Scotland County Highland Games

Some 7,500 people were estimated to have attended the inaugural Scotland County Highland Games, held Oct. 3 at the historic John Blue House in Laurinburg. Called a "great success" by Games' Chairman Bill Caudill, the honorary chairman of the games was Donald MacDonald, a South Carolina native who has lived in Edinburgh, Scotland since 1961 and was the co-founder of the world famous Grandfather Mountain Highland Games near Linville. Musician Rona Wilkie of Laurinburg's sister city of Oban, Scotland played the fiddle and sang songs in Gaelic at the one day festival.

Events included athletic competitions, solo piping and drumming competitions, and a variety of activities that included children's Highland games, vendors, Scottish food, tartans and more. Opening ceremonies included six pipe bands accompanied by the Scotland High School Band. More than 40 Scottish clans were represented.

A tug of war between the Scotland County Sheriff's Department and the Laurinburg Police Department concluded the day's activities. That evening, a "ceilidh" and wine tasting was held at Cypress Bend Vineyards in Wagram. A traditional "Kirkin' o the Tartans" was held at Old Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church the following morning, followed by a lecture on the Stewarts of Appin by MacDonald.

School system salaries

In a March 2 meeting of the Scotland County Commissioners, Commission Chairman J.D. Willis brought the salary figures of county school administrators to the public's attention during a power point presentation, suggesting that the school system "take a hard look" at its expenses. Willis pointed out that School Superintendent Shirley Prince's annual salary of $214,736 was the sixth highest in North Carolina for her position, and that her local salary supplement of $92,324 led the state. Willis showed that her supplement was for a system with less than 7,000 students, comparing it to the $82,000 figure for the Forsyth County superintendent in a system with more than 51,000 students.

Willis purchased ad space to run in the Laurinburg Exchange and on WLNC radio detailing the salaries of Prince and other school officials, drawing criticism from Commissioner Guy McCook and others. McCook said the ads, purchased with money from a discretionary fund that he said was "meant to assist county nonprofits or existing county projects", was a misuse of funds.

The school board adopted a resolution of support for Prince in a March 9 meeting while Prince defended her position, outlined in a March 11 article with the Laurinburg Exchange. Prince later retired to assume a position as executive director of the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association.

The Scotland County Board of Education hired new Superintendent Rick Stout, who began his position July 6 with a $153,000 salary, including benefits, $61,000 less than his predecessor Shirley Prince.

Frank Silvestry's flight and capture

Wanted for 49 felony counts of fraud by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Laurinburg car dealer Frank Silvestry was arrested by Savannah, Ga. police Sept. 3 after a month of evading authorities. Charged with 26 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, 23 counts of embezzlement of state property, and one count of felony conversion, Silvestry was accused of failing to pay off trade-ins and then selling them with outstanding debts, which affected customers' credit scores. He was also accused of failing to pay state taxes and fees collected from customers.

At a hearing before District Court Judge William C. McIlwain following his extradition to Scotland County, Silvestry said he could not pay the $1 million bond, stating that he didn't have "10 cents". Savannah authorities confiscated $4,575 in cash upon his arrest.

The former owner of Silvestry Chevrolet in Laurinburg, he is now in Scotland County jail awaiting trial.



James Rupard's arrest

A popular pastor, insurance agent and former vice president for the Scotland County Firefighter's Association, James William Rupard of Laurinburg was charged with 72 counts of embezzlement, 10 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, and five counts of embezzlement by an insurance agent in September following a year long investigation by the Laurinburg Police Department, the State Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Unit. Rupard, who denied the allegations in an August 2008 statement to the Laurinburg Exchange, said that he was "not aware of any intentional wrongdoing by myself or anyone else ... (and I) will be glad to answer any questions asked, and will cooperate fully if contacted."

Sheriff Shep Jones asked the State Bureau of Investigation to launch a probe into allegations surrounding Rupard's involvement with the Scotland Firefighter's Association and the Stewartsville Fire Department.

Rupard is currently out on bail and awaiting trial.

St. Andrews College academic accreditation

Officials at St. Andrews Presbyterian College saw their academic accreditation taken away by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 2007, citing the college's financial structure, only to see it returned by the American Academy for Liberal Education in January.

