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THE Clarion pp www.hrpvarH.prl[j/rlarinn ■ ® -■* I Volume 76, Issue 15 www.brevard.edu/clarion SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935 BC honors MLK, see page 2 Jan. 21, 2011 Brevard police charge local man with bomb threat By Park Baker / Scott McCormick Staff Writers Brevard is said to be the busiest small town around, with sirens going nearly constantly, making it seem like there is a lot going on in this mountain retreat. However, tradition continues to drive this value laden mix of recreational enthusiasts, retirees and locals. Yet some insist on living on the fringes of what is acceptable and what is not. It started when David Joseph Gearing walked into the Brevard Police Department around 10 a.m. Monday morning and requested to speak to a supervisor Being told no one was available immediately, he became visibly agitated and began pacing the lobby of the Brevard police department while waiting. After a few minutes went by he decided to leave without saying anything to the receptionist he had just spoken with. In this issue... Campus News: Climate Change 2 Snow Hinders Travel 2 Students Honor MLK 2 News: Synthetic IVIarijuana Under Scrutiny... 3 Solar Panel Fundraising Campaign.... 3 New Cardio Machines 3 Tucson Worries College Campuses... 3 Sports: Softball Team Adopts a Family 5 SAC Player of the Week 5 Women's Basketball 5 Opinion: MLK Day Photos 6 Devil's Advocate 6 Arts & Life Gallery Opening 7 Chef Boy-ar-Dave 7 Odds and Ends: Cartoon by Karam Boeshaar 8 Sign of the Times 8 m: ' Arousing suspicion, an officer was alerted to his anxious demeanor and followed Mr. Gearing out of the parking lot in his patrol car After witnessing erratic driving, the officer pulled him over in front of the College Plaza shopping center The officer conducted routme questionmg, ^ grgvard firefighter blocks traffic from turning onto Soutli Broad Street from asking Mr. Gearing if tp,e r^ain college entrance on Monday. there was anything in the car he should be aware of, and Gearing told him he had a bomb in his white Buick. With this tidbit, the Brevard police department arrested Gearing and called in the Henderson County bomb squad and a hazardous materials team from Asheville. It took the authorities five hours to determine that Mr. Gearing did not have explosives of any kind in his possession. The team used a robot to handle the bag said to contain the bomb and a dog trained to pick up on the scent of materials used to construct explosives. Brevard police shut down almost everything within the immediate vicinity, including the Broad Street entrances to Brevard College. The College Plaza shopping center was evacuated, as well the Creekside Condominiums behind the Food Lion. Scott Hoffner, a Brevard freshman from Michigan has lived in the condominiums since August. “I couldn't get back into my house until 8 p.m., but as much as an inconvenience as it was for the day. I'm glad they took the proper precautions. I'm glad they kept us safe.” Students are not the only occupants of Creekside Condominiums, Dr Emily Mace and her husband Dr Benjamin Zeller, both Humanities Professors at Brevard, live in the complex. Dr Mace was home with their daughter Laurel on Monday morning. “It was about 12:15 and I was about to feed Laurel lunch when I heard the sound of diesel engine running, and thinking it was the mail truck I paid it no mind. Then I looked out the window and saw a big van with emergency lights flashing and decided to investigate. When I opened the door, there was a man standing there in a full fireman's uniform, with an almost incredulous look on his face, he told me we all had to leave, but couldn't tell me why. At this I almost asked to see some identification, given the smirk he was wearing.” Her daughter could sense something was awry and began to cry as Dr Mace had to quickly pack clothes for class, all her material, a diaper bag for the baby and all her effects. “We had to eat dinner out because we weren't allowed home until 7:30 that night.” The MLK Challenge on Monday was seriously affected by the bomb threat. It wasn’t until representatives from the First United Methodist Church across the street from Brevard College notified Jessica Blanford of the potential threat and evacuation, that she was aware of the situation. “They called us right at the time we were supposed to start the Challenge. It’s howl found about it,” said Blanford. An announcement was made to the 55 student and faculty participants about the threat and the changes that would need to be made to the program. Luckily, with the help of the students and their creativity, alternatives were found for the activities that were supposed to take place. “Unfortunately, students weren’t able to do a lot of the activities as roads were blocked off and we couldn’t get to Ingles or Lowes or any places near the scene.” However, when asked how the Challenge went looking back over it, Blanford calls it a success and Megan Walters, who was also in charge, adds, “It made the day more exciting. Everyone in Jones was interested in what the helicopters were doing.” Gearing is now in police custody on a $50,000 bond.
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