iiurp hy Carnegl* Library 4-73
Peachtree Street
t'urphy, N.C., 28906
Spring Snowstorm
Spring came in last week with a
surprise storm on Thursday which
left six to eight inches of mushy,
soggy snow on the area. The heavy
wet covering collapsed several
chickenhouses, a barn at the
Cherokee County Golf Course (top)
and a boathouse at Hiwassee Dam
(bottom). It also hit store awnings
hard and accounted for dozens of
wrecker calls as vehicles skidded and
slid into ditches. More appropriate
Spring weather on Friday and
Saturday did away with the snow.
Ordinarily we don't print weather
predictions, or other forms of
guessing, but some of the oldtime
weather prophets are calling for one
more snow before Spring sets in for
good. (Carringer Photos)
Court
< Ends
^Quickly
Jurors who had been called
for Superior Court duty next
week won't have to serve.
In fact, the jurors called for
duty this week didn't have to
serve either.
A scheduled two-week
session of Cherokee Superior
Court, with Judge Thad Bryson
. of Bryson City presiding, lasted
one day and only guilty pleas
were heard on Monday, no
jurors being seated.
Court officials said the
i reason the court term was
: short was that a key lawyer was
J absent and so were several
| officers, out of the county
!J attending a special school.
In action Monday, Judge
Bryson set bonds at $2,500 each
for three youths charged in a
rape-robbery case in Murphy
Steve Thrasher, Barry
Dockery and Steve Lance, By
Tuesday all three had made
bond and left the county jail.
A psychiatric examination
was ordered in the case of
Howard Radford, 45, charged
with the shooting deaths on New
Year's Day of his father and
. sister at Unaka.
Trout Season jj
a
*
Opens Saturday
The trout fishing season
begins Saturday morning a half
hour before sunrise with
designated trout streams in
Cherokee and Clay counties
stocked in preparation for
opening day.
Traditionally one of the
days (along with the opening of
deer season) when the largest
numbers of sportsmen will turn
out, game wardens expect
crowded creeks on Saturday, if
the weatherman cooperates.
Softball
Meeting Set
The Murphy Softball
Association will hold its
organization meeting for the
coming season on Wednesday
night of next week at the Power
Board Building.
All team representatives
for men or women's squads and
potential sponsors are invited to
attend the meeting, which
begins at 7:30.
Fires Creek Management
Area Warden Harley Martin
says the section of Fires Creek
within the refuge this year will
be for fishing by artificial lures
only, with single hooks, and the
limit will be four fish, 10 inches
long or longer.
The angler fishing the
refuge must have a permit, he
said, which is sold only through
license dealers since the
checking station is not manned
for fishing season.
The other trout streams in
Clay and Cherokee fall under
the general category, with no
size limit and a daily creel limit
of seven fish. Treble hooksand
bait are allowed. Fishermen
must have a regular license
plus the special trout license.
Cherokee County Warden
J.J. Jeffries said 3,500 fish have
been stocked in the five streams
in this county, Valley River and
Junaluska, Shuler, Crane and
Beaverdam creeks. These came
from the hatchery at Balsam,
he said, and are yearling
browns, brook and rainbow
trout, averaging six to eight
inches in length.
Building Saved
It Quick action by the Murphy
Lyolunteer firemen on Monday night
1 saved the Sims Radiator Shop
Pbuilding from destruction by fire. The
building is vacant but firemen said
someone apparently has been staying
in it; they said a burning mattress
started the fire.(Avett Photo)
The Cherokee Scout
Olid Clay County PrOyrOSS 12 Pages-2 Sections-15' Per Copy
Volume 79?Number 33?Murphy, N. C. 28906?Second Class Postage Paid at Murphy, N. C.?Thursday, April 1, 1971
Clay Levy Back In Effect
Cherokee Calls
Vote On Tax
By Wally Avett
Staff Writer
In special meetings during
the past week, the Clay County
commissioners put the local
sales tax back into effect in
their county and the Cherokee
commissioners called for a vote
of the people on the matter.
At Hayesville the Clay
commissioners held a public
hearing on the local one percent
sales tax last Monday. "It took
about 15 minutes," reported
Chairman Howard Wimpey,
with nobody at all showing up to
argue for or against the tax.
The three-man Clay board
then voted to put the tax back
into effect in that county, to
become effective the first of
May.
Chairman Wimpey said the
commissioners agreed to divide
the revenue in Clay with the
Town of Hayesville, based on
Grand Jury
Finds Jail
'Improved'
The Cherokee County
Grand Jury Monday reported
the county jail to be "much
.fcproved" and in a
"satisfactory " condition.
This was a far cry from the
Grand Jury report of last July,
which blasted the jail at that
time as "too filthy and smelly
for human-occupation."
