Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 21

The Asheville Citizen Lifestyle2B Markets3-5B Deaths8B Friday, Dec. 9,1988 State GOP Leaders Hope To Avoid Off-Year Slump Analysis "He'd be like the old war horse hearing the bugle call," said Ted Arrington, a political scientist at UNC-Charlotte and a Republican. With former Sen. Jim Broyhill's loss to Democrat Terry Sanford in 1986, retaining Helms' seat is an urgent priority for the GOP. If Helms, who will be 69 in 1990, bows out, Republicans could have a 1986-style fight for the nomination that would divide the party for the general election.

In either case, holding onto the seal will be difficult. Historically, the party that controls the presidency and the governor's office at the same time loses in an off-year election," Hawke said. "And, of course, we've never done as well in off-year elections. We must address that fact and reverse it." A Helms-Hunt rematch could have, pluses and minuses for the OOP's party building effort. With the National Congressional Club's fund-raising prowess, money for other races would be scarce hurting Republican congressional and legislative challengers.

Democrats would have the same problem, but more of them are incumbents. But Republicans need a popular figure atop the ticket to give their lesser candidates a boost, liven if Helms doesn't have lengthy coattails, the GOP would benefit if his race inspired a heavier turnout of Republicans and conservative Democrats than usual in a non-presidential year. Meanwhile, Hawke says Republicans will target about 10 state House districts in See GOP, Page 7B strong enough to form a coalition perhaps with black Democrats that could prevent redistrictlng from being a GOP disaster. Building from the bottom up, Republicans could groom candidates for Council of State offices an area that remains solidly Democratic below the level of lieutenant governor. But state GOP Chairman Jack Hawke says it's also important to hold on to seats in the U.S.

House and Senate. In November, the GOP failed to gain a single U.S. House seat, although their three incumbents handily won re-election. Republicans mounted stiff challenges in the 5th, 8th and 11th districts but came up short. In the 4th District, which a Republican carried in 1984, freshman Democrat David Price blew away GOP challenger Tom Fetzer.

"That was my biggest disappointment, The Associated Press i RALEIGH Despite the gain of 13 seats in the General Assembly, North Carolina Republicans can't afford to become complacent if they hope to extend their influence to the national level. Since 1984, Republicans have spoken of controlling at least one General Assembly chamber by the end of the decade. The deadline is no accident: In 1991, the legislature will reapportion congressional and legislative districts in accordance with new census data. If Democrats control the House and Senate, they'll be able to fashion district maps favorable to them and harmful to the GOP. i Picking up 15 seats is a long shot.

But if Republicans gain four or five, they might be that you elect George Bush president and then you tie his hands with the kind of Congress you send up there," said Hawke. "It just shows how far we have to go." With virtually no respite, the GOP must gear up for two major tests in 1990: battles for Sen. Jesse Helms' seat und for control of the General Assembly. Observers are analyzing prospects for a rematch of the bloody 1984 clash between Helms and former Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, who increasingly looks and sounds ready for a comeback.

Most GOP insiders expect Helms to seek a fourth term, especially if Hunt runs. Snow, Cold Expected In Mountains Nemesis Of Drunken Drivers, Col. Edward Jones, Dies At Age 75 1 SR. From Staff Reports Col. Edward W.

Jones, who first served as a trooper in Henderson County and moved up the ranks to commander of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, died Monday in Ra leigh. He was 75. Best known for his reputation as an expert on pursuit driving and dubbed "Woodenhead" by mountain bootleggers, Jones also waged war on drunken drivers for more than 40 trol, and as a major from 1966 until 1973 served as director of divisions of enforcement, training and inspection, and communications and logistics. An early advocate of law enforcement training, he was instrumental in shifting the Highway Patrol training school from Chapel Hill to the patrol's own facility in Raleigh. His greatest dream, establishment of the State Highway Patrol's pursuit driving training track, was realized before his death but some time after his retirement.

