Robesonian (Newspaper) - November 12, 1993, Lumberton, North Carolina THE ROBESONIAN Serving County Since 1870 1993 Park Newspapers of Lumberton Inc Lumberton NC Friday November 121993 Vol CXXIV No 219 40 pages 25 cents Foid Converse committed to Robeson WEATHER 2A WHAT S INSIDE For a profile of Roger farmer and largest Native farm operator the East Coast see als For previews of local Ugh school football playoff action see Sports IB For the latest news from Fairmont see local colum nist Charles Kemps col umn today on Entertain ment BRANT CUFTON Staff writer I Empty Stocking fund certifications to start Nov 29 The Empty Stocking Fund will get cranked up Nov 2 with the annual certi The Depart ment of Social Services will conduct certifi cation of recipi Sapp Recre ation Center at Cedar and 11th Streets from am to 5 pm on those days The Empty Stocking Fund is co sponsored by DSS and The Robesonian It provides Christmas presents for needy children in Robeson County Proof of income is required by eligible applicants Participants will receive gift certificates redeemable at toy and clothing departments at local discount stores Applications will be taken Mon Nov 29 through Dec 2 at the Lumberton Recre ation Center Burger King to give percentage of sales to The Fayetteville Road Burger King in Lumberton will donate 25 percent of all sales at the restaurant after 5 pm Tuesday to the teer Emergency Families for Chil dren organization Volunteer families participating in provide shortterm shell to abused neglected abandoned and runaway children as well as providing preventive care for chil dren whose families are having problems AREA DEATHS Flora Carter Red Springs Dalma Edmund Lumberton Beatrice Efrid Parkton Alton Inman Maxton Ed King Red Springs Glyn Lewis Fayetteville Annie Oxendine Rowland INDEX The president and CEO of Con verse Inc committed his company Thursday to keeping its ing operation in Lumberton Were planning to invest million in our Lumberton facility next year said Gilbert Gib Ford Why would we do that if we were planning on moving Recently rumors have circulated through Robeson Countys business community about a possible move by Converse from Lumberton to ei ther Texas or Mexico Much of the talk was spurred by the recent announcement about the opening of a new plant in Mission Congressmen blast stalemate over plant inspections CHARLOTTE AP An agreement is expected this year to train federal food inspectors to ad dress hazards such as those that re in the death of 25 people at a Hamlet plant a US Agriculture Department spokesman said This administration is commit ted to do what we can to improve worker safety spokesman Steve Kinsella told The Charlotte Observ er We wish that the previous ad ministration had been willing to take the actions that we have taken to do the right thing Republican George Bush was president at the time of the Hamlet fire in 1991 Clinton a Demo crat succeeded Bush in January Congressional sources told the newspaper they hoped the of public criticism from Rep Charlie Rose DNC and Rep William Ford would prompt the Agriculture and Labor departments to reach agreement on training inspectors Both departments expressly committed to provide training for food safety inspectors Rose and Ford said in a letter sent to Clinton administration officials Copies of the letter were released on day Two years have passed since the commitment was made Rose and Ford wrote We are ap palled that the departments con Please see PLANT page Texas The Converse manufacturing plant is one of Robeson Countys largest employers with over 1500 people distributed between two dai ly shifts five days a week Ford was in Lumberton Thursday for his quarterly meeting with the plants executives and workers On his agenda were among other things an update on the overall performance discussions with workers about po effects on the company and potential effects of the new Texas plant on the Lumberton plant Ford expressed pleasure with the current performance Weve had very favorable finan cial results he said Weve ex ourselves in profit objectives for the third straight year Our pre tax profits are up 56 from one year ago Ford noted that Converses do business is up He added that the overseas perfor mance is flat if not down a little due to economic problems in Eu rope Sales of Converses basketball shoes are up by 30 this year said Ford He noted that this was the third straight year where that line of shoes had a doubledigit percentage increase in its sales Ford said sales of childrens shoes were up 60 this past year The canvas leisure shoes which are the major line produced at the Lum berton facility were up 10 this year The Lumberton plant has shipped 10 million pairs of the canvas line of shoes this year Ford said that 530 million pairs have been shipped from the plant since 1970 These canvas leisure shoes are an American icon said Ford We cant seem to make enough of them Converses chief executive said that there is no cause for concern in Lumberton about the opening of the new manufacturing plant in Texas Ford said that the new plants pur pose is to act as a supplement to the work done in Lumberton Orders for shoes produced in Please see CONVERSE page Converse boss Gib Ford Missing children from SC found in Robeson From staff reports Steve Humbert photo Veterans parade Swett High School Jr ROTC march Thursday in the annual Veterans Day Parade and ceremonies in Pembroke Authorities from South Carolina assisted by a Robeson County deputy took custody of the three children of Jennifer Ayers Sunday because of a court order from South Carolina Sunday the authorities lo the girls at their grandmothers in a rural Lumberton home The three girls ages 2 4 and 6 are currently in the custody of the South Carolina Department of So cial Services Jennifer Ayers had been in jail in South Carolina for three months for hiding her girls in defiance of a court order to turn them over to authori ties She knew police would be Car But she said she sent them there anyhow because it was better than letting her exhusband have them Ms Ayers has accused her former husband Brad Ayers of sexual abuse He has denied her charges and said the girls never were harmed or mistreated while in his care Ms Ayers 24 was released to day after appearing in Family Court in Fairfield County Judge Thomas B Barrineau Jr advised her on her release that she did more harm than good