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(Continuing the Hinton Daily News & The Weekend Leader)
Home of the W. Va. Water Festival
Volume 89 No. 8
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday June 19, 1990
25 Cents
By Fred Long
Former Hinton police chief Ron =goes according to schedule he will
Lillyhasanewheartand~in~:~table probably be released in about two
condition and improving a~er ~ing m°/iths'#: " •
bedfast at Duke University Medical The average wait for a heart is 3
Center for six months waiting for a
heart transplant.
"The operation went like clock
work," said Cindy Cooper, City Clerk,
who was with the family at the hos-
pital when the surgery was per-
formedlast Wednesday. "they didn't
even have to jump start it. The heart
started up all by itself."
Lilly, 41, suffered a heart attack
in November 1988 while on a hunt-
ing trip when he was pulling a deer
out of the woods. The followingApril
a second attack almost killed him
anddoctors told him without a heart
~•plant his chances of surviving
another year was only 20 percent.
Ron'• doctor, =Peter Van Trigit
said Ron has the strongest will to
live of any person he has ever seen,"
Cooper said. =Two weeks ago he
almost died" but the day after sur-
gery =he was sitting up in a wheel-
chair and he looked great." Yester-
day, she said, =he walked a little bit.
After being bed fast for six months I
don't see how he can stand up."
Cooper said Lilly will be undergo-
ing physical therapy to build his
strength back up and if everything
to 6 months but because of Lilly's
build it was difficult for doctors to
find a heart large enough to match
By Fred Long
A split vote by the County Board
of Education cut three administra-
tive jobs in the school system and
moved William L. Fox to principal of
the Hinton High School. Gone is the
position of Director for the Instruc-
tional Materials Center (IMC), as-
sistant Hinton High School princi-
pal and principal of the Career
Center.
The split voting lead to charges of
fiscal irresponsibility and a clash
between Board members as tempers
flared, Thursday night, when the
County Board took on the task of
placingadministrators scheduled for
transfer in new positions within the
school system.
Fox, the former director for the
school'• IMC, did not file an applica.
tion for the position which was held
by Lynn Crowder. Crowder, ap-
By Fred Long
Former Hinton police officer
Tommy Cobb'• one year old convic-
tion ofjoining other lawmen in beat-
ing a handcuffed prisoner has been
overturned by a ruling handed down
by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals,
in Richmond, Vs.
The court ruled that Cobb was
denied his Sixth Amendment rights
when, during the trial in Beckley,
the court ordered him not to discuss
his testimony with anyone, includ-
ing his attorney, during a weekend
recess when Cobb was undergoing
cross examination by the prosecu-
tion.
C-~b was convicted in March 1989
alor~with former Hinton police chief
Larry Keaton and former sheriffs
deputies Ron Hatcher and Steve
Sears of beating Kenneth Wayne
Pack on April 24, 1987 at City Hall.
The appeals court upheld the convic-
tion of the other three former lawmen
who are presently serving a jail
sentence. Pack is in the county jail
on DUI charges.
U. S. District Judge Elizabeth
Hallanan approved the motion after
defense attorneys, earlierin the trial,
raised the same issue when a federal
witness, Hinton Police Chief John
Plumley, was on the stand. Hal-
l•nan granted a defense motion that
prevented Plumley from discussing
testimony over an overnight break
in the trial. U.S. Prosecutor Charles
Miller said he believed the same
restriction would apply to a defense
witness when making the same
motion.
=To remove from Cobb the ability
to discuss with his attorney any
aspect of his ongoing testimony ef-
fectively eviscerated his ability to
discuss and plan trial strategy," the
appeal courfs ~'uling said.
Cobb was free on bond while the
appeal has been pending. Federal
prosecutors have not decided if they
will retry the case.
his needs. A donor heart became
available following the death of a 20
year old GeOrgia n~an and~th~ heart
was flown to the North Carolina
hospital the morning of the .opera-
tion. Lilly was on the operating
table from 10 am to 3:30 pro, Cooper
said.
pointed principal last year, followed
the instructions handed down to her
without complaint, Board President
John Lilly said, and performed all of
her duties and responsibilities wi th-
out fail even under some of the most
adverse and hostile conditions
brought about by a teacher's strike
and the School Board's order for a
closed campus. Crowder said earlier
if she had known, when she was
hired, that the job would only be for
one year =I would never have applied
for it."
~I was the only one that voted not
to put Lynn Crowder on the transfer
list,~ Board member Dr. Bill
Mathews said. "I don't think any
teacher in the county could have
done any better. She's been tried.
She's gone through fire. It's a mis-
carriage of justice."
Board member Bill Dillon agreed
saying she has done "a good job. I
can't say anything against Mrs.
Crowder."
