m
the News Record
SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COU starling
GENTRY i JR
? i RT 3? BOX 318 ^
82nd Year No. 33 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSH MARSHALL N- *" 15? per Copy
County OOP Elects Willis
C.N. WILLIS
C.N. Willis of Mars Hill was
elected chairman of the
Madison County Republican
Party during a meeting of the
county executive committee
Monday night in Marshall.
Willis succeeds Mars Hill
businessman Bob Phillips,
who resigned the post shortly
after being elected in March.
Willis was nominated for the
county chairmanship by assis
tant district attorney James
Baker. No other nominations
were made, and Willis was
elected by a unanimous voice
vote.
The election of Willis as
county chairman created
another vacancy on the ex
ecutive committee. Prior to
his elevation as chairman,
Willis had served as county
treasurer
Mars Hill attorney Ed
Krause was elected to replace
Willis as treasurer at
Monday's meeting.
Speaking to the eight
members present Monday
night, Willis said, "I'd rather
not be in this position, but I'll
do the best I can I've always
enjoyed politics, getting out
and talking with people and
trying to change some minds.
I guess it's in my blood."
Before turning over the
duties of treasurer to Krause,
Willis made a final financial
report to the executive com
mittee. He reported that the
county party organization had
$819.95 in the treasury and
that it had no outstanding
debts except several ads run
by Marshall radio station,
WMMH. Willis told the ex
ecutive board, "We have more
money now that I've ever seen
at the beginning of a cam
paign."
The new county chairman
urged members of the ex
ecutive committee to begin
planning candidates for next
year's elections for clerk of
court and tax collector. Willis
told the members, "It's time
to think about next year's can
didates. A lot of people need a
good job and there's a couple
downstairs that are there for
the getting." Later, he added,
"If we can get our registration
up, we can^get some people
working here in the cour
thouse from 8 until 4:30."
Willis and committee
member Bill Tisdale praised
the efforts of former county
chairman Dr. Larry Stern of
Mars Hill. Stem conducted the
nomination procedure during
Monday night's sesion.
Willis also told the commit
tee that the party will plan to
hold several fund-raising din
ners in the spring. The new
county chairman also
reported that vice chairman
Mrs. Pat Roberts has been
recovering from illness and is
expected to resume her party
duties next week.
New Rollins Bridge
Receives Approval
The Marshal] Board of
Aldermen met in a special ses
sion last Thursday to give ap
proval to a $496,000 bond issue
to fund the town's sewer im
provement project.
Under the terms of the
resolution passed Thursday,
the town will issue the an
ticipation bonds to provide in
terim financing for the project
which began last week. The
anticipation bonds will be sold
through the Local Govern
ment Commission on Aug. 30.
Funds for the sewer project
will be available on Sept. 13.
The short-term bonds approv
ed Thursday will mature on
Jan. 18, 1964. Funding from
the Farmers Home Ad
ministration will pay off the
bonds.
The resolution to approve
the interim bond sale was
made by town alderman
James Penland and seconded
by John Dodson. Alderman
Jackie Davis was not present
at Thursday's special session.
In other business to come
before the board. Harold Con
ner asked the town for
assistance in repairing a
broken sewer line near his
home on Hill Street. Conner
said that sewage coming from
the line was entering his pro
perty and undermining the
foundation of a garage on the
property. The board approved
having a crew make tem
porary repairs to the line until
the sewer project work can
proceed to Hill Street.
The aldermen also gave ap
proval for funding to secure
the traffic light on the corner
of Main and Bridge Streets.
Mayor Lawrence Ponder said
that the Rural Electrification
Agency (REA) would install
an anchor in front of the Story
Printing Co. to secure the
light. Ponder said that an
estimate provided by REA in
dicated that the cost of the
project to the town would be
about $450. The town must
purchase a 35-foot steel beam
and concrete to secure the
light. KEA has agreed to pro
vide the labor on the project
The board also gave ap
proval, at the recommenda
tion of the mayor, to funding
the replacement of the wooden
bridge leading into the Rollins
community. Ponder said that
the town currently has ap
proximately $14,000 in Powell
Street funds from the state
available to fund the project.
Estimates provided by state
engineers stated that the total
cost of replacing the bridge
would be $13,830.
Work on the Rollin bridge is
not expected to begin for six
months because the state has
a backlog of projects to com
plete before work can begin.
The project will replace the
bridge's current wooden
roadbed with one made of
steel and will also replace the
wooden handrails with steel.
