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Gudger Invites Citizens To ‘Air Your Problems’ Toll Free By Calling 1-800-452-2821
False Labor Figures Take
Federal Funds Elsewhere
BY CAROLYN YUZIUK
Yancey County is missing
the boat! This statement was
explained and emphasized by
Congressman Lamar Gudger
as he spoke with area men
and women at an informal
meeting in the Yancey County
Courthouse last Saturday, '
January 29. Gudger explained
that all federal money is tied
to the unemployment rate,
and the fact that Yancey
County presently ranks as an
area with a low percentage of
unemployed compared with
the state average means that
we are being passed over
when federal money is allo
cated.
As an example, last year
Yancey County applied for a
grant of $776,000 to fund a
work project to create a
complete recreation complex
at Mountain Heritage High
School which was planned for
the use of everyone in the
county, from school age to the
elderly. We were reasonably
confident that we would have
no trouble qualifying because
of need. Only a few months
ago, however, we were beaten
out by Boone who got the
money to build new office
buildings. Boone, we were
told, had a higher unemploy
ment rate than Yancey.
People here simply do not
sign up as unemployed or
underemployed when they are
eligible to do so. And that’s
bad news. The following
statistics for Yancey County
for the months of July,
August and September of
1976 were released by the
North Carolina Employment
Security Office in Raleigh and
may well be the reason we lost
out to Boone. They average
out to an unemployment
figure of 6.2% for Yancey
County and it should be noted
Sales, Use
Tax Report
The North Carolina De
partment of Revenue has
issued a statement showing
local one percent sales and
use tax collections by county
for the month of December,
1976. The report shows
Yancey County collected the
amount of $17,959.07,
Yancey collections com
pared with those of Madison
County in the amount of
$14,661.02 for the same
period; Avery County with the
amount of $19,973.07; and
Mitchell County with the
amount of $29,990.00 for the
month of December.
The report is issued each
month bybMark G. Lynch,
Secretary of the State De
partment of Revenue.
Fire Calls
January 30, Sunday at
7:30 p.m. the Troy Boone
residence on Plum Branch
Road. Fire around flue with ,
approximately S9OO damage
to building, if firemen and 2
trucks responding.
that an area of substantial
unemployment is defined as
an area with population of
10,000 or more and a rate of
6.5% unemployment for three
consecutive months at least
once in each fiscal year.
(Yancey County’s unemploy
ment rate also averaged out to
less than 6.5% for April, May
and June of 1976):
Brush Creek-total labor
available 134, unemployed 0,
percent unemployment 0%.
Burnsville-labor available
1601, unemployed 96, percent
unemployment 6%*;.
Cane River-total labor
available 657, unemployed 38,
percent unemployment 5.8%.
Crabtree-labor available
1098, unemployed 35, unem
ployment 3.2%.
Egypt-total labor avail
able 302, unemployed 9,
unemployment rate 3.0%.
Green Mountain-total
labor available 308, unem
ployed 8, unemployment rate
2.6%. '
Jack’s Creek-total labor
available 216, unemployed 15,
unemployment rate 6.9%.
Pensacola-labor available
216, unemployed 4,
ployment rate 1.4%.
Prices Creek-total labor
available 368, unemployed 60,
unemployment rate 16.3%.
South Toe-total labor
available 598, unemployed 93,
unemployment rate 15.6%.
Ramseytown-no figures
available for total labor
available or unemployed,
reflected as unemployment
rate of 0%.
For the three months
of 1976 reflected in the above
statistics, Ramseytown and
Brush Creek are shown to
have no unemployed or
underemployed people; Pen
sacola shows only 4 persons
who were unemployed or
underemployed, and Green
Mountain with 8 unemployed
and Egypt with 9 unemployed
are remarkable in today’s
labor market.
Since federal money is
always tied directly or in
directly to the unemployment
rate we can see why counties
in the eastern and central
parts of the state who show a
high rate of unemployment
are gobbling up federal
money, leaving us to struggle
along as best we can.
Why don’t local workers
sign up for unemployment?
There may be more than one
reason, but here are some
answers: (1) The worker may
have already exhausted his
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benefits and sees no advan
tage in signing up as
unemployed or underem
ployed; (2) The worker may
not be eligible for benefits
and having been frustrated
repeatedly in trying to get
them, simply stops signing
up; (3) Many self employed
workers don’t apply when
they are eligible-farmers,
construction workers, etc. fit
into the category of unem
ployed during the winter
months, but rarely sign up;
(4) Finally, there are the
“independent” workers who
don’t want anything from the
government that smacks of
“handouts” and wouldn’t
sign up if their lives depended
on it.
