Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Dec. 31, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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The News Record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C. 80th Year No. 2 rHURSDAY, 15c Per Copy From the Front Page INCORRECT DATE Correct Date L )&C<Lf))h er 31 /Qff < Here's Madison County's Year In Review "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Charles Dickens penned those words in the opening paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities." And for years Walter Cronkite, hosting the televi sion show "You Are There" in toned, "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with the events that alter and illuminate our time." Madison Ceunty, in that respect, is no different from the rest of the world. So we've gone back over the front pages of the past S3 issues of the News Record and culled from them a sort of catalog of what went on in lttl. You'll notice that we haven't included every single issue, because there were some weeks that, frankly, there just wasn't much hap pening. But we've stayed in J wmrisgi ii>i ordtr acid to make sure we've included everything good and bad that affected Madison County dur ing 1981. Here goes: JANUARY On New Year's Day, we reported that a large crowd was expected in Raleigh for Madison County's own Liston Ramsey's investiture as Speaker of the House in the North Carolina General Assembly. A reception was held for Ramsey at Raleigh's North Ridge Country Club, where preparations had been made for 800 persons. There were that many from Madison County alone, mostly brought to Raleigh by chartered bus On the 19th, we reported that William M. Hendon had been sworn in as the new 11th District representative from North Carolina on the 5th. A feature story by Scott Fit zgerald on the 22 detailed how Mrs. Louise Dance had been readied from her burning feme by the Marshall Fire Department. The next week, we reported the swearing-in of the county's new Industrial Bonds Board: Auburn Wyatt, Jerry Plem mons, Joe Justice, Ernest Snelson, Leonard Baker, Frank Moore and Myrtle Ann Ray. We also noted that the Madison Central Optimist Club of Marshall, and its president, Bryce Hall, had received awards for distinguished service from the national Optimist organiza tion. 'On that happy note, January came to a close. FEBRUARY February started violently. A young Marshall man, Charles Sexton Jr., was stabb^ ed to death just outside the ci ty limits. Two nights later, lft-year-old Rocky Flemming apparently shot himself in the parking tot of the Madison Plaza Shopping Center. In mid-February, a con troversy arose over a $147,234 Hi MAdjvnr County School System budget. The surplus had not been listed in the School Board's of flcial budget, and its disclosure sparked lively speculation as to the windfall's origin. February also saw prepara tions under way for the pro posed consolidated Marshall Walnut Elementary School and initial step6 towards the formation of a volunteer Are department to serve the western Madison County region. MARCH In early March, the mystery of the carryover in the school system budget was solved; the money ? supplied from Coun ty funds the preceding June ? simply hadn't been listed on the new budget since it was1 in fact a carried-over item. j On March IS, the School I Board reluctantly voted to I send notices of termination to i 46 county 9?fcao! teachers, j Ro^rrt ?ho;Ksji?n t Pohhv < Ponder cited [Apposed federal 1 education cutbacks as the < reason for having to take the step. That sdme week, a widespread power failure left about 800 Madison households without electricity for most of the morning. Power was restored after lunch. APRIL Madison County was shock ed and dismayed in early April at the deaths of two men who apparently died from drinking a combination of li quid Methadone and alcohol. On a much happier note. April also saw Kay Underhill of Shelton Laurel recover her sight after 11 years of total blindness. Then there was the issue about the Little Sandy Mush Bridge and the school bus. The bridge had been condemned, but a school bus was making a twice-daily trip across it. The situation was eventually call ed t? thfssMention of Gov. Jim Hunt. The bridge was rejplac ?d. Zeno Ponder replaced outgoing County Democratic Party Chairman Bill Moore at that position. And three men received ac tive sentences and one a suspended sentence in a bizarre and sensational grave robbery incident that involved attempted theft of gold teeth from skeltons in a mausoleum. MAY In May, the News Record's own Pop Story was honored at an appreciation dinner celebrating his three and a half decades as this paper's editor and publisher. In addi tion to testimonials from numerous colleagues. Pop received congratulations and a special award from Gov. Hunt. Madison County agricultural extension agent Wiley DuVall was also recognized in May - he was one oi four "state agoiiU receive an "Excellence in Tobacco Extension Award" for research and work con nected with that crop. May also saw groundbreak ing for the new Mars Hill Branch Library on Cherry Street in that town. JUNE The first week in June, 16 of the 46 teachers terminated in March were rehired. The Madison County Board of Education voted to reinstate those teachers who qualified as "career" teachers with tenure. On June 15, two men robbed the Hot Springs branch of Wachovia Bank and Trust Company of nearly $50,000. One suspect was captured dur ing the following week in Florida. JULY July, appropriately, started with several bangs. First, reversing its attitude in March, the School Board w wl the htetng of a total of 46 teachers and 33 teacher aides. Then the Madison County Board-* of Commissioners unanimously voted to set the county tax rate at 75c per 9100 for the coming year. And Madison County people and places formed part of a CBS news feature on Ap palachia which had been film ed in June. Meanwhile, the School Board adopted a $6.2 million budget for the coming fiscal year. In mid-July. Mr. and Mrs. Refford Gates of Reidsville presented the Mars Hill Col lege with a highly-prized, complete collection of the first editions of the works of Thomas Wolfe. At month's end. Zeno Ponder was appointed to the State Board of Transportation by Gov. Hunt. And Madisoa High senior Peggy Sexton won a. five-way raw for the office uf State Reporter at the stale TV SANTA $)aV? Wilson, Mar ians Santa's H< er, wa inter viewed TVs Mik am and a on the six ? IS Searching For Happiness By PAT CAUDILL The Mountaineer Special to the News Record While most teenagers were looking for new rock 'n' roll albums, stereo equipment and new clothes under the Christmas tree, Barbara Cook was dreaming of finding her two sisters. She lost them 12 years ago when she was four years old. After being abandoned by her mother and stepfather, she and her sisters, Jean, 2, and Nancy, about 6 months, were separated one day when a worker from the Welfare Department came to their grandfather's home in Madison County and took her two sisters away. "The younger one was crying and she wanted to get out of the car. I'm not sure, but I remember someone slapping her," she says. Two days later, they came to get Barbara. Growing up in several foster homes in Western North Carolina and Tennessee, Barbara often wondered what became of her two sisters, though she admits most of her thoughts were centered on finding a mother and a father. She has since seen her natural mother, who now lives in Madison County, but chooses to live with a family in Crabtree. "I don't think of her as my mother," she says. Now that she is 16 and a junior at Tuscola High School, she is outgrowing the need for parents, and her thoughts have turned to her siblings. "I think about them all the time now," she says. A desperate need to find them was sparked when she saw a movie, "A Long Way Home," and account about a boy who finds his brothers and sisters after they had been adopted. "If he can do it, so can I," Barbara says. A few days ago, she contacted her social worker at the Madison County Welfare Depart ( Continued On Page r / Canton Dogs May Have Prevented Man's Death Ray Rogers can't reverse tbe tragedy of his brother 's death in rural Madison County earlier this month, but he ad freaasd the Haywood County Board ef missioned last weak to try to turn the negative into the positive.' Roger's brother, Dean, a Waynes vilie ? V* x-r.-ft v -vt. it trained dogs flown in Virginia Filing For Elections Begins January 4 Filing for elected offices in Madison County will begin Jan. 4, officially kicking off the area political season.
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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Dec. 31, 1981, edition 1
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