Home Sweet Home
Home State Pride is Always in Style 10% Off any Purchase over $50
8211 Market Street #BB Wilmington, NC (910) 319-7693
513 Roland Avenue Surf City, NC (910) 328-2105 www.shopthebee.com
Offered 7/13/15 to 7/19/15.
Backyard adventures
POST Voice
Football sign ups
The Pender-Topsail
Poplar Grove Plantation in Scotts Hill is a step back in time with the manor house, animal sanctuary and more. Read about it on page 5A.
&
Pender Hurricanes football and cheerleading will hold registration every Friday in July in Rocky Point. Read more in sports on page 10A.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Volume 44, No. 41
Sunday crash kills two
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
Candidates file for local municipal elections
July 4 Fun in Currie
Filing period runs through July 17 By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher With the filing period for county municipal elections now open, candidates are registering for the fall elections. In Burgaw, three commissioner seats will be up for election, currently held by Charles Rooks, Red Robbins, and Elaine Tyson. As of July 7, Robbins has filed for reelection and William E. “Bill”
Head-on collision claims drivers By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer A crash near Pender High School killed two drivers Sunday. Tom Collins with Pender County Emergency Management said the head-on crash occurred on N.C. 53 near New Savannah Road. A Jeep Cherokee and a Cadillac struck head-on in the crash, Collins said. He said he did not know any details about the crash. “Both drivers were killed, and their passengers injured,” he said. Burgaw firefighters responded to the call, along with Pender EMS. The crash was one of ten fatal wrecks across the state during the July 4 holiday. The Highway Patrol investigated seven fatal collisions during the 2014 holiday period. Additional details were not immediately available. The names of the victims had not been released, pending notification of relatives.
Shark bites Marine in Surf City From Staff Reports Camp Lejeune officials confirm a Marine will bitten by a shark while swimming in the ocean in Surf City July 4. Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital spokesman Raymond Applewhite said the 32-year-old Marine suffered lacerations to his right hand and forearm. Base spokesman Nat Fahy said Monday the patient was taken to the Camp Lejeune hospital late Saturday night and was released Sunday. This is the eighth confir med shark attack along the North Carolina coast in the past three weeks, and the second along Pender County beaches. On June 24, and eight-yearold boy received minor leg and foot injuries from a shark bite while swimming near the 700 block of South Shore Drive.
Find us on Facebook
50 Cents
George III has filed for the election. In Surf City, Mayor Zander Guy has filed for reelection and three seats on the town board will be on the ballot this fall – the seats held by Nelva Albury, Buddy Fowler, and Donald Ray Helms. Albury and Helms have filed for reelection, along with newcomers Garry Noel and Donna S. Thigpen.
Continued on page 2A
July 4 booms at beaches By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer The Inde pendence Day weekend boomed on Topsail Island this year. “God blessed us with a great weekend,” said Surf City mayor Zander Guy. Last year, a tropical storm kept numerous visitors from the island on the busiest holiday of the year. This year, however, just a few rainstorms threatened on July 3, but those
cleared out in time for a “big event,” Guy said. “The rains came and went, and we lost a very few people,” Guy said, “but then it dried off, the bands started playing, and the crowds came back.” The rest of the weekend was busy as well, he said. Many of the visitors on Saturday and Sunday were daytrippers from 50 to 75 miles away, Guy said.
Continued on page 3A
Staff photos by Andy Pettigrew
Çurrie residents enjoyed a big July 4 parade and event to celebrate the holiday. See more photos on page 16A and on Facebook.
Two fires have unusual origins
Fireworks blaze damages Burgaw apartments By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer While neither has been deemed arson, two fires have authorities scratching their heads. “It was a strange weekend,” said Tom Collins of Pender County Emergency Management. Saturday night’s fire in Burgaw, which caused major damage to a condominium building at 1201 Wilmington Street, was caused by smoldering fireworks, Collins said. A resident of one of the units apparently had several pyrotechnics in a bin on an
ATV, and parked the vehicle near the building. Either one of the fireworks was smoldering, or it was somehow ignited, Collins said. The fire then destroyed the ATV, ran up the side of the building, and burned through the roof, causing significant damage. Several families were displaced by the 11 p.m. fire, Collins said. The State Bureau of Investigation and federal Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco and Firearms were both called in to help investigate, Collins said, “but there doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious.”
Fire damages tractor A Sunday afternoon fire near Montague, however, was one of the most bizarre calls Collins said he has investigated in some time. A medium-sized Long tractor was discovered running in circles in a field, Collins said, with one rear tire on fire and fuel leaking from the tank. Volunteer firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze, which Collins said did not completely destroy the tractor. F u r t h e r i nve s t i g a t i o n showed the tractor either short-circuited and cranked itself, or someone may have tried to steal it and lost con-
Photo contributed
Firefighters battle a blaze in Burgaw in the early morning hours of July 5. trol. The unmanned tractor drove across a lot, through a fence and into a field, where it was discovered burning and circling Sunday afternoon.
KIOTI Tractors Are Here! 24HP to 90HP
www.facebook.com/PostVoice
WHITE TRACTOR CO. INC. whitetractorcompany.com 530 Hwy 117 By-Pass S, "URGAW s
That fire is getting a closer look, Collins said. “Tractors don’t often crank themselves and catch fire,” Collins said, “but stranger things have happened.”