Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / July 22, 1976, edition 1 / Page 2
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Editorial Views ***** ' Optimism prevails for park The Seven Peaks Park, near Newport, just off 1-40, is still "Go" according to a report recently in The Newport Plain Talk. ?.(jftietals of the project said they to change priority on the TfBjSfcT and the first will be a con >vention center and hotel. Then will *00016 a craft city followed by Stan jBrock'6 Wild Kingdom. f. The newspaper report, quoting '^officials, said the amusement park !jwill take about two years long to t complete since it is the hardest to '?finance. A recent failure of a similar u?' ?' ? - ? :V;, . ?' , ? I development plan in Tennessee has raised the caution flag far the Seven Peaks group. However, officials of other amusement parks have in dicated they want to have a share of the Seven Peaks project. TOe delay has been blamed on die money situation. The developers now hold 600 acres of land and are trying to acquire control of all land within a mile of die park. It appears that optimism prevails on the other side of the Smokies for a project destined to attract huge crowds each season. Sheriffs dislike regulations 9f i> Many of North Carolina's 100 county sheriffs are upset over what ' they see as a growing encroachment <of state regulation over their local domains. The key issue is minimum stan dards for deputies, and the state sagency set up to enforce those, which - sheriff complain interfere with their constitutional powers. r Not only are encroaching state ^regulations feared, but federal 'rulings which deal with how local jails are run and other aspects of ^heriffing, cause the elected officials : Several sheriffs met recently with ft legislative committee to talk about the problems and suggest remedies. Most of the complaints centered around the standards for em >loyment drawn up and enforced by he Criminal Justice Training and |khndards Council. or deputies and local police, that jneans an applicant must be 21 years bid, a U.S.'"?citizen,- a high school graduate, pass a written test, and a physical exam, and undergo a background investigation and fingerprint check to make sure he fias no felony criminal record. Additionally, a 160-hour training bourse is required in the first year of ? Standards are also set for State iBureau of Investigation agents, highway patrolmen, paroles and probation officers, and correctional Jmployees I At first, the supervising council Iperated independently, but was pdved under jurisdiction of the Attorney General in 1975. The council ? made up of 21 people, with the state Sheriffs Association allotted five; police chiefs allotted five, and others from the courts, Justice Depart ment, Motor Vehicles Division, education and some appointed by the governor rounding out membership. Increasingly, the sheriffs com plained to a meeting of the Gover nmental Operations Commission chaired by State Senator I. C. Crawford, D-Buncombe, the council has usurped local authority. For example, said Buncombe Sheriff Tom Morrisey, a fingerprint check might take a month or two to clear, but even if a sheriff knows the applicant and his family well, he can't go ahead and put him to work without requesting such permission in writing from Raleigh. Applicants must pass a written test given by the Employment Security Commission, and if they fail must wait five years before retesting ? and appeals to the council in such cases have invariably failed, the sheriffs said. Boiled down from the various specifics is the feeling among sheriffs that Raleigh is nibbling away at local authority, changing regulations without touching base with those affected, constantly moving to take away constitutional responsibilities from elected sheriffs. The standards are making lawmen standard and respected statewide while in the past there have been communities which not only tolerated but wanted less than professional, competent law en forcement. The sheriffs said they are not opposed to minimum standards, but the imposition of regulations from the state level without enough in volvement of local officials in writing those rules. far Heel Medicaid Program Pne administration of Republican I. James E. Holshouser is anxious (demonstrate that private en terprise can do the job. So is Health Applications Systems, and other ?rivaie firms. But amidst much ionfUsion and a contract measuring I foot thick, there was room for a lot ?slips. ? Then entered hberal interests from the federal level; both in Congress mid in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. interests have a stake in this; the bureaucrats because their Domains would be sharply reduced should private enterprise prove lin flsssful ; the liberal Congressmen because success would prove that big tyifrsmtnent is not always the best f In a short time, the in-depth probe gMtbe North Carolina contract public. It will undoubtedly portray a prove neither simple nor quickly available. With North Carolina as the proving grounds in the great battle of Government-Versus-Private Enterprise, then, two knotty problems have been unveiled: 1. There is no control over eligibility. If a person meets whatever criteria are established, he must be paid. Thus, the rolls continue to expand. 