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The
Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY
On ##>? Inside . ? ?
Baptist Convention
withholds WFU funds
...see page 2
78th Year, No. 6
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N C
THURSDAY, February 8, 1979
15* Per Copy
Hunt: Staff Supported Larry Leake
Gov. James B. Hunt
acknowledged Wednesday of
last week that his Western
North Carolina office had
played a part in the con
troversial nomination of at
torney Larry B. Leake of
Asheville to All the vacancy
created by the death of state
Sen. I.C. Crawford.
While denying that he took a
personal hand in the
nomination, Hunt said the
staff of the western office and
some of his friends in the
mountains "did get involved
in helping select the nominee
because they had worked
very closely with him in the
party as he was state
president of the Young
Recreation
Forum Set
For Feb. 15
A public discussion of
recreation possibilities for the
French Broad River in
Madison County will be held in
Hot Springs at 7 p.m. Feb. 15,
in the Hot Springs elementary
school. Representatives from
several local agencies will be
present as well as officials
from the recreation branch of
the TV A
The public is cerdially in
Democrats." '
Leake narrowly edged out
former state Sen. Clyde M.
Norton of Old Fort as the
candidate to fill the created
vacancy.
Hugh B. Stevens of
Ashe v ill e, manager of Hunt's
western office, said that
neither he nor his assistants
worked for Leake's
nomination.
"The only one I talked to
was Gary Childers, and I state
emphatically that I never
asked him which way he was
going to vote," Stevens said.
The district is made up of
Buncombe, McDowell,
Madison and Yancey counties.
The nominee was picked by an
MARSHALL'S Main Street as it
appeared last Saturday morning
in front of the residence of Mrs.
Carl Stuart. Snow was much
deeper in other parts of the county
which forced postponement of
schools. (Photo by Jim Story)
. - - ...
Sign-Up /
Do you have a pollution or
water conservation problem
on your farm? Have you
considered the amount of soil
loss from your farm each
year?
An announcement by W.B.
Zink, County Executive
Director for the Madison
County ASCS has been made
for the 1979 Agricultural
Conservation Program (ACP)
sign-up to begin Feb. 13 and
will continue through March 2.
During that period the office
will be close Feb. 19, in ob
servance of a National
Laurel Center
Fund Drive
Is Organized
A committee . has been
formed to organize and
conduct a fund drive in the
Laurel areas to raise the
necessary matching funds for
a new Laurel Medical Center.
This committee has met
several times organising the
drive, now scheduled for early
March.
According to Dennis Tweed,
chairman of the Fund Drive
CemnittM, a goal of 110,000
has been set. This amount is
necessary to match a $190,000
Appalachian HegKnnl
Commission Grant, pending
successful application
set for Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at
Laurel School to discuss the
drive with community
volunteers who will be needed
to csrry otrt the p r o jec i
Tweed stressed that it was'
Important for everyone who is
Holiday.
Zink stated that the 1979
ACP for Madison is aimed at
solving High Priority
problems as identified by the
County ACP Development
Group and is designed to help
farmers reduce soil loss,
conserve water, and solve
other conservation and en
vironmental problems.
He emphasized that prac
tice which has been started
prior to approval by the
County Committee is not
eligible for cost-share
payment. "This is a change
from prior years," said Mr.
Zink.
Zink added that under the
ACP program cost-sharing is
designed to assist farmers in
solving conservation
problems by installing con
servation practices that would
not otherwise be carried out. A
list of practices under the ACP
is available at the county
office.
In conclusion he stated that
immediately after the sign-up
period ends, all requests for
cost-sharing will be reviewed
'? ? :
L pcator of ttto fair
Chu :
8.6., hat accepted the
of the Marshall
?I " (111
Program To Assist
Farmers With Problems
by the county committee for
eligibility and notification will
be mailed to each eligible
farmer. The County Com
mittee and Zink would like to
encourage anyone who has a
high priority problem which
needs solving to reduce
pollution and conserve soil
and water to visit the ASCS
Office during the sign-up from
Feb. 12 thru March 2.
ASCS Office hours are
Monday through Friday from
S a.m. to 5 p.m. except
national holidays.
?
