Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 1

SPORTS Di VISTAS Dl MOUNTAINS Bl County schools get designations Roberson runner leads AII-WNC track team Mountain Dance and Folk Festival coming ASHEVILLE TIZEN-TIMES FINAL EDITION SUNDAY June 28, 1998 A GANNETT NEWSPAPER VOICE OF THE MOUNTAINS $1.50 Til Gl The old ways fo)- Clinton, Jiang debate 1 Summit leaders air differences on television still Daily life far different than what tourists live v. 1 see in Cherokee First in a two-part series Copyright 1998 By John Boyle V' 1 STAFF WRITER CHEROKEE Winding down U.S. 19 into Cherokee, the commercial blitz starts early It is not a subtle town, this heart of the reservation. You pass the Golden Eagle Crafts, the -Papoose Motel, the Chief Motel, the Shaman gift shop, Medicine Man Crafts -and the Redskin Motel In case you're missing the point, tepees rest atop sever- -al of the buildings on the commercial which specializes in selling T- Dial yvwjciy, Jiaou. wiiiaitanno, jchci-pu an1 tntiL-ofa In frnnf nf TYjftnr Queen on Big Cove Road, a shirtless Cherokee man makes a living wearing a huge head dress and posing for pictures with the white tourists and their awestruck youngsters.

American Indian culture or a stereotyped version peddled by many white merchants is for sale here. But a few miles from town in a remote section of the reservation called Big Cove, it's a different world. The blaring See Lift on page from the Blue Ridge Parkway's DEBBIE CHASE JtNNLNOVCrnt.N TIMtS Cove community reveals Its natural beauty, remoteness and CHEROKEE -As seen rugged terrain. For and its residents personalities. I The Citizen-Times What this series kee Indians' effort to overcome some of the negative stereotypes that have been pinned on them.

Page A5. BIG COVE COMMUNITY on i takes a look at the Chero Aslierifle "I Sea Lauch Faircloth, hat one of the worst attendance records In the Senate, according to Senate records. Carolina," he said. Faircloth missed the most votes is 1995 a total of 23 out of 613. ft Imr.lrft.

V' -I II I I Raven Fork overtook, the Big have shaped Its development is ab out spent the past two weeks in Big Cove, hearing the concerns of talking to tourists about images and stereotypes, and observing the area's haunting beauty and rugged isolation. 1 What we found were pressing social needs, a deep sense of native heritage and profound concerns about what the outside world will misunderstand and perpetuate about the Cherokee. Today and Monday the Citizen-Times will publish what our team found. Western North Carolina residents and visitors are reminded of the words of Matt Robinson, a criminal justice professor at Appalachian State University speaking of Kolodski's death: "We need to be cautious about saying that one event is representative of a trend." More coverage. of Clinton's China trip.

Page A3. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BEIJING In a gripping summit debate beamed to hundreds of millions of homes across this vast country. President Clinton and President Jiang Zemin treated China to an uncensored airing of differences Saturday on human rights, freedom, trade and Tibet The leaders gave no ground in their 70-minute news conference, eagerly jumping in after each other to get the last word. It was spirited but cordial "You can see that neither one of us are shy about being strong about how we believe," Jiang said. Bringing attention to key area of difference religious freedom Clinton will worship today at Chongwen-men Church, China's largest Protestant church.

Human rights groups say dozens of Protestant and Catholic leaders are imprisoned or held in Chinese labor camps for refusing to bow to government control. Clinton and Jiang agreed to exchange visits of religious leaders to further understanding on spiritual matters. After church, the president and his family head off on a day of sightseeing at the palaces of the Forbidden City and China's most famous landmark, the Great WalL American officials applauded China's willingness to broadcast Saturday's newt conference across the land, from the temple-dotted capital of Tibet in Chinese Central Asia to the flashy financial center of Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The exchange also was telecast in America, but for China, it was an unprecedented look at its leader standing tide by side with the American president both men unflinching on areas of controversy and disagreement Both Clinton and Jiang played to their tkmcstk audiences as well as one another. PARKS FORUM NEXT WEEK The Coalition of AshevMIe Neighborhoods and the AshevSie Citi- zen-Times wiB sponsor a forum June 29 on the) needs and future of the city's parks and recreation facilities.

The event wiD be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the Asheviiie Civic Center. The forum wiB provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about the city's proposed master plan for Asheville't Parks and Recreation Department. 1 say it's pretty quiet here. We pretty much keep to ourselves.

