It’s turkey We hope you enjoy a happy and peaceful Easter! season!
Coach Robinson to get honor
Story inside
$1
Yancey County News Brush Creek - Burnsville - Cane River
Crabtree - Egypt - Green Mountain - Jacks Creek
Pensacola - Price’s Creek - Ramseytown - South Toe
www.yanceycountynews.com vTo be a voice, and to allow the voices of our community to be heard.v April 17, 2014 • Vol. 4, No. 16 v Recipient of the E.W. Scripps Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment v
Silva: ‘You going to blast me?’ Judge: ‘I can’t put what was in those search warrants out of my mind.’
By Jonathan Austin Yancey County News Accused of not only possessing child pornography but actually of making it in Yancey County, Patrick Ronald Silva was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Asheville Friday morning. Wearing shackles on his ankles and dressed in a white Buncombe County detention jumpsuit, Silva was escorted into court by U.S. Marshals who had held him in custody since Tuesday. Silva and Tabatha Dianne Black are charged in an indictment handed down by the federal grand jury on April 1. The bill of indictment includes eight counts, the most serious of which accuses the pair of coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating and distributing child pornography. The two were originally Silva charged by local officials after the officials were contacted by overseas law enforcement who had seen pornographic images of a child online and tracked them back to Silva. When Silva walked into court he began talking to this reporter, which did not please his U.S. Jonathan Austin/Yancey County News Marshal escorts. “You’re going to blast me in the newspaper?” Silva asked, turning to speak over Town, county and federal authorities waited outside the back door of Bootlegs last Friday waiting to see if Patrick Silva was there to surrender. Silva was found elsewhere and taken into custody. See page 3
SOAR shapes a student leader at MCC
Moving from foster home to foster home, a ward of the state, Daryl Byrd did not envision himself as a future college student or a leader. By age 17 he had dropped out of high school and had three misdemeanors and a felony on his record. “I was really good at making bad decisions,” Byrd admits. Working as a landscaper instilled in him a strong work ethic and a desire to do something productive, but his career ended when he injured his back and found himself seeking a new direction. “I was always told I had potential, but had no idea what that meant,” Byrd said. “It wasn’t until I started at Mayland Community College that I finally understood that potential meant intelligence. I could
682-9510
do college work. I could even earn a degree.” Byrd chose to major in human services. His goal is to work with at-risk youth, helping them make good choices and change the direction of their lives. He joined the SOAR (Support Options for Achievement and Retention) Program to get help with his studies and, in particular, receive counseling support. “I had a lot of issues from my past that I needed to straighten out,” said Byrd. “I was on the verge of giving up, but my SOAR counselor helped me understand myself better and develop a new perspective about the more troubling aspects of my Mentor, tutor and computer lab youth.” assistant Daryl Byrd working with See Page 4 Mayland student Omayra Reeves.