Hundreds of jobs gone with turkey plant

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Hoke County’s newspaper since 1905
RAEFORD & HOKE COUNTY N.C.
No. 21 Vol. 108
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Hundreds of jobs gone with turkey plant
BY CATHARIN SHEPARD
Staff writer
After this week, the white feathers
on the roadsides of Hoke County will
be a thing of the past, and so will
nearly 1,000 jobs provided by the
House of Raeford turkey slaughter
plant.
The plant is closing its doors this
week, laying off about 950 workers
in a major shift in the company’s
business operations. Thursday,
August 1 is the last day workers
will be processing live turkeys at
the Raeford slaughter plant on East
Central Avenue, company spokesman Dave Witter said. The company announced the plant closure
earlier this year but only this month
settled on a final closing date for the
slaughterhouse.
At this point, House of Raeford
officials have not decided what to
do with the slaughterhouse property
and equipment after it shuts down
Thursday.
“No firm decisions have been
made regarding the property and
the equipment,” Witter said.
The retail outlet store next to the
slaughterhouse will remain open,
offering House of Raeford products
for sale. However, the local print
shop First Impressions, owned and
operated by House of Raeford, was
set to close down by the end of July.
The turkey plant closure will not
affect employees at the House of
(See TURKEY PLANT, page 4A)
2 locals charged
in fatal shooting
Gaboury
White
A man from Red Springs
and a woman from Raeford
were arrested this weekend
on charges related to the
shooting death of a man
from Atlanta.
Mariel Bibiano, 26, of
Atlanta was shot and killed
Friday night around 10:30
p.m. at the Country Hearth
Inn and Suites on North
Sandhills Boulevard in
Aberdeen, according to Aberdeen Police Interim Chief
Jim Foster.
Police arrested Shelby
Mitchell White, 33, of Red
Springs Road in Red Springs
on a charge of first-degree
murder. White was held in
Moore County with no bond
allowed.
Authorities also arrested
Amanda Gayle Gaboury, 41,
of Pebble Lane in Raeford
(See MURDER, page 6A)
A man in Raeford was
arrested this week and held
under a $1 million secured
bond on sex abuse charges.
Deputies with the Hoke
County Sheriff’s Office
arrested David Roa, 39, no
address given, on charges
of second-degree rape and
sexual activity by substitute
parent.
Authorities
arrested
Roa after a call
to the
Sheriff’s
Office
directed
Roa
them to
(See CHARGES, page 6A)
Victim Bibiano
Sex offenses alleged
NJ to offer free employment ads
Hoke native Earl Wolff came out for extra practice at the 1st NFL Training Camp in Philadelphia last week as he competes
for a starting spot with the Eagles. Story, next week. (Hal Nunn photo)
This Week
ployment and those offering
employment may place ads in
The News-Journal classified
section without charge.
To place an ad, visit www.
thenews-journal.com, call
(See ADS, page 6A)
Heads up, property revaluation coming in 2014
Schools set open houses
See page 4A
BY CATHARIN SHEPARD
Sales tax-free weekend
begins Friday
See page 4A
Next year local landowners will get updated
valuations for their taxable
property for the first time
since the Base Realignment
and Closure Act (BRAC)
Turkey Festival
plans come together
See page 1B
In an effort to help employees of the House of Raeford
plant that is closing this week,
The News-Journal will offer employment ads free
of charge for at least three
months. Those seeking em-
Staff writer
brought a flood of new
families and development to
Hoke County.
Property revaluation for
Hoke is set to get underway
in 2014, according to the
revaluation schedule. The
last property valuation was
conducted in 2006 during
the BRAC development
that continues today in the
eastern part of the county.
The last valuation also
took place two years before
the economic recession of
2008.
Revaluation is the process of appraising property
to update the assessed value
to reflect current market
value. North Carolina state
law requires that revaluation must be done at least
once every eight years. If
no changes are made to the
property, then the value will
remain the same until the
next revaluation, according to information from the
Hoke County Tax Office.
“The goal of a revaluation is to appraise all property at its current market
value, then each property
only pays its fair share of
(See TAXES, page 4A)
Judicial districts will merge
Calendar ...............2B
Classifieds ...............6B
Deaths ...............3A
Editorials ...........2-3A
Legals ...........4-5B
Worship ...............2B
BY CATHARIN SHEPARD
Staff writer
John Leach holds a sign showing his southern heritage at the Boy Scout Jamboree
held in West Virginia recently. He, his brother Jackson, and Liam Tew from Hoke
joined 30,000 other Scouts at the event. (Contributed photo)
A budget amendment attached
to the North Carolina 2013-14 fiscal year budget passed into law last
week, and Hoke County’s judicial
district will merge next year with
another two-county district.
“It did pass, so effective January
1, 2015, the judicial district will be
consolidated,” District Attorney
Kristy Newton said.
The amendment filed by Rep.
Justin Burr, a Republican representing Stanly and Montgomery
counties, combines judicial district
16A, which includes Hoke and
Scotland counties, and judicial
district 20A, which includes
Richmond and Anson counties.
The new district will be called
district 20C.
The prosecutorial districts were
unaffected by the budget amendment, meaning that the district
attorney offices will remain the
same, Newton said.
“The prosecutorial districts
were kept separated, so Richmond
and Anson are a prosecutorial
district and Hoke and Scotland are
a prosecutorial district,” she said.
(See JUDGES, page 4A)