Thursday, June 19, 1986
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DSS Workers Face Layoff
Story; O" Dage 3
Job Training To Be Offered
The Opportunity Corporation of Madison-Buncombe Coun
ties will offer a five-day Job Search Training Session in Mars
Hill at Mars Hill Baptist Church from Monday, June 23
through Friday, June 27 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
There is no cost to participate and transportation will be
provided. For more information call their office in Marshall at
649-3231.
County GOP Meets Sunday
The Madison County Republican Party Executive Commit
tee and all Republican candidates in the November general
election will meet on June 22 at 2 p.m. in the Mars Hill Town
Hall.
Ebbs Chapel VFD Bake Sale
The Ebbs Chapel VFD will sponsor a fund raising project
July 5 beginning at 11 a.m. in the Upper Laurel Community
Center. There will be games, bake goods and crafts for sale.
Dinner will be served from 4:30 p.m. to6;30p.m. Drawings for
prizes will be held at the conclusion of the events. A free blood
pressure screening will be conducted by the area Red Cross.
Donations will be appreciated.
Walnut Creek CD Club Meets
The Walnut Creek Community Development Club will hold
it's monthly meeting on June 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Enon Bap
tist Church Fellowship Hall. The club has voted to begin a
community roadside clean-up every 3rd Saturday of each
month. All community members and residents are urged to at
tend the meeting and participate in the clean-up efforts.
King Family Reunion Set
The family of the late Irving and Martha Stanton King will
hold a reunion on June 30 at 1 p.m. in the Rocky Bluff Cam
pground near Hot Springs. All family members and friends
are invited to attend and bring a picnic lunch.
Davis Family Reunion July 6
The desendents of Fletcher and Julia Rector Davis and Flet
cher and Mattie Roberts Davis will hold a family reunion on
July 6 at Davis Grocery, Redmond Road, Marshall.
The covered dish dinner/reunion will begin at 10 a.m. For
more information, call 649-2490. All family member are* in
vited to attend.
Suspects Arrested
Here Convicted Of
Murder In S.C.
Two Charlotte men arrested in
Marshall last September were con
victed in Greenville County, S.C. on
Saturday of first degree murder. The
men, Ronnie Howard, 28, and Donna
Reotis Weldon, 23, were convicted in
the July, 1985 murder of a Viet
namese woman in Greenville.
On Sunday, the two men were
sentenced to be executed on Oct. 17.
They both face several other murder
trials in South Carolina, North
Carolina and Georgia and are under
investigation in connection with a
series of murders in Maryland.
The two men also face other
charges of armed robbery and bank
robbery in several states. They were
also indicted by the Madison County
grand jury last October on charges of
carrying weapons of mass destruc
tion.
The pair were arrested last
September by Madison County
Sheriff E.Y. Ponder in front of the
Madison County Court House. Sheriff
Ponder apprehended the men without
incident following a tip provided by
deputy Frank Ogle. At the time,
police were seeking the pair for the
robbery of a Pizza Hut restaurant on
Patton Ave. in Asheville.
Sheriff Ponder recovered the
money taken in the robbery and
several shotguns and ammunition
following a search of the stolen car
the suspects were driving.
Illinois Man Is Charged
With Attempted Mnrder
By ROBERT KOENIG
A 31-year old Illinois man was arrested and charged with
two counts of attempted murder Tuesday in connection with a
burned-out Cadillac found on U.S. 25-70.
James K. McElfresh, 31, of Woodland, 111. was charged with
the attempted murder of two Brunswick, Ga. residents, Gail
Broady Young, 31, and Roy S. Mitchell, 38. The two victims
were passengers in the 1973 Cadillac allegedly driven by the
suspect.
Young was taken by ambulance to Memorial Mission
Hospital in Asheville shortly after the car was discovered
about 4 a.m. on Tuesday. She was later taken to the Bum
Center in Chapel Hill suffering from third degree burns over
much of her body. The other passenger, Roy Mitchell, was not
seriously injured in the incident.
Mitchell identified the suspect and told police that he was
sleeping in the back seat of the Cadillac at the time it left the
road. He said that he awoke to find flames in the car and heard
the suspect on the road above say, "It's done."
Young gave a statement to Buncombe County police while at
Memorial Mission Hospital also implicating McElfresh.
Mitchell alleges that the attempted murder was ordered by
a Georgia man who had taken out several life insurance
policies on both himself and Young. Mitchell was unable to
give police information regarding the amounts of the in
surance policies, but did provide the name of the man he says
WORKMAN BLASTS OLD PAINT FROM county courthouse
cupola. Restoration of the landmark continues as work on the
courtroom is completed.
purchased the insurance. No other arrests in the case were
reported as of Wednesday morning.
Mitchell told Madison County Sheriff E.Y. Ponder that he,
Young and McElfresh had traveled together from Georgia.
They had stayed at a Greeneville, Tenn. motel on Sunday
where they were questioned by Greeneville police.
McElfresh told Sheriff Ponder that he was not with the car
at the time it left U.S. 25-70 east of the Old Mill Wheel. He said
he was afraid of Mitchell after learning he had previously
been convicted of manslaughter in Georgia and decided to
leave both Mitchell and Young.
