• County high schools had • Gore, Leviner are their graduations last week. Columbus County See Thursday’s NR for valedic- Players of the Year. torian speeches. Sports ThePublished News since 1890 every Monday and Thursday Reporterfor the County of Columbus and her people. Monday, June 13, 2016 Partnership Volume 125, Number 100 Whiteville, North Carolina for wellness 75 Cents center explored Inside with YMCA 2-A nSurveys, listening sessions planned •County native and soon to determine feasibility. Greensboro fireman By LES HIGH recognized for hero- Editor ism during apartment fire rescue. Prospects for a wellness center could poten- tially involve a partnership among Columbus 4-A Regional Healthcare, the Wilmington YMCA and the public, several community leaders learned in •On person dies a meeting Wednesday at the hospital. in a one-car wreck The first step, which involves assessments, near Tabor City Sat- surveys, focus groups and listening sessions could begin as soon as this month. urday when she was Dick Jones, president and CEO of the Wilm- ejected. ington Y, said one option involves the “Express YMCA” model. These are typically 15,000 to 16,000 4-A square feet and have a wellness area with an array • A local man dies of exercise equipment, plus studios where classes like yoga or pilates are held. Another section from drowning at would be reserved for childcare so parents can Lake Waccamaw after exercise or attend classes. Express YMCAs typi- initially being resus- cally don’t have basketball-style gyms or pools, but either could be added if the community wants citated. them and funding is available. If surveys and assessments support moving ahead with the project, the facility could be built DIDYOB? new, but many Ys renovate vacant shopping cen- Photo by Hannah Bullock Did you observe ... ter space with success and cost-savings, Jones Oh, happy day said. Josh Rogers getting East Columbus seniors celebrate following the school’s commencement exercises last week. the good word from the N.C. State admis- sions office this week?... New Farm Services county executive Nick Logan and Butch Blanchard discussing Sunday morning the If you plant it, Dean Sasser finer points of card- board boats as they think about this Satur- wants to know about it day’s annual races at By RAY WYCHE Lake Waccamaw?... Staff Writer How much quieter and Dean Sasser, the new county Dick Jones of the Wilmington YMCA shows less crazy city streets executive of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for Columbus floor plan for a workout space. and highways are be- and Brunswick counties, is no tween 7:30 and 8 a.m. stranger to farming or farmers or A pool is a major consideration. An Olympic- the FSA, the U.S. Department of sized pool could be used for swim lessons, plus now that school is out Agriculture’s (USDA) presence in schools could start varsity swim teams. The of session? Columbus and Brunswick coun- hospital has expressed an interest in including ties. a smaller, therapeutic pool with warm water to Sasser spent 28 years as loan be used for physical therapy. The pool, if built officer for the two FSA offices, adjacent to the facility, could be kept warm dur- County Deaths handling the many different types ing the colder months with a “bubble” covering to reduce costs. Whiteville of loans to help farmers over the rough spots in their financing of Jones said that nearly 50 percent of the Ys •Leena Mae Long their agriculture endeavors. See Wellness, page 11-A Simmons Cowan He is well suited for the job, •Sharon Amanda holding a degree in animal sci- Nobles Gore ence from N.C. State University •Jackie Watts (a college degree in some phase of agriculture is a requirement Animal •Atlas Troy Williamson for the job), was born and raised •Pearl Simmons Clewis into a successful farming fam- •Clifton N. Smith Sr. ily, worked as a youth in farming shelter A/C •Terry Lee Kinlaw tasks, and now lives on a farm in a renovated home built by his •Elizabeth Sellers Caswell late grandfather in the Honey Hill •Catherine Elizabeth Ward community south of Hallsboro. in trouble Barfield Columbus County is classed as Dean Sasser an agricultural county, one made By JEFFERSON WEAVER Staff Writer Lake Waccamaw up of many small farms. Neigh- any programs available from the FSA and is a necessary task in boring Brunswick County has USDA, including crop insurance order for the USDA to determine •Joyce Walters Gore When it’s hot outside, it’s hot inside at the fewer farms than Columbus and eligibility and payments in the the amount of foodstuffs and Columbus County Animal shelter. as a cost-saving move, the Colum- event the