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•Whiteville softball team trips South Columbus to secure Three Rivers Con- ference title. •Pack slips past Stallions to finish unbeaten in Three Rivers Conference. •Lady Gators top WCHS Sports for third-place finish. See page 1-B. ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Thursday Reporterfor the County of Columbus and her people. Monday, May 2, 2016 Police group Volume 125, Number 88 Whiteville, North Carolina to address 75 Cents Chadbourn Inside about ‘threats’ By ALLEN TURNER 2-A Staff Writer •Columbus County A presentation by John Midgette, executive director of the N.C. Police Benevolent As- Animal Shelter hit by sociation, is expected to highlight Tuesday’s thief. meeting of the Chadbourn town council. Midgette on April 8 wrote to council mem- 4-A bers to complain that an unnamed council •Woman confronts member had improperly pressured police to “fix” a ticket issued to the family member of school bus driver a council member and asked to speak at the with shotgun. May Board meeting. Tuesday’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Chadbourn Town Hall and Midgette’s request to be placed on the agenda was granted. In his April 8 letter to Mayor Phillip C. Britt, all members of council and Town Manager Bob Jones, Midgette said, “Specifically, it is al- leged that a town council member has directly Staff photo by LES HIGH contacted some of the town police officers with threats of job actions if a ticket issued to a Judges’ choice winner family member is not ‘fixed.’ Such conduct has Professional dancer Alfredo Brown and speech therapist Carla Brown Thomason were selected by now led to citizens presenting inappropriate the judges as the best dance team during the third annual Dancing with the Vineland Stars Saturday matters of complaint before the town council that are required both structurally and legally night at Vineland Station. The sold-out, standing-room only event raised more than $42,000 for the to be adjudicated in an appropriate court of Today’s historic 110-year-old train station. law.” American Profile All council members have since denied ask- ing police to fix a ticket features “Making Midgette also is expected to address an Mom Proud: Scotty unspecified issue involving Town Manager Viking senior chosen as Bob Jones. “The manager has been involved M c C r e e r y.” in a questionable investigation that I’m going Gates Millennium Scholar to speak about at that meeting. In other business, council will hold a pub- DIDYOB? By SHALON SMITH Alexandria attributed her success lic hearing on whether to scrap the current Did you observe ... Staff Writer in mathematics and history classes zoning ordinance and re-adopt the town’s old to two male teachers she had, one ordinance. Action on the zoning ordinance is Rose Langston’s chil- Alexandria Whitted didn’t real- in middle school and another in then expected later in the meeting. dren coming home to ize the extra emphasis her parents high school. One male teacher, an The board also is expected to approve a placed on her school work when she African-American, told her that request from Woodmen Life to place a plaque take her out for pizza was young would lead to her joining math is hard “but being of color and at the base of the town hall flagpole, approve Friday night for an the ranks of the best and brightest getting a good education is harder.” in the country. Another male teacher, a Caucasian, See Police group, page xxx-A early Mothers’ Day “My parents always pushed me to told her the same thing through his celebration? ... Whit- read and to get my work done. All of teachings of the Civil Rights Move- ney Prease and his my friends would have play time and ment. I didn’t really have that. Now it’s all In her essay, Alexandria ex- family coming home paid off,” she said. plained that connecting these two Courthouse the same evening to The West Columbus senior and moments encouraged her to pay eat pizza with his daughter of Sherri Bartley and the close attention in class and to take late Raymond Whitted was selected advantage of the opportunities her project ‘on mother Carolyn? ... from a pool of more than 53,000 ancestors were denied. applicants to receive the Gates Mil- In another essay, she was directed lennium Scholars Program scholar- Alexandria Whitted to describe a situation in which she hold’ for now ship. Only 1,000 high school seniors felt that she or others were treated County Deaths in 2016 in the United States and its eight essays in addition to the de- unfairly or not given an opportunity By ALLEN TURNER 16 territories have received this tailed application documents. she felt they