Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / March 19, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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M4HHH rt. j The N e' ==? - :ord SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY i ? << ? i 80th Year No. 12 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. THURSDAY, March 19, 1981 15c Per Copy , J ^ . y |*.n rnf nwio ay rwncocK Pete Ives Tests Devining Rods Pete Ives Is Rare Gem At Macon County Mine By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor A recent expedition to Franklin, the "Gem Capitol of North Carolina", unearthed the fact that only two of the area's 20 mines were open to the public this early in the year. Most of the mines will resume operatipns in late April or early May. But , curiosity and the lure of fin ding precious stones led this writer into the heart of Western North Carolina gem country to dig out a story on mining, rockhounds and peo ple who operate the mines. Pete Ives is a little guy to be "almost 13", but standing 4 feet, 2 inches and having a face 10 percent short of being one big freckle, Pete is easily the main attraction at the Old Homestead Gem Mine located off Highway 28 north of Franklin in Macon County. He may be small, but he's not short on knowledge when it comes to open mine opera tions or keeping paying customers interested in buy ing another 25 cent bucket of dirt to sift through in the flume. He's' a friendly, easy talker who was glad to con duct a tour of the mine and ex plain just how the Old Homestead goes about its business. It doesn't look much like what the word "mine" con jures up in one's mind. The Old Homestead appears to be a small farm nestled in a little hollow with a stream flowing through it. Pete said the mine is three years old and folks plop down $3 a head ($1.50 for kils) to hang around all day and buy buckets of dirt which he and his grandpa. Earl Ives, dig out of a bank near the stream. Pete said customers aren't allowed to go to the digging site, but he would make an ex ecption for the news media. "This is it," he said pointing to ordinary-looking ground. "There's gem-stones right under your feet." He pointed to an old log house across the stream and said the mine was named for the homestead. "That house is 91 years old, and that oak tree is about 200 years old," he said. According to Pete, this par ticular mine yields rubies, sapphires, garnets and sometimes moonstones, Pete's grandfather explained that rubies and sapphires are really a form of the mineral called corundum. If it's red, it's a ruby. A yellow or bluish color means it's a sapphire. Garnets are faceted crystals ranging in color from pink to deep red to black or green. The only equipment that gives a clue that this plot of land is more than a small farm is the sheltered flume which stands in a clearing not far from the creek. Pete ex plained how the water in the flume is pumped out of the creek, and how government regulations now require the runoff to be contained in small holding ponds until the mud has settled. "They don't want anybody muddying up the creek," he said. The young gemologist walk ed the flume line to check the progress of the half-dozen "miners" trying their luck with dirt buckets and sifting screens. While they would stare into the screen box sear ching, Pete would reach in and pick a garnet here, a bit of ruby there. "They started calling me Eagle Eye around here last summer," he said. Continued on Page J Forty-Six Teachers To Get S Termination Notices Soon By NICHOLAS HANCOCK Editor Preceding remarks by school board chairman Bobby Ponder which laid the blame squarely on the Reagan ad ministration's proposed federal cutbacks, the Madison County Board of Education voted to send employment ter mination notices to 46 of the county's school teachers to in form them that the board of education cannot employ them for the school year 1981-82. Ponder s remarks came at the conclusion of a lengthy six hour called meeting of the board Monday and after spen ding nearly four hours in ex ecutive session to determine where personnel cuts would have to be made should all of President Reagan's proposed cuts be approved by Congress. "This has been one bitter dose of medicine to have to take,'' Ponder said referring to the anticipated federal cut backs and the necessity of en ding the employment of so many teachers. "We are having to write let ters not only to our kin folks, but to some of our best friends and some of the best employees the board has,'' he said. "We're sorry