>9Habr> sf?
COUNT^CxBRARV
gf.neral DELIVERY
MARSHALL.
PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1901
>5
ftwfe ' ' '""^'5 'i ? ' ; ?
it. -
Thursday, May 15, 19?6
Patriots Reach Regionals
.
- Story On Page 8
Community
Calendar
American Legion, Auxiliary To Meet
The American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary will hold a joint
meeting on May 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Legion Hall on Back
Street in Marshall. All members are urged to attend.
Walnut CD Club Plans Meeting
The Walnut Creek Community Development Club will meet
on May 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Enon Baptist Church fellowship
hall. The scheduled May 26 meeting has been cancelled due to
the Memorial Day holiday: Club members and others are in
vited to attend and discuss plans to organize a Community
Watch program.
Rabies Clinics To To Be Held
A series of rabies clinics will be held on May 17, 21 and 24 in
Shelton Laurel, Ebbs' Chapel and Mars Hill. On May 17,
clinics will be held from 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Laurel
School and Laurel Clinic. On May 21, a clinic will be conducted
from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. in the Upper Laurel Community
Center. On May 24, Dr. J.R. Allen will conduct a clinic from
noon until 3 p.m. at his Gabriel's Creek office near Mars Hill.
Walnut-Brush Creek CD Plans
May 18 Chicken Dinner
The Walnut-Brush Creek Community Development Club
will sponsor a chicken dinner on May 18 at Walnut Elementary
School from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Proceeds from the dinner will
be used in the club's community improvement projects.
Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children under 12.
Tickets are availabel from club members or at the door on
May 18.
Lt. Col, Edward F. Rector,
World War II Hero, To Attend
Memorial Day Ceremonies
Lt. Col. Edward F. Rector, a Marshall native who was wide
ly decorated during World War II, will be the honored guest
during the Memorial Day observance planned for May 24.
Rector served as a member of the 23rd Fighter Group of the
14th Air Force, better known as the "Flying Tigers."
Lt. Col. Rector's unit destroyed some 940 Japanese planes
during combat and was responsible for more than 20,000
enemy casualties. Rector received decorations from three na
tions for his heroism in the Pacific. His many awards include
the Silver Star, the American and British Distinguished Fly
ing Crosses, the Air Medal with oak leaf clusters, the Purple
Heart, the fifth and sixth Orders of the Cloud Banner and the
Chinese Starred Wings. >
A native of Marshall who now make his home in a Virginia
suburb of Washington, D.C., Rector graduated from Marshall
H.S. and attended Catawba College.
He was an original member of the American Volunteer
group in World War II and as a member of the China Air Task
Force may have put in more combat time overseas than any
American soldier.
The Memorial Day observances are being sponsored by the
American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary of Post No. 317 in Mar
shall. A noon parade down Main Street and a patriotic pro
gram are planned as part of the day's activities. Crafts booths
will be set up in the Legion parking lot on Gudger Street.
The program is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Mar
shall Elementary School gymnasium. Congressman Bill Hen
don and Speaker of the House Liston B. Ramsey will speak
along with Lt. Col. Rector.
Clean Streams Volunteers
County Commissioners Tell
Bd. Of Education : 'Get Out'
By WILLIAM LEE
The Madison County Board of
County Commissioners last week
served the Board of Education with a
form of eviction notice, giving
Superintendent Robert Edwards 30
days to find new offices and vacate
those he currently occupies in the
Madison County Court House.
In a workshop meeting last
Wednesday, May 7, the County Com
missioners decided that it would be
more convenient to the elderly and
handicapped citizens of Madison
County to have the tax supervisor's
offices located on the first floor, adja
cent to the tax collector's offices. The
tax supervisor's offices are currently
on the third floor.
School Superintendent Edwards, in
commenting on the eviction, said that
it was fine with him if they moved,
"just as long as they (the County
Commissioners) are willing to ap
propriate funds for a school ad
ministration building as we requested
in the past."
"Currently we have administrative
offices scattered all over," Edwards
added "We have food services in
Walnut, guidance counselling ser
vices at the Marshall School, and
Chapter 1 support facilities in another
building here in Marshall."