Jones lived in Asheville when he served as a sergeant in what is now Troop of the Highway Patrol, and supervised the patrol in District 3 of the old Troop made up of Buncombe, Transylvania, Madison and ancey counties. A native of Moore County, he was a son of the late C.C. and Annie Jones of Cameron. Jones joined the patrol after graduating from Mars Hill College in 1935. From Henderson County he was See JONES, Page 7B SlOff PHOtO By STEVE DIXON Doing It The Modern Way years until his JONES retirement in 1977.

But he literally wrote the book on police pursuit driving. The book, which was published early in his career as a trooper, attracted international attention and is still in use in this state and other places. Jones held every rank in the pa- Leaves may have stopped falling but they haven't stopped flying. The Rev. John David Stewart uses a gas-powered blower in front of his home on Kenil worth Road in Asheville Thursday.

IpViir Rnrtnn rpnrisns TV By BARBARA BLAKE And DAVID NIVENS Staff Writers A cold front that moved through Western North Carolina Thursday was expected to bring up to 2 inches of snow to the northern mountains and a possibility of snow mixed with rain in the lower elevations, the National Weather Service said Thursday night. Meteorologist Craig Carpenter said a snow advisory had been issued for the northern mountains, but that no accumulation was expected in other parts of the mountain area. "The cold air coming in from the Yankee states is going to produce rain tonight that should start around midnight, and in the northern mountains, due to temperatures falling with the cold air, the rain will change to snow in the early morning hours," he said.i Carpenter said Friday will be "mostly cloudy and chilly," with snow ending in the northern mountains and a chance of rain for the rest of the state. "Parts of the central mountains in the higher elevations may see a mixture of rain and snow Friday morning, possibly just snow," he said. "And in the Asheville area, you may see some snow in the morning, but no accumulation is expected from this system anywhere except in the northern mountains, and that should all be ended by Friday afternoon." If snow falls Friday morning, it will probably catch some students in the northern mountain schools by surprise, but school officials will be ready.

A snow warning sends superintendents out early to check road conditions so they can make a closing announcement to radio and television stations by 6 a.m. "I'll be up at 4 a.m. looking at the roads, making my calls and listening to the (police radio) scanner," said Douglas M. Greene, superintendent of Mitchell County schools. "This is not our first call; we released students early last Friday for snow." "I expect the students to start looking for snow tonight," said C.

David Greene, superintendent of the Watauga County schools. "There was rip news of it before school let out." Meanwhile, the state Highway Patrol office in Boone reported there were no state road crews out late Thursday to help motorists with possible slippery pavement. Aside from the chance of precip- itation, the weather will be cold this weekend, Carpenter said. "The high pressure that's over the central United States now will push cold air into the mountains on the heels of this, and highs will be mostly in the 30s over the weekend, with lows in the teens to the low 20s," he said. Recount Changes Little For Thomas Citizen-Times Introducing New Television Supplement his mlc as Kunta Kinte in 'Hoots The airing Sunday on ABC WE From Staff Reports A recount of ballots cast in the 29th District state Senate race had revealed no major changes by Thursday evening in earlier totals that had Sen.

R.P. "Bo" Thomas, D-Hender-son, losing his seat by 274 votes in the Nov. 8 general election. ican Movie Classics, Discovery, Lifetime and The Nashville Network. Another feature of the new guide is separate listings for the week's movies and sports events, with feature reviews and previews on movies and sports.

Tony Kiss' weekly column, VideoNews, which appeared in TV Digest, will move to Weekender in Friday's editions. TV Update has several additional features for readers, including a question-and-answer column on TV personalities, an in-depth story on the week's best bet for viewing, and a weekly TV crossword. It will replace TV Digest as a supplement to Saturday's editions. The Citizen-Times will introduce a new format for its weekly television guide Saturday with the first issue of TV Update, a 44-page color supplement of comprehensive Western North Carolina programming. TV Update is larger in size, with an 8-by-U-inch format, and scope, with listings not available in previous television guides.