The aldermen also con
sidered a motion to pay the
Perry Alexander Construction
Co. some $18,411 for work on
N.C. 213 in the Hayes' Run sec
tion. Mayor Ponder told the
aldermen that the town would
be reimbursed by the state
from Clean Water funds.
The $18,411 is the result of
additional blasting and
repairs the construction com
pany made during the project
on N.C. 213.
After some discussion of the
matter in which it was reveal
ed that Marshall has only
$38,000 on hand in the general
fund, the aldermen decided
not to pay Perry Alexander
Construction.
Town clerk Shirley Sexton
announced that Aug. 19 was
the first day for candidates to
file for offices in the
November municipal elec
tions. Candidates for office
have until noon on Sept. 9 to
file for the election.
DA Rusher Opposes Discovery Law
By ELIZABETH HUNTER
Trl-C'ity New* Journal
The new discovery law,
passed by the North Carolina
General Assembly in the final
days of its session last month,
will seriously hamper
criminal investigations and
prosecutions, Mitchell County
Sheriff Coy D. Hollifield and
District Attorney Tom Rusher
said last week.
Rusher called a press con
ference last Wednesday in the
Yancey County courthouse to
review the new law with law
enforcement officers and
media representatives from
the 24th Judicial District. At
tending the conference, in ad
dition to Hollifield, were
Avery Sheriff Clinton Phillips,
Yancey Sheriff Kermit Banks,
Watauga Sheriff Red Lyons,
Burnsville Police Chief Joe
Gillespie and Assistant
District Attorney James
Baker.
The new law, Rusher said,
goes further than laws in any
other states of federal rules of
discovery in requiring pro
secutors to divulge informa
tion to individuals charged
with crimes.
The new law requires that
prosecutors disclose to a
defendant any statement he
made to anyone, whether or
not that statement will be used
against him in court
Formerly, Rusher said, pro
secutors were only required to
disclose statements made by
the defendant to law enforce
ment officers or investigators
which would be used in the
defendant's trial.
District attorneys, sheriffs
and chiefs of police across the
state are up in arms about the
new law, which they say
became law so quickly they
were not provided with a
forum in which to register
their objections, Rusher said.
He said the law would
hamper investigations
because law enforcement of
ficers rely heavily on infor
mants in criminal investga
tions, and officers fear these
sources of information will
"dry up" in the face of the new
law.
Often, Rusher said, infor
mation provided by paid infor
mants or "good citizens" is in
valuable in beginning in
vestigations, though often it is
not used in an ensuing trial.
And though the new law does
not require officers to disclose
the name of the source of in
formation, Rusher said he
thinks it quite possible that a
i
defendant "could put two and
two'tbgether" and figure out
who made the statement to the
police.
Chances are, he said, a
defendant will remember who
he talked to, and will therefore
know the identity of the infor
mant. This could result in the
informant's personal safety
being endangered. Rusher
said.
Rusher said, however, that
his office will continue to
honor any promises of con
fidentiality it makes, even if it
becomes necessary to dismiss
some cases as a result.
Rusher said it is vital, as
long as the law is on the books,
that the public be well
informed about what it does
and does not cover. All four
sheriff's agreed that the law is
too new for most people to
know much about.
Although most of what has
been written about the new
law has had to do with what
Rusher characterized as 'ex
treme cases," he predicted it
will hinder efforts to selve
routine cases as well. Already, -
he said, law enforcement of
ficers from eastern counties,
where drug smuggling is big
business, have indicated the
law has cut down on the flow of
information from informants.
But Rusher indicated the
law will also affect cases such
as child abuse, where often
times a wife will tell police
about her husband's actions.
"You can imagine," he said,
"what the result would be if
the husband were to learn
about those statements."
Hollifield estimated that 75
percent of "the cases we
make" are aided by infor
mants, but Banks placed the
percentage at close to 100 in
"serious crimes. It's not the
way it is on TV," he said,
"where you start with a spot of
blood and thirty minutes later
you have them all rounded up
in jail."
Rusher said only one section
of the new law ? the one
outlining disclosure ? has
proved to be controversial.
The other two sections, he
said, are merely codification
of existing law. He said the
controversial section was
deleted in committee, but was
added again from the house
floor by Billy Watkins, a
representative who is also a
defense attorney.
Subsequently, he said, the
law sailed through both the
Senate and the House, and
became law so quickly that
even Gov Bunt said he could
do nothing tostop it. Almost no
one voted against its passage,
he said.
Rusher said he believes
most legislators were led to
believe that the law contained
nothing but codification of ex
isting law. He said he feels the
legislature acted "hastily, but
not illegally" in passing the
law, and thought he favors its
repeal, he would be satisfied
with a delay of the effective
date until after the legislature
can meet again next year to
reconsider the measure.
