Robesonian (Newspaper) - July 12, 1995, Lumberton, North Carolina Wednesday July 121995 Tuesdays high 24hour Temp at 7 Rainfall as of 7 am Sunrise tomorrow Sunset tomorrow Lumber River level River trend 905 714 015 am pm 957 Falling Forecast Tonights outlook calls for mostly clear skies lows around 70 and light winds Sunny skies are fore cast for Thursday High tem are expected to be in the lower 90s Full details page 2A i A Ww iV A i1 i V1 WU j THE ROBESONIAN Serving County Since 1870 Copyright N 35 Cents Daily 75 Cents Su AWARE kickoff set for Sunday The AWARE Family Pro gram presents its kickoff Sunday July 16 1995 at Rosenwald Ele mentary School Auditorium from 5 until 7 pm The program which stands for Absolute WillPower And Resolution Endurance is di at drug and alcohol preven tion in the community For more in formation contact Minister Linda Moody at 910628 offers Lumbee Days PEMBROKE theme park has announced that dur ing the month of July through Au gust 6 is Lumbee Days at the park When visiting the park Lumbee In dians can save up to on the gen eral admission price with a coupon Discount coupons are available from Lumbee Regional Development As For more information call Black caucus will meet Saturday Robeson Countys Black Caucus will meet this Saturday at 10 am in the African American Culture Cen ter The center is located on the cor ner of 3rd and Water Streets and all members are urged to attend Swine group will meet at SCC The Alliance For A Responsible Swine Industry will meet Sunday pm in Southeastern Community Colleges main audito rium Don Webb ARSIs president will be the keynote speaker Among the topics slated for dis cussion is the IBP Inc facility and its present status waste spills and legislative activity The public is invited to attend SCC is located 4 miles west of US 7476 Lions Night set at Generals game Lumberton Lions Club Night at JP Riddle Stadium will be July 21 Tickets are available at the fol lowing businesses Western Auto Charles Ivey Supply Radio State Farm Insurance and Freeman Motor Company Murphy C Mary E Springs Irene Haynes i Whats Leaf markets open Tuesday ELLEN CHURCH Staff writer Border Belt markets are opening early this year to what is expected to be a short har vest The effects of earlier extreme weather has resulted in leeched soils drowned tobacco and disease Tobacco markets here will open Tuesday and officials are optimistic hoping for strong prices to greet farmers July 18 after a trying earlier season Fairmont Sales Supervisor Lenwood Rich says the earlier weather will play a part in Tuesdays openings Weve had a lot of rain in this area and a lot of farmers have been affected he said Still were optimistic and hope prices will be strong According to Rich seven Fairmont mar kets and three Fair Bluff markets have a com designation of 333 million pounds of leaf for 1995 The designation is up from last years approximately 25 million pounds be cause of a 16 percent quota increase and the merging of the Fairmont and Fair Bluff mar kets in the spring four warehouses have a total designation of 16 million pounds Twin States Warehouse will host opening ceremonies beginning at am with special guests Charlie Rose and Commissioner of Agriculture Jim Graham In Lumberton Liberty Hedgpeth will be the first warehouse to open Owner Rusty Livermore says hes expecting a fair crop If it quits raining I think we will have a fair crop but there are a lot of farmers who are hurting he said No special ceremonies are planned as auc will start and go Livermore said sales will consist mostly of car tobacco from last years crop which is one of the best harvests on record In 1994 North Carolina sales totaled near ly 300 million pounds of tobacco at an aver age price of per pound Stabilization saw a relatively light delivery of tobacco with only 17 percent of the states gross sales go ing into the Coop Producers can expect an overall average support price this year of 159 per pound the same as 1994 In Robeson County heavy rains have caused an estimated loss of about 10 percent according to Farm Service Agency Director John Townsend Translated into a dollar amount thats about a loss for the nearly million industry We dont have the loss like Sampson and other counties but every field you pass has some amount of damage in it Townsend said The whole picture doesnt look bad for the county but you have to consider some farmers have had total losses in some fields Damage has been spotty most severe problems around and near Wire Grass Road just outside of Lumberton Long Branch Orrum the western part of the county is not too bad Townsend said The early opening of markets shouldnt adversely affect warehousemen who original ly thought they may have a lot of down time because of the date Sales Su WC Williford said that harvesting is going along faster than anticipated Please see MARKETS page 8A Ellen Church photo Members of the Raft Swamp Baptist Church Youth Group wash cars in the parking lot of WalMart The teens are trying to raise money fora trip to camp to be held sometime this summer Theyre planning another fundraiser for this weekend Lumbee Homecoming bittersweet for 2 sisters DONNIE BYERS Staff writer For June Oxendine Lumbee Homecoming has traditionally been a time when thousands gather to gether in a spirit of fun and fellow ship Today Oxendine is not so sure She says there was little evidence of fun fellowship or the Pembroke police when her two young daugh ters were assaulted Saturday during homecoming festivities Oxendine says her daughters Angela Strickland 23 and Candace Strickland 16 were beaten in a pub lic park on 3rd Street by four as two males and two females Candace received injuries to her neck area which requires her to cur rently use a neck support She also suffered a fractured rib and multiple bruises according to Oxendine while she says Angelas injuries in cluded swelling in the head region and multiple lacerations and abra sions Oxendine said several people witnessed the incident but no police or security guards intervened I cant understand why there wasnt any policemen there polic ing the park Oxendine said Thousands of people are corning home for homecoming and there is nt enough policemen for that num ber of people However organizers say police were patrolling the area but the size of the weekends crowd may have made it difficult for officers to re spond to every emergency When asked about the incident James Hardin Director and Homecoming Committee spokesperson says that he