Riegelwood tornado was top story of 2006

By The News Reporter Staff

Two stories in the top 10 stories of 2006 clearly distanced themselves from the others, and neither will be forgotten for some time.

The unanimous top story was the Riegelwood tornado, which took eight lives and hurt 19 more on the morning of Nov. 16. It was the county’s worst loss of life resulting from a natural disaster. It was a national story, drawing an outpouring of response from across the country.

The second–place story from 2006 was the secretive action by county commissioners to award themselves and subsequent commissioners expensive lifetime health insurance. The decree was buried in a personnel policy manual. Response from the public was swift and angry and the commissioners eventually rescinded the policy. The commissioners’ proclivity for closed sessions also came under fire.

Economically, county taxes went up once again as the county struggled to pay for a new jail and reconstruction at Williams Township School, plus Medicaid reimbursements. Taxpayers who had to pay special water district assessments remained unhappy.

The groundbreaking for a huge maximum/medium prison near Tabor City that will house 1,500 inmates was the top positive economic news of the year, but two international companies, Conflandey and Interkordsa, closed at the industrial park.

A donnybrook November general election saw two new county commissioners elected, and Sen. R.C. Soles survived a scare from Republican Bill Fairley. The district attorney’s race between incumbent Rex Gore and Jon David was also hotly contested. Voters also seated several new school board members.

Two Department of Social Services lawsuits, the resignations under fire of Whiteville City Manager Susan Rhodes and County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Hayes and Fire Marshal Kevin Thompson and the tragedy of 29 highway deaths on county highways rounded out the top 10.

Below are the top 10 stories as voted on by the news staff of The News Reporter. On page 1-C today, a month-by-month synopsis of the year’s top stories follows.

1. Riegelwood tornado kills eight

The warm, rainy morning of Nov. 16, 2006 is embedded in the minds of Columbus County residents forever because of the most horrific event to ever take place in the county’s 198-year history.

Eight people died as a tornado – on the ground for less than 20 seconds -- ripped apart mobile homes in a development in the Armour community, and devoured brick residences along N.C. 87, a few hundred yards from the destroyed mobile homes.

The deaths in the Riegelwood area mark the greatest human toll of a single event ever in Columbus County, surpassing six lives lost in a head-on collision between two vehicles in 1954.

Two children and six adults died as a result of the tornado that contained winds of 200 mph and struck at 6:35 a.m. The tornado traveled seven miles after touching down in Columbus County to its end in Pender County.

The news of the deaths and destruction a week before Thanksgiving riveted national and world attention to this county for two days.

All of those killed lived in mobile homes. They were:

O’Kean Tennell Wilson, 29, and his wife Tyesha McKoy Wilson, 27, killed in a mobile home along Holly Tree Lane, a dead-end gravel road leading from Old Lake Road.

Timothy Carl Mai, 49; his wife Mary Ann Gasper Mai, 43; and his son, Michael Timothy Browne, 25 – a member of the Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire Rescue unit -- living at the intersection of Holly Tree and Pretty Branch lanes.

Zuleyka “Suki” Ruiz Martinez, 23; Miguel Angel Jurado, 13; and Danny Ruiz Jacobs, 6, all who lived in a mobile home along Martinez Lane, a curving dirt road leading south from N.C. 87, just across a small patch of woods from Pretty Branch Lane.

Martinez died late on that Thursday afternoon in a Greenville hospital. All the others were dead by the time large numbers of rescuers reached the scene of devastation.

Nineteen people were injured, and 12 were admitted for at least overnight observation by various hospitals.

Thirteen homes, including a mobile home being renovated, were demolished, along with one business. One home sustained major damage, seven had medium to minor damage, and another 20 homes either lost shingles, had walls cracked or broken windows, or lost some vinyl siding.

Columbus County’s residents, groups, civic clubs, and churches responded with an outpouring of assistance. Money, food, clothing and offers to help to build new homes, plus repair others came as fast as relief organizations could answer telephones.

2. Commissioners approve “token of appreciation”

Without discussion, county commissioners voted unanimously to approve a 153-page policy manual in September that included extended healthcare coverage benefits to commissioners after they leave the board. The News Reporter was denied access to the manual prior to the vote.

The policy covered commissioners and their successors. After serving one full term, commissioners would have been eligible for health benefits until age 65. Taxpayers would pay half of the cost for one-term commissioners, 75 percent for two term commissioners and 100 percent of the cost for three-term commissioners.

Two commissioners who were known to be leaving the board, Chairman Kip Godwin and Commissioner David Dutton, would have been the first to benefit from the policy until age 65.

Commissioners James Prevatte and Bill Memory said they “overlooked” the provision in the manual that was delivered to them weeks before the vote.

