I Double Deadlock
l! Mistrials are declared in two Superior Court
I cases when juries are unable to reach
1) verdicts. Pagel2-A.
fflWiitJlSfll.' . I , 1UMMIW9I
One-Of-A-Kind
Legendary picker Doc Watson and the
Shady Grove Band come to Williamson
Auditorium June 17. Page 6-B.
M
12/31/99 **P0
HOAG h SONS BOOK BINDERY
PO BOX 162
SPR I NGPORT MI 49284
VICK*
I Little Guv, B|g Power
a "west Brunswick tennis ace Lamarr Hardy
I finishes the season undefeated in 12
1 matches. Pagel-D.
?
? T-F-F
CUB Board OKs
Plan Board Ruies
BY SUSAN USHER
All five Ocean Isle Beach Com
missioners stood firm IUesdav re
garding changes to the town plan
ning board, adopting on a 3-2 show
of hands a measure that gives mem
IWmm lilulta
?an* voting powers as town mem
bers.
The vote fc!! the sssx ss ss April
12, with Commissioners Debbie
Sioane Fox, Janet Saunders and Bill
Benton for the plan and Kendall Suh
2nd Ken Proctor against it The sec
larger percentage vote is required to
adopt an ordinance on a single read
ing.
Proctor and Suh had favored ex
pansion of the planning board and
Suh had said he didn't think town
residents would like the idea of ex
territorial area (ETA) residents being
allowed to vote o*> planning and
zoning matters within the town lim
its.
Benton said at an earlier meeting
he didn't think ETA representatives
would be very interested in attend
ing meetings regularly if they were
only iliOwcu io vote un business re
lating to the ETA. Fox also has said
she thinks the town needs to give the
ETA a greater voice in town affairs
since their fotares are interconnect
ed.
Proctor, a former planning board
member, had pushed for changes in
planning uuiiu iiiuc-uji auu upaa
tion since his election as commis
sioner i~i JfrnrtrafriML putkuiariy
stricter attendance rules and expan
sion of the board to include a broad
er cross-section of townspeople.
TV board will resssis St five
members ? three from town and two
from the ETA, with any three consti
tuting a quorum for conducting busi
ness. Members will be allowed to
miss up to four meetings a year. All
five members will vote on any busi
ness coming before the board. In the
past ETA members were allowed to
vote only on issues involving the ex
Mnriinriil area, an area extending
up to one mile beyond ihc town lim
its in which Ocean Isle exerts plan
ning and zoning controls.
(See OIB BOARD, Pa?e 2-A)
Former OIB Mayor
Johnston, 88, Dies
Funeral services were held
Sunday for former Ocean Isle Beach
iiuju riuiuci Lcc juiuodju, unc ut
the island's founding fsimn aod a
major real estate developer U?ere.
Johnston, 88, passed away May 4
at Wesley Nursing Center. He
moved to Ocean Isle Beach in 1969
after 33 years with the J.B. Ivey Co.
in Charlotte and began developing
real estate. He served three terms an
mayor and 18 years on the town
council and was instrumental in or
ganizing the Rrat "Warship by the
Sea" services at Ocean Isle 25 yean
ago.
For 17 years, he served as church
school superintendent at Hickory
Grove Methodist Church in Char
lotte, where the Homer Lee Johns
ton Library was named for him. He
was an assoriatr member of Shai
lotte Presbyterian Church.
Johnston's wife Eloise died in
1992. He is survived by son Homer
Johnston Jr., daughter Linda J. Link
of Matthews and four grandchikhen.
Outstanding In Their Field
A sea of brilliant Black-eyed Susans is the view from Modi* Romck * home on HoUen Beach Road this
time of year. Mrs. Roach started with a few plants * a long time ago. Later her husband disked the
property and the seeds spread. Charles Roach died in January, bat the wildflowers he helped spread
serve as an annual memorial to him.
Local Man Fatally Shot While
Trying To Moke Peace At Bar
BY ERIC CARLSON
Tine who knew "Jet" Puckett say he was a friendly,
peaceful man with a broad smile and a big heart ? the
sort of guy who'd be far more likely
to prevent a fight than to get into
Which is why so many people
who live around the Seashore Road
area of Hoiden Beach were shocked
to leani that John Houston Puckett
had been shot to death Sunday
morning at the neighborhood tavern
where be worked as a part-time bar
tender.
Witnesses say Puckett, 36, of
North Tanslewood Drive, waa one of the few people at
die Garor Lounge who wasn't drinking Ssusdsy uig hi.
He was playing darts, practicing far an upcoming tour
nament, when a pair of South Carolina men started caus
ing trouble and were asked to leave the bar.
Brunswick County Sheriff'i detectives on Tbesday
were continuing efforts to piece together wiuii irsnrpirs!
ucu, Lu the minutes leading up to Puckett's teal shoot
ing
detective Capt. Phil Perry. "We're still conducting inter
views to determine what happened."
Late Tuesday, a warrant was issued for the arrest of
one of the two South Carolina men, John Allen Martin,
28, of Latta, on a charge of murder. Detective Gene
?iH Other charges could be ?***?* at the inves
. "These two guys got to drinking and ooe guy got real
obnoxious and startrd running his mouth. The owner
asked him to leave," said Caiaon.
Hi* uieau gut the man outatde, bat be insinwi on re
turning to tiic hif The distuitoance confiiiWHt ioskIc,
where another customer says the man pointed a small
(See MURDER WARRANT, Psge 2-A)
ac? rm tour 42 ffaga*. 4 SwUobk It^Oiarifc > I
Baxter Drops Bid
For Third Term.
