Second ctass postage patd
at Btact Mountain. NC 287H
^ursday. October 26, 1978, Vot. 24. No. 52
Serving—
* Black Mountain
it Swannanoa
it Montreat
-t* Ridgecrest
15cents per copy
Boart/ /tears sc/too/p/ea,
ac/vtses Z?oMt/ campa:g?t
by Dan Ward
Most of the 80 persons who
attended the October 19
meeting of the Buncombe
County School Board to wit
ness reaction to a presentation
of serious structural problems
at Black Mountain Primary
School came away with a
[eeling that the board turned a
deaf ear and intends to use
them to promote a school bond
issue, according to Fred
Myers, chairman of a sub
committee studying defects in
Owen District &:hools.
They (the 80 or more who
attended) were frustrated that
in 1965 they voted for a school
bond to build a new primary
school, but the money was
spent elsewhere."Myers said.
He said many commented that
they believed that school
allocations were politically
motivated.
No comment came from the
board members following a
slide presentation by Myers
showing rotten floors and
ceiiings, falling bricks,
peeling paint, warped beams,
and exposed wiring at the 60
year-old school. School
Superintendent Andy Miller
told Myers that the presen
tation was good, and should be
sh„wn to a Buncombe-County
Advisory Council to give other
school districts an indication
of what a good presentation is.
Miller suggested the
presentation be used to rally
support tor a county-wide
bond issue.
"We got the impression
from Dr. Miiier's remarks
that the peopie puiiing the
strings are going to deny the
money without oassaee of a
bond issue," Myers said.
Myers said he piaces iittie
faith not oniy in the passage of
a county bond issue, but in
Biack Mountain Primary
School getting much of the
money if it should.
Myers said that the school
board, by not seeing safety
hazards at Black Mountain
Primary School as needing
immediate attention, shows a
bias toward this area.
"You look around the county
and see the lavish frills others
have gotten," he said, giving
sauna baths and lounges at
Erwin Middie School as
examples, "and here we have
kids who are going to fall out
of the damn windows."
Myers said he will support
an effort by the Owen District
Schools to continue appearing
at the School Board meetings
in support of a more concrete
and immediate remedy to
problems at Black Mountain
Primary School.
Elementary Watson —
with best evidence
Montreat Police Captain
Robbie Yates would iike to be
able to say it was super sleuth
police work that led to the
arrest of an Asheville man for
the burglary of the Robert
Brinkley home October 16 on
Assembly Drive - but it wasn'
t
You see, he apparently had
a lot of help from the burglar.
Police were searching the
home for evidence as to who
broke five windows and kicked
in a door when Yates came
across the sort of evidence
that comes up once in a
million break-ins - a wallet
filled with identification
cards, driver's license and
vehicle registration.
Yates immediately obtained
a warrant on Robert Hudgins,
31, of Asheville, owner of the
wallet. Montreat Officer
Randy Halford, spotting
Hudgins'car, arrested the man
at McDibb's on Cherry Street
later.
' # every breajAn 6 a
house we had, they left a
calling card like that, it would
make our wor)[ a whole lot
easier,"Yates said.
"We found the wallet laying
on the floor when we were
looking for evidence. It looked
like it fell out of his pocket
when he kicked down a door."
he said. Halford said Hudgins
apparently cut his hand on a
broken window when
gaining entry to the house.
Blood was found throughout
the house.
A trial date (or felonious
breaking'and has
been set for October 26 for
Hudgins. He is now oat on 6300
bond
Gov. Jim Hunt arrives at the Laheview Muiti-service Center, where he
spohe/or U S. Rep. Lamar Gudger f behind rights, who is running/or re
eiection to the tJth District. (Dan Ward)
Water cuts
asked in
Montreat
The Mountain Retreat
Association, owner of Mon
treat' s water system, has
asked residents to cut back on
use of water in view of the
recent dry speil.
Included in requests by the
association are that citizens
do not wash cars or water
lawns, use half as much water
in washing clothes, taking
baths, or washing dishes; that
they repair all household
leaks; and report leaks in the
supply lines to the association
at 669-2914, according to
Monroe Ashley, executive
director of the association.
The Association is seeking
OMer wan so MgVtf /or %?om %? f/treaf
by Dam Ward
An older man, probably
disguising Ms voice with a
handkerchief, called in what
was probably him second bomb
threat in 10 days to the Black
Mountain Grammar School
October 19.
Black Mountain Police and
firemen responded to a call
Arson investigated in woodworking fire
Arson is suspected as the
cause of a fire* at Black
Mountain Woodworking eariy
the morning of October 20.
B[ack Mountain poiice and
hrmen investigated the fire,
and called in the SB! when no
cause for the fire was found.