Madison Girls Make
Little Mac Tourney
The Madison High School
girl*' basketball team will
participate in the Little Mac
conference tournament which
starts next Monday night in
the Madison gymnasium. The
opponents for the opening
round are not yet known but
will be paired following games
this Friday night. The
Madison girls, under the
direction of Ricky McDevitt,
coach, are now in second place
in the standings with 8 vic
tories and only four losses
North Buncombe girls are on
top of standings with a 12-0
record.
The top three teams, at
present North Buncombe,
Madison, and Henderson ville,
gain automatic state playoff
berths.
The admission to the
tournament is 91.50 per per
son.
eight-man committee ? two
members from each of the
four counties.
When a speculative article
Saturday morning disclosed
that Leake would be the
nominee, a small group went
to work to try to swing the
Senate seat to Norton who was
squeezed out in the
redisricting that put Bun
combe in with McDowell
All of the votes of one
member of the committee
from Buncombe and the votes
of the two members from
McDowell could have put
Norton in by one vote, and
Norton supporters thought
they could win when D.J.
Morley
Appointed
Director
The Madison County
Recreation Commission has
announced the appointment of
a new recration director for
the county. He is Kevin
Morley, a resident of Hot
Springs originally from Cape
Cod, Mass.
Morley has been in the
county for two and a half
years having initially served
as a volunteer worker at the
CWmUc Church in Hot
Springs with duties including
those of hostelkeeper at the
hikers' hostel and librarian at
the grammar school. A
graduate of Brown University
in Providence, R.I., Morley
has had a lifelong interest in
recreational activities and
hopes to develop a year round
recration program for
Madison County.
He has also participated in
football and track and field on
both the high school and
college level and enjoys
coaching.
Morley also stated that a
major influence in his life was
the 320-mile hike that he and
his wife took on the
Appalachian Trail in 1976. It
was on that hike that they first
came to Hot Springs and were
offered the positions as
volunteer workers.
He is also interested in
drawing, music and poetry
and sees these activities as
valid recrational pursuits.
Other jobs he has held in
clude heavy construction
work, airport employment,
factory work, landscaping,
farming and housepainting.
He and his wife, Laurie,
hope to continue living in Hot
Springs with their son,
Nathaniel.
"Jack" Woody of Candler said
he would join them.
But three hours of
negotiating by telephone with
P.H. Hughes of Marion and
Roy Burgin of Old Fort went
down the drain after one of
Hunt's lieutenants vetoed the
plan, according to sources in
Asheville. Hughes and Burgin
declined to join Woody in
voting for Norton.
Hunt said when his people
from the mountains called in,
they would generally talk to
Joe Pell, his partronage chief,
and that he never was directly
involved in the campaign.
"I did not tell them who to
get behind. They were in
volved locally in politics,"
Hunt said.
Hunt was told at his news
conference Wednesday where
the selection of Leake to
succeed Crawford was
discussed that Buncombe
County Democratic Party
Chairman Joseph C. Reynolds
has called the nomination a
"100 percent Jim Hunt and
Zeno Ponder show." Ponder,
Madison County political
leader, has said that Leake
was his candidate but denied
that the governor was in
volved in the campaign.
But not only is Ponder a
backer of Leake, who is a
native of Madison County and
still serves as attorney for the !
county, he would not be happy <
to see Norton get the Senate i
seat. i
Ponder had apparently won t
a Senate seat in a Democratic |
contest with Norton in 1964,
but the State Board of Elec- I
tions turned up widespread i
elections fraud in Madison
County and awarded the
nomination to the McDowell i
County candidate.
Hunt indicated again that he 1
was "vaguely aware" of a
scrape Leake has with the law
in 1976 in which he was
charged with making obscene
telephone calls to a young girl,
but- said he was "under the
impression that there really
wasn't that much to it."
"We did caution them to be
very careful ? that this was a
situation that would be a
problem" Hunt said of his
people who were working for
Leake's nomination.
"And again, they were
making the decision in terms
of who they thought was best,
and whether he would be an
acceptable kind of person ?
whether they thought there
would be an embarrassment
to such an extent that it would
harm his (Leake's) ability to
serve," Hunt said.
Hunt said the selection of
Leake was the committee's
decision, and "it's not a
matter of whether I'm
satisified with it. I think he has
ability. I think he can do a
good job," Hunt said.
