Year-end photo special!
Second class postage paid
atfilack Mountain, NC 28711
Thursday, December 28, 1978, Vol. 25, No.8
Serving
★ Black Mountain
★ Swannanoa
★ Montreat
★ Ridgecrest
15 cents per copy
What seemed to be ice clouds were just passing through, as this view from Ridgecrest toward Marion indicates. (Dan Ward)
PIN terminal, dispatchers—
does cost outweigh benefits?
by Du Ward
When a man wanted for
armed robbery of the Pina
Hut in Black Mountain was
located last week, Det Don
Ramsey gave little credit to
superior police work. The
man will be brought to trial
here, Ramsey said, because of
a martitw
Black Mountain's Police
Information Network (PIN)
terminal, only five months
old, has became a budgetary
football among the Black
Mountain Town Board that is
l>ound to get tamped around
in a number of other
in upcoming months.
While the terminal itself
leases for a relatively «™«ii
amount. It is available only to
municipalities that have 24
hour dispatchers.
Black Mountain's dispat
chers, now funded primarily
by grant money, will be en
tirely on the town peyroll after
oeit year-at a cast of at least
00,487. That is, if the board
does not find the cost too
heavy a burden.
The terminal allows police
access, in a mstter of seconds,
to 14 stats and federal police
^formation banks. Prior to
installation of the terminal in
Black Mountain, local police
celled on the county PIN
terminal to perform some of
•hose functions.
Police, es may be expected,
favor keeping the diapetchers
end terminal despite the cost
•c taxpayers.
‘"I’d say there have been 20
or more apprehensions
because of the machine since
it was installed,"Ramsey said.
We would have never known
Archie King (the armed
robbery suspect) was in
Charlotte without it”
Buncombe County' s ter
minal, Ramsey said, was only
available to police here for
checks on vehicle tags or
license numbers. Response on
those queries averaged three
minutes, Ramsey said, as
opposed to about half a
minute.
“Saving time is one thing,
saving an officer’s life is
another. If you run a license
number through the machine
before you approach the
driver, you know what you are
getting into, ”he said. As an
example, he told of a highway
patrol officer who was stabbed
by a man be had pulled over
for a traffic violation recently.
If the officer had checked the
terminal, he would have found
the man was an escaped
convict from Florida.
Black Mountain Police send
and recieve an average of
about 400 to 500 messages each
day, Ramsey said. The most
common use is checks on
vehicle tags and license
numbers when motorists are
stopped. He also uses the
terminal to send fingerprint
information in investigations.
One unusual aspect of the
terminal is one information
bank that supplies
“background information on
criminal activity” as well as
arrest records to aid police in
evaluating suspects.
“Every person who is
wanted tor a major crime is on
it Even if they use a ficticious
name, it doean’t matter-we
get fingerprints on them,” he
said.
Ramsey argues that the
machine is worth the money.
“I could compile a list of
thousands and thousands of
dollars we've recovered in
stolen goods by using the
terminal,” he said.
But the theme of officer
safety recurs in talks with
Ramsey and his fellow police
officers.
“Where it especially helps is
at night when you pull a car.
If the driver is wanted for an
armed robbery or hcmocide,
you know better than to walk
out without a gun. Without the
PIN machine, a man could get
blown away,’ ’ he said.
Sticker renewal due
The Division of Motor
Vehicles of the North Carolina
Department of Transportation
has reminded motorists today
that validation stickers and
plates for 1979 will go on sale
throughout the state on
January 2.
Renewal cards necessary
for obtaining a 1979 sticker or
plate were mailed December
18 and should be received by
December 29. Anyone not
receiving a renewal card
should notify the Division of
Motor Vehicles in Raleigh by
mail at 1100 New Bem Avenue
or by telephone at (919 ) 733
3025.
Elbert L. Peters Jr.,
commissioner of Motor
Vehicles, said, “It will take
from ten days to two weeks to
obtain a card and new plates
or stickers must be displayed
by midnight, February 15.’
Newcomers to North
Carolina or those buying a car
for the first time should make
application for a license plate
at the nearest local agency.
With the exception of some
special classifications, 1979
automobile liscenses will be
renewed with a validation
sticker
Robbery suspect caught
A man wanted for the armed
robbery of Pizza Hut in Black
Mountain on April 29 was
located last week in Charlotte,
where he was awaiting trial on
other charges, according to
Black Mountain Det Don
Ramsey.
