A Vote For Fisher Road
V
The State has agreed to install
a red light and a turn lane to
ease the traffic situation at the
Brevard Middle School.
And there are two possible
sites for the light—one at Fisher
Road and N. Broad.
The other is at N. Broad and
McLean, with the idea being
that school traffic could enter on
'■ Fisher Rd., discharge their
:: loads of pupils at the school,
then circle on around on Fisher
to its intersection with McLean,
:■ then take McLean back into N.
Broad at the light.
The city and county in
f cooperation want to build a
\ sidewalk from N. Broad to the
f school, and the School Board
| argues logically, we
% think, that the Fisher Rd. route
| is best for the sidewalk. The
> distance up McLean Rd., then on
% Fisher to the schoo would be
S four times as long. Construction
costs for the sidewalk and
walking distance involved make
it unattractive.
The Fisher Ed. sidewalk route
is far more desirable. But the
board argues, if a sidewalk
comes to the four-lane highway,
it should have the protection of a
red light. Otherwise the danger
to children would be great.
A big “if” in the talks is the
location of an entrance-exit for a
shopping center being built
across the road. Should it come
out opposite Fisher Rd. it would
need a right of way over
property owned by Brevard
College. Otherwise the entrance
would be opposite McLean Rd.
It is our hope that the college
would agree to a right of way out
of the shopping center so that
the red light can be placed at
Fisher Rd. It will provide safety
for the children, and also greatly
hasten the ending of the traffic
mess which now harrasses
children, parents, and teachers
at the school twice each day.
A Yawning Chasm
Work on the sidewalk ex
- tension for 150 yards or so down
y Greenville Highway to the new
Brevard Elementary School
I should begin now, says County
■: Commission Chairman Bill Ives.
The work should begin after
the highway broadening
j; program at the site has been
:> completed, says Mayor Charles
J: Campbell.
*: The county and the city
!• agreed three weeks ago to
£ cooperate in the sidewalk
£ construction, with the city
£ providing forms in which to pour
| county-supplied cement, and the
•: supervision for the project.
Labor will be provided by the
5* Emergency Service personnel
•. paid for by Federal money.
c
Mr. Ives says the safety of the
school children requires the
: sidewalk immediately. Mr.
Campbell says it would be
foolhardy to undertake building
the sidewalk until the highway
earth-moving and other work is
complete. Workers would be in
the way of the highway crews,
and much of the sidewalk might
well have to be reworked, he
says. Haste could make waste,
so to speak.
We have no plans to get em
broiled in this argument. We
mentioned this discussion only
to illustrate how very far apart
the two governmental leaders
are in their views.
Mr. Campbell’s views in the
city-county relationships are
generally embraced by the city
aldermen. Mr. Ives says that he
has approached each of the
aldermen by letter or per
sonally in an effort to bury the
hatchet, and that only one of the
city board, Cornelius Hunt,
expressed a willingness to talk
to him.
It makes us wonder if any
meeting of minds is possible
between the two governments.
Like: could work on the
sidewalk start when the road
work is one half complete?
Insomnia Lure
There is no cure for (yawn)
insomnia, like facing a day’s
work, we’ve decided.
Many a night, (Yawn) we’ve
desperately tried to at least get
a little nap before the next day.
Warm baths and warm milk,
nationally advertised sleeping
pills, the lull of sea surf by
recording, vibrating beds, and
the like might work for some
mmmm
folks, but not for us.
We drag it out of bed, brush
the teeth, shave, and grab a bite
of breakfast, and dash to the
office still wide awake.
Then, (yawn), all of a sudden,
we’re sleepy, sleepy, sleepy.
Someday, we’re going to take
our work home with us for the
night. That’ll get the job done,
(yawn), we hope.
The Transylvania Times
100 Broad Street Brevard, N. C. 28712
The Transylvania Pioneer, established 1867; The French Broad Voice, established
1888; The Brevard Hustler, established 1891; The Sylvan Valley News (later
Brevard News), established 1896; The Times, established 1931; Consolidated 1932.
A STATE AND NATIONAL PRIZE-WINNING NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHED MONDAY, THURSDAY
I ED M. ANDERSON—Publisher—1941-1958
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DOROTHY W. OSBORNE, Women’s Ed.
