Safe Containing $4,000
Stolen From Shoe Store
A safe containing approximately
$4,000 was stolen from a Shallottc
shoe store early this week after a
back door of the shop was pried
open with a crowbar.
Shallottc Police DcL Tom Hunter
said Pic N Pay Shoes at Twin Creek
Plaza was broken into between 6
p.m. Sunday and 9:15 a.m. Monday
and the safe was stolen.
Hunter said the thief or thieves
used a crowbar to open a back door
that had two dead-bolt locks and an
alarm on it.
The detective said the door alarm
apparently didn't work. Hunter said
an alarm on another back door of
the store functioned properly when
he tried it Monday morning.
Shallottc police on duty Sunday
night didn't hear an alarm, Hunter
said, and the back of the store is lo
cated near residences on Smith Ave
nue. "I feel quite sure somebody
would have heard the alarm if it
went off," Hunter said.
Hunter said an empty cardboard
box had been placed over the safe lo
hide it from view, and the safe was
bolted lo the floor. "Whoever broke
in knew what they were after," he
said.
All but approximately $900 of
the stolen money was cash; the rest
of the money was in checks.
"As far as we can determine, the
safe is the only thing that was tak
en," Hunter said, adding that the
safe was 12 inches by 14 inches and
about 2 1/2 feet tall.
Hunter said he didn't know the
weight of the safe, but he said it had
to be lifted over several boxes when
it was removed from the store. He
said it didn't appear that the safe
had been dragged across the floor.
Since the safe probably was car
ried, Hunter said he thinks more than
one person was involved in the theft
The detective said the sale appar
ently was taken out the back door to
the north end of the shopping center
building and loaded into a vehicle.
A crowbar was found at the end of
the building where the vehicle was
apparently parked.
At the crime scene Monday, Hun
ter said he had discovered some
physical evidence, but no finger
prints. "I think they wore gloves,"
he said. "I'm not finding anything,
not even smudges."
County tscapes Sunday Storm
Brunswick County homeowners
cscapcd a nasty wind and rain storm
Sunday with only minor property
damage, while a tornado touched
down and damaged mobile homes
in neighboring Columbus County.
The only damage reported locally
was a porch and chimney knocked
oft a building in the Holden Beach
area and several toppled trees, ac
cording to a spokesman for the
National Weather Service in Wilm
ington.
The spokesman, who refused to
give his name, said Brunswick
County and several other counties
were under a tornado warning for a
45-minute period Sunday and a tor
nado watch most of the day.
The storm dumped about two
inches of rain in most areas, the
spokesman said. Wind gusts up to
49 mph were measured at Holden
Beach Town Hall Sunday at 1 p.m.
With the storm behind them,
Shallouc area residents should enjoy
mild weather over the next few days
with temperatures slightly above av
erage and near normal rainfall.
Shallotte Point meteorologist
Jackson Canady expects tempera
tures to range from the lower 40s at
night to the mid-60s during the day.
The area should receive about one
half inch of rainfall over the next
few days.
For the period Feb. 26 through
March 4, Canady said the average
daily temperature was 52 degrees,
which was about two degrees above
normal.
The daily average high during the
period was 62 degrees and the aver
age nightly low was 43 degrees.
Canady said the maximum high
temperature during the period was
71 degrees on March 1. The mini
mum low was 27 degrees on Feb. 27.
The meteorologist measured 2.13
inches of rain during the seven-day
period at his Shallolle Point resi
dence.
Crematorium Opposed
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Moore presented the petition to
commissioners.
"We feel that it is not necessary
and that it is unsafe," Moore said.
'To him (Currie) it might not be be
cause he doesn't live in Brunswick
County. He lives in New Hanover
County. There's no need for it here.
Put it in his own backyard because
we don't need it."
One resident questioned if the
permit could later be amended to
bum medical wastes. Diane Holland
said she and her husband owns a
home and 14 acres about 150 yards
from the construction site. She told
commissioners that her husband
now maintains the road on which
the plant will be built.
"Now we have this to worry
about," Ms. Holland said. "We just
don't want it there. There's too
much at risk."
Sixty-two year old Billy Henry
said he has lived in Town Creek his
entire life.
"I don't know how bad it will be
or how good it will be," Henry said.
"We have a good community and
we'd like to keep it that way."
Holding up a map of the pro
posed site submitted to the state,
Steve Wall questioned how it came
to be located between property he
owns and a tract owned by his
brother. The map isn't accurate, he
indicated.
