Prosecut
BY RAHN ADAM
While the 13th District Attorney'
wrap up its first two special grand jt
Brunswick County, prosecutors are fi
to use in their war on drugs here anc
"As we use this law, we get bt
Assistant District Attorney Bill
Wolak told the Beacon last week.
Wolak is one of only two special drug
prosecutors in the state, both of
whom cross judicial district lines to
assist with major trafficking investigations
wherever needed.
Over the past 18 months, three investigative
grand jury probes in
Brunswick and Bladen counties?the
only ones announced so far in North
Carolina?have resulted in the ind
^ ?
^ Twenty-seventh Year, Nur
' . ' ' -'-ft
<4Hn
,V""',
i
Shamie Edwards receives an early
Clans following Saturday's annual I
downtown Shallotte. The five-year-(
and Theresa Edwards of Brick La
State He
Holden *
BY DOUG RUTTER
The N.C. Health Services Commis
sion last week refused to accept i
petition from the Town of Holdei
Beach calling for revisions in stati
septic tank laws.
According to Holden Beach Com
missioner
Georgia Langley, Wf
who helped draft W >
the petition, the I A ^ x ; ^
denial was not a jt jjj^j
The town is yjjjfl
now in a good w \ an
position to push
for changes in w.: J&flflU
regulations l-angley
relating to wastewater treatmenl
she said. Langley, who helped drai
the petition, presented it to the stat
board last Wednesday in Raleig
along with Jay Houston, consultin
i \
i,
or Compares S|
S dividuals on drug traffi
s office prepares to In Brunswick Counl
iry investigations in two investigations havi
inding new weapons defendants pleadin
i across the state. dismissed?one, becau*
;tter at it," Special the other, because th
tMost of the remair
the Dec. 12 term of Bri
Bolivia. Ten defendant
nine others await sente
"It's kind of a delic
ing to whether or n
precedence over other
"Right now it's just a i
In Bladen County
woiak grand jury indicted 25 s
ictmcnts of 110 in- Wolak said four defeni
r nni?
HIJs? ^
nber 5 .?.on
:?nppr
*4B' S': ' i? -i#9k
n
" ' ' ' '
,V. ' '
zarly Christmas Present
present from Santa one of the first childn
Christmas parade in through town on a Sh
>ld daughter of Sam coverage is inside this
nding, Shamie was
aith Board R<
>eptic Tank P
engineer for the town's ongoing boa
'r wastewater treatment study. the
i The petition was not accepted Dir
i because of "inadequate language" "
e and the fact that the state Division of boa
Health Services is currently working Mr
i- on a revised set of regulations per- see
taming to wastewater treatment, ac- the
cording to John Barkley, agency V
legal specialist for health services. its
Although it was refused, Langley of
said she was encouraged by what she hoi
heard from health commission pa<
members during and after the S
meeting. "Several of them came to ch.
me and said not to feel like this was a se[
shf> frnm hpr Raloioh fhr
home last Thursday. "I told them 1 chu
t, would be back." le?
t The town official said the local con- oci
e tingent was before the commission for
h for two hours last week and was able gr;
g to voice all of its concerns before the
'i
pecial Gram
eking charges.
ty, 75 of 85 cases from the county's
i been disposed of, with 73 of the
g guilty. Two cases were
>e the defendant died before trial;
e defendant was indicted as a
ling cases here are scheduled for
inswick County Superior Court in
s remain to be prosecuted, while
incing.
ate balance," Wolak said, referrot
the drug prosecutions take
criminal cases pending in court,
natter of finding court time."
, the state's third investigative
uspected drug traffickers in June,
iants there have pleaded guilty;
II HI
ShaNotte, North Carolina, T
v^hjHHflB&BKEsra
HILk ! *
!
;
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTER
>n to greet Santa after he rode
allotte fire truck. More parade
issue.
?fuses
etition
ird voted to refuse the petition on
recommendation of state Health
ector Ronald H. Levine.
The petition was denied, but the
ird was very pulled on it," added
s. Langley. "Most of them did not
what was wrong with accepting
petition."