Damage, caused mainly by
water when the sprinkler
system was set off, has been
estimated at (10,000 to (12,000.
Two engines and i5 men
responded.
Another fire that is stili
under investigation caused
(16,000 damage to the Danny
Carver residence on Taber
( Mountain Fire Chie/Steriing Poe inspect^amag^^cen^
house/ire on Tabernacie Road. ^Dan Ward)
bounds c^aMgredf
A boundary change has been
Me between Black Moun
"n precincts numbers i and 4
' delude in the number 4
^cinct those voters living on
R South of North Fork Road
Miptetely surrounded by the
irporate iimits of the Town of
^Mountain. These voters
^ be notified by card of the
Mge If there are any
"esttons. the Board of
Actions has offered to heip.
The polls will open at 6:30
and close at 7:30 p.m. for
'e November 7 general
Mtion These hours are set
by statute and are the same
for every election.
Absentee applications for
the November General
Election must be in the hands
of the Board of Eiecbons no
iater than November 1 That
is the iast day to aiso vote one
stop in the board's office Any
applications received after
that date will not be honored,
the board has announced
Absentee ballots, however,
may be returned to the Board
up until 5 p.m on November
*, w< iherby mail, in person, or
by a near relative of the voter.
Aosentee ballots will be
counted at 2 p.m. Election
Day in the Board's office in the
Courthouse Annex. Any in
terested voter may be present,
but the results are not an
nounced until after the close of
the polls.
Absentees may be applied
for either in person or by a
near relative in the board's
office. If the voter can not
come to the office and does not
have a near relative, a written
request may be sent or
brought to the office for an
application
nacie Road October 19. The
fire, thought to have begun in
or near a chair in the living
room, totally engulfed the
house. Nobody was injured.
Three engines and 16 men
responded.
Black Mountain firemen
responded to nine other
alarms last week, five of them
in a 24 hour period.
One engine and 10 men
responded to an alarm caused
by a malfunction in the alarm
system at WNC Hospital on
October 16. A grease fire at
the Sanders residence on
Mississippi Road in Montreat
caused $25 damage that day,
also. Two engines and IS men
responded Later that day,
one engine and 15 men
responded to a chimney fire at
the Bartlett residence on
Rainbow Lane. No damage
was reported.
Damage estimated at $500
resulted from a fire caused
by a faulty fireplace at the
home of R.S. Eckles on West
State Street October 17. Two
engines and 17 men respon
ded.
On October 19, one engine
and 12 men responded to a
bomb threat at Black
Mountain Grammar School
(see related story).
On October 19, one engine
and 15 men were called to
wash down after an accident
involving three cars and a
school bus on Old US 70 west.
One person was injured in the
accident.
Also that evening, one
engine and 14 men responded
to a report of an overheated
stove at the Jack Lee
residence on Hiawassee
Avenue. No damage was
reported.
Two engines and IS men
responded to a woods fire that
started from a controlled
burning on Old Walkertown
Road October 21.
On October 22, one engine
and 16 men were called to put
out a car fire at Highland
Farms that caused $100
damage.
The Fire Department
ambulance made one
emergency and one routine
run last week. The county
ambulance made four
emergency, 10 routine and one
unneeded run last week.
No brush-off here
Carpenters and mechanics
get used to seeing toots waik
away, never to be heard from
again - it's an unpteasant
aspect of the job.
That's why Neat Barttett
was a tittte surprised fast
week to get a check from
Gwendotyn Sachtteban in
Traverse City, Mich, for a
brush he never eapected to
hear from again.
Mrs Sachtteban sent the
check in care of a Btack
Mountain Service station
where Bartlett had been
working.
"Sir!" she wrote,
"By mistake a stee) brush
was taken from your station
whiie we were getting gas.
"ft was being used by your
carpenters who were doing
your rest rooms.
"My apologies to them, and
the check is to buy another
brush."
Restores some faith in
human nature, doesn't it?
made to the scnooi ihursday
at 12:45 p.m. that a bomb was
set to go off at 1:30 p.m.
Children, told they were
having a fire drill, were
evacuated immediately and
told to sit down in the athletic
field, far from the school ^
building.
According to police, the
caller is probably the same
person who called Norton's
Qwik shop the evening of
October 9 with a report that a
bomb would go off there at
10:30 p.m. No bombs were
found in either instance.
According to Black
Mountain Det. Don Ramsey,
police have a suspect in the
calls, and are gathering
evidence to warrant an arrest.
He pointed out that the
penalty for issuing a bomb
threat is not less than 10 years
in prison.
Contrary to reports that
children were hurt in
evacuating the school
buitding, Librarian Wanda
Davis, who answered the
bomb cal!, said chiidren left
the building in an orderiy
manner. Onechildrein^s^a
broken ieg while waiting on
the athletic Held for police and
firemen to finish searching for
a bomb, and another suffered
a nosebleed from the ex
citement-otherwise, all went
like any other fire drill, she
said.
