12 The Cherokee Scout
PAGES <
and Clay County Progress
Volume 80 _ Number 29 - Murphy, North Carolina, 28906 ? Second Class Postage Paid At Murphy, North Carolina ? Thursday, February 5, 1970
15C
Per Copy
'Can't Let I hem Get By With It'
Commissioners Crack Down On Car Dealers
The Cherokee County
Board of Commissioners
Monday agreed to crack down
on automobile dealers who
have been Tiling a large
inventory figure with the state
tax office and a smaller one
with the county.
"We can't let them get by
with it," one commissioner
said, as County Attorney L. L.
Mason was instructed to write
letters to all dealers, asking
them to attend the next
commissioners' meeting to
discuss the matter.
"If they don't come, we're
going to tax them at the figures
they have listed with the
state," Chairman W. T. Moore
said.
Car dealers have been listing
their inventories with the state
income tax offices at one
figure, it was explained, and
then listing a much smaller
figure with the county list
takers, therefore paying a
much smaller tax in the
county.
It was further explained
that this has been going on for
several years but the county
had not obtained the figures
from the state tax office to
prove it. Mayor Cloe Moore, of
Murphy commissioners said,
had complained that the Moore
Dodge dealership in Murphy
was paying its fair share of
county taxes but if other
dealers were going to be
allowed to get by, Moore
Dodge wanted a refund.
Monday afternoon the
commissioners had the figures
from the state tax office and as
they were passed around the
table, the comparisons were
obvious.
Cloe and Ray Moore, doing
business as E. C. Moore Dodge
had listed an inventory with
the state in 1969 as $53,199
and had listed with the county
at $46,000. It was the smallest
difference shown by any of the
major dealers. "That's close
enough," one commissioner
said. "Well settle for that."
At the other end of the
scale, with the largest
difference, was Jeff Brooks,
doing business in Andrews as
Reece Motor Company. He
listed an inventory with the
state tax office of $115,000
but listed only $6,000 with the
county.
The commissioners
indicated that if the dealers do
not come to the next meeting
to make an adjustment, they
will be taxed at the figure they
have listed with the state for
the past five years.
The three commissioners
from Clay County met with
the Cherokee commissioners
Monday afternoon to discuss
the possibilities of building a
regional jail to serve both
counties. Andy Padgett,
chairman of the Clay board,
said three counties in the
northeastern section of the
state have been approved for a
50 per cent grant for such a
project.
"I believe we can get a grant
like that for Clay and
Cherokee," Padgett said.
Chairman Moore of the
Cherokee commissioners said
he thinks the Legislature may
also have to put up some
money for jails in the future
and a regional jail might get
state funds.
Moore further suggested
that a new jail could be built
directly behind the present
Cherokee County Jail and said
the regional jail inspector had
approved of the idea. Moore
said he and an architect plan to
look over the site this week.
The commissioners of both
counties discussed the
possibilities of how a regional
jail could be financed and how
it would be operated and then
decided to write a letter to the
commissioners in the eastern
counties to find out more
about their federal grant and
discuss the jail further at a later
meeting.
In other action, the
Cherokee commissioners:
Approved a contract for an
audit of county books by
Grissette and Beach of Lenoir,
at $9 an hour per man, plus
motel and travel expenses.
Approved a list of holidays
for county employees.
Accepted two road petitions
and passed them on to the
State Highway Commission,
one for three-quarters of a mile
in Notla Township, the other
for Rural Road 1539 in the
Upper Peachtree section.
Bradley Files
For Re-election
William P. "Bill" Bradley,
who represented Cherokee,
Clay, Graham and Macon
counties in the General
Assembly in the 1969 session,
has announced his candidacy
for re-election, subject to the
May Republican primary.
According to Don Weaver,
Chairman Clay County
Election Board, Bradley filed
for re-election, Jan. 29.
He retired from the U. S.
Navy 20 years ago after serving
for 20 years. He operated an
auto parts wholesale business
f in Hayesville for seven years
' prior to his election to the
] General Assembly. He is in the
j business of growing Christmas
] trees and has a building under
' construction, at present, in
, which he plans to operate an
aluminum awning shop.
Bradley is a ruling elder in
the Presbyterian Church, a
member of the Clay County
? Rescue Squad and the Yellow
Jacket Club.
it
William P. Bradley
During his term of office he
served on the following
committees:
Commercial Fisheries and
Oyster Industry, Election
Laws, Finance, Public Welfare,
Roads, State Government and
State Personnel.
He is the only Clay County
candidate who has filed for the
1970 general electton.''
4 Hurt
n Wreck
Four people were injured
Sunday morning in an accident
on US-19-129 near Topton.
Corman Carroll Kilpatrick,
54, of Nantahata, was the
driver of a 1969 Chevrolet
involved and Tommie K. Ivey,
Jr., 46, of Route 2,
Lawrenceville, Ga., was driving
a 1962 Chevrolet.
