The Robesonian from Lumberton, North Carolina • Page 9

.1 I 'in THE ROBESONIAN Page i)--The Robesonianajunberton. N.C., Monday, March 14,1977 Funding For Work On Roads To Be Redistributed RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The administration of Gov. Jim Hunt is wprking on changes in the formula for parcelling out secondary road construction funds among the counties. And the changes are expected to be controversial.

The changes would reduce the money available to about 50 counties, mainly in the west north, increase funding for roads in 47 others, mainly in the Piedmont and interior eastern areas, and leave only three counties unchanged. The present formula tends to work in favor of less developed areas with fewer miles of paved roads. The Hunt administration formula will tend to elp more urbanized counties. About $30 million per year in secondary road money is at stake in the reshuffling, and Sen. James B.

Garrison, D- Stanly, a member of the state Transportation Board and in charge of getting the proposed changes through the legislature, said Republican counties might not like the shift in funds. Garrison said in an interview that former Gov. James Holshouser had deliberately favored many of the same Republican counties in the west that would lose money under the new proposal. "This is more fair to the whole state," he said. "There's a little loss in the west, a little along the coast, but I think the west will understand that Holshouser tilted things toward the mountains." Garrison said the change in formula for the road money would wait until after passage of the Hunt administration's plan for reorganizing the transportation board, since it was feared that the money bill might endanger the reorganization.

Judiciary Board Gets 18 New Bills Eighteen new bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary II Committee last week. Such a flood, along with bills still being studied, means that Sen. Luther Britt Jr. of Lumberton, chairman of the committee, is kept as busy as ever. There are still several items was undergone on the matter of prejudgment interest on tort actions.

The idea would be to use the date for interest to begin as the date of determining the liability. House Bill 225 involving Vital Statistics for children has moved out to become a law. It means that the birth certificate must be attached Suspect In Va. Trooper Slaying To Go On Trial Ah, Spring! before the General that are going to require" time; such as the Renfrew report on education, the matter of crime in general, the death penalty and merit selection of judges. Judiciary II, which has been meeting for an hour twice a week, will now begin meeting for an hour and a half at each session.

On March 8 much time was spent on the matter of Adult Guardianship Laws. The bill amends certain laws, introducing the idea of degrees of guardianship for those found not competent to care for their affairs. A person could be found not competent in one area, but competent in another. Several agencies and organizations are following the courses of study: Human Resources, Social Services and the State Bar. Involved is actually a re-write of guardianship laws.

There would be increased costs for administration of the bill, requiring perhaps $100,000 of new money. This bill wili be studied further on March 17. A bill concerned with commercial fertilizers was heard, moved to the Senate and sent to the Finance Committee. On March 10, further study a a i a'tr Amendments involve the situations of an individual who helps during an accident. What is the responsibility of a volunteer rescue worker or a volunteer ambulance person? This is up for further study.

Due to surface March 15 are several bills involving land records. The tender offer bill, one of Britt's, is also up for Tuesday. This involves protection of state based corporation from a take-over for harmful purposes. Public hearings will be set. Both the State Bar Association and business are interested.

Another bill coming up for more hearings is one involving tax evasion by juggling of inventory. Visitation of a child in the custody, of one parent by the other would give a judge the right to set times under certain circumstances in cases not already judged. This would especially involve cases in which visitations had been set by an out-of-state agency. Speedy trials is still an issue. Alt.

Gen. Rufus Edmisten is expected to appear before the committee on Thursday to be heard on this issue. A flower growing among some small shrubs sends out to various the message to passersby that spring is not far away. Wilcox Photo) OXFORD, N. C.

(AP) Reuben "Sonny" Conley went on trial in Granville County Superior Court today on a murder charge in the slaying of a Virginia highway patrolman at a North Carolina roadblock last Noveber. Asst. Dist. Atty. David Waters of Oxford said he expected the process of selecting a jury to take all day.

Meanwhile, Conley's two court-appointed attorneys, Hugh M. Currin and John H. Pike, have indicated they intend to enter a plea for the defendant of innocent by reason of insanity. A list of 42 persons, many of them North Carolina troopers, has been subpeonaed as witnesses for the trial. Conley told members of his family and police that something or somebody was chasing him the night he is accused of kidnaping Virginia trooper Garland W.

Fisher, who died in a hail of gunfire. Those statements were expected to play an important part in Conley's defense as he went on trial today, charged with murder in Fisher's death. i a i attorneys filed notice in Granville County Superior Court here last week they would attempt to prove that Conley was insane at the time of Fisher's death. Fisher allegedly stopped Conley in Dinwiddie County, last Nov. 14 for driving on the wrong side of the highway.

Moments later he radioed his headquarters that an armed man was forcing him to drive his patrol car south toward' Atlanta and that he was already wounded once. North Carolina Highway Patrol units set up a roadblock near Durham and stopped Fisher's car in a hail of gunfire. When it was over, Fisher was dead with 14 bullet wounds and Conley was hurt. A medical examiner's report showed any of four of Fisher's wounds could have been fatal, and all four were made by bullets fired from within his car. Testimony at a pre-trial hearing showed Conley told State Bureau of Investigation agents who questioned him in the hours before Fisher was abducted.

