2001 will long be remembered in county, country

By Lynn Hotaling

On a national level that alteration happened suddenly and dramatically on Tuesday, Sept. 11, when hijacked commercial airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a hillside in Pennsylvania.

Locally, the big change was county government's shift from an elected to an appointed manager, and news that Sylva's town government would change its structure from mayor-council to manager council.

Except for two months in 1998 when the county had an interim appointed manager, the elected commissioners' chairman had served as county manager since 1932. Ken Westmoreland, Jackson County's first full-time appointed county manager, began his duties in August, bringing Jackson County government in step with that of the state's other 99 counties.

Because the town board's composition changed with the November elections, Sylva won't put its initial town manager in place until early 2002.

The November 2001 elections took on historic significance as Sylva voters chose Danny Allen as a town board member. With his installation Dec. 13, Allen became Jackson County's first African-American elected official.

Local educators received new leadership as well, as Mack McCary of Elizabeth City took the reins of the school system from Superintendent Frank Burrell, who retired Feb. 1. Also, Theresa Peters of Fayetteville was named to succeed Ron Yount as principal of Cullowhee Valley School.

The Sylva Herald's front pages document an upswing in crime news. One February issue reported on three separate murders - a Wisconsin man whose body was discovered in a wooded area near Moses Creek; a Sylva woman found stabbed in her home; and a Cherokee woman shot to death in Haywood County.

June brought shocking news of a sex scandal at Blue Ridge involving the school's athletic director and safety officer, and December opened with the arrest of a Smoky Mountain High science teacher accused of sex crimes involving a child he met outside of school and closed with the arrest of a Western Carolina University football player accused of murder.

March saw the resolution of one of 2000's major stories when a WCU student from Franklin was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to murdering her newborn baby. Later that month, a Superior Court judge sentenced a Canton man to at least 40 years in jail for acts of statutory rape committed in Cullowhee.

Zoning and land use issues were again in the forefront of local news. The Village of Forest Hills established extraterritorial jurisdiction after months of controversy. Qualla residents protested a noisy helicopter and a potential asphalt plant, Addie property owners objected to the unsightly appearance of junkyards in their neighborhood and representatives from Cashiers sought to block the addition of a cell tower to their landscape. In Sylva, Skyland Drive residents organized to protest rezoning of a large home that was being considered as a site for the offices of Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority.

TWSA made headlines in other ways as well. The authority's July effort to change its bylaws and move outside Sylva's city limits was foiled by Sylva's town board, and three sewage spills (April, September, October) sent more than 600,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into local streams.

Solid waste was another newsmaker as Sylva changed its hauler and commissioners debated and ultimately passed an ordinance to regulate waste disposal in the county.

Governmental lawsuits figured prominently in the news. Jackson County was successful in its legal quest to eliminate a non-conforming billboard in Dillsboro but lost another battle when a District Court judge ruled its ordinance regulating helicopters was unconstitutional.

This year's ongoing municipal lawsuit is a holdover from the year before and revolves around a dispute between a local developer and the town of Sylva over a road closing.

At issue is whether Sylva acted legally when it closed Broad Street in April 2000. Wayne Smith contends that the town's action to close the street at First Charter Bank, before it reaches his property, caused irreparable harm to his plans to build a trailer park there. A temporary agreement allows Smith limited access via Broad Street while the matter proceeds through the court system.

Construction proceeded on a number of fronts as county leaders moved to meet the needs of schools, recreation and law enforcement. The new Scotts Creek School opened in August, and work was completed on classroom additions at Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain high schools.

In other capital improvements, work is almost completed on a multi-purpose recreation facility in Cullowhee, and construction of a new jail and law enforcement headquarters is under way.

County residents were saddened this year by the loss of Liston Ramsey of Marshall, longtime Speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, and of John Crowe, principal chief of the Eastern band of Cherokee from 1973 until 1983.

