Newspapers / The Transylvania Times (Brevard, … / Dec. 2, 1974, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
—TRANSYLVANIA Land of Waterfalls, Sommer Camps, Verdant Forests, Brevard College, Brevard Music Center. THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES A State And National Prize- Winning Home Town Newspaper —TRANSYLVANIA Has Industry, Education, Tourism, Unsurpassed Recreation, Excellent Shops And Stores, And 20,000 Of The Finest People In The World. Vol. 87 — No. 51 SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BREVARD, N. C. ZIP CODE WM BREVARD. N. C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1874 15c COPY PUBLISHED SEMI-WEEKLY 12 PAGES TODAY Court House across Brevard’s square shows dimly through heavy and swirling snowfall. Community Awards Lunch Dec. 7 Several hundred rural and civic leaders from 18 Western North Carolina counties are expected to be present on Saturday (Dec. 7) for the annual community awards luncheon of the WNC Development Association at the Asheville Civic Center. This will be the 25th annual meeting of the nationally recognized area development program. The event, starting at 12 noon, will honor the com munity clubs judged to have made outstanding progress in the 1974 WNC Community Development Program. The annual improvement contest is sponsored by the 18 county development association jointly with the N. C. Agricultural Extension Service, along with other agencies. Recognition awards, totaling $20,000 this year, have been provided by county, and area business Arms and organizations. Featured speaker at the luncheon will be J. Phil Campbell, U. S. Under Secretary of Agriculture. He will be introduced by James A. Graham, N. C. Com missioner of Agriculture. George H. V. Cecil, president of the Biltmore Company and a founder and former president of the WNC Development Association will preside at the meeting. Past presidents of the organization during its 25 year history will be given special recognition. Oaths Given To Elected 3__ . Transylvania County’s Recently-elected officials took their oaths of office from judge Robert T. Gash in Superior Court at Brevard on jdonday morning. Elected officials formally Entering office were Cleric of Court Marian H. McMahon, Sheriff Milford Hubbard, School Board Members Jerry Cabe and Eugene Morris, and Soil Conservation Com Itaitteemen Willis Brittain, 'Randal Lyday, and Jones Chief Deputy Charles • R, etit also took the oath during ie special session of court, as id Assistant Clerk of Court arolyn McCall, and Deputy Connestee Lot Owners: Want $3.9 Million Loan? The Land-Of-Sky Regional Council, Region B, at the request of Transylvania Commission Chairman Bill Ives on Friday approved a review of a $3.9 million federal loan to Connestee property owners for the purchase of their utilities from the Con nestee Development Corp. Conriestee Development Corp. has asked for the loan for its property owners from the Farmers Home Ad ministration, an agency empowered by law to lend money for sewage and water lines to citizens of any area who band themselves together and form a corporation. Last Rites Tuesday For Paul Smathers Paul Pickens iSmathers, 81, of 66 Franklin St., a poineer in the automobile industry in Western North Carolina, died Saturday in a Brevard hospital after a brief illness. Mr. Smathers attended Buncombe County schools and the Asheville School for Boys. He was a Southern representative for ACME Manufacturing Co. of Cadillac, Mich., and co founder of Whitmire Smathers Motor Co. of Asheville. Mr. Smathers was founder and operator of Smathers Manufacturing Co. in Brevard, who designed and produced one of the first small utility tractors. He was a charter member of the Brevard Kiwanis Club and Brevard Chamber of Com merce. He was a native of Hen derson County and son of the late Dr. Wexler and Mrs. Maggie Rickman Smathers. He and Mrs. Smathers celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary this year. Surviving are the widow, Mrs. Grace Whitmire Sam thers; a daughter, Mrs. Paula La Chance of Chula Vista, Calif; a sister, Mrs. John Edwards of Asheville; three grandchildren and a great grandchild. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Brevard First United Methodist Church of which he was a member. Dr. R. G. Tuttle and the Rev. Edward Roy will officiate. Burial will be in Gillespie - Evergreen Cemetery. The family will be at the residence. Moore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. The persons who have bought Connestee lots were not consulted ahead of time, but will be contacted now, Mr. Ives said. Mr. Ives said the situation “is simply this. The developers want to unload the utilities on the property owners. They are afraid they cannot operate them profitably.” If granted the loan would immediately increase the indebtedness of the 3,000 property owners on the Connestee tracts by more than $1,000 each. But the loan would be given at a reasonable five per cent interest rate, Mr. Ives said. Mr. Ives, saying that he knew he would come in for some criticism for suggesting the approval of the review, said he wanted regional ap proval