*- Swing Time...
\ ? Big band sounds will again
r" highlight the annual Charity
Ball. Page 8-B
Grudge Match
The Trojans have a new coach
at the helm for their first
home game Friday, 11-B.
supplement included in this issue
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HOAG & SON
P.O. BOX 1
SPRING PORT
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BOOK BINDERY
4 Sections Including Supplement, 2 Inserts
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Some Guiding Arms
Kyla Williams discusses her breakfast order with Waccamaw School cafeteria manager Sharon Long,
as her kindergarten teacher Louise Gause gives a little help. More photos and story about schools'
opening, Page 14- A.
Residents , Visitors
Fmnnthize, Share
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With Storm Victims
BY LYNN CARLSON
Mary and J.R. Legg weren't the only Brunswick
Countians feeling heartsick and helpless as they watched
televised scenes of Hurricane Andrew's devastation.
But they were among the first to do something.
Within three hours of Mary's telling her husband, "I
wish there was some way we could help," the seed of
their idea had germinated to become a relief effort in
volving five churches, a rent-free Shallotte storefront, a
donated telephone line and a free-of-charge 18-wheeler
which in a few days will truck as much as 510,000
worth of food and other supplies to South Florida.
The churches have set up a collection site for hurri
cane relief supplies in the old Community Grocery space
next to McDonald's in Shallotte. On Monday afternoon,
the Leggs and their two young children were the sole
staff of the sweltering storefront, which was filling up
with baby care items, paper products, clothing, canned
goods, pet food, bouled water and the other everyday
products folks tend to take for granted until they're no
longer available.
Her enthusiasm undaunted by the oppressive heat of
the room, Mary said people had been stopping by all day
to see what was needed, later coming back with grocery
sacks full of goods just purchased for the effort. A doc
tor's office sent a case of baby formula. A motel sent a
load of pillows and bedsheets. A woman whose house
had burned ? "who is just getting back on her feet and
knows what it's like to be wiped out" ? shared what
canned goods she could spare from her own pantry.
"She said she wanted to give what she could," J.R. ex
plained.
The project, sponsored by five churches ? New Cov
enant, New Life Assembly, Seaside Christian Fellow
ship, Lighthouse Mission and Oak Grove Baptist
Church ? will remain in place for the next few days,
when there's enough to fill the tractor trailer truck that
will pick up the goods and deliver them to one of two
Baptist churches in Miramar and Coral Ridge, Fla., for
distribution.
J.R. arranged for the truck and fuel from Inway
Trucking of Ohio, for which his father works. Inway is
covering the truck expenses and has a full sheet of vol
unteer drivers willing to haul the goods to Florida with
out pay.
The church-sponsored project has linked with at least
one other relief effort, started by the staff of Bruns
wickland Realty at Holden Beach. "People have been
bringing stuff by all day," said Bonnie Cox on Monday
afternoon, when a former U-Haul truck storing the con
tributions was already filling up. Meanwhile, inside the
office, Teresa Reinitz answered a steady stream of
phone calls from people interested in giving. Cox said
plans had been made to transfer the donations to have
them trucked down with the supplies being collected in
Shalloue.
She accepted a load of bed linens Monday afternoon
(See LOCAL, Page 2-A)
H
Groups Lobby Against Bird island Development
BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN
A flock of Brunswick County residents don't
know it, but their homes may be threatened with
extinction, in the face of plans to build a bridge
right in their front yard, however, some of their
friends have rallied to protect their interests. These
friends swarmed the peaceful scene Tuesday,
looking for signs of the hapless residents.
The scene is Bird Island, a barrier island joined
to Sunset Beach by acres of wetlands, home to at
least 20 bird species, the aforementioned resi
dents whose habitat and the entire island are
owned by Janie Pace Price of Greensboro.
Price earlier this year requested state permis
sion to build a 2300-foot bridge and a 3,140-foot
causeway from Sunset Beach to the island, pro
viding automobile access. She plans to divide the
island into 15 parcels of land on which residences
could be built, each with its own septic tank.
It is these plans that drew five or six boatloads
of people Tuesday to cruise the waters surround
ing the island, gather information about the area,
then meet to discuss possible state actions and
other ways to preserve this wildlife habitat.
