A2

NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2015

SMYTH COUNTY NEWS & MESSENGER

www.swvatoday.com

Memorial
From Page A1

Jasmine Dent/ For the Smyth County News & Messenger

After being pursued by officers Tuesday afternoon, Marion

police officers said that Jacob C. Blevins abandoned his motorcycle beside the Crying Tree and continued to elude police
on foot.

Marion man faces

charges after pursuit
By Jasmine Dent
Correspondent

A Marion man is being held at the Southwest

Virginia Regional Jail in
Abingdon following a police pursuit through the
side streets of downtown
Marion Tuesday afternoon.
Lieutenant Andrew K.
Moss of the Marion Police
Department said when an
officer noticed 24-yearold Jacob Charles Blevins,
who was known to be unlicensed, driving a motorcycle on Church Street,
Officer Joshua Taylor attempted to pull him over.
However, Moss said,
Blevins did not stop. Instead, the MPD lieutenant said, he accelerated
and led police on a pursuit
through Church Street,
Miller Avenue, and Sheffey, Lee and North Jones
streets, before cutting
through a lawn and halting on a hill behind the
Marion Volunteer Fire De-

School
From Page A1

Prior to their vote, Assistant County Administrator

Scott Simpson reviewed
the Budget Committees
recommendation, which
included an allocation of
more than $8 million in local funds. Including those
funds plus federal and
state contributions as well
as sales tax proceeds and
other revenue sources, the
2015-16 schools budget totals $47,848,496.
Also before the vote, Supervisor Rick Blevins, who
is employed by the school
system, and supervisors
Blake Frazier and Todd
Dishner, whose wives work
for the school system, disclosed those ties and made
statements that they could
participate fairly, objectively and in the public
interest while making the
decision.
Rick Blevins said he was
pleased the employees
raise could be funded and
the county could increase
its allocation by $50,000,
but he cautioned that
would likely mean another
organization will experience a $50,000 cut.
Blevins also said that
while budget decisions are
always difficult, the supervisors are doing the best
they can for the county
and its citizens. He said
that if every departments
budget request was approved as submitted, the
supervisors would need to
raise taxes by 16 cents per
$100 to cover the costs.
Supervisor Ron Blevins
produced a list of several
municipalities that have
gone bankrupt. He attributed their bankruptcy
to spending beyond their
means. With the revenue
that comes in, Ron Blevins
said, the supervisors are
trying to lay a solid foundation for the county moving
forward. The supervisors,
he said, could tax people
out of the county or keep

partment.
Taylor said Blevins then
ran out of places to go
on his bike with the hill
there, so he abandoned
his motorcycle and helmet
and fled on foot.
Taylor said officers then
combed the area in search
of Blevins for nearly an
hour before a witness reported that he had gone
in a residence on Cherry
Street, where he was then
arrested.
Taylor said, when searching the motorcycle, officers
found drug paraphernalia
and methamphetamine,
a schedule II controlled
substance.
Blevins is charged with
eluding police, driving on
a revoked license, unauthorized use of a motor
vehicle, possession of a
controlled substance, and
unauthorized possession
of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges are pending.
Taylor said he arrested
Blevins two months ago
on similar charges.
them as taxpaying residents. He said they opted
for the latter.
The supervisors approved the budget recommendation by a 5-0 vote
with two members absent.
After
the
meeting,
schools superintendent
Dr. Michael Robinson
expressed gratitude for
the additional $50,000 in
funding and the countys
assistance in extending
the 1.5 percent raise to all
employees. The state legislature had OKd the raise
only for teachers and other
personnel who were directly tied to the Standards
of Quality. From the beginning, Robinson said, the
school board was committed to extending the pay
increase to all employees.
Robinson added that he
would have to delve into
the countys allocation to
understand the changes
and their impact on the
system. He noted that the
school systems capital
outlay budget had been
cut by $185,138. This past
year, he said, such funding had been used to put
a new roof on Chilhowie
High School and complete
structural work at Northwood Middle School.
When that kind of work is
needed, Robinson said,
the supervisors guidance
may be needed.
He also noted that transportation had been cut
$262,000. Thats a tight
category for us, he said.
Robinson reiterated his
desire for the school board
and supervisors to continue working together.
He noted that they had
worked together to achieve
a debt service decrease
of $345,000. That change
should help everybody, he
said.
Ultimately,
Robinson
reiterated his excitement
about the staff raises as
well as the school boards
ability to increase its contribution to employees
health insurance, which
rose in cost this year. They
deserve it, he said.

port. Clark said the proposed budget would be

presented at a public hearing during the next council
meeting on Thursday, June
11.
The proposed budget
of $4,415,121 in revenues
and expenses includes a
5 percent increase in water/sewer rates and no increase in real estate ($.17)
or personal property ($.30)
tax rates or the meals (5.5
percent) tax rate.
There was a 2.7 percent
cost of living increase in
January for employees resulting from a salary survey
last fall and each employee
is eligible for a 2.5 percent
merit increase on the hiring anniversary.
The town council chose
to go with the Local Choice
Plan for employee health
insurance, a move that
will save the town approximately $27,426 next year
and provide coverage for
single, single plus one, and
family coverage at one rate,
not a rate based on age as
the current coverage plan
does with wildly fluctuating rates, said Clark in his
budget message.
Chilhowie residents in

Degree
From Page A1

Smyth County to do so.

