By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • Wearing a face covering in public is now mandatory in North Carolina. Citing rising numbers of hospitalizations and continued high numbers of newly identified cases of COVID-19, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Wednesday requiring people to wear a face covering in public. The order...
Month: June 2020
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General Assembly to abolish coroner office
Caption: Frank Crumpler is coroner in Hoke County. He’s held the office longer than anybody has held any office in the U.S. By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • America’s longest-serving elected official still in office, Hoke County Coroner Frank Crumpler, is serving his final term after state leaders voted to dissolve four of...
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Raeford departments briefly close due to virus
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • Concerns about a city employee potentially exposing other employees to the COVID-19 virus caused Raeford officials to temporarily close some offices. The city of Raeford’s Public Works and Inspections closed for a few days last week as a precaution. Several departments’ employees were all tested for COVID-19. The...
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Other Stuff, Not Necessarily The News
By Ken MacDonald • Here at The News-Journal we’re working remotely, or, as I like to say, remotely working. And when I’m remotely working, my thoughts turn to our gong machine. We’ve been at Gong, version II for quite sometime, so with any spare time afforded by the worldwide pandemic, my thoughts turned to a...
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Marine from Raeford stabbed to death at post
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • A Marine from Raeford died last week at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune after suffering stab wounds from an incident that’s still under investigation. Lance Cpl. William “Billy” Jacob Luce, 22, an infantry rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, was fatally stabbed at Camp Lejeune in...
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Virus death toll in Hoke is 3
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • Two people from Hoke County have died after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to health officials. An African-American man died June 12 at FirstHealth of the Carolinas, and a Hispanic woman died June 18 also at FirstHealth of the Carolinas after testing positive for the virus....
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Work continues on 4-laning NC 211
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • Work is ongoing in the planning process for turning N.C. 211 between Raeford and Aberdeen into a four-lane road, according to a project schedule from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). A website for the project, dubbed R-5709 in the state’s transportation plan, noted in the project...
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County budget expected Wednesday
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • The Hoke County Board of Commissioners is expected to vote this week on a proposed 2020-2021 county budget ordinance. The board members plan to meet again Wednesday to take a vote on the proposed budget, County Manager Letitia Edens said in an email Monday. The board met in...
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Charges against pastor dropped
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • A pastor in Raeford who spent years fighting fraud allegations won the battle this month when a prosecutor dropped the charges before the case ever went to trial. The two-and-a-half years the Rev. Dr. Lent Christopher Carr spent going to court and working with attorneys took a toll...
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Browsing the Files: 75, 47 and 25 Years Ago
75 Years Ago• June 28, 1945 17-year-old Dannie Lowder was eating dinner in the John Marcus Café in Aberdeen Sunday about 8:30 p.m. when a bullet, fired by a policeman to stop a speeding driver, ricocheted and hit him in the neck. Officer W. Glenn Davis, night policeman, attempted to shoot the tires of a...
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City approves $65k project overage
To keep from having to cut off water for an extended time to South Main Street customers, including some businesses, Raeford City Council approved spending $65,000 more than planned for storm water improvements in the area. In a special called meeting Monday morning, the board approved the installation of valves so that asbestos cement water...
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Cape Fear Valley gets COVID-19 grant
Cape Fear Valley Health has been awarded $149,747 from the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation’s COVID-19 “Fill the Gap” Response Fund. The money will help fund three different needs within the health system. The needs include behavioral health support for frontline healthcare workers, enhanced discharge support for underserved patients, and increasing nursing coverage to allow additional...
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Ro Huff: Feeling helpless in uncertain times
These are certainly unusual times. We are in the midst of the worst pandemic in a hundred years while downtown areas all around the country are being burned and looted in the wake of more horrible police brutality which resulted in another dead black man. These seemingly unrelated issues have coalesced into a stew of...
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City tests, isolates some employees after possible exposure to virus
The city of Raeford’s Public Works department and water and sewer operations employees have all been tested for COVID-19, after a city employee apparently tested positive for the virus. Raeford City Manager Dennis Baxley confirmed Wednesday that there were concerns a city employee may have exposed coworkers to the virus. The situation specifically involved the...
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Recovered from COVID-19? Donating plasma could save others’ lives
Cape Fear Valley Blood Donor Center is in urgent need of volunteers to donate convalescent plasma to help treat area COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma is the liquid component of blood collected from patients who have recovered from the novel coronavirus. These patients develop blood antibodies against the virus, which might help others fight the coronavirus...
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Hoke High graduation goes mobile
[cmsmasters_row][cmsmasters_column data_width=”1/1″][cmsmasters_text] By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • In the age of COVID-19, Hoke County Class of 2020 still got to walk the stage – though the usual cheering crowds were missing. In a time of social distancing and amid an historic pandemic, Hoke County Schools worked to find ways to make the Class...
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Charters of Freedom opening postponed
The grand opening for a special outdoor display of replicas of historical American documents is postponed until later this summer, due to inclement weather this week. The Charters of Freedom, Foundation Forward Inc. and the Raeford Downtown Beautification Committee broke ground March 5 on “Freedom Park” at the corner of East Central Avenue and North...
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Filing for school board opens next month
Filing to run for one of two seats on the Hoke County Board of Education will open in early July. The filing period for the Board of Education begins July 6 and runs until August 3. Filing for the Hoke County Soil and Water Conservation Board will also open this summer. The filing period for...
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County tops 300 COVID cases
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • The Hoke County Health Department is dealing with around 90 known active cases of COVID-19, while more than 200 people who tested positive for the virus have recovered. As of Tuesday the county had identified a total of 300 known positive cases of COVID-19 since the first known...
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Schools offer free meals for children
The Hoke County Schools Summer Nutrition Program is offering free drive-through pick-up meals at no charge to families for any child in Hoke County age two to 18. School buses, child nutrition staff and teachers and staff members worked from March to June to deliver meals to bus stops while school normally would have been...
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Commissioner seeks to raise employees minimum wage to $15
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • Hoke County Commission Chairman James Leach called Monday for the county to consider paying all of its employees at least $15 an hour. Echoing some calls to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, Leach spoke about the proposal Monday at a regularly scheduled commission meeting. The chairman...
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School briefs
Caption: Madison Akins • Graduates from Hoke High Madison Rose Akins graduated from Hoke High School. Her information was unavailable for the special section in last week’s News-Journal. • Sandhills announces honors Sandhills Community College students from Hoke County who achieved a 4.0-grade point average were placed on the President’s List for the spring...
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Hoke schools recognized for Beta Clubs
National Beta announced this week it has named Hoke County Schools a 2019-2020 National District of Distinction. This award is given to those deserving districts who offer National Beta in all schools in their district, and who induct qualifying students in all eligible grades (4-12). Hoke County Schools is one of only 20 districts to...
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FirstHealth relaxes some visitor restrictions
Following a decision to resume many non-time sensitive procedures last month, FirstHealth of the Carolinas is relaxing some of the visitor restrictions in place at hospitals and clinics. Beginning June 17, the updated visitation policy will allow one support person or companion to accompany patients in all acute-care facilities and clinics. Safety measures to help...
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Browsing the Files: a look back to 75, 47 and 25 years ago
Caption: Dr. Lloyd V. Hackley (center), president of the N.C. Community College System with East Hoke Middle Principal Ron Alexander (right) and interim superintendent Don Steed. Steed was named superintendent. (June 21, 1995) • 75 Years Ago • June 21, 1945 A Gold Star was presented to Lt. Benjamin F. Currie, USNR, for exceptional...