The suspect maintains that he abandoned the Cadillac with
both Mitchell and Young inside asleep at a service station near
Greeneville and hitchhiked to Madison County. McElfresh
said he receieved a ride from a man in a black car who left
him near Hot Springs. He then spent the night in the woods and
walked into town at daybreak for breakfast.
McElfresh was apprehended by Hot Springs Police officer
Johnny Barrett at about 8 a.m. after police had taken
statements from both Mitchell and Young. He was later
transported to the scene of the incident by sheriff's deputy
Japser Treadway where he was identified by Mitchell and
placed under arrest.
A bond hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in Marshall.
Gail Young was listed in fair condition Wednesday morning
at North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.
Commissioners
Approve School
Board Budget
By ROBERT KOENIG
The Madison County Board of Com
missioners met in special session
Monday to work out final details of
the county's 1966-87 budget. Complete
details of the proposed budget will be
made public at a hearing tomorrow at
3 p.m.
The commissioners agreed to
allocate $700,000 for the Madison
County Board of Education during
Monday's session. The school board
had requested $1,566,191 in the up
coming fiscal year. In addition to the
$700,000 in county funding, local
schools are also expected to receive
some $160,000 in capital funds
through the half-cent sales tax. The
commissioners will once again pro
vide 40 percent of the half-cent tax,
the minimum required by law.
The commissioners also met brief
ly with School Superintendent Robert
L. Edwards concerning plans to
relocate the Board of Education of
fices.
Edwards presented the commis
sioners with a letter asking for a
postponement of the planned reloca
tion until Sept. 1. In his letter, the
school superintendant stated that
preparations for the upcoming school
year will occupy his staff's time
throughout the summer months. Ed
wards also expressed concern that
relocating the school system's com
puter at the present time might cause
the loss of important data stored in
memory banks.
Plans call for the Board of Educa
tion to relocate into courthouse of
fices formerly occupied by the county
tax supervisor's office. The tax
supervisor's office would then be
moved into the Board of Education's
first-floor offices. In his letter, Ed
wards termed the third floor offices
as "inadequte for our purposes" and
suggested that other alternatives be
pursued as long-term solutions to the
problem. Board of Education offices
are currently housed in several
buildings in Marshall and Walnut.
Edwards suggested the county
might consider purchasing the
building which houses Dodson's
Grocery or a parcel of land on the
Marshall Bypass.
The commissioners did not approve
Edward's request for a postponement
until Sept. 1, but suggested that the
computer could remain in the first
floor office until state personnel from
Baleigh could assist in moving the
computer upstairs.
Edwards also provided the com
missioners with an updated financial
statement indicating that the school
system would carry over some
111,895 from the current year's
budget. Edwards also told the com
missioners that the school board
-Continued on Page 2
Weaverville Council Drops Plan To Extend Zoning
By ROBERT KOENIG
1
A standing-room-only crowd
greeted WeaverviUe's Town Council
at Monday night's monthly meeting
in Town Hall. Most of the audience
consisted of area residents concerned
by a proposal to extend the town's
zoning jurisdiction one mile beyond
the town limits. The council had con
ducted a public hearing on June 9 con
cerning the proposal and was to vote
on the extraterritorial jursidiction
question during Monday's meeting.
The proposal would have allowed
WeaverviHe officials to set zotng
restrictions on property within one
mile of the town's present limits
Both Marshall and Mars Hill current
have now," the mayor said, adding
that he expected it would take five
years for the town to develop addi
tional water sources.
Town attorney Bill Barnes said that
extraterritorial jurisdiction proposal
was necessary to maintain Weaver
ville's quality of life, and was not a
move to annex additional territory.
Former town attorney Forrest Ball
opposed the proposal, saying that
residents outside the town limits
would have little input in regulations
that would affect their property.
Many other reaidents spoke out
against the proposal before Lasher
cut off the discussion and calle<1 for a
vote on the question. Lasher for
a motion to provide the extrater
Middle School student. Mayor Lasher
presented a plaque to Anthony Davis
for bravery and service to the com
munity. On May 22, Davis assisted
Weaverville police in the capture of a
housebreaking suspect Police of
ficials said that the suspect later con
fessed to nine other break-ins in the
area.
The council unanimously approved
the voluntary annexation of the
former E B Proffitt property on Dula
Springs Rd. The owners of the Speed
way Pood Mart located on the proper
ty had requested the annexation, lite
council also gave unanimous ap
proval to a motion to study the
feasibility of a Joint project with the
North Buncombe Optimists Club to
asserted that he had a two-year con
tract with the former town ad
ministration.
The present council declared
Sprinkle's contract null and void last
Dae. 16 and dismissed the former
town manager on Jan 31. Sprinkle
will be paid 17,500 to settle his claim
against the town and town officials.
The agreement and budget amend
ment providing the funds were ap
proved wltbouti;? tion
Board of Adjustment m i
Robert Dreibelbeis de*wed a report
on his committee s *udy of 0>e
PROPOSED BUDGET lMt-87
TOWN OF WEAVERVILLE
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION 175,577
PUBLIC BUILDINGS 2.300
POLICE DEPARTMENT 152,780
FIRE DEPARTMENT OS, 350
STREETS DEPARTMENT 111,332
SANITATION 117,202
RECREATION 20,408
LIBRARY 3,000
UNAPPROPRIATED FUNDS 00,085
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS 88,008
TOTAL $700,110
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