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rsdav. February 9, 1978. Vol. 24, No. 17 - ' .? *• r -
___ l.i rents per copy
Suspension
ruled out in
police dispute
by Dan Ward
tn investigation into a
pute between two Black
mntain policemen has
>wn that neither has shown
havior warranting
pension from the depart
>nt, according to Town
inager Mack Kirkpatrick,
’atrolman Burt Stone was
tpended two days early this
ek while Police Chief Crait
igle and Town Manager
ick Kirkpatrick in
stigated a report that he
egedly threatened and tried
fight Officer Gary Sorrels
er Sorrels arrested a friend
his, Frank Dewitt Williams
Black Mountain, for driving
der the influence of alcohol
ibruary 5.
According to Kirkpatrick,
e dispute was not based
lely upon the arrest of
illiams, but on a number of
st disputes and “personality
nflicts.”
According to Kirkpatrick, a
port received earlier by the
News that Stone threatened to
have Sorrels fired is
"probably correct’! He asked
. Sorrels to remove his gun and
fight, Kirkpatrick said. Stone
would not comment on any
allegations and referred
questions to Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick affirmed that
Stone tried to hit Sorrels, but
that Assistant Chief Jim
Wiseman came between the
two men.
Kirkpatrick said that
reports that Stone wanted
Sorrels to forget the arrest
and let him take Williams
home were untrue, saying that
Williams had already been
g'ven a Breathalizer test and
gone home before Stone
arrived at the station.
Kirkpatrick noted that the
two-day suspension was only
during the investigation, and
did not imply guilt on the part
of Stone.
Sorrels and Slagle, like
Stone, referred all questions to
Kirkpatrick.
.in mwm ■■ i ■■■ "1 IP^
A Black Mountain employee digs out one of six broken water pipes cracked
by cold weather in Black Mountain last week. Town Manager Mack Kirk
patrick is investigating the possibility of obtaining disaster funds to repair
breaks that may have started during November flooding. (Dan Ward)
. .
'2 M _,, JTfc' ' _ ■ <"*. /* • f M
r It*©- Best response from right number
by Du Ward
Although an agreement has
en made between area (ire
partments and Southern
11 Telephone that all
lergency calls for this area
iled to an operator be
insferred to a central ex
ange, the best way to insure
good fire response is to
emorize or post by the phone
t number of the local fire
partment, according to
ack Mountain Fire Chief
erling Poe.
Poe said that valuable time
lost by having a call go from
operator to the Buncombe
lunty transmitter back to
e Black Mountain Fire
epartment.
Another problem lies in the
unber of street names that
'e duplicated in different
wns, he said.
Some of the streets here in
lack Mountain will have the
une names as somewhere
se,"he said. There is always
le possibility that a dispat
Wr could mistake an address
n Broadway or Ninth Street
ir one in a number of other
iwns in Buncombe County.
For that reason, Poe said he
Iso advises keeping the fire
apartment number handy
ver the use of an emergency
9U "number, which he said is
“still two or three years away.”
The agreement between
Bell and the fire departments
arose from an incident
recently when a person
reported a fire to an operator
located in
Greensboro. The delay
caused by the necessity for the
operator to look up the
number of the needed f ire
department led in part to one
death and the total loss of the
house. Now, all emergency
fire calls will be transferred to
the county dispatcher and the
Asheville Fire Department,
who will call the proper fire
department
Poe said that he knew of one
incident when it cost the
department eztra trouble
because a person reported the
fire to an operator. He said
the operator called giving an
address and a report of a fire,
but did not say what type of fire
it was.
Poe said the department
responded with three units
capable of fighting any sort of
fire, only to discover it was a
small leaf fire.
By talking directly to the
person reporting the fire, “we
know exactly what sort of
equipment to send," Poe said.
The number for the Black
Mountain Fire Deoartment is
689-8075. Montreat residents
use that number also.
Swannanoa residents should
call the Swannanoa Fire
Department at 254-7007 and
Riceville residents call 258
2836. All emergency numbers
are listed in the front of the
phone directory.
CP&L sees rate increase
Carolina Power & Light Co.
customers are being advised
to practice intensified con
servation efforts during
February and March to hold
their bills down because of
expected increases in the
monthly fuel charge to
customers in North Carolina.
The fuel charge approved by
the North Carolina Utilities
Commission for February will
be $3.48 per 1000 kilowatt
hours and in March the charge
is expected to be $4-72 per 1000
kilowatt-hours, according to
James M. Davis, CP & L
manager of rates and service
practices.
