Wrongful
Death Suit
Settled
(Continued From Page 1-A)
contrary to a federal law that pro
hibits a truckcr from driving more
than eight hours at a time. Leisure
had been on his way from New
England to Charleston, S C.
Also, said Fuller, Leisure was
supposed to wear eyeglasses while
driving, but no glasses were found
at the scene of the accident.
Leisure was found not guilty on a
charge of wrongful death in Bruns
wick County criminal court, on the
defense that the van's brakes were
faulty.
However, North American Van
Lines lost the right to that defense in
the civil action filed in 1987. An en
try of default was ordered when the
Fort Wayne, Ind. -based company
failed repeatedly to produce materi
als requested by the plaintifTs during
the pre-trial discovery process.
The entry of default was upheld
by the N.C. Court of Appeals and
discretionary review was denied by
the N.C. Supreme Court.
Default, said Fuller, meant the
defendant would be going into court
with the equivalent of a guilty plea.
"We were ready to go to court;
the clock had run out. Their appeals
had not worked," he said. "I don't
mind settling because my clients arc
happy."
Survivors
(Continued From Page 1-A)
ed to cramp. The temperature was
in the lower 40s.
"The captain said, 'What's that
floating?' The first thing in my
mind was sharks," Lipp said. The
fishing buoy had been tied to the
rail of the boat. Part of the rail was
still tied to the buoy when it floated
over to the men.
"That was a miracle," Lipp said.
"That was a gift from God. They
were tied down to the handrails. I
just can't imagine how it got free."
Ihe large payload the boat was
hauling when it went down might
have been what kept sharks away
from the men, they speculated.
When the three men were lifted
up into the helicopter, Hannaford
and some of the other guardsmen
wrapped them in blankets and trans
ported them to New Hanover Re
gional Medical Center in Wilming
ton. The guardsmen tore the patches
off of their uniforms and placed
them into the survivors' cold and
shriveled hands. It was 1:49 a.m.
"I am just now starting to feel my
toes," Lipp said last Wednesday af
ternoon.
At the hospital the men were
placed on heating pads and wrapped
in warm blankets to try to raise their
body temperatures. They were kept
for about four hours.
For Lipp, it was a bittersweet
feeling being released from the hos
pital. All of his belongings were on
the boat. He has no home in Bruns
wick County. Margaret and Wood
row Hewett, parents of James Mii
lis, invited Lipp to stay with them.
They are just thankful that their son
is alive.
"We just couldn't turn him
away," said Woodrow Hewett, who
has worked on dredge boats.
"The ocean is fine if you're on a
mighty big boat and can stay within
sight of land," Hewett said. "With
12-foot seas, it's going to take a
mighty big boat to make it through
that."
As for Lipp, he hopes to find an
other job. This lime on land.
"I don't know what I'll do," Lipp
said. "I really don't. I need to find
another job. I don't care what type
of job. My id's are left at the bottom
of the ocean. My eyeglasses. I lost it
all."
He has no clothes, no money and
no job.
Ms. Hewett said she hopes peo
ple will offer Lipp some help by
calling their home at 754-9141.
"I've got to get back on my feet,"
Lipp said. "I've been down before,
but not like this."
THE BRUNSWKK&BEACON
Established Nov. 1, 1962
Telephone 754-6890
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY
One Year $10.30
Six Months $5.50
ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA
One Year $14.80
Six Months $7.85
ELSEWHERE IN U.S.A
One Year $15.95
Six Months $8.35
Second class postage paid at the
Post Office in Shallotte, N.C.
28459. USPS 777-780.
SWF rHOTO BY TERRY POPf
NAPOLEON BAREFOOT JR. (left) takes the oath of office from his father, Barefoot Sr., during the
swearing in ceremony last Wednesday. Holding the Bible is Barefoot's wife, Kelly.
REX GORE ASSUMES DA'S POSITION
Judge's Swearing-in A Family Affair
BY TERRY POPE
Like father, like son. Napoleon
"Poli" Barefoot Jr. took the oath of
office last week and became the new
13th Judicial District Court judge.
