Garage serves up more than typical cuisine/Page lA
Charlotte Bost
VOLUME 21 NO. 34
MAY 9,1996
75 CENTS
The new Harvey Gantt
Democrat shows toughness in primary;
rematch with incumbent Jesse Helms set
By John Minter
THE CHAELOTTE POST
In beating back a challenge
from drug company executive
Charlie Sanders, Democratic
U.S. Senate candidate Harvey
Gantt proved to himself and
voters that he is a “new,
tougher Harvey Gantt” who
knows how to win a fight.
And a fight he’ll face when
he takes on 24-year incum
bent U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms in
the November general elec
tion.
Gantt handily won the
Democratic nomination
Tuesday to face the staunchly
conservative Helms, a
Republican, in what will be a
repeat of the 1990 election
Gantt lost.
Mecklenburg County
Elections Supervisor Bill Culp
said the primary win gives
Gantt a needed boost going
into the general election.
“Gantt probably disappoint
ed some of his supporters, but
on the other hand, he showed
that he is willing to take the
fight to Jesse Helms, that he
will attack and will respond to
attacks,” Culp said. “That’s
one of the things he was criti
cized for in 1990.
“He was very aggressive in
his campaign against Sanders.
He went on the attack fairly
early and stayed on the
attack. That was a change
from ‘90. It shows he will not
take anything for granted.”
Gantt and Sanders appeared
See GANTT on page 2A
Cruising for a bruising debate
>rw|
I \
"
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS I
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer T. Robinson directs traffic along Beatties Ford Road Sunday as cruisers make their
way to Hornets Nest Park. Cruisers and community leaders are trying to figure out a solution to the spring ritual.
Solutions
seem fewer,
farther away
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
About 5 p.m. Sunday, Beatties Ford
Road looked like the hour before the
Christmas Parade, except for the
bright sunshine and warm humid air.
Orange-striped barricades and dark-
suited police officers lined the north
west Charlotte roadway. Sprinkled
among the officers were a few of the
local citizenry, members of Westside
Watch, according to their police-pro
vided T-shirts.
Mostly they waited - enjoying, or
perhaps cursing the sun - for the
flood of cars expected to ooze down
Beatties Ford in the rite of cruising, a
part of the American scene since
teenagers started driving.
About 6 p.m., with Hornets Nest
Park overflowing with young people
and their cars, the ooze began.
The “cruise” is a leisurely drive
down Beatties Ford Road to Five
Points, near Johnson C. Smith
University, and back. Drivers and
passengers yell to friends and
strangers they’d like to be friends, lis
ten to music, occasionally loud. Mostly
they just enjoy riding in what might
be their most prized possession.
Cherokee Hines, 40, who cruised in
a turquoise 1990 Grand Am, said the
ritual is a way for cruisers to get out
and meet people. Hines said she went
because her 20-year-old son and her
young friend cruise.
“They are out there, having a nice
time,” Hines said. “The guys are look
ing at girls. The girls are looking at
Cruisers
Charles
Harris,
Gary
Cooper
and
Robert
Morris are
among the
hundreds
of young
people
who drive
Into
Hornets
Nest Park
every
Sunday
during the
spring.
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III "
the guys. They are out of their moth
er’s house. They are not bugging their
parents.
A round trip Sunday, with the traffic
diverted by police, took most of two
hours for those who could make it to
Five Points and back. Several N.C.
Highway Patrol troopers wrote as
many traffic tickets as they could dur
ing random stops.
Police officers and their “westside
watchers” broke up the snake-like
pattern Sunday, diverting cars sus-
See CRUISING on page 2A
PHOTO/CHARLES CLARKSON
Former Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt, flanked by wife Cindy,
faces 24-year incumbent Jesse Helms for a U.S. Senate seat.
Survey connects
racism with
armed radicals
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUPERIOR, Wis. - There seems to be an increasing link
between racism and radical armed groups. University of
Wisconsin-Superior researchers say.
Mike Ball, an associate professor of sociology, and students
enrolled in his course on hate groups solicited material from the
Ku Klux Klan, White Aryan Resistance, Christian Identity,
Central Michigan Regional Militia, the Militia of Montana, White
Patriot Movement and several Nazi groups, including the
American Front and Skinheads USA.
