RAEFORD & HOKE COUNTY N.C.Hoke County’s newspaper since 190575¢

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Wednesday, December 24, 2014No. 42 Vol. 109

This Week

Cape Fear hospital president resigns

Woman dies, 2 hurtPassersby tried to save fi re victim

House fi reis arson,offi cial says

Beware IRS phone scam

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BY CATHARIN SHEPARD

Staff writer

The president of Cape Fear Valley’s Hoke Healthcare facili-ties resigned this month and will be replaced by another Cape Fear

Valley administrator, the hospital system announced last week.

Offi cials did not say why Cape Fear Valley Hoke Healthcare President Velvette Jones resigned from the role she had held since 2013. As of the fi rst week in De-

cember, Jones was busy oversee-ing the fi nal days of construction and the moving-in process for the 41-bed hospital set to open in February.

Dr. Roxie Wells, Cape Fear Valley’s Associate Chief Medical

Offi cer, is stepping in to fi ll the vacated position as head of Hoke Healthcare. Offi cials announced the leadership change December 18.

Wells most recently served as associate chief medical offi cer for

the hospital system, where she was responsible for leading the health system’s network of primary care and specialty practices.

“She will continue with these duties along with her new duties

(See RESIGNS, page 4A)

BY CATHARIN SHEPARD

Staff writer

Although civilian rescuers and fi refi ghters battled smoke and fl ames to try and save her life, 70-year-old Myrtle Brewer died Monday in a house fi re that also injured two other family members.

Passersby called 911 around 8 a.m. when they spotted fl ames com-ing from a home on the 5300 block of South Old Wire Road. Lorene Chavez, 51, and her two grandchil-dren, ages 11 and 8, were able to get

out of the house. Two citizens who stopped to help tried to get Brewer out of a back bedroom through a window but could not due to the extreme heat and smoke, according to a report from the Hoke County Sheriff’s Offi ce.

The South Antioch Fire Depart-ment and Stonewall Fire Department along with other emergency personnel responded to the scene and immedi-ately attempted to rescue Brewer but found her dead in the rear bedroom.

Chavez suffered from severe smoke inhalation while trying to get to

(See FIRE DEATH, page 6A)

Teen court is back, helps fi rst-time juvenile offendersBY CATHARIN SHEPARD

Staff writer

A program that lets stu-dents learn about the court

system and helps young fi rst-time offenders avoid a criminal record is now back up and running after fund-ing problems shut it down.

Suzanne Maness, founder and director of the Called Into Action nonprofi t group that seeks to support local youth, helped get grant

funding to get the program going again.

The program is for kids and teens ages 10-17, both those who want to volunteer

and those who have com-mitted a minor crime and are facing charges, coordi-nator Sherra Washington (See TEEN COURT, page 4A)

Authorities suspect arson was to blame for a fi re last week that burned a Hoke County family out of their home.

Investigators looking into the house fi re that happened on Law-rence McCollum Road now have a suspect in the case, Maj. Freddy Johnson of the emergency manage-ment division of the Hoke County Sheriff’s Offi ce said.

“We have a suspect, we’re just try-ing to locate them,” he said.

The family was not involved in setting the fi re, Johnson said. No one was injured.

The fi re was started in a storage room in the garage area, according to reports. It appears that the suspect set some clothes on fi re, and the fl ames then spread through the garage and into the attic, Johnson said. The house was about a 50 percent loss with smoke damage to the unburned sections of the structure.

The American Red Cross and lo-cal donors assisted Candice McCall and four other members of her fam-ily, collecting clothing and Christmas presents for a 13-year-old girl and two-year-old boy.

The fi re happened in the morning hours of Tuesday, December 16.

BY CATHARIN SHEPARD

Staff writer

Audrey McDowell knew something wasn’t right when someone claiming to be with the Internal Revenue Service called her elderly mother, demanding money to pay overdue taxes that didn’t exist.

“They called her by name and they tell her she owes money to the IRS, and they just constantly call her every day. They’ve been doing this now for about three weeks,” McDowell said.

First it was just a few phone calls, but it quickly became a daily hassle.

“They call every day, twice a day, usually around 9:30 and somewhere around 2:30 p.m.,” McDowell said.

Then the scammers starting calling McDowell, trying to pull the same tactic, but McDowell quickly caught on.

“She was saying, I heard her say that she was calling from the IRS and that I was being sued for fraud. When she said that, I hung up on her,” McDowell said. “…I called the Attorney General and reported it and I called the sher-iff’s offi ce and reported it.”

One phone number showed up on her caller I.D. as unknown,

(See SCAM, page 4A)

Firemen and a passerby try to get water on this fi re but they were unable to save a woman who perished in the rear of the house. Two children escaped through this door.

A passerby suffers from smoke inhalation. He and others had tried to save 70-year-old Myrtle Brewer but were unable. (Photos by Ken MacDonald)

Santa visits all agesSanta visited 125 patients at Autumn Care in Raeford last week. Here, he gives Barbara Nunn her Christmas gift for being good last year. (Hal Nunn photo)

House destroyed last week.

2A THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C. December 24, 2014

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Frog HollerPhilosopher

Ron Huff

One on OnePatrick Gannon,

Capitol Press Association

One on OneD. G. Martin

There are two sides to most stories and I want to present a different perspective on our criminal justice system. There are two basic rights that most U.S. citizens think are protected. The first is to be considered innocent until proven guilty and the second is the right to a speedy trial. If you believe you have these rights, then there is a good possibility that you have had little contact with the court system. In reality, these “rights” are in name only.

We expect that the law abiding people in our society will not have to wrangle with the courts in criminal matters. In actuality, anyone can find themselves facing criminal charges having committed no crime. This happens for any number of reasons, includ-ing being in the wrong place at the wrong time or being a victim of mistaken identity. It can also happen when other-wise non-suspicious behavior comes under the influence of profiling. I suspect that soci-ety has a tendency to lump defendants in criminal matters into the category of criminals waiting for punishment. This deprives defendants of the as-sumption of innocence.

