Serving
i*r Black Mountain
^ Swannanoa
* Montreat
^ Ridgecrest
Second ctass postage paid
at Btack Mountain. NC 28711
Even in biach and white, the change o/ tea/ coior can be seen a/ter iast weeh's/rost. (^Dan Ward^
Hospital care to change
by Dan Ward
Employees of WNC Hospital
in Black Mountain were ad
vised last week to begin
training for a transition at the
hospital from care of
respiratory diseases to care
of the mentally retarded by
Dr. Sarah Morrow, secretary
of the Department of Human
Resources.
Morrow told directors of the
state' s specialty hospitals
October 6 that WNC Hospital
will be phased down to a 50
bed unit for tuberculosis (TB)
in-patients, while the satellite
unit of the Western Carolina
Center, now occupying 40
beds, will be expanded con
siderably.
According to Jack Ellison,
administrative director of the
hospital, reaction among the
274 employees was mixed.
"The immediate reaction was
relief that the hospital would
remain open. There is some
1 own re-applies for grant
by Dan Ward
The B)ack Mountain Town
tard voted to take another
ot at a Community
:vetopment Grant to instal)
w water tines in Cragmont
d upped its settlement offer
a family whose hoitse was
stroyed by a fire truck at its
iuiar meeting October 9.
May - ,:Tmn iiob-jl . that
: tcwn will have another
portunity to apply for
partment of Housing and
ban Development (HUD)
immunity Development
nding with a second round
fundtng in November and
:cember.
He said adapting an eariier
[plication that was rejected
11 simply be a matter of
tanging dates. In addition,
le town will be required to
)ld two more pubiic hearings
before it can re-appty.
Soboi said that, in view of
pressure put on HUD when
only 4 per cent of grant funds
in North Carolina went to the
western half of the state,
Black Mountain and other
western municipalities may
have a better chance of obtng
awarded grants. If the t-y?nt
to install new water linos and
fire hydfants is approved, the
town would stand a better
chance of receiving other
grant money, including funds
for a new storage reservoir
through the Appalachian
Regional Commission.
The board also met in closed
session with the son and
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.E.
McMahan, whose house was
destroyed when it was hit by a
Black Mountain Fire truck
August 1.
In that session, the board
agreed 4 to I on a new set
tlement offer to the Mc
Mahans that Sobol called
substantially increased"
over a previous offer of ap
proximately (17,000.
Aid. Ruth Brandon opposed
the figure, saying she thought
'he couple shou'f* receive
more compensation.
A written copy of the offer
will be drawn up and sent to
the couple this week.
The board also voted to ask
for new bids for a new police
car. Police Chief Crait Slagle
suggested that the town try to
get a car added to an order
made by the Asheville Police
from Apple Tree Chevrolet, at
(6073 per car, as opposed to
low bids from Black Mountain
dealers of (6570 and (6695. On
recommendation of Aid. Jim
Norton and AM. John Kluttz
that the town buy from a focal
dealer, and a suggestion from
Aid. A. F. Tyson that a better
price may be negotiated
locally, the board voted to
advertise for new bids.
The board also gave Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick
permission to buy a back-hoe
attacnment for the water
department at a cost of (3049.
Most of the meeting con
sisted of an appeal from
Jeanette Clevenger for some
town funding for the Meals-on
Wheels Program in view of a
cut in Community Develop
ment funding for that
program.
The Meals-on-Wheels
program is sponsored by
ABCCM, and delivers hot
lunches to 17 to 25 shut-ins in
the Black Mountain area at a
cost of $1.65 per meal.
On Sobol's recommendation,
the board agreed to make a
decision on funding the
program at the regular
November meeting.
Kirkpatrick told the board
that, contrary to reports by
Asheviiie media, Black
Mountain is not buying
Asheviiie watM He said the
water leva! in the feservoir 4a
down sis feet, and water is
still being pumped from the
lower collection pond. He said
Black Mountain did buy water
from Asheville for three days
in June while a pump was
repaired.
The board also told Kirk
patrick to have Carolina
Power and Light install three
sodium vapor lights near the
NC 9 exit off of 1-40. The lights
will cost (316.80 per year to
operate.
iVetc test causes concern /or some
by Dan Ward
When it was announced that
luncombe County Schools
anked above the state
n erage on a that high schoo)
competency test iast year,
)wen Principal Charles Lytie
*as hardly gleeful with the
cesuits.
If a new state law requiring
1th grade students to pass the
ompetency test to receive a
iiploma had gone into effect
ast year, as many as 82 Owen
entors would graduate this
ear wtth only a certificate of
ittendance to show for 12
ears of schooling.
