Education Activist
A former teacher tries a
positive approach to school
improvements, Page '"A
Little Angler
Why is this child smiling? See
fishing news and Dhotos,
Pages 10-c & 11-C
M 12/31/99 t * PO IE ^mm
HO AG & SONS BOOK BINDERY III I*
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Thirtieth Year, Number 38
He's Hooked!
Local youngsters take their
first trip to the links. Story and
photos, Page10"8.
em? THf uwswa bcacon
Shallotte, North Corolino, Thursday, July 23, 1 992
50 c Per Copy
38 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Inserts
Worker Is
Hurt In Fall
At BCC Site
BY ERIC CARLSON
A worker fell through a hole in
the roof of a four-story auditorium
under construction at Brunswick
Community College Monday, suf
fering back and arm injuries, accord
ing to Brunswick County Emergen
cy Management Coordinator Cecil
Logan.
The injured man. Hank Wilson,
38, of Fayetteville, had to be hoisted
back onto the roof and lowered to
the ground by crane. Stairways have
been installed only as far as the sec
ond floor, while ladders are used to
reach the third floor, Logan said.
Co-workers said Wilson had been
installing smoke vents ?? about 9:30
a.m. when he suddenly fell about 10
feet to 12 feet to the third floor,
landing landed on a metal grating.
He did not lose consciousness, but
complained of back pain, Logan
said.
Personnel from the Coastline and
Town Creek rescue squads deter
mined that Wilson could not be tak
en down the ladders because of his
apparent back injury.
Instead they secured him to a
backboard, which was then fastened
to a Stokes basket, a protective met
al cradle frequently used in moun
tain rescues. Wilson was the? hoist
ed back to the roof.
The basket was sccurcd to a
wooden shipping pallet, which was
lowered to the ground using the
roofing company's crane. Wilson
was taken by ambulance to The
Brunswick Hospital, where he w?
listed in satisfactory condition.
Wilson is employed by Tar Heel
Roofing, Inc., of Fayetteville, a sub
contractor on the construction pro
ject.
'Showdown'
Predicted
Over LUP
BY ERIC CARLSON
Brunswick County is "headed for
a showdown" with the N.C. Office
of Coastal Management over the
state's insistence that the county in
clude Bald Head Island and Vam
amtown in its nearly completed land
use plan update.
If forced to comply with the
state's requirement, the county
would have to spend an estimated
$30,000 in additional planning fees
and v/culd net be able io ir.ee: the
deadline for the county plan, County
Manager David Clegg told the
Board of Commissioners Monday
night.
To comply, the county would
have to contract with a planning
consultant and "start from scratch"
the lengthy process of research,
workshops and public hearings re
quired to complete a land use plan
for the two areas, Clegg said.
"Both Vamamtown and Bald
Head Islanri have their own unique
piu'ulcuis,* Ciegg toid the board, "I
think it's inappropriate for Bruns
wick County, which has no jurisdic
tion and no zoning of its own, to
purport to establish land use classifi
cations in those municipalities."
Bald Head Island and Vamam
town have told the state they want to
do their own land use planning and
have applied for grants to do so,
Those applications have been de
nied.
"I think its an outrageous situa
tion," said County Planning Director
John Harvey. "The state approved
planning grants for Belville and
Calabash and Bolivia, and they're
miles from any sensitive coasdines
or estuaries."
Bald Head Island has unique mar
itime forest areas and miles of
beachfront property and has made
strict land use planning a primary
goal, Harvey noted. Varnamtown is
located on the Lockwood Folly Riv
er, which is under heightened envi
ronmental scrutiny, he said.
cflirt haH written c^vpwi
4?0 ? ? ? ?? ?*? ?
letters to the state in an effort to
reach a compromise on the matter.
(Se? SHOWDOWN, Page 2-A)
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS help rescuers use a crane to lower
an injured fellow employee from the roof of the new Odell
Williamson Auditorium a t Brunswick Community College Monday
morning.
Holden Loses Power Sunday
inc Moiacn Beach area lost pow
er for approximately 2 1/2 hours
Sunday morning because of a faulty
relay.
"Everything ?n the imrncdinic
Holden Beach area, including the is
land, was affected," said Bobby
Gore, operations manager with
Brunswick Electric Membership
Corp.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 cus
tomers lost electricity at Holden
Beach, Windy Point and Oxpen and
along Seashore Road and part of
DnnA Don/?
t tflUVII UVMVll i\wuu.
"That's probably a conservative
figure," Gore said of the estimated
number of affected customers.
"That's an approximate."
Power went out around 8:30 a.m.
Sunday and was restored about 2
hours, 35 minutes later.
