In The Doghouse...
The health board says okay to
a proposed countywide leash
law. Page 3-A
THE
Thirtieth Year, Number 46
Talkin' Trash...
Big Sweep '92 is set for
Saturday throughout
Brunswick County. Page 13-A
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12/31/99 **P0
HOAG & SONS BOOK BINDERY
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Not Just For Kicks
Local high schools prepare
for soccer's second season
here. Page 10-B.
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Shollotte, North Carolina, Thursday, September 17, 1992
36 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Inserts
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STAF F PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHEI
STUDENT COUNCIL members join Principal Carolyn Williams (center) Tuesday morning in cutting the first of two ribbons at the dedi
cation of Supply Elementary School on Benton Road. From the left are Brittany Rae Sellers, Whitney Lee Sellers, BA. Price, Blake Stone,
Williams, Kristen Price, Shawn Lennon and Joshua Sellers.
Speakers Challenge Public To
Share Vision Of Better Education
BY SUSAN USHER
Brunswick County dedicated a new school
Tuesday morning, a school intended to challenge
educators, lure youngsters into learning and spark
a vision among their elders of a better education
for all county children.
Nearly 700 Supply Elementary students, plus
their teachers, school system and other public of
ficials and parents turned out to celebrate the
opening of Brunswick County's 12th school with
speeches, two ribbon cuttings and a close-up look
at the school.
One speaker after another ? Board Chairman
Donna Baxter, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Bob Etheridge and superintendent
elect Ralph Johnston ? challenged listeners to
grasp the vision of a new future in education for
Brunswick County represented by the new struc
ture and praised the commitment to education
from taxpayers and public officials alike they said
it represents.
Etheridge described the school as having been
built "for youngsters who will live in the 21st
century" and who will be required to have much
more education than is now needed in the work
place.
"It is said that home is where the heart is. I be
lieve also that school is where the future is...in the
face of every child." For a good future, he said,
youngsters need not only safety aiiu a good home,
but a good education.
Baxter likened the school to the ninth, most
powerful wave in the ocean cycle. "We need to
prepare now to catch that wave and ride it to
shore," she said. "I challenge you not to stop
now."
Some of the same students who got to help
break ground for the project a year ago returned
Tuesday as student council members to cut the
first ribbon, each keeping a bit of the ribbon plus
a gift from Principal Carolyn Williams as me
mentos of the occasion.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Bob
Etheridge and Rep. E. David Redwine joined
school system officials in cutting a second ribbon.
Also participating in the program were the
Rev. Gregory Hewett, the West Brunswick High
(See SUPPLY, Page 2-A)
Judge Dismisses Suit Against CP&L
BY ERIC CARLSON
A Superior Court Judge in Bolivia last week
dismissed a discrimination suit filed by a former
Carolina Power and Light Company employee
who claimed he was unfairly dismissed because
of a handicapping condition brought on by de
pression and stress.
The lawyer for Thomas S. Corbitt Jr. of
Yaupon Beach, who filed the suit against CP&L
last March, said Tuesday he was not surprised by
the ruling and will take the case to the N.C. Court
of Appeals.
"Frankly, I feel the judge was flat wrong.
There's no question that we will appeal," said
Wilmington attorney William R. Shell.
Corbitt was a CP&L employee for 1 1 years. He
was the senior energy information specialist and
director of the visitors center at the Brunswick
Nuclear Steam Generating Plant when he was
fired Oct. 31, 1991 after two successive unsatis
factory job performance reviews.
The suit claims that in the two years before his
termination, Corbitt had grown increasingly de
pressed and withdrawn, a condition blamed in
part on medication prescribed to reduce his blood
pressure and because of a severe illness afflicting
his son.
At the same time, the suit says CP&L carried
out a major reorganization that decreased
Corbitt's salary while increasing his responsibili
ties. Both factors increased his level of stress and
aggravated his depression, the suit says.
Corbitt's suit claims that he had been a legally
handicapped person since he was put on the blood
pressure medication in August, 1989. As such, the
suit claims the company's firing of Corbitt was a
violation of the N.C. Handicapped Person's
Protection Act.
(See APPEAL, Page 2-A)
Local Hatching Of Rarest
Sea Turtle Said First In State
BY DOUG RUTTER
Brunswick County sea turtle watchers witnessed his
tory recently when nearly 50 Kemp's Ridley sea turtles
hatchcd from a nest on Long Beach.
It was the first documented hatching of the rarest of
sea turtles on the North Carolina coast, according to
state wildlife officials.
"We were very excited when it hatched," said Tina
Pritchard, coordinator of the county Turtle Watch pro
gram.
"It's wonderful to see loggerheads," she continued.
"But after all these years, it was great to see something
different."
Local turtle watchers saw 48 Kemp's Ridleys emerge
from a nest on the east end Long Beach in late August.
The adult female had been spotted and photographed
as she began nesting on June 17, according to the N.C.
Wildlife Resources Commission.
The first 36 hatchlings emerged from the nest Aug.