Trooper Don Reavis, the
investigating officer, said the
Ivey car came out of a side
road and collided with the
;Kilpatrick vehicle. He charged
Ivey with failure to yield the
right-of-way.
Nell Bradey of Topton and
CHlie Kilpatrick, of Nantahala,
both in the Kilpatrick car, were
injured. Ivey's wife, Bessie and
teenage son Kendrick were also
hurt in the wreck. All were
taken to District Memorial
Hospital in Andrews for
treatment.
Line Financed
The Cherokee County commissioners will provide the extra
money needed to lay an eight-inch water line to the Levi Strauss
plant - but they won't have the money until next year so the
Cherokee County Development Corp. is financing the deal.
That decision was reached quickly in the commissioners
meeting Monday at the courthouse, the development group to
pay out $3,460 to Wells & West, the contractor on the pipeline
job, and the county budget for the fiscal year 1970-71 to
reimburse the development group.
The new plant is about a mile beyond the town limits but
wants town water service, at regular rates. The town could not
afford to lay the line, so Levi Strauss agreed to pay for a six-inch
line to get water service.
"A six-inch line will carry only 350 gallons a minute," Merle
Davis of the development group explained. "But an eight-inch
line can carry 600 gallons a minute." The town board was in
favor of an eight-inch line, which could serve additional plants
and homes in the area as the town expands, if the extra money
could be found for the difference, Levi's paying for the cost of a
six-inch line.
Davis added that the larger line will also serve to increase the
town's fire protection area and can lower insurance rates in the
section along the pipeline.
Game Warden 'Fired',
Investigation Begins
Many Clay County citizens
are boiling mad at the
treatment of Game Warden
Harrison J. Martin, crying "raw
deal" at his forced, early
retirement.
Frank Forsyth, civic leader,
senior vice president of
Wachovia Bank and former
State Senator of this district,
has demanded that Clyde
Patton, executive director of
the state Wildlife Resources
Commission, make a personal
investigation.
"We had our differences
when 1 was in the Legislature,"
Forsyth said. "But last week I
asked Patton to investigate
personally and he said he
would. He said he would begin
immediately.
"Patton's investigation may
turn something up," Forsyth
continued, "But if it doesn't
and this is unjustified, I will go
to the Governor. They're not
going to jerk that boy around
like that."
Martin was recently given
orders from authorities of the
Wildlife Commission, Forsyth
said, to make up his mind
within four days to resign or be
fired. It is not known why he
was to be fired, but it is
thought to be somehow
connected with a personal
altercation he had in October
with a <3ay County man.
Forsyth said he has been
visited by "tnree or four"
angry delegations from Clay
County, protesting the
treatment of the game warden,
who had been a state employee
for more than 20 years.
T. N. Massie of Sylva,
District Nine commissioner,
said he knew the matter had
been investigated, but that a
commissioner had nothing to
do with hiring and firing.
"I'm sorry he resigned,"
Massie said, noting that he
thought highly of all the men
in his district. "I didn't know
he had been asked to resign.
He's been a good man. The fact
is that it's up to the director or
the Chief of Division to
investigate and hire and fire,"
Massie said. He said the
nine-member commission
would hold a hearing if Martin
requested it.
Patton, contacted in
Raleigh, said he had received a
letter from Martin stating that
he would retire in early March.
Patton would not comment
on the "forced retirement"
charges by Forsyth . Nor
would he talk about what his
investigation turned up.
"We've discussed the matter
with Martin," Patton said,
"and we decided it would be in
the best interests of the
Wildlife Commission, and of
Martin, if he would retire."
He would not discuss it
further and no official reason is
given for Martin's ouster.
Martin had paid into a state
employes retirement fund for
better than 20 years and will
receive some reduced
retirement pay.
Warrants
Issued
For Whiteners
Warrants have been issued
and officers are seeking two
young Cherokee County men
on charges of robbing their
grandmother.
Cherokee Deputy Sheriff,
Dude Radford, who
investigated the robbery with
SBI agent James Maxey of
Bryson City, says the warrants
against Richard , 24, and
Willard Whitener, 21, charge
them with first degree
burglary, a capital offense.
Hie deputy said the warrant
charged the Whiteners, cousins
of Route 5, Murphy, with
breaking down a door at Molly
Whitener's home during the
night hours of Jan. 16, entering
the house and robbing her of
more than $100 in cash.