College President Paul Baldasare called it "a significant achievement (that) represents a meaningful affirmation of the quality of the college’s academic program."

In July, the college was named one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The Princeton Review also listed St. Andrews as one of the best colleges and universities in the Southeast.

Baldasare said that the college's inclusion in the listings "further emphasizes the commitment St. Andrews has made to provide our students with a high quality of education at a reasonable cost.”

And then in October, the college saw its accreditation denied once again when a judge sided with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in its decision not to restore accreditation. School officials announced that they would appeal that judgment to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“While this is a setback for St. Andrews, and for all of us in the college community, the board and the administration are committed to seeing the litigation through to a fair and just conclusion,” Baldasare said. “We will continue, as we have over the past two years, to provide updates when information is received. The appeals process is a lengthy process, with a final decision in the case some time away.”

Unemployment

As the national economy was battered by recession, unemployment shot up around the country, with no locale spared from the loss of jobs.

Scotland County has maintained the distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the state for most of 2009, no feat of luxury for the thousands of county residents who are out of work.

The last reported rate was 17.2 percent for the month of October, just slightly over the 16.8 rate that brought it into 2009.

More than a sixth of those considered in the workforce for the study were considered unemployed in October. There were 2,501 people seeking a job in Scotland with 11,588 currently being employed.

Closings and layoffs

As many local businesses tried to fix their balance sheets or were overtaken by debt because of the recession, some stores barred their doors while others shed jobs.

A number of local employers shut their doors in 2009. Silvestry, the only new car dealership, was among the first casualties when it closed after General Motors pulled their floor plan, but they were just one of many casualties in what has been one of the hardest business years in memory. Sassie Lassie, Peebles, Goody's, Southern Cleaners, Umicore, Video's Unlimited, CarQuest Auto Parts and J.D. Tires all closed their doors this year, among other businesses.

Many that remained open had to slash jobs. Butler Manufacturing got rid of 105 jobs while FCC cut labor by 17 percent.

There were some highlights to 2009 though.

QualPak decided to remain open, boosted by sales of hand sanitizer, while Feline Pine opened up a new plant in Scotland County.

Piggly Wiggly Shooting

At 9 a.m. on July 16, 2009, a butcher at Piggly Wiggly fired three shots into the man who was dating his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children.

Aubrey Reece Odum, 28, of 503 Scotland St., Maxton, left out the back of the store after firing the fatal shots that claimed the life of 35-year old Brian McLean of 818 Whiteville St., Laurinburg.

His next destination – the Laurinburg Police Department.

Odum turned himself in at the station before officers could even secure the Church Street grocery, still holding the gun officials say he used to take McLean's life.

Bystanders were shocked by the incident.

"It was chaos – complete pandemonium," Capt. Kim Monroe told The Laurinburg Exchange. "Employees did not expect this when they came to work this morning."

Police said it was fortunate that only 13 people were in the store at the time of the shooting. Had it been during a peak shopping time, there could have been other fatalities.

Water, Water...

Pinehurst threw a wrench into the plans of Scotland County officials when the village officials announced that they plan to purchase the water and wastewater treatment plants of the former West Point Pepperell mill facilities and an adjacent 198 acres in Wagram for $5.5 million.

The plants, both with a 7 million gallon per day capacity, are located at 19320 Airbase Road near Wagram.

Since this initial plan, a political tussle has ensued on whether Pinehurst will be permitted to buy the plant and how much a role Scotland County, Laurinburg and Moore County would play in such an acquisition. Laurinburg is doing a study on the water and wastewater plants and is trying to position itself to play a leading role in water distribution for the region.

New local administrators

A lot of new faces have come to Scotland County this year after an exodus of top government leaders in many local bodies.

Scotland County Superintendent Shirley Prince resigned to take a position as the executive director of the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association. She was replaced by Rick Stout, who was the assistant superintendent for finance and personnel in the Alamance-Burlington School system.

Laurinburg City Manager Craig Honeycutt resigned to become manager of Alamance County. Ed Burchins was hired as his replacement, having over two decades of city manager experience.

Maxton Town Manager Katrina Tatum was forced out by the town board, with Vincent Long, another veteran of municipal government.