Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Feb. 27, 1985, edition 1 / Page 1
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*?"""* ? ' i V ???; SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1901 Ip INCORRECT DATE T Correct Date " -1 25< ... V . j jf> 1985 Income Tax Guide Community Calendar Commissioners To Meet Monday The Madison County Board of Commissioners will meet Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the Madison County Court House. The Madison County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the re-renaming of Grandview Road prior to their regular monthly mneeting on March 4. All interested persons are urged to attend. Mars Hill Board Meets March 4 The Mars Hill Board of Aldermen will meet Monday night at 7 : 30 p.m. in Town Hall. Hot Springs Board To Meet The Hot Springs Board of Aldermen will meet on March 4 at 7 : 30 p.m. in the Hot Springs Town Hall. School Board Meets March 6 The Madison County Board of Education will meet on March 6 at 10:30 a jn. in the Madison County Court House. Vegetable Production Meeting Farmers interested in growing vegetables thsi season should plan to attend a production meeting on March 6 at 9 a.m. The meeting will be held at the Chariot Restaurant on 7th Ave. W. in Hendersonville. Lunch will be provided at no charge. The meeting will provide a good opportunity to learn about alternative crops to supplement decreasing tobacco income. For reservations, contact Wiley DuVall at 649-2411 before March 4. Christmas Tree Meetings Set There will be two meetings of interest to Christmas tree growers next week. On March 5 at the Marshall Senior Citizens Center on Long Branch Rd., insect and pest control will be discussed. Soil fertility and fertilizer rates and ap plication times will be discussed on March 7 at the Agriculture Extension office in Marshall. Both meetings will ^>eginat7p.m. Legion Auxiliary Meets The Ladies Auxiliary of Post 317 will hold a meeting March 12 at 7 p.m., weather premitting. 250 Oppose Phone Rate Increase By ROBERT KOENIG and BRENDA PARKER Some 250 Madison County residents expressed their opposition to a proposed rate increase in local telephone service last Tuesday morning at a hearing held in Mar shall. Three members of the Utilities Commission heard comments from the public regarding Continental Telephone's request for a 21 percent rate increase. The meeting was held in the First Baptist Church. Originally scheduled for the Department of Social Services headquarters, the meeting site was changed in order to accomodate the large crowd. Utilities Commission chairman Edward Hipps and commission members Ruth Cook and Hartwell Campbell listened for five hours as f residential and business telephone customers opposed the rate increase. I Continental Telephone was a reporesented at the hearing by Kent t Burns. Representatives of the Public f Staff, Attorney General and Pisgah Legal Services also attended the i meeting. Continental filed for a $4.5 million increase on Oct. 1, 1964. The rate increase, if approved, would raite residential telephone sutomers monthly bills an average of $5, while business telephone customers would see their bills increase by 12.4 per cent. In making the application for in creased rates, Continental has also , proposed to eliminate zone charges for outlying telephone customers. Althea Stamey Celebrates 100th Birthday IStomeyJormerlyof r a resident of the Nursing Home, Ffcfr Mtth birthday afternoon with family and friend*. Mr* Stamey was born on February 25, 1885 In Del Rio, Tenn. Mrs. Stame) was joined by her g randda tighter, Joy Roberts, Iter ton, Lloyd Stamey and her four great Hie Madison Man ' f boarded many teachers from Hot Springs High School and remem bered a time when Mrs. Stamey took to her watermelon patch with a shotgun to ward off thieves. Longevity is an apparent family trait in Mrs. Stanley's dan. Her granddaughter reports that Mrs. Stanley's mother, Hester Fleming Cogdill, lived well Into her 90'*. Asked her secret to a long life, Mrs replied, 1 have no ?eret. I ? 1 a clean life. I new k. or drank ?nd didnt chew or dif it I Joe Griffey Fired Dodson, Lunsford Vote To Dismiss Police Chief By ROBERT KOENIG Marshall police chief Joe Griffey was fired by the Marshall Board of Aldermen Monday night at a special called meeting attended by nearly 100 Marshall residents. With two television camera crews lighting up the Town Hall like a Hollywood set, aldermen John Dodson and Sammy Lunsford voted to dismiss Griffey. Ed Niles, who had earlier proposed a motion to reintstate the police chief, opposed the firing. Monday's special called meeting was the third such session in recent weeks. John Dodson called for an emergency meeting on Feb. 13 at which Griffey was suspended. On Feb. 19, Mayor Betty Wild had called an emergency meeting to discuss a proposed settlement of former police chief Carlie Gunter's lawsuit against the town. " I think Mr . Griffey is getting the royal shaft, I'm not through fighting this . " -Mayor Betty Wild Griffey's firing stems from a February 8 chase during which he shot