THE ftws RECORD
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On thm Insldm ? ? ?
Reporter Ken Edwards
Tries CPR Equipment.
See His Story On Page 3.
79th Year No. 38
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C.
THURSDAY, September 18, 1980
15' Per Copy
? Boy Suffers Torn Blood Vessel
Guardian Claims Student Injured On Bus
'
A ninth grade student at
Madison High School is cur
rently recovering at a Green
ville, Tennessee hospital
where he underwent surgery
for removal of a kidney and
repair work to an artery
leading to the kidney.
The boy's aunt, with whom
he lives, contends that the torn
blood vessel was the result of a
shoving incident which occur
red on a Madison County
school bus on Sept. 4.
Ronnie Lee Gosnell, 14, of
Hot Springs remained in the
operating room of Takoma
Adventist Hospital in Green
ville for four hours while doc
tors removed one of his'
kidneys and repaired a torn
artery to stop internal
bleeding.
Mrs. Edna Cogdill, the boy's
aunt, told The News Record
she thinks the torn blood
vessel was caused when the
youngster was shoved into the
back of one of the school bus
seats by another student or
students.
According to Mrs. Cogdill,
the bus on which GosnelJ was
riding had sustained a flat tire
and had gone to the
maintenance garage to have
the tire changed. The bus
driver, also a student, asked
the students to get out of the
bus so the maintenance crew
could jack up the vehicle to
replace the flat tire.
Mrs. Cogdill said Gosnell
told her that as the students
were walking in the isle of the
bus, one student began shov
ing several students and he
was pushed into the back of
one of the seats.
Young Gosnell returned
home after school and later
said his side "felt numb. "
Gosnell returned to school
the following day (Friday)
and also on Monday, although
he complained some during
the weekend about his side,
according to his aunt.
While at school on Monday,
the boy began feeling sick
about 11 a.m., Mrs. Cogdill
said. "He said he felt nauseous
and like he was going to
faint."
"The school called me about
2 p.m. and I took him straight
to the hospital in Greenville, "
she said.
After tests were performed
and it was established that
Gosnell was experiencing in
ternal bleeding, the hospital
staff scheduled him for
surgery at 1 p.m on Tuesday.
Mrs. Cogdilt said, "After
operating on Ronnie for one
hour, the doctors came out
and asked me if Ronnie had
had any accidents They told
me they would have to remove
one of his kidneys, and that he
was torn up pretty bad in
side.'"
Contacted in Greenville, Dr.
Vernon Butler, the surgeon
who performed the operation
on Gosnell, stated that the boy
had suffered a "torn blood
vessel to a kidney which had
caused bleeding inside" the
boy's body.
Butler said it was "a very
serious injury," but the
youngster is "recovering very
well."
"The problem was the
bleeding,'' Butler said. He ad
ded that it would be three or
four weeks before the boy
would be able to go back to
school.
Mrs. Cogdill, who drove a
school bus 11 years for the
county, said, "I'm not going to
put Ronnie back on a school
bus to go to Madison High
School until they get better
drivers and better order on the
buses."
"The buses are not safe,"
she said.
"I think the Madison County
Schools should have to pay for
Ronnie's hospital expenses,
and I'm going to look into this.
You can be sure of that," she
said.
David Wyatt, principal of
Madison High School, said he
knew of the bus incident, and
"there may have been some
pushing on the bus, but no
malicious pushing," accor
ding to what he could find out
from the bus driver and
students he had talked to.
Wyatt said anytime you
have students getting off a bus
"you are going to have a cer
tain amount of pushing." and
he didn't think there was any
unusual shoving in this case.
According to Wyatt, Mrs.
Cogdill had requested at the
first of the school year that
Ronnie Gosnell be allowed to
ride a specific bus to school
because the youngster had ex
perienced medical and health
problems in the past.
"I granted that request, but
after several days he began to
ride the regular bus," Wyatt
said.
Ronnie Gosnell
injured student
Photo By N Hancock
Tipton Car After Accident
Auto Wreck Brings
Injuries To Couple
A Marshall man and
woman received minor in
juries when the car they were
driving went out of control
and plunged down an embank
ment late Wednesday night.
Eddie Johnson, driver of the
vehicle, and Kathy Tipton,
both of Marshall, escaped
serious injuries when the 1971
Chervolet Nova in which they
were riding went down a steep
bank backward on Highway
25-70 near Sprinkle-Shelton
Wholesale. The single car ac
cident occurred at approx
imately 11:30 p.m.
According to spokesmen for
the Marshall Ambulance Ser
vice, Ms. Tipton "may have
suffered a fractured knee."
Johnson received general cuts
and bruises, according to am
bulance service personnel.