One category into which
many Yancey Countians may
fit is that of underemployed—
defined as a person who is
working part time but seeking
full time work, or a person
who is working full time but
whose salary relative to his or
her family size is below the
poverty level.
Many recent high school
graduates also are eligible to
sign up as unemployed, since
anyone over 18 years who is
unemployed or underemploy
ed may be eligible.
The importance of signing
up cannot be overempha
sized. As Representative La
mar Gudger points out, many
federal grants are designed to
create jobs through employ
ment projects and economic
development programs. If
labor statistics for Yancey
County don’t show our true
employment picture we will
not only lose federal money,
we will also lose our young
people to areas where they
can find jobs. Ironically, they
may find jobs in other areas
that have been made possible
by federal grants to aid that
area’s economic growth.
The Employment Security
Highway
Accident
On Friday, January 1 at
8:25 a.m. a two car accident
occurred approximately 6
miles out of town on US 19E at
the NC 80 intersection.
Sabra Phillips, driving i
1973 Oldsmobile, stopped at
the stop sign of NC 80 at its
intersection with US 19E. She
then pulled onto US 19E and
was struck by Iris Pate, 43, of
Burnsville, driving a 1973
Ford. The Ford then traveled
154 feet and went onto the
shoulder of the road.
Damage was estimated at
$1200.00 to the Oldsmobile
and $700.00 to the Ford.
There were no passengers in
either vehicle and no injuries.
W.J. Stallings investigated.
Deadline
The deadline for listing
property taxes has been
extendedonce again, but this
is the last extension. The
deadline is now February
11th. 1977.
Office is open from 9 to 5 in
Room 3 of the Yancey County
Courthouse on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays and Thursdays
each week. Eligible people in
this area are urged to sign up
as unemployed or uriderem
ployed whether they will
receive direct benefits or not
indirectly, everyone will be
nefit when a true employment
picture for Yancey County is
reflected in our labor sta
tistics.
Grand
Opening
Slated
Suite 1204 in the North
western Bank Building in
Asheville will have a new look
1 on Friday, February 4. That is
the date of the grand opening
for the newly renovated and
expanded 11th District Con
gressional Offices.
Congressman and Mrs.
Lamar Gudger will be on
hand, along with thfe district
staff for the festivities begin
ning at 3:30 p.m. Rev. Orion
Hutchinson, pastor of the
Central United Methodist
Church, will also participate
in the ceremonies.
The renovated offices in
clude an expanded reception
and work space for the
additional staff in the district
office.
Within the large work area
a conference room is set up to
house scholarship information
for interested 11th District
students. University, college,
technical school, as well as
foundation and government
scholarship data will be kept
on hand for individuals
seeking financial aid for their
educational needs.
Interested constituents,
federal employees, and neigh
bors in the Northwestern
Bank Building are invited to
come by for the opening. No
formal invitations will be sent
for the occasion. Light re
freshments will be served.
Wildlife
Hearings
Scheduled
A series of nine public
hearings was announced by
the North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission in
Raleigh at its regular monthly
meeting on January 24, 1977.
The meetings, which are held
across the State each April,
will offer sportsmen an
opportunity to offer sugges
tions and comments concern
ing any changes in regula
tions which may be proposed
for the 1977 hunting and
trapping seasons.
“These hearings are held
each year, and we urge all
interested sportsmen to at
tend,’’ said a spokesman for
ICont'd on naae 21
1
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I THE YANCEY I
I JOURNAL I
VOL. 5, NO. 5
s
Fuel, Power Conservation Urged
Severe Cold Is Forecast
Due to a 5% cutback in
voltage by Carolina Power &
Light Company in late Janu
ary, French Broad EMC also
was asked to implement a 5%
reduction plan also. The
extreme cold weather resulted
in record peak demands for
electric power, and the
?. voltage cutback is expected to
last for an indefinite short
period. This reduction in
voltage does not interfere
with residential usage or
affect home appliances.
French Broad EMC is
requesting all members to
please cooperate by curtailing
any excessive use of electri
city. Please postpone any
cooking, washing, etc., that is
not absolutely necessary. If
there are any areas of your
home or business that are not
being used, please turn off
the heat to these areas. If you
have your thermostats set
higher than 65 degrees,
please lower them.
If the cold weather con
tinues and you do not use
more conservation tactics, the
cooperative is warned it may
J'~ necessary to cut off power
for two-hour periods on a
rotating basis. Your coopera
tion in using as little
electricity as possible during
this time will be appreciated
and may mean the difference
in whether these two-hour
blackouts will be necessary.
