Chamber Celebrates 75Th Anniversary by JEFFERSON WEAVER and Mingling
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r(BUPSUFBNTUBLFWJDUPSJFTPWFS4PVUI3PCF TPOr7JLFTSBMMZQBTU3FE%FWJMTr4USPOH 8BSSJPSFĒPSUGBMMTTIPSUBHBJOTU8PSEPG(PE r8)4HJSMTTVSWJWFVQTFUCJEr4UBMMJPOCPZT UIVNQ8PMGQBDLr4PVUI$PMVNCVTGBMMTUP &BTU#MBEFO Sports 4FFQBHF# ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Tursday forReporter the County of Columbus and her people. Tursday, January 26, 2012 Tighter reins Margus bows for speeders Volume 121, Number 60 out of N.C. Whiteville, North Carolina here Feb. 1 nThere are more hoops Senate race 75 Cents for d r iver s to ju mp By NICOLE CARTRETTE through to get the im- Staff Writer proper equipment charge Inside Today to take care of speeding Though filing has not yet begun, a former cases. Marine and N.C. Senate hopeful who an- 3-A nounced his candidacy less than a month ago r4QBVMEJOHMFBWJOH By BOB HIGH has now bowed out of the race. Staff Writer Margus told The News Reporter Wednesday 8IJUFWJMMF1SJNBSZ he would not file to run for the District 13 Sen- r4QSJOHIJHI There will be some changes ate seat representing Columbus and Robeson in how the District Attor- counties. TDIPPMNVTJDBMT ney’s staff will handle pleas His announcement comes just days after BOOPVODFE in speeding cases for tickets his wife, Christina Margus, sought and was issued with the date of Feb. 1 granted a domestic violence protective order 4-A and thereafter. It’s now not go- from her husband. r4FWFSBMQMFBE KVSZ ing to be so easy to get a plea of “I am not making any admission to what DPOWJDUTSPCCFS “improper equipment” instead was published in the Monday, Jan. 23 paper,” of speeding. Margus said of claims his wife made in her The new protocol, accord- complaint seeking a protective order. “I am DIDYOB? ing to Assistant DA Heath not making any admission that it was true; Nance, first involves drivers however, I am backing out of the North Caro- Did you observe ... 18 and under. If a young teen lina Senate race. gets a speeding ticket of any Fayetteville State limit, and wants the “improper See Margus, page 3-A University junior equipment” to save their li- James Jackson, of cense or increased insurance premiums, they must attend a County rates at Whiteville quoted in driver’s education class. The class can be at South- a Fayetteville Ob- eastern Community College ‘persistently poor’ server story about or any community college in the state. nOne of 10 in state with three decades the rising cost of Best for community of poverty at 20 percent or more. college tuition? ... “This is a best practice way Bentley Allen Lee of handling inexperienced By NICOLE CARTRETTE drivers. It’s best for them and Staff Writer born Jan. 24 on the community,” Nance said. his PaPa Toney A new issue brief released by the N.C. Jus- See Speeders, page 5-A tice Center, a non-profit think tank, tells most Lee’s birthday? ... residents living in Columbus something they Girl Scouts across already know. Unemployment Columbus County is one of the least Columbus County Staff photo by Mark Gilchrist wealthy counties in the state and the number taking orders for rate is down, John Middleton of Parish Signs in Raeford puts fnishing touches on a of people living in poverty has long been a Girl Scout cookies? ... sign for the new Roses store in Whiteville Tuesday. The department store problem here. joblessness rises in the Hill Plaza off South Madison Street is scheduled to open soon. According to the brief, Columbus County is Diners at a White- one of 10 counties in the state that was persis- ville restaurant By RAY WYCHE tently poor every year from 1970 to 2000. Each Staff Writer year 20 percent or more of the population of avoiding two trucks the counties identified lived in poverty. in the parking lot? A For the first month since Signs up on Roses store Alexandra Sirota, director of the N.C. Bud- pair of local coyote June, North Carolina’s unem- By JEFFERSON WEAVER The company has 410-plus stores get and Tax Center, a division of the Justice ployment rate was under 10 Staff Writer across the country, according to the trappers were having percent, according to figures online Hoover’s Company Profiles. See Poverty, page 2-A lunch inside…more released by the state’s Depart- The finishing touches are being The stores range in size from small ment of Commerce. made on the new Roses store in discount variety stores to the large fshermen at Lake The unemployment rate Whiteville. Rose’s retailers. Waccamaw than are dropped one-tenth of a percent Dewey Hill, who owns the plaza The company aggressively buys County schools usually seen in Janu- for December and now stands off Madison Street which will be smaller chains while closing poorly at 9.9 percent. The highest home to