26, and an additional 12 stragglers emerged one or two
at a time during the next four days.
Pritchard said the Kemp's Ridley nested at the east
end of Long Beach after coming ashore June 17 around
1:30 p.m.
Unlike the larger loggerheads that commonly nest on
local beaches, Pritchard said Kemp's Ridleys are green
and tlatter and nest during the day.
Also, the female turtles usually nest in groups, instead
of individually like the loggerheads.
Pritchard said adult Kemp's Ridleys weigh between
80 and 100 pounds, and the babies are ilat and round
and have beaks.
One of the hatchlings at Long Beach died and has
been preserved for the N.C. Museum of Natural History,
said Theresc Ann Conant, sea turtle project coordinator
for the state's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife
Program.
Earlier this summer, she said, 61 Kemp's Ridley sea
turtles were hatched at Litchfield Bcach in northern
South Carolina.
The Litchfield and Long Beach Kemp's Ridley hatch
ings are the first ever to be documented along the
Atlantic coast
However, immature Kemp's Ridley sea turtles have
been sighted along the North Carolina and South
Carolina coastline.
(See RARE, Page 2-A)
SAYS ' POLITICS 7 TO BLAME
HI RHP Hprirl f>nv$
Commissioner
Asked Him To Quit
BY ERIC CARLSON
The chairman of the Brunswick
County Resources Development
Commission, a registered Democrat
said Tuesday he was asked to resign
because of "politics" by Gene Pink
erton, a member of the all-Rcpub
lican Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners.
A. Baxter Stirling, chairman of
the RDC since 1987, said in a Sept.
9 letter to fellow commission mem
bers that "at the request of Com
missioner Pinkerton I have agreed to
'step aside' as a member of the
Resources Development Commis
sion."
Stirling said in his letter,
"'Politics' was the reason given for
his request as Mr. Pinkerton added
that Commissioner Holden had
wanted to remove me at the last
meeting but he (Mr. Pinkerton) wan
ted to tell me in person first. I did
not ask where the other three com
missioners stood on this matter but
the implication was that it was unan
imous."
Pinkerton is out of town this week
on business and could not be
reached for comment
Brunswick Commissioners Chair
man Kelly Holden said in an inter
view Tuesday he had read Stirling's
letter and felt that his charges were
unfounded.
"It's not true," said Holden.
"Gene didn't say that and I didn't
say that. I have never requested that
he be removed from the board. No
one forced Baxter from the board.
He took himself off."
But Stirling Tuesday stood by his
allegations, saying Pinkerton had
asked to meet with him and specifi
cally asked Stirling 10 "step aside."
He said Pinkerton told him the rea
son was "politics." He declined to
elaborate on the conversation except
to say, "Those were the words he
used."
Stirling said he was "a little bit
surprised" by Pinkerton's request,
but admitted that he had "heard rum
blings in the jungle." He said he had
not planned to step down before
meeting with Pinkerton.
"It's a little irregular to ask some
one to step aside before their term
ends," Stirling said.
Stirling's term would have ex
pired early next year. However,
Pinkerton has decided not to run for
re-election. So, under normal cir
cumstances he would not have been
able to choose Stirling's successor.
Commissioners Frankie Rabon and
Holden also have decided not to run.
At the most recent Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners
meeting Sept. 8, Pinkerton an
nounced that Stirling had resigned
"I have never
requested that he
be removed from
the board. No one j
forced Baxter from
the board. He took
himself off."
? Kelly Holden
and nominated Republican John
Ramsey to complete his term. The
appointment was approved by a vote
of four to one, with Commissioner
Donald Shaw dissenting.
A minute earlier, Pinkerton had
joined Commissioners Jerry Jones,
Rabon and Holden in voting down
Shaw's re-appointment of Democrat
V.A. Creech Jr. to the RDC. Shaw's
second nomination of Republican
James Marlow was unanimously ap
proved.
Also re-appointed without dissent
were Republicans Don Hughes, who
was nominated by Pinkerton, and
W. Scou Irby, nominated by
Holden.
The Resources Development
Commission is a non-profit econom
ic development agency of the county
headed by a director and supervised
by an 11 -member board. Members
of the RDC serve at the pleasure of
the board of commissioners.
Stirling is senior vice-president of
the United Carolina Bank in
Southport. He was appointed to the
commission in March, 1987, by
Democratic Commissioner Jim
Pool. He was named chairman in
September, 1987, and re-appointcd
to a second term by Pinkerton.
Inside ...
Birthdays 2B
Business News ... ? . ? .9C
Calendar of Events ......6A
Church News 10A
Classified J ~8C
Court Docket IOC
Crime Report ?9A
Entertainment .SB
Fishing 12A
Gol f .............................. 12B
Obituaries 10A
Opinion 4-5A
People In The News ...13 A
Plant Doctor ... JB
Sports 8-12B
Television Listings.....6-7B
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rHOTO CONTRIBUTED
THESE BABY SEA TURTIJES recently hatched from a nest at lJ)ng Beach, the first documented
Kemp's Ridley hatching in North Carolina.