The News Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On tho Inside . .
New nursery needs
donated equipment
...details on page 2
I
78th Year, No. 5
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C.
1 THURSDAY, February 1, 1979
15* Per Copy
Limited Access Urged For U. S. 23 Extension
An estimated IN Madison
County residents were present
Wednesday of last week (or a
public hearing on tfae ex
tension of U.S. M from the
Tsnmssn* state line at Sams
Gap to U.S. ? near Mars mil
braved snow and strong winds
to listen to officials of the
Derailment of Transportation
(DOT) explain the alter
project.
There were many in the
crowded Mars Hill Elemen
tary School lunchroom who
had varying idaaa concerning
the prapoaed routaa but the
greatest cmuia involved the
limited accaea to and from the
dleaa at which route was
choeen for the highway.
DOT officials preemted the
crowd with mapa showing the
four alternative route* the
new highway may take, as
plaining that one of the four
locations had not yet bean
recommended.
Vertiae Mason, a aquad
leader with the Department of
Transportation who par
ticipated in the preliminary
planning, Mid that the first
alternative, A, would follow
the existing road; the seeood
alternative, A-l, would alio
follow the existing road but
with a slight variation near
Mars Hill; the third alter
native, C, leaves the existing
road near California Creak,
diverts across country east of
Sprinkle Branch Road, and
intersects the existing road
near Laurel Creek; and the
fourth alternative, D, also
diverts across country from
California Creek to Laurel
Creek, west of Sprinkle
Branch Road.
Maps of the four poHibla
corrtdora are available at the
Man nil Town Han and DOT
officaainAabavUte.
According to Information
from DOT, appradmataly U
famtii? and eight hmlnnaana
would have to be reloeatad
uaing alternative A; 41
(amlliea and five buaineaaae
would be restated with
alternative A-l; 11 famlWea
and two hiiainaeaaa would be
relocated with aharaative C;
and tt f amlliea and oat
buaineea would be reloeatad
with alternative D.
Total coat for corridor A la
?touted at KK, 640,000; for
A-l at m, 040, 000; lor C at
Wl ,119,000; and corridor D at
(UJU.OOO.
DOT officials explained that
all information from the
meeting would go to tha Board
of Transportation to be used tn
selecting the final dealgn by
August. A design public
hearing would then be heM in
October or November ac
cording to DOT officials.
Commenting on the need for
limited accees, Carl Eller, a
member of the Mars Hill town
board, said that crossing a
four-lane highway without
limited accoaa was a "death
trap."
"We've had four or Ave
killed at the four-lane crossing
into Mara Hill. We ought to
think about the people who
live here rather than those
passing through. " he added.
Bill Zlnk, a representative
of the Mars Hill Fire
Department, added that be
had helped clean people up off
the highway there. "I don't
care what road they take," he
emphasised. "I want to see a
road with limited access."
Ed Howard, owner of
Howard's RX Pharmacy in
Mar* Hill, said that be wu one
of the people who would be
displaced by the new highway,
but that a new highway waa
needed. "I'm concerned with
people, homes and families
and I want limited access," he
said.
Other members of the
audience expressed concern
over limited access aa a need
for elderly drivers and school
buses
Also, some of those present
questioned the advisability of
H?iWiH thousands of dollar!
for an overpass for those who
hike along the Appalachian
Trail while, without limited
access, subjecting school
children and the elderly to the
dangers of having to cross the
new highway in order to reach
their destinations One citizen
commented about the
necessity of students on school
buses having to cross the higb
wsy with the heavy traffic
endangering their lives.
"Without limited access,
this is utterly foolish," one
person commented.
j Leake Chosen T o Succeed
Crawford As Slate Senator
After a delay of almost foui
horn, Larry Bruce Leake ol
Asheville was sworn Ir
"Monday night in the old State
Capitol Building as a senatoi
and a member of the North
Carolina General Assembly.
State Democratic Part)
Chairman Betty McCair
explained the delay early ix
family to get to Raleigh tc
witness the ceremony, but
Leake said later that was not a
factor.
He said his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. A.E. Leake of Asheville,
had not planned to be here, bul
until about 5 p.m. there had
been "some hope" that hit
brother, Dr. Arthur Eldridgc
Leake Jr., could attend the
swearing-in by Secretary oi
? State ThadEure.
F Leake told reporters during
i the ceremony in E ure'a office
! that he had chatted with Hunt
- for the first half an hour or so
i of the nearly four hours that
he was secluded in the
t governor's office,
i He said they talked about
i the duties of a senator and
? very little else.
t Ltake said be had made
i some telephone ?n? to
t political leaders In the district
t - to sample the reaction to his
appointment to the Senate
I seat.
But be said most of the calls
t were simply to wind up his
I legal work as a lawyer in
i AshevUle "so that I could be
! absolutely sure that I could
s serve as a full-time senator."
f He conceded later that he
made eight or nine calls "of a
political nature," but insisted
that his mind was made up
before he came hare and that
be never had any intention of
withdrawing as the nominee of
the eight-man 26th District
Senatorial Executive Com
mittee.
Leake, a bachelor, did not
his Mat in the state
he had** mtlwed^hmch and
dinner by the time the session
started at 8 p.m. He said he
doesn't think the incident with
the obscene telephone call
charge will limit his ef
fectiveness in representing
the people of the 36th District.
Hie district is made up of
Buncombe, , McDowell,
Madison and Yancey counties.
Hie other senator from that
district is Robert S. Swain of
Asheville.
"I think people will take me
seriously," he said in response
to a question. "I don't think
people are so cruel that they
will typecast me for an act of
stupidity."
