★ Ridgecrest ★ Swannanoa
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Arson investigation
on Swannanoa fires
The Buncombe County
lenff's Department is in
stigating two cases of what
iey believe is arson in
#annanoa recently.
One person has been
uestioned in connection with
to brush fires, one week
>art, on the uncompleted
osition of 1-40 near Swan
anoa, according to Jerry
ones, investigator.
The Swannanoa Fire
Department put out those
blazes, the more recent one
being a large fire May 19 in
volving two engines and 12
men.
A mobile home in Jones
Trailor Park on Asheville Rd.
was a complete loss after a
fire May 20. Three engines and
seven men answered the call
to put out the fire at the
trailor, the home of George
Wood. Nobody was injured.
The trailor and its contents
were valued at *10,000.
On May 12, two engines and
11 men put out a brush fire. On
.May 11, two engines and 17
inen were called to put out a
brush fire on Bee Tree Rd.
That day, 18 men and two
engines put out a dump fire at
the Beacon plant. Three
engines and 18 men were also
called to put out a dryer vent
fire at the Owen plant.
Man to be charged
in second stabbing
A Black Mountain man is
xpected to press charges
gainst his brother for
illegedly slashing him with a
mife on Rainbow Lane May
9. '
Glen Claude Bartlett is
eported in satisfactory
ondition in Memorial Mission
lospital after he was sup
josedly slashed by his
mother, Ray Bartlett. Ray
Bartlett was charged March
!2 with stabbing his brother in
mother incident, but Glen
Bartlett failed to press
charges at that time.
"Unless he (Ray) kills him
|(Glen), there is no way we can
S charges. The-brother has
tile charges," said Black
untain Police Chief Creight
igle He added that Glen
rtlett is expected to file
irges for the May 19 in
ent.
he Black Mountain Police
jartment conducted nine
nvestigations this past week,
[hey issued five citations for
ipeeding, one for unsafe
novement and one for
Screeching tires.
They transported two to
DETOX, ASSISTED
THREE MOTORISTS, AND
ANSWERED ONE
DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE.
Bill Stafford, investigator,
has returned upon completion
of his course in narcotics.
The police recovered one
stolen lawnmower.
The following accidents
were recorded: Crqigmont at
Laurel Circle, hit and run
$300damages; W. State Street
and Craigmont Rd-$150
damages and one injury; and
Ingles parking lot—*175
damage.
Annex bill
to pass soon
A bill to properly annex
portions of Black Mountain
and validate past votes of two
aldermen who live in one of
those sections has passed in
1a tli the state House aad
Senate and is expected to be
ratified by News press time,
state Rep. Gordon Greenwood
said May 25.
The bill legitmizes past
taxes and services supplied to
the dtv for areas, including
parts of Spring Hill, that were
inproperly annexed in the
past. It only legitmizes the
annexation of property of
persons who have legally filed
for ttiniexaluMi.
The bill also legitimizes
votes cast by airmen Don
Hoefling and Tom Sobol, who
were discovered to live in an
area incorrectly assumed to
be in the towit limits.
Bride issue
Included in the June 9 edition of the Black Mountain News will
be a special June Bride Supplement. This section will include tips
for weddings and new homemakers and various articles on bridal
fashions.
Meet the staff
The boss gets inky
by Dan Ward
As president and general
manager of Mountain Media,
Inc., the business that takes in
the Black Mountain News and
job printing done by its
presses. Grant Dickinson
finds he must wear several
hats, or changes of clothes, as
it were.
Although he can usually be
found in a suit going about
the business fuctions of a
publisher, he sometimes dons
a inkstained pair of coveralls
to work on the touchy
machinery of the presses or
phototypesetter. He knows
about every job in newspaper
production well~and still does
them when they need to be
done.
“I worked my way up from
the ground floor, he said,
“that’s the main reason I can’t
get away from general
production of newspapers.”
Grant started newspaper
work while in high school as a
•part-time ad-builder and
make-up assistant at the
Clarksville (Tenn.) Leaf
Chronicle. He noted that the
small Kentucky town he grew
up in, while having a
population of 600, has turned
out SG news professionals,
including writers for a major
news magazine and National
Geographic,
Grant tries to let the News
Staff produce the paper on
their own.