On a happier note, 2001 marked Jackson County's 150th birthday, and local residents celebrated the sesquicentennial throughout the summer and fall at events sponsored by the county's two historical societies and at a downtown festival in October. The Sesquicentennial Edition of "The History of Jackson County" was released in time for the event.

Attendance was good at downtown happenings like April's Greening Up the Mountains festival and the annual Fourth of July celebration. The annual Christmas Parade, with a patriotic theme, was termed the best in years.

Residents also turned out for events scheduled to commemorate the tragic events of Sept. 11 and honor their victims. Local churches organized a candlelight vigil on the courthouse steps the weekend after the attacks and the town of Sylva sponsored its "March for American Unity" a week later.

Jackson County got behind relief efforts in a big way, donating thousands of dollars in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks to aid victims of the tragedy. Firefighters, schools, churches and community groups all spearheaded drives to aid people in New York City and Washington, D.C. 2001 saw some surprising stories as well. An August Justice Center fistfight between two public officials was resolved through mediation, and an October early morning altercation between Webster Enterprises and Country Collections recycling company brought Sheriff Jim Cruzan to the scene.

The year's final shocker was the Dec. 19 ousting of Bill Bleil as WCU football coach. That story broke less than a month after Bleil was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year by both the media and his fellow coaches.

Economic news included the September announcement of a planned bowling alley in the former Bi-Lo location at Jackson Plaza, and the July sale of the former Buster Brown plant to Diversified Expositions Inc.

Local media made the news as well. Jimmy Childress announced earlier this month that his family had sold the county's only commercial radio station, WRGC, to a Georgia broadcasting company. The county's largest newspaper, The Sylva Herald, celebrated its 75th year through a 52-week series of articles gleaned from past issues.

Weather did not play a major role in local news during 2001. January opened with sub-zero temperatures, but the remainder of the winter was mild. Drought conditions during the summer and fall spawned a number of forest fires, but no major damage in this county. Scattered high winds in November overturned an airplane at the Jackson County airport and wreaked havoc at Santa's Land amusement park in Cherokee.

All in all, 2001 was another eventful year in the mountains. A monthly summary follows:

January

The Jackson County Historical Association and Webster Historical Society announced a series of planned programs to commemorate Jackson County's 150th birthday. County Manager Jay Denton appointed Jeff Carpenter, director of parks and recreation, to head up Jackson County's official Sesquicentennial Celebration.

Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver said the possibility of a new post office for Sylva looked very favorable and told members of the Sylva Town Board that it appeared a deal to construct the new facility at Jackson Plaza would be finalized within a month. However, February brought news that a Post Office spending freeze had stalled the project.

Cullowhee firefighter Brian Ashe was injured when he lost control of the pumper/tanker he was driving en route to an accident on Cullowhee Mountain Road. The weather condition that caused his injuries - black ice - was also blamed for the accident to which he was responding. Ashe was thrown from the truck and suffered multiple lacerations and a broken collar bone.

A Wake County Superior Court Judge ordered the Department of Transportation to grant a permit to PNE AOA, a Delaware-based advertising company that constructed a billboard near Dillsboro in August 1999. DOT officials had denied the permit because it violated a 60-day moratorium on billboards enacted by Jackson County commissioners.

February

Superior Court Judge James Downs ordered local developer Wayne Smith to furnish requested financial information with regard to a lawsuit Smith filed in August 2000 against the town of Sylva. Smith's suit, which remains unresolved, alleges that the town's April 2000 closing of Broad Street destroyed his plans to build a trailer park on property he planned to access via Broad Street.

Skeletal remains of a man found in the Moses Creek area were identified as belonging to Allen Krnak, a Wisconsin man missing since July 1998. Krnak's older son, former Western Carolina University student Derek Anderson, was accused of his father's murder and arrested in Milwaukee. Anderson remains in jail in Wisconsin. He and his lawyer have to date thwarted extradition efforts that would bring Anderson to North Carolina to stand trial.

