The News Record
SERVING THE PEOPL F OF A/ ~ r w
ae ???
80th Year No. 32 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSH/ _ ?. ?uyusi o, iv#r 15c Per Copy
rOlder Americans Day- 1
BONNET LADIES - Rhoda Shook, 90, (left)
and Bertie Burnette, 88, both of Route 3,
Mars Hill (Laurel), enjoyed the activities
and luncheon held at Madison High School
last Wednesday in observance of Older
Americans Day. Mrs. Shook made both the
bonnets the ladies were wearing.
BOB ORR, assistant to Congressman Bill
Hendon, speaks with participants at the lun
chroom. Orr said in his address senior
Photo* by N. Hancock
citizens have many contributions to make to
our society and culture.
On Big Branch Road
Frost To Open Veterinary Clinic
Lawrence Y. (Larry) Frost,
1MB graduate of Mars Hill Col
lege, is moving to Madison
County from Hampton,
Virginia to start a large and
small animal veterinary prac
tice to be located on Big
Branch Road, Mars Hill. Frost
it well-known for his active
role with the Mars Hill College
_ Alumni Association.
After graduating with an
A. A. degree from Mars Hill,
Frost attended Auburn
Univeristy is Auburn,
Alabama, and graduated with
a D.V.M. degree in IMS.
One-time center for the
Lions' basketball team. Dr.
Frost has a special interest in
athletics. He is a patron of the
Mars Hill College Golden "M"
Club and provides the fresh
seafood for the club's annual
' kickoff dinner.
Frost has also been active in
the college Alumni. He served
as Vice-President and Presi
dent of the Association from
1976 to 197B. He was "Alumnus
of the Year" in IN* and at
tended numerous alumni
Larry Frost
veterinary medicine was
built.
He hM been a rru-mu ; of
the American Veterinary
ty years, and is an affiliate
of
T : iJLisr?
hmmim
Since 1963, he has been a
member of the North Carolina
Veterinary Medical Associa
tion and has been active in
local and state Veterinary
Medical Associations of
Virginia^
He is a 33nd degree Mason, a
member of the Hampton Bap
tist Church and past member
of the Kiwanis Club. He also
served three years in the Ar
my Corps faf Engineers during
World War II.
Dr. Frost is married to the
former Helen Muilis of Har
mony. North Carolina. She is
alao an Alumnus of Mars Hill
College They are the parents
School Personnel
Mostly Democrats
By NICHOLAS HANCOCK
Editor
Responding to a parent's statements
that the Madison County Board of
Education is politically biased in its hir
ing practices, board chairman Bobby
Ponder declined to name any
Republican school personnel hired by
the board but he said "some of the best
personnel we have are Republicans
who were personally hired by me."
Ponder's statement came at
Monday 's board meeting where he told
the parent, Mr. Glen McGee, that he
could "go and check yourself " concern
ing how many Republicans were hired
by the all-Democrat board.
Using the 1980-81 Directory for
Madison County Schools, The News
Record checked the names of the listed
personnel with voter registration cards
at the Madison County Board of Elec
tions office.
Of the 244 names listed in the person
nel directory, 209 were registered as
Democrats, 11 were registered as
Republicans, and 5 were unaffiliated.
Eighteen names could not be verified
indicating those persons had not
registered, or they were registered at
their place of residence in another
county. One name had no affiliation in
formation marked on the card.
Voter registration records showed as
of Oct. 6, I960, the deadline for register
ing before the election, there were 7,165
Democrats, 3,121 Republicans and 391
Independents (unaffiliated) registered
in the county.
Of the total 10,677 registered voters,
67 percent are Democrats, 29 percent
are Republicans and 4 percent are unaf
filiated.
Of the 225 verified school personnel
names checked for party affiliation, 86
percent are Democrats, 4.5 percent are
Republicans and 2 percent registered
as unaffiliated. The 18 names not
verified amounted to 7.5 percent of the
total 244 names.
Categorized by schools, last year's
directory listed 63 administrative and
instructional employees at Madison
High School. Voter registration cards
show 52 were Democrats, 5 were
Republicans and one was unaffiliated.
Five names could not be verified.
Mars Hill Elementary School listed 64
employees;- 52 Democrats, four
Republicans and two unaffiliated Four
could not be verified.
Marshall Elementary School listed 38
employees: 33 Democrats, no
Republicans and one unaffiliated. Four
could not be verified.
Walnut Elementary School listed 14
employees, 13 Democrats, no
Republicans and one ununverified
name.
Hot Springs Elementary School listed
17 employees: 13 Democrats, 1
Republican, 1 unaffiliated and 2 which
could not be verified.
Laurel Elementary School listed 22
employees: 20 Democrats, no
Republicans and 2 unverified names.
Spring Creek Elementary School
listed 13 employees: 12 Democrats, no
Republicans and 1 unverified name.