deserved and how she Staff Writer Whiteville prestigious award. In one essay, she was asked to responded. Alexandria told the sto- Shante A.N. Prince It took Alexandria more than four discuss subjects in which she has ry of a day in February during her No decisions have been made, and no time- Edith Frances Nue months to complete the application excelled and list some of the at- sophomore year when a rescheduled frame is projected, for when actions might be Hilton Balcom Cox process that consisted of writing tributing factors to her success. See Whitted, page 5-A taken on renovations to the historic Columbus County Courthouse. Bids for the project came Lake Waccamaw in more than $1 million than anticipated in Clarence L. “Tommy” Tyler October. Nakina Chairman Giles E. “Buddy” Byrd of the Vicky Chestnutt Teenager who beat deadly disease county commission and County Manager Clarendon Bill Clark said Friday that there is no pro- Ryland David C. Hines jected date for when the board will consider prepares for country music career re-advertising for bids. Cerro Gordo County officials originally had projected a George Edward Fairfax By CLARA CARTRETTE budget of $5.119 million including architec- Fair Bluff Staff Writer tural and professional fees, testing and equip- Essie Nobles Webb ment, but when the lowest bid was received A young man who almost starved to death of malnu- in October for $6.083 million, commissioners Chadbourn trition due to a rare disease appears to be on the brink delayed moving forward with the project. Margaret Ann F. Nobles of an exciting country music career. “It came in over a million dollars over Bolton Dustin Chapman, 18-year-old son of Mark and Sandi budget,” Clark said Friday, “so we had to re- Jerry Foster Jacobs Chapman of Whiteville, was diagnosed with achalasia, examine things.” a relatively rare disorder of the esophagus, a muscular Byrd said Friday, “The project is on hold at tube that carries food and liquids from the mouth to the this time, but we’ll definitely be dealing with it. stomach. Achalasia makes it difficult for food and liquid We’ve just had other projects that we’ve needed Index to pass into the stomach from the esophagus. to work on.” Byrd had no guess as to when the “Throughout his high school years, he developed project will be put out for bids. “We’ve been a sensation of not being able to swallow,” his mother focused on more important issues,” he said. Editorials ................... 8-A explained. “We were told that this was due to acid re- Obituaries .................. 7-A The commission chairman said it is antici- flux, and that it was deteriorating his vocal chords. The pated that, before the project is put out again Sports ........................ 1-B doctors said this was caused by a hiatal hernia. After for bids, specifications for the project will be Crime ........................ 4-A undergoing surgery to repair it, things went astray, re-examined in an effort to reduce expected leaving him unable to eat or drink over the course of costs. nine months.” Clark said that when the project finally is She said Dustin lost more than 50 pounds, endured contracted, he expects the county to borrow multiple surgeries and was on a feeding tube during the money instead of either issuing bonds one of the most crucial times in his life — his senior Dustin Chapman’s singing career was threatened by a rare throat disease. or dipping into the county fund balance. “We year of high school. However, he graduated from South potentially could do it through bonds,” Clark Columbus High and is now a student at Catawba College. said, “but with interest rates what they are to- He plans to major in popular music and music business a lot of attention on YouTube and Taste of Country day, I would think we probably just borrow the with a minor in worship arts music, and hopes to be a websites. He has also been featured on 95.7 WKML and money instead of issuing bonds. Going into singer/song writer. He has written a few songs that have Gator 107.9 radio stations and his videos can be viewed the fund balance always could be an option, but been classified “really good.” I think borrowing would be our first choice.” Dustin’s talent as a country singer is already getting Chapman, page 9-A 2-A – The News Reporter, Monday, May 2, 2016 ‘I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree ... that I could climb right now.’ With apologies to poet Joyce Kilmer, 3-year-old Maddox Oliver can hardly wait for the end of the A.R. Ammons Poetry Contest last week. The youngster was quiet and entertained himself as best he could on the back row of the audience.

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