An investigation was under way into the stabbing murder of Lynn Rule, who was found Monday, Feb. 5, in her home near the Sylva Police Department. Two of Rule's neighbors, 18-year-old Josh Duls and Jerad Buckley, 24, were indicted a month later on charges of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with Rule's death.

Martin Pepion, 25, and Robert Groenwold, 20, both of Cherokee, were charged with murder in connection with the death of Pepion's girlfriend, Deanah McCoy, 22. The two were arrested in Montana on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation. McCoy, whose body was found in Buncombe County, was killed in Haywood County.

Gov. Mike Easley named Jackson County Commissioner Conrad Burrell to a two-year term on the N.C. Department of Transportation board in a move that caught some local residents by surprise since both the Sylva and Forest Hills town boards endorsed former Sylva Town Board member Marion Jones. Elected officials lobbied for representation because Jackson County had not had a DOT board member in more that 30 years and had not had a member serve a full term since E.L. McKee in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Burrell represents District 14, which includes 10 counties from Cherokee to Polk.

March

Financial concerns, including how significant the state budget shortfall could be locally, left county commissioners with many unanswered questions as they began their budget planning for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians lost one of their most beloved members when former Chief John Crowe died March 7. Crowe, chief from 1973-83, received 86 percent of the votes during the 1975 tribal election.

Cullowhee Valley teacher Marsha Cameron was named the region's Teacher of Year. Cameron, who has been a teacher for more than 30 years, was one of six finalists for North Carolina's Teacher of the Year.

County commissioners awarded contracts totaling almost $5 million to construct a new jail adjacent to the Justice Center on Grindstaff Cove Road.

A surprise snow March 20 closed public schools and dropped up to 11 inches on Jackson County's higher elevations.

Official 2000 census figures showed Jackson to be one of the fastest growing counties in North Carolina. The county's population is 33,121, which is a 23.4 percent increase from 1990's total of 26,846.

Jamie Rathbone of Canton was sentenced to 40 years in prison for statutory rape in connection with two Haywood County runaways, ages 13 and 14. Authorities say Rathbone, 24, forced the girls to stay for several days at a home he was repairing in Cullowhee.

April

Cullowhee Valley teacher Anne Loughlin was selected to participate in the 2001 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program. Loughlin was one of only 16 educators across the nation chosen for the honor.

A Bryson City paving contractor announced plans April 5 to construct an asphalt plant in Qualla and triggered an outpouring of community concern. Mark Fortner, owner of HMC Paving, said he planned to construct the plant on 12 acres near the 441 exit off U.S. 74. Two weeks later Qualla residents voiced opposition to construction of the plant in their community.

A 27-year-old Massachusetts man, Jason Graybill, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison in connection with the 1999 murder of Sylva resident Steven Jones, whose body was found in the Barkers Creek area.

An intensive search of Bear Lake yielded no sign of a missing Haywood County teen. The body of Brian West, 19, was found in May by a rescue diver from Tennessee.

Approximately 108,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Tuckaseigee River April 30 at Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority's wastewater treatment facility on North River Road between Dillsboro and Webster. The spill resulted when both the main and standby pumps failed to function properly.

May

Local school officials asked county commissioners for a 20 percent increase in funding, almost $1 million more than was allocated the year before.

County officials learned that they would be forced to cut $1.8 million from departmental budget requests in order to balance the budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

Jackson County commissioners May 17 awarded contracted services worth almost $470,000. McCarroll Construction of Flat Rock received a $369,000 contract to build a construction and demolition transfer station on Mineral Springs Road, and Kimball Communications of Hendersonville received the $99,899 contract to supply the county's emergency services with new radios.

June

Sylva leaders took the first step toward hiring a professional city manager by approving a change to a manager-council form of government.

Thanks in part to a healthy growth rate and nearly $1 million in non-recurring costs from this year's budget, Jackson County officials proposed a budget that kept the tax rate at 48 cents per $100 valuation.

Jackson County Commissioners were named grand marshals for the Oct. 20 Sesquicentennial Parade.

Cashiers residents, opposed to construction of a cell tower on Laurel Knob, asked county commissioners to enact a moratorium on cell towers.

