Thursday, July 27, 2017
$1 Highlands, NC Our 59th Year No. 30
www.highlandsnews.com
Cause of church van fires undetermined By Kelsey Reidle reporter@highlandsnews.com A fire that destroyed three vans owned by Community Bible Church is being investigated as arson, but investigators are listing the cause as “undetermined,” due to a lack of evidence that it was started intentionally. Sergeant Don Willis, a criminal investigator with the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, said the fire could have been accidental. A 25-passenger bus, a 15-passenger van and a third bus outfitted with a wheelchair lift were all destroyed in
Inside this issue issu Highlands & Cashiers Events Calendar features events throughout July and August and Mountain Life magazine highlights beautiful homes and gardens of the plateau.
Submitted photo
Firefighters arrived on the scene to three vans ablaze next to the Community Bible Church See FIRE, Page 5A on Cashiers Road.
Weeks after spill, cleanup company, fire officials work to contain oil leak By Kelsey Reidle reporter@highlandsnews.com An oil leak that started at a house on Smallwood Avenue is being cleaned up and monitored by a private company after the
Highlands Fire Department and the Macon County Office of Emergency Management worked to contain the spill in a nearby creek from further spreading. Highlands Fire Chief Ryan Gearhart said a heating oil tank at the house had been
Photo by Kelsey Reidle/staff
Absorbent oil booms and pads were placed in Satulah Branch Creek to catch oil that had leaked from a residential heating oil tank on Smallwood Avenue.
Mission-Blue Cross blame game continues
leaking into the ground for an unknown period of time before heavy rain lifted the oil to the surface and carried it into a wet weather drainage area. The tank was not damaged, but underground pipe was likely damaged, he said. The leak was reported by a neighbor at the nearby Trillium community about 1 p.m. on July 7, Gearhart said. “Apparently it’s been an ongoing thing,” he said. “It’s been leaking, and then with all the rain, it just rose to the surface.” The oil was carried by water runoff into Satulah Branch Creek, he said, which originates near Harris Lake and flows across Horse Cove Road and into Mill Creek. Macon County Emergency Management was called to assist with the leak, and Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe said his department was able to provide HAZMAT materials, like absorbent oil booms and pads, to help remove
See OIL, Page 5A
New assistant principal begins work in Highlands By Kelsey Reidle reporter@highlandsnews.com Just a few months after the findings of an investigative state report was released in Kentucky, Stacey Overlin is making a fresh start in Highlands as he joins the school as assistant principal, replacing Jim Draheim who is retiring. Overlin doesn’t see a memorandum from the Kentucky General Assembly’s Office of Education Accountability deriding his understanding of a school governance committee as a black spot on his record; rather, he said he’s looking forward to meeting Highlands students on the first day of school, Aug. 28. “The first day of school is always exciting for me,” he said during a tour of the school on his second day at work. “It’s a chance to make a fresh start, and as a student and then as a teacher, I always looked forward to the first day of school. I can’t wait to meet the students and meet the rest of the staff.” Overlin was hired in June. He joins the school after leaving his position as principal of Paducah
Middle School in Paducah, Ky., where he worked from 2013 to June 30 of this year. Draheim is retiring after serving 10 years as assistant principal. “I think Stacey will do the same kind of great job Jim has,” Highlands School Principal Brian Jetter said. “I think a large part of the academic success of the school is because of Jim and his work with the teachers and students. We’ve
exceeded the state’s growth for 3 out of the last 5 years, so we’re ranked a high B school.” Overlin said he joined Highlands for personal reasons, and that the OEA investigation wasn’t the reason he left Paducah. “I was looking to make a change, and I have a significant other who lives in this direction, in North Carolina,” he said. “It just felt like a good time, for me personally, to make this change.
When I came down to talk with Mr. Jetter, I was just really impressed by him and by the school and the success that’s happening here. I thought this would be a good place for me to contribute.” The OEA routinely investigates complaints dealing with regulatory and statutory issues. According to a report dated April 27 obtained by The Highlander courtesy of the Pa-
See OVERLIN, Page 10A
Photo by Kelsey Reidle/staff
Highlands School Principal Brian Jetter, left, new Assistant Principal Stacey Overlin and outgoing Assistant Principal Jim Draheim chat in the Highlands School office on Wednesday.
How Many Trees at 200 Main
Friday Night Live concert draws crowd
Artists unveiled work over the weekend
Dancers of all ages showed their moves out on the dance floor
Page 7A
Page 3B
Carter Giegerich reporter@thefranklinpress.com Negotiations between North Carolina’s largest private insurer and Western North Carolina’s largest health system remain at a standstill, as both companies claim the reimbursement rates proposed by the other would be unsustainable for their respective financial well being. As it stands, there is an Oct. 4 deadline by which the companies must reach an agreement to continue their partnership. While the exact details of the negotiations are proprietary, representatives from both companies have said they can’t accept the terms presented during the initial negotiations. “Even if we meet every single quality measure, we can at best ‘earn’ our way back to a ‘forever zero’ payment rate,” said Karen Gorby, president and chief nursing at Angel Medical Center. “That would be on top of ongoing payment cuts for the care we provide to Medicare and Medicaid patients, and the catastrophic changes that would result from two current ‘repeal and replace’ discussions at the federal level. This is simply not sustainable for our health system.” Without discussing specifics of the contract or the negotiations up to this point, Lew Borman, a spokesman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, said the insurance company faces similar financial issues if they accept the payment rate proposed by Mission Health. “Mission Health has demanded rate increases that would contribute directly to higher premiums and out-ofpocket costs for our customers – at a time when health care costs are already squeezing families and businesses,” he said. “Blue Cross NC customers already pay more for care at Mission Health than at many other health systems in the state.” Borman said the Blue Cross
• Fully Furnished • Stone Wood-Burning Fireplace • Adjoins Conservation Easement
Offered at $460,000. MLS# 84875.
See MISSION, Page 5A
Subscribe today! Call 828-526-4114
Steal This Waterfront Property! • 1.12 +/- Acres • Gentle Access to Big Creek! • 2 BD/ 3BA + 2 BONUS Rooms!
NC Cost Estimator tool shows Mission facilities are among the most expensive facilities in this region for procedures like labor and delivery, knee replacements and imaging procedures such as X-rays and CT scans. The disagreement over rates does not appear to have made any progress since talks began months ago. Gorby said the negotiations are essentially the same as they were when the process began. “Knowing our expiration date, we proactively initiated our BCBSNC discussions nearly six months ago to provide adequate time for collaboration to reach a new agreement,” Gorby said in an email. “Unfortunately, we are not any closer today to a new agreement than when we started. Blue Cross’ latest proposal effectively hasn’t changed from the first day of discussions, and it imposes significant payment rate reductions to our health system.” The announcement earlier this month from Mission Health that the health care system would no longer handle BCBSNC customers as in-network indicated an escalation in tensions over these negotiations, which Borman said his company was willing to resume if Mission agreed to overturn that decision. “We remain willing to work with Mission to reach an agreement that is fair to our customers,” Borman said. “We invite them to stay in our network by reversing their termination decision and returning to the negotiating table.” The current offer on the table, he said, is unacceptable. “High costs directly contribute to higher premiums and out of pocket costs for our customers,” Borman stated in the email. “Continued significant price hikes are not sustainable. We cannot in good conscience ask our customers to pay even more.” A failure to resolve the cur-
Susie deVille (828) 371-2079 WhiteOakRG.com
502630