Vith the state currently drafting
own revisions, she said the timing
the petition was bad. She added,
vever, "I think it had a great unit
on that board."
ipecifically, the petition called for
inges in wo secuons 01 me suite
>tic tank laws. The main thrust of
! document was a request for
anges in the law that requires at
ist one foot of "naturallyaurring"
soil above the water table
a septic tank permit to be
anted. It also sought amendment to
(See HEALTH, Page 2-A)
d Jury Probes
"As we use this low,
get better at it."
?l
Special Ass
two have been sentenced.
Jury selection was scheduled to b<
Bladen County Superior Court, in what w
actual trial of an individual indicted by
special grand juries, Wolak said.
Probes Compared
Citing distinctions between the
Bladen drug inquiries, Wolak said prosec
dants alike were more organized in
although in different respects.
ivnyj i
hursday, December 8, 1988
Demos' Cc
Executive:
Over Cour
BY RAHN ADAMS I
For the first time since 1972, a 1
Republican majority assumed con- \
trol of the Brunswick County Board c
of Commissioners Monday?but not \
until the old Democratic board held a t
final, apparently uneventful secret
session. c
During a 45-minute meeting Mon- j
Hau nioht in Rnlitria of looef inn
wwj u ov iv.aot 1W LI I- I
dividuals?most of them local 1
Republicans?watched GOP com- i
missioners Frankie Rabon, Kelly <
Holden and Gene Pinkerton take i
oaths of office. The meeting, which
began in the commissioners*
chambers, had to be moved to the
Public Assembly Building due to the
large crowd.
Minutes after the brief swearing-in
ceremony, Rabon?the only incumbent
to retain his commission seat in
November?was unanimously
elected as commission chairman for
the coming year. Former Chairman
Grace Beasley was unanimously ,
elected vice chairman, replacing 1
fellow Democrat Benny Ludlum in I
that post. f
In the November 8 election, Rabon
defeated Democrat Tom Simmons, c
while Holden and Pinkerton unseated r
Democratic incumbents Chris Chap- s
pell and Jim Poole respectively. t
"I think it was expected," Pinker- t
ton told the Beacon, in reference to
Rabon's election as chairman, t
Pinkerton and Holden both said they c
did not seek the vice chairmanship i
due to their inexperience on the r
board.
The only other actions taken Mon- j
day by the new board were to f
unanimously reappoint County s
Manager John T. Smith, County At- 1
torney David Clegg and Clerk to the
Board Regina Alexander, and to 1
unanimously accept bonds posted by r
Register of Deeds Robert J. Robin- ?
son and Coroner Greg White as a
result of the re-election of the two. I
At Rabon's suggestion, the board i
voted unanimously to table the re- ?
CLERK TO THE BOARD Rcgina Alexa
the oath of office Monday night to m
(from left) Kelly Holden, new Chairmt
ton.
In Brunswid
"They are ab<
W? special district atb
"with the onlyexc<
able to identify thr
3ill Wolak He added, tho
istant DA grand ^ flso b
crumnal enterpns
in the Brunswick (
If convicted c
jgin Monday in defendant can be S'
ould be the first tion basically mui
one of the three from a series of c
organized and supe
other co-conspirati
Brunswick and On the federa
utors and defen- criminal enterpris
Bladen County, statute," Wolak s;
(Sec PI
Ewy ppay ^1
25c Per Copy
>ntro! Ends
Session; G
lty Commi;
nainder of its agenda until the Dec.
9 regular meeting. "I didn't feel it
vas fair to Gene and Kelly to make a
lecision tonight, and them not know
vhat was going on," Rabon said after
he meeting.
Among other agenda items Monlay,
commissioners had been
>cheduled to review reeommendaions
from thp Rruncvvinlr Pmintv
Jtility Operations Board in%'olving
several special assessment district
.vater projects, and to consider commissioner
and citizen appointments
to 11 local and regional boards.
No Action Announced
At the outset of Monday's meeting,
Chappell requested the executive
session to discuss "personnel."
Apologizing to citizens who packed
the commissioners' chambers, Chappell
said, "It's something that's got
to be taken care of."