On School Board;
A. .4. AX
l#vii i iwiiW VUI V I
Commission Race
BY SUSAN USHER
Though Ouij one of five incum
bents will be standing for re-election
in November, Brunswick County
Board of Education members say
they don't plan to be a "lame duck"
board the remaining seven months
of their term.
Incunabcuis roily Ross (District
2) and Thurman Cause (District 1)
were defeated in last week's prima
ry
After six years on the board
Chairman Donna Baxter has with
drawn as the Democratic candidate
for the District 4 seat. Her fomwl
letter asking to be removed from the
ballot arrived at the Brunswick
County Board of Elections Monday,
along with a similar letter from
Republican Bill Fairiey of District 3.
The executive committees of tlx
Brunswick County Democratic and
Republican parties have until Aug
23?75 uucumi vajfi uuuic uac
** -1? - ?
Itov. O CKUU? w uauij UK 1KW
nominees with the county elections
hoard.
Baxter's replacement wii! be run
ning against Republican Pat Purvis
Brown of Ask, a retired educator.
CoifUy'c nunli^wniml will iwiMifto
against Democrat William D. Carter
of Caswell Beach, a former county
"I feel I have lost my effective
ness," site said in an interview
Friday. "Instead of someone who
can lead, I'm held up to be the prob
lem. People are using me to get
away from the real problems we
have. I don't want that"
uot worth ot Asa, a Democrat
who served on the board from 1986
to 1990 from District 2, called The
Brunswick Beacon Tuesday to an
aousoe iim sue wuuiu be seeking
the Democratic nominaboa tar the
District 4 seat and changing her vot
er registration. Though she moved Co
Ash in 1990 while still on the school
board. Worth has continued to vote
in Siulloae.
Baxter was first elected to the
boerd in 1988 and was re-elected in
1992. She is serving her third con
secutive term aa board chairman and
said she typically spends the equiva
lent of two days a week away from
her job on school -board -related
business.
She wag unopposed in the prima
ry because the man who would have
been her opponent, Liston Hawes,
died in March ?? a point tco late for
his name to be removed from the
ballot. He stilly received 41 percent
of the vote, outer said tne vote
wasn't a tew in her decision to
withdraw.
ui ____ jp__ Aa Lf j. ? ? ? . ? * m
1 iau aw uie un, imnking U 1
? a ? a i; . ? ? ? . ?
?wm uaiu, iimciku am wanted, I
could itpnaent the children of
Brunswick County. But at some
peim you have to ask if you are
bringing the system forward. Ai Siai
I thought I waa moving the system
jl'yyj, b"J* 29?? !'?? jwrnnw a
lightning rod. People are allowing
issues not important to education to
polarize the situation."
"Everything I did, 1 did it because
i thought it waa beat for the kids.
"I would like to thank She people
who did support education in
Brunswick County and tried to posh
the system forward. I think time will
show these boards have advanced
education in Brunswick County."
??iH ? school board mem
(Scc SCHOOL, Page 2-A)
Uninvited Guest
Supply's ' Miracle Boy ' is Youngest
Heart Transolant Recipient At LJNC
M *
BY LYNN CABSON
Logan POttorff came into the world February 17; so
far that world is limited to the two hospitals where be
has spent the first 12 weeks of his life.
His family and mrriicai team is iioptng for ail thai to
change Tuesday, when he may come home to Supply foe
the fir* time, the youngest patient ever to have received
a heart transplant at UNC Chikhea's Hospital in Chapel
?L
The day after his both in Wilmington, Logan's doc
tors discovered he had hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
USi si&s o! ?? hssn, xhich pirr?* nty?? to the
body, was not developed. The only option was a heart
transplant, rontingr.nt upon a tragic but miraculous coin
cidence ? the loss of some other child whose parents
could cot through their grief to allow one baby's death to
save another's life.
His second chance came March 24 from a two-year
old donor whose identity will remain unknown to Eddie
and Alicia Dales Pottorff, Logan's parents, unless the
Qooof s family cttooaci io contact mem
"Wfe are Mened," Alicia Pottorff said Monday, back
in Brunswick County for a few days to kick off a
fundraiaer for Logan sponaored by the Children's Organ
Transplant Association.
(Set FOUNDATION, Page 2-A)
Brunswick Jailer Accused of Raoe Resians
BY EMIC CARLSON
Aa 11-year veteran Brunswick County jailer has re
signed in the midst of aa SBI investigation into a female
inmate's claim that he and another prisoner raped her
while the woman was in custody last week
Deputy Sgt. Thomas Gore tamed in his resignation to
Sheriff John Can Davis Monday, according to District
AWoracy R? Gops. Use two tut* mi rHaM
Toe (mwaiior said SgL Gore's resignation should
not be Taj* hi as an indication of guilt.
"I don't think we should read that much into it," the
DA. said. "There is a criminal investigation and an ad
ministrative side to this situation. Regardless of what
happens in the criminal investigation, the sheriff has to
consider how it should be handled administratively."
A 23-yesr-oid jail issats hss changed tfcsS she was
lured from her odl and forced to have sex witfe Sgt
Gore and another praooei at about 4 o'clock Wednesday
morning (May 4).
She ww moved to New Hanover County jail Inter that
morning, where agents of the State Bureau of
Investigation bepn looking into her allegations. That in
quiry is continuing and a final report in not expected un
til early next week. Re* <W Me cfcsp: fcsvt
h?m ftUirt in Htf ifi?l??>
"As in any rape investigation, among the issues to be
fTsmmrd will be the question of whether or not there
was force and a lack of consent." he said.
The inmate who made the accusations was being held
in Brunswick County Jail in lieu of a $4,000 bond await
ing trial on several charges of forgery and uttering. She
also faces additional charges in New Hanover County,
** s*IJ
iWA VANS MHU.