Your
Hometown Newspoper
)f You Live in
it Biack Mountain * Montreat
* Ridgecrest it Swannanoa
Thursday, February 10, 1977, Vo). 33, Number 19
15 CENTS
Dog Leash Law??
Protecting What??
innocent Victims Siein Meediessiy
ByUVA MIRACLE
Packs of dogs are once again roaming the Township at wili, invading neigh
borhoods where they do not belong. The area around Tomahawk Lake is
especially hard hit.
Last Thursday morning dogs attacked the ducks at the Lake killing seven in
a wantonless, useless slaying. They did not kill out of hunger as all the
mangled carcasses were left where they were slain. There was no escape for
the ducks. The Lake wa&^gggp except for a very small area and the ice was
thick enough to support the dgght of the dogs as they chased thedu chsto the
dam area.
A1 White and one of the other men from the City Water Department went to
feed them and found tnis mayhem. It was the ducks Thursday - What or Who
Wih Be Next/
The Dog Leash Ordinance, passed on August 12, 1975, has proven totaliy
ineffective. The Law was pass&i; but there was no monetary provision made
to hire a man to enforce it or to provide him with equipment or training. If
there has been any change in the status of the dog population the peopie of the
Township cannot teli it,
Now before someone accuses me of being a dog hater etc., etc., iet me refute
it in advance. I have a dog, for most of my iife I've had a dog. I aiso iove my
present iittle pet deariy, so much so I do everything in my power to take care
of him and aiso to see that he does not bother anyone eise. I aiso try to keep
him out of harms way.
Do you iove your dog as much?? If so why are you ietting it run ioose at the
mercy of the elements and man aiso to be destructive and abusive to the rights
of others?
Because of those who feei that "they " have the right to turn their pets ioose
ali others, as weii as animais iike the ducks must suffer.
It is not safe for iaw abiding citizens to chain or tie their dogs in their yards
for this puts the restrained animai at the mercy of the pack.
It has seemed to be the genera! consensus that it is the job of the individuai
citizen to be responsibie for the impounding of these strays. We, the citizens,
must catch them, we must restrain them untii such time as the Humane Of
ficer from Buncombe County can come out to get them. Perhaps you are
wiiiing to tangie with a strange dog, of unknown viciousness but most of us are
not.
Just what means are avaiiabie and just what has been done to aid in
restraining the free running animais?
Town Mgr. Jon Creighton stated Friday that the Town has cage type traps
which can be set in individual yards to entrap the animais, without harming
them. Most peopie have refused to use them and we feei justifiably so, the
peopie who iove their pets so much they iet them run,ioose are very touchy
about them.
However, the time has come when we have to put up or shut-up. We as ,
citizens will have to make known, if possible, the owners of the dogs creating
the havoc. Folks around the Lake are trying their best to protect the ducks, but
there have been many other animais killed by these roving packs ali over
Can We Protect These And Other Helpless Creatures??
town. There is never a day that goes by that the News Office or City Haii does
not receive a compiaint about this. The people generally making the complaint
will not deal directly with the pet owners involved but expect someone else to
do their complaining for them. Until you are ready to speak up and be counted
this proMem cannc*
The Leash Law per se is at present useless.We wouM ask if it is not going'to
be enforced and the means for enforcing it provided, Why have it?
Again we ask are we going to protect the helpless animals who are the
victims or are we gomg to protect the strays and their owners.
Think about it!!!
(Photo By Rtgeni* Byrd)
P'REMEN PRANK PLEMMONS, Tom
Turner and Gary Barttett detiver water, in
' UV2 gat. container, to a famity who are
without water. This is one of 277 the men in
he department have been keeping fitted.
There is no end in sight for the detiveries.
356 Famines
Aided By Firemen
Mem&ers of the Biaeh
"fountain Fire Department
iave been seeing to the need#
'f 3M families in the area who
ta"e been without water and
tei They have contributed
^ votunteer man hours,
ieiivered 2.705 gate, of No. 1
*"d No 2 fuei oil and K7 of
*7^ gal. water containers
placed in the community The
contalnera were filled on an
alternate baais
On Sunday Feb. 4 1477 they
haulr^ Z.W) gailona of water
w a reaervotr at Shy Hi^h
Acrea.
The men have been on call
around theetadt from Jan a
Feb. 4.
fnvestigator Fimeberg Resigns, WHMam Stafford Named Saceessor
WWiasi A. (BiUhStaffordot
Aaheviiiehaa been hired as
Special inveatigator on the
Biach Mountain Poiice Dept.
The vacancy was created by
the resignation of Myron
Fineberg who had held that
position since October of 1976.
T W. Fortnne &
Dvn Ramsey
New Poiice Officers
Two patrolmen on the Black
Mountain Police Department
who have not been introduced
to the public via the Black
Mountain News are T.W.