Were you aware that many court systems, and probably most, don’t have adequate resources to provide timely and efficient prosecution of defendants? Go spend a day in court and you may witness the dysfunction. While defendants may be criminals, to treat them as such while the courts are slowly getting around to per-forming their due process goes against the perceived rights of presumed innocence and a speedy trial. In many cases the

process is slowed by the defen-dant, sometimes to delay their inevitable conviction, other times to allow reasonable time for a proper defense. These are not the delays I am referring to. These delays, while often used to game the system, are required in some form by due process.

It is the delays caused by inadequacies of the justice system that are the subject here. Our society is quick to arrest, often taking liberties with the law, but can be slow to prosecute. Once a defen-dant is in the system, he or she, regardless of guilt or in-nocence, becomes subject to the whims of representatives of the justice system. Though we hope most of these folks are doing their best to move the process along, it sure doesn’t seem that way.

As with almost everything else in our society, people of lower economic means can find themselves at the mercy of the system, which is not a good place to be. An indigent defendant can get trapped in the system simply because they do not have the means to temporarily buy their freedom while the process chugs along. We somehow accept this because many of these defendants are probably guilty when actually, accord-ing to our “rights”, they are innocent – until proven guilty.

I have recently had the displeasure of following a case in which the defendant

wanted a speedy trial. During the process of 20 months, various examples of failings of the system were evident. On two occasions, after this person spent hours in the courtroom, the judges, seem-ingly arbitrarily, announced that court was over for the day around noon, leaving many defendants no choice but to come back. On one occasion, the judge was not reschedul-ing cases for more than two months. While this is all slowly going on, defendants and witnesses are being incon-venienced, arresting officers are wasting time in court, and lawyers, while they are part of the problem, are being victimized by these delays. During all this, the defendant was for practical purposes presumed guilty with his life put on hold. After 20 months, the prosecution still had not produced the needed evidence because of a lack of funding.

It is obvious that the courts are overloaded, but also that they are inefficient. Here is another reason to call off our failed war on drugs and quit manufacturing criminals. Our traffic courts are clogged by DWI cases, all of which have been proclaimed, regardless of circumstances, too serious to allow the normal process of plea bargaining. At the risk of making MADD mad, if they are powerful enough to clog up the courts, they should have lawmakers appropriate the money to unclog them.

We, as a society, need to live up to our promises of presumed innocence and the right to a speedy trial. It could be you facing this system wrongly accused.

More later.

Court system is clogged up

The holiday season should never be sad.

But as I read and watched all of the bad news unfold the week before the holiday, it was hard not to feel that way.

I was going to write this col-umn about Medicaid expansion or Gov. Pat McCrory’s war with the media or some other everyday topic in North Carolina govern-ment.

But they can wait.This past weekend, I watched

my 4-year-old daughter play ping pong for the first time with her grandfather. It came after a week when the news featured horrible story after horrible story.

She whacked that ball back and forth, smiles beaming from her face. Tennis lessons in her future, my wife and I agreed.

Then I started thinking about

that future. She had no idea that two cops had just been assas-sinated in Brooklyn, where her uncle used to live, or more than 130 kids not too much older than herself had been murdered days earlier in Pakistan or that North Korea apparently is threatening the United States – over a movie.

What world will she grow up in?

That’s where we all come in. No, we can’t stop all violence from occurring. We can’t always stop crazy people bent on destruction from having their way.

But we all can control our little

spaces. We can treat the people we encounter with respect. We can buy coffee for the person be-hind us in the drive-thru. We can choose not to push send on the mean-spirited social media post.

We can stop blaming everyone else for our shortcomings and strive to get better. We can put ourselves in other people’s shoes. We can hear the other side of the story and respect it, even if we disagree.

We can make resolutions for the new year and keep them. We can take our dogs on longer walks. We can spend more time with our families and less with our phones. We can drive a little more sanely.

And we can play ping pong with our kids. They deserve it, and we need it today more than they – hopefully – will ever know.

Can’t fix it all, but can fix this

To the Editor:Chatham and Lee counties

are threatened by Duke Energy with two huge coal ash dumps. ALL North Carolina county com-missioners have no authority; no public hearings, no environmental impact or health assessments will be made because of SB 729 that was passed in September. Coun-ties east and west of Raleigh, take note: 20 million tons of toxic coal ash will be trucked and carried by rail from Wilmington and Char-lotte for 10 years through Moore,

Harnett, Sampson, Hoke, Cum-berland, Wayne, Duplin, New Ha-nover, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Stanley, Davidson, and Randolph counties. Do these added 14 county commissioners understand how their communi-ties will be breathing coal ash being trucked to toxic dumps? Coal ash contains mercury, lead, arsenic, dioxins, and radioactive material. Concrete bunkers used with salt stone would be safer for coal ash storage and it could remain on site. Duke Energy is

shifting its legal responsibility and liability to Charah LLC waste company. All county commission-ers in the state should be up in arms in protest. Did those in the General Assembly who voted for this quick cleanup law realize they were stripping all controls from counties that will be harmed?

All current coal ash disposal should be handled locally, care-fully isolated from waterways and air.

Keely WoodMoore County

Coal ash may travel through Hoke County

To the Editor:During the Thanksgiving and

now Christmas season, I have heard many sirens calling men and women out into the cold and away from family and jobs to help people in need.

Hoke County has 10 fire de-

partments and a rescue squad. Most of its personnel are volun-teers. I haven’t run the figures, but I’m sure those civic-minded individuals save the county and city thousands and thousands of dollars.

On behalf of this community,

let me say “thank you and Merry Christmas.”