Agents said he believed at one point that someone was on the roof of his car and three bullet holes were found in the roof. Conley said he fired the shots himself to shake his pursuer. The agent testified Conley apparently thought Fisher might be part of a conspiracy against him and Conley said he wanted Fisher to take him to Atlanta, where there was a' police commissioner Conley trusted. Members of Conley's family in Altanta have also been quoted as saying Conley was disturbed before he left Virginia to look for work and believed something or somebody was after him. Conley as been examined by a state psychiatrist and declared mentally competent to stand trial, but his attorneys have asked that a private psychiatrist examine him further since the state doctor was unable to say definitely what Conley's mental condition might have been at the time of the alleged abduction.

Legislators May Be Barred From Serving On Boards Of Institutions Pembroke Man To Be Sworn In As Member Of Roads Council RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -legislators could no longer serve on community college or technical institute boards of trustees under a new law to be sponsored by Sen. Robert B. Jordan, D-Montgomery. "Most institutions put legislators on the boards for what they can do politically," Jordan said.

"I think it's wrong." At least 13 legislators are currently serving as trustees of community colleges and technical institutes, and someT of them admit there is at least the appearance of conflict of interest in the arrangement. Legislators are already forbidden to serve on the University of North Carolilna Board of Governors, which is in charge of the 16-campus state university system and makes requests for state appropriations. Some lawmakers believe the same restriction should apply to the smaller schools, because there have been instances in which legislator-trustees have made strong pitches for more state funds for the institutions on whose boards they served. One lawmaker now involved in such a dual role denied he felt any pressure from fellow board members to lobby for increased funding. Drowning Creek Project Faces Discussion At COG Meeting The Executive Committee of the Lumber River Council of Governments (COG) will meet Thursday night to hear a report on the Drowning Creek water plant project.

That proposed project has been of recent concern to citizens who fear pollution and damage to the Lumber River. The report will be made by Executive Director John Highfill. Other business to be i i consideration of a review of the region's Manpower First Quarter Program Evaluation and a review of COG's classification and pay The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the COG offices on West Fifth Street, Lumberton. RALEIGH FofmeFN.

C. Rep. Henry Ward Oxendine of Pembroke is one of 14 newly appointed members to the North Carolina Secondary Roads Council that will be sworn in during formal ceremonies in the State Capitol. The ceremonies, set for Friday, at 10 a.m., will be held in the House Chamber of the Capitol Building. Gov.

James B. Hunt Jr. is scheduled to deliver brief remarks at the swearing-in ceremony, while Secretary of State Thad Eure will administer the oath of office. Oxendine, a Robeson County native, practices law in Pembroke. Educated at Pembroke State University and North Carolina Central University Law School, he is a member of the North Carolina Bar and the American Bar Association.

He and his have two children: Hampton, 11; and Hughes, 9. Active in community and civic affairs, Oxendine is a member of the Board of Directors of Pembroke Jaycees. He was named to the highway policy group last week by Governor Hunt. As a member of the Secondary Roads Council, Oxendine will represent residents within Department of Transportation's 6th Highway Division; which emcompasses a Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson Counties. The Secondary Roads Council assists the Board of a a i i administering the construction and maintenance of secondary roads throughout the State.

Search For Cause Of Double Helicopter Crash Continues Hunt May Request Division In Utilities Commission Traffic Fatalities On State Roads Reach 9 During Weekend RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) cases. By The Associated Press A mother and her small daughter were killed in a car- truck accident Saturday. They were among at least nine people killed in North Carolina traffic accidents over the weekend. The State Highway Patrol reported 211 killed so far this year, compared with 256 at this time last year.

The double fatality accident was in Roahoke Rapids. The victims were Olivia Wade Alston, 21, of Weldon and her 2- year-old daughter, Teshena, who died several hours after the accident at Duke Medical Center. In other weekend accidents, the victims were: -Forrest Reddick, 55, of Gatesville, killed Saturday when he was hit by a vehicle on N.C. 37, one mile north of Gatesville. --James A.

Everett 22, of Nashville, when his car went out of control, hit a bridge and overturned into a creek one mile north of Nashville. --Ixmise Frances Hull, 56, of Kenansville, in a two-vehicle collision early Saturday on U.S. 158, nine miles north of Greensboro. --Michael F. Cummings, 21, of Durham, when the car he was driving crossed the Interstate 85 median and collided with two other cars Sunday.

--Flora Mae Arnold, 79, of Ullington, when she was struck by a vehicle on a Harnett County rural paved road Sunday just east of Lillington. --Theodore Seymore, 52, of Mayock, killed Sunday when a moving car hit a parked car, which smashed into Seymore on a rural paved road about five miles south of his home. --Frieda Jeanette Heath, 19, of Clayton, killed Sunday when the car she was driving hit an embankment and overturned on a rural unpaved road nearly eight miles west pf Smithfield. Gov. Jim Hunt is expected to ask the legislature this week to split the, state Utilities Commission in half.

