Holden Beach Reopens To General
Public Saturday Morninq
BY DOUG RUTTER
The general public will have its first chance to view
Hurricane Hugo's damage at Holden Beach this
Saturday when police officers lift a roadblock at the
foot of the bridge.
At their regular meeting Monday night and a special
meeting last Friday, town officials debated at length
whether to allow the public on the island before
Saturday. But in the end, commissioners decided to
stick to the original plan set early last week.
The board voted 4-1 Monday in favor of Gay Atkins*
motion to reopen the island Saturday at 8 a.m. William
Williamson voted against the motion, saying afterward.
"I'll oppose it just for general purposes."
In two periods of discussion relating to the matter,
board members talked about opening the island to vaca
tion rentals and the public as eajly as Wednesday. Most
of the talk, however, centered on whether to open
Friday afternoon or hold off until Saturday.
The general public and vacationers who rent for less
than 30 days have been kept off the island since
Hurricane Hugo made landfall Sept. 21, causing about
$3 1 million in damage.
Commissioner Atkins and two real estate representa
tives in the audience Monday night pointed out that
rental companies had canceled reservations through
Saturday.
Mrs. Atkins added there are still a number of homes
on the island that are unsafe and that sightseers would
likely get in the way of clean-up efforts along Ocean
Boulevard. "It is still dangerous driving these roads,"
she said.
Williamson, who operates a campground on the is
land, did not hide the fact that he was losing money be
cause the public was being kept away.
When asked Monday night when he would like to
see the island reopened to the public, he responded,
"Personally, yesterday. Business is hurting on the
beach."
Throughout the discussion, however, Williamson and
other board members agreed that it didn't matler when
the public was allowed back on the beach since the is
land is stil1 weeks away from being cleancd up.
Commissioner Bob Buck said the town had "widely
publicized" that il would not allow the public back on
the island until Saturday. But he added that he had no
problem with opening up sooner.
"The only people we are excluding for the next five
days are sightseers," said Buck. "Quite frankly, we can
do without sightseers."
Residents attending Monday night's meeting offered
points for moving the opening date to Wednesday or
Friday, while others encouraged the board to stick with
Saturday.
Although he didn't make any recommendation, 1'own
(See Holden Beach, Page 2-A)
THE """""VICKiBEACON
? ? ? ? ^? ? ? i
Twenty-seventh Year, Number 48 ww?the Brunswick beacoh Shallotte, Norm ww. _ na, Thursday, October 5, 1989 1989 25e Per Copy 34 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Insert |
STAFF fHOTO BY RAHN ADAMS
FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER Thomas Credle talks with county and municipal officials Mon
day morning in Bolivia about federal disaster assistance that will be available in Brunswick County.
Oyster Season Opens Next Sunday
BY DOUG RUTTER
Brunswick County fishermen will be limited to har
vesting one bushel of oysters each when the fall oyster
season opens Oct. 15, no matter how many oysters they
find in local creeks and rivers.
Why? Oyster season begins on a Sunday this year,
said Rich Carpenter, regional director of the N.C.
Division of Marine FisherieST'*There won't be any
large opening day harvests this year," he said. "The
fishermen will be limited to one bushel ? just enough to
eat."
The state restricts Sunday harvests to one bushel
per vessel for all fishermen, said Carpenter. On other
days of the week, those with commercial shellfishing
licenses may harvest up to SO bushels per day. The lim
it for anyone without a license is one bushel per vessel
per day.
When oyster season opens next weekend, area fish
ermen will be hoping to rebound from two consecutive
seasons of below average harvests.
The county's commercial oyster harvest was only
44,015 pounds of meat during the 1987 season and
77,044 pounds last season, according to preliminary
statistics from the Division Marine Fisheries. The aver
age harvest over the four preceding seasons was ap
proximately 93380 pounds of oyster meat.
The 1987 season was cut short by the state's first
recorded case of red tide. State officials were forced to
close area shellfishing waters for the last six weeks of
the season due to the presence of the toxic algae.
Because they had moved hundreds of bushels of
oysters from polluted to clean waters when the red tide
had its grip on the coast, local fishermen were looking
for a great season in 1988. But oystcrmen ran into other
problems when two parasites known as Dermo and
MSX infested local waters and caused widespread oys
ter mortality.