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Qld. 'Transylvania."Times
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Report To Hill Country I
BY
CECIL HILL
State Senator
The Big News in the
Legislature this week was the
presentation of the budget by
Governor Holshouser.
On Monday night the Senate
convened in its Chamber at
7:00 p.m. and received a
message shortly thereafter
that the House was ready to
receive us in joint session.
The great doors of each
Chamber facing each other
were opened and the senators
marched two by two into the
Hall of the House.
Shortly thereafter the
Sergeant at Arms of the House
! announced the arrival of the
|i Governor. He was escorted to
| the Well of the House by a joint
I committee from the House
and the Senate.
Lt. Governor Hunt called
the joint session to order.
Governor Holshouser urged
repeal of the 3 per cent sales
tax on food — effective July 1,
1976 — just before the next
general election in North
Carolina.
He stated that the tax cut
could be effected without new
taxes.
“There will be about
$81,000,000 left unspent in the
state treasury at the end of the
1975-76 fiscal year,” he stated.
As I see it, the people need it
now, if they need it at all — not
18 months away.
Furthermore, in the face of
a declining economy, it ap
pears that it would be ex
freeze among state em
ployees.
I disagree on this point. To
provide a job simply for a
job’s sake by government does
not conform to my philosophy
that government hat
responsibility only when
private industry fails. Oui
responsibility first is to gel
private industry going again.
EDITORIAL PAGE
(Editor’s Note: Letters must be brief, signed typed or written
legibly on one side of paper. We reserve the right to reject, gfit,
or condense. Letters should be received by The Times by
Monday mornings.)
Mr. C. K. Osborne
Transylvania Times
Brevard, North Carolina 28712
Dear Mr. Osborne:
This is an open letter to
Mayor Campbell and the
Board of Aldermen. I hope you
v'ill print it and perhaps we
citizens of Brevard will have
some questions answered that
everyone seems to be asking.
An open letter to:
Mayor Charles Campbell
The Board of Aldermen
Dear Sirs:
I am a tax paying, voting,
concerned citizen of Brevard,
who would like a satisfactory
explanation for the ter
mination of the employment of
Jimmy Rowe as Police Chief.
So far, the extent of ex
planation to the citizens has
been: Mayor Campbell
quoted, “I have tried for
months to settle this thing
down but finally it built into a
mountain and the public
became involved.” Another
explanation was “Dissention
on the force and the men said
it had to be Chief Rowe or
them.” My questions are:
What has Mayor CaiApbell
tried to settle down for
months? What kind of
mountain built? In what way
did the public become in
volved? Why was there
dissention on the force? Did
the men have a legitimate
complaint or was it a case of
“boss making the men do an
efficient job”? Did the entire
force have complaints about
Chief Rowe or was it seven out
of seventeen on the force as
the paper quoted? Did the men
have to back up their com
plaints with facts or was it
their word against Chief
Rowe’s, indeed, did Chief
Rowe have a word at all? Was
Chief Rowe given “his day in
court”, was he asked to deny,
explain or defend the com
plaints? Was this a “hatchet
job" on Chief Rowe for
ulterior motives or was this
man derelict in his duty?
I am neither defending nor
accusing anyone. To date the
public has not been given
enough information to form an
honest opinion.
I can only speak of what I
have seen and heard for the
last four years, since retur
ning to my hometown after
being away for 16 years. I was
surprised and pleased, to say
the least, to find such an ef
ficient and professional police
force in my small hometown. I
have never heard a bad word
said about Chief Rowe,
as police chief, nor about his
men, as police officers. The
only complaints I have ever
heard have been from people
who have been arrested or
cited and I took that as a
biased opinion. So where does
the credit lie for the top-notch
police force that Brevard has?
It must go where it belongs, to
the Chief and also to the men.
An organization is just as good
as the man who runs it. So it
goes without saying that Chief
Rowe is one of the finest police
chiefs in the country and
knows his job. On the other
hand, he cannot make expert
officers out of men unless they
first have the qualities within
them. With this kind of quality
police chief and force, when,
and where did “things go
sour”? Or did they?
As elected officials, Mr.
