
he had no report from it.
Brewer Motor Go., operated by
Craven Brewer of Warsaw, went out
of business Feb. 11 after nine years.
Townsend said some office equip
ment remained to be moved. Other
wise, he said, just about everything
had been removed from the structure
before the fire.
The building was about 15 years
old, Townsend said.
The building was owned by
Brewer Motor & Equipment Co.,
according to Bill Branch, city execu
tive for Branch Banking & Trust Co.
in Wallace.
BB<S.T and N. Carl Wolfe Jr. of
Burgaw, who hold mortgages on the
building, acquired insurance for the
building one day before Brewer
Motor's insurance coverage on the
building expired, Branch said.
Branch said a third investor holds a
mortgage on the building.
The firm had been a franchised
International Harvestor Co. and
Chrysler Corp, dealer since 1976.
The company closed "due to con
tinuing losses" and the fact that the
company's major farm equipment
supplier. International Harvester's
Agricultural Division, was recently
sold, according to a company press
release last month.
New Offices Gives Patrol Station
Three Times Space Of Old
u.
The District Highway Patrol and
the Drivers License Examiner
located in Kenansville have been
operating in new offices for three
months.
The old location of the two
divisions of the North Carolina
Department of Transportation next
to the Kenansville Employment
Security Commission, was a third of
the size of its new location on NC 24
East. The two departments are
Sk located in the old Kenansville Pro
duction Credit Association building.
Office space for the license
examiner and representatives of the
Division of Motor Vehicles of the
Department of Transportation has
been increased from one room to six,
said Highway Patrol Sgt. W.M.
Autry. The / license examiner
occupies three rooms, two for testing
and a waiting area. The remaining
three rooms are offices for the
insurance hearing officer, process
servicer and license hearing officer.
The Highway Patrol officers
occupy six offices. The district officer
has 13 patrolmen based in Kenans
ville. Each of the two departments
has separate entrances and waiting
areas. And, the old location was
leased; Autry pointed out the new
building is owned by the Department
of Transportation.
"The extra room in the new
building helps us function more
efficiently and effectively," Highway
Patrol Sgt. W.M. Autry said. "In
addition we are more convenient to
the people we serve in our new
location. We also have better
parking and less traffic congestion
than in the old iocation."
Con Games Subject Of AARP Meeting
Fraud and Other Con Games," a
public service program for persons
interested in learning about tine most
common swindles and fraudulent
^ schemes, will be presented by the
^ Duplin County chapter of the Ameri
can Association of Retired Persons
I ' " ' . ? ' ' -
on March zi ai 1 p.m. in the Senior
Citizens Center in Kenansville.
This will be a luncheon meeting
and members must notify the
Kenansville office, 296-1511 by
Monday, March 18, in order to
reserve their ticket.
The program is a slide/tape
*
preseniuuun <liat examines con
games and swindles and presents
tips on how to avoid them. The
program is part of a series of
criminal justice programs available
from the AARP. All interested
community residents are invited to
attend. .
Duplin Has First
Pick For Architect
The Duplin County commissioners
tentatively chose an architect Wed
nesday for the proposed expansion of
the county's social servcies building
in Kenansville.
The tentative choice is Ballard,
McKim and Sawyer Architects of
Wilmington. The commissioners
have estimated the cost of the
expansion at $500,000. With the
renovation, the commissioners want
to keep the colonial-style appearance
of the building.
The commissioners also voted 3-2
against establishing a 911
emergency telephone system for the
county. Commissioners Bill Costin
and Dovie Penney voted for the
system.
If the system had been approved,
it could have been put into effect
only in (he Kenansville, Faison and
Wallace areas. Telephone
equipment is not available in the rest
of the county to allow the system to
go into effect.
As he has done before, Emergency
Services Coordinator Hiram Brinson
recommended that the system be put
into effect.
Determined to find someone to
rent a farm owned by the county, the
commissioners directed county
Accountant Russell Tucker to con
tinue advertising the land. The farm
was acquired by the county for a
landfill, but the land is not needed
yet.
The farm has 10 acres of grapes
and nearly 57 acres of cleared crop
lands. Tucker told the commis
sionc.s that previous advertisements
have failed to And a renter.
The commissioners took no action
on a request by a state engineer to
clean up the Northeast Cape Fear
River in Duplin County.
Keith Oates, an environmental
engineer with the N.C. Division of
Health Services, told the commis
si oners that the river needs to be
cleared of logs in several places. The
county, Oates said, has the know
ledge and the equipment to do the
job.