=She has done a good job,~ John
Lilly said. =She handled it through
many, many tough situations. I'm in
Lynn Crowder's corner from begin-
ning to end, but this House Bill 101
has got us. We just don't have any
choice."
Board member Billy Joe Lilly
brought the issue to a vote saying he
likewise agreed that Crowder has
=done an excellent job~ but added
that he felt =Fox can, too~ and made
the motion to appoint him. Bud
Shanks seconded and the vote passed
3-2, Mathews and Dillon voting no.
=If we don't move some of these
people, and do away with some of
these jobs in accordance with House
Bill 101, we are going to be in a lot of
trouble," John Lilly told the School
Board following the vote. =I want all
of the Board to remember fiscal re-
sponsibility. I don't want to see red
i nk that can ge t us i n a lot of trouble.~
~Fiscal responsibility,~ Dillon said,
"lies with some of those people in our
Legislature. As long as we go along
with everything that they come out
with we are nothing but a rubber
stamp."
Funding for the school system is
already short for next year by over
$482,000, according to Business
By Fred Long
Seven years of hard work and
determination came to an end with a
groundbreaking ceremonyThursday
morning for a new $4.1 million
wastewarter treatment facility to
serve the City of Hinton.
Hinton and county leaders joined
with state and federal representa-
tives for a luncheon and ground-
breaking where Hinton Mayor James
A. Leslie, Jr. announced that the
new facility will be named in honor
of Tom E. Ball, Sr. who gave 28 years
of service on the Hinton Sanitary
Board.
"He was a man's, man,~ Leslie
told the crowd in a packed dinning
room at the Career Center. He was
a tireless worker on the Sanitary
Board, he said, =and helped a lot of
people. He worked hard for the
people of Summers County.~
Ball served on the Hinton Sani-
tary Board from its conception in
1960 until his death on June 5, 1988.
"I'm proud to have been able to work
• o, ...... BY Fred Long
Four have been appointed ~ t]~e
Summers County Hospital Board of
Trustees and the head nurse at the
hospital will take over the =adminis-
trative decisions and day to day
@ •
Manager Joe Kessler, and thebudget
approved by the Board late April
and sent to Charleston does not
include the $44,000 salary for the
assistant superintendent or the sal-
ary for a teacher hired by the Board
last month. The school system is
also over by at least four service
personnel that have been employed
by the Board. Kessler said the school
system will end in the black this
year and "carry oved' into the next
fiscal year (beginning July 1) about
$30,000 =but I don't see how we will
avoid a deficit next year.~
=No one,~ said School Superinten-
dent Jim Tassos, %upports Lynn
Crowder any more than I do. I inter-
viewed her for that position, I se-
lected her and no one has supported
her any stronger than I have."
"I would hope,~ Dillon said, =that
Mr. Fox will get just as much sup-
port. It is not an easy position.~
"I have a reputation,~ Tassos told
Dillon, "for over 20 years or more of
supporting teachers and adminis-
trators in Summers County.~
House Bill 101, "lassos said, is
forcing school system• to eliminate
administrate staff throughout the
state. That law, he explained,
changed the number of teachers and
administrator• the State will fund
from 50 teachers and 5 administra-
tors per 1,000 students to 51 teach-
ers and 3.33 administrators. ~v'hat
that did in Summers County this
year is it said you will go from 13
administrator• down to 10. That's
passed by law. I have explained this
to every administrator in the county.
I have explained it fully to the
Summers County Board of Educa-
tion.~ Next year the law calls for
only 2.5 administrator• per 1,000
students which means another cut
of three administrator•. "Some
counties will not have enough prin-
cipals~ to operate their schools, he
said.
Tassos said the school system
received state funding for 13 admin-
istrators, five central office adminis-
trators: Superintendent, Tassos;
Assistant Superintendent, Rod•s;
Director of Curriculum, Larry Deeds;
Director of the IMC, William Fox
and Director of Special Education
with him on the Sanitary Board," the audience. ~Phis groundbreak-
Leslie said. "He was an inspiration ing is just like the farmer in his
to me and everyone that knew him.~ garden. We are going to plant the
The new facility will be con-seeds of hope.~ Along withplanting
structed on an island in the New the seeds of hope, Musgravehandad
River near the Career Center.Mayor Leslie a check representing
Funding for the project comes from a the first payment to the City on a
$2.1milliongrantfromtheEnviron- loan package that he said was
mental Protection Agency which =closed" that morning at 8 o'clock.
Leslie catled =a return on our invest- J. Edward Hamrick, HI State
ment with Uncle Sam.~ Agrant with Director of the DNR aim attended,
the Appalachian Regional Commis- although it was againlt doctors
• ion for $695,000 and a loan of orders. "I wouldn't have missed th.is
$660,000 from the Farmers Home for anything in the world,,' he mid.
