Brunswick Candidates Cited I
Fined For Finance Reporting
BY ERIC CARLSON
All things considered, they did pretty well.
But election* officials say candidates for Brunswick
County offices wiii need io pay cioscr aiicniiuu iu iwii
campaign finance reporting to avoid costly fines and
embarrassing reprimands from the state board of elec
tions.
Three candidates in the May 3 primaries were fined
by the state for submitting their reports of campaign
contributions and expenses after the April 22 deadline,
Brunswick County Board of Elections Supervisor Lynda
Britt said last week.
Two sheriff s candidates have been asked iu clirify
thc sources of improperly accepted contributions or to
turn the money over to the state board of elections. One
of the two also was notified that he had accepted a loan
in excess of the maximum amount allowed by state elec
tions laws.
At least one county commissioner candidate apparent
ly failed to list an expenditure for advertising, Britt said.
Asothsr ? to have violated the spirit ? if not the let
ter ? of campaign reporting requirements for small cash
contributions. And many candidates neglected to include
mmmm
"in-kind contributions'* of labor and materials donated to
their campaigns, she said.
Brunswick recently exceeded the population threshold
of 50,000 residents that puts the county under the legal
requirements of the N.C. Campaign Reporting Act. This
year's election season is the first in which candidates for
county offices have to submit a senes ot reports on their
campaign contributions and expenditures.
"I think all-in-all they did exceptionally well," Britt
said last week. "Although we had three late reports, I've
been very pleased with their promptness. It doesn't ap
pear that anybody deliberately did not disclose some
thing. We had some errors iiuu miHiiuaics realized auC"
the fact ? after reading the manual ? that they have obvi
ously made attempts to correct."
Three candidates ? Bill Sisk for sheriff. W.A. Alfonza
Roach for commissioner and Thurman Cause for Board
of Education ? failed to submit their financing reports in
time to meet the Friday, April 22, deadline and were
fined $20 per day for their tardiness. Roach and Gausc
turned in their reports on the following Monday, while
Sisk returned his uti Tuesday.
(See CAMPAIGN, Page 2-A)
THE
12/31/99 **P0
HOAG S; SON'S B<.'OK BINDER"/
PO BOX 162
SPPINQPORT MI 49284
JTHtrty-Second Year, Number 31 . ShdlipHe, North Carolina, Thursday, June 2, 1994 50c Per Copy 36 Pages, 3 Sections, Plus Insets
STAff PHOTOS ?Y ?MC OJOSON
A 25-FOOT FIN WHALE
weighing about two tons
struggles in the surf ui
Holden Beach Saturday
morning kef are beaching
itself and dying on Ocean Isle
Beach Sunday. Two more
immature cetaceans ? this
time pilot whales ? were in
trouble in the Holden Beach
surf at press time Tuesday
night. Experts say onlookers
should resist the urge to try to
help the mammals.
Contracts Not Offered To Three Supervisors In
Step Toward Schools' Planned Reorganization
BY SUSAN USHER
Contracts were not renewed last
week for Brunswick County Schools
supervisors James McAdams, Ro
bert Rhyss and Christine Hs|!i
whose positions are among those be
ing eliminated at the end of the cur
rent school year.
Board of Education Chairman
Donna Baxter said action on the
contracts is one step in the instruc
tions! wrvices staff reorganization
plan adopted by the board last
December.
The board vote was unanimous
Friday afternoon during a special
meeting called to discuss attorney
client and personnel matters. Mem
ber Bill Fairley had left the meeting
earlier because of a conflict in his
schedule, she said.
While adjusting some other as
signments, the reorganization plan
developed by Jan Calhoun, assistant
superintendent for instructional ser
vices, eliminates five positions and
creates five others that relate more
directly to goals of supporting
school-based management and deci
sion-making.
The plan eliminates the above
four positions and one other now va
cant (director of health, athletics,
physical education and driver educa
tion) at the end of the current term,
either reassigning or doing away
with their duties.
Each of the three supervisors was
either eligible for tenure (career sta
tus) or for contract renewal as a su
pervisor.