Buncombe County juniors
cored approximately 10
percent higher than the state
average on the triai com
petency test, now required for
graduation In Buncombe
County, 32 out of iOO students
failed the math segment of the
test and 9 out of 100 failed the
reading segment.
"We were just about where
Buncombe County was, "Lytle
said
"But the bung people forget
in iooking at statistics is that
sooner or later it boils down to
individual people, not
statistics, "he said.
Lytle said that out of senior
classes of about 200, all but 6 to
10 out of each class have
received diplomas in past
years. Many times that
number will be ieft behind if
the triai test last year is any
indication.
Owen juniors will have their
first of three chances to pass
the test November 1 and 2.
Even when they pass the test,
the students will have to fulfill
the school requirements of 18
hours credit and passing
grades on required courses.
The fact that almost a third
of Buncombe students failed
the math segment of the test
has a number of educators
trying to compute what went
wrong, and Lytle is no ex
ception.
"1 think a lot of it is a result
is one o/ tbe best t/Mn#s to ever happen ' — Lyt/e
of the new math we went
through — I think that was
one of the primary causes.
"Surprisingly enough, iower
grade children now are doing
well on math," he said.
The competancy tests deal
only with the most basic math
and reading in day-to-day
situations — reflecting what
Lytle and other educators
regard as "survival skills" in
American society.
The fact that many students
have not mastered the most
basic skills suggests they may
not have been tested enough
on the basics before moving
on to other work, Lytle said.
He said that classes in
remedial reading and math
are now taught after normal
schooi hours four days each
week at Owen. Teachers are
also stressing basics needed to
pass the competency test in
regular math and English
classes now, he said.
"My personal opinion is that
this is one of the best things to
ever happen. 1 think it is going
to make teachers, principals,
superintendents, boards of
education more aware of their
responsibilities to students
and parents. By the same
token, 1 think it's going to
make parents more aware
that they have some
responsibility to their children'
s education, too,"he said.
"!' m afraid our whole
society, particularly mothers
and fathers, need to get more
involved in the educational
process. You can't wait until
the child is 16 years old and do
something about it.
"This doesn't start in high
school, it starts down in the
primary grades,'' he said.
Recognizing this, state law
also requires that stan
dardized tests oe given to
first, third, sixth and ninth
grade students.
"Those tests wili do as
much good as the competency
tests, because now welt know
ail aiong how weil they are
doing, i think weli see an end
to sociai promotion," ' Lytie
said.
One of the greatest ad
vantages of the testing wili be
that parents who had formerly
thought they had no part in
their children's education will
now have to take a more ac
tive roie in seeing that school
work gets done if the children
are to graduate, Lytle said..
"1 think more parents are
concerned now, but how they
are getting involved I" m not
sure," he said He said one
place that parental help is
needed is in discouraging
absenteeism
"! think one of the dangers
of testing is that everybody
will tend to make everyone
else a scapegoat,' ' Lytle
predicted. "I don't think that
should be a basic concern !
think we should all just work
together to make it work."
wondering of where I wiii fit
in', though."Eilison said he
was mainly happy that
Morrow chose to utilize the
facilities for state health care
and that she placed first
priority on placing present
hospital personnel in new
positions that will open at the
satellite unit.
Morrow, in a memo to
employees, said that training
for the new position will be
given to any employees who
desire it, and that they will be
given first consideration for
the new jobs.
Ellison said he did not know
how many employees would
be kept on for the reduced
respiratory facility.
The hospital contains 215
beds. 40 of which are now used
by the satellite unit and 90 by
the respiratory unit. With
reduction of the respiratory
unit, a total of 165 beds could
be utilized for care of mentally
retarded.
Western Carolina Center,
located in Morgan ton, is now
filled to capacity and received
an average of 20 requests per
month for beds for Ms
retarded. Last year, only 10
vacancies occurred there,
leaving an enormous waiting
list.
"I'm just happy this facility
will be serving a real need,''
Ellison said of the transition,
due to take several months.
Ellison said that of the 50
patients the hospital will
continue to serve, 32 will be for
TB and the others will be
exceptional cases involving
serious respiratory diseases
that cannot be handled by
iocai clinics.
ENC Hospital, in Wilson,
will continue to serve
respiratory disease patients
on an out-patient basis only,
and will be used primarily to
care for geria ric patients
from the state' s mental
hospitals.
The specialty
hospital in McCain will con
tinue to serve TB patients,
including in-patients now
cared for at ENC Hoeptal.