"The county commissioners will
either have to appropriate those
funds, and funds for renting offices in
the meantime," Edwards continued.
"Otherwise, we would have to move
our offices to either Ebbs Chapel or
Beech Glen, and I don't think the peo
ple of Madison would be too happy
with that arrangement."
Currently the Board of Education
has deeded to the county two of its
former school buildings at Ebbs
Chapel and Beech Glen for use as day
care and community centers, and
senior citizens meal sites.
"We've been in the Courthouse
about 40 years, I believe," said school
board chairman Bobby Ponder, "and
I really can't see us moving now. The
Board of Education will be discussing
this at its next meeting."
In other business, the county com
missioners tabled any decision on
repairing or replacing the cupola for
the courthouse, awaiting word from
the State Department of Archives and
History about grant approval for
state allocated funds.
Since the courthouse is on the Na
tional Historic Register, an omnibus
bill currently before the General
Assembly is expected to look
favorably on funds to restore the
courthouse, according to architect
Wayne Roberts.
Roberts told the commissioners
that they had received two bids to
restore the cupola. It would require
cleaning, painting and scraping,
priming of old metals, and replacing
of any damaged sheet metal. It would
then require grinding and smoothing
before applying two coats of heavy in
dustry silver paint. Neither of the two
bids included building a new wooden
base for support to the structure, nor
have any estimates been received for
placing the cupola back atop the cour
thouse.
The two bids came from Superior
Sheet Metal of Hendersonville, for
$23,500, and Maintenance Contracting
of Indiana, at $28,000. The commis
sioners also received a bid of $108,000
from Camelsville Industries of Ken
tucky to build a replica of the cupola.
"I think we will have to wait on
these grant proposals before pro
ceeding," said Commission Chair
man James Ledford. "On our own we
do not have the funds for such a pro
ject and, by law, are required to have
such funds available before entering
into any agreements."
Ledford also told the commis
sioners that the $233,000 allocated for
the roof Repair has not included pain
ting and plaster repair for the
upstair's courtroom.
Roberts said that they had made a
pre-application to the Dept. of Ar
chives for (100,000 to make further
repairs to the cupola, the front por
tico, and the stairways.
"We can also apply each year for
other funds such as office renova
tions, stairwell repair, and installing
elevators," Roberts said. /
The county commissioners approv
ed the purchase of two new air condi
tioning units. A large unit for the
courtroom facilities was priced at
$14,655. A second, smaller unit for the
tax collector's offices will cost $2,075.
The county commissioners heard
some discouraging words from its
local department of transportation.
As of next year, the state would be
dropping its matching fund percen
tage from 50 percent to 20 percent.
The local transportation department
currently has an annual budget of
$105,000 providing bus transportation
for the Mountains of Madison and
Unaka Centers, buses for meals-on
wheels programs, and general
maintenance vehicles for the County.
Chairman Ledford said that with
state funds being filtered down in
many areas, the county may have to
consider phasing out some programs
and departments altogether, among
them being their transportation ser
vices. The matter will be discussed
-Continued on Page 12
Continuing Drought Causing Worry
For Farmers, Town Officials
By WILLIAM LEE
From every indication, Madison
County is suffering from its worse
drought since 192J. Figures released
the National Weather Service in
dicate that the area received only 2.9
inches of rain from March 1 to April
30, down a total of 5.98 inches below
normal for this time of year.
"It's certainly the worse I've seen
it in my lifetime," said Agriculture
Extention Services Director Wiley
DuVall. "Some are pointing to 1925 as
the worse we've had, but the in
dicators seem to point to the worse
drought in over 100 years before the
dry spell ends."
Emergency buttons have not yet
been pushed, however, by any
authorities. In Tennessee, the TVA
has requested people refrain from us
ing water to wash their cars or water
lawns, and Weaverville this week
made the same suggestions to itp
citizo.K. Mars Hill is also con
templating such conservation
measures, but all fall short of any
mandatory limits at this point.
"The two reservoirs we have are
extremely low at this point," said
Charles Home, town manager of
Weaverville "We have no way of
knowing how low the wells are. We
feel that if the people will conserve,
then we should have no problem."