Sponsored bv the Sunset Beach TaxDavers
Association and the North Carolina Coastal
Federation, the Bird Island field trip was open to
about 35 invited guests, including representatives
of those groups and the media, State Rep. David
Redwine (D-Brunswick), Preston Pate of the
state's coastal management division, and Walker
Golder of the N.C. Audubon Society.
It gave participants a close-up look at the wet
lands and their wildlife inhabitants, after which a
gathering was held in the home of William
Ducker on Sunset Beach. There, the group heard
comments from Golder, Todd Miller of the
Coastal Federation and Redwine. Golder spoke of
the island's value to its bird population and said
man's intrusion there could be destructive to
wildlife. Miller pointed out what he called detri
"There's not been any
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/'w just interested now in
getting the permits"
? Janie Pace Price
mental effects of Price's proposed plans. 'There
is even the general health hazard that could come
from building a permanent structure across Mad
Inlet," he said 'This could increase any storm
surge in the event of hurricanes."
Other impact described included the loss of a
quarter-acre of wetlands from the bridge con
struction alone, and contamination of nearby wa
ters for shcllfishing.
The N.C. General Assembly approved
Redwine's recent resolution to order a feasibility
study by the Department of Environment, Health
and Natural Resources (DEHNR) regarding the
state's possible purchase of Bird Island. A report
on this study will be brought to the legislature in
May, but support for state purchase was strongly
promoted Tuesday among field trip participants.
Redwine said, "I would like to see the island
preserved as it is, but I also respect the rights of a
properly owner. Whether or not Mrs. Price builds
a causeway and bridge, I'd like to see the state
buy the island. When I talked with her in 1986,
there was no interest at all in that, but recently I
spoke to her about it again and she seemed
amenable to selling it. However, she wants to go
through the permitting process."
Price said Tuesday afternoon, however, that
she never spoke to Redwine about a sale.
"There's not been any offer for the property, and
I'm just interested now in getting the permits,"
she said, declining to comment further.
When property has been designated an Area of
Environmental Concern, as is true of Bird Island,
any development requires permits from the
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days. However, the clock was stopped on Price's
application process in order for her to provide fur
ther information to the state.
Issues that are addressed in reviewing a permit
application include impact on wedands, concerns
about threats to endangered species, evaluation of
alternatives to the proposed project, stormwater
management and consistency with the local land
use plan. Sunset Beach's land use plan has clas
sified Bird Island for conservation, but, according
to Town Manager Linda Fluegel, that would not
prevent development there.
Ducker said the objective of Tuesday's meeting
was to garner financial and other support for a
purchase of the island, perhaps by a coalition of
state, federal and local governments. Golder said
that, should Price decide to sell, Bird Island might
become the property of the Audubon Society or
some other private conservation organization.
Among the species of wildlife seen on the field
trip or known to nest on the island are the logger
head sea turtle, piping plover, egrets, gulls, sand
pipers, black skimmers and least terns. In addi
tion, a rare plant, seabcach amaranth, is found on
the western end of the island. Its value lies in its
potential as a crop plant, as it has high nutritive
content and can grow in saline environments.
Scientists are researching its development as a
crop and its use in Ethiopia.
Agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, submitted reports to the U.S.
Corps of Engineers, regarding the value of this
barrier island, one of two remaining undeveloped
barrier islands in southeastern North Carolina.
They urged that permits for the project not be
given.
PHOTO COU*TSSY SHAUOTTE fOUCE
THIS WOMAN is alleged to have been involved in a flimflam op
eration last Wednesday in Shallotte. The photo was captured on a
security camera at NationsBank.
Flim-Flam May Have Cost
Elderly Woman Her Savings
Orton Landowner
Objects To
Zoning Plans
BY FRIC CARLSON
One of the owners of environmentally sensitive
Orion Pond Monday asked Brunswick County of
ficials to include the property in a zoning district
which prohibits private homes but allows mining,
power plants, slaughterhouses, incinerators and
hazardous waste dumps.