Administering the oath was his
father, Napoleon Barefoot Sr., who
is chief resident Superior Court
judge for the 5th Judicial District in
New Hanover County.
"I think that's probably some
thing that's very unusual, -very
unique," said Superior Court Judge
Giles Clark, who opened court last
Wednesday in Brunswick County
just for the swearing in ceremony.
Earlier Wednesday Shallotte at
torney Rex Gore
was sworn as
new district at
torney for the
13th District, re
placing Michael
Easley of South
port. Gore won
the scat in No
vember over Ta
bor City chal
lenger Frank
Stanley. Easley chose not to run for
rc -election.
Barcfoot's family, friends and fel
low county employees crowded into
the courtroom. It was standing room
only as home video recorders taped
the event and cameras flashed.
With his immediate family by his
side. Barefoot became Brunswick
County's only resident judge. He
and his wife, Kelly, live in Old
Towne near Leland. Barefoot has
served as assistant district attorney
in Brunswick County since March
1984.
Barefoot was appointed by Gov.
Jim Martin in November to fill the
unexpired term of Judge William
"Bill" C. Gore Jr., who was elected
to a newly-created seat on the 13th
Judicial District Superior Court
bench. The 13th District include
Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen
counties.
Gore, a Columbus county resi
dent, was sworn in at the Columbus
County Courthouse Wednesday
morning. He had to resign his posi
tion as District Court judge before
taking the oath.
Barefoot joined former District
Attorney Michael Easley's officc in
1984 after two years of general
practice in Hyde County. He is a
graduate of Wake Forest University
law school.
"1 would just 'ike to thank the
people who helped me obtain this
position," Barefoot said afterward.
"I will do my very best to be fair
and impartial."
Barcfoot's appointment is for two
years. Last Thursday, he held a Dis
trict Court child support session as
his first duty and was scheduled to
hear three days of criminal court
this week in Brunswick County.
"I'm very happy that he has re
ceived the honor," Clark said. "I be
lieve the people of this district will
be lucky to have him."
Clark has presided over Superior
Court cases in Brunswick County
while Barefoot has been the prose
cutor on a number of occasions
since 1984.
"Some of those cases have been
the most serious of nature," Clark
added. "In my observation, he has
done his job in the most competent
manner. I've never known him to
ask for anything in a case except
that it be done in a fair manner."
Jn another decision affecting the
13th Judicial Disuict, Judge D. Jack
Hooks Jr. of Whiteville has been ap
pointed chief District Court judge
by Chief Justice James Exum.
Hooks will replace Judge Gore.
Hooks was appointed a District
Court judge by Gov. Martin in April
1985. He was certified by the N.C.
Administrative Office of the Courts
for hearing juvenile court cases in
September 1987 and was re-elected
without opposition in 1988.
Hooks is a graduate of Whiteville
High School and graduated from the
University of South Carolina with a
B.A. degree in journalism. He re
ceived his law degree from Camp
bell University School of Law in
1980.
Rex Gore previously served as
assistant district attorney in Bruns
wick County. He will replace Eas
ley, who ran for the U.S. Senate last
year instead of seeking re-election
to the DA's office.
Easlcy will be going into general
law practice with his wife, Mary P.
Easlcy, Roy Bain and Mary Eliza
beth Wcrtz. The law firm has offices
in both Wilmington and Southport.
(Continued From Page 1-A)
access area. Town Administrator Linda Fluegel said the
town's engineer will work with architect Ken Cates,
who drafted the original design for the project, in de
veloping specifications.
The town plans to advertise bids for various facets
of the project, subcontracting rather than hiring a gen
eral contractor. This will give the town more flexibility
in budgeting should local economic conditions worsen.
The town could interrupt the project at any point if the
funds were needed to avoid a tax increase next year, for
example, she said.