“I assembled the crew that
is presently working for
Mountain Media and as usual,
have found that I have
assembled from a gofer to an
actress, a perfectionist to a
cleaning lady, and an over
worked supervisor to an un
de r f ed salesperson.
Generally, I though I had an
excellent crew, but 1 was
unaware of these facts until I
saw them printed in ‘Meet the
staff,"he quipped.
“The biggest job 1 have is
promoting the Black Mountain
News and making decisions
as to what direction to ex
pand. I have a competant
staff-therefore I’m seldom
seen in the front office,"he
said.
However, I do like to keep a
hand in the printing," . he
punned, holding up the hand
he smashed in the press a few
months am
—— m iiii \r.w mm w
JAMES NANNEY, of Nanney’s Repair Service,
puts the finishing touch on an upstairs window frame
at the antique shop on Cherry St. (Dan Ward)
Hospital likely to remain,
phaseout a possibility
by Dan Ward
A proposal to close Western
North Carolina Hospital is
expected to be defeated, but
may possibly result in a
phasing out of the hospital and
denial of a request for $2
million to renovate a wing of
the institution.
“I believe we’ve got it (the
proposal) cornered for this
session,” state Rep. Gordon
Greenwood said May 25. “We
have a lot of support on our
side. Our chances are real
good. They’re talking about
phasing it (WNC Hospital)
out, though-we can’t let that
happen either.”
Greenwood said he has
obtained the support of Gov.
Jim Hunt, and has spoken to
the It. governor and speaker of
the house. He said a great deal
of opposition to the proposal is
needed because the Base
Budget Committee, which
produced the proposal, is very
influential. Greenwood said
the proposal, even if over
come, is likely to hurt the
chances of a proposal he has
introduced to allocate $2
million to renovate a wing of
the hospital built in 1937.
Greenwood said a joint
meeting of three committees,
including the appropriations
on Education Committee, of
which he is vice chairman,
will be studying the ap
propriations proposals all
week. He said the group would
be hearing from Dr. Sarah
Morrow, secretary of the
Department of Human
Resources, on May 28. She has
not yet made a stand on the
proposal, he said. The
previous administration of
that department had
recommended closing WNC
Hospital, he added.
WNC Hospital employs 280
persons from the Swannanoa
Valley. The proposal to close
it, made by a sub-committee
of the Base Budget Com
mittee, recommends closing
the hospital to save the state
an estimated $2.8 million.
The hospital treats 1200
patients, yearly from the
western part of the state
primarily those with chronic
respiratory ailments.
Plant vows to end emmissions
Black Mountain Wood
working on Vance Ave., the
subject of a'n Asheville
television newscast because of
occasional windblown
sawdust pollution, will have
pollution problems corrected
within three months, ac
cording to plant owner and
president Joe Chamberlain.
The newscast was made as
the result of complaints from
persons the station did not
name, and did not include
comment from Chamberlain.
“We were indeed polluting,”
Chamberlain admitted
recently.
Chamberlain said his plant
has expelled an exceptional
amount of fine sawdust
particles three times within
the last five months. He said
Buncombe to get
disaster funds
Gov. Jim Hunt has an
nounced {hat the Small
Business Administration has
declared Buncombe County a
disaster area as a result of
heavy rains and flash floods
April 4, making residents of
the area eligible for special
disaster-relief loans.
Xhe disaster declaration
GAR Y BARTLETT awaits an additional fire extin,
guisher to put out a fire in a Southern Railways
engine in Black Mountain last week. (Dan Ward)
Black Mtn. Fire Dept.
The Black Mountain Fire
Department fought three fires
last week, including an
electrical fire in a Southern
railways engine and a house
fire at Ridgecrest Assembly.
Two trucks and 11 men were
called May 17 to put out a fire
in an engine of a freight train
that had stopped behind
Burger Hutt. Damage was
reported at $10,000.
On May 20, two trucks and
17 men were called to put out a
house fire, caused by light
ning, on Ridgecrest Assembly
Dr. The house was a total loss,
and worth approximately
$12,000.The house belonged to
the Assembly and was being
prepared to house maids for
the summer.
Two trucks and 16 men were
called to put out a brush fire
on North Fork Dam Rd, on
May 17. On May 18, one truck
and five men were called for
an investigation on Briar
brook Rd.
The fire department am
bulance made three runs last
week.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY
AMBULANCE
The ambulance service
made 20 routine runs, two
emergency and was not
needed on four.
