? jN^nhafe u h** ?
PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXVHI NO. 20 USPS 162-860 KFNANSV1LLE, NC 28349 MAY 16. 1985 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Murphy Receives Award Kenansville
| Amos Bnnson, memoer dt the Duplin County Board of Education, and L.S.
Guy Jr., superintendent of Duplin County schools, present Rep. Wendell
Murphy with the honor of being a member of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
The award was presented at the N.C. Alliance for Public Education meeting
in Raleigh April 18.
Regional Road
> Project Funding
Approved By DOT
The board approved more than half a
million dollars for construction on
S.R. 1154 west of Wallace.
I A contract for construction of
seven more miles of Interstate 40 in
Duplin County was approved by the
state Board of Transportation in
Raleigh Friday.
The work, on a segment from U.S.
117 south of Warsaw to north of
Secondary Road 1918 east of Mag
nolia, probably will begin in June
and has a projected completion date
of December 1987. It will cost
roughly $7 million.
| The board also approved right of
way plans for that stretch of the
highway. The segment is a portion of
the interstate that eventually will
extend from Wilmington to Benson.
All items or *v- monthly
agendas are researched by the De
partment of Transportation staff and
reviewed by committees before the
monthly meetings. Most are rou
tinely approved.
The board on Friday approved
more than half a million dollars fo,
construction on S.R. 1154 west of
Wallace. An appropriation of about
$241,500 will be used for grading,
diainage and paving 0.15 mile on the
bridge and approaches over Rockfish
Creek. Another $264,925 will be
used for construction on bridges No.
37 and 38 over the creek.
The board also set aside $900 for
preliminary engineering for im
provements at the Seaboard System
Railroad crossing on Boney Street in
Wallace.
Budget Request
Brought Before
Beulaville Board
Requests from the local fire and
rescue departments and the town
library for 1985-86 budget funds
came before the Beulaville Commis
sioners May 6 during the regular
meeting of the Board.
The Beulaville Library Commis
I sion requested S300 more than
budgeted this fiscal year. The town
allocated $2,700 to the local library
during this fiscal year.
According to a report by the
library, an average of 73 check-outs
are logged daily. The library also
averages 26 visitors daily. The
facility is open three half-days each
week.
A request for a total of $10,600
was made by the Beulaville Fire and
Rescue Departments. The total did
not represent an increase from the
present fiscal year funding from the
town. The total is allocated from the
town's general funds and federal
revenue sharing monies. In addition
to the tunas irom tne town, ueuia
zille Fire and Rescue Departments
*ill request $4,200 from the county.
An additional $16,094 needed to
complete the upcoming budget will
be raised by the local volunteers, fire
and rescue representatives told
Beulaville Commissioners.
Web Turlington with Carolina
Power and Light appeared before the
Beulaville Board with information
about street lights. According to
Beulaville Mayor Wilbur Hussey,
approximately IS new street lights
had been requested in different
areas of the town. The town cur
rently operates 120 mercury vapor
lights at a cost of S7.S0 each.
Turlington encouraged the Board
to consider replacing all the town
street lights with the new sodium
vapor fixtures. He pointed out the
sodium vapor lamps give off 35
percent more light than comparable
size mercury vapor fixtures at a
reduced cost.
Police Chief Aubrey Murphy and
Beulcville Commissioner Elvis
Sumner were nominated by the town
board to work with Turlington on a
lighting plan for the town. Once a
plan is approved by the town board,
Turlington said 90-100 days would be
needed to order and install the new
fixtures.
Commissioners changed the ordi
nance and reversed the traffic flow
on the one-way Post Office Drive.
Along with the reverse in the
one-way direction, the board
approved only right turns onto Main
St. from the road.
The change came as a result of a
request from Beulaville Post Master
David Stevens. Stevens had called
the traffic on Post Office Drive a
potential safety hazard when he
appeared before the Commissioners
in April to request the change.
?> <
State Board Backs JSTC In Bid
?
For Community College Status
James Sprunt Technical College
won the endorsement of the State
Board of Community Colleges last
week in its bid to gain community
college status.
But board members and legis
lators alike predicted that the recom
mendation would encounter a road
block inthe General Assembly, which
has final authority to approve or
deny the change.
Also at Thursday's meeting, the
state board followed the recommen
dation of Robert Scott, president of
the state community college system,
and agreed to undertake a compre
hensive studv of the teaching of
college-level courses in the
58-campus system.