Towns got street repair c/tec^s
State Transportation
Secretary Tom Bradshaw has
announced that checks
totaiing more than (33.5
million have been mailed to
452 municipalities in North
Carolina for local street
construction and main
tenance. The monies make up
the 1978 allocation of state
street aid (Powell Bill) funds.
Black Mountain, with 27.02
of eligible miles of streets,
received a check for $59,557.09
for street repairs. Montreat,
with 11.75 miles of eligible
street miles, received
(15,473.02.
Each year the Powell Bill
returns to qualified
municipalities one cent of
North CMfiiy's ^ "e%
^tate Atoty fuel tax and
requires dsa: u'lese funds be
disbursed by no later than
October l.
"The checks were prepared,'
explained Secretary Brad
shaw, "on the basis of the
allocation formula prescribed
by the "street aid legislation.'
The formula reflects the
population of the community
and its local street mileage.
"This year' s sum of
$33,502,112.52 is the largest
amount ever returned to
North Carolina communities
under the Powell Bill
provisions. In fact, it is nearly
$1.5 million more than last
year's record disbursement,"
Bradshaw added.
"Sharing these resources is
another example of our
partnership with the com
munities we serve In our joint
effort to meet tranvwstiaa
needs tidily as wed as
statewide, the transportation
secretary said.
From this year's Powell Bill
Montreat water
meeting set
by John Abe me thy
When the Montreat Board of
Commissioners meet Monday
afternoon for the regular
October session, they will hear
an interim report from the
Water and Sewer Negotiating
Commission The town
council will be advised that
the Montreat Management
Council will delay farther
discussions until after the N.C.
Attorney General has made a
ruling on the appeal now in his
hands. That decision could
seriously affect the process of
negotiations regarding the
transfer of the Water and
Sewer system from the
Mountain Retreat Association
to the Town of Montreat.
The board also wiU hear a
report regarding the com
pletion of the Texas Road
Extension bridge, which
already is being used by
residents who live in the area
There will be discussion about
road repair scheduled before
the onset of winter weather.
The Board of Com
missioners usually meets the
second Thursday each month,
but the meeting was
rescheduled when it was found
that a quorum could not be
present. The meeting will
begin at 4 p.m. Monday in the
Board's usual meeting place in
Gaither Hall. Visitors are
welcome.
Funds, the largest singie
check went to the City of
Charlotte. Charlotte' s
allocation of (3,813,424.29 was
based on a population figure of
306,230 and a local street
mileage figure of 1,117.76
Of the total amount
allocated as part of the Powell
Bill Funds, 75 percent is
proportioned among the
municipalities on the basis of
population and 25 percent on
the basis of non-state system
local street mileage. Each
municipality furnishes its own
certified lo&d street mileage
and the population figures are
the r t recent annua)
estimates of population as
certified by the North
Caroiir. Department of
Administration.
Th< smaltest check
d'sbtr under the act went
t; t)A cipaiity of Caswell
Beach Brunswick County,
xf "t i'i receive a check for
< 2 Casweil Beach wili
reec've share of the Powell
Bill unds based on a
popji tion figure of 70 and
ioca! street mileage of O il
miles.
7? ]
vtctor Haii, pastor o/ the Bibie Presbyterian
Church in Chariotte, and Me! Perry, pastor o/ the
Grace Bibie Presbyterian Church in NashviHe,
Tenn., pichet the Montreat gate in protest o/ Biiiy
Graham's trip to Communist Poiand iast weeh. The
two said Graham is piaying to propagandists who
use his visits as an exampie o//reedom o/ reiigion
behind the Iron Curtain. fDan Ward)
Fire drills heid
The Black Mountain Fire
Department made four runs
last week.
No damage resulted from a
chimney fire at the Phelps
residence on Montreat Road
October 4. Two engines and 25
men responded
Also that day, one engine
and four men were called to
wash down after an accident
on Montreat Road.
One engine and 16 men were
called to put out a fire on a
light pole on West State Street
October 6.
The Mountain Search and
Rescue Team responded to a
call October 7 to assist the
Broad River Fire Department
in a search and rescue
mission, only to find that the
missing woman had been
found. One truck and 11 men
responded
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service made !0
routine, two emergency and
one unneeded run last week
A series of fire driiis were
scheduled to be held in con
junction with fire Prevention
Week this week. The fire
department was schcdtittd t<
participate in driiis at the
Grammar School, Carver
School, the Prima y School
and at Drexel Plant Id.
Biach Mountain Gramma- ** * n Biach Mountain Fire Depart
ment, hoidea/iredri!? .' ; c Prevention Weeit. CDcn Ward)