Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Aug. 18, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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Residents Organize For School Spring Creek To Be Closed By H.D. KOONTZ III The New* Record Editor Some Sprint Creek residents would tike to operate their own school, A group'of parents has organized the Spring Creek Community School, Inc., to help develop education, day care and adult activities in the area where the elementary school is threatened with extinction at the end of this school year. About 20 persons attended the first meeting Monday night and elected six corporation officers: John Kirkpatrick, president; Brenda Kirkpa trick, secretary ; Randy Price, treasuer; amd Rick Price, Kenneth Hunter and Rita IPhillips, vice presidents. Brenda Kirkpatrick said the pur pose of the group is to provide for the general educational needs for the Spring Creek Community, including the development of a elementary school, day care facilities, adult ac tivities and vocational education. Bylaws approved Monday night state, "If the educational needds of the community are not met by the public school system, the group shall establish and e development of a elementary school, day care faculties, adult activities and voca tional education. Bylaws approved Monday night state, "If the educational needds of the community are not met by the public school system, the group shall establish and ary, a move some parents say will increase bus riding time for the children to an hour or Kirkpatrick said the community wants to save its school. A hearing on , About M&iklreft now attend Spr ing Creek. Parents have petitioned the board of education and offered to help pay for repairs to the old school building. Earlier this month the board turned the offer down. BUI BaruUo, spokesman for a por tion of the community that wants to keep the school open, said he had almost 95,000 in pledges to repair the building. The Spring Creek dosing is part of the Madison County Board of Educa tion's countywide consolidation plan. Mayor Says No $$ Can Hush Him Mara Hill Mayor Joseph Godwin reports he has been catching heck from some town residents Last week's edition o f The News Record carried a photograph of the mayor accepting a 9S bill hrom Plann ing Board Member Dr. Larry FVoct in return (Or Godwin's pledge to remain silent during the Joint aldermen planners meeting Tuesday. Godwin remained silent for M minutes while the aldermen and plan ners dlscuosed several zoning and related issue* "I've been getting a good bit of backfire for that five dollars," the mayor said this weak. Per the record, Godwin returned the money to Dr. Proet following the meeting, adding: "If I had something to say, a million dollar* wouldn't keep me silent." The tribe of Jacob Weaver once again reunites RANDY COX PHOTO Reunion Tribe Of Jacob Weaver Gathers By H.D. KOONTZ III The New* Record Editor Weavers of all ages gathered Satur day under the shade of gently sway ing oak trees, but none of them made any cloth. These Weavers, about 150 strong, had come from as far away as California this year for the 129th reu nion of the Tribe of Jacob Weaver, one of the sons of Weaverville's founder, John Weaver. Prior to a picnic lunch on the front lawn of Carl and Wanda Teague's home Just outside the town limits, the clan held a business meeting in which births and deaths were recorded, memorials read and committees named for the upkeep of the family cemetery. Alao, this year the clan agreed to study the possibility of establishing a special family memorial - a plaque placed on a large rock on the town's Main ?J,rffet tfiangle - com memorating the founding of the town ta!W7. SI*., The descendants of Jacob Weaver, who settled in the^Reems Creek Valley in 1783, have met now for 129 times, missing only those years dur ing wars and 1948, the "polio year,'* according to Josephine Osborne. Teague, who along with the Peeke family, acted as co-hosts, a Job he has glady taken on "about four or five times. "One year I went into the house, thinking the business session of the reunion was over," Teague recalled with a smile "When I came out I found out they had selected me as host for the next year too." Osborne reported on the Dry Ridge Museum at Weaverville, which now has Just 80 copies of the town history book on hand, and showed the crowd the broad axe and foot edge used more than a century ago by town founder John Weaver. One of the highlights of this year's event was the reading of a letter from President Reagan and his wife, Nan cy, to the members of the clan. "As you relive the past experiences and give thanks for the bonds of love and kinship that unite your family," the president wrote, "you can look to the future with the jqpecial strength that comes from knowing you will always have each other. "Family life is both an expression of and a guarantor of the freedoms we cherish in America," the president's letter read, "and your reunion is therefore a tribute to all that is best in our national character and traditions." The youngest Weaver at this year's gathering was Brandon Lee Rayfield, the 3-and-a-half month old son of ThSmas Lee and Joan Weaver Rayfield of Weaverville. The oldest of