THE NEV" _.ord
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SJINCE 1901
' l|" COUNT ?
Vol- M N?. 35 GENERml NC \Y, Aug. .29, 1984 25c
Mars Hill photographer Margaret Smith brightens iti<
lives of nursing home patients. Story, photos on Page 5.
vents
Public Meeting Rescheduled
Because of the Labor Day holiday, a number of public meetings have been
rescheduled.
The Marshall Board of Aldermen will meet on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the
Town Hall.
The Hot Springs Board of Aldermen will meet on Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the
Hot Springs Town Hall.
The Madison County Board of Commissioners will meet on Sept. 4 at 5:30
p.m. in the Madison County Court House.
The Mars Hill Board of Aldermen will meet as regularly scheduled on Sept.
3 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
The Madison County Board of Education will meet on Sept. 5 at 10:30 a.m. in
the Madison County Court House.
Fall Festival Is Planned
Marshall Primary School will hold a Fall Festival on Sept. 28 from S until 8
i.m. Games, a dunking booth, baked goods and a country store will be
eatnred. Door prises including a color TV, kerosene heater and ceiling fan
?ill be presented. In the event of rain, the festival will be held on Oct. S
Fisher-Fox Family Reunion
The annual Fisher-Fox family reunion will be held on Sept. 2 at the Long
Branch Baptist Church. The Rev. Clell Fisher will conduct the morning
service at 11 a.m. and dinner on the ground will be served at 12:30 p.m. The
family will conmduct a special gospel singing in the afternoon. All family
members and friends are invited to attend.
News Record Closed Labor Day
In observance of the Labor Day holiday, The News Record office will be
closed on Monday, Sept. 3. Deadline for all legal and classified advertising for
the Sept. 8, 1984 issue will be Friday, Aug. 31 at 5 p.m.
Spaghetti Dinner Planned
The Weaverville Methodist Men's Club will sponsor a
spaghetti dinner on Sept. 14 from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. prior to
the start of the N. Buncombe H.S. football game. The dinner
will be held in the fellowship hall of the Weaverville United
Methodist Church on Main Street in Weaverville. Admission is
$3 for adults, $1 for children 12 and under.
CORRECTION
In last week's story concerning the
appointment of Joe Griffey to Mar
shall chief of police, we incorrectly
stated the salary of the position.
The salary for Marshall chief of
police is |9,200 per year, not $920 per
month as previously reported.
The News Record regrets this
error. "
Car Show
The Hillbilly Antique Car Club will
sponsor the third annual Antique Car
Show and Flea Market on Aug. 31
through Sept. 2 at the Red Oak School
on Jupiter Rd.
Registration for the show is $5. For
more information on the show, call
645 6617.
Adams Returns t o Face
Murder, Rape Charges
Bail Set At $ 100,000
By ROBERT KOENIG
James Arthur Adams, a former
Volunteer In Service To America
worker, returned to Madison County
Friday morning to face murder and
rape charges. Adams, 34, is charged
with first degree muder, common law
rape and obstructing justice in
connection with the June, 1970 slaying
of Nancy Dean Morgan, a 24-year old
VISTA worker.
Adams was indicted by the
Madison County grand jury on Aug.
20 after a witness came forward with
new testimony in the case.
Adams surrendered voluntarily,
flying in to Asheville from his Venice,
Fla. home. Sheriff E.Y. Ponder met
the suspect at the Asheville Regional
Airport and transported him to*
Marshall.
Adams appeared before Superior
Court Judge Charles Lamm shortly
after his arrival. Judge Lamm set
bail at $100,000 and Adams remains in
the Madison County jail. Adams also
asked the court to appoint an attorney
and Judge Lamm assigned the case
to Marshall attorney Joseph B. Huff.
Sheriff Ponder said he had traveled
to Florida to meet with Adams prior
to his indictment. Adams was also
questioned at the time of the 1970
slaying. At that time, he told in
vestigators that he was with Miss
Morgan in his Bluff home on June 14,
1970.
Adams told the investigators that
Morgan left his home at 3:30 a.m. to
return to her home in Shelton Laurel.
She was found two days later on a
turnoff on U.S. 25-70 near Hot
Springs.
District Attorney James T. Rusher
told reporters that he doubted the
Adams trial would begin during the
next session of Madison County
District Court, scheduled for Sept.
4 _ _
Unemployment Shows
Slight Increase
North Carolina unemployment
increased statewide in July acording
to figures released last week by the
North Carolina Employment Security
Commission (ESC). Total em
ployment in the state declined by
three-tenths of one percent during the
month, to 6.5 percent of the work
force.
The national unadjusted rate
during July was 7.5 percent,
representing some 8.7 million jobless
workers.
In announcing the July figures,
ESC chairman Glenn Jernlgan at
tributed the increase to seasonal
layoffs in the furniture and textile
industries. Part of the rise was also
due, Jernigan said, to unemployed
workers employed through non
government contracts by North
Carolina schools.
Jernigan remained optimistic
regarding the employment picture,
saying, "Perhaps a better indicator
of {he state's economic condition is a
comparison of this year's figures with
those of a year ago. Between July,
1983 and July, 1964, manufacturing
added 19,300 workers and non
manufacturing added 49,700. To me,
this is more significant than month
to-month variations which are sub
ject to seasonal factors."
The average manufacturing
production work week declined
during the month to 38.5 hours, down
.7 from the previous month.
