Vol. 84 No 43
PEOPLE
MADISON
^COUNTY LjtBltARY
GENERAL DELIVERY
MARSHALL ? ? NC
db* I i ? i
III
WEDNESDAY, QctttbT 24, 1984
Ca?endca
Halloween Parties Set
The Marshall Merchants Association is sponsoring an
Operation Child Find Halloween Party on Main Street on Oct.
31 from 3 until 6 p.m. Children accompanied by an adultwill.be
fingerprinted for identifaction purposes at Town Hall.
Refreshments will be served. Participating merchants will
also distribute treats to youngsters.
Mars Hill Elementary School will host the annual Fall
Festival on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 3 until 9 p.m. at the school.
The Madison Manor Nursing Center in Mars Hill will host a
trick or treat party on Oct. 31 from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. The
party is open to everyone. Residents of the nursing home will
be distributing treats and refreshments will be served.
There will also be a costume parade through the facility at 7
p.m., with prizes awarded for the best costumes.
4-H Haunted House In Marshall
The Madison County 4-H Exchange Gub will hold a haunted
house on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 29-30 from 7 until 9 p.m.
on Walnut Creek Rd. in Marshall. Admission is $1. Proceeds
will benefit the club's exchange program.
Neighbors-In-Need Plan Walkathon
Neighbors In-Need will hold its annual walkathon on Sun
day, Nov. 4. The three-mile walk will begin on Athletic Street
in Mars Hill in front of Meares Stadium between 2 and 4 p.m.
The walkathon is Neighbors-In-Need's major fund-raising
event. All Madison County residents are invited to take part as
sponsors or walkerfc.
All proceeds from the walk will assist the elderly, needy and
those in crisis in Madison County.
For more information, call Jean Taylor at 649-2367, Marian
Plaut at 649-3048 or Jerry Jarrell at 689-2911.
In the event of rain, the walk will be held on Nov. 11.
CoQkout, Hayride Planned
The Madison County Association for Retarded Citizens is
sponsoring a cookout and hayride for disabled adults on Satur
day, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. Transportation wiil be provided. For
more information, contact June Trevor at 689-2026.
Report Cards Distributed
Report cards were distributed to all Madison Ugh School
students on Oct. 22.
Board Of Elections Open Sat.
The Madison County Board of Elections office on Main
Street in Marshall will be open Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m.
until 3 p.m. for one-stop absentee voting. Nov. 1 will be the last
day for one-stop voting in the Nov. 6 election.
Beasley
Resigns
Marshall police officer Sgt.
Michael Beasley resigned from the
town police force Friday morning
under pressure from town officials
Marshall Mayor Betty WUd an
nounced that Beasley resigned in a
brief written statement delivered to
Town Hall on Friday morning.
Bealsey's resignation came less
than 48 hours after Marshall officials
decided to request his resignation and
less than two months after he was
promoted. Bealsey Joined the police
force in December of last year. He
was appointed by Mayor Wild after
the termination of the farmer force.
Marshal) officials met in executive
session for 30 minutes last Wednes
day to discuss Bealsey's employ
ment. Upon adjourning, Mayor Wild
told The News Record that a letter
would be sent to the officer on Thurs
day advising him that he would be
fired if he did not resign.
Beasley, who was on leave at the
time of the hearing, did not appear at
Wednesday's called meeting. He was
present during an earlier meeting at
which Wild and town alderman Ed
Niles heard complaints from Mar
shall residents.
In announcing the resignation.
Mayor Wild said a replacement for
Beasley will be considered at the next
meeting of the town board scheduled
for Nov. 5.
Grand Jury
\
Indicts 7
The Madison County grand jury in
dicted seven people during their Motv
day session at the. opiwiag rf ttw
Superior Court term.
The grand jury indicted Bertie Gen
try on five counts of assault with a
deadly weapon. Brenda Johnson was
indicted on two counts of transporting
a child out of state in violation of a
court order.
Johnson is accused of taking Lisa
Johnson, 4, and Tonya Johnson, S, to
Tennessee while they were in the
(Continued on Page 7
PATSY MAYNARD and the
members of the Greater Ivy Youth
Choir lead participants during Sun
day's dedication service at the new
athletic field.
