BEE on the Lookout...
BIG TENT SALE ON IT’S WAY! Saturday, November 21st & Sunday, November 22nd 9a.m. - 6p.m.
Owl Howl Nov. 14 The Cape Fear Raptor Center in Rocky Point will hold its first Owl Howl Nov. 14. There will be fun for the whole family with music, food, and more. Read about the Owl Howl on page 1B.
Volume 45, No. 5
513 Roland Ave • Surf City, NC (910) 328-2105 www.shopthebee.com
P ST The Pender-Topsail
& Voice
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Grudge match It’s the last game of the regular season as Pender and Trask face off for their annual grudge match. Who will walk away with the bragging rights for another year? Read more in sports on 8A.
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
50 Cents
Municipal elections bring new faces
Trick or Treat fun at Kiwanis Park
From Staff Reports Two new commissioners will take a seat on the Burgaw town board. Former Burgaw fire chief Bill George will join newcomer Burgaw businessman Vernon Harrell and long time commissioner Red Robbins on the board. Elaine Tyson lost her bid for relection, coming in fourth. Deborah Walker McAllister, Sheree Shepard, and Johnny Stringfield rounded out the slate of candidates. Robbins was first with 196 votes, followed by Harrell with 174 and George with 163. Tyson trailed with 153 votes. All vote totals are unofficial. In Surf City, three incumbents will return to the town board. Buddy Fowler led the race with 223 votes, followed by Donald Ray Helms with 176 and Nelva R. Albury with 163. Challengers Donna S.
Thigpen (154) and Garry Noel (85) rounded out the field of candidates. Mayor Zander Guy ran unopposed. In Topsail Beach, Mayor Howard Braxton will continue to serve, defeating councilman Julian Bone. Braxton won with 132 votes to Bone’s 70. In the town board race, Steve Smith and Linda Stipe won seats on the board, both taking 135 votes each. William Jordan was third with 76 votes, followed by Herb Netherton with 68 votes. In other races across the county, William “Cowboy” Hunter, Nancy Evanovich Jones, and Kaye Knowles won seats on the St. Helena council. In Atkinson, Maulin C. Patel (28) survived a challenge for mayor by write-in candidate Lorie M. Floyd (23). Christie Halligan and Renee Williamson Bloodworth won seats on the town board.
Man convicted on sex charges
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Thousands came dressed for the occasion at Kiwanis Park for the annual Trick or Treat in the Park Oct. 31 in Hampstead. See more photos of the event on Facebook.
School officials on Nov. 9 BOC agenda
School Board to recommend new building at Penderlea By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher The Pender County School Board will recommend a new building for the Penderlea School at a meeting with county commissioners Nov. 9 The School Board heard three options last week from architects working on the Penderlea school bond project – two of which involved extensive renovation of the existing building. The third option, which was favored by the board, features a new facility for the school, while saving the old auditorium and gymnasium for use by the community. Both options that propose renovation of the existing building would require a temporary school be built to house
Correction for Meaghan Clark Road Race and Fun Run event Nov. 14 T he Mea ghan Clark Memorial Scholarship 5K Road Race and One Mile Fun Run will be held at Topsail High School Nov. 14. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. and the race will start at 10. The event was mistakenly reported to be Nov. 24 in last week’s edition of the Post & Voice.
students for a minimum of one year while the renovations are taking place. The temporary facility would cost more than $1 million. “Option one is renovating the existing building, keeping the walls and the roof. But it does not meet state standards as far as size,” said School Board member Tom Roper. The state does not require school buildings to meet size standards, but offers guidelines. Roper says the School Board does not want to build a facility that is less than the minimum state standard and place the Penderlea School at a disadvantage compared to other schools in the county. “The second option would allow it to meet state standards and then adding additional space. The third option was a brand new school. The first two options would require a temporary school site, which would cost more than $1 million for a year or 14 months. That is something we don’t want to do – push good money and have nothing to show for it.” Roper said the School Board discussed the three options at length and decided to bring the new school option to the commissioners. “Option three is a new
school building within budget. There would be no temporary school, because we can be in the existing building while the new school is built. It would be built where the athletic fields are now and bring it really close to the existing building. We also have an option to save the existing media center and make it an entrance to the sports facility which will be at the back of the building,” Roper said. The state model for a K-8 school does not require an auditorium so the plan is to keep the existing auditorium. The new facility will have a gym and a multi-purpose room. “Hopefully we can find money between us and the county to remodel the old gym as a recreation facility and secondary gym. If we go in and touch anything in that auditorium, we have to bring it up to code, and that’s not in the current budget,” said Roper. The proposed new building is a two-story building that has a historic look to complement the area. The new school is expected to cost $17.5 million, with $21.5 million budgeted for the project. Roper said the county commissioners have given the School Board enough money to get started with the architects,
but commissioners will need to approve more funds to move ahead with the projects. The School Board heard architect reports on the other school bond projects, including the new school proposed for the Surf City area. “We have a contract on the land for the Surf City school, but we still have some legal details to work out, so I am expecting part of the Nov. 9 meeting to be closed session to deal with that,” Roper said.
From Staff Reports Joshua Adam Stroessenreuther, age 22 of Atkinson, has been convicted of multiple sex offenses involving children. He was sentenced to 300-420 months in the Department of Adult Correction by Judge John Nobles, followed by lifetime registration as a sex offender and satellitebased monitoring. He plead guilty to first degree sex offense with a child and indecent liberties with a child in the Pender County case and first degree sex offense with a child and indecent liberties with a child in the New Hanover County case. “This plea prevented two children from having to testify in court and face the predator who harmed them. Let this
Joshua Adam Stroessenreuther lengthy sentence be a warning for those who prey on our children that we will stop at nothing to put you in prison,” said Pender County District Attorney Ben David.
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
The Pender County Chapter of North Carolina Social Services Association dressed down for Breast Cancer Awareness by wearing pink Oct. 29. The proceeds will go to the Relay for Life.
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