only so that the property owners themselves could have an opportunity to be heard on whether they want to buy the utilities or not. “If Region B had flatly rejected the review of the loan it would have been denied. And then if the residents later had to buy the utilities, they’d have to pay no less than eight per cent interest.” Mr. Ives told the Council... “I have been a severe critic of this Connestee development. — See $3.9 Million, Page 2 Duke Power Company Asks New Rate Hike Duke Power Company on Friday filed a revised rate increase request which would raise its retail electric revenues in North Carolina by 23.6 per cent. The new rates would be applied across the board and would produce additional revenues of $131 million an nually. As part of the revised ap plication, Duke is asking the North Carolina Utilites Commission (NCUC) for permission to place 19.7 per at of the increase into effect 31, MW. This .crease would to refund and would in additional adjustment clause will not be affected by the new ap plication. Under the proposed rate schedule and based on projected fuel clause charges in 1975, a residential customer paying $27.57 for 1000 kilowatt hours of electicity would pay $34.49, an increase of $6.92. Carl Horn, Jr., Duke president, said the new rate request is a replacement for the case dismissed by the commission in October. “This application covers the actual cost of service in 1974 and projected cost of service in 1975,” he said. Horn recalled that last May his company asked for a 16.6 per cent increase even before hearings were held on a similar request that had been pending for several months. “We said then that another increase was necessary regardless of the outcome of the first request,” he said. In October, the commission dismissed the 16.6 per cent request, stating that it was inconsistent with the changes in the pattern of rates set by the commission. Since the 16.6 per cent request was submitted, Horn explained inflation has jacked up costs to an extreme degree. He said, “Despite the efficiency of our operations which ranks among the best in the nation, and despite our efforts to cut expenses, we still find increases in costs out stripping increases in — See Duke, Page 2 Storm Covers County With Sleet And Snow Schools Closed Monday December roared into Transylvania County on the back of an icy storm which dumped one inch of sleet on Brevard and Rosman and then covered it with an inch of snow, closing schools Monday. Snow at the higher elevations in the mountain s of Transylvania was reported in depths of up to 12 inches. Children were joyous at the turn of events. Snow men were scattered all over the county, snowball battles were numerous, and the youngsters had out their sleds for the first run of the winter. There were no serious ac cidents reported by either the city or county police officers, although wreckers were kept fairly busy on Sunday pulling out cars which had skidded off the road. Also crime was at a minimum over the weekend. — See Storm, Page 4 New Highway Patrolman In County Trooper Earl D. Marmie ol the N. C. Highway Patrol has been assigned to Brevard, according to Captain E. D Young, commander of Troop G. Trooper Marmie reported for duty Monday, Dec. 2. A graduate of Forsyth Technical Institute, he lived in West Jefferson. He has completed the 15-week basic highway patrol school at the Institute of Government in Chapel Hill. He was one of the 35 young men who completed the course, which covered 96 subjects and involved 696 instructional hours. Trooper Marmie, age 27, is married to the former Mary Reed. Woman Shot To Death In County A 21-year-old woman from Haywood County was found shot to death in a home in the Silversteen Community of Transylvania County Thur sday night, Sheriff’s In vestigator Hubert Brown reported. The officer called tne aeatn of Judith Ann Wright of Balsam suicide. Mr. Brown said he received a call to a home rented by James F. Lipe III in Silver steen at 7:58 p.m., and found the woman dead when he arrived. Her father, Thad Wright of Wavnesville, had found the body a few minutes earlier. Investigator Brown said. The officer said she had shot herself in the head with a shotgun. “We completed our in vestigation about 2 a.m. and we are convinced that it was suicide,” Mr. Brown said. Mrs. Wright was a native of Jamestown, N.Y., and a resident of Haywood County for three years. She was a graduate of Sylva-Webster High School, Sylva, and at tended Western Carolina University. Funeral servies were held Sunday at Clyde. Some of confiscated material in mayor’s office. Out-Of-County ABC Men Raid 3 Clubs Officers of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control agency and local police Wednesday mght raided three Transylvania clubs, con fiscating 10 slot machines, a large amount of liquor and beer, and some tipboards. The simultaneous raids on the Elks Club, American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, followed weeks of undercover investigation, according to District ABC W. N. L. Development Wins Top U.S. Prize The Western North Carolina Development Association will receive the top national