EMC Electric Rates
To Increase By 15%
Members of French Broad
EMC will begin paying higher
rates on their electricity bills
after Sept. 1 unless the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) delays
the wholesale rate increase
now being requested by
Carolina Power & Light com
pany.
FBEMC manager Charles
Tolley said the increase the
cooperative must pay CP&L
amounts to approximately 17
percent, and to recover the
cost the cooperative must in
crease its overall base rates
by about 15 percent. To do
this, the EMC board of direc
tors approved new rate
schedules for its customers at
its July 28 meeting.
The average residential con
sumer using 600 KWH per
month will see his bill increase
from $36.45 to $41.25, Tolley
said. That amounts to a 13.17
percent increase. Members
using less than 600 KWH per
month will see a smaller in
crease, and those using more
than 600 KWH per month will
see a higher increase.
Tolley said the new rates for
residential service will be
$5.25 per month for the basic
facilities charge, 6 cents per
KWH for the first 1,000 KWH,
and 5.4 cents per KWH for any
usage over 1,000 KWH.
General Service rates for
North Carolina consumer
members will be $5.25 per
month for the basic facilities
charge, 6.7 cents per KWH for
the first 1,000 KWH, and 5.4
cents per KWH for any usage
over 1,000 KWH.
The rate for a 175 watt
security light will increase
from $5.60 to $6.50 per month
and the rate for the 400 watt
light will increase from $8.75
to $10 per month.
Tolley said if the effective
date of CP&L's increase is
delayed, the cooperative will
postpone any increase until
the wholesale rate increase
goes into effect. He said
FBEMC may not know until
Aug. 15 or 20 whether or not
CPAL's request has been
delayed. The increase could
be delayed for as much as five
months, he said.
"The Secretary of Energy
has said publicly that in order
to keep utility companies from
going bankrupt they are going
to have to have bigger in
creases quicker. With that
kind of attitude at the top, I
don't know how that will ride
down to the FERC level on this
rate case,'' Tolley said.
"Tolley said the new rate '
figures do not include the Pur
chase Power and Fuel Adjust
ment charges which fluctuate
each month and are passed on
to members according to
CP&L's charges. He said
these charges are high now
because CP&L's Brunswick
nuclear plant is shut down
again.
Tolley reminded all FBEMC
members to conserve all the
energy they can to help keep
their electricity bills from be
ing so high.
Secondary Road Funds Approved
RALEIGH - The North
Carolina Board of Transporta
tion, at its monthly meeting
here today, approved $30.7
million on a county-by-county
basis for secondary road con
struction improvements dur
ing the next 12 months. This
appropriation was allocated
by the 1981 General Assembly.
According to State
Transportation Secretary
Wit "Bill" Roberson Jr.,
Without the 1981 General
Assembly's passage of Gover
nor Jim Hunt's 'Good Roads'
program, this binding to im
prove our secondary roads
system would not have been
available. We are, indeed, ap
predatiave of the General
Assembly's decision, enabling
us to improve and maintain an
all-weather secondary road
network."
The amount of funding for
each county was determined
by a formula established by
the state legislature. Accor
ding to the formula, every
county receives a percentage
of the total funds based on the
unpaved secondary roads in
the county in relationship to
the total mileage of unpaved
secondary roads in the state.
Board members will be
meeting with the 100 county
boards of commissioners in
public meetings across the
state to review and approve
projects to utilize these funds.
According to Secretary
Roberson as of January 1, 1981
Madison County has 306 miles
of unpaved secondary roads.
The total unpaved secondary
system statewide contains
18,907 miles.
Madison County's share of
the secondary road allocation
approved by the board today
is 9487,426.
Robinson noted that North
Carolina's secondary road
system is composed of 59,368
miles. He said, "These roads,
many of which were the old
and narrow farm-to-market
roads, have become vital
home-to-work routes for our
citizens."
The funds allocated will be
used for improvements to tbe
secondary road system such
as new paving, widening ex
isting paved roads, improving
unpaved roadways to an "all
weather condition," replacing
small bridges and strengthen
ing paved roads to relieve pre
sent weight restrictions.
CP&L To
Undergo
Audit
The North Carolina Utilities
Commission today issued an
order instituting an audit of
Carolina Power ft Light Com
Hendon Backs Tourism Bill
mote tourism, the second
i?rge*t employer in both
North and South Carolina and
the ltth Congressional
District
Nendon. a member of the
01 il Travel and
ministration, replacing the old
U.S. Travel Service.
1 voted for this bill because
of its significance to Western
North Carolina, where the
travel industry generated $144
million in Buncombe County,
the state, Hendon said.
dent federal travel agency,
which will also fund nine new
ovorscas officealMke promo
tion of travel in the United
States, will be headed by an
under secretary of the US