For the first time in history, North
Carolina's production hourly wage
reached above the $7 mark. The ESC
report said wages were up in July
three cents an hour, to an average of
17.01
JAMES ARTHUR ADAMS, right, is read his rights by
Madison County Sheriff E.Y. Ponder Friday morning in the
Madison County Court House. Adams is charged with first
degree murder, rape and obstruction of justice in connection
with the 1970 slaying of VISTA worker Nancy Morgan,
, ' . I : V
Johnson: 111
Defend Myself
Double Murder In Leicester
Son Charged With Shooting Mother, Stepfather
By ROBERT KOENIG
Two Leicester residents were found
shot to death in their Kerr Rd. home
Saturday afternoon. North Carolina
Highway Patrolmen discovered the
bodies of Walter Brown, 75, and his
wife, Inez Worley Brown, 48, while
attempting to locate the couple's son,
Willie William Worley, Jr. for
questioning in a high-speed chase.
Willie Worley, Jr. was apprehended
by the Buncombe County Sheriff's
Dept. deputies late Saturday night at
a Barnardsville pool hall, Wild Bill's
Game Room on Dillingham Rd.
Police say Worley offered no
resistance at the time of his arrest.
Worley was charged with two
counts of first degree murder in
connecion with the shooting of his
mother and stepfather. A
preliminary hearing was held in
Buncombe County District Court on
Monday. Worley remains in the
Buncombe County jail without bond.
The Highway Patrol arrived at the
Kerr Rd. home at 4:45 p.m. Saturday
after tracing the license plate of
Worley 's 1979 Chevrolet truck.
Trooper T.S. Frank observed the
truck on Leicester Hwy. at about 3
p.m. When Frank attempted to stop
the truck for reckless driving, a high
speed chase ensued. Frank said the
truck drove onto Willowcreek Rd. and
into a cornfield. The tropper said he
pursued the truck on foot until 't
turned and the driver attempted U.
run him down. The truck ther
wrecked and the driver fled on foot.
Upon arriving at the Brown home,
officers found Walter Brown's body
lying in the front yard with a single
.22 caliber wound in the back. Mrs.
Brown was found in the home's kit
chen with a single .22 daiber wound
to the head. Both victims were ap
parently shot at close range, police
say. A .22 caliber rifle was found in
the trailer.
State Bureau of Investigations
chief deputy Mark Ivey said it ap
peared that the couple were shot
about noon on Saturday.
Police cordoned off much of the
Leicester area early Saturday
evening in an attempt to arrest
Worley. The suspect apparently
hitchhiked to Barnardsville where be
was apprehended.
Richard Johnson of Hot Springs
told Superior Court Judge Charles C.
Lamm, Jr. that he wishes to defend
himself in court. Johnson is charged
with first degree murder in con
nection with the poisoning death of
his five-year old daughter, Joyce
Johnson.
Johnson submitted an afidavit to
the .court on Wednesday saying he
will accept the first 12 jurors chosen
and will not cross-exam prosecution
witnesses. Johnson also maintained
that he is innocent. The 36-year old
son of former Hot Springs police chief
Leroy Johnson stated that he will call
no witnesses in his own defense and
will not testify in his own behalf.
Johnson asked the court to dismiss
his court-appointed attorney, A.E.
Leake. He also said he will not appeal
if he is convicted.
Johnson's attorney, A.E. Leake
also filed a motion with the court on
Wednesday, asking to be relieved as
Johnson's legal counsel. In
requesting the withdrawl, Leake
cited a conflict in defense strategy
with his client.
Judge Lamm denied Leake's
motion and declared Johnson's
request moot as a result.
Johnson's petition to the court
surprised both his own lawyer and
prosecution attorneys. Leake called
the afidavit 'ludicrous' and assistant
District Attorney James L. Baker
told reporters, "I've never seen a
defendant ake such a bizarre motion.
It's almost contradictory." Baker
said Johnson may have hoped to
speed the date of his trial.
Johnson remains in the Madison
County jail without bond. His
requests for bond have been denied in
appearances in both District and
Superior Court.
Referring to Wednesday's motion,
Baker said, "It may have been an act
of desperation. He wants to get out of
jail, but we're not going to let him
proceed with sheer folly like this. The
state is serious about its case and we
are going to try it properly."
Johnson could face the death
(Continued on Page 9
Forest Service Proposes New 'Prescribed' Fire Policy
By MERCER CROSS
N ational Geographic
Newsservice
WASHINGTON ? A new policy des
igned to improve America's wilder
ness woodlands by selectively
burning them is expected to be
adopted soon by the U.S. Forest Ser
vice.
The policy of carefully planned
"prescribed" fires on federal forest
lands has been evolving for some
time.
For decades, prompt fire sup
pression was the name of the game in
the Forest Service All fires on
national forest lands ? they now total
some 187 million acres ? were to bt
limited, if possible, to lOi
Assh
Forest Service in 1978 relaxed its
fire-suppression policy and allowed
more lightning-started fires to burn in
wilderness areas. One problem was
confining them to public lands. Occa
sionally, one got away and damaged
private property.
This September, unless an un
foreseen hitch develops, the Forest
Service will go a step further and
permit specialists to touch off con
trolled biases in recommended parts
of the 28.5 million acres of wilderness
now administered by the service out
inHBt .. '.v- i :
The suppression policy, says R.
Max Peterson, chi-' of the Forest
Service, "resulted in the unnatural
1
In recent years, Congress has ap
propriated about $1S0 million annu
ally for what the Forest Service calls
its pre suppressioo activities ? all the
work that's done before a fire starts.
Beyond that figure are the ex
penditures for suppression, which
vary widely according to fire condi
tions in any given year. Suppresdotl
costs in fiscal year 1983 were a rela
tively low $34.3 million. By com
pariaon, in 1981, a dry year, they were
999 million.
(Ms, Extent Unknown
It's unknown what the extent or the
costs of the new policy will be, Cham
bers says, because each fire will be