award in beautification for regional (multi-county) organizations from Keep America Beautiful at a special luncheon in the Grand Ballroom of the Bilt more Hotel in New York City on Thursday, December 5. The award is being presented in recognition of outstanding effort in beautification and en vironmental improvement projects. It will be accepted by Morris L. McGough, executive vice president of the WNCDA, from KAB Board Chairman, James C. Bowling who is Vice President and Assistant to the Chairman of Philip Morris Incorporated. The WNC Development Association, an 18-county development and rural im provement group, received a second place “special merit” award in the national com petition last year. The association sponsors the Western North Carolina Community Development Program along with the N. C. Agricultural Extension Service and agencies and local sponsors in the western counties. It was primarily on the activities and ac complishments of the many organized areas in the com munity development program that the entry of the development association was based. According to the an nouncement by KAB, the “WNC Development Association was cited by the judges for its extensive program which involves all segments of society in the area. The N. C. Agricultural Extension Service provides — See WNC. Page 2 Tax Problems Worry County Commissioners County Commission Chairman Bill Ives will be going to Raleigh Tuesday for the pre-legislative session of the North Carolina Association of County Com missioners. He will again be Chairman of the Committee on Taxation and Finance. This is one of the association’s most important committees as it will suggest ways for the General Assembly to aid the financial plight of the counties. Mr. Ives expained that North Carolina counties have one of the most inflexible tax structures to support local government. Federal and State taxes are automatically tied in to inflation as many of their taxes are based on the current price or income. The basic tax of the county is on property and under current law, the value of land and buildings remains the same for an eight year period. Cars, business equipment, and inventories fluctuate but not dramatically. The small taxes on licenses are set by the State and bring in an insignificant amount of money, Mr. Ives said. In Transylvania County this tax will produce less than $2,000. The only flexible tax a county may levy is on pets. The present tax of $3 per dog in this county produces a little over half of the expense of operating the animal shelter. The last source of general revenue to the county is the one cent sales tax imposed by all but two counties. This tax is flexible and grows with inflation. It will produce slightly over $300,000 this year. If the Legislature were to remove the tax on food it would reduce the county's revenue by about $100,000. Revenue sharing the past three years has been a great held to local governments, he saidl The complicated for mula brings Transylvania County around $300,000. Up to the present, these funds have been used for capital outlay projects either directly or indirectly by allowing other — See Tax. Page 2 Agent J. B. Simmons of Asheville who led the raid on the Elks Club on Park Ave. Bill D. Ingram of Asheville,district ABC en forcement supervisor, was in charge of the Transylvania operation. Officer Simmons said the investigation of the clubs was instigated because of com plaints the ABC officers had received from persons residing in Transylvania. Five slot machines were confiscated from the Elks Club, and a total of five from the veterans’ organizations— three from the American Legion, and two from the VFW. Linton “Red” Lanning, 55, is manager of the VFW Club; Buddy Hutchins, 31, of the American Legion; and Max McCracken, 45, was on duty at the Elks Club. The slot machines were loaded into a truck and hauled to Asheville for safekeeping. Brevard Attorney Jack Potts, who represents the three clubs protested the removal of the evidence from the county. None of the clubs had state “brown-bagging” permits. A member reported that it was family night at the Elks Club, and that families and children were in the first floor dining room when the second floor raid took place. The district state agents were assisted by the coun ty ABC agents from Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba Counties. supervisor ingrain saiu uc asked for assistance from the Brevard Police Dept., and got it immediately, but said the request to the sheriff’s department brought help only after a delay. It was reported that a spokesman for Sheriff Milford Hubbard said the county of ficers were unhappy because the ABC agents had not coordinated the raids with them from the beginning. And Ingram told the spokesman that he offered his services to the sheriff six weeks ago. Sheriff Hubbard told The Times that Mr. Ingram “being new in this area, paid me a courtesy call some weeks ago and told me that he’d be gald to help me in any way he possibly could at any time I — See ABC, Page S
The Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 2, 1974, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75