Plans for the 100-foot wide lot include some park
ing, a drop-off station, bike racks, covered and uncov
ered observation decks accessible to the physically
handicapped and an acccssway leading to the beach
strand. The N.C. Office of Coastal Management is to
survey the lot and determine the dimensions of the area
available for use by the town under CAMA regulations.
Other Business
In other business the board:
? Heard from auditor John Carraway that the town is in
good financial condition and that the audit was easier to
complete this year due to improvements in data han
dling. The town had an excellent tax collection rate of
99.25 percent, he said.
? Voted to continue not paying dues to Cape Fear Area
Council of Governments (COG) and to continue revert
ing funds to the state rather than to COG. The decision
came after Roscann Mack, acting COG director, asked
the town to reconsider its position and presented infor
mation on services offered by the local COG. Town
council members said they wanted to continue as is,
giving as one reason that the COG merely duplicates
sci vices provided by o'uici agencies.
?Tabled a request from the N.C. League of
Municipalities seeking a contribution to the Jake
Wicker Scholarship Fund.
?Set a public hearing for Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. or. a re
quest by Bud Scrantom, a member of the board, to
withdraw the last 30 feet of Stokes Drive, a dead-end
road that runs by his home. If the request is approved,
the land would be divided by the adjoining property
owners.
? Set a joint session with the planning board for Jan. 31
at 10 a.m. at the town hall. Council members allocated
one hour each to discuss a proposed community facili
ties plan and a resolution of consideration to annex that
includes the Sugar Sands area of Seatrail Plantation.
?Following an executive session, hired Lisa Hoagland,
who has completed a 12-month new hire probationary
period, as a permanent, full-time officer on the recom
mendation of Chief J.B. Bucll.
Search For Plane Continues
U.S. Coast Guardsmen and
Marine Corps pilots continued to
search late Tuesday evening for a
single-engine airplane believed to
have crashcd near Frying Pan
Shoals at the mouth of the Cape
Fear River with two men thought to
be on board.
"We are still out there," Dale
Putman, a boatsman's male first
class at the Oak Island Coast Guard
station, reported around S p.m.
Tuesday. "A crew has just complet
ed one of its search patterns and
they're ready to go back out. There
have been no changes, yet."
The two men were on a Cessna
172 plane that was reportedly lost
off of radar around 5:30 p.m.
Monday. The plane took off from
the Brunswick County Airport near
Oak Island around 4:20 p.m. and at
last reports was about 10 miles
northeast of the Cape Fear at Frying
Pan Shoals.
Officials at New Hanover County
Airport lost all radio contact with
the plane around 5:30 p.m. when
weather conditions grew worse. No
distress signals were issued by the
pilot before the plane disappeared
off radar, but checks with local air
ports indicated the plane had not
landed in the area.
The U.S. Coast Guard Operations
Center in Portsmouth, Va., immedi
ately ordered two 82-foot search
vessels to the area from Morehead
City after being notified by Federal
Aviation Administration officials an
hour after the accident
"We also have a 44-foot boat out
there searching," Putman said.
Also joining the search was a
Coast Guard cutter. Point Brown,
from the Fort Macon Coast Guard
Station and a 44-foot motor life
boat from the Wrightsville Beach
Coast Guard Station. H^copters
from the Elizabeth City Coast
Guard Station were also called in to
aid in the search.
Two Marine Corps helicopters
from Cherry Point Air Station also
searched Tuesday as temperatures
never got out of the 40s.
The National Weather Service
had issued a gale warning for
Monday evening, when the plane is
believed to have gone down in the
Atlantic. Sustained winds were esti
mated between 39 and 54 mph and
continued into Tuesday, hampering
rescuers.
The Guardsmen were searching
for survivors or debris possibly
caused from a downed plane in an
area ranging up to ID miles off the
coast. Putman said crews will work
through the night if weather per
mits. The helicopters spent most of
Monday night on the ground be
cause of poor weather conditions.
"However, they're back out there
this morning," Putman said Tuesday.