Few commissioners admitted they knew about the benefit and Commissioner Amon McKenzie even called it “a small token of appreciation.”

Public outcry and a record number of letters to the newspaper blasted the commissioners for voting in the benefit. Days after the article ran, commissioners called a special meeting and rescinded the vote.

The “token” was only the beginning of The News Reporter’s struggle to gain access to public documents and open government in Columbus County. Reporters were told all requests for information had to go through County Attorney Steve Fowler.

One account revealed the ill-fated manual had been discussed in closed session. Discussing general policy matters in closed session is a violation of the Open Meetings Law.

The News Reporter also learned a personnel committee made up of three commissioners discussed and recommended the manual to the full board. Although all commissioners were given a copy, the discussion took place in a sub-committee of the body which under the law would be considered a public body and subject to Open Meetings Law.

The News Reporter emailed requests to the county attorney for notification of sub-committee meetings on Nov. 1 and Nov. 21. No responses were received. A follow-up request was hand-delivered to the clerk’s office in late November.

It is unclear if the sub-committees took minutes of any of their meetings. In addition, the paper has received no notification of such meetings. It is unclear if the clerk to the board is even notified of such meetings.

3. November elections

The 2006 elections saw veteran District Attorney Rex Gore facing a challenge for the second time in his career – and both challenges happened in the same year.

Rex Gore has served as district attorney in the 13th judicial district since 1990. The district covers Brunswick, Bladen, and Columbus counties.

It was the first time Gore had faced a challenger in the primary, when he defeated Alexis Jane Prease for the Democratic nod. In the fall, he would also face a Republican candidate for the first time.

Wilmington prosecutor Jon David lost his campaign for Gore’s seat, but the numbers were far closer than in the primary. Gore won the election by 2,150 votes, finally edging David out in Brunswick County. While Gore handily defeated David in Bladen County, only 449 votes separated the two in Columbus. The race was decided in Brunswick County, with Gore finally collecting 14,043 votes to David’s 12,221.

A growing Republican presence in the region also made itself known in the state House and Senate races, but not at the high levels seen in the district attorney’s race.

Veteran incumbents R.C. Soles and Dewey Hill held onto their respective Senate and House seats, but faced Republican challengers Bill Fairley and R.C. Gilbert, both of Brunswick County, in the District Eight Senate and District 20 House races.

Soles beat Fairley 7,851 to 5,705 in Columbus, and 26,407 to 23,802 overall. Both districts cover Columbus and Brunswick counties. Hill defeated Gilbert 10,164 to 6,026 overall, with 8,560 votes to Gilbert’s 4,903 in Columbus County.

A record number of voters opted to make use of the early voting option this year, and many specifically said they were voting because of recent gaffes by the Columbus County commissioners.

Incumbent District One commissioner Amon McKenzie held his seat, defeating Randall Adams 1,133 to 539. Ricky Bullard defeated Howell Strickland 1,480 to 450 for the District Seven seat formerly held by Kip Godwin, who did not seek re-election.

In the District Seven county race, Sammy Hinson lost to Ronald Gene Gore, who took 1,306 votes to Hinson’s 979.

In an upset, James DiMuzio Jr. defeated veteran Whiteville Board of Education member LaDeen Powell for an at-large seat. Dean Nealey was a distant third in that race, taking 615 ballots to Powell’s 1,107 and DiMuzio’s 1,749.

Carlton Prince and David Flowers were unopposed for the District One and District Two BOE seats in Whiteville.

With three seats open on the county school board, a wide field of candidates cast their hats in the ring.

In District Two, Bill Johnson nearly doubled Linda McCollum Pollard’s totals, 5,623 to 2,840. Monte Herring led the running for the District Three seat, picking up 3,750 votes to Esther Scott’s 2,108 and Mike Waddell’s 2,968. In District Four, Dale Ward took 4,796 votes to Kevin Hood’s 3,729.

4. County approves tax hike; financial records a mess

An unknown fund balance plagued the adoption of a county budget and taxes were increased.

County commissioners hesitated to guess the amount of the undesignated fund balance – the county savings account – because they were told the accounts had not been reconciled since Sept. 2005 and the finance director at the time, Roxanne Coleman, was said to be on medical leave.

The last minute approval of the county budget included a 3.5-cent tax increase, approved 6 to 1 on Friday, June 30 – the day before the July 1 deadline.

The rate changed from 73 cents to 76.5 cents per $100 value. Residents with property valued at $100,000 would pay about $765 in property taxes –up $35 from 2005, not including the average fire tax of 10 cents per $100 value or water taxes in districts 2 and 3.

