Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / March 13, 1980, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News Record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY On thm insjy* . . . ? Cutshall's grocery Is Laurel's Meeting Place Turn To Page 7 79th Year No. 11 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. THURSDAY, March 13, 1980 15* Per Copy I County Board Hires DSS Director At its regular monthly meeting March 7, the county Board of Commissioners agreed to hire Anita Davie as director of the Department of Social Services. DDS Board Chairman Jackie Ball told the commis sioners that the board had met on Feb. 25 and, based on a review of applicants on the state register, agreed that Mrs. Davie was the best qualified candidate for the job. Ball said she scored 100 on the required test, and that her thorough knowledge of budgeting procedures as well as department administration gave her the edge over other candidates. Mrs. Davie has served as acting director of DDS since the departure of former Direc tor Don Harrell last fall. In other business the board of commissioners appointed a county transportation com mittee, as suggested by Michael Norins, executive director of the Hot Springs Health Program. The commit tee consists of Norins as chair man, Robert Edwards, Teresa Zimmerman, Kevin Morley, Anita Davie, Larry Burda and James Brown. The function of the commit tee will be to help secure grant money from the federal and state government to aid public transportation in the county. Public transportation is already used by the Depart ment of Social Services, health agencies, and others, and the county cannot keep up with fuel and other costs. The committee is needed to serve as a "lead agency" to gather up-to-date records on all vehicles, the need for garages, information on ambulances, and other data that the federal government will require. Kevin Morley, county recreation director, brought several matters before the board. He proposed an agree ment with Southern Railroad to allow the county access to the French Broad River at Barnard through the railroad's right-of-way for recreational purposes. He also told the board that the Recrea tional Commission had trouble convening a quorum at meetings, so Vernon Ponder and Carol Anderson were ap pointed to fill out the board of the commission. Finally, Morley describes the need for a full-time athletic director to coordinate this summer's softball pro gram. The program, expected to draw at least 400 par ticipants and 2,000 spectators, has grown to large to be handl ed as a part-time chore of the director, Morley said. He said he feels it is important to con tinue the work he is doing ad ministering several grants already won for the county, improving the Marshall Com munity Building, and oversee ing the swimming pool. "We had 280 softball games last year," Morley said, "including pre-season and post-season tournaments. Fewer people wil be able to drive to Asheville for recrea ( Continued on Page 2) County Development Group Plans A Cleanup The Community Develop ment Council met at 7 p.m. March 6 to plan the big coun tywide spring cleanup next month and to hear some ad vice on tactics and strategy from two guest speakers. The meeting, held at the of fices of the Agricultural Ex tension Service in Marshall, featured an introduction by Morris McGough, executive director of the 18-county organization and a slide presentation by Jean Webb of Quality Forward in Asheville, an aggressive litter control group. After the slide show, Ruth Gregory, who has been named beautification coordinator for the county this year, reviewed plans for Community Develop ?, rteni Week April 1MB, when there will be an intensive cam paign to collect litter and refuse from roadsides and stream banks Attending the meeting were representatives of community clubs from Upper Laurel, Mars Hill, Greater Ivy, Sleepy Valley and Walnut/Brush Creek. It was also announced that Mars Hill and Greater Ivy will be recognized in Raleigh ERNESTINE PLEMMONS, left, and Ruth Gregory, county beautification coordinator, display this year's theme poster for litter cleanup. A month-long drive to clean the county's road sides and streams begins April 1. March 24 by Keep North Carolina Beautiful officials as two of the top communities in the state. Morris McGough announced that the Western North Carolina Community Develop ment Program will make available this year $10,000 in award money for area con tests and $50,000 for county contests. "But I want to emphasize,'' he said, that the biggest reward a community gets from participating in the pro gram is what it gets from the actual participation." He said that there are two kinds of groups eligible to par ticipate in the development contests: organized communi ty clubs and other groups, such as 4-H, churches, fire associations and youth groups. He also said there will be another mobile home im provement and safety contest. The first of these was held two years ago. McGough said that mobile homes have special importance in Western North Carolina, where there are more than 25,000 such units. Mobile homes provide housing for about 15 percent of the population her# compared with 5 percent nationally. The nomber of mobile homes here has more than doubled since 1970 and increased about 10-fold since 1960. "I would encourage mobile home residents to get involved in community clubs," said McGough, "and urge that every county name a mobile home chairman. Interest last year was high among in dividual owners, but they had almost no contact with the clubs." He also urged the clubs to develop by-laws in order to reduce confusion and arguments and to obtain fire insurance for any buildings used by the clubs. Jean Webb told the audience that Quality Forward is an anti-litter group in Asheville, funded two-thirds by the coun ty and one-third by the city. It grew out of the bicentennial cleanup program and has a board of 24 people and 80 to 100 volunteers. "There is little point in cleaning up litter unless you can sustain a program," she said. "Charlotte has managed to reduce their litter by 70 per cent and they have sustained that. This is what we are aim ing for." She defined litter as "man-made or -used misplac ed solid waste." She said that 60 percent of the people inter viewed about litter thought it was not a problem ? until they were shown slides or ac tual areas covered with litter. She said the main sources of littering are water, wind, traf fic and animals. "Behind every piece of litter is a person (Continued on Page 5) COMPUTER CLASS shares a laugh with 'Gandalf .' 