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Ghosts at Poplar Grove
POST Voice The Pender-Topsail
Are there ghosts at the Poplar Grove Plantation? Friday night ghost tours through the house are offered Friday evenings in October. Read about the tours and more at Poplar Grove on page 1B.
Volume 45, No.3
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Thursday, October 22, 2015
Regular seasons wrap Pender County volleyball teams will wrap up their regular season schedules this week. Teams will begin looking to the playoffs. Read more in sports beginning on page 8A.
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The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
Oct. 28 in Surf City, Oct. 29 in Burgaw
Candidates forums for Burgaw, Surf City, Topsail Beach From Staff Reports Candidates forums have been scheduled for the municipal elections in three Pender County towns. Candidates in the municipal elections in Surf City and Topsail Beach can participate in a forum scheduled for Oct. 28 at the Surf City Welcome Center. Candidates in the Burgaw municipal election can participate in a forum scheduled for Oct. 29 at the Burgaw Depot. Both forums will begin at 7 p.m. each evening. “I want to urge all voters in these municipal
Burgaw board rules on deer butchering
elections to come to the forums. These events are not so much for the benefit of the candidates. Forums are for the people who live in these towns. We need to see and hear from the candidates we will be voting for. I didn’t ask the candidates if they wanted to have a forum. We scheduled it, and invited them to come. “If you are going to run for an elected office, you should be able to articulate why you want to be on the town board, what you believe, and what you intend to do if elected. I think candidates should welcome the opportunity to share
their ideas,” said Pender-Topsail Post & Voice Editor and Publisher Andy Pettigrew. The candidate forums are sponsored by the Post & Voice, along with the Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce for the Burgaw forum. All candidates in the Topsail Beach, Surf City, and Burgaw municipal elections are invited to attend the forum in their area. “This gives the voters the opportunity to see and hear the candidates they will be voting for,” said Pettigrew. “We encourage candidates to arrive early and stay after the forum to talk
Cool time at Autumn with Topsail
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Chlorine leak damages Topsail Beach vehicles By Barbara Hazle Contributing Writer
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher The Burgaw Board of Commissioners decided not to enact a proposed town ordinance amendment that would restrict hunter’s ability to skin and butcher game inside town limits. The proposed changes came from a request in August by a West Bridgers Street couple whose neighbor they say skinned and dressed deer next to their home. “They heard the concerns and the opposition to any changes in the existing ordinance and decided there was no need to change anything,” said Burgaw Town Manager Chad McEwen. “The board realized there was no issue yet, just the anticipation of an issue and there was no need to make an ordinance based on anticipation.” McEwen says the existing restrictions on butchering of game require the remains be disposed of outside the town limits – remains cannot be buried in town limits or disposed of in roll carts. Restriction on free speech The board unanimously approved an amendment that requires individuals who would use town festivals as an opportunity to publically speak for various causes to be restricted to an area on the west side of the old railroad bed near the Family Dollar store. The amendment arose out of an incident at the 2015 Blueberry Festival involving a street preacher. Vendors and some festivalgoers complained about the preacher. An incident with the preacher and a festivalgoer required police intervention. Burgaw police reportedly asked the street preacher to leave after someone took offense with his message and methods.
with voters. It’s a chance to shake hands and talk with the people and let the voters know where they stand.” At each forum, candidates will make an opening and closing statement, and will answer questions from the moderator, Post & Voice Publisher Pettigrew. The number of questions and the time for each answer will largely depend on the number of candidates attending the forum. Voters attending the forums will have the op-
A leak at a chlorine station resulted in the loss of two Topsail Beach town vehicles and also prompted a discussion on safety equipment and procedures at the Oct.14 town board meeting meeting. A leak occurred at the chlorine station near the town hall and chlorine gas seeped into the garage where public works trucks were housed. The chlorine damaged the electronics on the trucks rendering them a total loss. With homes and new construction being built around the stations, the town commissioners want to insure that this will not happen again. “Most water sites are out in the countryside. Our two chlorine sites are dead set in the middle of residential and business sections. I am a little upset with the engineer who did the water work update,” said Commissioner Mor-
Continued on page 3A
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
The Band of Oz abandoned their usual colorful summer outfits for jackets and jeans Sunday at Autumn with Topsail. Sunny skies and cool temperatures brought out a crowd to see the popular beach music band. See more photos of the festival on Facebook.
Rural Academy Theater ends tour in Pender From Staff Reports After a successful tour through the North Carolina high country, Burgaw’s Rural Acadamy Theater will finish their 2015 season with two shows in Pender County. The troupe will perform Oct. 24 in Burgaw at ArtBeat, the Pender County Arts Council office across from the courthouse. There will also be a performance at Old River Farms Oct. 25. Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. A final show is planned in Wilmington Oct. 28 at the Cameron Art Museum. Admission donations to the shows are appreciated. The Rural Academy Theater is a collaboration of individuals, two-legged and four, creating theater for primarily rural audiences in response to the growing urban-
ization of our culture, economy, food, education, media & art. Their annual horse-pulled tour brings performers, musicians, sculptors & dancers to town greens, college campuses, theaters, riverbanks and farms via horse pulled wagon and bicycle power. They perfor m evenings of
original theater under the stars or clouds using their wagon as their stage followed by a healthy dose of classic silent cinema accompanied by the Rural Academy Orkestar. The performance opens with a modern skewing of the Perse-
Continued on page 2A
County board looks at expanding service at Hampstead Annex From Staff Reports Pender County Commissioners are discussing increasing the services offered at the Pender County Hampstead Government Annex. Below is a summary of the county and other government services currently offered at the Annex. This information was provided by the county manager’s office. Planning and Community Development Permitting is offered full-time, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Permits are issued until 4:15 p.m. daily. Building inspections are also offer full time Monday through Friday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. “A true central permitting office that processes EH and building permits would be excellent. Of course, I’d like to replicate that service at the county offices in Burgaw as well, said Planning and Community Development Director Kyle Breuer. Health and Human Services Environmental Health operates at the Annex full-time Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The WIC office is open Tuesday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. In January it will be changed to Wednesdays. Once a nutritionist is hired, the office will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Continued on page 3A
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