Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Jan. 7, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
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Tax Collections !Average' As Deadline Passes Ac ? Krt wwr\?w??i t^vAC - M?V UVOUIIIIW IUI puj Ulg piupvi LJ MASXWO passed Tuesday (Jan. 5), Tax Collector Nancy Moore estimated that about 85 percent of Bruns wick County property owners will have paid on time and avoided a penalty. "We haven't compiled the figures yet, but col lections seem to be running about average," Moore said. "We expect that at least 85 percent will pay by the deadline and another 10 percent will come in between now and June." As usual, business was brisk at the tax office last week. The period between Christmas and the deadline is when the largest numbers of taxpayers choose to psy their Kiiic Those who missed the deadline will be charged a 2 percent penalty during the month of January. Tax returns filed after Feb. 1 will face an addi tional y* percent each month until taxes are paid. The names of delinquent taxpayers arc pub lished in local newspapers in April. Under a policy adopted in l9vi, the county has the right to garnish the wages of a delinquent tax payer or attach their bank account to recover the money. No warning of such action is required. While the numbers have changed slighdy, the names and the order of the ten largest taxpayers' list remainrvl ifv same for 1992. with large corpo rations and businesses dominating the roster. Once again. Ocean Isle Beach devt'ooer Odell Williamson was the only individual taxpayer to make the list. The value of the ten top taxpayers' properties, at SI.3 billion, constitutes slightly more than 30 percent of liic county"s 34.35 uiiiion total uia base. Carolina Power and Light Co., with its Brunswick nuclear plant in Southport, heads the list of taxpayers released by the tax office (See TAX, Page 2-A) Top Ten Taxpayers, 1992 Value Total Tax 1. Carolina Power & Light ?659,345,0*? $a ??.7lft 2. duPont 256*305,629 1,742,878 3. N.C. Eastern Municipal Power.. 171,641,240 1,235,816 4. Archer Daniels Midland 80,273,386 577,968 5. Cogentrix of N.C. Inc 31,190,630 224,572 6. Odell Williamson 27,779,790 188,902 7. f ederal t-*aper ?24,626,640 170,256 8. Brunswick Electric. ~ 23,050,962 158,470 9. Bald Head Island Ltd 21,612,785 155,612 10. International Paper 20,816,150 141,549 SOUftCfs BRUNSWICK COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR THF T- T Thirty-First Year, Number 8 C 1993 Th| BlUNSX c< 1EACON ? Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, January 7, 1993 50? Per Copy 28 Pages, 3 Sections] 2 Insects MORE ARRESTS EXPECTED I Police Nob 'Major Cocaine Dealers/ Recover Property BY ERIC CARLSON An eight-month undercover in vestigation and assistance from sev eral "good citizens" led to the arrest last week of two major cocaine deal ers and the re COVCi y Of 11, ore ? ll'I'l IMWI .n UUlil 1 <?, WV u ( stolen property police say users had exchanged for drugs. 'These were not just street dealers. These were ma?or co caine traffick- ballard ers." said Brunswick County Sheriff's Detective Lt. David Crocker. Carl Gene (also known as "Blind") Ballard, 30, and Silva Teresa Smith, 31, were arrested out side their home on Lincoln Road, Lrland, last week after undercover detectives made a deal to purchase 2 kilograms (about 4.4 pounds) of co caine from them for 593,000, Crocker said. Ballard and Smith have each been charged with four counts of traffick ing in more than 400 grams of co caine, two counts of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine, two counts of co caine possession and one charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. Pol ice estimated the street value of seized drugs to be 550,000. At the time of their arTest, the two had been on probation for less than two weeks after pleading guilty to cocaine possession, Crocker said. A ,38-caliber revolver was found in Ballard's pocket at the time of his arrest. Hypodermic syringes, razor blades, a homemade pipe, several wrappers coated with cocaine residue, a small bag of marijuana and materials licpH in thf* nm u**vwi r*w cc.^ir.2 of CO" cainc were sciz ed in a search of their home. Investigators Ka1!a?ia DollnrH 'A< i?v< ? w iiu and Smith were operating an on going business smith which they accepted stolen property in ex change for powdered cocaine or crack, its smokable derivative. Inside the Lincoln Street house, detectives found televisions, stereo systems, videocassettc rccoruers, power tools, appliances and other items By tracing serial numbers, de tectives have linked several of die seized items to Brunswick County break-ins as far away as Holden Beach, Crocker said. The investigation began about nine months ago, when Det. R.D. Todd learned thro'igh an informant that Ballard and Smith were "selling large quantities of cocaine from their residence," according to