2. There is no control over the major expense item: money paid to health care providers for services rendered. The guideline is that charges must be usual and customary?and charges keep going up sharply. When Health Applications System said it could do the job better than government (and cheaper) it meant It could cut administrative overhead, hold down payrolls by hiring fewer people, use computers to weed out cheaters and double payments. All that done, the amount has proved | SL?EPL?SS M/QHTS Mobile homes seldom move From 12-wide, to double- h wide, and now to triploiwide, $ mobile homes continue to gain p a commanding position on the r North Carolina landscape. ; I Once considered a home on t wheels which the owner oould t hitch up and haul away to a new job in a new town, today's mobile homes are seldom mowed more than once ?from the sales lot to a parking place. The growth in size of the modern units to rival that of many standard three bedroom stick house* is reason enough for > pat change. But the lack of portability is one of the prime reasons those in the business are ww pushing for another name change: from mobile hommto manufactured homes. The campaign to change the puUk: image is similar to that which accompanied the name change from trailers to mobile homes. ->.i. MATTER OF MONEY Economics are obviously the foundation of the mobile LETTERS gay i ro?spal1 ewtorljsj ; ? ? ? ? 1 1 Editor, The News Record: We want you to know how j very much WNC Lung , Association appreciates the , support you and your staff , have given our program inuae , of news items and an- ( nouncements which we've sent , to you from time to time. It to very true that without , such support, our association could not carry on its program, nor reach the public. You all , are, in a very real way, helping the health of your own com- . munity and many others, also. We hope you can display the j enclosed certificate somewhere in the building, and each time you and the staff sees it, believe you hear us saying, "Thank you!" GERTRUDE RAMSEY ' Program Director ome boom. In the under 90,000 housing market, 96 crcent of the units sold are kw mobile homes. Under 30,000, mobile homes make ip 60 percent of the new units iccupied. Overall, fully half of the new lingle-family housing units tccupied in North Carolina in ecent years are manufac ured homes. The reason is obvious in hese times of inflation when rots of transportation, dectridty, heat, and other issentials have increased more rapidly than paychecks. So has the cost of housing. The average stick-built louse in North Carolina today runs somewhere over $38,000, ind for most newly built nomes, even at that price, tome of the trimmings have nedicut. . The average price of a mobile home is somewhat ibove $8,000 including fur nishings, carpet, appliances, ind draperies. Financing a manufactured nome has become easier, too, is popularity increased and he image of "drifters" living in trailer parks changed to that of clean-cut young rouples trying to make ends meet. Between 1970 and 1975, there were 113,073 mobile homes ?old in North Carolina by over ioo dealers. That volume of business puts this state third in the nation in citizens living in mobile homes; second nationally in annual sales of mobile homes; and eighth in the Southeast in the manufacture of mobile homes. Currently, more than six percent of North Carolina's PROBLEMS, TOO The boom in manufactured tome living is not without iccompanying problems in Sorth Carolina. The light population live in mobile nomes (over 300,000 people in i population of five million). to fire. Codes have been enacted to require better fireproofing, and tiedown anchors, but "THIS request iui hw?v noney during these difficult judgetary times does not give ne any pleasure and, x assure rou, I would not make such a -equest except for my concern for the well-being of our eachers and state em ployees," the treasurer said. He also outlined three options: -educe the insurance .