nine times at a fleeing suspect in a Jeep. The suspect was eventually apprehended and charged with four misdemeanors. Mayor Wild opened the 6:30 p.m. meeting by calling for comments from the crowd of Marshall residents attending the meeting. LunsfoKMhen said there was np need for any discussion and called for a vote on' firing or reinstating the police chief. At that point, Ed Niles made a motion to reinstate Griffey. Niles' motion coudn't find a second among the other two aldermen and died without a vote. JOE GRIFFEY spoke with reporters following his dismissal Monday night. Wild explained that Edwards is no longer a certified officer. He had been patrolling with Griffey, but couldn't be used following Griffey's suspension. The mayor also reported that the town's police telephone is still connected to Griffey's residence. Griffey said he is relaying calls to the mayor or town police. Griffey's lawyer told reporters following the meeting that his client will sue the town for violating his civil rights. No further legal action has been taken at this time. Griffey declined to comment on the dismissal other than to say that "It went the way I thought it would." The former police chief also charged that politics were behind his dismissal. John Dodson then followed by making a motion to dismiss Griffey for his actions during the Feb. 8 chase. Lunsford then Continued on Page 8 Griffey Won't Face Charges By ROBERT KOENIG Suspended Marshall police chief Joe Griffey won't face criminal charges for iring his service pistol at a fleeing motorist. District Attorney James T. lusher declined to charge Griffey following an investigation of the Feb. 8 ihhoting incident conducted by assistant DA James Baker. While refusing to prosecute the officer, Rusher also criticized Griffey's ictions in a letter to Marshall alderman John Dodson. In the letter Rusher itated, "Chief Griffey's conduct on this insctance is without any basis for ustification. Even so, it is my conclusion that the conduct does not tecessarily amount to a violation of criminal law." Rusher added that his ?pinion in the matter would have been different had one of the shots struck the leeing motorist. Assistant District Attorney James Baker interviewed Griffey and acting mlice chief Larry Davis, who was driving the police car at the time of the hooting incident, during his investigation. Baker also spoke with Marshall own officials, the motorist invloved in the shooting and members of the man's amily during the course of his investigation. Although critical of Griffey's action, Ruisher also declined to make a ecommendation concerning the police chiefs removal from the town's force. " This conduct on the part of the Chief of Police is excessive and , in all respects , completely innappropriate. " -District Attorney James T. Rusher In his letter to Dodson, the DA wrote, "I have no intention of stating to you whether or not Chief Griffey should be censored, removed or retained... I am not suggesting that the chief should be fired or otherwise, but I do point out to you that your town governing body has the authority to supervise your em ployees..." In closing his letter. Rusher suggested that Marshall establish a policy and procedural manual for the town's police officers to spell out what action should be taken in specific situations. Rusher closed by offering to assist the town in creating such a manual. Settlement Will Cost $3,700 An out-of-court settlement between Marshall town officials and former police officer CarUe Gunter will cost Marshall at least $3,700. The town and the former policeman reached agreement on an out-of-court settlement last week as the Madison County Superior Court prepared to bear the case. Gunter had charged Mayor Betty Wild and the Marshall Board of Aldermen with libel and wrongful dismissal and sought $390,000 in damages. Town officials and attorneys in volved in the settlement have declined comment on the case. Court papers in the case have not yet been filed with the Clerk of Superior Court's office in Marshall, but a check of Marshall's checking account records indicates that a check in the amount of $2,500 was written to Herbert Hyde and Carlie Gunter last Wednesday. Hyde is the Asheville attorney who represented Gunter in his lawsuit. / / It is still not clear if the $2,500 is the full amount of the settlement and officials have declined to comment. In addition to the $2,300 check presented to Gunter and his attorney, Marshal) has also received bills totalling $1,200 from the Asheville law firip which represented the town in the lawsuit I ? /? ? ' ? .? ?< -v '^v \ ?; A-B Tech Students Offer Tax Help V.aT A B Tech accounting students are and earned income credits Because days and times for utMmet varies, taxpayers arc rwpiiHad to o*H Pam Baker at A-B Tech, SM-lttl, extension Ml for aa Individuals coming to r atton to ot. Si te ts Form W-2) from 1999). o I B) return irv md
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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Feb. 27, 1985, edition 1
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