a search warrant on file at the Brunswick County Clerk of Court office. In late May, Todd and agents of the Wilmington Police Department narcotics unit searched a mobile home on Chapel Loop Road, (See DRUG, Page 2-A) STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC CARLSON MARVIN EVANS of Ash, who lost a leg and three fingers in a 1991 shooting incident, inspects the remains of his mobile home after uh electrical fire destroyed it Monday morning. Shooting Victim Loses Mobile Home In Fire BY ERIC CARLSON As if losing a leg and pan of his hand wasn't enough for one man to endure in less than two years, Marvin Evans of Ash had to stand by help lessly Monday morning and watch '? mobile home go up in smoke. "If it weren't for bad luck, 1 wouldn't have no luck," he said to no one in paniuiiai. Evans was beginning to feel a bit better about things and had reason to believe that 1993 not be as bad as the past two. But after Monday, he's not so sure. Eighteen months ago Evans and two friends were standing around talking outside a home on Little Prong Road when a pickup truck pulled up and stopped. A man got out and approached the three, carrying a 12-gauge snotgun. "Y'all are going to die tonight," the man said as hs fired three bias's One of the shots tore three fingers from Evans' right hand as he held it up to shield himself. Hundreds of pellets riddled his lower abdomen. The shots were fired (rom such a close range that the wadding from one of the shells was driven in to his body. One of the other men. Danny Hogan. was hit in "If it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck." ?Marvin Evans the cfces! and in both arms and legs. In an investigation that established no clear motive for the shooting other than mistaken iden tity, 42-year-old Dexter Woodring Hughes of I xingwnod was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. After more than a year of judicial delays, Hughes was sentenced to 10 years in prison and n.??u II 'U J Wl J VII Evans was sentenced to a life without a leg, without half his hand ar>d without another day at his former job as a carpenter. He still carries 300 pellets in his body. Recurring infections and gangrene have forced him to have two amputations of his right leg. In ail, he has undergone surgery i5 times. But recently, things were looking a bit better. He had left his trailer on Project Road and moved in with his friend Jane Riley. She had helped him raise the money to buy an artificial leg, which he hopes to have fitted within a few months. Last weekend, Jane's daughters came down from Pennsylvania for 2 visit. Evans put them up at his trailer, where they stayed until Sunday. Luckily, they had already left wlicn something went wron2 i" an plpctric wall heater and set the trailer on fire Monday morning. Alan King, first captain of the Waccamaw Volunteer Fire Department, was driving by when he spotted the smoke. He turned in the alarm and, with the help of Second Capt. Kevin Smith and Assistant Chief Glenda Warren, the blaze was knocked down in a matter of minutes. But not before the fire opened up one end of the trailer and the rest. Emergency Man agement Director Cecil Logan, who drove a back up tanker to the fire, said the trailer was a total loss. Leaning on his crutches, Evans stared blankly at the gaping black hole in his former home. Someone patted him gently on the back and wiSucu iftiiii gCCu luCk. "I'll need it," he said. "It can't get much worse." Environmentalists' Backing Sought For Sewer System BY LYNN CARLSON Engineers representing Sunset Beach and Calabash want the N.C. Coastal Federation to en dorse plans for a regional sewer system, which they say could serve as a model water quality im provement project. Consultant Joe Tombro of the Powell Associates engineering firm told the Sunset Beach Town Council on Monday he thinks the towns' plan to pursue a regional sewer system, in cluding a stonnwater runoff management compo nent, is compatible with the environmental group's recently released environmental action agenda for North Carolina. The engineers say iheir data show that septic tanks are the primary source of ground and sur face water pollution in the area and that a sewer system is needed to restore water quality in south ern Brunswick County. The Swansboro-based federation presented its agenda to Governor-elect Jim Hunt two weeks ago. The document suggested a timetable of goals and objectives aimed a! "the restoration of conta minated waters, the management of coastal growth, and better opportunities for public in volvement in coastal planning and protection." Tombro and fellow consultant Jim Billups will meet today (Thursday) with leaders of the Sunset Beach Taxpayers Association seeking a "meeting of the minds" about the need for centralized sewage disposal in southern Brunswick County. The 800-member taxpayers' group is the only lo cal organization listed among endorsers of the Coastal Federation's action agenda. However, the group's leaders were vocally opposed to the re cent formation of the South Brunswick Islands Water and Sewer Authority representing Sunset Beach and Calabash. SBTA President Clctc Waldmillcr said Tuesday that he welcomes the meeting, because the group has been given "no detailed data" indi (See SEWER, Page 2-A) Inside... Birthdays 2B Business News 6C Calendar of Events ......6A Church News ...............SB Classified 1-6C Crime Report ..8C Entertainment ?..