Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 13

ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES DeathsB4 MarketsB5-B8 Local news headlines Call 257-2900, Ext. 2020 Wednesday Oct. 30, 1996 Metre Edition Road conditions, Ext. 2900 Editor: Jane Shealy, 252-561 1 ext. 441 -LOCAL NEWS- mmk fcsite ifiriiosfiirarlle Hararem) It if BOO 'if teni." you Since the courthouse The; repeated evacuations have John Parris nas, oeen evacuated seven times aue cose we oouncy inousanas or aoi- to bomb threats.

The lateatHhreat i i'laiu The' threats also forced -offl- ugnten security. occurred Monday morning, foreftig officials to close the courthouse for the day. you will be able to punish them commensurate with the harm they caused," Moore said. Medford said he doesn't believe it makes sense to trace all the calls coming in to the courthouse because the threats can be called in to other locations. Each bomb threat was called in by a woman and some of the calls have been traced to pay phones.

Investigators aren't sure what motive is behind the calls, Medford said. "It could be anything from a grudge to politics." ByJuHeBall STAFF WRITER For Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford, recent bomb threats at the courthouse have been among his most frustrating cases. Detectives have worked hundreds of hours and developed several suspects, but they don't have enough evidence to file charges. "You have to have probable cause to get a warrant I don't have enough evidence," Medford said Tuesday. "If you can't convict them in court, there's no use taking out a warrant and tying up the court sys- about the dollars lost, in order to protect the taxpayers, I'm willing to look into the Sherrill said courthouse bomb threats have been a "huge problem," and she would be willing to look for possible solutions.

"Anything that we can do to deter it, I would certainly support," she said. District Attorney Ron Moore said the maximum penalty for calling in a bomb threat is 120 days in jail. Like Medford, he believes "a bomb threat should be a felony charge. "When you catch somebody, Medford has talked to 'several state lawmakers about getting the law changed to make it a felony to call in a bomb threat to a county courthouse. State Reps.

Lanier Cansler and Wilms Sherrill both said the idea is worth looking into. "The cost to the county "We've put more 'hours per man in these cases probably anything, except the first homicide we had," Medford said. The sheriff said officials must evacuate each time they get a threat. "What if, at some point in time, someone does put something amounts to grand theft," Cansler in there?" he asked. "Then what do said.

"Obviously when we're talking TT7 if. "'ill' ROAMING THE MOUNTAINS "Boys Club prides itself on independence Second of two parts. CHEROKEE -The Cherokee Boys Club, a unique nonprofit, self-supporting tribal enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is now performing services formerly performed by the federal government These include food and bus service for Cherokee Central Schools, financial administration for the tribally operated school system, and reservation road maintenance services. The just-released Cherokee Boys Club annual report for year ending June 30, 1996, went into detail on the club's various departments. The club has provided since 1990 the financial administration for the Cherokee Central School system, which is tribally operated and receives funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs through the grant process.

The Cherokee School Board, as authorized by the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, is responsible for making school policies, approves the school budget, and assures that all federal, state, and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' accreditation standards are met. Student transportation and the food service operations are operated by the club under a contract with the school board. The report points out that "the Eastern Band of Cherokees is once again in charge of its own educational system" and that the school curriculum includes Cherokee language instruction. There was a time not too long ago when under the BIA the Cherokee children were not allowed to speak their own language in school and even punished for doing so. Cherokee Central Schools provides an accredited academic program for grades K-12.

And many supplementary programs and activities provide for a well-rounded and well-balanced program to meet student needs. Besides Cherokee language instruction, these include computer instruction with state-of-the-art technology, alternative education programs, JROTC, and Community Link, a two-way interactive television system that is tied to eleven other sites (including three neighboring school systems, Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University) and is used to provide advanced and other courses a small school is otherwise unable to provide. The cltlb has a contract with W. Asheville gets ear of City Council Residents praise efforts, but say more needs done By Paid Clark STAFF WRITER Flooding on Druid Drive and congestion at major Intersections bother West Asheville, an area otherwise delighted with attention it's gotten from city administrators, residents said Tuesday; In comments made City Council at the West Asheville Community Center residents said they are pleased with: i the city's help in its Christmas lights on Hay-4 'wood Road, its police resource Road, and its increased police presence throughout the community. "I come with hugs and kisses David Young, vice president of the Malvern Hills Homeowners Association, said, echoing appreciative comments by other residents.

Others said their section of the city still needs at- tention. i Druid Drive off Patton Avenue for years has flooded after heavy rains, resulting in water levels more than 5 feet deep at times, they said. 7 The sewer lines also flood, creating a dust that -when dry is toxic to the school children who ride by in buses, resident Peter Wilson said. Public Works Director Mark Combs said he is checking with state and federal officials for help with the flooding. v' "It's a bigger problem than the city can handle," he said.

It would take "a million plus" dollars to dredge Druid Drive all the way to the French Broad River, he said. 1 West Asheville also has two dangerous intersections, residents said the Laurel Loop-Druid Drive connection to Patton Avenue and the Amboy Road tie-in to Interstate 240. Both involve state roads, and staff members said they would relay concerns to the state Department of Transportation. The state plans to rebuild the Amboy Road intersection in 2002 or 2003, city transportation planner Ron Fuller said. West Asheville is pleased with the street repairs it has gotten in recent years, said Malvern Hills resident Earl Cobb.

But it would like some walking trails at the Malvern Hills fiark. People have to walk in the street because the sidewalks are in poor shape, he said. West Asheville also appreciates the extra bus service Pisgah View Apartments is getting, said Minnie Jones, who lives there. DEBBIE CHASE-IENNINOSCmZEN-TIMES Auroa Holloway gets and gives a hug to her friend Rowan Forest while Rowan's nanny, Sara Shelby, Joins In. Roughly 40 members of the Rainbow Family gathered In front of the U.S.

