Rescue Of ALS Program To Include Improvements In Records, Retraining
BY SUSAN IKUFD .:c . r ' ? * ? ? ...
BY SUSAN USHER
If a two-pronged effort pays off as hoped, Brunswick
County's advanced life support (ALS) program could
rclum to full service by the end of October, three
months after operation was suspended.
Before local emergency personnel will be allowed to
resume providing advanced services, iwu tilings .r.usi
happen: the local program must be recertified by the
state, and local emergency service providers must be
recertified as Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
l's.
The pace at which the program will return to opera
tion hinges in part on whether the N.C. Board of Med
ical Examiners approves recertification plans for the lo
cal program when it meets Sept. 16.
State, regional and local emergency services officials
outlined those plans at a meeting with county rescue
and emergency service providers last Thursday night.
The proposal calls for more extensive documentation of
? AM*! aI ??* AM Unl Inr
pUJIVIVO, piuvvuuivo uiiu guiuviilivj, ?w
ord-keeping, and some retraining of all emergency per
sonnel.
Officials with the state office are working with local
program personnel to restart ALS services as quickly as
possible; even so, the process is expected to take at
least several months, possibly longer.
'They're doing everything they can to bring us back
on line," said Doug Ledgett, county supervisor of emer
gency medical services.
He later added, "It's been a learning experience. We
should have a stronger program as a result."
Until the ALS program is recertified, rescue workers
nrr. txick to using basic life skills when responding to
emergency calls. They are not allowed to use defibrilla
tors, devices used to shock trauma victims, or to start
intravenous medications.
The advanced program was suspended Aug. 4 after
state auditors discovered that program training records
were insufficient to document whether rescue workers
had received the training they needed to use advanced
life-saving techniques in the field.
Since then the county has fired its training coordina
tor and is seeking to hire another.
Technical specialists from the N.C. Office of
Emergency Medical Services will meet with local pro
gwm officials Sunday to clarify the roles and responsi
b'lities of all parties involved in the ALS program and
to help develop the documentation needed of how the
system will actually function day to day. Program lead
ers, providers in the field and students enrolled in class
es will know what is expected of them.
(See ALS, Page 2-A)
TH r L .VICK#BEACOM
Th.ri.eth Year, Number 42 Shollotte, North Corolinq, Thursdoy, August 20, 1992 50c Per Copy 34 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Inserts
STAFF PHOTO BT MAJUORIfc MfcGTVtKN
DR. RAIJ'H JOHNSTON, following Friday's action by the
Brunswick County Board of Education to hire him as superinten
dent of schools, speaks to administrators and staff members, as
School Board Chairperson Donna Baxter listens.
Johnston Gets Nod
As Superintendent
BY MARJOR1E MEGIVERN
Hie meeting room ai Brunswick
County Board of Education was
packed to capacity with well
dressed, coiffed and perfumed
school administrators and central
staff.
It was 5:30 p.m. Friday, time for
the big announcement so long await
ed, as to who would succeed P.R.
Hankins as superintendent of the
county school system when he re
tires in October.
After many weeks of screening
applications, selecting 13 semi-final
ists and finally interviewing four of
these. Dr. Ralph Johnston, superin
tendent of Kannapolis City schools,
was the choice.
Johnston's contract details were
confirmed in a 20-minute executive
session, while the expectant crowd
munched cookies and sipped punch,
waiting for the other shoe to fall.
Rumor had already pegged this man
as the winner, but an official vote
had not been taken.
School Board Chairperson Donna
Baxter called for the vote in public
session, and Johnston was unani
mously named to the position, thcr.
introduced to his roomful of col
leagues and employees. He spoke
briefly from prepared notes, the
meeting adjourned, and everyone
lined up to shake hands with the
new boss.
Why this choice? What stood out
about Ralph Johnston, some school
board members were asked. Baxicr
said he exuded a kind of strength
and ability. "I was impressed with
his experience in other systems," she
said, "and he just seemed to be gen
erally an okay person."
Board Member Doug Baxley got
more specific. "He has real organi
zational skills, and from his answers
to questions it's apparent he has a
philosophy of education," he said.
"It's very helpful that he has experi
ence in the media, too. And 1 like it
that family means a great deal to
him."
Johnston's family orientation
made a hit, too, with Board Member
Polly Russ, who had beamed
throughout his remarks. "1 think he
will provide a good role model for
family values," she said. "Also, he
believes strongly in community in
volvement; he'll be active in civic
Armoni-jatiAnc
(See NEW, Page 2-A)
ZONING ORDINANCE UNDER REVIEW
Boards Nix 5-Acre Lot Minimum
BY ERIC CARLSON
A proposal to require a 5-acre minimum lot
size for homes in rural areas of Brunswick
County was quickly rejected Monday as county
commissioners and planning beard members be
gan modifying a draft zoning ordinance.
At the latest in a series of joint zoning work
shops, County Planner John Harvey also present
ed a proposal to create a special district that
would protect the water quality of l-ockwood
Folly River.