In talking to reporters
following the oath of office
Monday night, be
said again that the incident in
1976 was the only time he had
been involved with the law in a
similar matter, although he
admitted to a lengthy driving
record.
"I don't think that reflects
as much on my morals as it
does of my intelligence,"
Leake said of the telephone
charge in 197*.
Leake said the problem he
County Allocated $100,000
For Winter Highway Repairs
r
Snow and ice may mean
days of fun for winter sports
participants, but for Depar
tment of Transportation road
maintenance crews winter
weather will mean long hours
clearing highways and
bridges for the safe passage of
motorists
In preparation for the
winter weather, a portion of
the $900 million highway
improvement bond issue,
Which was overwhelmingly
approved by the voters In 1977,
haa been used for spot and
sectional road restoration.
The major emphasis has
been directed to roads in the
western counties which have
suffered severe winter
damage. About 95 million of
the bond money has been
spent for one or more
restoration projects on 1,000
roads in 25 western counties.
$100,000 has been allocated
Madison County for spot and
restoration projects
"Recognizing the severe
damage to roads in the
western part of the state over
the past two winters, the
Board of Transportation
approved money for
restoration of the sections of
unpaved roads on the
secondary road system," said
Secretary of Transportation
Tom Bradshaw.
"The emphasis of the Board
of Transportation will con
tinue to be on paving unpaved
roads, improving paved
roads, and bringing unpaved
CITIZENS of Marshall and the
Smoky Mountain Fire District art
BMriBAHHMjMRIHIH
Monday night where it
W*
roads to an all-weather
standard," Bradshaw added.
"Department of Tran
sportation officials will work
closely with county boards of
commissioners to determine
snd deal with priority needs."
Jack Murdock, secondary
roads officer, said most of the
spot and sectional restoration
in the western counties has
been completed.
"Last winter sections of
roads were impassable as a
result of damage caused by
the sever winter weather. Ite
restoration work is an effort to
build solid roadbed foun
dations and re-establish
drainage on these road sec
tions so that they will be
passable this winter and,
hopefully, for many winters to
come, "he noted.
The ts-million bond money
spent on road restoration was
a supplement to existing
county road maintenance
allocations. Highway main
tenance crews worked on the
road restoration projects in
had over the obscene
telephone call arrest was "no
dark secret" in the Asheville
area among politicians.
He said in response to a
question that he feels that the
eight members of the
executive committee knew of
the charge before they voted
for him in the Buncombe
County Courthouse Saturday
night.
The vote by the committee
has not been made public.
26th District
Panel Favors
Him Over 4
Larry B. Leake, an
Asheville attorney, was
elected Saturday night by the
eight-member 26th District
Senatorial Executive Com
mittee to All the seat of the
late State Sen. I.C. Crawford.
The election was held in the
fifth floor courtroom at the
Buncombe County courthouse.
Hie meeting lasted only one
hour with the committee
deliberating in executive
session less than 30 minutes
before , returning with its
decision.
Defeated in their bids to
capture the vacant Senate
seat were former Rep. Claude
DeBruhl of Candler, Francella
Ponton of Asheville, Bun
combe County Commissioner
J.W. "Bill" Oglesby of
Asheville, and Asheville at
torney Robert E. Riddle.
Approximately 150 persons
drove through mixed rain and
snow to be on hand for the 8
p.m. election. If applause was
an indication, when the
candidates each made a five
minute speech, it was
definitely between Leake,
president of the North
Carolina Young Democrats,
and DeBruhl, a five-term
member of the state House
before he lost his seat in the
1978 primary.
Both men made strong
statements to the audience
and the committee, with
DeBruhl maintaining that he
had "more experience (in
state government) than all the
candidates combined. "
DeBruhl maintained he was
there Saturday night, "only at
the urging of people who know
how the game (in Raleigh) is
played." And he urged the
committee to remember his
track record and to remember
that "we're up here tonight to
geta job done.
"This changing horses in the
middle of the stream means
you have to have somebody
who can hit the ground run
ning."
Leake's appeal to the
committee was based on two
points.
"One," he said, "is the
ability to know what the
people of the district give me
that knowledge.
"Two," he said, "is that
through my contacts in the
Democratic Party, I believe I
have the reapect of the
members of the Senate. I
believe I can effectively
champion the cause of this
Continued on Page2A
LARRY B. LEAKE, a native of Madison
County and son of Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Leake,
was sworn in as a member of the N.C. Senate
Monday night. Leake succeeds the late I.C.
Crawford who died Jan. 24. Leake, an
Asheville attorney, is also state president of
the Young Democrat Club, and is county
attorney for Madison County.
Manslaughter Case
(
Ends In Mistrial
A mistrial was declared
Thursday in the Superior
Court trial of Randy Kim
Tweed of Route S, Marshall,
on a charge of manslaughter
after the Jury reported it was
rtf rtVorfcncI
Tweed was charged in the
death last October of Janet
Ela|ne Brady of Route 2,
Marshall, in a one-vehicle
accident on the Marshall
trial of Kenneth
Buckner, 40, of Route 1,
Marshall, and dual charges of
murder in the Oct. U rifle
deaths of a brother, Arthur
Buckner, 41, and ?
Hope Buckner Caldwell, 41,
was continued to Feb. 19
Judge Clifton E. Johnaon of
Charlotte granted the coo
on the motion of
attorney, Bruce
On Friday, the <
r%.
Court adjourned Friday
Smoky Mtn. Fire District Merges With Marshall Dept.
track owned by the town and
two by the district which
eovars a (Mr-mil* radlua from
on Ua rolls. "Gattta that