"It's just not right, folks," Wall
said. "I've never spoke like this in
front of anybody, much less the
board of commissioners."
Charles Pruchard said he moved
to Brunswick County in 1959 and
said he has children he would like
to grow up in an area free of pollu
tants.
"It's a beautiful place," Pritchard
told commissioners. "Don't let it
happen."
Roger Hewett said he owns 13
acres adjacent to the proposed site.
He predicted that land values in the
area would depreciate as a result of
the crematorium.
"I guess we're the ones that are
stuck with the land," Hewett said.
Commissioner Gene Pinkerton
said he would like for all of the com
missioners to attend the public hear
ing if one is scheduled by the state.
"People are asking that we help
them," Pinkerton said. "I think all
commissioners should make a spe
cial effort to attend."
I 1
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STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG (tUTTEt
SHALLOTTE DET. TOM HUNTER (left) and Officer Michael Ferster are investigating the theft of a
safe from Pic N Pay Shoes. The safe contained about $4,000.
BUILDINGS SIT EMPTY
State's Wait On Sewer Plant
Frustrates County Officials
BY TERRY POPE
A new $1.3 million Department
of Social Services building has been
completed ahead of schedule, but
that won't help county officials who
are anxious to move into the facility.
The county's building schedule
has raced ahead of its sewer plant
expansion project, which should be
finished next month.
It is the third building project that
has been completed n the govern
ment complex in Bolivia but must
remain vacant until the county's
new wastewater treatment plant is
ready to use.
The state has also kept the county
from using a $512,000 Brunswick
County Jail expansion that was
completed before Christmas. Coun
ty Manager David Clegg said it has
been frustrating to have the new jail
sit empty while the older facility is
currently overcrowded with prison
ers.
"It's been a frustrating experience
for me, the sheriff and the county
engineer," Clegg said. "We have
gone back and forth with this thing."
The 2,700-square-foot addition to
the jail will add 20 cells and 34
bunks plus a dayroom and exercise
room for female inmates. The 34
additional bunks will increase the
jail's capacity to 78 inmates.
The State Division of Facility Ser
vices mandated that the county build
the jail expansion to relieve over
crowding. The original jail was built
when the county's population was
about half what it is now, Clegg said.
"They weren't telling us anything we
didn't already know," he added.
The county had to resubmit plans
to the state, causing a delay in re
ceiving a permit for the new waste
water treatment plant. The jail pro
ject proceeded several months
ahead of those plans. The county
thought it would still be allowed to
open the jail expansion without hav
ing the sewer plant completed.
"We're dealing with a classic ex
ample of one hand not knowing what
the other hand is doing," Clegg said.
"It seems to me that the state ought
to be able to help us a little bit"
"It's been a frustrating experience for
me, the sheriff and the county engineer.
We have gone back and forth with this
thing."
? David Clegg
Brunswick County Manager
Clegg said the county argued that
the population of the jail would be
the same whether the jail expansion
opened or remained closed. Its im
pact on the county's faulty septic
tank system, which is now being re
placed, would be the same, county
officials argued. The county has
reached the limit on the amount of
waste being pumped into its sewer
system at the complex.
"They're telling me I've got to
slack them (prisoners) up," Clegg
said. 'There's going to be just as
many people put in jail thir weekend
whether the plant is ready 01 not."
The new wastewater treatment
facility is being built behind the
government complex and will be
surrounded by an earthen bcrm. It
will use a spray field to dispose erf
treated wastewater. The plant win
include two lagoons, one for 30-day
chlorination treatment and the other
for storage until the treated wastew
ater is sprayed on about 5 acres of
nearby wooded property owned by
the county.
The $276,000 system has held up
the use of about $2 million in new
government buildings. When com
pleted, the plant, being built by Car
michael Construction Co., will be
operable for about 10 to 15 years.
"It's not like wr: were saying that
we would build it someday," Clegg
said. "We were building it. To me
the issue was, arc there going to be
more people using it. It's just one of
those bureaucratic glitches."
County officials are also ready to
move into a 2,800-squarc-foot addi
tion to the Operations Services, Solid
Waste and Engineering building at
the complex. Two departments.
Clean County anil the Department of
Aging, which arc now housed at the
old Brunswick Community College
building in Supply, will be moving
into the building as soon as the sewer
plant is in operation.
