•Football, girls volleyball, cheerleading, boys soccer, cross-country and girls tennis tryouts and practice underway among four area high schools. •When the World Series came toWhiteville. Sports See page 1-B. ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Thursday Reporterfor the County of Columbus and her people. Monday, August 3, 2015 Number of home schools Whiteville Volume 125, Number 10 City Hall Whiteville, North Carolina growing across the state 75 Cents More than 340 in Columbus County moving due By NICOLE CARTRETTE to mold Inside News Editor By JEFFERSON WEAVER When the Michaud sisters of Staff Writer 3-A Whiteville head back to school •Railroad deal this week there will be no uniform Whiteville’s city offices will likely have a ‘slightly delayed’ to put on, book bag to pack or new temporary home within a few months, nervousness about meeting a new according to officials. 4-A teacher. “The mold problem has just become too Isabella, 12, and Collette, 9, are bad,” said City Manager Darren Currie. •Overpass bridge among an estimated 521 children in “Right now we’re setting up a workshop with damaged; fire at Lake 341 homeschools across Columbus council to explore all our options.” destroys motorcycles. County. The entire building will require mold re- Their mother, Laura Michaud, mediation, Currie said. has been homeschooling her The city has been involved in a drawn-out daughters for the last six years. fight against mold that started in the base- “It was just a decision that we ment of the 1930s structure. The mold spread felt was a good fit for our family,” through the ventilation system, and affects said Michaud, who is a member of nearly every part of the building. the Christian Home Educators of Employees in the downstairs offices joking- Columbus County. ly referred to the basement as “the dungeon,” A record number of families Collette Michaud, 9, reads a book about the science of storms at due to the constant moisture, mold, and health across the state are choosing home problems associated with the fungus. school over public and private her home in Whiteville Friday. The avid reader is homeschooled and starts back to school this week. Some of the mold came from moisture seep- schools. ing through rotten seals along windows and in Increased the foundation, while moisture also came from The number of homeschools That’s an 11-percent increase North Carolinians for Home the drainage system from the roof. A special- in the state increased to 67,804 at compared with the previous year. Education, a private advocacy ist hired by the city said the roof drains are Today’s the end of the 2014-15 school year, The agency estimates that more group that was founded 30 years a common source of mold in buildings of the according to the N.C. Division of than 106,800 students are home- same era as the 1937 City Hall. American Profile Non-Public Education. schooled in the state. See Home schools, page 11-A features “The ABCs See Mold, page 11-A of Back to School.” DIDYOB? Local pilot, 19, helps in search for teens By WALLYCE TODD Library closing Did you observe ... Staff Writer Six-year old Alina Wednesday for A local pilot spent four to five hours Thursday as one Lewis begging her of the volunteers in a search and rescue or recovery mis- “Mimi” – Cheryl sion for two teens are missing off the coast of Florida. renovations Noble – to buy her Though the search from the sky did not lead to discovery – Andrew Register, the 19-year-old Nakina By ALLEN TURNER an iPhone 6 for her native, is glad he was able to be a part of the quest for Staff Writer seventh birthday? ... the 14-year-old boys, Perry Cohen and Austin Sephanos. Fingernails painted “I was just trying to do something good for somebody, The Carolyn T. High Library at 407 N. J.K. royal blue at the because I would want someone to come look for me if I Powell Boulevard in Whiteville will close was lost,” Register said. Wednesday for about two weeks for renova- midnight football Cohen and Sephanos took a boat trip on Friday July tions, according to Morris Pridgen Jr., library practice at Whiteville 24. Launching from the coast of Jupiter, Fla., the two director for Columbus County. High School’s Legion best friends traveled in a 19-foot, single-engine vessel Roofing work already is underway at the and were likely planning to go deep-sea fishing. They library and carpet replacement will begin on Stadium? ... One lane never returned and are believed to have encountered a Wednesday, necessitating the closure of the of U.S. 701 Bypass squall while on the ocean. facility. blocked by barrels this Their empty boat was found on Sunday, July 26 cap- In all, $53,500 has been earmarked in the morning after a track sized 67 nautical miles (about 77 