The N|ws Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
80th Year No. 50 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N.C. THURSDAY, December 10, 1981
' . . , .
?Ho, Ho, Ho !?
Photo by N. Hoococn
SANTA CLAUS signaled the official beginn
ing of the Christmas season in Marshall
Saturday during the annual Christmas
parade sponsored by the Marshall Mer
chants Association. Musicians, Scouts, dog
gers, horsemen and dignitaries paraded
down Main Street as town and county
residents braved windy, chilly temperatures
to participate in the event. More parade
photos on Page 3.
Judge Rules
On Railroad
Tax Rates
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Madison County will still be
sbie to collect a little over half
of what it considers Southern
Railway owes it in I960 taxes,
but a ruling by a U.S. Distinct
Court Judge in Raleigh late
last month prevents the coun
ty from raising a 55 percent
assessment figure on the
railroads commercial real
estate here.
Judge Franklin Dupree rul
ed on Nov 3S that "it was the
intent of the Congress when it
passed the Railroad
Revitaliiation and Reform
Act of 1976 that a sales ratio of
commercial real estate be the
standard to compare the
fairness of railroad taxation,"
according to county attorney
Larry B. Leake
Dupree's ruling excludes
centrally assessed commer
cial real property and com
mercial personal property,
both of which are valued at 100
percent in Madison County.
Court of Appeals is "totally
unrelated" to the case presid
ed over by Judge Dupree. The
U.S. District Court case
relates to whether the
railroads are being taxed at
the same rate as other com
mercial property owners. The
Court of Appeals case ad
dresses the question of
whether or not the North
Carolina Department of
Revenue has valued the pro
perty of the railroads correct
iy
In essence, Judge Dupree's
ruling states that as a result of
his decision railroads would
be being taxed less than other
commercial property owners
in North Carolina, bat he held
that this was required under
the 1976 act.
Leake said that since the
county has just reassessed its
real property, "the decision in
this law suit has no effect upon
Madison Couaty's ability to
assess Southern Railway for
taxes due on Jan. 1, 1982 and
thereafter, and Southern will
be assesed at the rate of 100
perco.
If Dupree's decision is
allowed to stand for counties
Hot Springs Aldermen Ban
Youngsters From Gameroom
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Editor
HOT SPRINGS - The
{rashly sworn in mayor and
board of aldermen adopted a
new town ordinance here Mon
day night which continues to
prohibit youngsters under 17
from entering a gameroom
without being accompanied by
a parent or guardian.
Gameroom operator
Franklin S. (Hank) Holmes
responded to the board's ac
tion by saying that he would
continue efforts to "get the or
dinance changed so kids would
have a place to go and
something to do."
Nearly 30 residents showed
up at the 7:90 p.m. meeting;
some to voice their approval
of the two-month old
gameroom and their disap
proval of the aldermen's ac
tion.
"I think this is about the
worst thing I've seen happen
in Hot Springs," said Frank
Moore, a ten year resident of
the town.
"I don't care anything for
the gameroom for myself,"
Mrs. Arthur Snelson told the
board, "but I like to see it for
the kids. I think it's a
ridiculous law."
Deborah Ponder Baker, the
town's first woman mayor, ap
peared impatient at hearing
any discussion of the
gameroom .and read the four
page ordinance before its
adoption by the board. Ponder
explained to Holmes that he
would have to make a written
application for a license to
operate the gameroom and
that the formal application
would be presented to the
board at a called meeting. The
board would decide whether
or not to issue him a license,
she said.
In the meantime, Holmes
will be allowed to continue to
operate the gameroom, but no
youngsters 16 and under will
be allowed to enter the
establishment without a
parent or guardian, she add
ed.
The new ordinance is vir
tually the same as one adopted
in 1972 which governed the
operation of gamerooms and
pool halls, but under the new
law no license fee is required.
The newly installed
aldermen Wesley Staude,
Jerry Ramsey, and Ernest
Autry adopted the ordinance
without discussion or hesita
tion. Autry said he had heard
"rumors both ways" concern
ing the gameroom and, as a
new alderman, he wanted to
check into it "to find out if
there's anything to those
rumors."
Holmes told the aldermen to
visit the gameroom at any
time and find out what it is
like.
"We haven't given any
reason for this kind of action.
We've not had any trouble or
any problems out of the kids
who've been in there. As a
matter of fact, I feel like their
parents are glad they can
have a place where they can
go," Holmes said.