July

The official Sesquicentennial logo, featuring the old Jackson County Courthouse and the Tuckaseigee River and designed by graphic artist Dale Conner of Simply Ts in Cullowhee, made its debut. Commemorative Sesquicentennial T-shirts went on sale July 4.

Sylva's swimming pool reopened July 6 after a $700,000 renovation project that enlarged and upgraded the 31-year-old facility.

Ken Westmoreland of Spartanburg, S.C., was selected to be Jackson County's first full-time appointed manager and scheduled to take office Aug. 1. Commissioner Stacy Buchanan agreed to serve as interim manager during July when elected commissioners' Chairman Jay Denton declined to remain in that position after June 30.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians commemorated the 50th anniversary of lighting of the eternal flame at Mountainside Theatre. A rededication ceremony marked the occasion.

Sylva leaders put a halt to TWSA's plans to relocate its headquarters outside city limits when town board members refused to approve a change to TWSA bylaws, which require that agency offices be located inside Sylva's town limits. TWSA needed unanimous approval from the towns that created it in 1992 in order to alter its bylaws.

Diversified Expositions Inc., a Cullowhee company that builds, stores and delivers trade show displays, purchased the old Buster Brown plant from Jackson Development Corp. Diversified, owned by Dick and Pam Stirka, had 15 employees at the time the company purchased the former textile plant.

August

Cherokee's Robert Bushyhead, preserver of the Kituhwa dialect, died July 28 at age 86.

It was announced that Sylva's First Union bank would be sold as part of the Wachovia-First Union merger.

An altercation between Frank Watson, Jackson County clerk of court, and Marion Jones, a member of the TWSA board, turned into a fistfight in Watson's office at the Justice Center. Charges were subsequently filed against Jones, and the matter was resolved through mediation.

Commissioners instructed their attorney to prepare an ordinance that would regulate, not ban, sight-seeing helicopters in the county.

Smart Growth results indicated most county residents want to preserve the county's scenic beauty and rural character, and that those who attended meetings throughout the county mostly favor land use planning.

Carrie Stroup, a 2000 SMHS graduate, was crowned Miss United States World, making her eligible to compete for the title of Miss World. Blue Ridge School received a $125,000 grant to create a technology learning center.

Local private trash haulers told county commissioners that the proposed solid waste ordinance would "put them out of business." The problem, said one local private hauler, is that the proposed ordinance reclassifies residential waste as commercial waste once it is picked up by a private hauler. Commissioners agreed that the ordinance "needed work" before it could be approved.

County commissioners approved a 90-day moratorium on cell tower construction.

Superintendent Mack McCary announced amnesty for students involved in the Blue Ridge School sex scandal.

Seventeen candidates, including Sylva town clerk Tommy Thompson and Richard McHargue, director of Sylva Partners in Renewal, applied to be Sylva's first town manager.

September

Former N.C. House of Representatives Speaker Liston Ramsey of Marshall died at age 82. He served a total of 19 terms in the House.

Plans were announced for a 22-lane bowling alley in the former Bi-Lo store at Jackson Plaza. Owners Jim Moss, Andrew Dorau and Steve Yuzzi said they hoped to be open by Christmas.

Shock waves from unprecedented terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., reached all the way to Jackson County and forced cancellation of several scheduled events including a state school board meeting scheduled at the new Scotts Creek School. The national tragedy triggered memorial events and marches in the county, and local emergency service personnel collected more than $31,000 for relief efforts. In the days following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Jackson County residents showed their patriotism in a number of ways including a candlelight vigil on the courthouse steps and a "March for American Unity" through downtown Sylva.

A crack in a sewer pipe in Webster spilled some 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a tributary of the Tuckaseigee River in TWSA's second reportable spill of the year.

Smokey Mountain Elementary School science teacher Dora Robinson was named Jackson County's Teacher of the Year.