had yet to hear anything about the matter Hardin did say the towns entire police force of ten was patrolling homecoming events and that the park had thousands of people it at the time of the alleged oc currence Pembroke Police Chief Larry Roberts said a policeman was sent to investigate the assault and arrived at the park as the sisters were being transported to the hospital by emer gency medical personnel Authori ties say congested traffic along the main roads during homecoming pre vented police from getting to the park quickly The investigating officer was un able to get a statement from the vic tims at the park because both were unable to communicate at the time Oxendine said Candace was un able to speak because she was in so much pain from being kicked in the stomach Oxendine said Angela kept fainting before being transported to the hospital Still Roberts said the ing officer had determined that the assault was not severe and that nei ther victim had visible signs of blood lacerations or injuries Roberts added that both victims were treated for their injuries and re leased from the hospital the same day The mother says this is true but her daughters had to stay at the hos pital for nearly six hours and never once saw a policeman to take a statement from them According to Angela Strickland the assault stems from a personal conflict with one of the female as over a boyfriend She said the confrontation began while she was operating a booth in the park The female assailant enlisted the help of the other female and two males to assault her the victim claims Candace said when arrived no one was attempting to help her sister When she tried to help she was also assaulted the younger sib ling said Both sisters said security forces failed to help them when they need ed it My mother and sister go out and sing for the Lord and something like this happens Angela said and they sing for the as the Singing raising money I cant understand why something like this could happen there was no security out there A warrant has been issued for two women and one man Police said other warrants may be served as the investigation continues Surgery ends silence for toddler EDWIN BLAKE Staff writer For nearly three years one Robeson County toddler has lived with his grandmother in a silent world of his own Rodney Jacobs recently had a special reason to celebrate his third birthday on June 7th With the ad vancement of medical technology his long span of silence was recent ly broken shortly after he under went cochlear implant surgery During the sixhour surgery at UNC Hospital Dr Harold C Pills bury had to drill through three bones in his skull to make room for the implant to be placed in his mid dle ear Muscle tissue was placed around the implant so he could maintain his balance The cochlear implant system is made up of three pans The implant and electrode array device make up the interior portion The external portion includes a speech processor a small two cables a microphone and a transmitter that is held on the head internal receiver with a magnet directly be hind the ear Together these parts convert sounds from the environment into coded electrical information that is Rodney Jacobs sent to the ear This information is interpreted by the brain as sound Ellenora Jacobs Rodneys ma ternal grandmother with whom he lives remembers May 4 1995 very clear He heard the hookup through the computer and it made a beeping sound that scared him Jacobs said Since his surgery Rodney has gone back to Chapel Hill once a week for adjustments to his elec trode settings This is necessary due to the continued healing pro cess and because as he gains expe rience with sound sounds that ini were perceived as loud be come medium over time Rodneys visits to Chapel Hill have been de creased to once or twice a month The operation has had a posi tive impact on Rodney and his fam ily If I had to go through it again I would Jacobs said Hes learned his name and we call him in a normal tone and he re sponds Its opened up a whole new world for him and were excited After his surgery Jacobs was told that they would have to talk Rodney like he was a newborn ba by He has been getting speech therapy five days a week with Speech Pathology Services of Lumberton Rodney began therapy at an ear ly age When he was two months old Renee Jones of the Wilson School for the Deaf worked with him on sign language until he was 18monthsold From there he at tended the School for the Hearing Impaired at First Baptist Church Fairmont expands water project coverage area EDWIN BLAKE Staff writer FAIRMONT Fairmont May or Jeff Lewis settled a 33 tie with the town government Tuesday night by voting to include five annexed ar eas in the Water Project Grant ex to be received later this fall Commissioners Eric Thompson Hayes Lewis and Huel Faulk voted to include the annexed areas in the grant Commissioners Charles Kemp Faye Sellers and Frank Mc Cree were opposed Engineer Will Buie of Hobbes Upchurch Engineering presented the difference in sewer rates with or without the five annexed areas being included In order to include the an areas in the grant the cost for the entire water project including sewer plant pump stations and pipes will reach million ac cording to Commissioner Kemp Kemp said that dropping the five annexed areas would lower the overall cost of the project to million Im a fiscal conservative when it comes to saving money and if its possible to save these people some money for water and sewer bills I will Kemp said For the overall existing town citizen excluding those areas in the grant would lesson the blow to in creased rates There are 134 homes in the an areas in question including 1180 paying water customers The five areas include Franklin Street adjacent to Golf Course Road Shanty Town Road Happy Hill and Industrial Drive Will Buie also presented a pre liminary engineering report for the Waste Water Treatment Plant The controversy included was where the site would be located The two proposed sites are at the Lumber River or just outside the town limits on Leesville Road at the proposed Industrial Park site According to Kemp the NC Department of Environmental Man agement has agreed to allow the town to put a beside the riv er on Pea Ridge Road The depart ment agreed partly because there would only be a small affluent going into the river The State Parks and Recreation Agency in Raleigh is not too happy with the river site for the be cause of possible river park sites nearby Kemp said
