Hoke County’s longtime coroner and funeral home founder G. Franklin Crumpler, the longest-serving elected official in the United States who outlived his own office, died Friday, May 26, 2023 at the age of 88. With approximately 62 years in the record book as Hoke County Coroner, Crumpler was known as the longest-serving elected official in the United States. He even...
Schools chairwoman was “fed up” with attorney, emails show
[Editor’s note, update for recent events: During the Hoke County Board of Education workshop meeting Tuesday, May 23, attorney Rod Malone of Tharrington Smith announced the law firm has resigned from working with the school board. That story will be in next week’s issue of The News-Journal.] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • School board Chairwoman Angela Southerland was “extremely...
Veterans gather at Briarwood Cattle Farm in South Hoke for Day of Healing
[Photo: Veterans joined guest speakers and experts in agri-business for the Day of Healing at Briarwood Cattle Farm, hosted by farm owner and veteran Marvin Frink. The day included yoga, meals, a farm tour and support for veterans interested in getting started in agriculture.] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Military veteran Marvin Frink keeps a chair out behind a...
Commission hears budget requests: raise for school board, cars for sheriff’s office, new staff at DSS among items on the table
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A raise for the Hoke County Board of Education and money for a new bus garage, 12 cars and five officers for the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office and 10 new staff at the Hoke County Department of Social Services were among the highlights last week presented to commissioners during budget talks. Departments and agencies...
SandHoke graduates Class of 2023 with emotional farewell
[Photos: SandHoke students enter the stadium for commencement, held Friday. ] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • “To begin something new, you must sacrifice something old,” Taylor Walker of SandHoke Early College High School told her classmates Friday, as she looked out over the podium at the sea of assembled students, families and guests. “I shared so many memories in...
Suicide prevention about ‘asking the question’
[Photo: Hoke County Health Department staff hosted the suicide prevention symposium at the Robert A. Wright Agriculture Building in Raeford.] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • If you’re worried someone is suicidal, the first step to helping may be just to ask the question. That was a key takeaway from the county’s first suicide prevention symposium, Hoke County Health Department...
State closes treatment center in Raeford after child suffers skull fracture
The state has shut down a treatment center in Raeford after an employee was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old resident and fracturing his skull, according to the Raeford Police Department. The state shut down Grace House Treatment Center, located at 1892 Turnpike Road in Raeford, after inspectors conducted their own investigation, authorities said. The state became involved after Raeford...
School lawyer told “don’t come back”
By Catharin Shepard Editor Lawyer Carolyn Murchison was told “not to come back” to her duties as school board attorney after tension arose with some of the board members, but the matter was not brought before all five board members for a vote, according to board member Rosa McAllister-McRae. McAllister-McRae said that while she was speaking informally with the...
Schools seek funds for raises, land
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • The Hoke County Board of Education voted Tuesday for a “wishlist” 2023-2024 local funding budget that included raises for the board, bus drivers, bus monitors and mechanics among others, plus $6 million to buy land for a future new school and $4 million for a new bus garage. Interim Superintendent Dr. Shannon Register and...
Malabunga is Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year
[Photo: Mario Malabunga received the award this Monday at a surprise announcement. (Contributed photo) Mario Malabunga, Drone Pilot Instructor at Hoke County High School, was selected as an Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year. Students, CTE staff, and school administrators surprised Malabunga Monday morning with the announcement. The Amazon Future Engineer Teacher of the Year Awards celebrates all-star teachers who...
Hoke High drone piloting students win first, fourth in state, will compete nationally
[Photo: Chancellor Morton and Andrew Scott, Hoke High students, won big at the state championship drone piloting Chancellor Morton and Andrew Scott of Hoke County High School this weekend placed first and fourth, respectively, in the SkillsUSA North Carolina Championships Drone competition. Team members Branson Winburn and Johnathan Halstead helped with drone practice, maintenance, repair and logistics. Morton will go...
Hoke County names sports complex in honor of late Parks and Rec Director Elgin Blue
[Photo: The presentation to the Blue family at the board meeting Monday night.] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • When members of the Parks and Recreation advisory board asked people to talk about the late Parks and Rec Director Elgin Blue, nobody could find anything negative to say about him. “He was a dear, respected member of our community,“ board...