Mayor and Board of Aider
men, to act in the best interest
of the taxpaying, voting
citizens, tell us why firing
Jimmy Rowe as Police Chief
is in our best interest, and
justified. Could this be a
“political hatchet job” in the
best interest of a selected few
or is it a legitimate, justified
move that the Board of
Aldermen had to make?
Why, Mr. Mayor and Board
of Aldermen? This is the
question that is asked by
everyone that I have spoken to
since this unexplained step
was taken. Your brief .^ob
scure explanation is not
satisfactory to those of us who
care about our community
and for our fellow man. More
details please.
Cordially,
(Mrs.) Martha T. Nolen
Food Stamp Cutback: More Sacrifices?
By Bernard E. Nash
There was a story recently in
The Washington Post about how
a middle-class couple in their
late 70s are struggling to exist
solely on the approximately $440
they receive each month from
Social Security. So, as any re
tiree with an eye on the family
budget might ask, what else is
new?
Well, both the
husband and
wife in this story
are in failing
health which, of
l course, adds
| considerably to
Bernard Nash their expense
burden. Although not as badly
off as many other old people,
they are in obviously precarious
financial straits, yet they are not
considered poor enough to qual
ify for assistance via food
stamps, Medicaid or Supplemen
tal Security Income.
“I’m not asking for a hand
out,” the husband told reporter
Doug Brown. *Tve never asked
anybody to give me anything.
I’ve stood on my own two feet
all my life. I’ve helped lots of
others and I never had to ask
for help until now.” Sounds
familiar, doesn’t it?
.Unfortunately, help has not-—
been forthcoming, so this middle
class couple, who are not really
so very poor, continue to skimp
on even the most basic essentials
as they straggle just to survive
on their limited income during
these trying times. And one
wonders how much more diffi
cult life must be for those in
our land of plenty who have~
even less. -
Difficult as their lives may be
now, there will be still more
hardships and sacrifices after
March 1 if President Ford’s an
nounced cutbacks in the food
stamp program take effect.
As you may already know,
this is the U.S. Department
of Agriculture program under
which an individual or family
buys stamps which are then
used, in place of money, to pur
chase food worth considerably
more than the sum paid for the
stamps. There are, of course,
income limitations, and the pro-,
gram has had its shortcomings,
but it has also represented for
some IS- million Americans of
all ages the difference between
salvation and starvation.
It might be anticipated that,
as inflation continues to escalate,
more and more people would
have turned to this program.
Instead, if the price of food
stamps themselves is raised, at
least half of the two million
older Americans currently using
them (plus many other younger
users) Will be forced out of the
program.
Under the new schedule, it
has been estimated that most
people living alone (such as
many older people do) would
have to pay 35 to 100 percent
more for their monthly supply
of stamps. For instance, to an
older person with a monthly in
come of $105, the price of
stamps (redeemable for $46
worth of food) would rise from
$J fT to $3 IT In his home state
of Minnesota, notes Sen. Hubert
H. Humphrey, an older person
living on $?78 monthly would
have to pay $53 for stamps
worth $46!
Of course, his or her income
is not expected to increase—but
the price of food undoubtedly
will, thus further reducing the
a still greater share of their
medical expenses. (There will
be more in this column about
these proposed health care cut
backs as they come before Con
gress.)
Unlike the health care reduc
tions, the food stamp cutbacks
can be brought about by an
Executive Order from President
Ford, and thus do not have to
seek Congressional approval.
The only way they can be
stopped is if the President con
siders the terrible damage they
will do and changes his mind,
or if Congress enacts legislation
blocking them.
Declaring that “Mr. Ford’s
proposal hits hardest those least
capable of coping with infla
tion,” Sen. George McGovern
(D-S.D.) has promised to intro
duce legislation freezing food
stamp prices at their present
level. Such legislation would
most likely receive support
from those legislators concerned
about the elderly and the poor,
but it would also be met with
strong administration opposi
tion.
It’s only fair to point out that
these cutbacks are not being
proposed to hurt the elderly and
the poor, but to reduce govern
ment expenditures. I can appre
ciate the need for economy
measures at this time, and am
sure that most older Americans
are willing to do what must be
done within reason. However,
as I have noted in this column
before,-it is unreasonable and
callously cruel to demand fur-1
ther sacrifices from those who
have the least left to sacrifice.