Sheriff Blain Stalcup said
he was pleased with the Grand
Jury's findings, nothing that a
lot of work, painting and fixing
up, has been done at the jail in
the past few months.
The jail was closed by order
of a Superior Court judge late
last year and cells were to be
used to hold prisoners for no
longer than six hours. Sheriff
Stalcup reported this week,
however, that the state jail
inspectors have approved four
of the renovated cells for
regular use and added that
approval of the rest of the jail
is expected soon.
The Grand Jury report was
signed by Ruth Forsyth, who
was named foreman on
Monday, and presented to
Judge Thad Bryson, who
presided over the short session
of Superior Court here.
It found the county tax
office. Clerk of Court and
Register of Deeds offices all in
satisfactory condition.
Members of the Grand Jury
also looked at the county
schools, reporting that "road
conditions for buses are poor."
They talked with
representatives of the State
Highway Commission about
improving some of the roads the
buses travel.
the town's property tax. The
new local option sales tax law
passed by the General
Assembly gives them the choice
between dividing with the town
on the basis ofeither its
property tax levy or its
population, Wimpey said, and
in this case the property tax
formula will "mean a little
more for the town."
The Clay County voters
approved the local sales tax in
the original statewide vote in
November of 1969 and the tax
was in effect in Clay until it was
knocked out in January by the
North Carolina Supreme Court.
During the last three months of
1970, Clay got $12,701 from the
one . percent local tax,
according to figures provided
by the state Department of
Revenue. Of that total,
Hayesville received $893.
The Cherokee County
voters turned down the local
sales tax in the 1969 election
and that fact hung heavily over
the special meeting of the
commissioners Saturday
morning at the courthouse.
The Cherokee
commissioners had several
choices, none of them easy.
Rescue
Squad
To Train
The Cherokee County
Rescue Squad will hold training
exercises for its members next
week.
Capt. Charles Hyatt urges
all members to attend the
nightly sessions at die Power
Board Building, from 7 until 10
Monday through Thursday.
The course wil be taught by
Lynn Harkins, a rescue training
instructor from Waynesville.
Hyatt said the service
is provided by the Fire and
Rescue Training Commission of
Raleigh.
Hayesville
Senior Play
Scheduled
The Senior Class of
Hayesville High School will
present the Senior Play next
Tuesday night at the school,
beginning at 7:30.
A three-act comedy, it is
titled "Do You Trust Your
Boyfriend?"
The players include Vivian
Mart, Linda Martin, Connie
Murray, Mike Mauney, Bobby
Hollifield, Linda Bell, Rondall
Brown, Melba Moore Russell,
Danny Hollifield and Eleanor
MacCorkle.
They hinged on the new law's
provision that the
commissioners of any county in
the state can put the'local sales
tax to a vote or else can simply
levy the tax themselves, after
holding a public hearing.
Faced with rising
costs of county services, the
Cherokee board fears a raise in
property taxes for next year
may be necessary unless a new
source of revenue is found. But
since the voters of the county
turned down the sales tax in
1969, there was also the fear of
"being ridden out of town on a
rail" if they levied the tax
without consulting the people.
And if they called for an
election on the sales tax and it
fails, will they still face angry
citiiens if they have to raise
property taxes? And if the
commissioners are the elected
leaders of the county, and the
sales tax is needed, are they not
supposed to have the strength to
face the facts and approve it
themselves?
These questions bothered
the commissioners on Saturday
and if they were not enough ,
there was also the $300,000
school bond referendum which
must be approved for
construction of a school at
Andrews.
Dean Pullium, chairman of
the county Board of Elections,
met with the commissioners
and estimated the cost of a
county election on the sales tax
at $5,000. There was some talk
of holding a vote on both the
sales tax and the school bonds
at the same time, but County
Attorney Lonnie Hoover
informed the board there is too
much red tape involved in
setting up a bond referendum to
hold that vote by the middle of
May, the desired time for the
sales tax election.
Finally, after much
discussion of the issues
involved, the commissioners
agreed to put the sales tax to
avote of the people in mid-May
and Chairman Jack Simonds
shoved the legal request across
the table to Pullium, instructing
him to set the election
machinery in motion.
The commissioners
indicated that they will hold
public meetings to discuss the
pros and cons of the sales tax at
several locations in the county
before the election. They are
expected to schedule these
meetings at their regular April
session, which will be next
Monday.
If approved by the voters,
the local sales tax in Cherokee
County will bring in an
estimated $200,000 a year to the
county, which would be shared
with Andrews and Murphy.
It would become effective
with the beginning of the
county's fiscal year, July 1, and
would certainly affect the
county budget for the coming
year. The commissioners said
property taxes would not rise if
the sales tax was approved and
probably could be cut back
some.