A fourth employee whose posi
tion will be eliminated under the re
organization plan, Library/Media
Service Director Edna Cause, al
ready has tenure as a supervisor.
June 1 is the cut-off date for noti
fying professional employees with
probationary sums if they will not
have contracts for the coming school
year or, in the case of third-year em
ployees, will not be granted tenure.
If timely notification isn't provided,
the contract is considered automati
cally renewed.
Personnel Director Ralph Ward
said Tuesday the supervisors whose
jobs have been eliminated could be
considered for the five new posi
tions being created, or for other staff
vacancies for which they qualify.
"We have not completed our
staffing for the coming year, so
that's a possibility," he said.
All three individuals have been
granted tenure previously by the
Brunswick County Schools in other
career slots, two as principals and
one as a teacher.
Mc Adams was First hired as a
principal in 1*62, serving North
Brunswick High in that capacity un
til October 1992, when he was
named a supervisor. The
Wilmington resident presently
serves as supervisor of high schools
and said Tuesday he has applied for
one of the new positions being creat
ed.
Rhyne, of Yaupon Beach, had
served as a principal and assistant
principal before moving into a su
pervisor's job in July 1992. Hall, of
Riegelwood, has also been a princi
pal and assistant principal before her
appointment as a supervisor in
August 1992. Rhyne is presently su
pervisor of middle schools and Hall
supervisor of elementary schools.
Neither Rhyne nor Hall could be
reached for comment Tuesday
evening.
Calhoun said Tuesday that inter
(See FIVE, Pace 2-A)
More Whales
Come Ashore
At Holder* Beach;
Cause Unknown
BY DOUG RUTTER
Tko whafes washed up on the
Holden Beach strand Tuesday, just
three days after a fin whale came
ashore in the same vicinity and later
died at Ocean Isle Beach.
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, a
crowd of about 100 people had gath
ered near the west end of Holden
Beach to watch, photograph and
videotape the whales as they rolled
and twisted in ankle -deep water.
Both whales were between IS and
20 feet long and came ashore around
2:30 p.m. Officials from the North
Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher
were sent to investigate the stand
ings.
Andy Wood, curator of education
at the aquarium, said the all-black
whales were probably pilot whales.
"Without seeing them that's just a
guess. Pilot whales are all black," he
said in * telephone interview late
Tuesday.
Wood pointed out there's a possi
bility more whales may beach them
selves within the next tew days.
"Pilot whales often strand togeth
er. Pilot whales have commonly
been involved in mass stran
dings... hundreds at a time in some
instances, but usually it's a dozen or
SO, t?C SSm!.
Asked if the two whales could be
part of a mass stranding. Wood said,
"We hope not, but that possibility
exists. If there is going to be a mass
stranding it will occur relatively
quickly, at least if history is any
guide."
Early Saturday morning, a 25-foot
fin whale weighing about 2 tons
washed up on Holden Beach, also
near the west end. Onlookers pushed
the whale out to sea several times,
but it beached again and died
Sunday at Ocean Isle.
As of Tuesday, Wood said offi
cials had not determined the age of
the fin whale or the cause of death.
"The speculation was it was
young enough that it hadn't been
weaned by its mother, so months old
rather than years," he said.
Wood said biologists do not know
what causes whales to beach them
selves/There's lots of speculation,
but nobody knows for sure. Every
thing from parasites in the ears to
just confusion. It's just not known,"
he said.
When people see a beached
whale. Wood said they should resist
the urge to try to help it. The Marine
Mammal Protection Act of 1972
makes it illegal to handle whales.
"Marine mammals are protected
by federal and international law.
When they're stranded like that they
can only be handled by licensed vol
unteers," Wood said.
"U's as much for the protection of
humans as it is for the whales. A 15
foot whale has incredible strength in
the tail. A whale writhing and strug
gling in the surf can snap a neck
without any problem," he added.