Taylor began taking dualenrollment classes during
the summer of 2012 at the
Appalachian Summer Regional Governors School.
She later attended A. Linwood Holton Governors
School, where she studied
anatomy and physiology
and then continued to take
dual-enrollment classes
through WCC.
My goal wasnt to get an
associates degree at first,
Taylor said. My goal was
to take as many dual-enrollment classes as possible to get them out of the
way for college.
Taylor said after completing numerous dualenrollment classes during
her sophomore and junior years she realized she
didnt lack many classes to
attain an associate degree.
She then worked closely
with MSHS and WCC faculty who helped arrange
for her to take the needed
classes.

LINDA BURCHETTE/SMYTH COUNTY NEWS & MESSENGER

John Paul Jones of Chilhowie made a presentation at the Chilhowie Town Council meeting May
14 of framed prints of his town mural to each of the towns three schools. Participating in the
presentation with Jones, from left, were Mayor Gary Heninger, Sanders Henderson from Chilhowie Elementary School, Sam Blevins from Chilhowie Middle School and Lisa Farmer from
Chilhowie High School.

town will pay $15.74 per

month for the first 2,000
gallons of water and $3.94
for every 1,000 gallons over
2,000. Those out of town
will pay $31.66 for the first
2,000 gallons and $7.93
per 1,000 gallons over the
minimum 2,000.
Commercial/industrial
rates will go to $28.51 for a

minimum of 5,000 gallons

(in town) and $40.80 for
the first 5,000 gallons (out
of town).
On the sewer rate, a 5
percent proposed increase
would mean a minimum
monthly cost of $15.74 for
the first 2,000 gallons for
in-town residential, $38.01
for out-of-town residen-

Both Taylor and her father, David Richardson, attribute Taylors success to
hard work and dedication.
I know how hard shes
worked, David said. A lot
of days she would get up
at 7 in the morning and
wouldnt get home until 11
at night.
David describes his
daughter as driven, selfmotivated and goal-oriented.
That helped her set her
goals and achieve them,
he said.
David believes Taylor
alone is to be credited for
her ambition and success.
Shes always been that
way, he said. It wasnt
anything we taught her.
Although much of Taylors time was dedicated to
academics she still found
time for other activities.
A lot of sacrifices were
made, but I still enjoyed
high school, Taylor said. I
think I was well-rounded. I
tried to find time to do a
little of everything.
During her high school
career Taylor participated
in a number of sports, in-

If you set a goal and work toward it, no

matter what your intelligence level, you
can achieve it.
Taylor Richardson

cluding volleyball, track,

basketball and soccer,
earning 11 letters collectively. She also found
time to engage in activities with her youth group
at Royal Oak Presbyterian
Church and participate in
summer mission trips to
places such as Mexico and
Jamaica.
In addition to her academic, recreational and
social activities, Taylor
took on part-time employment as a catering associate at the Smyth County
Community Hospital.
David said at times he
and Taylors mother were
concerned that Taylor
took on too many responsibilities, but that they are
exceptionally proud of her
success.
With more than 70 credits on her transcript, Taylor will transfer to Emory
& Henry College as a junior in the fall. She plans

SHULER
FOR

tial, and $40.80 for the

first 5,000 gallons used by
commercial and industrial
customers.
The proposed fiscal year
2015-16 budget for Chilhowie will be available on
the towns website www.
chilhowie.org and copies
can be seen at the town
hall.

SHERIFF

to major in biology. From

there, she plans to attend
medical school and hopes
to pursue a career as an
oncologist.
Although Taylor accomplished an admirable feat
by attaining her degree
before her diploma, she remains modest. She doesnt
believe she has raised
the bar for anyone else at
MSHS, but rather opened
new doors for them.
I mean, Im proud of
myself, she said, but I
dont think Im any better
than anyone else. We all
had our own goals. Mine
was to get my associate
degree and I did. It was
a personal accomplishment.
If you set a goal and
work toward it, no matter what your intelligence
level, you can achieve it,
she added.