The News Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On tl i* Insldm . . . ?
Teaching mission groups ?
Conference will help
...see schedule on page 2
77th Year, No. 40
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C
THURSDAY, October 5, 1978
15' Per Copy
Election Board Selects F ranklin, Zink
Another chapter in the
history of Madison County has
been written with the an
nouncement Monday from the
state Board of Elections that
Patricia "Pat" Franklin of
Marshall, a Democrat, and
William B. "BUI" Zink Jr. of
Mars Hill, a Republican, bad
been picked as the two new
members of the Madison
County Board of Elections.
Oscar McDevitt of Marshall, a
Democrat, is the third
member.
The two new members will
be sworn in this Thursday,
replacing Harold Amnions,
acting chairman; and L.
Roger Swann, both of Mars
Hill. Judson Edwards, clerk of
court, will administer the
oaths at the courthouse.
The first meeting of the new
board is scheduled to be held
this Friday.
McDevitt, however, has
served notice that he will be
out of town for about two
weeks, so the election of a
chairman and a secretary
could be postponed by the
Madison County Board of
Elections, it was reported.
Alex K. Brock, state elec
tions director, informed the
News Record Monday that R.
Kenneth Babb of Winston
Salem, state elections
chairman, had notified him of
the state board's decision to
appoint Mrs. Franklin and
Zink to the county board
Certificates of appointment
were mailed Monday to Mrs.
Franklin and Zink, Brock
said.
Both Amnions and Swann
have protested their removal,
which followed the resignation
of Marvin Ball of Marshall as
chairman of the three
member board.
Ball resigned in August
following a probe by the SBI
into alleged election fraud
during the May 2 primaries.
He was replaced on the
board by Oscar McDevitt, who
was recommended to the state
elections board by the
Democratic Party leaders at
the county and state levels.
But since Amnions and
Swann did not resign, their
replacements were picked by
the state board without con
sultation with the Democratic
and Republican Party
leaders.
A hearing was held a week
ago in Raleigh on their
removal, but they were asked
to serve until their
replacements were picked.
Both Brock and Babb said
the state board found no
evidence of criminal
violations in the investigation
of Ammons and Swann. Brock
said the findings of the state
board would likely show that
Ammons and Swann were
replaced for "acts of
omission" rather than overt
illegal acts.
Swann has argued,
however, that it was he who
brought the alleged voting
irregularities in Madison
County to the attention of the
SBI and the state Board of
Elections.
Mrs. Franklin, 29, is child
support enforcement officer
for Madison and Yancey
counties and serves on the
Madison County Social Ser
vices Board.
She will be required to
resign from the social services
board when she is sworn in
Thursday as a member of the
board of elections.
A native of Madison County,
she organized the chapter
here of Epsilon Sigma Alpha,
a women's service
organization, and serves as its
president.
Zink, 26, is a small engine
and diesel mechanic for EUer
Oil Co. in Mars Hill and serves
on the Mars Hill Town Board
of Elections. He will be
required to resign from the
municipal elections board
when he takes the oath of
office as a member of the
county board
VIEW from the Marshall Highway of Black
well Hall, Mara Hill College's new $1.5
million administrative building which will be
formally dedicated during homecoming
activities Oct. 14.
Celebrate
Oct. 14 will be a busy day at
Mars Hill College. The school
will celebrate its annual
Homecoming with a full slate
of activities during the day
and evening.
The highlight of the day's
activities will be the formal
dedication of BlackweU Hal),
the college's new $1.5 million
administrative center.
Ceremonies for the event will
begin on a patriotic note at 11
a.m. with the presentation of a
new American Flag and a new
flag pole for the newly land
scaped center quadrangle by
the Woodmen of the World
Two Asheville chapters will
make the presentation.
Dr. and Mrs. Hoyt Black
well, for whom the building in
named, will cut a ribbon to the
middle floor entrance of
ficially opening the new
structure. Dr. Black well,
president emeritus of the
college, served as president
from 1988 to IMS. He had also
been a member of the faculty
at Man Hill since 1?8.