'Gandalf ' Helps Students Learn Computer Science A creature Mined Gandaif is helping Madison High School students learn about computers. This is not too surprising, since Gandaif is a computer itself. What is unusual is that Gandaif, (the name of the wizard in "Lord of the Rings"), was built by the students themselves and three (acuity members Since the last wire was set in place about two months ago, Gandaif has been "showing off" (or the members of the Mall. Gandalf's debut was described in an article in Recreational Computing magazine by Ralph Roberts. More important, Gandalf has helped the students understand the principles of the computer, and of the elec tronics that make computers possible ? at virtually no coat to the school ar the county. Gandalf Is the brainchild of three Madison teacher* ? Rex Sprinkle, David Cos. and Louis Zimmerman ? who spent long hours studying up on how computers work, help ing the Math Club raise money to buy components, and learn tag by trial and error how through dances and other functions. Rex Sprinkle and Louis Zimmerman, as spon sors of the Math Club, worked out the theory of the machine, while David Cox, who teaches electronics, did most of the assembly work. "One of the advantages of this system is that it's expan dable," said Cox. "We can add other parts aa we are able to raise the money." The unit itself is butt out of Motorola parte. The basic kit coat |439. the disc system about $800, the memory and *1,000 A tally Hot Springs Youth Killed By Gunshot After Quarrel Eighteen-year-old Jackie W. "Wheeler" Keener was fatally shot in Hot Springs about l :30 a.m. March 8, reported Sheriff E.Y. Ponder. Keener's aunt, Vernie Green, 49, was arrested for the shooting, the sheriff said. She was charged with murder and released on $10,000 bond Saturday afternoon. According to the sheriff, Mrs. Green shot Keener once with a 22 calibre pistol from a distance of about 6 feet. Ponder said that Keener died instantly from a bullet wound to the heart. The sheriff said that the trouble began on Spring Street when Keener jumped on his younger brother, James Keener, who lives at the same address on Spring Street as Keener, Mrs. Green, and the boys* mother, Myrtle "Si?" Stines Keener. The boys went upstairs to the apartment Republican Convention Set Mar. 22 The Madison County Republican Convention will take place March 31 at S p.m in the Madison County Cour thouse in Marshall lite sole where the altercation con tinued. Ponder said the younger brother was told to go back down the street, which he did, but his brother followed him. So the aunt and mother went after them, moving .along Spr ing Street. Just before the in tersection of Spring Street area 25/70 the elder Keener, said the sheriff, hit and shoved his mother, whereupon his aunt fired the pistol. According to the sheriff, Jackie Keener worked clear ing trails for the U.S. Forest Service- fi. Hot Springs. He had been called into court several times for minor offenses. Mrs. Green will probably be called for trial at the next ses sion of criminal Superior Court, beginning March 27. ANITA DAVIE, acting director of the Department of Social Services since last fall, was appointed director last Friday. As such, she is responsible for administering a budget of over $2 million, some 1220,000 of which is paid by the county. The DSS program, employing 31 persons, is second in size only to the county school system. DSS service in clude the Income Maintenence Unit (Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid), the Food Stamp office, service units (foster care, adoptive services, protec tive care), and a day care center on Laurel. Mrs. Davie was born near Forks of Ivy where her parents, Edward C. Ball and Edna Ponder Ball, still reside. She graduated from North Buncombe High School in 1964, and from UNC/Asheville in 1967 with a degree in psychology. She came to work for DSS im mediately after graduation and has worked there ever since, beginning as a case worker, moving through various service programs, and in 1976 to the opposition of Social Work Supervisor. She earned an additional degree in Social Work at Mars Hill College in 1978. She is married to Tim Davie, who works at Kinco in Asheville, and has an ll-year-old son named Michael. A FASHION SHOW broke up the school routine at Madison High last week as nine etegaat couples modeled formal evening wear te raise money for the yearbook. Pic tured above, following the show, are Let Hof fman, Susie Gott, Kevin Baraette, Kathy Thorpe, Paula Edwards, Tim Merrill, Kathy Pack, Marty Reese, Tim Wilde, Sue ' Sawyer, . editor Greg Bailey, classes editor Gwen Stanton, and (acuity advisor Sandra ToUey, raised an estimated $150 by charging 50 cents admission. Hie yearbook staff alto ? sells the ba* itself for $10 and I dance. Derby Day, and a ' pageant ' to *ty the rest of I ing the
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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