Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Aug. 14, 1986, edition 1 / Page 1
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: NEWS RECORD amtviriv THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1901 _SL_ Thursday, August 14, 1986 25c Inspector Cites Poor Maintenance At Recreation Center ? Story On P.10 jl.-. _ .-??? , Pool Hours To Change The Marshall Recreation Center swimming pool will be open from 3:30 until 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays beginning on Aug. 19. The pool will continue to operate from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The pool is closed on Mondays. Democrats Plan Aug. 30 Breakfast The Madison County Democratic Party is sponsoring a breakfast at Madison H.S. on Aug. 30 from 7:30 until 8:30 a.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Former Gov. Terry Sanford and Rep. James McClure Clarke will be th? guest speakers. Local Democratic candidates are also expected to attend the unity meeting. Republican Party Picnic Planned The Madison County Republican party picnic will be held August 23 beginning at 5 p.m. at the Old Mill Wheel Cafe. Everyone is invited to attend and bring a covered dish. Youth Soccer Meeting Scheduled An organizational meeting for the Youth Soccer Program in Madison County is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the student union at Mars Hill College on Thursday, August 14. Individuals in terested in coaching or coordinating the program are urged to attend. Weaverville Council Meets Monday The Weaverville Town Council meets on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall. Ponder-Ramsey Reunion Sunday The annual Ponder-Ramsey family reunion will be held Sun day at noon at Zenina Lake. Lunch will be catered by Lawrence Ponder and served at 12:30 p.m. All family members and friends are invited to attend. T Franklin and Wallin Reunion The Franklin and Wallin family reunion will be held August 17 beginning at 6 p.m. at Ricker's Cafeteria in Greeneville, Tenn. All relatives and friends are invited to attend. Worley Family Reunion Planned The Worley family reunion will be held August 30 beginning at noon at the home of Raymond and Margaret Wilde on Walnut Creek Road. All relatives and friends are invited to at tend and bring a covered dish. MADISON COUNTY FARMERS RECEIVED some 42 tons of donated hay from Kentucky last week. Truckload of the donated feed was distributed Friday afternoon in Marshall to more than 20 local farmers. Drought Not Drying Marijuana Crop RALEIGH- The drought currently plaguing most North Carolina farmers has had little impact on the state's marijuana growers according to the director of the State Bureau of Investigation. The recent discovery of more than 70,000 marijuana plants in a Tran sylvania County corn Held is an in dication that marijuana growing con tinues despite the dry conditions. The discovery of the large field near Brevard was the largest drug seizure of the year. SBI director Robert Morgan reports that most seizures tyiis year have been smaller, well-tended and The SBI keeps a marijuana spot ting plane in the air throughout the growing season. Morgan said that many local law enforcement agencies and National Guard 'units are also taking to the skies in search of the il licit plants "Anytime we c?n capture drugs before they get on the streets, we save the people of this state a lot of problems," Morgan said. "Most of the marijuana we encounter on the streets in North Carolina has been grown in North Carolina." Statewide, SO people have been ar retted on charges of manufacturing a Testimony Begins In Rios Murder Trial By ROBERT KOENIG HENDERSONVILLE- Testimony in the first degree murder trial of Jimmy Dean Rios enters its second week today as the prosecution continues to pre sent its case against the 24-year old Arkansas native. Superior Court Judge Mary Pope presides over the case being heard in Henderson County Superior Court. Rios is charged with murdering State Trooper Bobby Lee Coggins at a scenic overlook near Hot Springs last September 14. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case. Testimony began last Thursday after attornies agreed on a jury of six men. six women and two male alternates. In his opening remarks to the jury. District Attorney Tom Rusher said that much of the evidence against Rios was circumstantial, but that the state would prove that Rios took part in Trooper Coggins' murder. Rusher told the jurors, "As Trooper Coggins endeavored to find the truth, he learned that Mr Rios and Mr. Bray were considered fugitives and armed. Because he learned too much. Bobby Lee Coggins was executed by three bullets to his head." Earlier this year, a Buncombe County jury found Bray guilty of the Coggins murder. He received a life sentence for the murder and an additional 93 years on lesser charges including breaking, entering and larceny: larceny of a firearm and firing into an occupied vehicle. Since his conviction. Bray has been held at Central Prison in