for the children by not turning them over to the Department of So cial Services When 1 heard Sunday night that they had been found I was angered The judges words kept going through my mind that he would beat me at my own game my bands words that the children would be taken away Ms Ayers said Now her parents Rodney and Dianne Haynes face contempt of court charges for their roles I knew that it was risking a Jot for them to be with mom but we al so had to look at that they couldnt be with strangers right now They dont trust anyone but us Ms Ay ers said She said she was told the children are in a group home near Charleston She hopes DSS keeps them together scared they get in new situations she said For now while the girls are eval at the Lowcountry Childrens Center for signs of abuse Ms Ayers knows she wont get to see them But thats OK she said because her husband wont either Fairfield County DSS social workers in Catawba County NC and a Columbia therapist have con cluded the girls were abused but cannot agree who did it Ms Ayers said she wants to move back to North Carolina get an apartment to show her stability and press for the right to keep the girls She said she felt beaten Sunday night but I dont now over til its over and its far from over Hogs are big business in the nation BY STEVEN P ROSENFELD AP Business Writer DBS MOINES Iowa AP The hog industry has a billion annual on the nations econ omy most of it off the farm ac cording to a study released Thurs day by researchers at Iowa State University The analysis also warned farm ers that only the most efficient oper ators will survive in an increasingly competitive business Economists Dan Otto and John Lawrence said 15 percent of the na tions pork producers already ac count for nearly 70 percent of the nations hogs They predicted that the average hog farm which has grown from 75 to 240 hogs since 1970 will become even larger The challenges for survival now include coping with skyrocketing prices for corn the primary feed for hogs Feed is the single largest ex in raising a hog and corn prices are at a threeyear high be cause of crop losses Thats really going to squeeze profit margins especially for smaller producers Otto said in an interview The National Pork Producers Council provided an grant for the study which Lawrence said Please see HOGS page Mobile health team comes to aid of children ELLEN CHURCH Staff writer TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 7394322 PEMBROKE During the months of July 1992 through June 1993 11991 children in Robeson County were eligible for medical screenings and care provided through Medicaid services Of that number only 5122 of those children were seen at a health care facility according to the Raleigh Directory of Medical Assis tance Health officials here say that shows there is a need for further uti of childrens clinics like the Mobile Human Services Team which serves 11 sections of the county The mobile team funded through a federal grant is in its first year of service It operates in cooperation with Robeson County Health Care Corporation Robeson County Health Department and Department of Social Services its purpose is to reach families that may otherwise not receive need ed early care because of the lack of access to proper facilities Absence of early health care is not unusual in rural areas such as Robeson where the nearest town can You can treat 100 kids with preventive care for the cost of one childs treatment in in tensive care Carole Dolehanty be as far away as 19 miles with no public transportation In addition many residents cant afford primary care and may end up seeking treatment at the emergency room makes preventive care a priority by providing tions and early periodic screenings and diagnostic treatment for eligible children ages birth to 21 along with prenatal care and nutrition advise for parents Parents can also register for WIC and AFDC through the mobile unit However one does not have to be on Medicaid WIC or AFDC nor do they have to have insurance to re services Nurse Practitioner and member of the team Carole Dolehanty says its a great service but grossly unutilized Our goal is to spread the word she said Once people find out keep coming back but there are a lot of people we arent reach ing Dolehanty said that if the service is not utilized it wont be refunded next year Although there are similar pro grams offered in the country there arent any exactly like ours Were kind of breaking new ground here Other counties are watching and waiting to see what happens with us pending the development of their own mobile units added Since its beginning in Oct 1992 through Sept 1993 around 1170 children were treated or screened at a mobile unit An estimated 1397 have been immunized Referring to the Raleigh statis tics Dolehanty pointed out that the numbers represent only Medicaid recipients in which only about half received any care at all Theres no way to tally those without Medicaid or no insurance who arent receiving any medical attention she said I know theres a huge need but the numbers arent reflecting that She went on to say that people dont understand how much tive care is needed Its just as important as going to the doctor when youre sick she said not to mention a lot less sive in the long run You can treat 100 kids with pre care for the cost of one childs treatment in intensive care Dolehanty said adding thats a gross estimate Currently the program is funded for childrens health care only but a future goal for Dolehanty is to in clude adult care Because of her work helping un communities Dolehanty has been recognized by the NC Council of Nurse Practitioners for her outstanding service Her work is being celebrated during National Nurse Week Nov 7 13 Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced training who work in collaboration with cians They are licensed to provide a broad range of primary care services including physical exams and diag noses and treatment of common ill and injuries They are to write prescriptions as well as interpret lab test and A native of Indiana Dolehanty says she likes Robeson County and the people she serves adding its something shes always wanted to do Disease prevention and health promotion are so important Im here because 1 believe that everyone deserves health care whether they are rich or poor or even if they live in remote areas she said Please see HEALTH page