Students Tour Levi Plant
u Last Friday a number of students from Murphy
(.High School got acquainted with the operations of
Vhe Levi Strauss plant as they were given guided tours
Jof the facility. A group of students is shown here
gathered around a sewing machine operator as the
assembly-line process of sewing Levi pants together is
explained. (Staff Photo)
Truck Wreck Blocks Road
State Highway Patrolman P. J. Miller is shown
looking into the interior of a wrecked tractor-trailer
rig which blocked traffic on US-19-129 just west of
Marble in the wee hours Sunday morning. The 1968
White, driven by James Reid of Varnelle, Ga., was
valued at $30,000 and declared a total loss. No
charges were made by investigating Trooper Bob
Ogle. The rig, loaded with latex filler compound,
struck a rock wall. The driver suffered only a slight
cut. (Staff Photo by Avett)
Merchants Discuss Tow Plans
Peachtree Street merchants
and members of the Murphy
Town Board met here Monday
night to discuss the Townlift
project and details of a
compromise plan which will be
presented to TVA's Regional
Planning Department.
The TVA planners showed
drawings of a face-lifting for
Peachtree Street about two
weeks ago but local people can
reject any or all of the plan.
The main difference of
opinions Monday night was the
subject of trees.
The TVA plan recommends
planting 10 trees in concrete
islands along the street. The
islands would protrude 20 feet
into the street and would
eliminate a number of parking
spaces.
Peyton Ivie, chairman of the
Peachtree Street Project, and
others at the meeting were of
the opinion that planting the
trees as the TVA planners
advise would cost too many
parking spaces.
Several alternate plans were
discussed and Ivie called
another meeting for 7:30 on
Tuesday night of next week.
At that time, a plan will be
adopted which will then be
presented to the TVA planners.
In the meantime, Ivie
named a committee to make
the rounds with him and get a
firm commitment from each
merchant along the street as to
what money they will be
willing to spend in painting or
other changes to their
storefronts.
The Garden Club whs
the>
designated to check with the
Forest Service and nunerymen
on what type of trees should
be planted. The TVA planners
suggested sycamores but those
at the meeting felt that
sycamores would be too
"messy," putting out too much
pollen and too many prickly
balls.
Charlie Johnson, Murphy
Town Clerk, agreed to check
with the State Highway
Commission this week and see
. how engineers felt about
islands for the trees protruding
out into the street.
Ebenezer Child Loses
Struggle For Life
A nine-year-old girl from
the Ebenezer section lost a
valiant fight for lil'e and died
Saturday morning en route to
the hospital at Sylva.
Linda Jo Hartness, the
daughter of Mr. and J. W.
Hartness, of Route 3, Murphy,
was buried Sunday afternoon
in the cemetery at Ebenezer
Baptist Church after funeral
services at the church.
She had suffered from
asthma since she was 16
months old, according to Dr.
Bryan Whitfield, the Muphy
physician who treated her at
Providence Hospital. He added
that she also had been treated
for a heart condition.
"As I understand it, she
took sick Friday morning," Dr.
Whitfield said.He said she was
brough to Providence Hospital
Friday night, laboring for
breath, and at his directions,
nurses administered drugs and
began giving the child oxygen.
A physician in Sylva had
been seeing Linda Jo recently,
so her parents Saturday
morning decided to send her to
the hospital there. The
Cherokee County Ambulance
Service began the transfer on
Saturday morning, continuing
to give the child oxygen on the
way, but she quit breathing
before the ambulance reached
Andrews. Efforts at the
District Memorial Hospital in
Andrews to revive her failed.
The Rev. Herbert O'Dell
and the Rev. Verl Davis
officiated at the funeral and
pallbearers were the girl's
classmates from White Church
School.
Surviving in addition to the
parents are two sisters, Pamela
and Paula Hartness,both of the
home; three brothers, Johnny,
Claude and Willard Hartness,
all of the home; the
grandparents, Mr. and Mr.
Jack Hartness of Murphy and
Mis. Lawson Graves of Cottage
Grove, Oregon.
Linda Jo Hartness
Ordinance Revived
Cherokee County's beer-can
ordinance, which started but
stumbled last fall, was brought
back to life in the
commissioners meeting
Monday.
On a motion by Jack
Simonds, seconded by
Emogene Matheson, the
ordinance passed its first
reading. A public hearing was
set for the Courthouse at 7:30
p. m. on Friday, Feb. 13.
The ordinance would make
it illegal to possess an opened
container of beer on any road
or public parking lot in the
county. It is designed to halt
the tossing of empty beer cans
along roads throughout the
county and can be enforced by
officers only after a hearing has
been held and the ordinance
has been approved by
commissioners at a second
reading.
The ordinance passed a first
reading last fall and a hearing
was held, but the second
reading was never made and
the ordinance died.
Check For Hospital Drive
Miss Charlotte Oliver, the current
Miss Cherokee County, presented a
check for $200 this week from the
Murphy Jacettes to the Murphy
Hospital A uthority's drive for hinds to
renovate Providence Hospital.
Accepting are Bill Christy, left, MHA
treasurer, and Murphy Mayor Cloe
Moore. (Staff Photo)