Laurence Sprunt of Wilmington, a member of
the family that owns the Orton Plantation and sur
rounding lands, said at a joint workshop of the
county commissioners and planning board that he
was "shocked" to find that the proposed zoning
ordinance had included the property in an agricul
tiiroi jonc. He complained thut thic c!csi^T!3tir*n
"would severely limit the use of the land."
In an August 12 letter to County Cor
missioners Chairman Kelly Holdcn, Sprunt saia
he "strongly opposed" the proposed land classifi
cation and asked that no zoning be established.
"If zoning is mandatory, we request that all of
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water. This is similar zoning as that adjoining us
to the south (Sunny Point and others)," Sprunt
said in the letter.
The draft zoning map includes the Ortcn lands
in a zone now termed "rural." Such zones are in
tended "to preserve and encourage the continued
use of land for agricultural, forest and such open
space purposes as swamps and other wetlands"
and "to discourage scattered commercial and in
dustrial uses."
County Planner John Harvey said he had in
cluded the area in the rural zone because of the
environmentally sensitive nature of Orton Pond,
the county's largest freshwater lake.
Harvey said his intent in creating a rural indus
trial (RU-I) zone was to create "the ugliest zone
ever written," where "generally adverse uses"
rmilH he permitted The. 7nne snerifirallv permits
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agricultural industry, mining and generating facil
ities and would allow animal slaughtering opera
tions, hazardous materials treatment facilities and
"incineration facilities including for human and
animal life forms."
The zone prohibits "any form of residency or
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or fireman housing unit" if the occupant can be
shown "to be sufficiently protected from any ad
verse affects the principal use might generate or
emit."
As designated on the zoning map, the proposed
RU-1 zone is bordered on the south by the City of
Southport's extraterritorial zone and on the north
by the Orton lands. The zone encompasses the
Brunswick Nuclear Plant and the Military Ocean
Terminal at Sunny Point.
Sprunt gave no indication that he planned a use
for the property that would require such a zoning
designation. He left the meeting immediately af
ter making his request and refused to comment
further about it
In his letter to Holden, Sprunt also noted that
the proposed zoning map includes portions of the
Orton lands in a residential zone. He referred
specifically to an area just north of the Sunny
Point main gate on N.C. 133 and N.C. 87.
Harvey said the designation reflects recent resi
dential development that has occurred along the
highways. "The current residential development
of others arrived after our lands were designated
industrial and I see no reason why our adjoining
land should be downgraded to residential," the
letter said.
(See ZONING, Page 2-A)
BY DOUG RUTTER
Shalloue Police Tuesday contin
ued investigating a flim-flam opera
tion that may have cost a local
woman her life savings last week.
Chief Rodney Gause said police
are looking for two young black
women who they believe swindled
an elderly lady out of all the money
she had in the bank.
The 68-year-old woman told po
lice she had just finished shopping at
Wilson's last Wednesday when a
young black woman approached her
in the parking lot and asked if there
were any apartments in the area.
Another young black woman
walked up to the two and told them
she had just found $68,000. She of
fered to give them $400 each if they
didn't tell anyone, according to a re
port filed by Shalloue Dec Carey
Gaskins.
The elderly lady said she didn't
want the money. However, the other
black woman said she would take
the cash to a nearby law office
where she worked to see if it was re
al.
When she returned, the woman
said the money was real and sug
gested it be divided. She said each
woman should get $20,000 and the
attorney should receive 58,000.
The elderly woman told police
that she went to the downtown
branch of NationsBank to withdraw
all of her money for collateral, with
the woman who allegedly found the
money.
When they returned to the parking
lot, the elderly woman said she de
cided not to take her share of the
(See WOMEN, Page 2-A)
Some Local Town Halls
To Be Open Labor Day
While most government offices will be closed Labor Day, Sept. 7,
town hails at two local beaches will be open for the convenience of non
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Town halls in Shallotte, Calabash and Holden Beach will be closed
Monday, while those at Sunset Reach and Ocean Isle Beach will be
open.
All offices at the Brunswick County Government Center will be
closed Labor Day, as will local financial institutions.
TV U.S. Postal Service will offer box service only for mail. Rural
sad wir-dev.* service be available.
Neither the county nor local municipalities plan any change in trash
collection schedules over the holiday. The Brunswick County Landfill
and convenience stations will be open on the usual schedule.