Ramsey said that Archie
King, 32, of Asheville was
located by a computer check
of his fingerprints. King was
being held under another
name in Charlotte.
A warrant had been issued
on King in May, Ramsey said,
after he had been identified by
a Marion man who saw a
composite drawing based on
descriptions given by wit
nesses to the holdup, Ramsey
said. Another man who drove
a getaway car at the holdup
has yet to be caught, Ramsey
said.
Police also arrested
Clarence Quinn, of Black
Mountain, at Hardee’ s
restaurant here December 15.
Quinn had escaped from the
Hayward County Jail,
Ramsey said.
Ramsey noted that Black
Mountain Police now have
registration forms for bicycles
that owners can fill out to aid
police should their bicycles
even be stolen and recovered
An engraver is also available
to mark bicycles and other
items, Ramsey said. There is
no charge for either service.
2nd HUD hearing set
The second and last public
hearing for the upcoming
round of Department and
Urban Development (HUD)
Community Development
grants will be held in Black
Mountain at Town Hall at 7
pjn. January 4.
Representatives of the
Land-of-Sky Regional Council
are expected to present a
grant proposal for Black
Mountain based on input .'rom
an earlier bearing December
7, according to grants coor
dinator Becky Williams.
At that hearing, citisens
told a special committee that
they would like to see the town
submit a proposal to install
new water lines In Craigmont
and to improve drainage in
that area.
According to Ms. Williams,
representatives will submit a
description of the project, a
budget, and the boundaries of
the project area.
Application for this round of
funding is due in Greensboro
in early January, she said.
30years ago
A front page photo and
article in the News 30 years
ago pointed out that out of a
student body of 54 at Barea
College in Kentucky, 12 of
those were from Swannanoa
and Black Mountain. One
feature of the college was that
no tuition was charged, but
students had to work for
tuition, room, board,, and
expenses.
The Swannanoa Warriors
beat the infamous Fairview
teams in ac' on for both boys
and girls. Coach E.Y. Neill
was credited with the rapid
improvement of the basket
ball teams.
The lead photo of the week
showed a huge pile of repaired
toys and two of a group of
Swannanoans who took it on
themselves to repair them for
needy children. Those man
were James R. Hall, Thad
Stevens, Robert Cragg, Fred
McClure and Wade Martin.
In the week’s editorial, the
staff called for solutions to the
valley’s ecomonic dependence
on tourism and the subsequent 1
“four months feast and eight
months famine.’ Among goals
proposed were attract in
dustry, provide a railroad
underpass in Black Mountain,
improve parking facilities,
and improve the gym at the
Grammar School. Others
have been accomplished
provide recreation for
tourists, pave NC 9, and get
bands or orchestras in the
public schools.
A majority of the News
consisted of society blurbs
about who was off visiting or
who was in town for the
holidays.
CP&L was advising
customers to buy only cer
tified light bulbs that gave a
soft glow. Viverette Radio
and Supply offered a prayer
that no person should ever be
hurt because of harsh words
or business.
The Northwestern Bank
offered a poem and picture of
a fat New Year 1948 baby with
New Year salutations. Black
Mountain Hardware adivsed
readers to watch the next
paper for 0k “sensational
announcement’ of a Sherwin
Williams paint display.
And that’s the way it was.
Black Mountain Fire
The Black Mountain Fire
Department made five runs
ast week.
On December 18, two
sngines and 17 men responded
» a fire in die dust house at
Slack Mountain Woodworking
m Vance Avanue. Minor
lamage was reported.
One engine and five men
were called to wash down
after an auto accident on
Virginia Road in Montreat
December 23.
One person was injured in
an auto accident at the Bi-Lo
Shopping Center on US 70
December 24. Mrs. Dan
Respass suffered minor in
juries. One engine, one res.ue
truck, one ambulance and 19
men responded.
About $50 damage was done
when a fire started on an
electric stove at the Ann
Johnson residence on Laurel
Circle December 25. One
engine and 15 men responded.
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service made 15
routine and four unneeded
runs last week.
Winter and old barns, like this one on Blue Ridfte
Road, seem to go together in a scene of loneliness.
(Dan Weird)