Mary Neil KingRaeford

(King is a Raeford City Council member—Ed)

Volunteer emergency workers thanked

To the Editor:Why are the county commis-

sioners wasting time and money investigating a department that’s doing its job? (News-Journal Dec. 17, “Inspections Department To Get Scrutiny”) My guess is the negative comments the commis-sioners are receiving are coming from homeowners who are not fully versed in the code or contrac-

tors that are now being held to a standard that is set forth in code.

As an electrical contractor, I know that, due to recent changes in the codes, especially electrical, the cost has gone up. Now instead of a breaker that cost $8, we must now install an AFCI device that is $35-45 per device, multiplied by 10 to 15 per home.

I have had numerous inspections

by the existing inspections depart-ment and anything they did find, no matter how obscure, it could be found in the code book. Nothing made up, down the middle of the road, in black and white code. On the surface, there is a lot in code that “doesn’t make common sense” but there is a reason for it.

Curtis BarnettRaeford

Why investigate the Inspections Department?

They just could not bring themselves to shake hands with their former enemies.

A few weeks ago on the an-niversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, we remembered earlier reunions when some American servicemen met the Japanese pilots who had attacked them so many years earlier.

Some Americans shook hands with their former enemies and exchanged memories. Others just could not do it.

We understood and respected their inability to make peace with the enemies who had done them such harm.

But understanding their feelings did not keep the rest of us from continuing to de-velop connections with former enemies when it can be done in our interests.

Similarly, we understand and respect the reluctance of some Americans to accept our country’s rapprochement with China and Vietnam in light of our past conflicts and unspeakable horrors. But it would have been tragic if those concerns kept us from building peaceful and mutually productive relation-ships with those countries. The peoples of those countries and Americans are better off because of our connections.

We should also understand and respect the views of Ameri-cans whose families have suffered from the repressive policies, past and present, of the Cuban government.

But our respect for those views should not keep us from supporting policies of engage-

ment with Cuba that can be ben-eficial for the American people, in the same way such links with Japan, Vietnam and China have been better for Americans than earlier policies of separation and antagonism were.

While we must remember the past, we must not be chained to it.

President Obama’s announce-ment of his plan to move toward normalizing relations with Cuba creates a challenge for North Carolina politicians, especially for those who tend to oppose every Obama initiative or who sincerely oppose any conces-sion to Cuba until it gives more political and economic freedom to its people.

First term Republican Rep. George Holding said, “Instead of rewarding an oppressive regime who has failed in the past to deliver increased freedoms and real economic reform, President Obama should instead advocate for the freedom of the Cuban people before any concessions are made.”

Newly elected Rep. David Rouzer commented, “What I found appalling is the prospect of having an American embassy in Cuba. That is not a message we need to send to tyrants around the world.”

According to the Associ-ated Press, newly elected Sen. Thom Tillis said, “President

Barack Obama’s decision to make sweeping changes now to American and Cuban relations is a bad idea and should have come only after more Cuban government and human rights reforms.”

But North Carolina’s other U.S. senator, Richard Burr, more seasoned than his col-leagues and facing a reelection campaign, was more temperate. “Regarding what the president said on normalizing our na-tion’s relationship with Cuba, I will listen closely to Chair-man Corker, Ranking Member Menendez, and other members of the Foreign Affairs Com-mittee as they contemplate any legislative changes that may need to be made in response to the president’s announcement.”

Senator Bob Corker, incom-ing chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was even more restrained. “The new U.S. policy announced by the administration is no doubt sweeping, and as of now there is no real understanding as to what changes the Cuban government is prepared to make. We will be closely examining the impli-cations of these major policy changes in the next Congress.”

Clearly, President Obama sees potential political gains in his Cuban policy. If the public supports the changes and Re-publicans stand in the way, he will show them to be chained to the past.

Sen. Burr and Sen. Corker seem to understand the risk bet-ter than their less experienced colleagues.

Don’t be chained to past with Cuba

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December 24, 2014 THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C 3A

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Superior Court

Obituaries

District Court

Police BlotterRaeford Police reported the

following recent incidents:

December 8Driving left of center, pos-

session of drug paraphernalia, hit and run, 300 block of West Palmer Road, victim State of North Carolina

December 9Damage to property, 400 block

of Palmer Green Apartments, victim Sam Elton Jones Jr.

Breaking and entering, injury to real property, attempted lar-ceny, 100 block of Meadows Lane, victim Kasey Chanel Oxendine

December 10Larceny, 200 block of Max-

well Avenue, victim Lorin Pierre McAllister

Larceny, breaking and enter-ing, 100 block of East Central Avenue, victim Leopodo Gomez Espitia

December 11Larceny, 1200 block of North

Main Street, victim City of Ra-eford

Damage to property, 300 block of North Main Street, victim Kelly Grant

Larceny, 100 block of Lantern Lane, victim Carol Lynn Coleman

Assault, communicating threats, South Bethel Road at South Dickson Street, victims Nathan Gessler and Centell Sturdivant

December 12Unauthorized use of a motor

propelled conveyance, 100 block of Lantern Lane, victim Carol Lynn Coleman

December 13Communicating threats, dam-

age to property, assault on a fe-male, 300 block of Palmer Green Apartments, victim Marilyn Sue

MitchellVandalism, 100 block of West-

minster Drive, victim Kenneth Charles Knight

December 14Possession of drug parapher-

nalia, possession with intent to sell or deliver (marijuana), main-taining a vehicle for a controlled substance (marijuana), 200 block of Mayor Court, victim State of North Carolina

December 16Larceny, 500 block of East

6th Street, victim Mary McLeod

December 17Failure to appear on a sexual

battery charge, 200 block of South Main Street, victim State of North Carolina

December 18Assault on a female, com-

municating threats, 200 block

of Lamont Street, victim Amber Michelle Locklear

December 19Shoplifting, 200 block of

South Main Street, victim Bo’s Food Store

Intoxicated subject, West Pros-pect Avenue at Burlington Road

December 20Possession of a fraudulent I.D.,

driving while intoxicated (alco-hol), Laurinburg Road, victim State of North Carolina

