It's Smart!
Offering no-alcohol beverages Is a smart
approach to holiday entertaining. With drinks
such as the V7CA Vanilla Virgin concocted by
West Brunswick High School VI CA students,
you won't miss the alcohol. The story and
recipes are on Page 10-B.
Back To The Inlet
Fishermen and shellseekers should soon
regain access to Shallotte Inlet from the eas
end of Ocean Isle Beach. Sections of two ea:
end streets closed to the public since
Hurricane Hugo in September are due to
reopen soon. Check the details on Page 8-A
roadn
CLOSED
.AHEAD,
Calabash Thrift Hit Again; Different Robber Suspected
BY RAHN ADAMS
"It wasn't another robbery, was
it?" an elderly woman asked Chief
Sheriff's Deputy John Marlow Fri
day morning in the parking lot of
Security Savings and Loan in Cala
bash. When the lawman confirmed
her suspicions, the woman simply
shook her head as she rolled up her
car window and told her husband to
drive on.
A hand-lettered sign on the front
door of the small brick building lo
cated on N.C. 179 near the Cala
bash Road intersection informed
customers that the financial institu
tion was closed for the morning and
that they should go to the compa
ny's Shallotte branch for service.
Inside, county detectives interview
ed savings and loan employees who
had just been robbed at gunpoint for
the third time since June. No one
was hurt
Outside, members of the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department,
N.C. Highway Patrol and SB1 used
a new tracking dog to search nearby
Marsh Harbor Golf Links for the
robber and manned a roadblock on
N.C. 179 near the South Carolina
state line. But as of Monday after
noon, no arrest had been inade.
> County Det. Gary Shay said
Monday that authorities had no sus
pects in the Friday robbery, which is
under investigation by the sheriff's
department and the FBI. "At this
point in time, there are no similari
ties," Shay said.
He also indicated that the robber,
who got away with an undisclosed
amount of cash, apparently was not
the same suspect believed to be re
sponsible for unsolved armed rob
beries in July and September at
Security and United Carolina Bank,
respectively. "All three tellers said it
appeared to be someone difierent,"
the detective auded.
Friday's hold-up was the fifth to
occur at a South Brunswick Islands
financial institution since June, with
three at Security in Calabash and
one at each of the UCB branches in
(See CALABASH, Page 2-A)
Calabash Sees No Immediate Need For Town Police
BY DOUG RUTTER
Most elected officials in Calabash
see no immediate need for a police
force in town, despite the four bank
robberies that have occurred there
since June and a recent vote that
brought about 1,000 residents into
the town.
Six of the seven town commis
sioners said Monday they don't see
the need for a police department
right now. The town presenUy gets
law enforcement from the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department.
The most common argument
against a police force among town
officials is the high cost of estab
lishing a department. Also, several
"I don't think a police department is
going to make a bank immune to being
held up."
? Jon Sanborn
? Calabash Commissioner
said the financial institutions that
have been robbed should be respon
sible for providing their own securi
ty
Calabash expected to raise about
$106,000 in general fund revenues
this fiscal year, and police depart
ments in most local towns cost
more than 5150,000 per year to op
eraie.
The southwestern Brunswick
County town recently merged with
the Carolina Shores golf course
community, bringing its tax base up
near the $70 million mark. How
ever, the first taxes from Carolina
Shores probably won't come in for
at least another year.
Once Calabash and the Carolina
Shores Property Owners Associa
tion (CSPOA) work out their bud
gets so the town takes over many of
the present duties of the CSPOA,
more money will become available
to the town.
In terms of establishing a town
police force, most of the officials
had opinions similar to Commis
sioner George Taubel's. "We're not
in a position to get one now," he
said. "We couldn't put in a police
force. We don't have the money."
Taubel said the town may be able
to afford a police department when
its population reaches 2,500 or
3,000. The present count is about
1,200. "It's not in the near future,"
said Taubel.
(See POLICE, Page 2-A)
First ' Winter ' Storm Ices Up Roads, Lines
BY RAHN ADAMS
Though the official start of winter
isn't until today (Thursday), Bruns
wick County residents got a pre
view of winter-like weather with
sleet and freezing rain that made
driving especially hazardous Mon
day morning and causcd scattered
power outages Tuesday morning.
"It's quite unusual to get weather
like this now," said Shallotte Point
meteorologist Jackson Canady, ad
ding that the Shallotte area general
ly doesn't see frozen precipitation
until the coldest winter months.
"We're getting an early start on a
real taste of winter."
Canady attributed the unseason
ably cold weather to storm systems
that have pushed the jet stream far
ther south than normal for this time
of year, allowing cold air masses
from Canada to build in behind
them and cause a drop in tempera
tures.
Colder than normal conditions
arc expected to do^'nate local wea
ther at least through the weekend,
Canady predicted. Temperatures
should average from the upper 20s
at night to the upper 40s during the
day. Precipitation is cxpcctcd to be
slightly above average at three
quarters of an inch.
For the period of Dec. 12 through
18, the daily average high tempera
ture in the Shallottc area was 38 de
grees, which Canady said was 10
degrees below normal. Precipitation
for the period measured 0.28 of an
inch.
The daily average low tempera
ture was 30 degrees; the daily aver
age high temperature was 47 de
grees. The minimum low tempera
ture during the period was 23 de
grees on Dec. 17; the maximum
high temperature was 47 degrees on
Dec. 12.