WWC gets grant
Warren Wilson College has
been approved for a grant of
up to $5,000 through ths
National Endowment for the
Humanties, it was announced
recently by United States
Coiigi cooiTii'in I. - ■.
The Hun>anities En
dowment's grant supports the
planning of interpretive ar
chaeological exhibits for the
musuem at Warren Wilson
College.
also applies to any area, in
counties adjacent to Bun
combe that suffered damage
in the storm.
As a result of the
declaration, the SB A will
make loans available at 6 and
% per cent interest. Ap
plications for physical
damage loais may be filed
through July 11 aqd for
economic injury loans through
February 13,1978. They can be
filed at the state or county
civil preparedness office in
the Health and Welfare
Building in Asheville.
those emmisions occurred
when the plant cyclone, a
centrifuge that removes
particles from the air, became
plugged up. He also said the
plan thas been emmiting more
sawdust since he had a sander
installed in February. The
sander, he said, produces a
sawdust that is so fine the
cyclone cannot remove it.
As the result of a directive
from the state Pollution
Control Board, Chamberlain
has submitted a plan for in
stallation of equipment to
remove the dust.
Ronald Boone, director of
the Pollution Control Board
for Buncombe and Haywood
Counties, said Black Mountain
Woodworking’s plan to install
a collector will probably be
approved at the board’s next
meeting. He said Chamberlain
will have until June 30 to have
the unit installed.
Chamberlain told the News
earlier that delivery and in
stallation of the unit will take 8
to 12 weeks because the unit
must come from California.
Chamberlain said he is
making an extra effort to see
that the cyclone does not
become plugged up again.
Black Mountain Wood
working’s cyclone.
Holiday driving hazardous
More persons lost their lives
on North Carolina highways
during Memorial Day
weekend last year than on any
Memorial Day holiday since
1972. according to Colonel
John T Jenkins, State High
way Patrol Commander. A
total of 19 persons lost their
lives during the holiday
weekend last year as com
pared to 13 during each of the
holiday periods for the past
three years, he added, and
excessive speed was the
violation listed most often as
causing fatal accidnets.
During the holiday period
this year, which begins at 6:00
pm. on Friday, May 27, and
ends at midnight on Monday,
May 30, every available
trooper will be on duty,
Jenkins said. Although no
special programs have been
planned, Jenkins emphasized
that troopers will direct then
efforts toward speeding
motorists.
By using electronic speed
computers and moving radar,
troopers will maintain a
regular patrol observing all
traffic while detecting the
speed of vehicles. They will
also be available to aid
motorists should they have
problems on the highways
during the holiday period.
Secretary of Crime Control
and Public Safety J. Phil
Carlton urged citizens who are
planning to travel on the
state’s highways during the
holiday to allow enough travel
time and to avoid exceeding
the legal speed limit.
Meet the hoard
Jon Creighton, buckstopper
by Dan Ward
Ed. Note-Our series on
Black Mountain government
will end with this interview
with Jon Creighton, town
manager. Although he is not
an elected official, he deals
more directly with Black
Mountain residents than the
board and is overseer for city
services.
"1 think we give a lot better
services than a big city like
Asheville,” said town
manager Jon Creighton
recently.
“It’s more personal. I got to
know a lot of persons fast. I
won't call it friendship,
necessarily-I treat everyone
the same.”
Creighton's Job is to carry out
directives given him by the
board and to oversee the
duties of the town’s sanitation
.water and sewer, and street
departments and to a certain
extent, the fire and police
depts.
Creighton, who received an
MA in city management from
Appalachian State University
tt+m
recently, was hired by the
town board 16 months ago.
Prior to that, he had lived in
AshevUle and worked in town
government in Canton as an
intern.
“I’m not political," he said.
“1 didn't know of any of the
board members before I came
here.”
Sometimes he draws
criticism.
“On $700,000, you can only
do so much. If you want to
raise taxes, we can more
men and be faster and more
efficient. For the manpower
we’ve got, I think we do a good
job. I do my best,” he said.
Although he finds town
management has its
drawbacks-especially when
he becomes the target of
dissatifisfaction with the
town’s services-Creighton
said he is happy to live in
Black Mountain and with the
challenge of hiff work.
“Black Mountain is a nice
place-I enjoy it. It’s got a lot
going for it. I think it will
really blossom once the in
terstate is done^he^said.