December 21Larceny, 500 block of North

Dickson Street, victim Charnita Jacobs

Larceny, breaking and enter-ing, 100 block of Credit Union Way, victims Kaitlyn Lorrayne Phillips and Hoke County Schools

Assault on a female, 100 block of North Main Street, victim Um-niyat Gamal Ali Hamza

Recent cases heard in Hoke County Superior Criminal Court, Judge Mary Ann Tally presiding:

• Rashamell O. Billinger, 23, 131 Tulane Drive, Raeford, felony breaking and/or entering, 10 to 21 months suspended, 36 months probation, provide DNA sample, civil judgment against defendant for attorney and court-appoint-ment fees, may be transferred to unsupervised probation upon

full payment• Travis Carpenter, 28, 214

Lawrence McCollum Road, Raeford, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of up to _ ounce of marijuana, 14 to 26 months suspended, 24 months probation, may be transferred to unsupervised probation upon pay-ment of all fines, fees and costs, judgments consolidated

• Marcus Cook, 21, 295 Red

Oak Court, Raeford, felony breaking and/or entering, fel-ony possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver, felony main-taining a vehicle, dwelling or other structure for illegal drug activity, misdemeanor posses-sion of drug paraphernalia, 17 to 30 months in prison, active, judgments consolidated

• Timothy Maurice Williams,

46, 281 Windsor Drive, Fay-etteville, assault on a female, 75 days suspended, 12 months probation, no contact with pros-ecuting witness during period of probation, transfer probation to Cumberland County, defendant may be transferred to unsuper-vised probation upon full pay-ment of any moneys owed to the court; second-degree rape, voluntary dismissal.

Christmas cheerHoke Sheriff Hubert Peterkin (left) and Commissioner James Leach are all grins as they surprise some children with Christmas gifts Friday. Each year, the sheriff ’s office collects toys, clothes and other items for families. The effort has grown each year. (Ken MacDonald photo)

Recent cases heard in Hoke County District Criminal Court, Judge William C. McIlwain presiding:Dec. 17

• Shaquille Deonte Bratcher, 21, 109 Peppertree St., Raeford, breaking and/or entering, 45 days suspended, 18 months probation, court costs, community service and pay fee; felonious posses-sion of stolen goods or property, voluntary dismissal

• Raekwon Ellerbe, 18, 2304 Quigley Court, Raeford, pos-session of up to _ ounce of marijuana, 45 days suspended, 12 months probation, $100 fine and court costs, attorney and court-appointment fees, 24 hours community service; possession of drug paraphernalia, 45 days suspended, 12 months probation; felonious possession of mari-juana, voluntary dismissal

• Darrell Haynes, 38, 189 Pur-cell Drive, Raeford, shoplifting by concealment of goods, prayer for judgment, court costs

• Lareese Martelles Malletty, 20, 782 Chevy Chase St., Fay-etteville, assault on a female, communicating threats, injury to personal property and carrying a concealed gun, 75 days confine-ment, credit for 75 days served; possession of a firearm by felon, voluntary dismissal

• Ricky Lee McDonald, 34, 5237 Antique Drive, Hope Mills, improper equipment—speedometer, $125 fine and court costs

• Victoria McLaughlin, 30, 213 N. Jackson St., Raeford, resisting a public officer, 20 days suspended, six months unsuper-vised probation, $45 fine and court costs, attorney and court-appointment fees

• Marvin Glenn Oxendine, 31, 101 Cardinal Ave., Raeford, breaking and/or entering, misde-meanor larceny, 45 days suspend-ed, 18 months probation, $100 fine and court costs, stay away from prosecuting business, no contact with prosecuting witness, after 12 months and if defendant in full compliance, probation may be terminated, judgments consoli-dated; possession of stolen goods or property, 45 days suspended, 18 months probation, 48 hours community service and pay fee, sentence to be served at the end of above sentence.

Myrtle M. LoweryMyrtle McMillian Lowery, 83,

of Balfour Road, Shannon, died Saturday, December 20, 2014.

Survivors include her children, Sandra, Felicia Bullard, Velma Carter, Jennie, Jerry, Beany, Gregory, and Vincent Bullard; six siblings; 24 grandchildren; and 45 great-grandchildren.

The funeral was held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, December 23 in Praise and Worship Church. Burial was in Galilee Baptist Church Cem-etery, Red Springs.

Frances J. CrawfordFrances Jeanette

“Williams” Craw-ford, 66, of Raeford, formerly of Dunn, passed away peace-

fully Monday, December 15, 2014 in Fayetteville.

She was the faithful daughter of the late Michael and Leola West Williams of Dunn.

She was a graduate of Dunn High School. She served in and retired from the U.S. Army. Her basic training was at Fort Mc-Clellan, Alabama. She served at Fort Lee, Virginia, Fort Holabird, Maryland, Fort Bragg, Shape Hos Belgium, Korea and in Grenada with Operation Urgent Fury in 1983. After retirement, she was elected VFW’s District 8th Commander in 1998 to 1999 and served as the service officer at the VA Hospital in Fayetteville for 8 years.

She received the Korea De-fense Service Medal, AFEM Medal, Good Conduct Medal, two Overseas Service Medals and an Army Service Ribbon. She was a true supporter of the military forces and always went the extra mile for them. She traveled across the U.S.A. to VFW meetings and to visit many sick veteran friends.

Survivors include her brothers, John, Mike and Martin Williams; and sisters Sue Williams, Mary Davis, Mattie Gregory, Anne Sherrill and Sallie Norris.

