Mystery^ Intrigue - All Li Mayor’s Praise
Normally Friday* are kind of dull.
Last Friday was different.
Sbortly after noon I received a
phone call. A woman’* voice said,
"Mr. McIntyre?” I said yes, then
she said, "I have been told to give
you some Instructlans.”
”Oh, yeah?”
”Gk> to Orlffln’s Drug Store,” the
woman continued. "On top of the
cigarette machine where the display
of pens are kept and-you will find an
envelope marked Mirror-Herald.
Inside the envelope are further
Instructions for you to follow.”
By this time 1 was feeling like Mr.
Phelps on "Mission Impossible” so I
said, "And as always If any member
of your IM force Is caught or killed
the secretary will disavow any
knowledge of your actlvltle*.”
The caller hung up.
Anxious to discover the big Joke
the ladles at Griffin’s were planning
to qpring on me, I went In and up
front let them know that I wasn’t
falling for anything they did or said.
’Ihay all looked at me like I was
banghaa. I told Mary Stewart to go
wlth'me to the clg machine to search
tor the mysterious envelope. We
found It hidden beneath the Paper-
Mate Pen display case. Back at the
counter, where B. S. Peeler hap
pened to be standing, I cautiously
opened the envelope, expecting a
funny noise or some other gag to pop
out. Instead money popped out. A
total of nao and two sheets of typing
paper with handprinted Information.
’Ihe first sheet read:
"Dear Mirror-Herald:
’This town Is lucky to have the
mayor at the helm. We’ve got a
progressive attitude developing. All
of us can make It better!
Signed,
A Progressive-Minded Kings
MounUan”
At the bottom of the page there
was a P. S.:
"Enclosed Is money to cover a
half-page ad commemorating
another return of $1 mllUon federal
tax dollar*. I’m not an artist, but
please take the enclosed cartoon,
dress It up and publish It.”
’Ihe second sheet contained the ad
Informatlan and cartoon ideas.
1 checked with the people at the
drug stora to see If anyone had seen
anyone leave the envelope on top of
the cigarette machine. No one
recalled seeing anyone doing
anything at the machine.
The M-H publisher. Garland
Atkins, read the Info over and
discussed whether or not this
constituted nolltlcal advertising.
'Ihere was only one thing to do. Call
BUI Lassiter In Raleigh. He’s the
attorney tor the N. C. Press
Association.
He checked and checked. Con
clusion? This violated no laws even
THE TUESDAY EDITION
VOL. 88 NO. S
TUESDAY, gANUABV 11,18?T
kiriGS MOUniMM
MIRROR-HCRI^LD
$999,250 EDA Grant Approved
though the person or persona placing
the ad la unknown.
"I can’t Imagine anyone paying
out that much money to praise
someone and not want to be Iden
tified,” Lassiter said. "I’ve never
run Into anything like this.”
So, there you have It.
To see the ad the “Progressive-
minded Kings Mountlan" placed
turn to page five In today’s Issue.
TOM McINTYRE
Editor
15’
New City Hall To Become Reality
By TOM McINTYRE
Editor, Mtarror-Heraid
It Is official.
The City of Kings Mountain will
receive $8M,2B0 from the Economic
Development Administration for the
construction of a governmental
faculties buUdlng.
Mayor J(Um H. Moss received
notice Monday from the assistant
secretary for Economic Devel(q>-
ment, J. W. Bades of Wsishlngton
offering the city the EDA grant.
Mayor Moss presented the offer to
the commissioners Monday night,
which was accepted, and the mayor
will personally deliver the
agreement to the EDA office In
lAUWU.'
"We are extremely happy to have
been selected for this grant," Mayor
Moss said Monday. "The new
governmental services facility
approval is now a reaUty. My feeUng
Is the mayor smd commlsatoners wUl
axlvlse the architect that we and the
ctUxens desire the design treatment
of the buUdlng be In keeping with the
city’s historical background. We wUl
tsdce a closer review of the final
design.”
^ Although the mayor received the
notice of grant approval Monday
(January 10), the date of an>roval
Green’s
Hearing
January 26
PreUmlnary hearings for Jimmie
Bhigene Green, 38, of Gaffney, S. C.
on charges of murder and rape In the
death of Mrs. Rosemary Knauer, 48,
«n October 8, have been alated tor
January 36 In Shelby.
At Green’s arraignment and
lidtUl appearance In 3Tth District
court Thursday, the pubUc defen
der’s office was ordered by Judge
BerUn Cairpenter to provide an at
torney for Green, who qualified as
an Indigent, for the preliminary
hearings. Judge Oirpenter set no
bond and asslstsmt district attorney
Jack White recommended that
Green be held without bond In
CSeveland Oounty Jail pending a
hearing within the 16-day period
under law.
’The murder suspect was returned
to C3ev*land Oounty about 8 p. m.
Wednesday from Noi^east State
Mental Hospital In MacClmny, Fla.
In the custody of Kings Mountain,
(3eveland Oounty and state law
enforcement agents to face the
1 charge* of murder and rape In the
stabbing death of Mra. Knauer,
Cleveland County fair worker whose
partlaUy clothed body was found in a
wooded area near Kings Mountain
Irai October 8 where she was a guest.