The new tax rate was estimated to generate an additional $1.8 million in revenue. To balance the budget, about $3.9 million was needed . The health department contributed $1 million, primarily from home health revenue, that left $2.9 million to be taken from the fund balance.

No one was sure of the amount available after deductions of $2 million to correct a DSS daycare funding error, $1 million for under-budgeted Medicaid, and $1 million for a solid waste shortfall, not to mention departments that may have overspent their budgets, officials said.

County Manager Jim Varner guessed there was $5 million in the fund balance. In fiscal 2004-2005, $12 million was in the fund, according to retired finance officer Gail Godwin, who was asked to help with the budget dilemma.

Leo Hunt was asked to serve as acting finance director and was later named interim county finance director after a closed personnel meeting held during a Sept. 5 county commissioners meeting. He is a graduate of Southeastern Community College and UNC-Pembroke and retired as finance director for Robeson County.

Hunt told The News Reporter the finance department was changing the way records are kept. “I’m not too pleased with the chart of accounts,” Hunt said. “It doesn’t follow the state recommendations.”

The News Reporter finally gained access to a CPA memo after the county tried to deny access on the grounds it was not a public record. It confirmed that the county financial records were in no shape for an audit.

5. Work starts on new prison

Prison construction on the new N.C. Department of Corrections (DOC) facility at Tabor City stayed on schedule. Meanwhile, officials said they hope to add even more beds to the $92.4 million prison, since the state will see a shortfall in prison space even before the prison opens in 2008. The project began in January, 2005.

The prison was originally designed as a 1,000-bed facility for maximum security prisoners. Crime trends, however, created a need for more medium- and minimum-security beds.

The prison is being built using the most modern construction methods, including some prefabricated cellblocks from Centex Corp. of Florida. A small city of construction workers – more than 400 – are involved in the project.

The state Legislature will have to approve the expansion. The increase in inmates will mean good news for the county, since 250 more employees would be needed. Originally, the prison was projected to create 400 guards and staff members.

Meanwhile, state and local officials are still wrestling with where to find those employees.

Employment Security Commission officials reported roughly 350 local potential candidates for the $25,000-plus per year positions. Since the project was first proposed for Columbus County, officials have said there were not enough qualified local candidates to fill the jobs and some employees would have to come from other areas.

A combined effort amongSoutheastern Community College, the county and the DOC has made classes available – for free – to train prospective employees for a variety of positions at the prison.

When it is completed, the prison will receive water from Columbus County and sewer service from the Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority.

6. Lawsuits involving DSS stir controversy
After most residents had left a Monday night meeting, county commissioners approved a $195,000 settlement of a lawsuit against the county, board of commissioners, board of social services, and other county officials at a Sept. 18 meeting.

Sheriff Chris Batten and Commissioner Bill Memory were sued in both their professional capacity and individually and Kenneth Skipper was sued in his official capacity as former chairman of the Columbus County Board of Social Services.

Commissioner Amon McKenzie made the motion to approve the settlement that passed in a 5-1 vote. Commissioner David Dutton was opposed but offered no further comment. Commissioner Bill Memory abstained from voting because he was a named party.

Commissioners tell The News Reporter that an insurance firm would pay the bulk of the expense but taxpayers will pick up $5,000 of the county’s legal bill that resulted from the July 6, 2005 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of DSS Director Marva Scott. The 30-page complaint alleges Scott was deprived of her civil rights, due process, free speech and her right to privacy amid her suspension in April of 2005 in lieu of allegations of financial wrongdoing at DSS.

The DSS director claimed her suspension and other actions by the defendants were retaliation for her “blowing the whistle” on the county’s pay raise study in July, 2004. Scott told commissioners that the $8,000 study used 10-year-old data and was a waste of money and did not properly classify DSS positions.

The Scott settlement agreement was released to the public immediately following the vote but the county would take a different and more secretive approach to a future lawsuit settlement involving another DSS employee.

The Deena Ward case would put Director Marva Scott and the county Social Services on the other end of a lawsuit.

On May 5, 2005, Deena Ward filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging she was sexually harassed by a female supervisor from March 2001 to May 2004 and throughout September, 2004, and was retaliated against when she complained.

In June, 2006, an administrative law judge ruled that supervisor Becky Williamson and DSS Director Marva Scott “allowed and essentially condoned (Ethel) Patrick’s harassment” of caseworker Deena Ward.

Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter awarded Ward 10 days back pay for her unwarranted suspension and also attorney’s fees.

In closed session held Dec. 8 commissioners, approved a $150,000 award, sources said, to the former social services worker for settlement of her complaint against the Columbus County Department of Social Services.