A military service was held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 20 in Skinner & Smith Funeral Home chapel, Dunn. Interment followed in Greenwood Cemetery in Dunn.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorials to any Veterans Ser-vice Organization of your choice.

Online condolences can be made at skinnerandsmith.com.

Catherine B. OldhamCatherine Brewer Oldham

of 4450 Laurinburg Road died Saturday, December 20, 2014 in

her home at the age of 86.She was born in Hoke County

on August 2, 1928 to the late James Taylor and Blanche Brewer. She was preceded in death by her husband, Eulus E. Oldham Sr. and two daughters, Betty Lynn Douglas and Lois Mitchell.

She is survived by five sons, James E. Oldham of Raeford, Billy Oldham of Rockingham, B. Lloyd Oldham of Raeford, Eulus E. Oldham Jr. of Raeford, and Thomas Oldham of Raeford; two daughters, Patricia Ann Campbell of Raeford, and San-dra D. Lunsford of Raeford; 14 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

The funeral was held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, December 23 in Church of God of Prophecy with the Rev. Randall Snead officiating. Burial was in the Raeford Cemetery.

Online condolences may be made at www.crumplerfuneral-home.com.

Gregory L. BurkeGregory L. Burke, 59, of 336

Burke Road died Monday, De-cember 15, 2014.

He is survived by a brother, Monroe Burke Jr.

The funeral was held at 2 p.m. Friday, December 19 in Avery Chapel FWB Church. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Jordan A. SmithJordan Adaran Smith, 3-year-

old son of Joshua, of Raeford, died Monday, December 15, 2014.

In addition to his father, he is survived by his godparents, Ter-ence and Monique Gaines, who cared for him; siblings, Lexis, Isaiah and Jaiden; and grandpar-ents, Wanda and Taylonn Coley, and Sharon and Ronnie McSwain

The funeral was held at 7 p.m. Friday, December 19 in Pinecrest Funeral & Cremation Services in Hope Mills.

Catherine B. Oldham

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A-1 Gas & Food Mart ............. E. Central Ave.Andy’s ............................................... US 401Arabia Food Mart ..........................Arabia Rd.Barbee Pharmacy .........................Harris Ave.Bo’s ..............................................S. Main St.Citgo Mart ..................................Red SpringsCVS Pharmacy ............................401 BypassDaniels’ Exxon ........................ E. Central Ave.Edinborough Restaurant. ..............S. Main St. Fast Shop ...........................W. Prospect. Ave.Five Star #2 ..................................... Hwy 211Food Lion...............................Laurinburg Rd.Food Lion.............................. Fayetteville Rd.Food Mart #4 ............................. Hwy. 211 S.Food Stop ...........................W. Prospect Ave.401 Lucky Stop ...............E. Central & 401 N.401 Shop-N-Save #1 .............Harris and 401Hardin’s ......................Rockfish Rd., RockfishHardin’s Express Stop ............... Rockfish Rd.Highway 55 .......401 Bypass & 401 BusinessHome Food Supermarket..................Main St.Howell Drug ...................................... Teal Dr.Jay’s Food Mart ........ Hwy 211. at county line

J&L Grocery & Meats ............... Rockfish Rd.Lucky Stop .................Hwy. 401 & Palmer St.Lucky Stop 2196 .......Rockfish Rd.&401 Bus.Mi Casita...................... 4534 Fayetteville Rd.MP Mart ............................... Hwy. 211 SouthMcNeill’s Grocery ....................... Hwy. 211 S.McPhatter’s Grocery ..... Hwy. 401 & Vass Rd.Muncheez Express ................ Fayetteville Rd.Murphy Express ................ Walmart Hwy 401The News-Journal ..................119 W. ElwoodQuality Foods ....................................McCainPoco Shop #4 ........................ E. Central Ave.Short Stop #54 ....................Davis Bridge Rd.Short Stop #64 .......................Hwy. 211 WestShort Stop #68 .......................... N. Fulton St.Something’s Brewing Coffee Shop ....7104 Fayetteville Rd.Tobacco World ...................... Fayetteville Rd.211 Food Mart ................................ Hwy 211Waffle House ....................... 401 Hwy BypassWilcoHess ................................ Aberdeen Rd.Yogi Mart ................................... Hwy. 211 S.Zip N Mart ............................. Fayetteville Rd.

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4A THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C. December 24, 2014

Resigns(Continued from page 1A)

Scam(Continued from page 1A)

Teen court(Continued from page 1A)

Santa stopSanta stopped in at the Hoke County Schools Exceptional Children’s Winter Wonderland cel-ebration at Mt. Elim Church. He visited with more than 250 kids and adults including Isabella NG, a 3-year-old who was captivated by his fuzzy white beard and big smile. (Hal Nunn photo)

School BriefsStudent gets honors

Keyatta Parker was named to the Dean’s List at UNC-Charlotte for the fall semester. She was also named to

the Pinnacle Honor Society, which was created to honor adult students. To be named to the society, students must be over the age of 24, have earned more than 85 credit hours,

15 or more from UNC-Charlotte, have earned at least a 3.0 grade point average, be involved in campus ac-tivities, demonstrate leadership and maintain high ethics.

The Raeford City Council met Tuesday morning for a special called closed session. The board

met to discuss an economic de-velopment matter. The council members did not take any action

Council won’t meet in JanuaryMany local offices will be

closed for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The Raeford city offices will be closed from Wednesday, Decem-ber 24 through Friday, December 26. The city offices will open again Monday, December 29. The city departments will also be closed on New Year’s Day.

Hoke County offices will be

closed Wednesday, December 24 through Friday, December 26 and will reopen Monday, December 29. The county departments will also be closed on New Year’s Day.

The county solid waste transfer station on Doc Brown Road and the five convenience sites will close Wednesday, December 24 and Thursday, December 25. All facilities will reopen Friday, De-

cember 26 at normal operational hours. The county warned that the days following Christmas are the highest volume days of the year, and some convenience sites may fill up and be forced to close early.