grower suffers a crop other agriculture products being “It’s gotten as high as 81 degrees, which is too Fair Bluff bus FSA office sends a Whiteville failure. produced. hot for animals or people,” said Animal Control •Neil Stone Malcolm office employee to Brunswick “If he (the farmer) wants to FSA does not tell farmers what Supervisor Joey Prince on Friday. “County one day per week to assist with take part in any program, he’s to plant but keeps records of maintenance is working on it.” any problem with government going to have to do a crop report,” agriculture production in various Nakina The shelter’s air conditioning system strug- paperwork Brunswick farmers Sasser says. The reports show crops. gled to keep up with last week’s hot tempera- •Wilford Odem Smith may have. the number of acres planted in These production figures com- tures, and Prince said donated fans “made a big “We keep regular hours (for different commodities, and when bined with numbers from har- difference. Riegelwood the visit) so people will know combined with crop reports from vests of similar crops throughout “We have a lot of very good folks who support when to come see him,” Sasser throughout the nation, are invalu- the nation will be used in various •Peggy Anne Coley and help the shelter,” he said, “and those fans says of this plan. able to businesses doing business business decisions by firms doing helped quite a bit. Still, we need a new system. Sasser’s new position involves with farmers. business with farmers. It’s just a matter of finding the money.” the responsibility of directing his Sasser’s office maintains a Dependable knowledge of the Prince said estimates range from $65,000 to office in keeping records of what file of maps, produced from earth’s food resources is invalu- $100,000 to upfit the shelter’s HVAC system to farm commodities are planted aerial photos, showing each farm able. USDA says that farmers energy efficient units that will draw in fresh by whom and where in the two field to facilitate identifying the worldwide must produce 70 per- air from outside, rather than recycling the air counties. owner and often the type of crop cent more food by 2050 in order to inside the shelter. This information is generated planted. feed the expected world popula- “Having the returns outside will make a dif- by the farmers who are required, Record-keeping occupies much tion. if they choose to take part in of the time of workers in the See Animal Shelter page 3-A 2-A – The News Reporter, Monday, June 13, 2016 Chris Gaskins, center, was involved in the rescue of multiple trapped victims in a Greensboro apartment fire. County native, Greensboro fireman earns ‘Salute to Heroes’ award By SHALON SMITH uations are rare, Greensboro on the scene. All four were suc- Staff Writer Fire Department takes pride in cessfully rescued, transported the preparation and training to area hospitals and treated Greensboro Fireman Chris that goes into being ready for for smoke inhalation. Gaskins has been awarded the the calls that may only happen “I felt honored to be a part Red Cross Salute to Heroes once,” Gaskins said. of the team on this call. Team- award. The 2003 Whiteville As his truck, Engine 53, work and trained personnel High School graduate was pulled onto the scene, Gaskins are the reasons why I think ev- among 20 firefighters to re- said the list of possible tasks erything went well on the fire spond to an apartment fire off they would need to perform scene that day,” Gaskins said. of East Gate City Boulevard was running through his head. The professionalism shown in Greensboro in November The rescuers were faced by the men of the five crews that resulted in multiple lives with finding multiple victims that responded to the call saved. in different locations in the earned them a nomination by They responded to the two- building. When found, each Battalion Chief Robert Scott story building fire call where victim had to be brought out Eanes for the Salute to Heroes adults and children were of a window and then carried award, an annual award given trapped inside. Access to the down ladders to the ground by the American Red Cross. building was nearly 250 feet level before any lifesaving Each of the men on the call away from the street where treatment could begin. was honored in a ceremony in they could park. Fire-fighting A mother and her three May in Greensboro. and rescue equipment such as children were trapped in one Gaskins said he feels he and ladders, hoses, saws and hand of the apartments. Gaskins the others were doing their tools had to be carried in by aided in the evacuation of jobs and he would do the same hand.