Raleigh. He was transferred to Craggy Prison last week, however, and may be called to testify against Rios. During the opening day of testimony, the state called Lee Phillips of Newport, Tenn. as the first witness. Phillips was driving along Hwy. 209 short ly after the shooting and is believed to be the first person to reach Coggins following the fatal shooting. Phillips told the court he attempted to contact authorities by using the radio in the slain trooper's patrol car. Phillips said he pulled into the overlook after a passenger in his car said he though he saw blood on the trooper sitting at the wheel. It appeared that Coggins was already dead, Phillips said. He told the court, "1 grabbed his wrist, but I didn't feel any pulse." Phillips said he reached the Highway Patrol dispatcher in Asheville and reported the shooting, but was unable to pinpoint the exact location Minutes later, Phillips was able to flag down a passing motorist. Roger Purlin of Meadow Fork. Purlin was called to testify on Monday. Purlin was able to pinpoint the scene of the shooting for the dispatcher State Trooper Rick Terry was the first lawman to arrive at the scene. Terrv was called to the stand following Phillips' testimony. Terry told the court that he was on duty in the Mars Hill area at the time the shooting was first reported. He was on his way to meet Coggins to deliver his paycheck to him when troubling reports first came over his radio. "When the word 'armed' came on, I turned on my blue light and traveled as fast as 1 safe ly could," Terry told the court. He said that he checked Coggins as soon as he arrived, and belived that he was already dead. Terry also noticed that Coggins' .357 Magnum service revolver was missing. Rios was found to be carrying a .357 Magnum al the time of his capture last Sept. 17th. On Friday, prosecutors called the state's chief medical examiner. Dr. Paige Hudson, to testify. Hudson told the court that Trooper Coggins was shot three times in the head at close range. Two of the shots were from a .25-caliber han dgun and the third shot was delivered by a .357 Magnum. Hudson said that the shots fired from the 25-caliber were probably not immediately fatal, adding that the shot from the .357 Magnum, fired from a distance of two feet, pro bably caused instant death -Continued on Page 5 t ire Inspection Cites Safety Hazards In County Schools By WILLIAM LEE A recent report by fire safety in spectors for the state Board of Educa tion has found Madison County schools in serious violation of state anil federal fire, safety, and elec trical codes. The violations, first reported last ye*r, have severely^ linked the in surance coverage provided through the state board of education, and pro mpted the Madison County Board of Education to begin making necessary repairs. Because of the violations, the board has been limited to only nine buildings it can insure aj full replace ment value. The repairs and improvements called for run the gamut from servic ing and replacing fire extinquishers to removal of flammable or hazar dous material from boiler rooms. In some instances complete electrical rewiring is called for. The inspection, conducted July 21-24, also failed to approve the boiler rooms at Laurel School. Mars Hill School Resource Bldg., Marshall School. Spring Creek and Walnut. Some of the violations at each of the schools follows. HOT SPRINGS 1-- Replaster of metal lath in boiler room, and access hole under the building should be sealed with solid masonry 2~Install exit signs over each exit. 3-- Rehang all inoperative exit doors and make sure they swing out ward rather than inward. 4- Rewire the electrical wiring in the boiler room to conform to Na tional Electrical Code LAUREL SCHOOL 1- The main distribution panel should be grounded to a cold water pipe. 2- Replace worn out electrical lines to freezers and ice cream box. 3- There are several cracks located in the fire wall between the 1951 and 1956 additions, both in the cla^roonj side and lunchroom 'Side 'These cracks must be evaluated by a struc tural engineer to ascertain the in tegrity of fire wall and load bearing capabilities. 4- All exit doors rehung to swing outward, and exit signs placed over each door. 5- Electrical service in the Agriculture Building must be ground ed to a cold water pipe and to a driven rod. 6~ The main distribution panel in the Ag Bldg. should be reworked so the wiring conforms to National Elec trical Code. At the present time the neutral conductor is not run through the same conduit as the hot conduc tors. 7- The entire Laurel School Bldg. should be rewired and all wiring must be installed in compliance with the National Electrical Code and placed in conduit. MADISON IIIGII 1- The emergency stand-by generator is inoperative due to the fuel tank t>eing left empty. Such a vital piece of equipment should be maintained. Installatio of larger underground fuel tank is suggested. 2-- Remove all storage and com bustible material from all Mechanical Rooms. 