The N.C. Highway Patrol
report stated the vehicle was
backed up the highway in
reverse when Johnson lest
control of the car and it went
over the edge of the embank
ment, flipping over onto its
top.
Patrolman Swanson of the
Highway Patrol charged
Johnson with driving under
the influence of intoxicating
beverages.
? report on the Ne" Horizon pro
At Madison High School
Soil Conservation Project Completed
By KEN EDWARDS
After four months, since
original ground work began,
the contract has run out and
the work has been completed
on the Resource Conservation
and Development Council's
project to fill the ditches and
re-reoute the water runoff at
Madison High School.
Bill Brown, Soil Conserva
tion Technician and construc
tion inspector, who s been
with the project since it began,
said, "We've solved the ero
sion and drainage problem on
the site. "
He added that the original
$167,000 project ended up
costing around $190,000. The
main reason for the extra cost
was the fact that since the pro
ject was first funded, the ero
sion problem worsened con
siderably.
It took three years just to
get the project funded. Since
three-fourths of the work was
funded by the federal govern
ment through the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture, the
estimates on cost had to be
made scientifically and as ex
act as possible by use of a
computer in Raleigh.
The conclusion of the pro
ject marks the first measure
installed through the moun
tain valley 's Resource Conser
vation and Development
Council in Region B.
The council includes four
members each from Madison,
Buncombe, Henderson, and
Transylvania counties, accor
ding to Emory Metcalf, Chair
man of the Madison County
Soil and Water Conservation
District.
Brown said th#t although
the erosion repair project has
been completed, work hasn't
ended. "The board of educa
tion has to maintain what is in
stalled and check the areas
that need repair and manage
ment."
Pipelines and drains have
been piped out on field slopes.
In all, 3000 feet of pipe was us
ed to get the water off the
campus and to a safe place.
A total of between 12,000 and
13,000 cubic yards of dirt was
distributed across the school
area to cover pipe, fill in
gullys, and enhance the
natural beauty of Madison
High. Nearly half of that was
used to fill the huge "Madison
Canyon" which was making
its way toward the north end
of the football field.
The dirt used came from the
practice field just to the west
of the school building. Bet
ween six and seven feet were
taken off the top of the one
acre field.
Soil Conservationist,
Russell Blevins said, "The
main thing we want to get
across to the people is that this
is a project they can be proud
of. Most of the county doesn't
know bow it was reworked. "
Ail of the money came from
the taxpayers.
Brown added, "A lot wasn't
done in the original building
plan." That made it hard to
find exactly where all the
pipes were.
He also said a lot of times
"architects know how to put it
on paper but not on the
ground. They don't always
know how to deal with water."
According to Blevins,
there's a lot you can't see
about the project. An example
is the one-half mile of pipe just
on the school grounds.
However, he continued, in the
long run, you've got to have it.
Blevins added, "It was cer
tainly needed. It was well
done, but it is going to take
maintenance to keep it up. For
instance, the 10 acres that
were seeded will have to be
fertilized every year. It is the
responsibility of the school
board to keep it up. The coun
try can be proud of it, if it is
maintained.
Upon completion, and in
light of the amount of money
spent, Brown estimated if the
problem had been fixed
originally, it could have been
done for less than one-fourth
the amount it ended up
costing.
He also said, "Look at small
New Horizons Meets
The Madison County New
Horizons Committee met in
conjunction with the County
Planning Board this past week
in order to plan the next steps
in carrying out the Fair Hous
ing Assistant Project adopted
by the county from the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development
Ms. Becky Williams, Land
Of-Sky Regional Council
representative, said future
plans for the committee in
clude a showing of a new slide
presentation on Him pro
brochure featuring the outlin
ed purpose and details of the
New Horizons program is be
ing developed for countywide
distribution and will be
presented at the November
meeting of the committee.
New Horizons is a Fair
Housing Assistance Project
which helps communities plan
and carry out strategies to in
sure fair housing. A 1MB Civil
Rights Act states that is is a
policy of the Un.ted States tc
provide fair housing
hnmsjhiMg the "in try. New
Horiaona sefc guidelines to
taking measures to break
down housing patterns that
are segregated.
Marshall, Hot Springs and
Madison County as a whole
are centers for a New
Horizons task force that will
analyze local conditions and
problems, and come up witli
strategies for fair housing in
theae areas.
JUNIPERS are planted above wall behind
football stadium.
problems, don't pat it off, and
it will be cheaper.'' There are
about five more schools in the
eastern part of the state that
are in a similar condition as
Madison was just because the
builder didn't look at what
were considered small pro
blems in the beginning.
(Continued on Page 2)