Rachel Esposito, a Raleigh defense attorney in the case, was named “Public Information Officer” in the case but refused to divulge any information about the case.

Esposito refused to turn over settlement documents requested by The News Reporter on the grounds that the settlement has not been reported to the board and does not have to be reported until “after” it is “concluded.”

7. Plant closings

Conflandey, the French wire-making plant, and Interkordsa, the Turkish tire, hose and belt manufacturer, both announced plant closures in Southeast Regional Industrial Park in January and February.

Conflandey, which opened here in 1997 with a $15 million investment, had 58 employees when it was bought by a Belgian company in 2006. The Whiteville plant made stitching and bindery wire.

Interkordsa announced in February it was consolidating and moving all operations to its plant in Scotland County. The closing meant the loss of 45 jobs. Interkordsa had been at the park since 2000.

In other negative economic news, it appears the proposed EverFresh soybean processing plant planned for the empty shell building in the industrial park will not open.

8. Rhodes resignation

Whiteville City Manager Susan Rhodes’ 23 years of service to the City of Whiteville came to an end on June 30.

Amidst allegations of an affair and a pending alienation of affection lawsuit filed by City Building Inspector Carey White’s wife, Rhodes resigned.

“I intend to defend vigorously the allegations of the civil suit filed against me,” Rhodes told council. She said that the suit didn’t affect her ability to do her job.

“I would not do anything to hurt the city that I dearly love,” Rhodes told council.

Several Rhodes supporters gathered in the hall outside council chambers during a closed session that lasted nearly an hour. Council concluded the session and announced no action had been taken.

“It was called to discuss performance issues of an employee and because of employee privacy it cannot be disclosed,” City Attorney Carlton Williamson told The News Reporter. He indicated there were no claims against the city in the specific lawsuit filed.

“We were advised not to say or do anything to get the city involved,” Mayor Dial Gray said.

The outcome of a June 13 two-hour closed session would be different. Rhodes emerged from the session and announced her June 30 resignation.

Hartwell Wright of the N.C. League of Municipalities met with council to discuss the process for hiring a new city manager. He warned council the search for a manager is competitive and could take six months or more.
He said a competitive salary range for cities with populations between 5,000 and 10,000 is $75,000 to $85,000 per year, not including benefit packages. Rhodes’ salary was set at $65,515 a year.

Council shortly thereafter appointed Finance Director Doug Palmer interim city manager while conducting a search for a full-time city manager. A series of confidential interviews followed.

After more than six months of searching, the city announced this week that it was in final negotiations with its new city manager but did not indicate the salary range.

Joshua W. Ray, 27, town manager for Biscoe since March 2003, was selected from a field of four candidates. (One withdrew his application.) Ray is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill who earned his master of public affairs degree from Western Carolina.

9. Thompson, Hayes resign

Firefighters and rescue personnel were outraged when Emergency Services Director Ronnie Hayes and Fire Marshal Kevin Thompson resigned their positions in September.

Fire and rescue volunteers said they felt the two were pressured to leave their jobs, and appealed to the Columbus County commissioners in October to ask both men to return. Commissioners refused to grant the request.

Although around 30 volunteers from across the county attended a meeting of the county board, only one, Chief Steve Camlin of Acme Delco Reigelwood Fire and Rescue, was allowed to speak. Firefighters did not have time before the meeting to fill out a request form to have time to speak to the board.

Camlin told the board that Hayes and Thompson were the most qualified emergency services director and fire marshal the county had ever employed, and the level of emergency service in the county would be adversely affected by their absence.

County Manager Jim Varner refused to comment, citing personnel issues.

10. Twenty-nine highway deaths

Twenty-nine people were killed in 2006 in Columbus County highway crashes and all of them occurred in rural areas of the county. The toll compares to 17 traffic deaths in 2005, 15 of them in rural locations.

An unusual fact concerning the 2006 total is the 29 victims were killed in 28 separate incidents. This compares to a Sept. 14 collision that took the lives of two people, and all other fatal crashes, each causing a single death.

The second half of 2006 was particularly deadly on county roads, as Highway Patrol troopers investigated 20 of the 29 deaths during the July-December period.

Four of the victims were pedestrians and each was killed in the second half of the calendar year.

Many of the fatalities were caused by the driver and/or passenger not wearing seat belts, records show.

Fatalities occurred on Jan. 13, Feb. 2, Feb. 4, March 24, April 3, April 28, May 2, May 29, June 8, July 28, Aug. 13, Aug. 19 ( two wrecks), Sept. 1, Sept. 10, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 (two victims), Sept. 15, Oct. 9, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 2, Nov. 6, Nov. 12, Nov. 16, Dec. 2, Dec. 14 and Dec. 28.