3- Repair or replace inoperative fire doors between the gymnasium and classroom section. 4-- Install ventilation fan in science labs, and run vent to outside of building 5- Remove air storage from the Electrical Equipment Rooms con taining the step^jown transformers. A severe fire hazard at these loca tions is noted, due to the extreme amount of heat produced by the transformers. 6-- The shop area is in need of more exitways, with a minimum of two ex its per modular. 7- Non-combustible walls should be installed between the shop modulars. 8- Repair all inoperative emergen cy lights connected to the emergency circuit (which is connected to the stand-by generator). 9-- Remove wood-frame storage room from beneath the internal fire 'stairwell. State law and fire codes prohibit any storage or combustible construction in any internal fire stairwell. All fire stairwells must be airtight and maintain a two-hour fire resistive rating. 10- Repair the inoperative fire doors at both top and bottom of inter nal fair stairwell. Replace missing electrical exit lights which have been removed from the interior of stairwell. MARSHALL PRIMARY 1- Repair all inoperative exit lights to include AC and DC circuits. MARS HILL SCHOOL 1- Repair fire alarm system in cafeteria, inoperative at this time. 2-- Television antennaes need to be properly ground and lightning ar rester installed. 3~ Repair floor locking device on fire doors in cafeteria. Currently pp?v?nt firp doors fropn closing 4- Clean area beneath main building of all old desks and other combustible material being stored. 5-- Repair all inoperative exit lights. Remove all tables, desks, etc. from exit corridor at front entrance. 6 Repair all holes in boiler room and seal with solid masonry construc tion. 7- Remove door stops from fire doors between Library and classroom section. 8- Add three more fire extin quishers along corridor so all fire ex tinquishers are no more than 75 feet apart. Replace inoperative smoke detector and automatic closing device on fire doors between 1978 and 1957 sections 9-- Repair all inoperative battery emergency lights throughout building. At time of inspection it was noted that the electrical breaker for the emergency panel was off, render ing all batterypacks inoperative after approximately two hours. 10-- Remove newly installed bookshelves behind fire doors bet ween Library and classroom section Fire doors are unable to open far enough for self-closing device to cock in the stand-by position ?Continued on Pagr 3 School Personnel Changes Kept To Minimum For 86-87 By WILLIAM LEE The Madison County Board of Education met at length with its school principals last Wednesday, discussing personnel needs and basic state education guidelines for the up coming school year. With projected school enrollment figures down this year over last, the school board kept to a minimum any hiring of new teachers, or teachers' aides. At the end of the first ten-day period of school the board wUl be able to submit its actual enrollment to the state board of education tor changes in its number of teachers for the 1986-87 year. Only Hot Springs School is losing an instructor for the upcoming year. time and one part-time positions were filled. Joe Walker was hired as machine shop instructor in the voca tional education department, while Diane Franklin was hired as a teacher's aide, and Cathy Suttles hired as special education aide. A half-time position was filled by Stewart Jolley. A teacher'* aide position was left open at Marshall Primary for Tina Ricker. should the position become available after the ten-day enroll ment figures are submitted to the state. In other personnel matters, the guidelines for each of its four grade span*- K-3, 4-6, 7-8 and 9- 12- plus other education services, programs and policies that phall be placed in ef fect in the 1967-48 school year. The school board also approved its insurance policy for the upcoming year on its schools and other buildings The insurance, provided through the state board of education's controller's office, covers all school board property for a total of $16,970,616. The premium will cost 96,811 per year The policy was based on a fire and safety report conducted in April that found a number of fire and safety violations in the county schools (See separate story m school fire and J ?LSI making the motion that the board ac cept the more extensive coverage, said the premium difference was negligible in light of the added coverage to those nine buildings The nine buildings the state is will ing to cover in full, at replacement cost, are: the Hot Springs classrom and cafeteria building; the Hot Spr ings gymnasium; the Laurel School classroom building; Madison High School; the Madison High greenhouse; the building at Mars Hill School which formerly housed its Junior high classes Marshall
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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Aug. 14, 1986, edition 1
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