In the "agriculture" zones that make up most of
Brunswick County, Harvey's proposed zoning or
dinance would have required that anyone desiring
to build a home or set up a trailer have a mini
mum of five acres of land with a lot width of at
least 250 feet.
As drafted, the ordinance defines land in the
agriculture zone as being "primarily intended to
accommodate uses of a rural agrarian nature," in
cluding (but not limited to) farm residences and
farm tenant housing. It would permit such princi
pal uses as farms, single-family homes, churches,
public utilities, golf courses, airstrips and camp
grounds.
Copies of the proposed zoning ordinance arc
available for public inspection at the Brunswick
County Planning Department The next joint
workshop on the plan will be 4 p.m. Monday,
Aug. 24, in the Public Assembly Building of the
Brunswick County Government Center at
Bolivia.
During Monday's discussion, the members
modified the ordinance to require only one acre of
land for each dwelling unit and a minimum lot
width of 200 feet.
In an interview Tuesday, Harvey said he was
disappointed that the 5-acre lot requirement was
rejected. He said the proposal was intended to
prevent uncontrolled high-density development of
farmland in an effort to maintain the present char
acter of Brunswick County's rural areas.
"This is totally counter to what we ought to be
doing," Harvey said.
Brunswick Commissioners Chairman Kelly
Holden had expressed concern that the 5-acre lot
requirement would prevent 2 farmer frorn deeding
a small plot of land to a family member to build a
home. Other commissioners and planning board
members agreed that the requirement was too re
strictive.
The members also discussed ways of prevent
ing a major hog-processing operation from locat
ing in the agricultural zone without also restrict
ing such low-impact, farm-related activities as
crab shedding and fish farming. Harvey was
asked to draft suitable language allowing "agri
cultural industry" for consideration at the next
workshop.
The proposed requirement of a 20-acre mini
mum lot size for cemeteries also was modified.
Holden pointed out that there were numerous
family cemeteries throughout the county situated
on less than one acre of land. The members
agreed u> exempt private vvnivtcrics and apply the
minimum only to commercial burial sites.
Several additional uses were added to those
proposed for the agriculture zone including bed
and-breakfast homes, hunting clubs, commercial
docks and boat houses and retail sales of items
grown on the premises.
New planning board member Marion R.
Warren of Asli, who was sworn into office at the
workshop, questioned the need to include "private
clubs" as a permitted principal use in the agricul
tural zones.
'There are only two kinds of private clubs in
Ash," Warren said. "Shot houses and hunting
clubs."
Warrrn also onno<a?/1 Harvev's cu curst ion that
?? r ~ * uu
"mud bogs" be permitted only on adbptcd thor
oughfares as defined by the thoroughfare plan.
"You ever been to a mud bog, John?" Warren
asked. "It's an event where people go to watch
vehicles run up and down through the mud.
"The only place you can have one is where you
have enough land to ruin and enough area to al
low people to watch them ruin the land," Warren
said. "You've got to stick them out in the middle
of nowhere. It wouldn't be economically feasible
to put a mud bog on a major thoroughfare."
Harvey called himself a "city man trying to
deal with subjects I don't know about" He admit
ted that he had never been to a mud bog.
At the next joint workshop, members will con
sider the "residential strip" zone located along
most major roads throughout rural areas of the
county. The designation is intended for "low-tk
(See BOARDS, Page 2-A)
Sheriff, Board Clash Over Night Hours
BY ERIC CARLSON
A member of the Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners Monday threatened to lake back
money allocated to Sheriff John Davis for the hir
ing of two new deputies if he refused to staff his
department's front office 24 hours a day.
Davis yesterday said that unless the commis
sioners want to hire additional personnel for the
job, he would not rescind his decision to keep on
duty deputies patrolling at night instead of "sit
ting around the office answering the telephone."
In an Aug. 4 letter to Commissioners Chairman
Kelly Holden, Davis said that after attempting to
comply with the board's request for full-time
staffing of the office, he had determined that do
ing so "is not cost effective or good law enforce
ment procedure."
At its final budget workshop June 8, Davis
agreed "under protest" to the board's request for
round-the-clock staffing after Holden insisted that
the sheriffs department ought to be a "safe
haven" where victims of violence could run for
nrniectinn.
Davis told the commissioners that to comply
with the board's request he would have to reduce
from four to three the number of deputies pa
trolling the county. He said the situation would
leave deputies without backup in an emergency.
"It's against my better judgement, but it will be
24 hours a day if that's the way you want it," he
told the board.
Davis "has not held up to his word," Holden
said at Monday night's commissioner's meeting.
"At the time he wanted us to approve his budget.
Now he's changed his mind."
"It doesn't seem fair to me," Commissioner
Gene Pinkerton said Monday. "The sheriff made
a commitment and then didn't keep it."
Noting that "the number of battered women in
this county would shock you," Pinkerton said the
sheriffs office had to remain open as a place to
flee for victims of domestic violence. He recom
mended that the board consider passing a budget
amendment to defund two positions previously
approved for the sheriffs department
"I'd say take the sheriff back too, but he's an
elected official," Pinkerton said.