Several parents and adults
concurred with Holmes' state
ment outside town hall after
Mayor Ponder abruptly closed
discussion of the matter.
Jerta McCarter, a resident
of Spring Creek and' Hot Spr
ings for 30 years, said tearful
ly, "This gameroom, and
another place we use to have,
are the only two decent places
that I've seen in Hot Springs
for our children to go to."
Moore, a retiree, said when
he moved to Hot Springs ten
years ago he used to sit and
talk with teenagers who would
congregate on the Spring
Creek bridge in town. "I'd ask
them what they had to do, and
they'd say they didn't have
anything to do around here;
that nobody gave a darn about
them," he said.
Moore said he sees Holmes
as a youngman who's willing
to do something for the young
people - to give them
something to do "besides
breaking out windows in the
Post Office and other acts of
vandalism." He said his own
efforts over the years to get
the town and churches to pro
vide recreation for the
youngsters had been unsuc
cessful.
"I've seen money wasted
like everything here that they
could have used to help those
children," Moore said^
"There's five of those boys not
living now ; they were killed in
automobile accidents. He
contends that some of those
deaths may have been
prevented had those
youngsters had some form of
entertainment in town.
But all parents involved in
the aameroom controversy
are not in favor of having the
amusement center in town.
Richard Johnson, son o
Police Chief Leroy Johnson
maintains a hard l^ agatot
it He said Holmes had broKe
the rules of the ordinance by
allowing children 16 and under
U> visit the room since the or
dinance was brought to
Holmes' attention.
(A visit to the gameroom
before the town meeting
revealed that three,,
youn#rtws, obviously under
1? were on the premises, but
is was not established whether
or not they had a parent with
them.)
Johnson, in his opposition to
the gameroom, has said he
thinks there are political
motivations behind the
publicity the controversy has
received in recent weeks. He
said he thinks Holmes and The
News Record have conspired
to "make us look bad. When
asked to explain "us,
Johnson had no comment.
v * 4
On the other hand, some
sources here have said they
think Holmes is being harrass
ed over the gameroom
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN - Billy
Ebbs, 15, of Hot Springs is
silhouetted against the lights of
the Hot Springs gameroom as he
looks forlornly at older teenagers
who are allowed admittance to the
~ Photo by N. Hancock
pinball parlor. The board of
aldermen upheld a town or
dinance Monday night which pro
hibits youngsters from altering
the establishment without the
company of a parent or guardian.
because he ran for a seat on
the board of aldermen in the
November election. (Holmes
was soundly defeated in the
non-partisan seven-man race
for three Mats.)
Town officials are giving no
reason, other than "rumors"
and that of enforcing the or
dinance, for keeping the
younger teenagers out of the
gameroom.
Boarding Home Under Fire
Search For Man
Ends Thursday
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
The four-day search for Dean
Rogers ended last Thursday when
his dead body was found on a moun
tainside approximately a mile from
Graham's Boarding Home on Sandy
Mush Road from which he wandered
on Sunday, Nov. 29. An autopsy
report stated Rogers died from ex
posure, according to Dr. Bates
Henderson, county medical ex
Rogers body was discovered by
Charles Freeman about 2:15 p.m.
Thursday near the home of a man
from whom he had rented
to Madison
cept (or a final effort with the rescue
dogs brought in from Virginia.
Sheriff Ponder told reporters he
was on his way to Asheville Airport
with the German Shepherd dogs to
return them to their base in Virginia
when his office informed him that
Rogers' body had been found.
Ponder said the body was found
near an unoccupied house located
across a ridge on the south side of
the mountain where the boarding
house stands. He said the occupant
of the house had suffered a heart at
tack Sunday morning and that no
one had been on the premiaea until
WINNER - Rev. David Allman
(left) recipient of a citation for
community leadership in Upper
Laurel community, talks with
> ?' A'! V"1 '* T*^PPW*.*tflNKk
Vernon Ponder at the WNC Com
munity Development Awards
r banquet Saturday in Asheville
1&& ik, - 4'iH:
titles
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Douhte Island in Ymmv
County, CUrk't Chap4$ to
Macon Jaunty and Otto tot
tap win
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Ml liter 1 1 Oognty's Graatar
Ivy Cbmmuaity received a ISO
iWrtlM award In
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