The current president of the
college, Dr. Fred B. Bentley,
will preside over the
festivities Others par
ticipating in the ceremony will
be Dr Otis Duck, Mars Hill
physician and chairman of the
Board of Trustees; Harold
Austell of Greenville, S.C.,
chairman of the Board of
Dedication Highlights
Mars Hill Homecoming
the first floor, will honor Mr.
and Mrs. Guy Carswell of
Charlotte. The Admissions
Suite of the middle floor will
honor the late Carl G. Fox of
Hickory. The President's
Suite, on the top floor, will
honor Mr. and Mrs. Rom
Sparks of Charlotte, and the
President's Conference Room
will pay tribute to the late
Mrs. Rose Addie Deaver
Logan, who served the college
asa trustee for many years.
Other events surrounding
the' building's dedication in
clude an exhibition of 60
woodblock color prints by
famed Japanese artist Ando
Hiroshige. The delicate color
prints were completed during
the middle of the ltth century
and are valued at $15,000.
They were given to the college
by Dr. Burt P. Johnson of
Cary, who will be on hand to
discuss the prints and answer
questions about them. The
prints will go on exhibit at 8: 30
a.m. and may be viewed until
2:30 p.m. in the first floor
conference center of the new
building.
And additional highlight of
the weekend will be the lun
cheon in the college cafeteria
honoring the Alumnus and
Alumna of the Year. This year
the college will honor Walter
Glenn of Statesville and Mrs.
Jeanne Hoffman.
Mr. Watts, a member of the
class of '32 at Mars Hill,
recently retired as president
of Watts Heating and Plum
bing in Statesville. He has
served on the Board of
Trustees for four terms and
has donated his services to the
college to help conserve
energy by upgrading, the
plumbing and heating systems
of the school. Watts also holds
a degree from Wake Forest,
and is a member of the
( Continued on Page 2 )
McDevitt Takes Stale Post
R. Wayne McDevitt, 25, a
native of Madison County has
been named regional manager
of the N.C. Department of
Natural Resources and
Community Development
Asheville regional office by
Howard N. Lee. NRCD
secretary.
McDevitt has been serving
as acting director since Aug.
17. Since February of this
year, he had been assistant
ragiooal manager. He Joined
NRCD last October as a
community development
specialist in the regional of
fice.
As manager, McDevitt will
coordinate delivery of ser
vices by various programs in
the AahviUe office, which
serve 1# Western North
From 1973-74 he was chief of
the staff for James Ramsey,
then speaker of the House in
the N.C. General Assembly.
McDevitt was graduated
from UNC-Asheville in 1975
with a B.A. in political science
and government ad
ministration. He has taken
various additional govern
ment courses at the Univer
sity of North Carolina, North
Carolina State University and
Oxford University in England.
McDevitt is on the board of
directors of the Governor's
Western Residence
Association and Thomas
Wolfe Jaycees in Asheville.
Counties served by the
regional office are Avery,
Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay,
Cleveland, Graham,
Haywood, Henderson,
Jackson, Macon, Madison,
McDowell, Mitchell, Polk,
Rutherford, Swain, Tran
sylvania, Watauga, and
Yancey. J
"Wayne McDevitt is a 1
person familiar with the
problems, opportunities and
many residents of Western
North Carolina. Ha is In- '
teraated in assisting the
people in that area. I would
County CETA Program
Gets $115,130 Boost
The Madison County Board
of Commissioners has been
awarded (115,130 to provide
residents of the county em
ployment and training ser
vices, Secy. Howard N. Lee of
Natural Resources and
Greyhound
Discontinuance
Petition Filed
Greyhound Lines Inc. has
petitioned the North Carolina
Utilities Commission to
discontinue, permanently,
passenger service now ser
ving Hot Springs and Marshall
in Madison County as well as
several other locations in the
North Carolina-Tennessee
area.
The petition states "that
there is very little use of the
service over said portion...
and the public convenience
and necessity will not be
adversely affected by
allowing such service to be
discontinued."