“Wise use of electricity
especially during this time
when cold weather normally
causes higher usage will help
hold down February and
March bills and the effect of
the higher fuel charge,’’Davis
said.
Conservation methods CP &
L suggests include keeping
thermostat settings for
heating at 68 degrees or lower
and cutting back on usage of
hot water by reducing con
sumption or lowering ther
mostats on water heaters and
dishwashers.
The charges in February
and March represent ex
penses CP & L incurred in the
September - December 1977
period. The level of the
charges reflects increased
fuel costs during the period
because refueling of nuclear
plants, maintenance, and
unscheduled outages caused
reduced usage of the Company’
s most efficient generating
units.
Consequently, older, less
efficient generating units and
more expensive fuels had to be
used for an extended period.
Another effect on the
February and March fuel
charges for the September •
December period was the
somewhat increased cost of
coal in the time prior to the
national coal miners’ strike
which began in December.
Social security
meeting scheduled
A Social Security Citizen
participation meeting will be
held on Friday, February 10 at
rhi* old postcard scene, submitted by Clyde Black Mountain to Mt. Mitchell.
a(kins, shows the train that once took visitors from
10 a.m. in the Conference
Room of the Asheville Social
Security office located at 400
Executive Park, according to
A. Glenn Moore, district
manager. The forum will last
about m to 2 hours.
Hopefully, this will be the
first of several such meetings,
Moore said. The purpose of
these meetings will be to in
crease public understanding
of programs administered by
Social Security, and afford
individuals an opportunity to
state what they want and
expect in the administration of
these programs.
“These meetings should
better inform the community
relative to what we can and
cannot do from a financial and
administrative viewpoint’;
Moore stated. "In addition we
will leam what the community
wants from us.’*
All interested persons are
invited to attend and par
ticipate.
m
Hearing draws 18
by Dan Ward
Response at the last of three
Community Development
Grant hearings in Black
Mountain was so good that a
special Citizen Participation
Committee plans to hold
another hearing at Carver
School Friday, February 10, at
7:30 p.m.
The last meeting, held at
Carver School, drew 18 per
sons-primarily Blades from
the Craigmont Community.
Suggestions echoed by
many there were that the town
provide larger water lines and
fire hydrants to the Craigmont
area, that streets in that area
be repaired and sidewalks
made, and that street lights be
installed.
One man voiced a concern
for children who must walk
home from school on
Craigmont Road, which has no
sidewalks. He also noted that
the road is too narrow for the
amount of traffic on it.
Vanderbeck
resigns post
James Vanderbeck, Black
Mountain building inspector,
has resigned, according to
Town Manager Mack Kirk
patrick.
Vanderbeck cited his out
side business interests and
time needed for other in
terests as reasons for
resigning, Kirkpatrick said.
The town will advertise (or
a new building inspector to
take over the 15-hour per week
duties. Vanderbeck will serve
until a replacement is hired,
Kirkpatrick said.
Phone directory
corrections due
The telephone directory for
Asheville and Buncombe
County will cloee on March 10,
a Bell spokesman said. Each
customer is encouraged to
verify bis listings in the
directory to be sure that they
are correct. If additional
listing* or corrections are
needed, customer* are urged
to contact the local Southern
Bell business office before
March 10.
Creola Austin said that
grant money should be spent
on playground areas and a
better drainage system in
Craigmont, as well as an
improved water system.
Horace Wells said that
street lights, sewer im
provements and low income
housing are also needed for
the area.
Lib Harper suggested that
the town could use grant
money to build a community
center on the site of the small
comunity center that burned
down in Craigmont. Jim
Allman of the Land-of-Sky
Regional Council responded
that a HUD grant could be
used for such a center, but
that it would have to be geared
toward the elderly and han
dicapped.
Aid. John Kluttz voiced
three suggestions that he said
had been passed on to him
from others. One, a more
specific version of what had
been proposed by others, was
that grant money be used to
install a 10-inch water line,
with fire hydrants, as far up
Craigmont Road as funds
allow. Another was that
additional tools and
machinery be bought for the
senior citizens’ activity room
at the Clubhouse. A third
recommendation, he said, was
that Craigmont Road be
widened and that sidewalks be
A few persons took the
opportunity to address Mayor
Tom Sobol and Town Manager
Mack Kirkpatrick on im
provements needed in
Craigmont.
Some complained that Mt.
Allen Heights Road was
washed out and that the town
had not scraped it in months.
The road lies outside the town
limits, but Aid. Ruth Brandon
said at the meeting that the
town may have accepted
responsibility for its upkeep
when Asheville water lines
were installed there. Mayor
Sobol said he would see whose
responsibility the road is.