Children were not fooled by
reports that the evacuation
was only a fire drill.
"We all knew they were
looking for a bomb because
they (police and firemen)
were all wearing these funny
suits and we had to sit way out
in the field,"said Tommy Fair,
a Grammar School student.
Like the call to Norton's two
weeks ago, the caller Thur
sday gave only a short
message that a bomb would go
off shortly, according to Ms.
Davis.
"I thought he had a han
dkerchief or something over
the phone because I couid
hardly understand him,'' she
said
"Brian Roberts, an em
ployee of Norton's, said that
the caller he talked to "just
sounded like a middle-aged
man talking under his breath."
Unlike the earlier episode at
the Qwik Shop, the caller
made a second call-to the
Black Mountain News
Thursday.
According to News recep
tionist Mary Mauldin, the
caUer-an older man with a
disguised, gravelly voice-said
simply, "There is a bomb
scare at Black Mountain
Grammar School. There are
police cars, fire trucks and an
ambulance there. I just
thought you'd like to know,"
and hung up.
cooperation from the entire
community to conserve the
water presentiy available and
to assure that this amount is
fairly distributed, Ashley said.
Two of the major water users
in Montreat are the Montreat
Conference Center, operated
by the association itself, and
Montreat-Anderson College.
Both institutions have been
asked to involve its conferees
and students in a sensible use
of water.
The Mon treat water supply
is ground surface water,
primarily from Flat Creek.
The system has an upper
reservoir that furnishes
pressure for needs at higher
elevation as well as storage.
The lower reservoir is the
primary storage facility and
provides almost all the water
going into the system.
Presently, the upper
reservoir cannot meet the
demand and recover during
each 24-hour period. It is
almost entirely inoperative,
Ashley said. The lower
reservoir is presently meeting
the needs of the town, but is
not aMe to recover completely
each day. That means there is
a net loss of water on a con
tinuing basis. For the past few
weeks, the Mountain Retreat
Association has been pumping
water from Flat Creek into the
lower reservoir for 16 hours a
day. This pumping operation
takes place below the intake.
This week they are installing
an electric pump that can
operate 24 hours a day. As
long as the creek is Rowing
there should be no in
terruption of water service
even though only a limited
amount will be available for
consumption.
"On and off rationing' is not
an option with this system,
Ashley said.
on tcAee^s ibis %:jfe
by Dan Ward
Russ Oates retired this week
after spending 90 of his 65
years as a working man.
Tough and gruff and with two
good arms and a sharp mind,
he resents being forced to
retire because of his age, but
doesn't biame Singer
Kearfott, which as asked him
to come back in January when
the mandatory retirement age
goes up to 70.
Oates is not unusual in his
feelings. What makes the
Swannanoan' s case and the
fact that Singer is anxious to
get him back different is that
he has been confined to a
wheelchair for the last 34
years.
Oates'job was not a desk job.
As supervisor for a crew of
components inspectors, he
spent a good deal of his day
wheeling in and out of work
counters about as fast as his
co-workers could jog.
"I came in here in a
wheelchair at 50 years old and
they hired me,'' Oates said,
chewing on the end of a long
green cigar "There* s only
two things 1 can't do, and that'
s dance and fight-and 1 don't
have any business doing either
one, "he said with a deadpan
face betrayed by sparkling
eyes and a tip of his cigar He
lost both legs after he was hit
by a car 34 years ago.
While working at Singer,
Oates was given two awards,
one by the governor's office
and one by the mayor of
Asheville, for being an out
standing handicapped em
pioyee. He said he admires
his bosses for nominating him,
but he thinks the awards
shouid have gone to someone
who would get more good out
of them.
"1 don't really go for that, y'
know. I don't consider myself
handicapped. That's not for
me, it's good for some people,
though. 1 guess it just showed
some that they can work, too,"
he said.
Oates takes pride in being
what he cails "half com
passion and half copperhead."
As he was interviewed during
his iast day on the job, none of
the copperhead was apparent
as co-workers offered beafy
handshakes and tearfui
kisses.
"f ve always been a
maverick-I won' t join
nothing,"he said. I don't want
to lose my power to think for
myself.
"Never did get married, f
just don't get involved in the
games people play. Make
love to life'is my philosophy,"
he said.
Oates said he pians to use
the time between now and
January to visit oid friends.
"Come 7 o' dock Monday
morning, me and my brother
wili be heading down the road
to Texas, "he said.
And when January roils
around and he can get his oid
job back?
"I'U ioaf around a coupie
months and if I want to, I'U
come back. I'm not the one to
sit around and twiddie
thumbs, though."