Alihrvnoh hp ?tnw.<5 local shellfishermen could use a
break, Carpenter said he expects another below average
harvest this year. "We don't foresee anything excep
tional," he said.
Slate biologists have found that Dermo is still pre
sent in local rivers, although concentrations are low.
"We're still kind of holding our breath with the
Dermo," said Carpenter. "It all depends on that really."
Though the. organism can kill oysters. Carpenter
stressed that all live shellfish are edible. "It's harmful
only to the old oysters I'm afraid," he said.
Carpenter said officials believe the organisms have
been in state waters for years but weren't detected until
last fall when oysters started dying. Samples taken
through the summer indicate that Dermo is still present
in waters south of New River in Onslow County, he
said.
Because of the Dermo, the state canceled its oyster
relay program in the spring and may have to forego it
this fall as well. In the program, the state pays fisher
men $1 per bushel to move oysters from polluted wa
tere to clean waters where they can later be harvested.
Bioiogisis will continue to monitor Dermo levels
and either cancel or implement the relay program ac
cordingly, said Carpenter. Because the parasite can
flourish in one oyster bed and have no impact at anoth
er, state officials do not want to relay oysters and risk
spreading the organism.
Although most shellfish waters in Brunswick
County remained closed to harvesting at the start of this
week, the director of the state's Shellfish Sanitation
branch said he hopes to reopen most of the areas in
time for the start of oyster season.
All county waters were temporarily closed to shell
fishing Sept. 22 due to heavy rainfall and runoff associ
ated with Hurricane Hugo. The state reopened clam
beds in Cape Fear River and Elizabeth River Saturday,
but the waterway and north Dutchman Creek remained
closed.
Shellfish Sanitation Supervisor Bob Benton said
last week most of the area shellfishing waters could be
reopened to harvesting by Oct. 15. However, he said it
will depend largely on the amount of rainfall the area
receives between now and then.
During oyster season, harvesting is permitted be
tween sunrise and sunset. Because of tidal conditions in
southeastern North Carolina, however. Carpenter said
fishermen in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender
counties can unload oysters from their vessels up to
two hours after sunseL
The minimum size for oysters in North Carolina is
three inches from tip to tip. But Carpenter said Marine
Fisheries officers who check the harvests allow up to
10 percent of the catch to be undersized.
Carpenter said he's not sure what the price of oys
ters will be this year. "It's hard to say," he noted. "We
really won't know that until the season opens." Last
year, he said the county average was about $14 per
bushel.
State regulations prevent the oyster season from
running past March 31. Carpenter said fisheries offi
cials will decide when to close the season as iiic dead
line approaches.
County's Commercial
Oyster Harvest Declines
Brunswick County's commercial oyster harvest
has taken a sharp turn for the worse over the past
two seasons. A season runs from fall through win
ter.
SOURCE: N.C. DIVISION OF MARINE
FISHERIES
SEASON HARVEST VALUE
1983 97,927 lbs. $133,532
1984 84,772 lbs. $140,710
1985 89,146 lbs. $192,223
1986 99,680 lbs. $234,588
1987 44,015 lbs. $114,923
1988 77,044 lbs. $215,089
Disaster Application Center
> To Be Open Through Saturday
BY RAHN ADAMS
Federal officials arrived in
Brunswick County Monday with
two battles on their hands ? to help
the county rccovcr from Hurricane
Hugo's recent devastation and to
help prepare the ravaged coast! inc
for a possibly damaging high tides
later this month.
Brunswick County Emergency
Management Coordinator Cecil Lo
gan announced Tuesday that a dis
aster application center (DAC) will
be open today (Thursday) through
Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at
the N. C. National Guard A.rmory in
Shallotte.
Logan said the local DAC's
schedule would be publicized
across the state, to notify non-resi
dent property owners that disaster
assistance applications are being
accepted here and that the centcr
will be open Saturday.
North Carolina residents who
cannot visit the DAC in person may
use a disaster information hotline
for application purposes and rcceive
full service, according to a Federal
Emergency Management Agency
news release. The hotline number is
1-800-458-5095. Hours arc from 8
a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Brunswick is the only coastal
county among the 13 North Car
olina counties now eligible for fed
eral disaster aid as a result of the
Sept 21-22 hurricane. Last Thurs
day, Brunswick and eight countics
in the Piedmont and foothills were
added to an original list which in
cluded four countics in the Char
lotte area.