Gov. Hunt will call a special
session of the legislature to
reconsider the measure.
Rusher said, and Speaker
Liston Ramsey has appointed
a special sub committee con
sisting of all attorney
members of the house to
reconsider the measure. The
subcommittee, chaired by
Rep. A1 Adams, D-Wake, has
invited spokesman for the
state's district attorneys,
sheriffs and chiefs of police to
testify before it.
Rusher said one reason the
law may have become law so
quickly is because, not only
were legislators anxious to ad
( Continued on Page 8)
Five Arrested In Drug Raids
SBI Destroys Million
Dollar Pot Crop
Agents of the State Bureau
of Investigtion conducted a
series of raids in Madison
County on August 16 that net
ted an estimated $1 million in
marijuana. The raids led to
the arrest of five Madison
County residents on charges of
manufacturing a controlled
substance.
Arrested during the Tues
day raid were Varden Royce
Cody, 28, of Mars Hill; Avery
"Molt" Fender, 62, of
Grapevine; Lionel Filiss, 30,
also of Grapevine ; and Reuten
Payne and his wife, Tilda Nor
ton Payne, of Route 4, Mar
shall. Fender was also charg
ed with trafficing in controlled
substances.
The arrests followed three
days of aerial surveillance of
marijuana fields in the Lower
Creek Walnut sections of the
county, according to J.N.
Minter, supervisor of the
SBI's Asheville office. Minter
said the SBI was assisting
Sheriff E.Y Ponder with the
marijuana arrests because
the sheriff is occupied with the
continuing investigation into
the murders of William and
Bonnie Gahagan earlier this
month.
Minter reported that the SBI
is continuing to fly
surveillance aircraft over the
county in an effort to identify
marijuana fields.
Firefighters Lend Each
Other A Hand
By ELIZABETH SQUIRE ,
Second of Two Article <
Buncombe and Madison
County fire fighters are linked j
t>y mutual aid agreements bet- I
ween some departments: I
Marshall and Leicester, for I
example. Also, the Buncombe 1
County Fire Fighters Associa- s
:ion can represent them both. 1
Mars Hill also belongs. 1
Madison County has no I
separate fire fighting associa
ion. (Marshall belongs to the i
Western North Carolina 1
Association). I
The Buncombe 1
Association's new 5,000-gallon i
linker truck will soon be sta- <
ioned in Leicester, on call in I
Dig emergencies by any i
iiember of the association, I
says Chief Floyd Rickard of (
Leicester. All members of the
^orth Buncombe Association <
lave mutual aid. i
A new drawing of fire t
?esponsibility lines by the
Buncombe Association now
makes Sandy Mush definitely
Leicester's responsibility. The
company had been answering
:alls in the area, says chief
Rickard, but technically San
iy Mush had been a no-man's
land where fire fighting was
:oncerned.
Leicester, which has two
engines, a rescue vehicle, two
imbulances and a small brush
ruck, also answers calls
(Continued on Page 3)
Hot Weather And Drought Damaging County Burley Crop
The Madison County burley
tobacco crop may be off as
much as SO percent from last
year according to county ex
tension agent Wiley DuVall.
Reduced tobacco allotments
and thii summer's record set
ting beat wave are to blame
for the poor crop.
DuVall told The News
Record, "It looks bad this
year Right now, it's bard to
put a handle on Just what we'll
have. County-wide, we're off
by 30 percent from last year's
allotment. All together, we
may be off by as much as 50
This year, we've had just the
opposite."
The timing of rainfall is im
portant to the bur ley crop
which accounts for nearly 60
percent of Madison County's
agricultural income. "Tobac
co doesn't neod as much rain
as a lot of crops, but it needs it
at strategic times,'' DuVall
said. Farmers who are able to
irrigate their tobacco fields
are doing much better this dry
summer than those who can
not bring water to their fields.
DuVall estimates that only
10 percent of Madison County
BURLEY
fields longer."
Marshall ami the Mars ]
btm have been thr t
fv. Il.ll ?_
rw cived sufflcie
rainfall i .vill harvest a
adequate rainfall. Hie exten |
sion service recently con
ducted a Held day at the farm
of Roy Amnions to
demonstrate new techniques.
Ammons has some of the beat
tobacco in the county this
year, according to DuVall,
who works closely with An
mon because, as he safa*
Ko\ , doing a lot of things
right." \
Mor.! than Uf 8! -?< rs at
tended the fieM
at the j