In addition to programming for 10 cable TV systems in the region and more than 30 channels, the new magazine also has listings for broadcast stations not available on cable in many areas. It has added programming for such premium cable channels as Arts Entertainment, Amer New Format Initial edition includes feature on new "Roots" special would cut Thomas' margin of defeat to only 269 votes. Thomas was automatically entitled to a recount under state law because canvassed returns showed him losing by less than 1 percent of the roughly 195,000 votes cast in his race. Even if a completed recount appears to show Thomas as the loser, it is not likely to end his protest of the election. The Macon County Board of Elections has scheduled a probable cause hearing for Monday to consider whether to conduct a full-fledged inquiry into a request by Thomas that a new election be conducted in the county.

Thomas, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, has charged that voting machines in Macon were improperly programmed to make it difficult for voters who had pushed a button for the straight Republican Party ticket to also vote for him. He has vowed to "question all the way down the line" totals showing him losing his seat. But totals were available from only six of the 10 counties in the district, as some county election boards said they would complete their work Friday or late Thursday. Figures from counties that had completed their Share Christmas Memories In Citizen-Times Letter Contest THOMAS work showed Thomas' vote total judged best by a panel of editors. First prize is $35, second prize $25 and third prize $15.

The prize-winning letters and a selection of the most interesting non-winners will be published Christmas Day in the Citizen-Times. Entries should be limited to 250 words, lyped or legibly written, and include name und ad dress. School class projects will not be accepted. Entries must be in the Citizen-Times offices by Saturday, Dec. 10.

Address letters to: Christmas Letters Asheville Citizen-Times P.O. Box 2090 Asheville, N.C. 28802 Christmas is a time for memories. And in this holiday season the Citizen-Times invites you to share your favorite Christmas memory with other readers in the 17lh annual Christmas Letters Contest. The Citizen-Times will award cash prizes for three letters dropping by 13 votes in the recount, while that of apparent winner C.W.

Hardin of Canton fell by 18 votes. If totals from the remaining four counties in the district remain the same Haywood, Henderson, Clay and Polk those numbers ite All Our Advances, Nature Just Won't Be Tamed Desp ALEIGH I was asleep in a hotel room a mile or so from where the tornadoes began touching down. morning," a woman said to me. She's in the Insurance business. "One of them said to me, 'My car was and then added, 'What are you going to do about A lot of the calls made me mad.

It seemed like people were worried about a lot of trivial problems when so manyA others were suffering much more." A man and a woman who were asleep in' their 14-foot mobile home when the tornado picked It up. Their two children were thrown clear and survived. But when rescuers got to the couple, they found them dead. The man's arm was around," the woman's body. He died, 11 would seem, trying to protect her.

airplanes in thick fog, thanks to computers. We can send airplanes inlo the eye of hurricanes and we can track them and predict where they might hit and evacuate those areas. But we can't beat Nature every time. A weatherman explained Hint the two giant air masses had collided over Raleigh in the early hours of the morning. Then came the jet stream with its enormous energy.

The results were tornadoes that touched down in nine counties. There were no tornado alerts. There was no lime to prepare. Despite all our advances, Nature remains a random killer. A 12-ycar-old boy died.

The second floor of his house fell on him while he was slill In bed. "My phone started ringing at 6 in the A marl here in Raleigh was there one second, gone a second later. And, except for the few seconds I was awake after the noise, I slept through the devastation that killed, destroyed and ripped lives asunder. But what if the tornado had touched down where I slept? It certainly could have. Can a tornado level a Marriott Hotel? Would I have ever known what was happening to me? How many of us in the hotel would have died In our sleep? After viewing some of the damage and hearing the frightening stories of those who were in the path of the storms, I began to think of how much of our environment we have been able to conquer.

We've got weather satellites for long-range weather forecasts. We can land giant A loud noise maybe it was thunder had awakened me shortly after midnight. I got out of bed and went to the window and looked out. All I could see was the darkness. I went back to bed.

The next morning the television stations had the story of the destruction. Four were dead. At least 150 had been hurl. The damage the twisters caused would reach into the millions. Houses had disappeared In a 200-mile stretch of Eastern North Carolina where the twisters had touched down.

A man described his experience as "ten seconds of sheer hell." Lewis Grizzard "My car was dented," Indeed. -I -y- -i.