Glitz and glamour at JALARC opening
[Photo: Commission Vice Chairman James Leach speaks on stage above a bust of himself, gifted by the companies that built the new recreation center. (Catharin Shepard photo)] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A shrouded object sat just below the stage set up in the gymnasium at the James A. Leach Aquatic and Recreation Center, waiting for the big moment....
Oopsie Daisy Florist celebrates grand opening
[Photo: Joyce Bullard and Paula Oldham cut the ribbon Saturday on Oopsie Daisy Florist, with John Jordan of the Raeford City Council and Rick Sandy of the Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce. (Catharin Shepard photo)] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Joyce Bullard and Paula Oldham stood outside their new shop Saturday and carefully snipped the red ribbon, their smiles echoed...
Hoke High drama students fundraising for trip
Fresh off their performance at East Carolina University in the North Carolina Thespian Festival, drama students at Hoke County High School are setting their sights on an even bigger stage: the International Thespian Festival, held this summer in Indiana. They’ll need some help to get there. Including travel costs, each of the 13 students who qualified to participate will have...
Luggage drive to help foster children
When children go into foster care, they sometimes have to leave their homes at a moment’s notice with all their belongings stuffed into plastic garbage bags. Affairs of the Family and the Hoke County Open Door Soup Kitchen are working to help make a difficult, scary situation a little easier on children by holding a luggage drive. The drive seeks...
Hoke deputies shoot armed man during “high-risk” search
From the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office: The Hoke County Sheriff Office announces on Friday March 24, 2023 Hoke County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were conducting a high-risk search warrant in the 100 Block of Hickory Drive in Raeford, NC. Upon arrival at the location Hoke County Deputies knocked and announced their presence at the residence. As Hoke County Deputies entered the residence, continuing to announce...
Governor visits Scurlock Elementary
[Photo: Gov. Roy Cooper looks at students’ classwork in a kindergarten classroom at Scurlock Elementary during a visit to the school Thursday morning.] North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper visited Scurlock Elementary School to talk about education funding. He toured classrooms and held a press conference in the school media center with local elected officials. See next week’s issue of The...
Commissioners appoint Wright to board
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A man with decades of experience serving as a county commissioner will return to the board next week. The Hoke County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last Wednesday morning to appoint Robert “Bobby” Wright to serve out the remainder of the late Commissioner Lonnie Baldwin’s term in office. Wright and his wife, Shirley Wright,...
Commissioners appoint Bobby Wright as fifth board member
[Photo: Bobby Wright will return to the board this month with a swearing-in set for March 20. He and his wife were present Wednesday morning when Commission Vice Chairman James Leach (back row, from left), Commission Chairman Allen Thomas and Commissioner Harry Southerland, along with Commissioner Tony Hunt (not pictured) made the unanimous vote. (Catharin Shepard photo)] The Hoke County...
Meet helicopter crash survivor at The News-Journal March 16
Military veteran Elmer Adams was one of four people who survived a helicopter crash in Hoke County in October 1973, thanks in no small part to the quick action of bystanders who rushed to help. The News-Journal will host an informal gathering for Adams and those who helped that day. The gathering is set for Thursday, March 16 from 10...
Rising Stars program expands to include four schools
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • What started a few years ago as a grassroots effort to help prepare young children for kindergarten will expand into four elementary schools in Hoke County this summer. Rising Stars is a local effort launched by Citizens for Early Childhood Education, a group of people concerned with seeing Hoke County children achieve their potential....
Fundraiser collects $2,100 for soup kitchen
[Photo: The winners of the Bowl of Abundance soup cook-off were Brian Henderson in first place, Betty Perkins in second place and Becky Jones in third place. (Contributed photo)] The annual Bowl of Abundance fundraiser for the Open Door Soup Kitchen raised $2,100 to support the nonprofit’s mission of feeding the hungry in Hoke County. The Raeford-Hoke Christian Ministerial Alliance...
School board halts Hoke High project
By Catharin Shepard • Editor • After hitting the brakes on a plan for a replacement building on the Hoke High campus, the school board voted last week to consider building a second high school at a cost of $110 million – but it’s not clear yet whether the district can use its $50 million in state grant funds for...
Veteran hopes to reunite with life-savers from ’73
[Photo: This black and white image from October 1973 shows the twisted, burned section of a U.S. Air Force helicopter’s fuselage in Hoke County woods following the crash. One of the survivors is hoping to thank the people who came to the rescue that day. (File photo)] By Catharin Shepard • Editor • A veteran walked into the News-Journal office...