Gore blamed the outage on a
faulty relay. Relays are used to pro
tect transformers.
It look time to restore service be
cause tests had to be done before the
transformer could be re-energizMf
Goic saiu.
BCC Buildings Going
BY SUSAN USHER
When faculty, students and staff
arrive at Bnmswick Community
College Sept. 2 for fall quarter regis
tration, they'll be returning to
smoke-free buildings at all three
campuses.
Complaints about smoke probably
account for the largest number of
comments the school receives in its
suggestion boxes, President Michael
Reaves told trustees last week.
A smoking area will be designat
ed outside each building in a cov
ered area under the policy adopted
last Wednesday that was first intro
duced about six months ago.
Citing faculty and student con
cerns about health hazards associat
ed with secondary smoke, he said
the new policy is especially appro
priate since the college expects to
begin offering a respiratory therapy
program in 1993.
In conjuncuon witn the new poli
cy, he said BCC also hopes to offer
wellness-related assistance, such as
smoking cessation and weight con
trol programs, working with local
health educators.
In moving to smoke-free build
ings, BCC won't be alone among
the state's 58 community college
campuses, he said. Some campuses
have adopted designated smoking
areas, while others will be looking
to see how BCC's approach works.
BCC currently has designated
smoking areas within each building
on campus, but that hasn't eliminat
ed problems with secondary smoke.
In the student center, for instance,
one area is designated non-smoking
and another smoking. However, be
cause of the shared ventilation sys
? ? n Daa..aa "vr
iuii, aoiu (\uivva, n y\j u ?">< i iukw ui
thai stiulenl center. vou're iiisl poina
? # * "*?0
to have smoke."
Because smoke travels, there will
be no smoking in the buildings
whatsoever. "If you smoke in the
[Schools Ask $1.25
| Million To 'Enter
Computer World'
BY marjorie megivern
AND ERIC CARLSON
With such pleas as, "It's a computer world. They
! must be available to our children," and "We've got to
| bite the bullet," the Brunswick County Board of
' Commissioners was asked Monday to enter into a lease -
purchase agreement on behalf of the school system, to
j equip every county school with computers.
ScinXn systems an: not penmiieu i u enter inio such
agreements.
The SI. 25 million cost would be repaid over five or
I six years, at $250,000 per year, out of the half-cent sales
I tax allocated to schools for construction and equipment
I School Finance Director Rudena Fallon said Brunswick
County schools receive about $1.5 million in sales tax
money annually. Already in the new budget is $250,000
designated for computers.
Fallon, Management Information Systems
Coordinator Liz Locus, Superintendent of Schools P.R.
Hankins, Supply Elementary Principal Carolyn
Williams School Board Chairperson Donna Baxter and
Member Polly Russ, were all vocal in pleading for a
crash program in computer literacy for the school sys
tem.
| Locus told commissioners that state guidelines now
require a skill level by the year 2,000 that would mean
this year's fifth graders will need to pass a computer lit
eracy test in order to graduate. "I strongly urge you to
think where you want Brunswick County students to be
compared with other counties," she said. "Right now,
we're not sitting very pretty."
Currently, there are 301 functioning computers in 1 1
schools, with approximately 29 students per computer.
Locus reported. They are allocated as follows. Bolivia
Elementary, 15; Leland Middle, 25: Lincoln Primary, 9;
North Brunswick High, 28; Shallotte Middle, 34; South
Brunswick High, 46; South Brunswick Middle, 26;
Southport Primary. 25; Union Primary, 8; Waccamaw
Elcmemsry, 35; aiai Wcsi 5:uuswick High, 50.
She is asking for labs in each school, with a network
of 25-30 stations in every lab and a school wide net
work. Supply Elementary would be the model school,
with five computers per classroom and a 15 -station com
puter lab.
Establishing these labs and equipping classrooms
would require $70,000 per school. In addition to pur
chase of computers, the program would require the hir
ing of a countywide staff to implement it. Locus said.
This would include a K-12 coordinator, who would es
tablish software for the curriculum area and help estab
lish model classrooms, and three regional cumputer spe
cialists, one in each district, to recommend software and
do troubleshooting. Their salaries would not come from
the $1.25 million requested.
Staff development would also be necessary, some
thing Locus said the K-12 coordinator could plan.
Hankins pointed out that in a society "riddled" with
computers, the county system is falling behind, doing
computer work iit piecemeal fashion.
(Set COMPUTERS, P?f? 2-A)
Police Bust Two Theft Rings
Blamed For 39 Break=!ns
BY ERIC CARLSON
Six men have been arrested on
multiple felony charges and tons of
stolen goods have been recovered in
two continuing investigations that
police believe will clear up at least
39 recent household burglaries in
Brunswick County.