District Courthouse In Asheville to protest the government charging five of their members for not having a permit during a recent gathering In Plsgah National Forest. Family says Let us be, Hippie-esque group protests treatment at campsite Chattanooga address; and William "Uncle Bill" Letempt, 62, who gave a Norfolk, Va, address; are being tried under a September 1995 regulation governing large assemblies. The law requires a permit for any group larger than 75 people. The maximum punishment for violating the regulation is six months imprisonment andor a $5,000 fine. One of the Rainbows' attorneys, Sean Devereux of Asheville, filed a motion that states the group is being targeted by the permit requirement, which is also unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment "They say it's for all groups, but no one has ever been held under the scope as much as us," Gallagher said during the prayer protest violated by the U.S.

Forest Service. In June, more than 75 family members gathered at the "cathedral of love," at Puncheon Camp, six miles south of Hot Springs in Madison County. "It's a gathering where I noticed a lot of healing occurring in myself and my brothers and sisters around me," said a 25-year-old Rainbow who identified himself as Christian Smith of Asheville. Law enforcement officers contend the gathering "impacted" the environment and violated federal regulations. Jeffery "Peaceful Pete" Pike, 33, who gave an Erwin, address; Stephen Wingeier, 40, who gave an Atlanta address; Daniel "Spirit Owl" Gallagher, 44, who gave a Hot Springs John E.

Johnson III, 26, who gave a By Glenn O'Neal STAFF WHITER "Uncle Bill" and "Spirit Owl" joined hands with roughly 40 other members of the Rainbow Family Tuesday and formed a small circle in front of the U.S. District Courthouse in Asheville. They prayed to the "great spirit" for guidance. A couple hours later, "Uncle Bill" and "Spirit Owl" then joined three other men who went on trial for holding a public assembly in the Pisgah National Forest this summer without a permit Testimony in the case continues Wednesday morning. The Rainbow family, a throwback to the hippie culture of the '60s and early '70s, says its constitutional rights of assembly and religious freedom were Pair arrested for business break-ins, safecracking 1 break-ins.

Rape suspect sought Asheville police are asking for help locating a suspect in a recent DIGEST the BIA Roads Department to provide gravel, roadside mowing, and other services for the reservation road system. It also has a contract for removal of all garbage from the entire Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Oconalufee Job Corps. The club provides linen rental service for Cherokee Hospital and the Regional Youth Treatment Center and laundry service for Cherokee Central Schools, Oconaluftee Job Corps, and for several local motels. All laundry service is provided for the Harris Regional Hospital, Harris Regional Radiology Department and Mountain Trace Nursing Center, all of Sylva. The Construction and Facility Department continues to operate the Home Improvement Program (HIP) for the tribe and the BIA.

Since April of 1983, this program has constructed 55 new homes and renovated 92 homes. Construction has been completed on the Tsali Care Center's first 60-bed unit and construction Is under way on an additional 60-bed unit. John partis' column on mountain life appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. rape. On Sept.

28, a 20-year-old woman reported she was walking home on South French Broad Avenue when a man jumped out of a vehicle and attacked will be closed from 7 p.m. until midnight Wednesday for sewer repairs. Drivers should use Elkwood Avenue and Westwood Road to detour this project If you have any question, please call 255-0061. Clarification Barry Master, executive director of the Mediation Center in Asheville, said the 941 mediation sessions conducted by the center in 1995, a figure quoted in Tuesday's Citizen-Times, were handled by more than 40 volunteer mediators in addition to nine mediators on staff. Correction The noon discussion at Brevard College by South Africans Naomi Tutu and Courtney Sampson was incorrectly listed in Monday's This Week.

The program was held Monday at the college. STAFF REPORTS back. The boy was listed in stable condition at Memorial Mission Hospital Tuesday evening. Nature Center 'Howl-oween' The Western North Carolina Nature Center will host a "Howl-oween" p.m. Thursday at their headquarters, 75 Gashes Creek Road in east I The event Includes a bonfire, games, traditional trick-or-treatlng for young people and programs' about traditional Halloween ani- mals, And there's a "wolf walk" to the predator habitat to join the red and gray wolves in a Halloween howl.

Admission Is $4 adults, $3 senior citizens, $2 children ages 3-14. For more information, call 298-5600. Lakeshore Drive closing Lakeshore Drive in Asheville Buncombe County detectives recovered $30,000 in stolen property and arrested two people for safecracking following some recent business break-ins. Brandon Travis Ashe, 19, who gave a Kimberly Avenue, Asheville, address, and Mark A. Barnes, 26, who gave a Hickory Tree Road, Asheville, address, were both charged with three counts of breaking and entering, two counts of larceny and two counts of safecracking.

The charges stem from break-ins at several businesses. At one auto parts store, parts and tools worth $10,000 were stolen. Cash, food, batteries, film and cigarettes were among other items stolen in the break-ins, according to a news release from the Buncombe County Sheriff Department Authorities recovered about'. $30,000 in cash and merchandise believed to have been stolen in the short dreadlocks. Police ask anyone with Information to call Asheville Buncombe Crime Stoppers at 277-1000.

Lawnmower Injures boy A 3-year-old boy was injured when he fell from a riding lawn-mower Tuesday afternoon. The accident occurred between 4 and 4:30 p.m. on Springside Road, according to Capt Kevin Waldrup of the Skyland Fire Department. Waldrup said the child was apparently riding a lawnmower with his father when he somehow fell off and the lawnmower cut his arm and her, according to an Asheville police report The man raped the woman and then fled in a white sports utility vehicle. The woman told police the man was black, in his 20s, 6 feet 1 inch tall with black hair and brown eyes.

The man was wearing his hair in.