The study will examine the impact
of those courses on the system's
faculty and on other institutions. No
more applications for changes in
schools' status will be considered
until after that evaluation is com
pleted, the board decided. Scott
predicted the analysis will take six
months.
The board voted unanimously to
approve applications for community
college status from James Sprunt
and Durham Technical Institute, but
only after Carl Price, president of
JSTC, agreed to delete from his
application a request for $300,000.
Community college status would
give students at the institutions the
ability to receive transfer credits at
four-year colleges. Now James
Sprunt students can receive transfer
credits only at the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington, which
has a contract with the technical
college.
Price said the $300,000 in state
funds would have been used to hire
physical education, psychology and
chemistry instructors. He told the
board that doing without the extra
money would mean that the school
could not fully implement its college
transfer program the first year.
Scott and others were less than
optimistic about chances for legis
lative approval of the two applica
tions, recalling a bitter battle in the
1983 legislative session over a simi
lar request for what is now Guilford
Technical Community College.
"In this climate of tax reductions
and budget cuts, I'm not convinced
that these applications will fly,"
Scott told the board.
John Forlines, chairman of the
state board, agreed that it would
take "a real selling job" to win
approval.
"In my opinion this board ought to
have the authority to approve this
and settle it, but unfortunately we
don't," Forlines said.
"I'm sure there's opposition out
there," said Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan, a
member of the community college i
board and presiding officer in the
state Senate. Jordan said legislators
have been concerned for years that
the community college system is
getting away from its "major mis
sion" of providing technical training
and is taking students away from
four-year colleges.
"Once you tell the legislature that
you're going to do a study, you auto
matically prejudice these two bills,"
he said.
Sen. Kenneth Royall, a member of
the Senate Higher Education Com
mittee, said he has agreed not to
oppose Durham Tech's request, but
opposes the trend toward a focus on
general education at the community
college level.
You're getting away from the
purpose of what we started them
for," said Royall. "In my opinion,
you're going to hurt the independent
colleges" and "to some extent" the
state university system.
Rep. John Church, chairman of
the House Higher Education Com
mittee, said he feels "very strongly"
that community colleges should con
centrate on technical trainiiy;. But he
said many have shown they can add
general education courses of study
without hurting the vocational train
ing.
The state's community college
system comprises 24 community col
leges, 29 technical colleges and five
technical institutes.
Wallace May Beef Up Police
Force After Recent Robbery
A complaint about lack of police
protection may lead to an additional
p'olice officer in Wallace.
Gene Hinson of Wilmington,
supervisor of Fast Fare Convenience
Stores, complained to the Town
Board Thursday night about police
protection. The chain's store in
Wallace was robbed early Monday of
last week. .
"I think for the/safety and welfare
of the people of Wallace we should
add one more policeman," Mayor.
Earl Whitaker said after Hinson's
complaint.
Police Chief Roscoe Rich said he
would welcome more manpower.
At the time of the robbery, about
1:30 a.m., only one policeman was
on duty. Schedules have been rear
ranged so two policemen now are on
late-night duty.
Whitaker is a former town police
chief and Duplin County sheriffs
deputy.
Hinson said the police response
time following the robbery "was
terrible." He said a Kenan Trans
port truck driver called him at 2:50
a.m. to report the door open, lights
on and no one in the store. Hinson
said he drove to Wallace, arriving;,
about 4 a.m. and found the same
situation. He said no policeman hacf.
checked the store.
Hinson said a policeman came by
the store about 5 a.m. He added
there had been other instances of no
or slow response.
"We don't want to be put on a
priority list, but we think we deserve
protection as much as someone
else," he said.
The Wallace store was one erf three
robbed ?arly Monday morning.
Police believe all three stores were
robbed by the same man.
The Wallace store clerk was taken
about two miles out of town, forced
out of the car and left there,
according to poiice reports. She was
unhurt and called for help from a
nearby home. Clerks ?rre inic^db"
robberies- cowafraie. .? st -fa J *$?
(ha i mornlitg in Leland and Jucgfcw,
Police suspect the same robber
committed all three crimes.
In other business, the board
approved a resolution calling for
more local money for Duplin County
schools. The motion was made by
Town Commissioner Charles
Blanchard. assistant principal of
Wallace Elementary School, and
seconded by Commissioner David E.