Dennis E. Sovel, tran
sportation rates division,
North Carolina Utilities
Commission, Raleigh, has
announced that a public
hearing will be held Nov. 3 at
9:30 a.m. in the courtroom of
the courthouse in Marshall.
Any comments or protests
to this action should be written
and addressed to: North
Carolina Utilities Com
mission, Chief Clerk, Attn: B
7, Sub 94, P.O. Box 991,
Raleigh 27602.
Community Development
announced today.
The two programs are
funded under the Com
prehensive Employment and
Training Act (CETA) and
operated under contract with
the state's Division of Com
munity Employment.
Under Title I of the act,
youth programs are aimed at
potential dropouts or unem
ployed dropouts who are
economically disadvantaged
Young people are given jobs,
counseling and Career
education as encouragement
to Finish high school. Unem
ployed and economically
disadvantaged adults are
provided jobs and a change to
complete or improve their
education and occupational
skills.
One contract, with a budget
of $89,130, will provide 12
adults with work experience
as aides in child care,
nutrition, carpentry, and
maintenance. Participants in
this program will also have
access to classes in orien
tation and motivation offend
in Madison County.
Youth work experience,
with a budget of <28,000, will
place 25 young people into job*
as aides in recreation,
maintenance and health field.
Program participants are
provided job development and
placement.
The Division of Community
Employment is an agency of
the Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development which ad
ministers CETA funds in 87
counties. It is also responsible
for statewide planning and
policy development of em
ployment and training
programs. Last year the
division administered 174.5
million in CETA binds for
programs In which B.3W
participants were enrolled.
Slate Allocates $52,446
For Madison Streets
Madison County's three
towns have been allocated
$52,446 from N.C. Powell Bill
funds with which to build and
maintain streets this fiscal
year.
Mars Hill gets the most with
$25,021. Marshall gets $15,336
and Hot Springs receives
$12,109.
Marshall has 6.45 miles of
streets not maintained by
state government; Mars Hill
has 6.91 miles, and Hot
Springs, 6.14 miles. The
number of residents boosts
Mars Hill's share; that town
has an estimated 2,040
residents compared to 1,000 in
Marshall and 640 in Hot
Springs.
Each year the Powell Bill
returns to qualified
municipalities one cent of
North Carolina's 9 V4 cent state
motor fuel tax and requires
that these funds be disbursed
by no later than Oct. 1.
"The checks were
prepared," explained
Secretary Bradshaw, "on the
basis of the allocation formula
prescribed by the 'street aid
legislation.' The formula
reflects the population of the
community and its local street
mileage.
"This year's sum of
*33,502,142 52 is the largest
amount ever returned to
**>?; ... < "*"*5 ? ? -
MADISON HOMECOMING
COURT it shown above with their
escorts. Left to right: Laurie
Melvia, Jeff Ball; Shannon
Joyner, Randy Bishop; Paula
Shelton, Doug McDevitt; Beverly
Bruce, Billy Llsenbec; Pam
Anderson Tim Metcalf ; Felicia
Bishop, Roget Shelt j; Nan
Ramsey, Bobby Zimmerman;
Linda Ray, Foster Sawyer; Sandy
Delta, Eric Fox. Crowning
ceremony will take place at
North Carolina communities
under the Powell Bill
provisions. In fact, it is nearly
$1.5 million more than last
year's record disbursement,"
Brads haw added.
"Sharing these resources is
another example of our
partnership with the com
munities we serve in our joint
effort to meet transportation
needs locally as well as
statewide," the transportation
secretary said.
From this year's Powell Bill
funds, the largest single check
went to the city of Charlotte.
Charlotte's allocation of
$3,813,424.29 was based on a
population figure of 306,230
and a local street mileage
figure of 1,117.76.
Vote Registration
Deadline Monday
The registration deadline
for persons not already
registered to vote and who will
become IS years of age, and
are otherwise qualified by the
date of the Nov. 7 General
Election is Oct 9 closing at S
pm