Administration at 5% made up the With him camea check coverinlE the
federal funding package. A state full loan from the WDA. Bothch~ks
loan of $667,000 at 7.5% with the totaledover$700,00Owhichwillhalp
State Water Development Author- withthestartupcostfortheproject.
ity (WI)A) of the Department of Leslie said the plant will be faeed
Natural Resources completed the with brick and fit in with the envi.
funding requirements, Leslie said. ronment. =It will blend in with our
Work on the project is scheduled to natural beauty, insure a clean river
begin tomorrow with a completion and also make way for future eco-
date of May of next year. nomic development. Ifit doemn't you
=People in Hinton have wanted can blame these people,~ he joked
growth and development," John C. pointing towards theprqiect design-
Musgrave, FHA State Director told ers.
nperat~ons,Y Lonnie Mullins, presi~ AnnaMa~McNeerwuappointedto
dent of the Board of Trustees, said. the expired term of E, Z. Edwards.
Earlier this month the County Stewart McMurray was appointed
Commission appointed four mere- to the unexpired term of Leonard
bers to the Board, Mullins said. Anderson and Ralph Jones to the
Arnett Willey was reappointed and unexpired term of Regina Ecklewho
resigned late May.
Bill Ball, one assistant principal,
Mike Allen, HHS principal, Lynn
Crowder and Career Center princi-
pal Harold Bandy and five elemen-
tary principals: Harry Keaton, David
Quisenberry, Gaye Shaver, James
Withrow and Gary Irwin.
=Keep in mind," Tassos said, =you
have to cut three of these this year
and three next year." The school
system had to have a superinten-
dent and the elementary teachers,
and the Board has voted not to cut
out the assistant superintendent.
That leaves six administrators:
Deeds, Fox, Ball, Allen, Crowder and
Bandy, Tassos said.
"People going to blame Tassos for
cutting people? Anybody want to
pick three? It is not an easy subject.
It's not an easy matter to deal with
and regardless of who was sitting in
my shoes it would be difficult~ which
led into 'lassos defending his repu-
tation and charges alleging that he
performed an illegal act when the
Board employed Bandy at the Ca-
reer Center last year.
"For 20 years people have been
trying to find something that Jim
Tassos did (wrong).~ Tassos said he
signed a permit for Bandy to go to
the Career Center that =should not
have been signed until he actually
got the job. That was an honest
mistake. It's not a criminal offense.
For it to be a criminal offense, you
have to have intent and there wasn't
anything gained by this. It didn't
made any difference in the hiring
and if the Stats wanted to correct
this all they had to do was take the
certificate back and issue it two
month• later.
"=My record," Tassos continued,
=speaks for itself. If you want tolook
at my mistakes over the past 20 or
24 years--- fine! Look at the rest of
them. The fact is House Bill 101
doesn't make any difference. It
doesn't matter who i• sitting up here
or who is making the recommenda-
tions. Somebedy is going to get hurt.,
The Charleston paper made me out
to be a political honcho, that I take
care of my friends. I guarantee you
that I didn't enjoy what happened to
Mrs. Crowder. I didn't enjoy it at
Continued on page 4
Topsy Stennett, Director of Nuts.
ing, =automatically" went to the
administrative position because the
%rganization chart~ for the hospital
states in the absence of the adminis-
trator the head nurse will perform
those duties, Mullins said. ~It'sjust
the same as if the administrator was
on vacation."
Mullins said, although the Board
has several applicants for the ad-
ministrative position and at least
two management companies have
expressed interest, =nothinghas been
done officially.~
Last Wednesday Appalachian
Regional Health Care, a manage.
ment company out of Lexington, K~y.,
performed an =on site survey at tim -:"
hospital,~ Mullina said, and onMay ,~
29 another management compmw, ~/
Alliant out of Louisville, Ky., "~ur~ ~
in and gave apremntation." ;~
But Mullins said they have not
solicited any management comps.
vies and thus far the Board is only
gathering information.
Hospitalflnancm, aceezdingtothe
May 31 financial statement, show
the facility with an operating leas et'
$502,000 over the past 10 month~,
Mullins said. ~¢'e are concerned
about that. The onlysolution to this
trend is to find some method to
generate some new revenue."
Mullins said the "prospects~ for a
ventilator system that will help
people breathe may be the answer to
that problem.
No hospital in the state operates
a ventilator system =around the
clock,~ said hospital respiratory
therapist Patty Crawford, becaum
of the high cost. Crawford ha= been
working with the states Dept. of
Health and Human Reeources, she
said, in an effort to increase the
Medicaid reimburmment rate. '~I
feel good aboutit;" she
we are making
has to be done. We hays alrm y
applied for a health care grant."
If everything is approved will
know in September."