The commission would continue along with a somewhat smaller staff to study and decide cases. But there would be a larger, separate staff to act as public interest advocates in utility Hunt was highly critical of the commission during his campaign and said on a number of occasions that consumers' interests were not adequately considered. Hunt promised before his election to separate the commission and his staff, but there was legislative opposition from members who felt the commission would be unable to function properly if its staff were taken from completely. So the governor modified his proposal somewhat to leave the commission with some hearing examiners, staff attorneys and safety inspectors. The larger staff was referred to at first as a consumer advocacy staff, but the name was changed to "public staff" instead.

COLUMBUS, N.C. (AP) -Marine Corps investigators continued today to seek the cause of a double helicopter crash on Sugar Loaf Mountain Friday as recovery teams labored to remove the wreckage from the remote crash site. The bodies of the five victims were brought out over the weekend, but Marine officials did not make the names available until Sunday. Officials at the New River Marine Air Station at Jacksonville, N.C., said the dead were Capt. Larry Burro, 30, Salem, 111., Lt.

Randall Burns, 28, Ogden, Utah, Cpl. John Northcutt, 20, Lubbock, Pfc. Lucien LaRue, 19, Arlington Heights, 111., and Sgt. Charles Morrison, 21, Milton, W.Va. One body was brought out Friday and the other four were removed from the crash scene Saturday.

Workers had to descend a sheer cliff on ropes and bring up the bodies with a winch, a job that took several hours. It was drizzling and foggy when both CH53 helicopters, called Jolly Green Giants in the military, crashed in a mountainous area south of Chimney Rock. There were three survivors in one of the aircraft. The copters were reportedly on their way from New River to Knoxville, Tenn. The survivors of the crash were identified as Lt.

Kenneth Wayne Smiley, 27, Duncanville, Lt. John Sitton II, 26, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Sgt. Boyd J. Farrington, 26, Salisbury, Md. All were reported in satisfactory condition Sunday at St.

Luke Hospital at Tryon. AirborneProblems Make Pilot Look For Open Ground Train Vandalism Endangers Lives WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Vandalism directed at trains and their cargoes is endangering the lives of train crews in the Winston-Salem area, according to railroad officials. "Our biggest trouble is people tampering with switches and putting obstructions on rails," said T.L. Rosenbaum, a railroad officer for 27 years and now detective in charge of policing three railroads around Winston-Salem.

One of the most hazardous kinds of vandalism involves guns, he said. There has been a rash of incidents in which people have taken pot shots at passing trains. In one of the worst instances, a carload of teenagers lay waiting at a crossing with a shotgun and blasted the caboose as it went by. "You know, we have a man in the caboose sitting at the window looking out," Rosenbaum said. Among the most popular targets, according to Winston-Salem Southbound Railroad vice president Michael W.

Franke, are trains carrying new automobiles. "I have seen trains come in here with 10 to 20 windows broken out of the automobiles," Rosenbaum said. "That sort of thing runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage." Rosenbaum is in charge of surveillance on the Southbound, the High Point- Thomasville and Denton Railway Co. and the Norfolk and Western Railway Co. He said sometimes he and his men ride along highways ahead of the trains and stay in touch with the engineers by radio, a strategy that sometimes permits them to catch vandals in the act.

WINSTON-SALEM (AP) -You've just got airborne on takeoff and your engines die. What do you do? One morning last November, that happened to a twin-engine jet belonging to R. J. Reynolds Industries Inc. as it took off from the Naples, Fla.

airport. Seagulls had been sucked into the engines. It skidded to a crash landing in a field near the airport. Aboard the plane were the pilot, copilot and nine executives of RJR Archer a subsidiary of RJR. They were returning home from a national sales meeting.

Steve Van Hoy was the pilot and Don Horberg was the copilot. No one was killed and all were back on the job by early January, althoulh some were on a limited schedule while still recovering from injuries. When the seagulls killed the engines, it was Van Hoy who made the split decision to bank the plane sharply to the left to miss what he thought were some buildings. The structures were actually some gasoline storage tanks and his decision likely saved 11 lives, his own included. "I had no profound thoughts," Van Hoy recalls, "I knew we were going down and my total concentration was on the airplane.

We couldn't turn back and there was no. place to go forward. "Off to the left, though, was some open space. I made a descending left turn as we were losing altitude rapidly. My objective was to hit the ground in a controlled situation with the wings level and the nose up.

"There was nothing we could, do to prevent what was going to happen. The fact that you survive something like this is a pretty good indication that you've got somebody on your side." Don Horberg, the copilot, describes the takeoff as normal "until the flock of gulls rose up. We took one on the windshield that stayed there a few seconds and then went through the No. 2 engine. Then the No.

1 engine went out a double flameout." There was no panic then or after the crash, the victims recall. "As soon as we made that left turn, we all knew it was coming and it got pretty quiet," says Dr. V. D. Hildebrandt, one of the executives aboard.

Within minutes of the 8:57 a.m. crash on Nov. 12, 1976, ambulances were on their way to the scene and and in another 18 minutes all were being treated at Naples Community Hospital. Courtesies were outpourig from citizens of the Florida town for victims and relatives flown to the scene, and the survivors now agree, if the plane has to crash, Naples is the place for it..