the clan attending was 97-year-old Ernest Weaver, looking elegant with a bright red rose and a intricately carved walking stick. The first reunion of. the tribe-waft-, held in 1859 when Jacob Weaver caU~ ?? ed all his children and grandchildren home to.spend some time together The clan met for three years at -Continued on Page 11 V The tldeit Weaver ?m4 the youngest. Shady Lawn fills with family. Case Hinges On Traces Of 3 Cases By H.D. KOONTZ III The News Record Editor Whether the jury accepts the premise presented in a State Bureau of Investigation agent's testimony Tuesday is the key to the prosecution's case against Jon C. Thorsen, accused of shooting his wife to death more than a year ago in their South Bear Creek trailer. Agent M.L. Creasey, who testified Tuesday afternoon before the Jury of nine men and three women, identified the .32 caliber handgun found at the feet of Claudia Thorsen March 15, 1987, as the weapon that killed her and said the weapon was the type which leaves a residue on the hands of the person who fired it. Creasey testified the weapon, when fired, blows back gases containing the elements barium, lead and an timony. Traces of those elements were found on the accused man's hand, he said. Creasey testified hand wipings were taken with cotton swabs from the Jon Thorsen's and Claudia Thorsen's hands following the inci dent. The agent said no traces of the elements were found on the victim's hands. The defense contends Mrs. Thorsen, a waitress at Mary's Restaurant in Marshall, shot herself. Creasey testified he could not say the evidence "conclusively" proved the accused fired the gun. He said the traces of the gases on the accused hand were "random" and showed "no specific pattern." But Assistant District Attorney James L. Baker said the key to the prosecution's case rests on its ability to convince the jury the evidence is indeed conclusive. Testimony during the trial lasted all day Tuesday, and Superior Court Judge Robert W. Kirby recessed court shortly before 5 p.m. Monday was spent selecting the jury. Tuesday's testimony also included remarks from former N.C. Highway Patrolman R.L. Terry, the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene the night of the shooting. Terry testified he found Thorsen in side the trailer "quite upaet" and "with an odor of alcohol about him." Madison County EMS technicians had already arrived at the scene. Terry testified the accused mumbl ed "why did she do it?" at one point and then asked, "Do you have a war rant? Then get the hell out of here." Thorsen, dressed in an open-collar white pinstriped shirt, dark trousers and boots, was stoic throughout the day's testimony. Occasionally, Thorsen would lean over to answer his lawyer's ques tions. -Continued en Page II Jury Indicts Marshall Man A Madison County grand jury Mon day indicted a Marshal] man on a charge of murder in connection with the the death of the man's in an auto crash last summer. Richard Kingston's wife, Diana Kingston, died more than one year ago from what was believed to be in juries she received in a car crash off Roberts Hill Road. Richard Kingston allegedly was thriving at the time the car plunged 42 feet off the road and landed on its top oa U.S. 35-70. The accident occurred around 8:90 a.m. July 10, 1987. Kingston was released in lieu of 910,000 bond. Police reports last year stated Mrs. Kingston, a Marshall real estate agent, was a passenger in the 197V Chevrolet allegedly driven by her husband. Sheriff Dedrick Brown reported that Kingston was taken to Memorial Mission Hospital at Asheville for treatment. Richard Kingston did not appear to be seriously injured, police said at the time. He had Jumped from their car )vtp read. \ mk WNC Legislators Proud Of 'Pork Barrel' Funds ? HH1b> HJ>. KOONTZ III The news Record Editor Western North Carolina's legislators caught some flak for voting in favor of what some critics called "pork barrel'' projects in their home districts, but there were no apolgies from the delegation at a it meeting Monday, of dollars worth of pro funds Were approv last session of the legislature for the western part of the state, including money to begin con struction of a $1.2 milhon satellite campus <tf Asheville- Buncombe >in Madison ( for that plaining," the Speaker said. Ramsey appeared with state Sens Robert S. Swain and Dennis J. Win ner and state Reps. Marie W. Coiton. NarveJ Jim Crawford Jr., Gordon Greenwood and Martin L. Nesbitt Jr. at the appreciation breakfast "The question is: Arc you going to keep them and get them re-elected?" Ramsey said of the delegation "If you want to thank them prop* ly, do it on the flrat Tuesday in November." ? aid tar the itation issues em* i called "pork barrel" funding for WNC agencies. Nesbitt said "...everthing west of Morganton is referred to as pork bar rel, Including our technical school." Nesbitt said the WNC delegation is not ashamed of getting funding for their home districts "In fact, we bragged about ttam," he said. OiL* ? _ "You can bet we'll hold the line," Nesbitt said. "When it cone* to the election, come of you will have to ? stand and tell them what it to. We an b
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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