the department store, said performing stores, according to adopt social ary, as unseasonably unemployment rate of 2011 crews are busily stocking shelves and Hoover’s, and targets smaller com- warm temperatures came in September when 10.5 completing some last minute details. munities. Store names include Bar- percent of the state’s workers The goal is to open the store early in gain Town, Maxway, Roses, and media policy were out of work. Super 10. Variety Wholesalers was brought anglers and February, Hill said. By FULLER ROYAL Despite the drop in the per- “It is a very nice store, and a great founded in 1949 by James Pope, and their quarry to the Staff Writer centage rate, the number of addition to Whiteville,” Hill said. He is a family-owned company. The dam? ... Area tax people looking for work rose by company recently closed its Maxway said he recently toured the new store The Columbus County Board of Education 9,154 since December of 2010, store in downtown Whiteville with preparers swamped and met the manager, who trained at adopted a policy for employees’ use of social according to figures released little fanfare. the Roses store in Myrtle Beach. media during its Jan. 17 meeting. with current tax by the North Carolina Justice The chain specializes in discount “There are all new fixtures, good In the policy, the board “acknowledges that Center, a private organization soft goods, health and beauty sup- work? ... Charlie merchandise—it’s really a nice new school employees may engage in the use of that tracks employment trends plies, rugs and housewares. Hill said store for our area,” Hill said. social media during their personal time” and Langston, up and and seeks to create opportuni- the Roses store is not the same as the The store is making its home in a states that “school employees who use social ties and shared prosperity for chain that went bankrupt a number around, feeling bet- location familiar to retailers—the old media for personal purposes must be mindful the state’s workers. of years ago, Hill said. Kmart building in Hill Plaza. Variety that they are responsible for their public con- ter and attending “There continues to be too Hill and Variety Wholesalers Wholesalers made the announcement duct even when not acting in their capacities church supper? ... few jobs for the state’s work- last fall that it was working with Hill to locate a store here. See Roses, page 9-A See Employment, page 2-A See Social media, page 9-A County Deaths Whiteville James Marcus Hutton Chamber celebrates 75th anniversary By JEFFERSON WEAVER and mingling. The dinner was civic clubs and organizations Staff Writer catered differently this year for years. than at past dinners, as 12 area “Yet when all is said and Index Outgoing chamber of com- restaurants supplied different done, he still finds home to be merce president Henry Haw- dishes. the best spot of all,” McCall &EJUPSJBMT" throne told a packed house “We couldn’t do anything said. 0CJUVBSJFT" Monday that he sees “a new like this before, and I feel like Brooks served as president 4QPSUT# enthusiasm” in the chamber’s it went really well,” Young of the chamber in 1975, and $SJNF" membership, but more mem- said. is still active in many roles in bers are needed. Gralyn Buffkin and W.D. the organization, McCall said. -JWJOH$ Hawthorne encouraged “Bill” Brooks Sr. were recog- “He is the type of member aggressive recruitment of nized with the Sol B. Mann who is supportive, willing to new members at the 75th an- Community Spirit Award and listen to ideas, and one whose niversary membership dinner Honorary Lifetime Chamber integrity and sound judgment for the Greater Whiteville Membership award, respec- makes you want to seek his Chamber of Commerce. tively. advice.” Executive director Janice Bob McCall of Progress Mayor Terry Mann – for Young said the event was the Energy called Brooks a loyal whose father the award is largest ever, and the family Columbus County native who named – said that Gralyn life center at Northwood As- has served in the U.S. Army, Buffkin has “been making Co- sembly church allowed more traveled extensively abroad, Janice Young flexibility for booths, tables, and played an active role in See Chamber, page 6-A Gralyn Buffkin 2-A – The News Reporter, Thursday, January 26, 2012 Tefs postpone Fair Bluf stumping nThieves stole metal not been rescheduled but he from heating system in expects that it will be held in armory. September. “I think we will get more By NICOLE CARTRETTE people to attend then when Staff Writer the older people can come out. They can’t come to a place with For more than 20 years the no heat. It will be closer to the Fair Bluff Stumping has been time of the election and that a gathering that drew political will be a lot better,” Horne said.