NC * 2875^ ]
jfffy"1? Ha teami rA 1 ' Communities Since 1 90 1
Vol. 87 No. 46
Thursday, November 12, 1987
Ex-Police Chief To Keep Certification
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
The N.C. Department of Justice will not revoke former
Weaverville Police Chief DarreU Rath burn's certifica
tion as a law enforcement officer.
That's the ruling of the department's Criminal Justice
Standard's Division after an investigation into
Rath burn's conviction on three misdemeanor offenses
prior to his employment with the town of Weaverville in
1965.
The standards committee, in a quarterly meeting last
Thursday at Southern Pines, discussed what action to
take in regard to Rath bum's certification, said Scott
Perry, deputy director of the N.C. Criminal Justice Stan
dards Division.
"His case (Rathburn's) was one of the ones considered
by the committee," Perry said Monday. "After consider
ing all the information that had been gathered, they voted
to take no action in terms of anything against his cer
tification."
And that means the committee found no reason to
revoke Rathburn's certification as a law enforcement of
ficer.
"They considered the information that we were aware
of, they had it in front of them and they voted to take no
action," Perry said.
"Basically, they felt he had been truthful in his applica
tion process," he said.
Search For New Chief Continues
Weaverville has been without a
police chief for more than two
months, but Town Manager
Charles Home says the town may
have its new police chief as early
as next week.
Home and a specially assembl
ed panel of law enforcement ex
perts spent Tuesday and Wednes
day interviewing six candidates
for the job.
Those six are all that remain
from a total of 22 applicants seek
ing the badge of Weaverville
police chief.
Assisting Home during the in
terview process were Capt. Mike
Berry, patrol supervisor with the
Asheville Police Department, Bob
Casler with the N.C. Attorney
General's Office and David War
ren, director of criminology at
-Continued on back page
Rath bum, contacted Monday by The News Record,
said that's what he's been saying all along.
"I had been honest about everything," Rathburn said.
"Those problems were domestic-related and they hap
pened before I became a law enforcement officer."
According to Buncombe County District Court records,
Rathburn had been convicted of three misdemeanor
charges between 197B and I960:
? Shooting a German shepherd dog and injuring it
( charged Dec. 13, 1978) . He was found guilty and received
a four-month sentence and was suspended fa- one year.
? Disorderly conduct (charged March 20, 1979). He
pleaded no contest.
? Assault with a deadly weapon (charged April 14,
I960). He was found guilty and received a two- to three
month sentence which was suspended for one year.
Anyone convicted of certain misdemeanors cannot be
certified as a law enforcement officer, Perry said.
-Continued on back page
Schools To Spend
$18,675 To Meet
State Fire Codes
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
It will cost the Madison County
Board of Education $18,675 to bring
six county schools into compliance
with a state fire inspection report. (
The price tag for the repairs is not
as high as it could be, however.
School board members decided last
week against a recommended project
to install new partitions in the voca
tional education department at
Madison High School. That work
could cost up to 1790,000, school of
ficials ?id
The board unanimously agreed at
it! NOV. 2
estimated ll?.?7S
complete the repairs called for in
September by state Are inspectors.
School board members had in Oc
tober instructed the principals of
each school in the county to take
whatever steps possible to correct
potentially hazardous situtations
identified by state fire inspectors.
School officials said they would try
to save money by having as much of
the work as possible done by the
school system's maintenance staff.
Robert L. Edwards, superintendent
of schools, told the board last week
that work crews had completed many
of the needed renovations required by
the fire inspectors, but were unable to
do some of the larger jobs.
The board agreed last week, on a
motion by Jewell Church, to approve
the following repairs:
? $10,425 for the construction of a
maintenance building at Madison
High School to store flammable
materials.
? $1,400 for the construction of a
storage building at Hot Springs
Elementary School.
? $250 for a steel door at Hot Springs
Elementary School.
? $4,000 for the construction of a
hood in the kitchen at Marshall
Elementary School.
? $1,400 for plaster and carpentry
work at Spring Creek Elementary
School.
? $1,000 for electrical and carpentry
work at Walnut Elementary School.
? $300 for running additional elec
trical conduit at Marshall Primary
School.
Fire inspectors had also recom
mended that the school system install
new partitions in the vocational
aduratiiwriml^wi P ?liin
currently in place were installed by
teachers in an attempt to separate
the various vocational departments
from one another.
Those partitions do not meet the
state's fire codes, and must either be
removed or replaced, Edwards said.
School board members said that
the projected high cost of that work
made it impossible to be done at this
time, and agreed to have an architect
study the vocational education
department to determine the best
solution to the problem.
In other action, the school board
agreed that the Madison County
school system should remain a plain
tiff in a class-action lawsuit filed in
Pennsylvania against several
manufacturers of asbestos.
According to a letter from the N.C.
Board of Education, read by county
school board attorney Forrest Ball,
Madison County - along with every
school system in the nation - was
made a plaintiff in the class-action
lawsuit.
-Continaed on back page
BILL STUDENC PHOTO
Steady As She Goes
Workers struggle to bolt a bronze plaque weighing some 200
pounds to a rock monument on the lawn of Madison County
Courthouse. The plaque, marking the route of the Dixie
Highway, was removed during last year's extensive renova
tion project at the courthouse. From left to right are Dave
Gross, Cecil McMahan and David McMahan, all of White
Monument Works in Asheville.