Jordan, assistant principal of
Wallace-Rose Hill High School.
Blanchard later said he would be
willing to support a tax increase for
school improvement.
The board directed employees to
remove broken and unsightly town
trash container* fr m the sidewalks.
It play* to replac.- jV. .'at rhfc,
containers c?m apn.
The board will try to fino *,beapc
containers.
The board set its next regui.e
meeting for 7:30 p.m. June 20.
Usually it meets on the second
Thursday of the month.
Duplin School Board Hears Local
Bus Driver Law Foes Opposition
Strong opposition to a legislative
proposal to establish 18 years as the
minimum age for school bus drivers
surfaced last week in the Duplin
County Board of Education.
The board will send to the legis
lature a resolution signed by all
members, expressing opposition to
the proposal.
The board approved a roster of
school bus drivers, most of them
students, for the 1985-86 school
year.
"Our record shows that our
drivers are safe drivers," said
Superintendent L.S. Guy. "Our
record supports student drivers. The
money these drivers get helps
them."
Board member Amos Q. "Doc"
Brinscn said, "The bill would create
a hardship on us. Our record says
we're safe. I can see that it would be
different in a metropolitan area."
Carl Pate, board chairman, asked,
"Could we get as good drivers by
hiring adults as we now have?"
Guy responded, "I don't think so.
We've got the best crop of drivers
this year that we've ever had."
Board member Bill Richards of
Wallace said he favors a minimum
age of 17 for bus drivers.
In other business, the board
approved the request of Lynda Day,
head of the county exceptional chil
dren's program, to try the Elsmere
curriculum plan for trainable men
tally handicapped children. The
plan, developed in New Jersey, sets
up a vocationally oriented curriculum
for ages 5 to 21. According to the
plan, all students in the program
should develop skills to become
productive adults.
The program's annual cost was
estimated at SI.200. Seven teachers
work with 60 trainable mentally
handicapped students at five sites in
the county. Sites arc at the Warsaw,
Wallace, North Duplin and Chin
quapin elementary schools and E.E.
Smith Junior High school in
Kenansville. The program's goal is
to enable the students to live either
in their own homes or in group
homes and work for pay.
The state pays about S23.000 a
year per person for institution care
and $8,000 to $11,000 a year for a
person in a group home, Mrs. Day
said. Two group homes are in the
county.
People with IQs of 50 to 70 are
classified as educationally mentally
handicapped. Those with IQs of 35 to
50 are classified as trainable men
tally handicapped. IQ scores be
tween 90 and 109 are considered
average.
Gary Sanderson, assistant super
intendent, said 20 seniors who have
not passed competency tests will get
a last opportunity on the tests. Those
failing will receive certificates of
completion instead of diplomas at
graduation.
Sanderson expressed disappoint
ment with the preregistration rate
for kindergarten. He said only 482
preregistered this spring. Kinder
garten enrollment this year is^80.
Curtains
Raise Honor
For Rose Hill
Woman
Dorothy Noe, founder ot uorotny's
Ruffled Originals, was named first
runner-up last week for the national
Small Business Person of the Year
Award.
President Reagan presented the
awards during a White House Cere
mony Tuesday marking Small Busi
ness Week.
Mrs. Noe competed against the
winners from other states and the
U.S. Territories for the national
award. She was named the N.C.
Small Business Person of the Year in
March.
The national winner was Robert
Allington, owner of Instrumentation
Specialties Co. in Lincoln, Neb.
Mrs. Noe first designed her
ruffled curtains in 1971, but it wasn't
until 1974 that she set up a business
to manufacture them in her home. In
1976, the company began towfer the
nroduct bv mail order. Rv 1978.
Dorothy s moved to 6721 Market St.
in Wilmington and built a manu
f.-H - ?vnp facility there.
Chamber Of Commerce Welcomes Whaley's Florist
Whaley's Florist of Kenansville opened March 2 and is
culled by Dot Whaley and Ted Cole. The shop is
loaded on Courthouse Drive in downtown Kenansville.
PictTrfM above, left to right, Kenansville Chamber of
Cominme president Grey Morgan, Dot Whaley of
W ha ley's Flonsi, Chamber or Commerce members,
attorney W.E. Craft and Doc Brinson of Kenansville
Drug Store. Wha]ey's Florist Is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday.
jf* * - v