Students studied how members of the groups described them
selves and analyzed the materials to find common themes.
Ball said the study revealed some clear patterns:
• The groups generally espouse they are doing the will of God.
• They believe racial minorities are inferior.
• They believe the United States is being run by a “Zionist occu
pational government,” as some literature termed it.
“Are they militia that just happen to be racist or are they
racists that carry guns?” Ball said. “This all tends to mix togeth
er. The ideologies tend to overlap to a large extent.”
Ball and students involved in the study will participate in a
public' panel Wednesday on campus examining hate groups in the
country and the region.
By Ball's estimate, about 20 percent of the “militia” organized
in the United States are racist. “But that number is growing,” he
said.
While membership has declined in groups traditionally connect
ed to racism, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi
groups, the new radical groups have increased in popularity. Ball
See HATE on page 3A
With federal budget deal done.
Rep. Watt can finally shave
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt can
break out his razor now.
Watt, who represents N.C.’s
12th District that includes
Charlotte, will shave the
beard he’s been growing to
protest Congress’ budget
impasse. Watt’s growth -
which he trimmed regularly -
will come off May 11, 174 days
after his pledge.
“I was beginning to worry
that my beard would span
1995,‘96 and ‘97 because
there were times that it
seemed very likely that a bud
get deal would not be reached
until after the election and a
new Congress was sworn in
Northwest boosters open door to area development
next year.”
Since Watt
decided not
to shave on
Nov. 20, the
federal gov
ernment shut
down twice
for a total of
21 days and
13 continu
ing resolu
tions were
signed before
a budget
agreement
was signed by President
Clinton on April 26. Watt
blamed congressional
Republicans for making the
budget process difficult by
taking a hard line against
See WATT on page 3A
Watt before
and (perhaps)
after Impasse
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The Northwest Corridor
Community Development
Corporation is putting on a
media blitz to entice people to
move back to the Beatties
Ford road area.
The campaign, dubbed
“PRIDE: Join Us in
Revitalizing the Northwest
Communities,” is being fund
ed by a grant from SEEDCO,
a private New York founda
tion.
The campaign was kicked off
with a billboard at Five Points
intersection, above the Two
Way convenience store.
WPEG/WBAV FM and
Mechanics & Farmers Bank
co-sponsored the billboard.
Billboards, radio commer
cials, and print advertising
m
This billboard Is part of the Northwest Corridor CDC’s efforts to spur growth.
will be used to tout the oppor
tunities for home ownership
in the area.
“This is to attract eligible
home buyers to check out the
housing stock available
through our agency or other
real estate agencies,” said
Gwen Jackson, community
liaison for NCCDC. “We want
to further stabilize the com
munities which have been
affected by young people not
moving back to the communi
ties and the overabundance of
leased properties in the area.”
And that area is not the
westside, according to
Jackson.
“The image perception of the
westside is not the best one,”
she said. “Wilkinson
Boulevard, West Boulevard
and the Remount Road area is
the geographically correct
westside.”
The area NCCDC serves
runs from Interstate 77 at
Trade Street to Interstate 85.
The 12 neighborhoods which
NCCDC serves are Wesley
Heights, Oakview Terrace,
Smallwood, Washington
Heights, Taylor
Avenue/LaSalle, University
Park, Seversville, Dalebrook,
McCorery Heights, Lincoln
Heights and Biddleville.
NCCDC has 20 lots avail
able for new home construc
tion scattered throughout
those neighborhoods. It has
seven homes available for
refurbishing.
One new home is under con
struction on Dundeen Street
and a rehabilitated home is
available at Smallwood Place.
Five new three bedroom
townhouses are available on
French Street, in French
Square which overlooks
Biddle Park. Prices go up to
$65,000.
NCCDC has a Home Owners
Club which can help interest
ed home buyers get in shape
to purchase a home. To make
an appointment, call (704)378-
1272.
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictiy Business 7A
Lifestyles 9A
Religion 11A
Campus News 15A
Arts/Entertainment 1B
What's Up 4B
Regional News 6B
Sports SB
Classified 13B
Auto Showcase 14B
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© 1996 The Charlotte Post
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