Individual assistance includes
temporary housing for homeowners
and renters made homeless by the
storm. This aid will be in the form
of rental assistance for alternate
placcs to live.
Homeowners, renters and busi
nesses may apply for low-interest
loans for real and personal property
losses not covered by insurance.
Businesses may also apply for loans
to cover losses of stock and equip
ment.
Also, individuals and families
may be eligible for direct grants for
serious needs and necessary ex
penses not covered by one of the
other programs, including storm-re
latcd medical expenses.
Logan said county and municipal
representatives will meet with fed
eral officials Saturday morning in
Bolivia to discuss federal disaster
aid available to public bodies in
Brunswick County.
An initial meeting was held
Monday morning at the Public
Assembly Building. Representa
tives from the county and every
beach town met for two hours with
federal and state emergency offi
cials, including Thomas Credle,
who is federal coordinating officer
for the North Carolina disaster op
eration, and N. C. Division of Em
ergency Management Director Joe
Myers.
Credle explained that private en
gineers hired by FEMA were ex
pected to "walk from the (S.C.)
state line to the Cape Fear" this
week and determine what areas are
eligible for construction of a "tem
porary, emergency sand pile" to
protect endangered property from
an astronomical high tide expected
to occur between Oct. 14 and Oct.
16.
Shallotte Point meteorologist
Jackson Canady told the Beacon
Tuesday that abnormally high
"spring" tides occur during the full
moon in October and November,
due to the alignment of the sun and
moon. Spring tides generally arc
two to three feet above normal and
can be pushed even higher by
storms, Canady added.
Credle indicated that the berm
would be built either by municipali
ties or the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers on the public portion of
the strand in front of structures that
are determined to be in imminent
danger under federal standards. He
noted, however, that only 8 1/2
miles of South Carolina's 140-mile
shoreline was approved for berm
construction.
"It's going to have to be done
soon and fast," Credle said of the
berm construction. He said the esti
mated cost of the project would be
$1 million per mile. Funding would
be 75-percent federal and 25-pcr
cent state.
Earlier in the meeting, Jim Her
stine, regional director of the N. C.
Division of Coastal Management,
said 244 homes in Brunswick
County had applied for federal
flood insurance funds for either re
location or demolition of structures
that are in imminent danger.
A majority of the houses ? 182
? are in Long Beach, Hcrstine said.
In the South Brunswick Islands,
Holden Beach and Ocean Isle
Beach each had 14 houses to be
considered in the program.
The main question that municipal
officials had Monday was whether
or not property owners would be re
imbursed for protection measures
they undertake on their own, in ar
eas that eventually arc determined
to be eligible for the berm.
Credle indicated that work of that
nature probably would not be reim
bursable, since "we're not going to
be building this thing on private
property."
Easley Announces Run For U. S. Senate Seat
It's official. District Attorney
Michael Easley ended speculation
Monday by announcing he will en
ter next year's U.S. Senate race for
the seat currently held by Rcpubli
C TT-1
tail kJV/ii. ItVUIIJ.
Word that the 39-year-old
South port resi
dent might run
for Senate sur
faced in August
when Easley
was mentioned
in the Raleigh
press as a possi
ble Democratic
contender. Only
one other Dem
ocrat ? former easley
state Sen. R.R "Bo" Thomas of
Hendersonville ? has announced as
a candidate so far.
Easley told the Beacon Tuesday
that Monday's announcement was
meant to lay rumors about his can
didacy to rest, in the wake of former
University of North Carolina
System President William Friday's
decision last week not to seek the
Democratic Senate nomination.
"Actually, (the announcement)
was to clear the air," Easley said,
"bvCuuCC T rtrtttrtn or% mnn?i ^n|| g
since Friday when Bill Friday said
he wouldn't run."
Easley's decision also means he
will not seek a third term next year
as district attorney for the 13th
Judicial District, which covers
Brunswick, Bladen ?."d Columbus
counties. Under state law, North
Carolina candidates cannot seek
two separate offices at once, as can
didates can in some other states.