~.?....4B Golf .8B Obituaries ~5B Opinion 4-SA People In The News ,.~.4B Plant Doctor ^3B Sports............ 8 1 OB Television Listings 6-7B Board Sinks 'Punitive Surcharge' Plan BY DOUG RUTTKR Holden Beach homeowners can continue using as much water as they want without worrying about seeing a "punitive surcharge" on their quarterly water bill. Town commissioners voted 3-2 Monday night against a plan to inflate the water rate for owners of rental homes who advertise illegally and use more water than their septic systems are designed to handle. Commissioners Gil Bass, Gay Atkins and David Sandifer voted against the proposed surcharge that would have increased the water rate more than six times for some homeowners. Sid Swarts and Jim Foumier voted in favor of the plan to boost the water rate from S 1.50 to S10 per 1,000 gallons for people who use too much water and con tribute to pollution. Under the proposal, the higher fee would have kicked in when the owner of a rental home used more water than the septic system was built to accommodate. The fee wouldn't increase unless the owner also advertised that his house had more bedrooms or sleeping capacity than permitted. Opponents of the plan said it wouldn't solve the prob lem of overcrowding and wouldn't discourage people from abusing their septic systems. Proponents saw the proposal as a means of identifying permit violators. Monday's debate became heated at times. At one point, Sandifcr accused Swarts of having "a crusade against realtors on this island." Swarts said his crusade was 'against people who violate septic system permits." Sandifer said the proposal didn't deal with the over crowding problem. If a homeowner advertised that his four-bedroom home slept eight people but rented it to 20 (See WATER, Page 2-A) I Representing Brunswick Interests May Be Touaher !n kj Hrnu/n Hic+nrt 1 I i 3 T ? I J fc* ? V? IT 1 ? =- iGii iV<' BY SUSAN USHER When the N.C. House of Representatives convenes Jan. 27, Rep. E. David Redwine (D-Bpjnswick) wi!! have aim.-wly begun redefining his role in a state legislature and 14th District altered significantly uy iu!o tricting. Of all House members, 32 are senior to Rcdwine in terms of longevity in office, according to the House Principal's Clerk Office. Including 1993, Rcdwine will have served 5.5 terms, while the most senior member will have served 16 terms. There are 78 Democrats and 48 Republicans serving in the post-redistricting chamber. Of the Democrats, only 51 have legislative experience, said Rcdwine. That's not enough to fill the 68 lead ership posts that would be available if the structure remains unchanged. REDW1NE Redwinc is part of a study group charged bv the House speaker with examining the organizational structure of the chamber and making rec ommendations tor change. Reorganization is jusi one iiic issues com mittees on which Rcdwine serves will be making recommendations when the legislature reconvenes. (Sec related story in this issue.) Traditionally, committee and subcommittee chairmanships go to members of the ranking party, in this case, to the Democrats. The alternatives being weighed are whether to reorganize by consoli dating several committees into "supercommittccs," in the process con centrating leadership power among fewer individuals; to break with tra dition and give freshman legislators committee leadership roles; or some combination of the two. A third alternative docs exist, but is least likely to occur?sharing leadership powers with Republican members. "Given Uicu willingness to work, those Democrats with cr.pcrience will be asked to do more this year," suggested Redwinc. As of late December, he didn't know what responsibilities he would be assigned during the 1993 session. "The other thing I think is going to be interesting for this term is our district," said Rcdwine, who for the first time is part of a two-seat dis trict. "Before I full I knew how my constituents felt about an issue general ly; it was just a matter of my going ahead and doing what 1 think is right," said Rcdwine. That gentleman's agreement between Sen. R.C. Soles (D-Columbus) and himself, in which each guided legislative matters related to his own home county, is a thing of the past. (See REDISRICTING, Page 2-A)
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 7, 1993, edition 1
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