The plane was not believed to
have been carrying an emergency
locating transmitter which emits a
radio signal in an emergency. The
devices activate themselves in the
event of a crash or landing in water.
Coast Guard stations reported they
have not received such a distress
signal in the area.
DA Chooses Bollinger
Shallottc attorney Lec Bollinger
has been named as the county's new
assistant district attorney.
He was chosen last week by Dis
trict Attorney Rex Gore to fill the
position left vacant when Napoleon
"Poli" Barefoot Jr. resigned to take
his appointed seat as a 13th Judicial
District Court judge.
A 1989 graduate of Campbell
University law school, Bollinger has
worked in general practice for the
law firm of Anderson and McLamb
in Shallottc since August 1989. It
was his first job out of law school.
Bollinger graduated from Lum
bcrton Senior High School in 1981
and from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985
with a degree in journalism and po
litical science.
"I will be exclusively, and I use
that term loosely, in Brunswick
County," Bollinger said Tuesday. "I
will be working primarily in the
Brunswick County office in Boli
via."
The 13th Judicial District in
cludes Brunswick, Columbus and
Bladen counties. Bollinger was in
Columbus County Tuesday morning
training in District Court.
He will handle court dockets in
Brunswick County court involving
criminal, juvenile and child support
sessions. Bollinger is expected to
prosecute cases in District Court for
nine months before becoming eligi
ble to prosecute Superior Court cas
es.
While in general practice for 16
months, Bollinger also acccptcd
criminal court cases.
He is married to Yulanda Bollin
ger. The couple have two children,
Chelsea Thomas and Hannah Re
becca, and live in Shallotte.
Board Puts Off Debate
(Continued From Page 1-A)
board itself, rather than one mem
ber, Slockett, has yet to be contact
ed directly by Mrs. Rogers or her
lawyer.
Slockett has said the board erred
and should attempt to remedy the
situation.
Monday night Slockett said Mrs.
Rogers would like the board to ex
tend an invitation to her to discuss
the matter.
Most of Monday's meeting was
devoted to a scries of program re
views and minor items of business.
Other Business
In other business the board:
?Received but did not discuss the
school system's first "report card"
from the N.C. Department of Public
Instruction, which ranked the
Brunswick County Schools as "sub
par" in relation to systems of simi
lar size and socioeconomic advan
tages.
Superintendent P. R. Hankins re
fused to release the report to The
Brunswick Beacon Monday or to
discuss its contents, saying he did
not want to violate a state-imposed
Wednesday release date. The report
is intended to provide a means for
measuring a system's performance
and improvements from one year to
the next. The N.C. Press Asso
ciation filed a complaint this v-eek
in Wake County Court seeking to
have report card data for all systems
released immediately on the basis
that they arc public documents.
?Agreed to pay half the $4,000 cost
of Shallotte Middle School teacher
Gwen Causey's People To People
goodwill visit to the Soviet Union
and Finland April 13-27. Mrs.
Causey, a former Brunswick County
Teacher of The Year, teaches a self
contained fourth grade class. On the
trip with fellow Teachers of the
Year from across the state she will
meet with educators, visit schools
and teacher training institutions and
attend diplomatic briefings. Upon
her return, she will serve as a re
source for fellow educators.
?Took no action on naming the
new elementary school to be built at
Supply, but mentioned four names
under consideration: Central Bruns
wick, Doe Creek, Roys! Osk and
Supply. Royal Oak is the name of
the waterway that runs through the
school site.
? Delayed action on a request from
the Future Farmers of America
award-winning hunter safety pro
gram of the West Brunswick High
School agriculture program for per
mission to shoot on campus. While
supportive of the request, Chaiiman
Donna Baxter said the board attor
ney would need to draft a policy.
The proposed shooting range for ri
fles, shotguns and bows and arrows
would be located to the right and
rear of the football field, about 450
yards from any school buildings. It
would be used for practice and for
holding competitive events. Now
students must be transported by bus
off-campus for such events.