we had it to do, but it was a necessity that it be done to protect the tax payers of the county . " Ponder said that from time to time over the years he and the board have had to send notices to teachers in federal programs, but "each and every time, before the beginn ing of the new school year, these programs have been funded" and the board was able to rehire teachers. "If Congress doesn't go along with the Great Doctor (President Reagan), maybe we will get to do that again this time. I certainly hope so," Ponder said. But a solemn air hovered about the board members as school board attorney Larry Leake read the adopted resolutions stating the cause of the termination notices and directing school superinten dent R L. Edwards to send those notices. Leake said the board took the termination action because of a question as to the amount of funding which the federal government will pro vide, if any, for the teaching positions affected by the pro grams, and because the fun ding level may not be known until late summer of 1961. The resolutions stated that the board of education will not have funds available to pro vide employment for those teachers. However, the board went on record stating it will "do everything possible" to secure the federal funds and "hopes it will be in a position to employ the teachers in the future. " The board drew up and adopted separate resolutions to cover four groups of teachers affected by the ter mination notices. The 19 non-tenured regular classroom teachers receiving notices this week are: Michael Cook, JoAnn Johnson, Pamela Ramsey, Sandra Randolph, Sandra Cook, Jane S. Davis, Carol Evans, Linda Campbell. Marilyn Wyatt, Jean Conners, Teresa Banks, Katherine Pfeifler, Carolyn Blevins, Bet ty Jane Ramsey, Kathy Adams, Wanda Capp6, Jerry Gosnell, David Richards and Kathy Waldroup. ESEA Title I personnel af fected by the board's action are: Dr. Owen Fish, Randy Ramsey, Betty Hussain, Jeter Sherlin, Christy Wallin, Emily Chandler, Sharon Baker, Ethel Kirkpatrick, Roselle Ramsey, Mrs. Claude Gillispie, Barbara Ramsey, Barbara Hunter and Margaret Anderson. Fourteen Title VI -B Special Education instructors coming under the board's action are: 'm Linda Harrell, Melody f Clodfelter, Vickie Carver, Alex Farkas, Frances Knisley, Wanda Hollifield. Kathy Pfeiffer, Carolyn Rich, Debra Baker, Don Fowler, Rita Fay Norton, Kathrine Boone, Debra Callazo and Susan Pendleton Three school employees in the Educational Work Ex perience Program and the CETA program had their jobs terminated by the board. They - ; are Herbert Ponder, Ted Cody and Jeff Treadway. One school board member said after the meeting that it \i was doubtful the board would learn of any new or different * developments concerning the proposed federal cuts by the ? April or May school board I meetings. As it looks now, >-: everyone involved will have to *. ? sit out a long, hot summer to ' i find out exactly which way the federal dollars will fall, if they fall at all. ^ | Mail Rates Increase March 22 Mail rates will go from 15 to 18 cents on March 22, the Postal Service said Tuesday. The new rate for a first-class letter will be three times what it was a decade ago. Even with the increase, the Postal Service still expects to lose money and seek another rate increase. The letter rate was 6 cents until May 1971, when it went to 8 cents. The price went to 10 cents in 1974 and to 13 cents in 1975. The last increase came May 29, 1978, when it went to the current 15 cents. *n?e governors of the Postal Service, protesting that the rate is not high enough, Tues day asked the Postal Rate Commission to reconsider its April 18 decision in favor of the 18-cent stamp. The Postal Service had asked for ap proval for 20 cents. The Postal Service had said it needed $3.75 billion in addi tional annual revenue over what current rates bring in. The commission trimmed this by $1.1 billion. The rates that will take ef fect at 12:01 a.m. March 22 are: ? For first-class letters, 18 cents for the first ounce and 17 cents per ounce after that. Post cards will be 12 cents. ? Increases of 3 percent for parcel post and various hikes for second- and third-class mail used by businesses Expanded discounts available to busines mailers who do preliminary sorting of their outgoing mail. These dis counts are given because the mailers are saving Postal Ser vice expenses. -Power Failure Hit Wide Area ? ? j A widespread electrical power failure brought household activities to a halt in many sections of Madison County early Monday morning, according to