miles, or 124 kilometers) Pilot Andrew Register uploaded this selfie on county’s general fund for capital improve- off Florida’s Ponce de Leon Inlet. Facebook Thursday. ments for the building. Pridgen said that hoe being pulled by a The boys, their life jackets and a Yeti cooler (that can $36,000 will be spent on roofing upgrades, large truck struck the float) were missing. The U.S. Coast Guard looked for the boys for eight while $17,500 has been budgeted for carpet U.S. 74-76 overpass Register, the son of Rodney and Heather Register, co- days before suspending the search Friday, July 31 at replacement. piloted a flight leaving from Wilmington that searched sunset, according to Capt. Mark Fedor of the U.S. Coast Sellers Discount Flooring of Whiteville will Saturday, causing 200 miles off the coast of Charleston, S.C., for anything Guard. be doing the carpet upgrade, while J.D. Wright structural damage to or anyone related to the capsized vessel. See Register, page 12-A the bridge? ... See Library, page 8-A County Deaths Crusade seeking area churches Clarkton man Whiteville Rosetta Hunt Bunch to partner with ‘Go Tell’ in fall dies Saturday Arlene Driggers Perritte nOutreach committee for October crusade Chadbourn needs assistance to reach more than 150 after head-on Charles Honeycutt churches not involved with Go Tell movement. Hazel W. Johnston crash with car Harrel James Session By BOB HIGH Staff Writer nDeath from multiple injuries was in Christopher D. Williamson New Hanover County following wreck Tabor City “God wants to move in the lives of our citizens, but at Red Hill and Green-Elkins roads in Isadell Floyd Cummings unfortunately the sobering fact remains that not every- northern Columbus County. one or all the churches in Columbus County have heard about the very important crusade that will be coming to By BOB HIGH Index this county in October,” said Milton Parker, co-chairman Staff Writer of the Outreach Committee for the Go Tell Columbus Editorials .......... 8-A Crusade slated for the first week in October. A 72-year-old Clarkton man became Colum- Obituaries ......... 7-A “We don’t want to have any church left out. Tax bus County’s ninth rural fatality this year records show there are more than 350 churches in this about 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, when he died of Sports ................ 1-B county, and we’ve reached about 200 of them,” echoed multiple injuries sustained in a head-on wreck Crime ................ 4-A Outreach Co-Chair Bo Shaw. just inside the county at the intersection of Lifestyles ........... 5-A “Any pastor or church member who needs a mobiliza- Red Hill and Green-Elkins roads. tion packet can get it by email or personal delivery by Jerry Eugene Coleman of North Mitchell contacting me at [email protected], or Bo at Ford Road, Clarkton, died in a New Hanover [email protected],” Parker noted. Co-chairmen Bo Shaw and Milton Parker County hospital, according to a report filed by This situation was reported Thursday evening, July Highway Patrol Trooper Scott Floyd. 28, as the Crusade Leadership Team held a regular Parker and Shaw pointed out that no church should The trooper said the wreck took place short- update session. The crusade is set for Oct. 4-7 at South be left out. “We need churches to get on board with us ly before noon. Coleman, driving by himself in Columbus High School’s football stadium. from every corner and nook of this county,” Shaw said. a 1997 Ford Ranger pickup truck, was turning Brenda Jolly, head of the crusade organization for “Reaching every church is a daunting, but not impos- left off Red Hill Road onto Green-Elkins Road the county, said she was encouraged by the number of sible task,” Parker said. and was moving about 40 mph when the pickup churches who’ve embraced the crusade program as an The opportunity remains for more than 1,000 indi- hit the front of a northbound 1996 Nissan car “excellent and sure method of delivering God’s word to See Crusade, page 8-A See Fatality, page 4-A various congregations.” 2-A – The News Reporter, Monday, August 3, 2015 EEE case reported in Cumberland nHorse owners urged A viral disease, EEE affects to vaccinate, clear mos- the central nervous system quito breeding areas. and is transmitted to horses by infected mosquitoes. Clinical signs of EEE include moderate By JEFFERSON WEAVER to high fever, depression, lack Staff Writer of appetite, cranial nerve defi- cits (facial paralysis, tongue The first 2015 case of East- weakness, difficulty swallow- ern Equine Encephalitis ing), behavioral changes (ag- (EEE) has been reported in gression, self-mutilation or Cumberland County, accord- drowsiness), gait abnormali- ing to the state veterinarian’s ties or severe central nervous office.