The News-Journal closed at 3 p.m. Wednesday, December 24 and will reopen Monday, Decem-ber 29. The newspaper office will also be closed New Year’s Day.

City, county offices close for holidays

Authorities with the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office arrested a soldier last week for multiple sexual offenses.

Investigators charged Daniel Allen Moore, 23, with three counts of second-degree rape and one count of second-degree sexual offense. He was held under a $20,000 secured bond.

Officers began investigating the case after the U.S. Army Criminal In-vestigation Division Unit contacted the office about a reported sexual

assault that allegedly occurred on October 30. The sheriff’s office assumed the investigation because the crimes allegedly occurred in Hoke County.

“Investigators were able to substantiate the claim and felony charges (were) issued against Daniel Moore,” according to a statement from the office.

Moore was out of state at the time charges were filed. Authori-ties located him in Virginia and took him into custody until he

was turned o v e r t o H o k e C o u n t y l aw e n -forcement last week.

Moore is a mem-b e r o f the U.S. Army, B Co. 3rd Military Infor-mation Support Group stationed at Fort Bragg.

Soldier charged with rape

Moore

Jones

and the number she received the calls from was 585-599-3948. Another number showed up with a New York location on the caller I.D.

McDowell said that while she and her mother were able to avoid getting ripped off, she fears the elderly are especially vulnerable to this type of scam.

“I don’t want to see any of these elderly people (scammed) … they don’t have enough money to begin with, a lot of them, because all they’re living off of is their social security,” she said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t have anyone to advise them or tell them what to do and when it says IRS, it scares them to death.”

The sheriff’s office has re-cently received similar calls about an IRS scam. Raeford Police Department Sgt. J. Garcia even

said that he received one of the calls on a personal number.

Report scamsPeople receiving scam phone

calls can report them to the Raeford Police Department at 875-4251, the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office at 875-5111 and the North Carolina At-torney General’s office at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM. Reports to the attorney general can also be made online through the state Department of Justice Consumer Protection Division website, http://www.ncdoj.gov/Consumer.

The Consumer Protection Division offered tips to help consumers stay safe:

• Guard your numbers. Never give your Social Security number, credit card or

bank account number to a per-son who contacts you by phone

or email.• Don’t pay money up front to

get a loan, collect a prize, or for debt settlement,

credit repair or foreclosure help. It’s illegal to require such a payment. (And if

someone says you’ve won a lottery or sweepstakes that you don’t recall

entering, they’re trying to scam you!)

• Don’t deposit a check and then agree to wire money to someone. The check is

phony, and the money you send will come out of your own account.

• Be wary of door-to-door contractors and others offering home repair services.

• Avoid get-r ich-quick schemes. Beware of offers that sound too good to be

true or promise huge rewards with little or no risk.

as president of Hoke Hospital,” ac-cording to a statement from Cape Fear Valley officials.

Wells graduated from Fay-etteville State University and earned her medical degree from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. She completed her family practice residency at New Hanover Re-gional Medical Center in Wilm-ington and is board certified in family practice. She joined the Cape Fear Valley system in 2010 as a family practice physician at Stedman Medical Care.

Wells is a member of the American College of Physician Executives. She serves on multiple Cape Fear Valley Health System

committees, including the Quality Council and Readmissions Steering Committee.

“Under Dr. Wells’ leadership, there was unprecedented growth and expansion of the medical group, including expansion of the health system’s general surgery practice and the addition of cardiothoracic surgery and ENT practices,” the hospital system announced in a statement.

Cape Fear Valley Health Chief Executive Officer Michael Na-gowski said the Hoke community is looking forward to the hospital opening in 2014.

“I am confident that under Dr. Wells’ leadership, it will provide the residents of Hoke County and southwestern Cumberland County

with high q u a l -ity care with a personal touch,” he said.

Con-struction is wrap-ping up t h i s month on the 41-bed hospital, which will offer a 24-hour emergency room, a maternity ward and other services. Although the physical structures are in place, the process of working with certifying agencies to actually open the hospital to patients can take months.

said.Young offenders qualify for the

teen court program if their offense meets several criteria. If it’s the first time a young person has been charged with a crime, and if the crime is minor – no felonies are allowed – and if the teen is willing to plead guilty, then the juvenile gets to be tried before a jury of literal peers.

The stakes are much lower in teen court, where punishments usu-ally involve community service and work with the teen court program itself. There’s a big benefit for the young offenders: no criminal record.

“If they finish the program within 90 days, the charge is dismissed like

it never happened,” Washington said. “It’s not like juvenile court where you have a juvenile record, you just won’t have a record, period.”

Some of the cases seen in teen court might include shoplifting, simple assault, trespassing and misdemeanor larceny. Volunteer students fill the usual court positions during the teen court sessions. Local attorneys work with the program to train the students who serve as the lawyers, jury members and judges for the teen court program.

There are great benefits to being a part of teen court, Washington said.

“They can get credit hours or use it for a school project, and it looks good on a resume that you volun-

teered,” she said. “…That would look very good on applications for school, college, a job.”

It also educates young offenders about their actions and encourages them to make better choices.

“If you had it to do all over again, what would you do different,” Washington said.

Students who want to participate must undergo training to learn how to be a part of the program.

The program is ongoing and conducted every Thursday from 6-7 p.m. at the court annex building on Main Street in Raeford. Court is held at least once a month. For more information or to join, call Washington at 818-6605.

New counselorKeisha Jacobs-Jones was sworn in as a new juvenile court counselor Decem-ber 17. Chief District Judge William McIlwain presided.

SUBSCRIBE to The News-JournalCall 875-2121 or visit www.raefordnj.com

get the paper each week in the mail

at the meeting.The city council will not hold

its regularly scheduled meeting in January. The next Raeford City Council meeting will be the first Monday night in February.