Mars Hill's water supply has been
further depleted by heavy usage in
flushing its water and sewer lines the
last few months during the construc
tion of its sewer system. Thetdrought
has them considering alternate day
water usage if the rains don't come
soon.
French Broad Electric is currently
running its hydroelectric facility at
less than on^-half capacity, accor
ding to Rick TMmasOR, hydroelectric
plant engineer for?FBEMC.
"We are currently running only one
turbine," said Thomason, "and that
is running at only 45 percent capaci
ty."
However, Thomason adds that
FBEMC's main source of electricity
is what it purchases from Carolina
Power and Light. If their own
hydroelectric resources dwindle they
will be able to purchase more from
CP&L, whose main plants are either
coal burining or nuclear energy.
Charlie Chambers of Wastewater
Services, Inc. of Asheville is in
charge of monitoring Marshall's
water system. He said as far as he
could tell Marshall's water supply
was "holding its own."
"So far the wells are maintaining
their level," said Chambers. "But we
have no way of measuring the depth
of the wells, we only know the flow."
According to recent figures by the
Department of Natural Resources
and Community Development, the
Western North Carolina region is ap
proximately U inches low in its water
table for this time of year.
But while city water supplies have
not reached stages to cause any
alarm, the drought is seriously hur
ting agricultural production. Accor
ding to the latest North Carolina Crop
and Livestock soil report, 83 percent
-Continued on Page 5
Arsonist Strikes
On Haves' Run
- ? \ ?
Fire and police officials su&pect
that a series of fires in vacant homes
along Hayes' Run were started by ar
sonists on Saturday night.
The Marshall Volunteer Fire Dept.
responded to a call around 9 p.m. on
Saturday. Garry Moore was among
the first firemen on the scene. Moore
said that three of the abandoned
houses were on fire when he arrived
and that the fourth house, a cinder
block structure, erupted in flames
minutes later. Members of the Mars
Hill VFD were called in to assist
because of the threat of forest Fires
due to recent dry conditions
Two of the houses were completely
destroyed. The other two homes were
also heavily damaged by fire. Agents
Of
from the State Bureau of Investiga
tion (SBI) have been called in to in
vestigate.
The Saturday fires weren't the only
crime Marshall's firemen
discovered. While the volunteers
were occupied by the Hayes' Run
fires, theives made off with
flashlights worth an estimated $100.
Last week, a - similar series of
suspicious fires destroyed four va
cant buildings in the Shelton Laurel
area. Arson is suspected in both
cases. Area residents are asked to be
alert for suspicious activity near
abandoned or vacant buildings in the
community. Suspicious activities in
these areas should be reported im
mediately to the Madison County
Sheriff's Dept. at 649-Z721.
SMOKE CONINUES TO RISE from the ruins of an abandoned
house on Hayes' Run in Marshall. House was one of four
destroyed during series of suspicious Saturday night fires.
Cause of the fires is still under investigation.
Bray Murder Trial Begins
Jury selection for the murder trial
of William Bray continued this week
as attornies questioned potential
jurors in the Buncombe County
Superior Court in Asheville
Testimony in the case had been ex
pected to begin on Monday, but was
postponed when only nine jurors had
be?ti selected at the close of Friday's
session. An addition juror was named
on Monday and jury selection con
tinued or Tuesday. The jury selection
process will continue until pro
secutors and defense attornies can
asked to determine if Bray is to be ex
ecuted should they decide to convict
him on the first-degree murder
charge
The potential Jurors are each being
questioned regarding their opinions
on capital punishment by both the
prosecuting and defense attornies
Twenty fourth Judicial Distrk* At
toraey Tom Rusher and assistant I ) A
Jim Baiter are ing the case.
v is Jefende<! Marshall
lawyers Joseph and Stephen Huff
C J Donald
reports of the case and if they have
the
formed an opinion regarding
defendant's guilt or innocence.
A recent Supreme Court ruling
allows potential jurors who are op
posed to capital punishment to be ex
cused from capital trials
Both Bray and Rios were captured
by lawmen in Sprtng Creek
September following a
manhunt They have been held I
to stand I
Riosisi
WtLMAI
s ruled h?t the
courtroorr . . !i tt tria
Ti tiraoo] in th ? -ouldb* i:
on Wednead ti . ?u ; it