Iverson Bradley, spokesman for the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation. Approximately 800 households were af fected by the outage which occurred at 6:40 ajn. in Marshall, Walnut, Upper Shut In, ton Laurel, Spring Creek and in areas Mars HOI. * said the failure was caused by - - - - the breakdown of three insulators at the Marshall substation which subsequently caused the substations "high side" fuses to be blown. Power was restored to all affected customers by 7:42, Bradley said, but the utility company experienced "scattered" later in the morning caused by high . receding a cold front which passed through the county. By mid afternoon, all electrical pro blems were under control, Bradley said. County Gains People Preliminary 1980 Census reports show that Madison County gained 788 people in a 10 year period, but four townships within the county sus tained population losses, according to the Bureau of the Census. The 1980 head count shows Madison County having 16,791 residents living in 7,169 housing units. Population figures for 1970 listed 16,003 residents dwelling in 5,565 houses. The county's population increased by 4.6 percent, and housing units by 22 percent during the 10 year period. Townships 1, 2 and 8, along with the Town of Marshall, decreased in population while townships 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and the towns of Mars Hill and Hot Springs gained in residents. Preliminary count figures show the following populations for 1960: Township 1 (Marshall) 3,431 Town of Marshall .811 Township 2 (Laurel) ? . .1,803 Township 3 (Mars Hill) 4,756 Mars Hill (Town) 2,122 . Township 4 (Beech Glen) 1,922 Township 5 (Walnut) .1,439 Township 6 (Hot Springs) 1,324 Hot Springs 654 Township 7 (Ebbs Chapel) 1,202 Township 8 (Spring Creek) 914 Towns or Townships showing a loss in popula tion counts were Marshall with 171, Spring Creek with 71, Laurel with 65, and Marshall Township 1 with 40. Township 3 (Mars Hill) showed the largest in crease in population with 590 followed by the Town of Mars Hill with 499 and Township 4 ( Beech Glen) with 157. Marshall Aldermen Looking For Summer Rec Coordinator Matters ranging from summer recreational activities to a proposed alternative water source for Marshall, Mars Hill and the county were discussed at the March meeting of the Marshall Board of Aldermen. Aldermen discussed the summer use of the Blannahassett Island area belonging to the town for Little League and softball programs, as well as fire department and Lions Club activities nor mally held on the island. The board appointed Kenneth Brown as coordinator for the summer programs, but Mr. Brown has since declined the appointment leaving the town in search of a new appointee. Town officials also signed an agreement bet ween the Town of* Marshall, the Town of Mars Hill and Madison County approving a feasability study for a future alternative water source to serve all three municipalities. In other matters, the Board of Aldermen: ? Heard a report from Donald Ramsey, pro ject administrator a t the HUD Community Development Program, who said work was being done on the project's 12th house and carpenters would soon be moving onto three additional houses. ? Passed an updated resolution authorizing the town to apply for Clean Water Bond funds for use in the town's 201 Sewer System, Step IIL Also a resolution was adopted authorizing the town to apply for Clean Water Bond funds to be used to lay a water line along the Marshall bypass to Roberts Hill Road. The funds will come from the N.C. Department of Natural and Economic Resources. ? Approved the purchase of a five to seven and one-half horsepower, pressure controlled, single phase pump for the Redmon Road water line to correct present pressure problems. ? Received a report that progress was being made in cleaning the City Cemetery in prepara tion for mowing and further improvements. ? Discussed again the parking Main Street in Marshall, and instructed ] policemen to enforce the restm t ions for all-day parkere . .. ,-i" . i. March EMC's see a credit fuel tment of $ 00300 on their Mtrek bilk. This meant *2 00 kilowatt hour* TV- feel acijusui at thr cooperative ha* to pay ?A I I Com last (all when both qptL'i Brunswick were out of this high fuel cost Mt period of am# to keep ( i'&i for fuel charges. the from ( f'&L will i at ? tow level i
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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March 19, 1981, edition 1
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