The S80.000 addition will also
give additional space to the Engine
ering Department and provide a
conference room for the five depart
ments that will share the building.
Department of Social Services
Director Jamie Orrock said he ex
pects his department to move into
the new DSS building within the
next four months.
"I think, in all likelihood, it will
be two or three months," Orrock
said. "Mid-May at the best."
The building will contain about
six hallways for the various offices
that comprise the department The
DSS board, which now uses the
county commissioners' chambers,
will also be getting its own meeting
room, Orrock said.
"It's going to be some adjustment
for all of us," he added. "From the
workers' prespective, it'll be great.
They'll finally be getting some pri
vacy. There are a lot of good things
to look forward to."
Clcgg said he hopes to start mov
ing the department next month, with
the help of the N.C. Department of
Corrections, which will provide
manpower to move furniture and
files.
"We're blessed that the projects
arc taking less time than anticipat
ed," Clegg said. "I'd rather have
buildings wailing on a sewer system
than the other way around."
Redwine Seeks Parties' Ideas
(Continued From Page 1-A)
ers pay a homeowner a certain sum
each month, with an agreement the
money would be repaid when the
houses are sold or the homeowners
die.
"This might be a way for older
citizens to avoid losing their homes
because of financial difficulties,"
said Redwine.
He will also support a bill that
would allow the governor to appoint
the state's appellate court judges,
with confirmation by the General
Assembly. Noting Chief Justice
James G. Exum Jr.'s comments
about "the increasingly political na
ture of judicial campaigning," Red
wine added, "I believe an appointed
appellate court is a step in the right
direction."
Kedwine does not plan to support
a bill that would remove the present
18 percent cap on interest rates on
credit cards. Should banks raise the
interest rate to 21 percent, he said, it
would cost consumer another S50
million a year in additional intcrst
charges.
Redwine has not taken a position
yet on Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner'? bud
get plan, which calls for decreased
state spending and possibly some
job shifts or layoffs of state workers
rather than a tax increase.
Redwine said the legislature's
staff hasn't had time to analyze all
of this proposal, so at this time he is
uncertain of its full effects.
The proposal includes these key
points: a 10 percent increase each
year for two years in tuition at state
universities for in-state students and
a 20 percent increase for out-of-state
students; a 10 percent increase in
community college tuition each year
for 10 years; closing eight regional
education centers; reducing state
funding for local school districts by
15 percent; finding driver education
from the highway fund instead of
the general fund; reducing temporar
ily the amount the state pays into its
retirement fund by S53 million.
Also, money now spent on the
Basic Education Program in the
public schools would be redirected
to a Children's Education Improve
ment Fund to be awarded to school
districts as block grants. Another
S23 million (or says Redwine, more
likely SI 25 million) for the state's
employee health plan.
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Annexation
(Continued From Page 1-A)
postpone a vote on the resolution,
they agreed with her suggestion to
noio a workshop on the proposal. A
dale for the special session wasn't
set Monday night.
Mrs. Atkins specifically objected
to a section of the resolution that
says "priorities of island residents
regarding environmental concerns
may often differ considerably from
priorities of mainland residents."
She said it's not fair for island
residents to suggest that they care
more about the environment than
mainlanders. "The people on the
mainland make a living in the river
so they are concerned about what
we do to their river."
Mrs. Bryan said she believes is
landers are more concerned about
island environmental issues than
mainland residents, and vice versa.
"This was not meant to insult any
body on the mainland," she said.
Ms. Atkins also said the resolu
tion should be written so commis
sioners would be required to hold a
referendum if landowners presented
them with a petition. That way, she
said a vote could be initiated by the
town board or the people.
She also said the resolution
should address absentee ballots,
which the town has not been set up
to handle in past elections. Com
missioner Bryan said absentee bal
lots would be accepted if an annex
ation referendum was held.
Commissioner Buck, who was
Holden Beach's administrator when
annexation was first discussed in the
early 1980s, said he doesn't think the
matter should be left up to permanent
residents alone because all home
owners have something at stake.
"I am in full support of the reso
lution," Buck said. "Annexation is a
major factor affecting all property
owners."
Town Attorney Kenneth Camp
bell, who drafted the resolution at
the board's request, said state law
isn't designed to allow non-resident
property owners to vote at Holden
Beach. He said those property own
ers wouldn't be allowed to vote on
annexation without the special leg
islation.
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TeleDhone 754-6890
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Shallotte, N.C. 28459
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