Youth Finds 96,000;
Returns It To Owner
Barry Lunsford, a schoolbus
driver at Hayesville High School, sat
in his bus early Thursday morning of
last week, warming up the motor.
A car stopped for a stop-sign near
the Hayesville Library where
Lunsford parks his bus and then
drove away ; the 17-year-old Junior, a
star athlete at Hayesville High, saw
something fall from the car's roof.
He ran to investigate and found
three money bags lying in the street.
He opened the first one and found a
quantity of $10 bills and checks, the
second one contained more money
and more checks. Then he saw "B&T
Supermarket" printed on the third
bag and didn't open it.
Lunsford quickly circled the
Courthouse square and recognized
the car involved, parked in front of
Tiger's Clothing Store.
He got out of the bus and headed
for the store, money-bags in hand,
where he was met by an anxious
Bobby Tiger. Tiger, a prominent
Hayesville merchant, had placed the
bags on top of his car as he prepared
to get into the vehicle that morning
and then forgot about them, driving
away with them still on the roof.
Tiger reported that there was
more than $6,000 in cash and checks in
the three bags, all returned safe and
sound. He commended young
Lunsford for his honesty in returning
the money and gave him a suitable
mrri
Hugh Lasseter . .. opening sports shop here
Avett Photo
Bill Would Give
T
More Deputies
A bill was introduced in the
General Assembly last week
which could give Cherokee
County Sheriff Blain Stalcup the
two additional deputies he
wants.
Sheriff Stalcup (Democrat)
has two deputies and has
requested of the Cherokee
County board of commissioners
(2 Republicans, 1 Democrat)
that he be given two additional
deputies.
The commissioners have
said that there is not enough
money in the county budget for
additional deputies at this time
but last month did hire a night
jailor for the county jail, former
Sheriff (Republican) Claude
Anderson. The GOP
commissioners Jack Simonds
and Jack Lovingood voted for
this: The Democrat, W.T.
Moore, was against it.
Last Saturday, however, in
a special meeting the
The winners of the
Collins-Crain coloring
contest, left off the ad on
page 4-B by mistake this
week, are Debbie Kay
Maxey, 6, of Bryson
City and Lisa Johnson,
7, of Route 1, Murphy.
commissioners unanimously
declared themselves against
the bill in the Legislature and
directed County Attorney
Lonnie Hoover to write a letter
expressing their feelings to the
legislators of this area.
Sheriff Stalcup
said he was tired of asking the
commissioners for extra help
and being denied. "The county
commissioners wouldn't even
give me a part-time deputy," he
said this week. "There was
money for that in the budget but
they wouldn't give it to me."
Senator Carl D. Killian of
Cullowhee introduced the bill in
the State Senate on Friday,
where it was referred to the
Local Government committee.
Dr. Killian said the Democratic
executive committee of
Cherokee County requested the
bill.
If approved, it will
empower the sheriff of
Cherokee to hire four deputies,
to be paid $400 a month apiece
plus their expenses, and to
continue to hire a jailor at $100 a
week and assign deputies to
work as jailors during hours he
designates.
Cherokee County deputy
sheriffs drive their own
automobiles and usually
receive $200 a month in car
expenses in addition to their
$400 salaries.
Sports
Shop
To Open
A new business opens in
Murphy on Friday, a sporting
good shop in the place formerly
occupied by The Shoe Box.
Hugh Lasseter, who
operates the Hiawassee Sports
Shop at Hiawassee, Ga., is the
proprietor. He has bowed to the
Cherokee County spelling of the
Indian name and will drop the
"a" and call his Murphy store
the Hiwassee Sports Shop.
The new shop on Tennessee
Street will feature a complete
line of sports equipment, he
says, for boating, hunting,
fishing, archery, golif, camping
and other sports activities.
Lasseter recently
purchased the stock of a
bankrupt sporting goods store
in Georgia and says he will be
offering, as quantitites last,
many goods at discount house
prices.
In addition to individual
sports equipment, Lasseter will
be selling team equipment for
baseball, Softball and
basketball plus a line of
trophies. He also offers a line of
hobby wood-working
equipment.
APR II 1971
$ M 1 v? I I $
- - - - 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 t 9 10
11 12 13 14 IS 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
2S 26 27 28 29 30 -
LEFT TO RIGHT
KAREN RUTH MOORE
-Mr.iMri. Fard Moora
ANGELA LEIGH HE NOR IX
-Wr.iMrs. Jim Handrix
TAMARA LYNN BARTON
?Mrs. Mary Frances Hughas
MARGARET LYNN HALL
?Mr.AMrs. Jofcn Burton Hall
CASTtft
FASHIONS FOR THE FAMILY
tOUIN?.tR?lll PIPT