Greater Ivy Dedicates
New Athletic Field
By ROBERT KOENIG
The Greater Ivy Community
Citizens Association held dedication
ceremonies for the new athletic fHd
at the Community Center Sunday
afternoon. Morris McGough, ex
ecutive vice president of the WNC
Community Development Associa
tion, was the featured speaker at the
ceremony which attracted more than
100 residents
The new baseball field is the result
of five years work on the. part of
members of tht? Citizens Association
Patty Maynard. president of the
Greater Ivy organization, lead the au
dience in the dedication ceremony
The field was dedicated to "the glory
of God in the growth and development
of the Greater Ivy community, the
moral, spiritual and physical
development of the youth of the
Greater Ivy community, the enjoy
ment of the adults, relatives, friends
and guests, and to the memory of the
forefathers of Greater Ivy
residents"
Bruce Phillips addressed the au
dience, telling them that the project
took some 1,410 hours in volunteer
labor over the Ave year course of the
project. Phillips said the number of
people working on the project were
too numerous to mention by name,
but gave special credit to the work of
Dr. Grover Angel
Among the other voturteers who
worked on tM project were: Troy
Allen, Vono Anglin, Richard Bailey,
Clifford Boone, Kathy Boone, Mack
Boone, Jr., Ted Cutshall, Worley Cut-,
shall and his son, Worley, Jr., Charles
Deaver, Scott Devane, Charles Dug
ger, Steve Edwards, Max Gibbs,
Robert Holt, Chris Maney, Patsy
Maynard, Cheever Metcalf, Fred
Norton, David Phillips, Jack Phillips,
Mildred Phillips, Harry Potter, Jack
Radford, Bryan Ramsey, Jimmie
Ramsey, Tommy Ray, Chris Robin
son,. STeve Thomas, Ambrose
Wilson, Charlie Wilson, ' Wayne
Wilson, Neal Willis and Eugene and
Gerald Young.
Thanks were also extended to Dug
ger Electric and Philco Hardware (or
donating materials and machinery to
the project.
Musical entertainment was provid
ed at the opening of the ceremonies
by the Tun berwolf Band. TTie Greater
Youth Chofr also performed The
dedication ceremony was closed by
the choir and audience joining in a
chorus of 'God Bless America.'
Following the outdoor ceremonies,
refreshments were served in the
Greater Ivy Community Center.
New DWI Law Comes Under Scrutiny
By DONNA ALVARADO
The Newt and Observer
David E. Jones is keeping his
fingers crossed that people haven't
forgotten how tough the state's year
old drunken driving law is.
"The public's not as scared as they
were at this time last year," said
Jones, an analyst for the Governor's
Crime Commission. "People may be
backsliding."
Hie new law, which mandates staf
fer penalties, was greeted with
respect by drivers when it went into
effect Oct. i, 1983. Drunken driving
arrests and deaths from alcohol
related accidents fell dramatically in
the first six months
But since then, arrests and deaths
have been creeping back up month by
month. In August, for the first time
since the law took effect, more people
were arrested for drunken driving
than during the same month of the
previous year.
Other state officials recently
echoed Jones' concern about whether
motorists are losing their fear of the
new law. .
People were afraid to go out
drinking and driving hwne the law
first started, " said Major Bert a
Mercer of the state Highway Patrol
, State officials point U> recent
statistics in raising concern about the
public attitude toward the law. Dur
ing the first six months after the law
took effect. Highway Patrol arrests
for driving while impaired dropped
by 21.8 percent compared with the
same period a year earlier under the
aid law. At the same time, deaths
from alcohol-related accidents drop
ped by 27.7 percent from a year
earlier.
But in the next six months, those
decreases dwindled. Arrests during
the second six months the new law
decreased by only half as much- 11.2
percent- as the first six months com
pared with those a year earlier. Ar
rests increased by 9.4 percent in
August from a year earlier. Hie ar
rest rate declined again in
September, by 14.9 percent.
But by other yardsticks, the new
law still seems to be a success.
Tboee charged with DWI are being
convicted at a higher rate. The con
viction rate was 55.8 percent of tboee
arrested from January to June, 19B
under the old law, and it rose to 89.3
percent from January to June, 19M
For people who regfctered a 0.10 or
Higher blood-alcohol level, the convic
tion rate soared to 94 percent from T)
required, though not in all cases.
By the end ?of August, 19,704 hours
of community 'service had been per
formed in Wake County by DWI of
fenders sentenced under the new law.
Community service is a beneficial
side effect of the new law. A negative
effect, court observers say, has been
the clogging of court calendars Isaac
T. Avery III, an assistant attorney
general who specializes in the DWI
law, says the state's courts are falling
behind in processing DWI cases at the
rate of about 1,200 a month.
"Most of them are backed up,"
Jones said. "The sheer volume has a
lot to di with it initially."
Hie crime commission's six-month
study of the new law showed that it
took nearly twice as long for a court
to handle a guilty plea under the new
law- 7.3 minutes compared with 4.4
minutes under the old law. The new
law's more complicated sentencing
provisions are bound to slow tings
Jones said.
In Wake County, 74.3 percent of the
DWI cases filed between Oct. 1,
and March 31 of this year
pending as of June 1. In 1
County , the rate of cases pt
73 percent
Jones said
to th
and
from ? breath-analysis machine
operator in coart to prove a driver's
intoxication. Several Wake Coaaty
District Court ledges are routinely
allowing defense attorneys to Mock
the we of the affidavit and relator
the machine operator to testify in
stead. Critics say that ate of the af
fidavit, rather thaa testimony from
the operator, denies a defendant the '
right to confront hi* accuser.
(Continued <a Page 12
DWI
Arrests
Increase
According to State Highway Patrol
Commander, Colonel David L. Mat
thews, Troopers made Mil D.W.I.
arrests in August, 31 more thaa hi
August, IMS.