(Photo: County employees unload chicken donated by Mountaire Farms.) By Catharin Shepard – Staff writer – There are now 12 known positive cases of COVID-19 associated with Hoke County. So far, none of the patients have had to go to a hospital for further treatment, according to health officials. Many have already recovered from the...
A group of healthcare experts from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, RTI International and others released Monday a forecast model of how the coronavirus could affect hospital capacity in North Carolina in the coming weeks. “The modeling affirms that the actions we take now will determine how this virus will impact North Carolina in the weeks...
The National Weather Service says some isolated strong storms are possible this afternoon as a cold front dips southward: “Coverage should increase as the storms move south and begin to interact with the warmer and increasingly more moist surface airmass. Even still, coverage should only remain isolated to widely scattered. Primarily vertical wind shear and...
Hoke Sheriff Hubert Peterkin posted a Facebook video asking citizens to refrain from even parking lot church services in order to comply with Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order. He suggested church leaders use video streams instead. Saying his officers aren’t going out looking for violators, being out for unauthorized reasons could lead to other problems...
By Catharin Shepard – Staff writer – There are now 10 positive cases of COVID-19 connected to Hoke County, health officials said Friday. North Carolina has at least 2,093 known cases of COVID-19 across the state. Hoke’s known positive cases include: The first local patient who tested positive March 18, and has recovered Two Fort...
By Catharin Shepard – Staff writer – Hoke County now has seven confirmed cases of COVID-19. Several of the local patients have recovered from the illness, Hoke County Health Department Director Helene Edwards said. The county already identified four cases of the virus, and health officials learned Wednesday of three more when doctors received positive...
The Raeford City Council has cancelled the regular council meeting originally scheduled for Monday, April 6. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be Monday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in the James B. McLeod Council Chambers of City Hall on Main Street in Raeford. The city previously planned to delay the council meeting until April...
By Catharin Shepard – Staff writer – Butterball donated Wednesday over $2,400 worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) to local healthcare agencies. Hospitals and other care providers across the country are struggling with shortages of PPE for doctors and nurses. Cape Fear Valley Health, FirstHealth of the Carolinas and Autumn Care in Raeford received the...
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • In the last few weeks, Anita Herrada-Johnson has produced from her backyard studio more than 200 fabric face masks for doctors and nurses across the country. The retired United States Air Force MSgt., who has lived in Hoke County with her family since 2006, has for several...
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • A line of cars decorated with homemade signs and colorful balloons drove through Raeford Friday, as teachers honked and shouted out of their rolled-down windows. “Hi! We love you!” one teacher called to young students standing on the sidewalk with their mom, as the kids waved back. It...
Deputies with the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man last week for allegedly firing gunshots into an occupied car. Investigators arrested Zachary McMillian, 24, of the 2400 block of Milk Dairy Road in Red Springs on one county of shooting into an occupied vehicle. The charge is a felony. Officers were called to the...
To the Editor: I am writing this article in response to Mr. Frog Holler’s last week article. First I am neither Democrat nor Republican and it’s always plain he hates Republicans, and always says so. He doesn’t like President Trump. It is, I guess, his place to let everyone know to vote for a...
By Ron Huff • I just returned from the funeral of a lifelong friend. Ruth Calloway Wilkerson has been a member of the Ashley Heights Community since before I was born. She was born a Calloway, the family for which Calloway Road in western Hoke is named. Their beautiful farm at Five Points became the...
By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • The Hoke County Sheriff’s Office can enforce North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s mandates, Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said Monday, and deputies charged one person for failing to comply with a shutdown order that went into effect last week. The governor earlier this month issued an executive order that shut...
••Four cases of COVID-19 in Hoke, 86 tested so far•• By Catharin Shepard • Staff writer • The COVID-19 coronavirus and the steps taken by officials to slow its spread continued this week to affect many aspects of daily life in Hoke County, and across the country. There were nearly 1,500 known cases of COVID-19...
What does Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order really mean for your family? Here are answers to some frequently asked questions, provided by the governor’s office, to help you figure out what’s okay and what’s not. The order went into effect Monday, March 30 at 5 p.m., and applies to all of North Carolina including Hoke...
By Catharin Shepard Staff writer A locally-owned business in Raeford is growing with a new acquisition, new contracts and new products, all while supporting the community. A well-known name to parachutists the world over, Sun Path Products builds custom harness/container systems for skydiving. The company is international: Sun Path’s products made right here in Raeford...
A man from Laurinburg and his teenage daughter died in a car accident last week in Hoke County, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Roy Anthony Ayers, 45, and his daughter Cassie Marae Ayers, 17, were killed in the accident Tuesday, March 24. The wreck happened on U.S. 401 between Wallace McLean Road and...
100 Years Ago December 4, 1919 Rev. W.C. Brown has been confined to his room for a week with a case of the grippe [Editor’s note: another name for influenza]. He was unable to fill his appointments Sunday; but we are glad to state he is now improving. February 12, 1920 • Miss Ollie...
By Shirley Smith Hoke Extension The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger. Everyone reacts differently to stressful...