Jerad Buckley, 25, and Josh Duls, 18, pleaded guilty to murder and arson in connection with the February murder of Lynn Rule. Buckley was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Duls was given more than three years active time after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder.

Mountain Heritage Day events relocated to the area around the Western Carolina University track due to ongoing campus construction.

October

Jackson County commissioners voted 3-2 to ban sight-seeing helicopter tours, though the ordinance didn't take effect because the vote wasn't unanimous.

The N.C. Court of Appeals ordered a Brevard sign company to remove a billboard it erected near Dillsboro in 1999. Construction of the sign - and the uproar that followed - resulted in a county wide moratorium on off-premise sign construction and a county sign ordinance.

Raw sewage flowed into Scotts Creek in TWSA's third spill in five months. An estimated 25,000 gallons of untreated wastewater entered the creek after a plug was dislodged from the end of an 8-inch abandoned pipe.

Jackson County Sheriff Jim Cruzan intervened in an early-morning dispute between Webster Enterprises and Country Collections, the company that subcontracts the county's recycling. Country Collections owner Gregg Thomas attempted to move a baler belonging to Webster, and the sheriff told him to leave it at Webster Enterprises. Thomas subsequently moved the baler to the former Tuckaseigee Mills plant but voluntarily returned it a few days later.

The Village of Forest Hills enacted extraterritorial jurisdiction after more than a year of discussion. The finalized ETJ included much less property than when it was first proposed in April 2000. Many affected residents opposed the village's initial plan, which would have reached as far as Bo Cove.

A storm that blew through the county Oct. 23 flipped an airplane at the Jackson County Airport and caused extensive damage at Santa's Land in Cherokee.

November

Sylva officials announced they would delay selection of a town manager until after the Nov. 6 municipal elections; they subsequently postponed the decision until January.

Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver was re-elected Nov. 6, and Sylva voters chose Jackson County's first African-American elected official when Danny Allen was among the five top vote-getters. Others elected to the Sylva board were Eldridge Painter, Aurdrey Tritt, Eldon Cabe and Maurice Moody. A referendum to allow liquor-by-the-drink was narrowly defeated.

The owner of a sight-seeing helicopter that flew in violation of a county ordinance banning such flights from anywhere except the Jackson County Airport was cited. Criminal charges were filed, and flights were suspended pending the outcome of the court case.

Joe Brooks was sentenced Nov. 13 to more than five years in prison in connection with the Blue Ridge School sex scandal after Robbie Hess pleaded guilty to obstructing justice. Hess received a suspended sentence. Charges against former Blue Ridge basketball standout Jeremy Stewart were dismissed.

Poet Kay Byer of Cullowhee was one of six to receive the state's highest honor when she was awarded the North Carolina Award in Raleigh. Sylva's Christmas parade, themed "A Patriotic Christmas" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, drew one of the largest crowds ever. Jackson County's World War II veterans were asked to serve as grand marshals.

Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte agreed to a partnership in "ultra-high technologies" that is expected to jump-start efforts to bring high-tech industries to Western North Carolina.

SMHS science teacher Nathan Hopper was arrested Nov. 28 and charged with sex-related crimes against a child he met outside of school. Though a Jackson County Grand Jury failed to indict Dec. 10, charges against Hopper were not dropped, and he remains jailed under a $1.5 million bond.

December

Jimmy Childress announced plans to sell Jackson County's only commercial radio station, WRGC, to Georgia-based broadcasting company Georgia-Carolina Radiocasting.

WCU football player Toren Gordon was charged with a murder that occurred at Thunder Ridge, a Maggie Valley night club.

Charges were dismissed against Jim Garst, manager of a sight-seeing helicopter business in Cherokee, when District Court Judge Steve Bryant ruled that Jackson County's ordinance regulating such businesses was unconstitutional.

WCU Athletic Director Jeff Compher relieved head football coach Bill Bleil of his coaching duties. (See related story under sports.)

After debating a solid waste ordinance for most of the year, county commissioners approved an ordinance Dec. 20. (See related story)

Back to Archive: 12/27/01.