The meeting reconvened in open
session 20 minutes later in the Public
Assembly Building, and Chairman
Beasley indicated that no action was
aken during the closed-door conference.
After the meeting, she declined to
:omment specifically on the personal
matter discussed in executive
iession, only to say, "It was imporant
to Mr. Chappell, and I respected
hat."
According to an unofficial log kept
>y the Beacon, the former county
:ommission met in secret for approximately
one-quarter of its total
neeting time in 1988.
In 40 meetings held during the
'ear, the board met in open session
or approximately IVh hours and in
lecret session for approximately 243/i
lours.
Some 17 executive sessions were
leld throughout the year. Of that
lumber, no action was announced
ifter 14 of the closed-door meetings.
At a reception immediately prior to
Monday's meeting, Rabon summed
lp the old board's performance with
in unintended note of irony. "We
ft fra^lBih ' infill 1
STAFF PHOTOS 8Y RAHN AOAMS
nder (second from left) administers
ewly-eleeted county commissioners
tt<?.,?i.:~ -r?_i 1 n *-*!??
111 riuiiiuc ixiiumi unu iifiic I'liiKery
I
c, Bladen
jut the same class of violators," the
orney said of the three investigations,
jption in Bladen County being we were
ee separate organizations."
ugh, that the Bladen County special
dieted two defendants on "continuing
e" charges?a tactic that wasn't used
bounty investigations.
)f continuing criminal enterprise, a
entenced to life in prison. The prosecust
prove that the defendant profited
Irug offenses and that the defendant
:rvised the involvement of at least five
jrs.
1 level, North Carolina's continuing
e law is known as the "drug kingpin
aid, adding that the charge on either
FtOSECUTOR, Page S-A)
? ^
sir $ W
38 Pages, 3 Sections
r
With
OP Takes
ssion
didn't accomplish everything we set
out to do," he said, "but we didn't
give up."
Service Cited
Ms. Beasley presented Chappell
onrl D??l- ...UL 1! *
anu i-uuie wiin uuisianaing service
awards from the county.
Both men briefly thanked their
families, fellow board members and
the county staff for supporting them
during their tenures on the commission.
"They made the conversion
from citizen to commissioner easier
to make," said Poole.
The Yaupon Beach resident later
told the Beacon that he intends to remain
active in his community,
although not necessarily in governmental
affairs. "I plan to stay active
| any way I can," Poole said,
"although I don't know what that'll
be."
Chappell encouraged the local
Republican Party to support their
commissioners in order to make a
"better government for the people of
Brunswick County." And as a
defeated Democrat he noted, "We've
lost a battle, but we haven't lost the
war."
Chappell later said in private that
he intends to remain active in local
politics. He also indicated that he
may attempt to reclaim his commission
seat in 1992, but he quickly added,
"It's too early to make that decision."
Calabash Festival
Proceeds Will Feed
Hungry Families
Local residents will get a chance to
help some less fortunate neighbors
this Christmas season by supporting
the upcoming Calabash Holiday
Festival.
The festival will be held this Saturday,
Dec. 10, in the field across from
Trader's Village in Calabash and will
run from noon until dusk.
In exchange for a free barbecue
meal sponsored by the Calabash
Merchants Association, visitors are
asked to donate canned food or
money which will help feed needy
families in Brunswick County this
Christmas.
All food and money will be administered
by the Brunswick County
Volunteer and Information Center.
Last year's carnival raised about
$1,000 which was used to help feed approximately
350 area families, according
to VIC Director Ouida Hewett.
In addition to the free meal, there
will be plenty of arts and crafts exhibits
and live music.
Mrs. Hewett said the West
Brunswick High School Band will
kick off activities at noon. Later in
the day, a country band will provide
the entertainment.
She expects several exhibitors including
one selling Christmas crafts
and one making holiday wreaths
irom grapevines.
In past years, the carnival has also
included a boat parade in Calabash
River. Because of the cold weather in
December, however, participation
was always low, and only four boats
(See CALABASH, Page 2-A)
t
i