Flat Creek Will Decide Council's Fate
Prom Staff Reports
The Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners told a group of Flat
Creek residents last week to decide
for themselves whether the com
munity should have a planning coun
cil
Some members of the community
had asked the commissioners last
month to abolish the Flat Creek Com
munity Planning Council after
residents overwhelmingly rejected a
proposed land-use ordinance.
Opponents of the ordinance said
that because there would be no zoning
regulations in Flat Creek, thanks to
the Oct. 17 defeat of the proposed or
dinance, there was no longer a need
for the planning council.
But Buncombe County commis
sioners told the group of council op
ponents to meet with members of the
council and discuss their differences.
Several commissioners said the
planning council should not be
abolished because it will address
other future issues which arise in the
Flat Creek community.
Opponents of the council say they
are not particularly pleased with the
commissioners' action - or lack of ac
tion.
"If we want it taken care of, we'll
have to have a township meeting and
vote it out ourselves," said James
Aaglin, chairman of Flat Creek Con
cerned Citizens and Landowners, the
opposition group.
"I dont agree with that. They
(commissioners) are the ones who
put the council in place. They're the
ones who put the first seven members
on the council," Anglin said. "1 feel
it's their place to do away with the
council, not to throw it back in our
lap."
-Coniiaued on back page
Sheriff, County To Discuss Jail Funding Dilemma
H.
p? wpwitim 'iitu jl ''ib
Dedrick Brown has backed
off M'inewhat on his threat to mm the
County Board of Coram*
shmen if he doesn't get
funding to operate the county Jail.
Brown said he wants to sit dowa one
me wi the conuniaskmert to
? . ' ' ? , . ? ??> u :&;?> ?
"We are definitely going to file a
"n<B
No <
But Brown is now saying he wouM
like to meet one more time with coin
to try to Iran out their dif
to have
up with,"
Tve not talked
lately I'm
mr wtm I
| ? V
? with the
to tfea
Winter Weather
Makes An Early
Return To WNC
From Staff Reports
Old Man Winter paid a surprise
visit to Western North Carolina
Tuesday night, dusting the region
with snow and sleet - and creating
hazardous driving conditions for
Wednesday morning motorists.
The N.C. Highway Patrol
reported numerous traffic ac
cidents Wednesday morning
because of treacherous road con
ditions.
Bridges and overpasses were
particularly slick Wednesday
morning, the patrol reported.
U.S. 19-23 between Mars Hill and
Asheville was a veritable obstacle
course, with vehicles sliding all
over ice-covered bridges. Morning
rush hour traffic was at a crawl as
vehicles slowed to pass over the
icy patches.
Schools were closed Wednesday
- but because of Veteran's Day,
and not the surprise dusting of
snow and ice.
The unexpected snow resulted
from a cold front that moved into
WNC Tuesday night - a day
earlier than predicted. The cold
temperatures came on the heels of
much needed rainfall, and turned
the rain into snow and sleet
Monday's rain did ease the
threat of forest fires across WNC,
whictiUBdtaRMne a ttnderbox due
to several months without signifi
cant rainfall.
Weaverville Fires
Destroy Mobile Home,
Construction Co.
Prom Staff Report*
The Weaverville Fire Department
has been kept lusy during the past
week, as one fire left an elderly
Weaverville couple homeless while
another blaze caused some $30,000 in
damage to a construction company.
A Tuesday morning fire at Ponder
and Associates Construction Co. on
Monticello Road is still under in
vestigation, said Weaverville Fire
Chief John Penley.
Firefighters got the call at 8:04
a.m. Tuesday, and had the blaze
under control within 20 minutes,
Penley said.
"There was heavy fire damage to
the basement of the building and to
one office upstairs," he said. "There
was also heavy heat and smoke
damage through the rest of the
building."
Penley estimated the damage to
the building, owned by Leonard
Ponder of Marshall, at 120,000
The cause of the fire is unknown
and is under investigation by the Bun
combe County Sheriff's Department
and the Buncombe County Fire In
vestigation Support Team.
Penley said he could not comment
on whether arson is suspected in the
blase.
No one was in the building at the
time of the fire, and no injuries were
reported.
Five engines and 19 firefighters
responded to the call. The Barnard
sville Fire Department provided
assistance, Penley said.
Tuesday's fire came after a Friday
afternoon blaze destroyed a mobile
home, a house and a woodshed owned
by Mr. and Mrs. Fondly Jones of
Green Ridge Road, Weaverville.
The couple escaped unharmed, said
Penley.
"They were living in the mobile
home and using the house for storage,
plus a wood shed," Penley said. "All
three structures are considered a
total toss."
The fire began at about 3:15 p.m.
Friday in the mobile home and
spread to the house and shed, to said.
"We're not sure how it started,"
Penley said. "We think it started
from a woods to v* in the mobile
The fire spread quickly to the
houre, shed and two acres of nearby
igh winds caused it to get
into the Imnm," Penley said.
-Cwitintied ea back page