Commissioner D.J. Fussell ob
jected to using county money for the
project, saying it was the state's
responsibility. But Oates said,
counties will have to spend money to
protect their natural resources.
The commissioners held a secret
session to discuss personnel.
Duplin Education Board
Policy Urges Homework
One to 1 '/i hours four nights a week
is recommended for high school
students.
The Duplin County Board of Edu
cation has adopted a policy that
encourages teachers to give students
homework.
The hew policy, approved last
week, suggests certain amounts of
homework time for students.
For example, students in kinder
garten and first grade should spend
10 to 15 minutes three or four days a
week on homework, the policy says.
One to 1 Vi hours four nights a week
is recommended for high school
students.
The policy, which will go into
effect in the next school year, was
developed by a committee of teach
ers, parents and students. Its pur
pose is to promote achievement,
understanding and communication
among teachers, parents and stu
dents, according to the policy.
In other action, the school board:
? Endorsed efforts by James
Sprunt Technical College to become
a community college. The endorse
ment came at the request of Carl
Price, the college's president.
? Decided not to hold a teachers'
work day last week, instead, the day
will be used to make up for classes
thai were canceled Jan. 29 because
of icy ro*^ As planned already,
Friday v.^ a vacation day for
students and faculty.
? Chanted its April meeting
schedule. Rather than meeting April
2 and 9. the board will meet April 9
and 16. The meetings will be at 7:30
p.m. on both days.
? Decided ii^ swear in the
Countywide Advisory Committee at
7 p.m. April 23 at E.F. Smith School
in Kenansville.
1-40, Other Highway Jobs
Get State Board's Blessing
Small steps were made last week
on construction of Interstate 40 when
the state Board of Transportation
approved requests for engineering
for two segments of the highway.
The segments are a 6.9-mile
stretch from U.S. 117 to north of
Secondary Road 1918 east of Mag
nolia, and a 2.4-mile stretch from
about 0.3 miles south of S.R. 1105 to
U.S. 117 south of Warsaw.
Work on each segment will cost
about $50,000.
The board also approved three
other Duplin County projects.
It endorsed preliminary right of
way acquisition plans for work on a
bridge on N.C. 24 over the Northeast
Cape Fear River and for work on a
bridge over Muddy Creek on S.R.
1964 west of Chinquapin.
An additonal $15,000 was ear
marked for preliminary engineering,
right of way and utilities for the
bridge on N.C. 41 over Island Creek
southeast of Greenevers, which is
east of Wallace. An appropriation of
$52,000 already has been approved
for the work.
Another $10,000 was set aside for
preliminary engineering for two
bridges over Rockfish Creek west of
Wallace. An appropriation of
552,000 already has been approved
for the work.
Another 510,000 was set aside for
preliminary engineering for two
bridges over Rockfish Creek west of
Wallace. An appropriation of
552.000 already has been approved
for the work.
Each of the items approved Friday
had been recommended by the
Department of Transportation staff.
Sixth
Arrest
In
Corn
Thefts
A sixth man was arrested and
charged with stealing more than
$8,000 worth of corn from a Mount
Olive milling company and $1,893.09
worth of soybeans from a Mount
Olive-area farm, according to the
Duplin County Sheriff's Department.
Thomas Moore, 25, of Faison was
arrested Sunday and charged with
six counts of felonious larceny, said
Chief Deputy Sheriff Glenn Jerni
gan. Moore surrendered at Jerni
gan's home. He was released on
$4,000 bond.
Jernigan said theives took trucks
to a farm where the milling company
leased a silo and to a farm leased by
a farmer, loaded the grain and drove
away. The thefts occurred between
early November and late January.
Five other men have been arrested
in the case, Jernigan said. Deputies
have recovered 335 bushels. He was
assisted in the investigation by
Deputy Rodney Thigpen and John
Payne of the State fiureau of
Investigation.
f
Francesco Adler
Miss North Carolina 1984
Th? Spirit And The Sparkle
Miss North Carolina 1984 Franceses Adler will be the mistress of ceremonies
for the 1985 Miss Duplin County and Little Miss Duplin County pageant this
Saturday night at the East Duplin Fine Arts Building in Beulaville. The
pageant begins at 8 p.m. and is presented by the Duplin County Pageant
Association. The theme for the 1985 pageant is "The Spirit and The
Sparkle." A total of 12 contestants will be in the pageant, five vying for the
Miss Duplin County title and seven for Little Miss Duplin County. Along with
talent presentations from the contestants will be entertainment by Miss
North Carolina Francesca Adler. She is pictured above and Francesca resides
in Fayetteville where she had been employed in marketing and public
relations until winning the title of Miss North Carolina. i
if