Asked by a reporter if he
knew two of the com
mitteemen, Gary Childers and
Robert L. "Bobby" Edwards,
are state employees, Hunt
said he did not. Childers is a
Buncombe County District
Court magistrate, and
Edwards ? who was chair
man of the selection com
mittee ? is superintendent of
Madison County schools.
Hunt said Childers works for
the Judical Department and
Edwards for the Department
of Public Instruction, and does
not come directly under his
command.
Hunt said there is no
question in his mind about
Leake's ability to perform the
duties of a senator, but he did
talk to him before the oath of
office was administered
"about the effect of the
publicity on his ef
fectiveness."
But as far as the actual
appointment is concerned.
Hunt said that after the eight
member committee made the
nomination he had no choice
New Tags
Vehicle Registration Lags , Deadline Nears
In addition to being cold,
February may also be a costly
and worrisome month for
many North Carolinians,
according to the Division of
Motor Vehicles of the state
Department of Tran
sportation.
Prospects of standing in
long lines or receiving traffic
citations for operating
vehicles not properly
registered may face some
citizens, said Elbert L. Peters
Jr., commission of Motor
Vehicles.
"During the first two weeks
of the registration renewal
period this year, about 300,000
fewer license plates and
stickers had been sold com
pared to 1978," Peters said,
noting that "despite excellent .
coverage by the news media
on the advantages of pur
chasing early, approximately
36 percent fewer tags and
stickers have been sold this
year in this initial 14-day
period." Sales began Jan. 2.
"But there are indications
that sales have picked up
during the past two weeks,"
he said. "We encourage
vehicle owners to purchase
their tags or stickers now
while the lines are usually
short."
Peters said owners who
have not received a 1979
renewal card should notify the
motor vehicles division im
mediately by telephone at
(919) 733-6506 between S:30
a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday
through Friday. A renewal
card will be issued and mailed
to the vehicle owner.
Stickers or tags may be
purchased at branch offices or
through the mail from the
Division of Motor Vehilces,
1100 New Bern Ave., Raleigh
27697. Peters said the agency
cannot guarantee delivery of
tags or stickers ordered
through the mail after Feb. 1.
"If owners receive their
renewal card after Feb. 1,
they should make their pur
chases at a nearby branch
agency," said Peters, noting
that there are more than 100
locations across the state.
Owners who have not
received renewal cards also
may purchase 1979 tags or
stickers with last year's card.
To save time, Peters
suggested owners should line
through any incorrect in
formation and print in
corrected material prior to
going to the branch agency.
Failure to display 1979
stickers or tags by midnight
Feb. IS is a misdeameanor.
Leake Named
To Committees
Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green
announced committee
assignments Wednesday of
last week for Sen. Larry B.
Leake of Asheville, who
replaced the late Sen. I.C.
Crawford in the General
Assembly from the 96th
Senate District.
Leake will serve on the
Criminal Justice Committee,
Alcoholic Beverage Control,
Judiciary III, Human
Resources, Wildlife and
Finance.
T?? . SidwJ Cain_
By JIM STORY
There ere two sides to e coin.
For thet reason this week's column will
deal with the recent widely publicized
appointment of Larry Leake as state
senator from the 26th District.
Many persons have voiced their
opinions that Larry, a native of Madison
County, should not have been cboeen to
succeed the late I.C. Crawford. Some
contend that the other candidates for the
poet were more qualified and had more
Larry admits he acted stupidly and
stated, "I don't think people are so cruel
that they will typecast me for an act of
stupidity. I don't think that reflects as much
on my morals as it does on my in
telligence."
This writer does not condone tft? ad
mitted "mistakes" of Larry, but whb to It
who has not made mistakes?
I wonder how many members of the
legislature have never been given a
speeding citation or some sort of citation for
"misbehavior?"
As to those who objected to his ap
>
sure he will exceed the 55 mph at times like
all of us do.
Most of the criticism, however, has
been about the system or method used in
allowing an eight-member 26th District
senatorial executive committee to name
Leake to the state Senate.
Others have voiced strong objections in
that they (the public) were not allowed to
voice their choices before the committee
made its decision. Still others placed the
blame on Gov. Hunt, Zeno Pooder and other
Democratic leaders and politicians.
Perhaps the Legislature will lool
the situation and come up with a
?iyi satisfactory procedure in
in the future.
^ .? at ?