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2012*
2nd Class Postage Paid At
Tryon, North Carolina, 28782
Established January 31, 1928
THE WORLD’S SMALLEST DAILY NEWSPAPER
Founded Jan. 31,1928 by Seth M. Vining
(Consolidated with the Polk County News 1955)
Jeffrey A. Byrd. Editor and Publisher
The Bulletin is published
Daily except Sat. and Sun.
106 N. Trade St., P. 0. Box 790
Tryon, N. C. 28782
The Tryon Daily Bulletin
(USPS 643-360) *
Phone 859-9151
Printed In the THERMAL BELT of Western North Carolina
24 Pages Today
Vol. 64 - No.10
The weather Monday: high
57, low 39, hum. 62 percent.
Ilie Polk County Planning
Commission meets tomorrow
night al the courthouse at 7:30
p.m.
The Tryon Hounds will hold a
Hunter Pace event Sunday, Feb.
17 at 10 a.m. at the Iron Bridge
Hunt meet site.
Because there will be no mail
Monday, Feb. 18, there will be
no Tryon Daily Bulletin and the
newspaper office will be closed.
The Hendersonville Times-
News reported Tuesday that
Mother Earth News may be
dying. News American Maga
zine Co., the magazine's owner,
suspended publication and the
majority of its staff has been let
go-
But the magazine started by
14 former Mother Earth News
staffers, BackHome is going
strong. Begun in August, 1990
with $2,800 seed capital, the
magazine is now on newsstands
nationwide, including one at
Ilie Tryon Daily Bulletin.
The 14 were let go when
News American moved
Mother's offices to New York
last March.
Allan Pruette of Century 21
(Continued On Back Page)
TRYON, N. C. 28782
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13,1991
20? Per Copy
911 Service
Cutover Delayed
The new Emergency-911
telephone dialing service for
Polk County will not be ready
by Feb. 14.
Polk County Manager John
Lewis said Monday that the
"punch list" of technical items
given to the county by its con
sultant is still not completed.
"There are still some things
that need to be out of the way as
far as the equipment and what
it's doing," he said.
Lewis said all the county's
roads names may not be com
pletely settled upon before 911
service begins, but that should
not be the cause of further
delays.
The Tryon Town Council on
Monday night approved "in
concept" an agreement with the
county for the handling of 911
information and 911 calls.
The county's 911 computer
contains confidential informa
tion about county residents,
some with unlisted telephone
numbers, and the town must
agree to maintain that confi
dentiality.
The town and county also
have to agree on a standard
operating procedure for hand
ling 911 calls from Tryon police
and fire service districts that
come in to the county dispatch
ers. These calls will immedi
ately be switched over to the
911 computer in the Tryon dis
patcher's office.
Budget Receives
'Yellow Light'
Tryon has received a letter of
concern from the N.C. Local
Government Commission
regarding the shrinking size of
its fund balance, town commis
sioners were told Monday night.
"As of June 30, 1990, the
amount of fund balance avail
able for appropriation in the
General Fund was 26.31 percent
of total expenditures in this
fund," wrote Lee Carter, direc
tor of the fiscal management
section.
"While this percentage
appears to be adequate to sup
port current operations, your
government could experience
cash flow problems if unantici
pated expenditures arise of if a
significant reduction in the tax
base occurs."
Carter pointed out that Tryon
had a fund balance of 56.45
percent in 1988, and 56.06 per
cent in 1989. He said compara
bly sized municipalities average
fund balance is 66.11 percent.
"Your government should
analyze its financial position
and determine if future budget
ordinances should provide for
additional fund balance
amounts," Carter wrote.
"We need to look toward
reversing this trend," Town
Manager Matthew Dolge told
the council. "This (letter) is not
a red light, but it is a strong
yellow light."
Dolge said the reduction in
the fund balance came from a
year of unusual deficit spend-
(Continued On Back Page)
Balkam Reopens
Admissions Issue
Polk County Board of Educa
tion newcomer Dr. Geoffrey E.
Balkam re-opened discussion
of Polk County Schools'
10-month-old admission pol
icy for out-of-state students.
At the School Board meeting
Monday night, Balkam said his
concerns focus on the budget
and the faculty load.
Superintendent Dr. James
Causby told Balkam that to lose
the 52 to 53 South Carolina
students now spread over
grades K-12 at Tryon Elemen
tary and Tryon High Schools
would relate to a loss of over
$200,000 in state funds that
would have to be made up with
local funds.
Nonetheless, Balkam said that
he did not feel the policy was
"fair."
"What about ethically? I think
the board made the decision not
based on a county-wide basis,"
Balkam charged.
Saluda School Board repre
sentative Wayne Bradley
explained that the board spent
almost a year developing the
policy and seeking public opin
ion.
"We did that before. Why
didn't you come give your
opinion then?" Bradley asked.
"Times change," Balkam said.
"I appreciate your time, but this
needs review and I don't think
$900 is too much to ask (for
out-of-state tuition).
"I hope we're not making
(Continued On Back Page)