Bobby Gore of Brunswick Elec
tric Membership Corporation said
scattered power outages started be
ing reported in Brunswick County
Tuesday around 5 a.m. "We don't
have any major problems ? just
scattered outages," Gore said Tues
day morning.
He added that most of the out
ages ? caused mainly by fallen
limbs ? were in coastal sections of
the county. BEMC did not experi
ence any particular problems Tues
day in inland sections of Brunswick
County or in Columbus County,
which the cooperative also serves.
Canady noted that calm winds
kept ice-covered trees and power
lines from being more of a problem
Tuesday.
As a result of sanding work by
the Department of Transportation,
Brunswick County roads and brid
ges were relatively clear Tuesday
morning, according to Brcnda Free
man of the Brunswick County Em
ergency Management office.
Monday morning, however, was
a different story. Emergency Man
agement Coordinator Cecil Logan
said icy conditions on high-rise
bridges and overpasses closed the
section of U.S. 17 leading into New
Hanover County and the Oak Island
Bridge for several hours. The Ocean
Isle Beach and Holdcn Beach brid
ges remained open.
Highway Patrol spokesperson
Ruby Oakley said Monday after
noon that "dozens" of weather-relat
ed traffic accidents occurred Mon
day morning in Brunswick County.
Approximately 75 wrecks were re
ported Monday moming in Bruns
wick and New Hanover counties ?
the two-count v area covered by Ms.
Oakley's office.
She added that she wasn't aware
of any serious injuries in Monday
morning's wrecks. Logan also indi
cated that none of the accidents
Monday were major.
County Votes
To Implement
911 System
BY RAHN ADAMS
Brunswick County Commission
ers were all business Monday, as
they breezed through an hour-long
agenda and approved at least one
matter ? implementation of a 911
emergency telephone system ? that
has stymied them for nearly a year.
All five commissioners were pre
sent for the regular meeting, which
was the first full session under new
Commission Chairman Gene Pink
erton and the first meeting since
former County Manager John T.
Smith was forced to resign Dec. 4.
Every action taken Monday by
commissioners was unanimous, in
sharp contrast to the often-divided
board's reputation for approving is
sues on 3-2 votes.
Still, the meeting was not without
controversy, as several residents
turned out to oppose a recent ap
pointment to the Brunswick County
Airport Commission.
The impromptu protest immedi
ately preceded a scheduled announ
cement by Airport Commissior
Chairman Odell Williamson that he
plans to resign Dec. 31. The two
matters apparently were unrelated.
911 Gets Go-Ahead
Finally putting their names on the
dotted line, commissioners Monday
signed a letter of intent authorizing
Southern Bell and Atlantic Tele
phone Membership Corporation to
begin in3tallation work on a 911
system for Brunswick County. In
stallation will take about two years.
The board also set a public hear
ing for Monday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m.,
in the Public Assembly Building,
for input on a proposal to pay for
911 through a 50-cent monthly sur
charge on telephone subscribers'
bills. Municipal boards are being in
vited to schedule joint hearings the
same night in Bolivia. For the coun
ty to charge all county residents the
fee ? whether they live inside or
outside a town, each municipality
must hold a public hearing and then
vote to allow the levy.
There was little discussion of 911
prior to Monday's unanimous vole.
The matter was last discussed in a
Nov. 22 work session, in which
Commissioners Grace Beasley and
Frankic Rabon expressed reserva
tions about two backup public safe
ty answering points (PSAPs) ? loca
tions in the system where emergen
cy calls can be received and dis
patched ? that are planned for
South port and Long Beach.
Ms. Beaslcy and Rabon said last
month they felt that the location of
two answering points in the South
port area could be a potential prob
lem, if other communities wanted
PSAPs of their own. County Emer
gency Management Coordinator
Cecil Logan explained that the three
answering points would correspond
with the three full-time radio dis
patching systems currently in opera
tion. The primary answering point
would be handled by the county.
The letter of intent that was
signed Monday lists "Brunswick
County EMS" in Supply as the pri
mary PSAP location. Plans are to
eventually move the Brunswick
County Emergency Management
office to the old Agricultural Exten
sion Service/Brunswick Community
College building on U.S. 17 near
Supply. The letter also lists PSAP
locations at the Southpori and Long
Beach police departments.
911's total installation cost is
$243,840 and will be due when the
system goes on line by January
1992. On-going monthly mainte
nance costs will amount to 513,956.
Logan told commissioners last
month that the 50-cent surcharge is
(See 911 System, Page 2-A)
Sunset Beach Will
Put Trees To Use
Don't just discard your
Christmas tree once the holiday
season is over. Sunset Beach
will be happy to take it off your
hands and put it to good use.
This winter the Town of Sun
set Beach will once again be us
ing old Christmas trees to help
build dunes on the island. "Any
trees we can get will be appreci
ated because we really need
them on the beach this year,"
said town employee Cookie
Minton.
Drop-off points are located at
the Sunset Beach maintenance
shop behind the fire station and
next to the Farm Bureau Insur
ance office on Russ Street in
Shallottc. Trees can be dropped
off anytime after Christmas.
STAff PHOTO BY DAMN ADAMS
A QUARTKR INCH OF ICE coats the limbs of saplings near the foot of the Ocean Isle Beach high-rise
bridge Tuesday morning. Despite icy conditions bridges in the South Brunswick Islands remained pass
able.