3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst1110 E. Central Avenue, Raeford

Sandhills Community College

Classes taught in Pinehurst,Raeford and Online

Continuing Education Registration Begins Dec. 1 – Class Start Dates Vary

Curriculum Registration onJanuary 8 – Classes Begin Jan. 12

INCREDIBLE FUTURESBEGIN AT SANDHILLS

910-692-6185 • www.sandhills.edu

NOTICE

The City of Raeford Sanitation Department will maintain its regular schedule for garbage collection during the Christmas Holiday. Recyling will be col-lected on the west side of the city on Wednesday, December 24th, 2014 and the east side on Friday, December 26th, 2014.

Trash and Cardboard dumpsters will also be placed at the following locations, in order to help with any excess trash that may accumulate due to the holiday:

1. Turlington School2. Robbins Heights Park3. Civic Center4. E Fifth Ave. (behind the Raeford Fire Department)The City of Raeford is experiencing technical is-

sues with the trash trucks. Trash pickup will re-sume as soon as the issues are resolved. In the in-terim, the dumpster sites listed above may be used for all trash.

CHRISTMASHOLIDAY SCHEDULE

FOR GARBAGE & RECYCLING COLLECTION

Happy Holiday

to all!

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minimum of three weeks.**

Winter Advertising Promotion

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reach 14,000 homes each week.

Echo front page and/or color available at additional reduced cost. Deadline: Noon each Monday

Contact Wendy Tredway at 875-2121; by email at wendy@thenews-journal.com

orHal Nunn at 964-0990; hal@thenews-journal.com

December 24, 2014 THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C 5A

Sports

Sports News To Report? Call Hal Nunn(910) 875-2121

Just Putting Around

By hal nunn

Sports writer

The Hoke County High School Bucks boys’ and girls’ basketball teams hit a skid over the last week. The boys are on a four-game losing streak and the girls are on a two-game slide.

Coach Quame Patterson said, “Our boys have really maximized their effort on the court and we have been in most every game but a couple of bonehead mistakes late in the Westover game cost us that one. Our guys are playing hard and we’re doing the best we can with what we have, but this year we are not as big as we have been in the past and that hurts when you’re up against a team with 6’5 and 6’6’ guys down low

for 32 minutes.” The boys will play in the Dark

Horse Classic at Clinton High School Monday, December 29 against Union High at 5:45 pm. The winner of that game will play the winner of Clinton vs. Hobbton on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.

The Lady Bucks were on a four-game winning streak un-til last week when they faced Westover for the first time and Seventy-First for the second time. Coach Tiffany Parks said, “We were down four players last week due to injury, Te’Montae Spellers, Mahogany Matthews, Alyssa Thompson and Mikayla King, in the game against Westo-ver and Seventy-First and that’s a tough break. I am pulling up two players from JV, Makia Davis and

Iyana Jones, both sophomores, for the holiday tournament and we are going to adjust our entire approach but our girls are tough and we will be fine.”

The Lady Bucks will play in the Leon Brogden holiday tournament in Wilmington the day after Christmas at 6 p.m. against Wilmington Laney. Other teams playing in that tourna-ment are Wilmington Ashley, Whiteville, Hoggard, Socastee, New Hanover and Hough. This tournament will run through December 30.

The junior varsity boys’ team will also play in Clinton on De-cember 29 beginning at 4 p.m. against Union High. The junior varsity girls are not playing in a holiday tournament.

Bucks basketball teams hit skid, holiday tournaments approaching

By hal nunn

Sports writer

Bayonet at Puppy CreekThe Friday Shootout at Bayonet

at Puppy Creek saw Dan Dexter, Jose Vigil, John Hudson and Dooie Leach shoot a 10-under to finish in first place. On December 9, Victor Hunt had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole. On December 15, W.D. Hux double-eagled the 18th hole. On December 17, Dan Dexter had a hole-in-one on the 3rd hole.

Upland Trace Terry Hall had an eagle on hole

#6. The Saturday morning group winners were Steve Jumbelick, Al Smith, Lee Harless and Art Dearing. The Saturday “Pack” group winners were Ralph Currie, Grady Beasley, Brandon Jackson and Todd Bradley. Ralph Currie and Robbie Currie had low score of 73.

By hal nunn

Sports writer

U.S. Kids Golf announced Kathy Bounds a native of Raeford, NC as Honorable Mention in the Top 50 Teach-ers in 2013 for U.S. Kids Golf LLC. The group annu-ally recognizes the world’s most outstanding youth golf instructors from 21 states, Canada, Costa Rica and Mex-ico. Kathy was the Head Golf Pro at The Preserve Golf Club in Chapel Hill, NC and now is part owner of the Dona Lerner Golf Academy at Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh. Kathy is the daughter of CD and Dot Bounds of Raeford.

Kathy Bounds was named Hon-orable Mention Top 50 teachers for U.S.t Kids Golf 2013. She is currently part owner of the Dona Lerner Golf Academy at Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh, NC.

U.S. Kids Golf recognizes Bounds as a top teacher

The Carolina Rebels travel baseball organization based out of Fayetteville will have tryouts Saturday, January 10, 2015 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at 360 Elite Sports Training on Raeford Road. The Rebels are a 14-and-under travel baseball organization that plays

starting in April 2015. The tryout times are as follows: 8-11 year olds from 1 to 2 p.m. and 12-13 year olds from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. Ages 14 and over will begin tryouts at 3:30 p.m. The season will run through July and the fall season will run from August

Carolina Rebels baseball tryouts

The Blue Springs Commu-nity Development Corporation held its 13th annual Community Conversation series last week, gathering together economic development, healthcare and other community stakeholders to discuss the needs of Hoke County.

People from across the state came together to brainstorm ideas, identify needs and figure out ways to meet them.