-overage to rat cost; let the :mpk>yees pay the increased cost; or increase state spending for the insurance. He -ecommended the state in crease its spending Legislators will lean toward hat solution, but some are ilready figuring the dollars rill have to come out of the pay raise which employees lave been promised ? such frihges are, after all, a part of he benefits and paying out 17.5 million more for in surance will just have to come iff the raise, some legislators say. Mid-Town Mayor ONE OF THE Pffcuecns IN THIS COMMUNITY THAT NEVER GETS PONE |S USUALLY SOMETHING *? AS INPIVIDUALS WEJ?E GOING ID COMPLETE. many unit* still exist which were set up prior to such law. New federal safety and livability laws take effect this year, and manufacturers continue to make design changes to meet the demands of a better educated and more sophisticated buyer. And the growing popularity is likely to challenge ? and probably shatter ? the at titudes of people in com munities all across the state. Traditionally, ' zoning or dinances in cities have been used to keep the "trailers" out of "nfce communities," consigning them to industrial sections or more rural set tings. Most property owners fear ? declining land values in areas 1 where mobile homes are allowed, but with the growing numbers of people who must depend on manufactured housing for affordable shelter, the pressure will mount for permission to locate the units in more desirable locations. As North Carolina's J predominately rural and small town characteristics change in the next several years to more urban, the - conflict between traditional ? homeowners and trailer dwellers is likely to sharpen In the first 16 days of the f New York thoroughbred racing season, Jockeys Ron Turcotte and Angel Cordero rode IS win- - ners each. The News-Record NON-PARTISAN IN POLITIC8 JAMBS L STORY, Editor RibHshed Weekly By MwHson County Publishing Co. Inc BOX 3S7 MARSHALL. N.C. 2S7S3 IZMo. MM UM?? MJ* Treasurer drops I bombshell I in the Albemarie Building on a recent eariy morning to drop a bombshell in their lap* He had no intention to doing so, literally. Nonetheless, In the course of the meeting, ? received*!! the building, and treasurer, Untenant governor, speaker, and the net had to hastily adjourn to other quarters. THE REAL BOMB Legislators weren't nearly as scared by the telephone call as by the news which Gill handed them: Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which handles the hospital-medical insurance for state employees, is raising rates. The total bill for this coming fiscal year will be $7.5 million higher than anticipated, and that is for just nine months of the year, since the hike would take effect Oct. 1. The total annual bill for employee in surance runs more than $40 million; dependent coverage is paid by the employee, in addition. At a time when legislators are trying to cut the budget, raise new funds, and provide a raise for teachers and other state employees, Gill's news was bad, indeed. withholdtag Mm pU fcntkpvl Lt^Gov J*m? B Hum andl mmtonTfram^fae nexTfisSI year be pulled into the W7?n| fl*^yjurig?nt for My I legislative eyebrows. I There has been little I reaction, but there is.a growing mood that using nest year's money far this year's expenses ? which would abo have to be paid next year'if spent for a recurring item JfU pay raises?is not a very good suggestion. Work is moving ahead .jn North Carolina's six regional health planning areas to set up the Health Systems Agencies required by a newjederal law Despite a suit soon to.be filed by the State Department of Human Resources and the N.C. Medical Society challenging that law, ends pending suit against it by the American Medical Association, state officials expect the regional organizations to be ;in operation before summer, j-; The theory at work is simply this: s number of health p ficials consider the njp federal approach a biatigt takeover of local and stale authorities, but figuresOpA comply will be essential w> gaining federal funtfa. Recently resigned Humjati Resources Secretary DavidjT Flaherty labels the ow laW^fi step toward soctalufpti medicine, and one wfcfii creates a "health czar" t|p dictate all federal spending* FEDERALCONTROL v Archie T. Johnson, awristafe human resources secrete^ for health, says the new ap proach is deliberate* designed to become the mechanism for eventual* implementing a federal healQi insurance program. Any health program in which federal finds are used is affected; nursing homes, hospitals, medical schools, rehabilitation centers, health clinics, etc. In s nutshell, the .law* requires regional agencies (six in this state) to set priorities for all health programs and major in vestments in expanded or new facilitiee or equipment. ^ It also gives the secretary qf the federal Department of Health Education and Welfare full power to deny or approve all plans. Eyes Examined n Glasses Fitted | DR. LOCKARD D FRIDAYS S A.M. to 12 Noon ROBERTS U BUILDING J | MARSHALL. N>C. |) FOR ANY PURPOSE k ^ new cor loans recreational, vehicle I loons home improvement loans 1 educational checkloan
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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July 22, 1976, edition 1
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