"When they're stranded you don't
know what they have. Some whales
uuiy liixw that can be tr2=?n!i!!?d
to humans. It's not something you
want to mess with."
rioiucn Scacil puiiix ouvl putriic
works employees tried to keep on
lookers away from the beachcd
whales Tuesday, but did not have
much success. People stood within a
few feet of the whales to get a close
look and splash water on them.
Wood said whales usually beach
themselves when they are dying and
pushing them back out into the
ocean usually just prolongs the dy
ing process.
"That's what happened with the
fin whale. It was put back in the wa
ter only to wash up later on," he
said.
"A stranded whale creates a
charged atmosphere. People want to
help and we're appreciative of that,"
Wood said. "But if it's alive it poses
a very serious threat to humans who
get in the wa!?rr to try to help it"
Wood said there is some positive
that comes out of whale strandings.
"When we see strandings like this
that does tell us one thing. There are
whales out there. If there were no
strandings we wouldn't know if
there were whales out there," he
said.
Don't Lose Sight Of Day's Meaning, Veterans Say
BY ERIC CARLSON
The American flag remained at half staff outside the
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8866 in Holden Beach
Monday morning in remembrance of fellow veteran
and former Commander-in-Chief President Richard M.
Nixon.
BcmJc the door to the post's aew recrcatio?? build
ing, two white crosses were flanked by pairs of well
worn combat boots and two rifles standing upside
down on their bayonets.
Inside, about 40 VFW members and their wives
were gathered on this Memorial Day to honor all those
in uniform who gave their lives to preserve the United
States of America.
"Yesterday I watched a newscast wnerr incy ioici
viewed people on the street about the purpose of
Memorial Day," said featured speaker Billy Ray
Cameron, former national commander-in-chief of the
national VFW organization. "One talked about having
cook-outs. Another said it was the beginning of sum
mer. A thnii person said it was 2 good time to go to the
beach.
"Not one of them said anything about honoring vet
erans." Camerons told the group. "People seem to be
forgetting that Memorial Day is more than just a sale
day at the department stores."
Cameron, the first Vietnam War veteran to head the
VFW, said he spent the previous day giving a speech at
the National Cemetery in Salisbury, "among more than
1 7,000 individuals -'he gsvs tfcfir |?? for their
country." The Sanfbrd resident said it was great to be
back at his "second home" of H olden Beach, where he
frequently returns for vacations.
Severely wounded in Vietnam. Cameron spent a year
recovering in the hospital after he was evacuated. He
said the experience inspired him "do everything hu
manly possible" to find out what happened to the 2,300
servicemen who are listed as missing in action in
Southeast Asia. He also noted that 8,000 U.S. soldiers
were never accounted for after the Korean War, while
88,000 remained missing at the end of World War U.
"I can't imagine anything worse than going to bed at
night wondering what happened to a loved one who
didn't come back," Cameron said. "This issue will not
be resolved until every one of these cases is resolved.
Cameron asked his fellow veterans to say a prayer
each day for the families of missing soldiers. He urged
VFW members to combat the public's apathy about the
dedication and commitment of former military person
nel by "communicating to others what veterans have
done for this country."
"If not tor veterans ana the friends and family who
support them, this great country would not be what it is
today," Cameron said. "God bless the United States of
America, and may we always remember those who
gave it the supreme sacrifice.**
Following a prayer led by post chaplain Rudolph
Grissette, Post Commander Fred Dilley read the names
of members who have died since VFW Post 8866 was
chartered in 1988. As each name was read, post auxil
iary leader Joanne Gunn placed a commemorative pop
py into a red-white-and-bluc memorial wreath. Those
honored were John N. Clark, James D. Griffin Sr.,
Leon M. Stone, Francis J. Miles, James B. Hulon Jr.,
Littleton J. Glass, Nortec Vamum, Alton Schroeter,
Wiibui G. iicnkr. and Herman Stewart.
FORMER Commander-in-Chief of the national
Veterans of Foreign Wars organization Billy Ray
Cameron addresses feUow veterans who gathered
for a Memorial Day observance at VFW Poet 866
in Holden Beach Monday.
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