? Approved Southport Elementary
School teachers Sandra Kaufhold
and Martha Pickard presenting a pa
per in February to the Eastern
Education Research Association an
nual conference in Boston, Mass., at
a budgeted cost of S789 each. The
paper will discuss a pilot teacher
training project with the University
of North Carolina at Wilmington
now in place at the school.
?Tabled appointment of a represen
tative to 'he county's Emergency
Medical Services Advisory Board.
- Concurred with Chairman Donna
Baxter's appointment of Polly Russ
and Robert Slockett to a liaison
committee with the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners.
? Heard Ms. Baxter appoint Yvonne
L. Bright to work with Super
intendent P.R. Hankins in setting up
a workshop for board members.
? Heard a report from Assistant
Superintendent William Harrison on
the staff's long-range planning ini
tiative, with the board chairman and
possibly other members planning to
participate. The board also heard
updates on the Reading Recovery,
substance abuse prevention educa
tion and D.A.R.E. programs.
? Approved routine personnel ac
tions taken by staff.
? Voted to request extension of
county water service to Union
Primary and West Brunswick High
schools. The county hired an engi
neering firm Monday to design an
extension of the water system in
that area.
Firings Are Overturned
(Continued From Page 1-A)
tenancc employees were also called
in to work the emergency.
Water System Director Jerry
Webb said the men were told by their
supervisors to talk to him if they
would not be able to work. Webb
said he wasn't contacted by the men,
who were given 12 hours to pmvide
reasonable excuses. He said the bro
ken pipe had to be quickly repaired
because the county was facing a pos
sible 510,000 a day fine for polluting
the Cape Fear River.
Interim County Manager Clcgg
said he upheld Webb's decision to
fire the men "based on the testimony
I received at tlie hearings." Accor
ding to the county personnel policy,
a grievance must first be taken to a
hearing before the county manager
for a ruling. If the party involved is
unhappy with that ruling then he or
she may take the grievance before
the board of commissioners.
Commissioner Gene Pinkerton
said that based on testimony pre
sented to the board there were "tre
mendous differences in the way the
personnel were treated" within the
water department.
It was revealed in testimony by
Robinson that a water employee who
walked off the job early on a Friday
was given a verbal warning while he
and Russ were fired following a
three-day suspension for not working
on a Saturday on short notice.
Pinkerton made a motion to rein
state the two men with full benefits
as of Tuesday morning. It passed
unanimously. When asked about
back pay and vacation pay, Chair
man Holden told the employees that
the motion didn't address that issue.
Robinson said he told his fore
man, Jerry Ferguson, that he could
not work the emergency because he
had scheduled an appraisal out of
town on that particular Saturday
that could not be canceled on short
notice. When he returned to work
after his three-day suspension, Rob
inson was told he had been fired.
'This kind of thing has been go
ing on and going on and nothing's
been done about it," Robinson said.
"There's a lot of maintenance in the
Brunswick County water system be
sides these five men."
Russ told the board, 'There's a
lot that's been going on that people
don't realize. 1 feel like we got a
bad deal out of it."
In other business Monday, com
missioners:
? Appointed board members Jones
and Pinkcrton to serve on a liaison
committee with two members of the
Brunswick County Board of Educa
tion.
?Appointed Earl Andrews to the
Brunswick County Register of
Deeds Advisory Board on Shaw's
motion; and approved these appoin
tees recommended to the board, with
the parties ihey are to represent, Jan
et Shires (Brunswick County Bar
Association); Joan Thorpe (Bruns
wick County Board of Realtors);
Tom Morgan (Waccamaw Chapter of
Surveyors) and William D. Carter
(Register of Deeds office).
?Appointed James Payne, Shallotte
attorney, to the Southeastern Mental
Health Advisory Board on Jones'
motion. He replaces Rex Gore, also
of Shallotte.
?Reappointed Clyde Babson to the
Brunswick County Alcoholic Bev
erage Control Board on Pinkerton's
motion.