"I recognize that it will not be as
easy to campaign while prosecut
ing," he said, "but I feel my com
mitment to the people here must
come first."
Speaking before supporters Mon
day morning at N.C. Democratic
Party headquarters in Raleigh, Eas
ley said he wants to serve in the
Senate "bccausc iiic ucumuii& Cui
nation makes today arc going to
shape the 21st Century...I am deeply
concerned about the problems fac
ing our country and our state, and I
believe I can make a constructive
? a -.I..:-- "
cunuiuuuwii iuvvoiu sui * 1115 uivm.
Easlcy, who has played a leading
role in developing and pushing new
laws to fight drug trafficking in the
state, called the country's drug
problem "a vicious challenge.. .that
threatens to unravel all of our hopes
for the future." He added that he
will "replace political rhetoric with
responsible action."
The local district attorney told the
Beacon that he feels he will be well
accepted in other areas of the state
due to his experience as a past pres
ident of both the N.C. Conference
of District Attorneys and N.C.
District Attorneys Association. He
added that he is "fairly confident at
this point that the money will be
(Sc? EASLEY, Fane 2- A)
FBI Investigating Complaint Against
Shallotte PD Over Shelter Incident
BY RAHN ADAMS
An FBI spokesman confirmed
Monday that an investigation is un
der way involving four black Shal
lotte area residents who were arrest
ed by Shallottc Police officers after
a Sept. 21 incident at the Shallottc
Middle School evacuation shelter.
Individuals involved in the civil
rights complaint against the Shallo
ttc Police Department are Sandy
Bland, 31, and her husband, Will
iam Lin wood Bland, 31, as well as
relatives Ray Bland, 31, and David
Bland, 29, all of Route 2, Shallottc.
"Yes, we have received a com
plaint involving the Blands," Chuck
Richards of the Charlotte FBI office
said Monday, "and we have initiat
ed a preliminary investigation."
Richards would not comment on
details of the complaint. He said
findings of the preliminary investi
gation will be submitted to the civil
rights section of the federal Depart
ment of Justice in Washington, D.C.
The investigation will take approxi
mately 60 days to complete.
The civil rights section will then
review the ease and determine
whether the complaint is legitimate
and whether a full investigation is
necessary, Richards added.
Shalloue Police Chief Rodney
Gause would not discuss the com
plaint Monday. "Right now, I can't
comment on it at all," Gause said.
However, the chief said no disci
plinary action has been taken
against any of his officers in con
nection with the incident "In no
way, shape or form," Gause replied,
when asked if disciplinary action
had been taken, "and there's not go
ing to be on my part."
Three Shallotte policemen ?
Ronnie Odom, Steve Darr and Per
ritt Alford ? were injured while
making arrests Sept. 21 at Shallolte
Middle School. Odom, who frac
tured his wrist and knuckle, was the
only one to require medical treat
ment. Gause would say only that
the officers were injured "during
the arrest procedures."
Family spokesperson Sandy
Bland told the Beacon that William
and Ray Bland also were hurt in the
scuffle with the officers. Both men
sought hospital treatment, she said,
adding that two officers had beaten
Ray Bland "until his eyes were
closed."
Hospital Administrator John
Marshall confirmed Tuesday that
both William and Ray Bland were
treated at The Brunswick Hospital
and released on the night of the in
cident.
Police said Mrs. Bland was char
ged with assault on an officer; Wil
liam Bland, delaying and obstruct
ing an officer, and drunk and dis
ruptive; Ray Bland, assault on an
officer and resisting arrest; and
David Bland, disorderly conduct in
an emergency shelter, assault on an
officer and resisting arrest
According to officials, the inci
dent in question occurred Sept. 21
between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., outside
the public shelter at Shallottc Mid
dle School. Some 500 hurricane
evacuees were registered at the
shelter, which was operated by the
Brunswick County Department of
Social Services.
Both Mrs. Bland and DSS Direc
tor Jamie Orrock indicated last
week that the incident stemmed
from a disagreement over where
evacuees were supposed to go to
smoke. Orrock said a "verbal dis
pute" erupted after a smoking area
(See FBI, Page 2-A)