Horace Wells said that
Craigmont Road had not been
plowed after recent blizzards.
“They never scrape this way,
never clean the ditch out or
cut the grass,” he said.
Kirkpatrick said that he
was not aware that the road
was not getting town services.
He said he would make sure
that it got plowed in the future.
Mrs. Austin also asked Sobol
when the ditch near
Craigmont and Byrd Road
would get filled in. The ditch
had been dug months ago to
install sewer pipe and is now
littered with broken pipe, she
said. She noted that one car
had already swerved into the
ditch when it snowed.
Sobol responded that he also
thought it was taking a long
time to complete work there
and promised the ditch would
be filled within three months.
He also noted that railings will
have to be installed on the
Craigmont Road bridge soon.
One person noted at the
meeting that more persons
would have turned out for the
meeting, but didn't learn of the
meeting through rewspapers
and radio. Another noted that
many persona go to evening
church services on Thursday
evenings.
Two adults and one child
attended the hearing held
February 1 at the Black
Mountain Grammar School.
One voiced a complaint that
storekeepers in Black
Mountain are not polite. No
other comments were offered.
Bob Haley
A whole lotta shakin ’here
by Dan Ward
At Inn on the Plaza in
Asheville on any evening this
week you can see the wiggle,
hear the croo n ing and feel the
showmanship that was Elvis
Presley. While he may
sound, look and give off an
aura remarkably like Elvis,
the performer sees himself
only as himself-Bob Haley.
Bob Haley the frustrated
performer. Bob Haley the
electrician. Bob Haley the
Mississippi country boy
shoveling sawdust for SO cents
an hour. Bob Haley the would
be truck driver.
Haley, who is performing in
the ballroom at Inn on the
Plaza in Asheville Wednesday
through Saturday evenings
this week, has been introduced
to the influential and monied
in North Carolina by Johnny
Fore of Black Mountain, who
befriended the entertainer
years before Presley’s death.
Fore is now acting as a go
between to assist Haley’ s
promoter, Don Boss, in getting
engagements for the singer.
“Man, I paid the price for 20
years of imitating Elvis
Pressley,’ ’ Haley said in a (
betweenkhow interview. “I’ve
been accused of imitating him
all that time - I’ve seen him
only one time ' ’
“I kept going to recording
compainies and they said,
Man, you sound too much like
Elvis - we can’t use you.’
“Now I have the opportunity
to do what I’ve always done. I’
m laughing in a way because
everyone thinks I’m imitating
Elvis - but it’s always been my
style.
“The identity crisis comes
when I would sacrifice my
own identity totally and go to
study Elvis and imitate him
totally. I couln’t help the fact
that I look like Elvis - hell,
why can’t people realize that?
But when I gc down there and
people say‘I remember when
Elvis would sing like that -
when he’d hit the high notes.
Man, he was the king of the
world and I'm doing exactly
the same thing. How many
thousands have jumped up in
the last two, three months and
haven’t been able to do the
same?”
Haley said he began a
Pre&leyish act 2% years ago,
but quit two months before the
performer’s death to sing
strictly country and western.
The day Presley died, a
promoter called begging him
to return to the Presley act.
He promised it would be a
tribute to Elvis, not an im
personation.
“I thought, Okay, what is
the most I can ask?”’Haley
said. He got what he asked for
- a backup quartet, horns,
jumpsuits and a six-piece
band.
While Haley said he likes the
stardom - his roots, like Elvis’
include a poor Mississippi
boyhood, a broken home,
gospel singing as a teenager -
he says the temptation
sometimes arises to throw it
all out the window and drive a
long-nosed Peterbilt truck
with the bicentennial cab and
a color TV in the dash.
Returning to country and
western singing now seems
out of the question.
Now I’m so integrated into
Elvis’ personality that it’ s
impossible for me to do
anything else,’ ’ he said. "I
think of it as emulating him. I'
m trying to use the best
qualities of my own while I’m
adopting the physical
characteristics he n«<*d on
Happy Valentine's day
stage.”
While he seems a little
bitter about being held back
(or years because of his
similarity to Elvis, Haley
expressed a great deal of
admiration for the performer.
“That man gave so much of
himself that he wore himself
out - that's why he died,"Haley
said. “Like, since he died I’ve
learned he wasn’t just a dude -
he was an institution. I don’t
want to inherit that institution.
"Yeah, hey.. .‘I did it my-y
y way,”’he crooned.
He/) /<>• 1 ', i/ny at Inn on the
1‘lara. (Dan Ward)