Fortune who has been with
the department since October
and Don Ramsey who began
his duties early in January.
Fortune, age 30, the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Grover Fortune
formerly of Broad River, is a
native of Salisbury and is
single.
V 1
Don Ramsey
He is an Army veteran with
three years of service, Ms
yeara of which he spent In
Germany aa a Medical Corp
sman
His police work background
consists of two years as a
Patrolman with the N.C.
Highway Patrol (71-73) and
two years with the Buncombe
County Sheriff's Dept. (73-7S).
He aiso has worked in
security work for the
Asheville Retail Merchants
Assoc.
He attended the Basic
Training School at Chapel Hill
for the Highway Patrol and
taught Basic Training Schools
in the Sheriff's Dept.
This is Ramsey's first ex
perience in police work. He is
a navy veteran, with four
years service, mostly in the
Mediterranean area.
T. W. Fortune
He is taiong courses in the
Inter Agency Narcotics group
and wiU attend police courses
as offered.
A graduate of Lee Edwards
High School, he attended
W.C.U. for one year
Ramsey and his wife Dtane
are living on Montreat Rd.
Ihey have one son Chris, age
5.
MYRON FIN EH ERG
f
BULL STAFFORD
!RS HAS NOT PROVtDED
FORMS FOR POST OFF)CE
The fact that there are no income
Tax Forms at the Btack Mountain Post
Office is not the fauit of the U.S. Postai
Service or Postmaster Roy Harris.
The ! RS did not send any forms to the
ioca) post offices.
Postmaster Harris stated he had
caiied the iRS in Greensboro and had
written them and he said it seemed
they were not sending any out to be
piaced in post offices.
Mr. Harris said the service in the
past had been a courtesy provided by
the Postai Service. "We are in no way
connected with the )RS. We donated
the space and handied the forms as a
community service."
He noted that persons needing extra
or specia! forms couid obtain them by
caiiing the toii free number in
Greensboro 1 800 822 8800 or the U.S.
Government teiephone no. 255 2850
and ask for the interna) Revenue
Service and they')) ma!i it out to you,
Harris ciaimed.
He aiso stated if the !RS sends them
any forms they wit) giadiy dispiay
them as in the past.
Commencing in October and
ending Jam 1, 1977, In
vestigator Fineberg opened or
had opened a total of 47 cases
for investigation. Of these 25
had been closed or transferred
to another agency, at the time
of his resignation. One case in
presently pending in District
Court and appears to most
certainly go to Superior Court.
Town Manager - Jon
Creighton, Mayor Margaret
Slagle and members of the
Board of Aldermen praised
Mr. Fineberg. In the short
Renovation
6^ Ronse
Meariwg
Completion
Local contractors have
finished work on the upper
levei of the Community Center
at Lake Tomahawk. The
renovation has been a major
undertaking involving
replacement of paneling and
floor tiling, a new placement
of doors, and structural
changes in the basement
which will leave the whole
area open for activities. The
construction has been par
ticularly sensitive to the needs
of Senior Citizens. A new
access road will make tran
sportation to the door possible
and ramps in and out of the
building will increase safety
and mobility; these features
are very important since one
of the primary clients of the
Center will be the XYZ Club, a
Black Mountain Senior
Citizens group The addition of
a redwood deck on the tennis
court side of the Center is
another attractive feature;
sitters will have a nice view of
the lake and mountains
Results of the renovation are
most satisfactory in every
way. City Manager Jon
Creighton and the Town
Council must be com
plimented for their persistent
efforts to Me that the
renovation was initiated with
the minimum of delay
time he was investigator
showed iniative, worked long
hours in his efforts on crime
and his effort in setting up
files on PIN standards. We
wish him every success in his
new endeavor.
Stafford comes to Black
Mountain after four years
with the Asheville Police
Dept. He worked for a short
period as a Federal Police
Officer at the V.A. Hospital in
Oteen and also as a Buncombe
County Sheriff's Deputy for
sis months.
He was a member of the
U S. Marine Corp from 196S
72. He served as a Criminal
Investigator in the Military
Police Division.
Stafford has attended
several police and
criminology schools including
the Los Angeles State College
School of Criminology with
special emphasis on Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs.
Stafford, 27, is a native of
Asheville, is married and has
one child, a daughter 4 years
old.
He assumed his duties on
Jan. 31.
MEMBERS OF CP&L ciean up debris from
a tree which fei! across a power tine on
Montreat Road Saturday at 1:04 p.m.
disrupting power in a iarge area of Riack
Mountain. Power off fronr m**"4L*
one and a haif f****5.'*^. ^ *!eu were
aided by the Biaek Mountain Fire and
Poiice Departments. (Photo by Gary
Sorreiis)