Davis said Tuesday that the two new deputy
positions had been filled and that he would make
other adjustments to his budget rather than lay off
personnel.
'They are elected to run the county and set my
budget," Davis said. "I am elected to protect the
people of Brunswick County with what they give
me. If they reduce my budget 1 will continue to
do the best I can with what I've got."
Davis said that although the doors to the sher
iffs department are locked at 5 p.m., a magistrate
remains on duty inside and can let people in at his
discretion. He said the arrangement was the only
way he could adequately maintain road patrols
while still providing a secure place for the magis
trate.
Commissioner Frankic Rabon suggested at
Monday's meeting that County Manager David
Clegg look into modifying the sheriffs office
with bullet-proof glass to protect the magistrate
while leaving the front door unlocked. Davis said
he would support such an action.
In other business the board:
/f -. ? o?ir?r>?r?rtr n-.- * \
V^cc Jiiuixir i- j, a age 4.-n ;
Weekend Storms Create Problems For Farmers, Vacationers
BY SUSAN USHER
If people seemed to be squinting as well as smiling a
lot Tuesday, it probably was because they hadn't seen
sunshine in days.
Stormy weather dumped from 5 inches to 1 1 inches of
rain across the county from last Wednesday through
Tuesday morning, wreaking havoc with vacationers'
plans, contributing to a rash of minor highway accidents
and causing new worries for some local farmers.
The rainfall pattern was almost a "reversal" , of the
heavy rains experienced in June, when rains werc^avi
est in the southwestern comer of the county, said Milton
Coleman, county extension chairman
While weather watcher Jackson Canady recorded 6.75
inches at Shallotte Point, Coleman said as much as 11.1
inches of rain had fallen between Snowfield and Maco
in northern Brunswick County.
"It's been tough," said Coleman. "All we can hope is
that we'll have a good fall garden season.
"There's been as much variation ou! there as I've, ever
seen," he continued." "There are some folks with as good
a crops as I've ever seen and some other people who
have just struck out."
Some tobacco crops have already been declared a dis
aster by crop insurance adjusters, but for others, said
Coleman, the unusual early rains provided a chance to
experiment with management practices such as sucker
control.
Typically Brunswick County gets heavy rains this
time of year, normally a time when most crops arc ma
ture or have been harvested. This year, though, some
fanners planted soybeans late, after June 15, gambling
on a late frost
"I'd like to sec it go into November," said Coleman.
"A week can make a big difference."
The most imminent danger is from heavy winds
blowing over ciops and trees standing in saturated
ground. The wetness is also making fruits and vegeta
bles more susceptible to splitting disease and insects.
Some of the damage farmers may experience follow
ing this most recent rain may relate back to damage re
ceived earlier. The June rains destroyed tobacco plant
root systems, causing them to build new systems during
the hot, dry portion of the season when they usually rely
on deep roots to sustain growth.
"It took a lot out of them," said Coleman.
Adding nitrogen after the rain and putting the tobacco
into a growth mode may have made the situation worse.
Farmers still harvesting tobacco are seeing tissue de
terioration where leaves connect to the plant stem, with
heavy rains enough to knock leaves off the plant to the
ground where they were then subjected to sun scald
Tuesday.
The rains are also affecting soybeans fields where
weed control herbicides have been diluted by the rains
and weeds are shooting through the canopy. Coleman
vsssHmxwKF'* ism
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHH
BEFORE HEAVY RAINS set in, workers were cropping tobacco in this field near Regan at a steady
pace. Agriculture officials aren't certain what effect the heavy rains (6.75 inches in five days at
Shallotte Point) will have on this year's leaf harvest, already expected to fall short of the 1991 harvest.
said growers may tiave limited options for additional
weed control either because they can't get equipment in
to sodden fields or can'i afford to spend any more on
management, given the price forecasts for their crop.
Farmers weren't the only people caught out in the
weather.
On the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Holden
Beach, a family of vacationers sought refuge Saturday
afternoon when a fierce afternoon storm caught them on
the water in a small, uncovered boat
Frank and Gail Williamson of Lumberton and their
three children left Holden Beach Marina for Shallotte
Point in a 16-foot open boat to check the finals of the
Poor Boy Shark Tournament.
However, between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., a fierce af
ternoon thunderstorm moved to shore from the south,
from over the water, with hard-hitting rains, high winds,
thunder and lightning.
"It was so bad they knew they had to do something,"
said Carolyn Sweatt. "They tied up ?? the closest dock,
which was ours, and were hovering on our patio below
the house wailing for the storm to pass.
"They were just drenched," she said. The Sweatts
chatted with their unexpected guests and when the storm
let up, her husband, Edward, took Mrs. Williamson and
her two youngest children to the marina, while
Williamson and his oldest boy went back by boat.
"Boaters arc always glad to help other people," said
Mrs. Sweatt. "You never know when you're going to
need help."
Ruby Oakley, spokesman for the N.C. Highway
Patrol's Wilmington office, said the weather was a fac
tor in approximately 70 accidents troopers responded to
this past week, mos'Jy fender-benders with minor dam
age or personal injury.