Some get a little wild and crazy, but we don't bother anybody unless they bother us." Diane Ort- I've come close to getting bit four or five times, but I ainlever gotten bit catcher Noah Arch, oa his hick at hunting sinner for hit family. Great Smoky Mountains Cherokee Indian I )y $fi SJ Reservation fV BrytonLAtL orjL ZZif. WT-T 1 tVUf a By Geoffrey CantreB REOON EDITOR CHEROKEE Two recent tragedies have focused unwelromed attention on the Cherokee reservation, and its Big Cove community in particular. Much of it began when Great Smoky Mountains National Park Ranger Joe Kolodski, 36, was shot and killed last Sunday on the Blue Ridge Parkway and a Big Cove man was charged. Earlier in June, Big Cove resident Robert Clayton Calhoun, 29, was beaten and stabbed to death June 6 alongside Big Cove Loop Road after he and a friend were confronted by the man later charged with his death.

The Big Cove tragedies came on the heels of a Cherokee man being stabbed and wounded by his wife following a drinking binge in May, an iwm mm mmmm GrMt Smoky Moundwn generations, those charactenstics In part two of the series, the Citizen-Times will take a look at the health chal- lenges residents of Big Cove deal with, difficulties with acquiring quality housing, and some of the success stones in the community. April shooting that left a 23-year-old Cherokee man dead and another charged, and the discovery of. an infant's decomposing body in a duffle bag on the reservation in March. The baby's identity has yet to be determined. Many Cherokee residents and leaders are concerned a negative image from these events could taint all of the reservation and Big Cove in particular.

A team of Citizen-Times reporters and photographers n't pass the smell test," said Michael D. Tucker, the communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The first question is: What was he doing? Faircloth, a Republican, is seeking a second term this November. He faces Democrat John Edwards, a Raleiph lawyer. Helms is not up for reelection.

Among the votes that Fair-cloth missed, more than half of them fell on a Monday or a Friday. Faircloth, who lives in Clinton In Sampson County, drivi lrtween his home and W.thinjrtim most members of Congress, he runs a business. So he will usually travel to Washington on Mondays and k-ave on IVidays," said Peter Faircloth, Helms post poor attendance in Senate TODAY'S WEATHER Sunny and hot rrvi HI LO New A1-15 Summanas A2 Opinion AS 9 WeathOf A18 Mountain! 61-8 Buncomb. B2 Obrtuarte B4 Butineta 88 Llfeitvle CMQ Vitaa D1 -8 Books 02 CroMword 03 Moviet 04 Arta D8 Travai 08 TV Spotfighl INSIDE Soorta E1-8 ClMiWed 28. 02-20.

H8 Vol 128, No. 178 148 ragat 0 1998, Athavfta Cian-rna back in a news release. "Lauch Faircloth has made a career out of missing key votes." Faircloth has missed 68 out of 2,122 roll-call votes since he came to the Senate in 1993, meaning he hat voted 96.8 percent of the time, records show "You have to look at his effectiveness for North Carolina," Hans said, "and how he has represented the views of North Carolinians on crucial issues such as welfare reform, tax relief and term limits," Rob Black," Edwards' spokesman, noted that Faircloth haa missed votes on tobacco, education and congressional pay raises. "The votes that Faircloth has missehave hurt North THE ASSOCIATED PWf SS North Carolina's Lauch Faircloth and Jesse Helms, have two of the worst attendance records -in the Senate, according to Senate records. The records show Fair-cloth's attendance has been sliding since he took office in 1993.

In his first congressional session, which began that year, 48 senators had better attendance record. In the ses- sion that started in 1995, Fair- cloth ranked tx hind 80 senators. 1 Helms has bwn absent even more than Faircloth and owns the lecond-worst attendance record in the Senate this session, reconl show. To rank where he (Faircloth) did is your first indicator that omrf liing just does Hans, Faircloth's spokesman. Tucker Said that doesn't cut it "AD 100 of them in the Senate are paid to be there to vote." he said.

"That's his first and foremost priority." Tucker's organization aids Democrats running for the Senate and Edwards' campaign. The group is working hard to make Faircloth's voting attendance an issue. Earlier this month, the National Republican Senatorial Committee began a $400,000 television campaign praising Faircloth and citing his work to balance the District of Columbia's budget Knocking Washington as a "crazy city," the commercial claimed, "They pay people not to work," "Talk about people getting paid not to work," Tucker shot 290' Visit our web site at www. carolinamountaint com id' so.