Bmnswick County Sheriffs de
tectives have been gathering evi
dence for several months in hopes of
arresting members of these two theft
rings, Chief Detective Capt Phil
Perry said Monday.
One group of three men struck
homes mostly in the Winnabow
area, while the other three stole from
homes around Holden Beach, Sunset
Harbor and in the town of Long
Beach, he said.
"It's just a coincidence that both
these cases came together at the
same time," said Sheriff's Depart
r? ? r r* .? tm ? ? r?_ _ . ??T.
incill uiici jxuxiivc rim rcujr. xi
was a very busy couple of days."
Charged in the Winnabow break
ins were Tracy Lee Simmons, 24,
Michael Aaron Rousell, 20, and
Victor Lamar Simmons, 20, all of
Winnabow.
In the other break-ins, police have
charged Timothy Lynn Barnes, 24,
of Supply, Jesse Lee Tipton, 33, of
Snaiioue and Wiiiiam Chesney
Payne, 20, of Shallotte.
At around 7:30 a.m. Sunday de
tectives executed a search warrant at
a home on Caison Loop Road in
Winnabow, Perry said. There they
found what was believed to be a
large amount of stolen goods includ
ing nine guns, a stereo with speak
ers, a neon sign, a videocassette
recorder, a microwave oven, an air
conditioner and a w?>er pump.
Many of the items were installed
for use in the home, including the
front door, said investigating
Detective Charles Miller.
"We were pulling stuff out of
there until two o'clock in the after
noon," said Miller. "We took every
thing from the bathroom sink to the
carpct CTi uiC floor.
Also seized in the search were
two marijuana plants, several types
of prescription drugs and various
iiciTiS of uTug puiapiieniaiut, saiu
narcotics Detective Kevin Holden.
Police believe most of the items
were stolen during break-ins at a
florist shop, the local VFW post and
three homes in the Winnabow area.
Other items are thought to have been
taken during two break-ins in West
Virginia, Miller said.
Also confiscated in the Winna
bow search was an interstate traffic
control light from Huntington,
W.Va.
Authorities in West Virginia are
considering charges against at least
one of the men arrested here
Sunday, he said.
Roussell has been charged with
four counts of felonious breaking
and entering, two counts of possess
ing stolen goods, possession of bur
glary tools, and sp.vpral <*rug
charges. He is being held in the
Brunswick County Jail in lieu of a
$30,000 secured bond.
Tracy Simmons was charged with
five counts of felonious breaking
and entering and larceny and several
drug charges. He has been jailed in
lieu of a $101,000 secured bond.
Victor Simmons was charged
with two counts of felonious break
ing entering. He was released on a
$10,000 bond.
Dcuxiives Miiier and Ken Messer
are continuing their investigation in
to the case and may file additional
charges against all three men. Perry
said.
In the other investigation, Barnes,
Tipton and Payne have been charged
with numerous counts of felonious
bieakirig ;.<_nd entering, according to
investigating Dcicctivc Gene A.
(See GOODS, Page 2-A)
Smoke-Free With Fall Term
hall or foyer it doesn't just stay
there," he said. "It goes every
where."
Most of the buildings already
have an outside site suitable for des
ignation as a smoking area, but
Reaves said a gazebo or some other
covered area will probably be con
Suuctcd for she classroom building.
While noting thsi smokers nefd to
be treated as fairly as possible.
Chairman David Kelly agreed with
the change in policy. Citing an ex
ample at CP&L's headquarters
building in downtown Raleigh, he
said, 'This (a smoke-free environ
meni) is the workplace a lot of our
graduates are going into."
The policy recommended by
Reaves was adopted with only one
"no" vote from Charles (Chuck)
Lanier. Supporting Jamie Milliken's
motion were David Kelly, James
Rsbcn A! Woolen Malcolm Gris
seu. Donna Baxter, Jimmy Hobbs
and SGA President Cindy LcVas
seur, an ex -officio board member.
While a survey conducted earlier
i
in the year noted that a significant
number of BCC students do smoke,
LeVasseur of Jacksonville uoesn t
anticipate problems with the new
policy.
"I feel like as long as the students
are given a place to smoke that
keeps them out of the weather that
would make them happy," she said.
BCC's main campus is located or.
U.S. 17 north of Supply. It also has
satellite campuses in South port and
Leland.
BCC isn't the first public facility
in the county to move to a smoke
free building environment The
Brunswick County Public Schools
system no longer allow smoking in
its buildings. The first to adopt no
smoking puiicies were the county's
two hospitals. The Brunswick
County Health Department has
adopted a no-smoking policy, and is
encouraging the rest ot county gov
ernment to do the same.