★ ★
Fuel Charge
Skyrockets
The Purchase Power and
Fuel Adjustment on French
Broad EMC’s bills was back
up in January due to an
increased fuel charge from
CP&L. The fuel charge on the
Cooperative’s bills from
CP&L in January was $.00377
—up from $.00040 in Decem
ber-which meant an increase
from 40c per 1000 KWH to
$3.77 per 1000 KWH that
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j
A New Look For Driver’s Ed.
When Adrian Buchanan of Jack's Creek (standing] built a
“one horse open sleigh’’ this winter he found just the right
person to drive it. Dan Wilson, driver’s ed teacher at Mountain
Heritage High School, took the driver’s seat behind Shellfire, a
patient little filly who appears to be highly skeptical about the
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
French Broad EMC had to pay
CP&L. The rate increase that
occurred in May of 1976 was
already being passed on to
French Broad EMC’s mem
bers as an increased Purchase
Power & Fuel Adjustment,
and any increases such as this
runs this charge higher.
French Broad EMC rea
lizes that this higher fuel
charge comes at the time of
year when most members’
usage is higher, and this is
very disturbing. But there is
no way the Cooperative can
pay higher fuel charges to
CP&L without passing it on to
the members. This will also
carry over into February for
bi-monthly accounts as the
Purchase Power & Fuel
Adjustment for bi-monthly
billing is based on an average
of the two months period.
Since the February bi-month
ly accounts will cover from
December 20 to February 20,
this higher fuel charge in
January will still affect bills in
February.
The best thing members
can do is use as little
electricity as possible.
Charles R. Tolley, French
Ramsey, Crawford Appointed
To Advisory Budget Commission
Governor Jim Hunt has
appointed Liston Ramsey of
Marshall to the Advisory
Budget Commission. A retir
ed merchant, Ramsey is
serving his ninth term in the
House of Representatives. He
has served on the Advisory
Budget Commission since
1973.
Ramsey has served on
many legislative committees,
and has held the chairman
ship of the Finance Commit
tee. He is currently serving ons
the following House commit
tees: Aging, Courts and
Judicial Districts, Election
Laws, State Government, and
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 3,1977
Broad EMC Manager states:
“There are people who are
rapidly reaching and going
beyond the point of real
financial hardship. Again. I
want to urge you to please use
as little electricity as you
possibly can. If you have wood
readily available, please take
steps to use it to the
maximum. The cost of electri
city, fuel oil, gasoline, natural
gas, and coal will continue to
rise.”
★ ★
Classrooom
Temps Low
Yancey County Schools,
along with other schools and
institutions across the state,
will be forced to maintain
lower than normal classroom
temperatures for the remain
der of the winter. School
Superintendent, Eldgar Hun
ter, states that fuel] consump
tion in the schools is expected
to run at least 30-35% higher
than normal this year due to
Transportation.
The Madison County re
presentative served during
World War II in the Army Air
Corps as Sergeant, He was a
delegate to the 1968 Demo
cratic National Convention.
He has been active in area
civic clubs and veterans’
organizations. Ramsey and
his wife Florence have a
daughter, Martha Ramsey
George, who lives in Gulfport,
Mississippi.
Lieutenant Governor Jim
my Green has announced the
appointment of Senator J.C.
Crawford of Asheville to the
Advisory Budget Commis
whole affair. We didn’t ask [and we weren’t told| how Dan
fared or whether his skill at driving cars helped him under the
circumstances. His wife Lucy, however, seems to have enough
confidence to take a precarious perch behind....at least while
IF)
the cold weather. In addition
to the scarcity of fuel oil, the
increase in cost in recent
months is rapidly depleting
the funds budgeted for fuel.
Although many schools are
turning thermostats back to
65 degrees, and some as low
as 62 degrees, Yancey Schools
hope not to have to lower thte
temperature below 68 degrees
during school hours.
School officials are greatly
concerned about the loss of
instructional time for students
as a result of lost school days
this year, a year in which
almost ten percent of the
school time will be lost. In
order to compensate for
at least a part of the time lost,
teachers in all schools are
asked to make an extra effort
s o make the best possible use
of the instructional time from
now until June 10. Class
parties, trips, and other
activities that do not have a
definite educational value will
be eliminated. Students may
be expected to do some
additional homework, and
parents are- urged to help
students wherever possible.
sion. The appointment is
effective immediately and is
for a two year term.
In announcing the ap
pointment Green emphasized
the importance of having
someone on the panel with the
qualifications that Senator
Crawford has as an experi
enced practicing attorney.
Green also feels that it is
important to have qualified
persons from a geographical
cross-section of the State
serving on this Commission
and that Senator Crawford
will well represent the inter
ests of the people of the
mountain areas.