At their county convention Saturday, Democrats will hear from a congressional candidate and a woman whose mother wrote a letter of condolence to Jackie Kennedy after the assassination of President Kennedy.

Jim Heim, chairman of the Moore County Democratic Party, said the two speakers are among the late additions for the convention, to open at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Agricultural Center on Pinehurst Avenue in Carthage.

Sam Turner, of Salisbury, is the unopposed Democratic candidate for the 6th Congressional District, now held by Republican Howard Coble. Without opposition within the Democratic Party, he will not be listed on the May 4 primary ballot. His name will not appear on the ballot until the November general election.

Edna Goins is the daughter of the woman who wrote a condolence letter to Jackie Kennedy in 1963. The letter was among a number of such messages recently published in Ellen Fitzpatrick's "Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation." Goins will read the -letter and explain some of its history.

Heim says all Democrats are invited to attend the convention. However, only delegates will vote on issues raised during the county convention.

GOP - The Moore County Republican Executive Committee will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, in the historic courthouse in Carthage.

Joe Garrison, party secretary, said Executive Committee meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday of every other month, but notices are posted when changes are made in that meeting schedule.

INCENTIVE - The Moore County Board of Commission-ers has approved a $37,000 economic development grant to assist Ingersoll-Rand Co. with expansion of the Southern Pines plant.

No one spoke during the public hearing conducted by the board at a Tuesday meeting, and approval was unanimous. Fred Hobbs made the presentation on behalf of Partners In Progress, the local economic development initiative.

Ingersoll-Rand recently announced plans to build a 30,000-square-foot addition to its facility off U.S. 1 in Southern Pines. The company expects to employ 98 new full-time workers and estimates that the enlarged facility will have a tax value of at least $2.7 million.

Board Chairman Tim Lea expressed appreciation for the work of Partners In Progress in securing the expansion that will add jobs and increase the county's tax base.

COBLE - Congressman Howard Coble will return to Moore County Saturday for the Tea Party Town Hall Forum at Owens Auditorium on the campus of Sandhills Community College.

The forum planned by the Moore TEA Party Citizens will be held from 1 until 4 p.m., and Coble plans to speak at about 2:30 p.m.

Coble toured an elementary school in Asheboro Friday morning, then plans to attend the 90th anniversary celebration at Harris & Covington in High Point and a district Rotary Club meeting in Greensboro.

His Saturday schedule also includes a speech to Triad Commute Challenge and a reception at a private residence, both in Greensboro. On Sunday he will attend the Campbell's Help Grow Your Own Soup Barn Preservation project at Climax and will attend a celebration for Maria Hicks-Few, the new president of the N.C. Junior Chamber in Greensboro.

Contact Florence Gilkeson by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.