“This series typically ad-dresses critical economic chal-lenges issues that we find abound in our communities and create space for us to talk about them, and particularly to think about a solutions-based approach,” Blue Springs CDC Director Christina Davis-McCoy said. “What do

we know, what do we need to know, what are we willing to do to grapple with whatever the challenges are?”

The meeting included small group discussions and work ses-sions to help identify possible project ideas that can be presented to the United States Department of Agriculture for funding.

The topics at this year’s meeting were focused on local food, senior care, ways to build entrepreneurship and tourism in rural communities and health-care concerns. Finding ways to support seniors who want to stay in their homes as long as possible, addressing issues like obesity and wellness and looking at local production and access to food were among some of the

things participants discussed at the meeting.

Davis-McCoy said she hopes to see more people getting in-volved in the conversation in the future.

“Our belief is, when you’re in a community, everybody has a stake in what’s going on, whether they claim it or not. We’re moving steadfastly to a place where we have to encourage more folk to embrace a stake in it,” she said.

The event was held at Sand-hills Community College and attended by representatives from community service agencies, the USDA Rural Center and others familiar with the subjects.

Blue Springs CDC will cel-ebrate its 20th anniversary next year.

Blue Springs CDC holds conference

Christina Davis-McCoy talks with some of the other participants at the 13th annual Blue Springs CDC community conversations conference.

through November. The cutoff date in each age division is May 1. Most tournaments played are no more than two hours away. For more information, contact Donald Bennett at 910-303-8129 or by email at CarolinaRebels01@gmail.com.

Notice!

HOKE COUNTY HAS A PERMANENT LISTING SYSTEM FOR REAL PROPERTY. If you own only Real Property and registered Motor Vehicles you do not have to list your property in January. Your Real Property Value will be carried forward by the Tax Office. You only have to provide the Tax Office with information regarding any changes to your real property. This includes but not limited to: additions, remodeling, demolition, storage buildings, decks, etc.

Licensed motor vehicles are now taxed by the new Tax and Tag program at the time of registration or renewal. Military personnel should provide an LES to the Tax Office to exempt their vehicles from taxes after receiving the renewal notice.

THE FOLLOWING PERSONALPROPERTY MUST BE LISTED:Mobile HomesAll Single-widesDouble-wides if not listed as real estate

equipmentBusiness, Commercial, Industrial, Farm Equipment

otherBoats (not to include trailers)AircraftNon-Licensed Motor VehiclesSemi-Trailers or Trailers registered on a multi-year basis

Applications For: Property Tax Exemptions (Churches, charitable organizations, etc.), and Present Use Value are due in the Tax Assessors office no later than Janu-ary 31, 2015. Tax relief applications for Elderly, Permanently Disabled, or Veterans Disability are accepted until June 1, 2015. Please contact the Tax Assessor's office for more information concerning these tax relief programs.

Listings are subject to a 10% late penalty after January 31.

PRoPeRtY tAX LiStiNGALL HOKE COUNTY RESIDENTS

Hoke County Tax Office • 227 N. Main St., Raeford, NC HoUrS:

8:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday - Friday, January 2 - February 2, 2015

Telephone 910-875-8751 • Toll Free 1-800-597-8751

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6A THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C. December 24, 2014

Fire death(Continued from page 1A)Brewer, her mother-in-law, dur-ing the fire. She was airlifted to a hospital in Chapel Hill for treatment and remains on a ventilator, according to Maj. Freddy Johnson of the emer-gency management division of the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office. Chavez’s granddaughter Aniya Bryant, 11, suffered burns to her head and arms and was also taken to the hospital, while grandson Naoma Bryant, 8, was unharmed.

Ladoris Jefferson of Laurel Hill was on the way to help with a food drive at her church when she saw flames coming from the house and called 911, then stopped her car to ask if everyone got out safely.

“They said, no, there’s a lady still in there, so I jump out and my first instinct is where is she, we’ve got to get her out,” Jefferson said.

She grabbed a step stool off the front porch and ran around to the back of the house, where she called to Brewer.

“I heard her weak voice and I said, give me (your) hand, and I had her hand in my hand. I said, please pull up, pull up,” Jefferson said. But the woman was too weak to pull herself out of the window, and then some-thing inside the house exploded, Jefferson said.

Garret Chavis of Raeford ar-rived then and came to help, but heavy smoke and the intense heat from the fire drove them away from the burning house.

“The smoke just took over,” Jefferson said.

Jefferson suffered cuts and burns to her arm while trying to rescue Brewer.

This wasn’t the first time she was involved in an attempted fire rescue, she said. About 15 years ago, Jefferson stopped to help with a house fire near Raeford and at that time tried to help save a young girl trapped in the home.

“I’m a people person and I often stop on the side of the road and help them,” she said.

Jefferson’s own father passed away Monday night, she said.

Billie Monroe said his family owns the property and was rent-ing it out through a real estate agency when it burned. A local person who saw the fire called him and let him know, he said.

“I was in the bed when they called and told me the house was on fire,” Monroe said.

Monroe said he didn’t have many details about what hap-pened but said he had a guess at where the fire started.

“From the looks of it, it may have started somewhere around the middle of the house,” he said.

The house was insured but they will probably not rebuild on that location, Monroe said.

The home was a total loss, according to authorities. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said they do not suspect criminal activity.

The two children did not live in the home and were only visit-ing for the night, but Chavez and her husband Natividad Chavez lost all their belongings. The American Red Cross is assisting the family.

Christmas helpLumbee River EMC employees and board members gathered 120 boxes of food and toys to give to families. The program came together Thursday.

Clockwise from top: Garret Chavis (left) and another unidentified man suffer from smoke after trying to help rescue a woman from the burning home; a firefighter gets equipment help; a fireman tries to get water to the fire. (Ken MacDonald photos)

SUBSCRIBE to The News-JournalCall 875-2121 or visit www.raefordnj.com

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