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Bill To Put Yancey Under Primary Election
Laws Introduced In NC General Assembly
By Bob Helmle
Yancey County's long his
tory of switching back and forth
between the convention sys -
tem and the primary system of
selecting candidates for local
office, is apparently due for
another switch. A bill to put
the county back under the State
primary election laws was in
troduced in the General Assem
bly on Monday by the countyk
Representatives Liston Ramsey
and Ernest Messer.
Introduction of the bill ma
king the change was recom -
mended by the Executive Com
mittee of the Yancey County
Democratic Party. With the
sponsorship of the County's two
representatives as w ell as the
local Democratic party, the
bill should not encounter ser
ious opposition.
The bill would abolish the
1959 law which removed Yan
cey County finom the general
State primary election lav,and
thus permitted the selection cf
candidates by party convendai.
The new bill, reverting to
primaries, would apply to the
selection of candidates by both
political parties.
V.
I Teachers And Programs Saluted During Vocational Education Week
By Larry Howell
This week has been official
ly designated as Vocational
Education Week by President
Nixon. We would like to take
this opportunity to salute the
vocational education teachers
and their programs in the Yan
cey County schools with spe
cial emphasis on two new pro
grams.
At Cane River High School
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Health Occupations - Mrs. Nellie Lewis, Instructor
Over a period of years stretch
ing back to the 1930's,Yhncey
County has apparently found
full satisfaction in neither sys
tem. In 1941, the primary
system which had previously
Although the big snowstorm that hit Western North Carolina last week was the cause of acci
dent*, wfdents and general inconvenience, it also left in its wake some breathtakingly beau
tiful sights in ana *>»— j V «u>nv County. Pictured here is a cabin at Cattail Creek owned by
Captain George Downing of Burnsville.
Mr. Jack Buckner teaches Car
pentry and Cabinetmaking;Mr.
Flay Hensley teaches Construc
tion Industries and Bricklaying.
Mr. Buckner and Mr. Hensley
are currently engaged in the
construction of a model home.
The vocational programs at
East Yancey High School in
clude Agriculture, taught by
Mr. Herb Allen and Office Oc
cupations taught by Mis. Wil -
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18.1971
prevailed, was abolished by
special act of the legislature,
and the switch made to the
convention system. This sys
tem was in effect until 1955,
when the legislature, at the
helmina Hensley.
At the present there are 3
teachers who teach st ud e nts
from both high schools. One
of these is Mr. Larry How ell
who teaches Distributive Edu
cation. This is a cooperative
program between the schools
and local businesses.
The two new programs for
students from both Cane River
and East Yancey are Health
Occupations and Auto Mecha -
nics. Health Occupations is
taught by Mrs. Nellie Lewis,
R. N. Like all other class e $
Health Occupations has its ob
jectives: to introduce a new
field, to prepare students for
job opportunities, and to stim
ulate students' interest in the
medical field. These objec -
tives are fulfilled to some ex -
tent with experience in the
clinic, but more often with
work in the class itself.
Mr. Terrell Ray is the in
structor in Auto Mechanics .Mr.
request of the County's Repre
sentative re-established the
primary system. This lasted
only four years until 19 59,
when again at the request of
the County's Representative,
Ray is a professional mechanic
with many years experience in
his field. The auto mechanics
shop is at the Micaville School
with students being bussed in
from the high schools. There
are 14 boys enrolled from East
Yancey and 11 from Cane Ri
ver. The objectives of Auto
Mechanics are to introduce stu
dents to the occupation, to
teach them the fundamentals d
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Auto Mechanics - Mr. Terrell Ray, Instructor
the legislature again changed
the law, abolishing the pri
mary system and reverting to
the convention system. No
further change was made dur
ing the 1960'5.
Observers of the working of
politics in Yancey County free
ly admit that both systems
have advantages and disadvan
tages. The shortcoming of
the convention system lies in
the failure of citizens at the
grass-roots level to participate
In precinct meetings of their
party. This failure results in
leaving the selection of can
didates in the hands of a very
small minority of voters who
are active at the precinct level.
The primary system which
gives each voter a direct toice
in the selection of candidates
seems on its face to be the
more democratic process. But
it, too, has faults according
to those who have observed its
workings in the past.
The primary system is more
expensive to the county,since
holding the primaries is not
cheap, fa case none of the
candidates receives a major! -
(Cont'd on page 1^
mechanics and to prepare them
for job opportunities. Along
with auto mechanics these stu
dents leam how to repair small
engines.
We salute Yancey County
Schools during Vocational Edu
cation Week; proud that they
are keeping pace with the grow
ing trend of providing b e tte r
and more varied vocational pro
grams for the students.
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