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Here were some of the stories making news in Bladen County in 1973:
• Three Bladen County residents lost their lives in two collisions near the Bladen County line in Columbus County.
• N.C. Highway Patrolman Sgt. W.E. Blackly, who had been stationed in Bladen County for 12 years, was reassigned to Asheboro.
• Karate classes began at the National Guard Armory in Elizabethtown.