Green, according to KM police, had
been in Mrs. Knauer’s employ at the
fair for a few days before her death.
Det. Sgt. Richard Reynolds of
KMPD. SBI Agent Jim Woodard and
Paul Barebee of the Cleveland
Oounty tinerlff'* Department left
Sunday tor Florida and returned late
Wednesday after arresting Gresn on
a first degree murder warrant
signed by KM PD Chief Earl Lloyd,
f Reynolds and Woodard. A warrant
charging first degree rape was
Issued Thursday morning.
on the grant Is Janusuy 8, 1877.
The application tor the grant was
submitted November 10, 1076, five
days before the deadline. The ap
plication Itself consisted of 304 pages
of data on unemployment and other
requested background tor the area.
The grant agreement sent by EDA Is
abouthalf the slse of the application.
One of the stlpulatlans for the
grant is that on-slte construction
begin within 90 days of approval. In
this case January 8, 1977.
Mayor Moss said the construction
can begin well within the deadline.
As originally designed the new
city hall will house the ad-
mlnistratlv* and bualneas officM,_^|
poUee and fir* departments. Some
alteratians of the Interior designs of
the services departments Is ex
pected. The architectural firm of
Peteraon-Oary of Charlotte, who
designed the building end assisted In
making the EDA application, have
stated that alterations can be made
without Increasing the construction
projected costs.
The present city hall, which was
renovated In the 1880’s, was con
structed In 1987.
Mayor Moss said the ad
vertisement for construction bids
will be made In the very near future.
An bkmd
In The Sky?
It might, at first glance, look like an Island In the sky,
but on closer examination yon can see this is the
familiar knob of KlngB Mountain shrouded In fog as If
the fog rises from the trees and low areas sorroundlng
Photo By Tom McIntyre
the mountain. On the day this photo was made (Friday)
a brilliant sun, unhampered by any cloud cover, burned
away the mist as fast as it crept up the historical slope*.
Cloth Business In New Site
Sample Yardage, owned and operated by Foust Textiles since 1964, Is moving from S.
Railroad Ave. to the former Wlm-Dlxle Building off Oierokee St.
Grand opening Is slated tor Thursday, said John O. Plonk, President of the company.
Mr. Plonk said that Jerry Ledbetter of Lawndale will manage the store and that other
employes are being hired to complete the staff. Mr. Ledbetter was formerly employed by
Ansley, Inc. and Dbcle IndustMsd, both Shelby firms, and ha* wide experience In both
retail and wholesale fabric business.
Foust has leased the Winn-Dixie building from Bob Yoder of Charlotte and Spencer
Willingham of Greenville, owners.
The spacious building will give toe company 13,000 square feet of floor space to display
sample overages on samples from mills all over the country left over from Foust con
tracts and Includes yardage In cottons, woolens, knits and all fabric*. Sample Yardage
was formerly housed In toe small building adjacent to Plonk Brothers on S. Railroad Ave.
A new feature of toe business, In It* new location, will be a notions department,
featuring sewing supidles and a wide variety of patterns. There will also be home fur
nishings, Including towels, bedspreads, and blankets, said Plonk.
Blazer Building To Open Soon
The Blaser Building may be open by January 18.
That Is toe date Blaser Construction Oo. Is toooting for at this point, but John Cheshire,
company president, said that close date may still be too optimistic.
The two-story building, which has been under construction since eariy spring of 1976,
will feature a restaurant with a 66-person seating capacity, on toe groundfloor. The
restaurant will feature dell sandwiches, soups and salads and limited plate lunches.
Cheshire said The Meeting Place will be open from 6 a. m. until 3 p. m. and will be
available In the evenings for special parties.
Also on toe ground floor will be Alfred Crawford’s barber shop. Gall Tatum’s Beauty
World beauty shop, and an optometrist’s office.
On the eecond floor are toe offices of attorneys Bob Bradley and George Thomasson.
phis a complex of smaller office*.
The brick structure features a ramp access on the city parking plasa entrance and a
covering over toe pedestrian walkway. The building la located on S. Battleground Ave.
between BAB Food Store and the former Rose* Store.
Also under constructlan half a block away are the new legal offices of Attorney* Tim
Harris, Don Bumgardner and Mickey Corry.
This one-story structure Is located on S. Battleground beside Nelaler Brothers building
and will feature a suite of smaller officee tor lease.
Completion date forthe building Is not known at this time.
Savings & Loans Pay
Out Record Dividends
Kings Mountain's two financial
Institutions paid record dividends to
savings account customers In 1976.
Thomas A. Tate, executive officer
of Home Savings A Loan Association
on E. Mountain St., said his firm
paid 11,760,242.68 In dividends to
savings account customers.
Mrs. Ruby H. Baker, executive
officer of Kings Mountain Savings A
Loan Association, said her firm paid
a total of 1783,696.78 In 1976 to
savings account customers. Mrs.
Baker said that dividends paid last
quarter, for the period ending Dec.
31, 1976, were a record $306,706.00.
CPR Program Is
Getting Underway
Thanks to $8,000 worth of valuable
Uie-savlng equipment donated by
Kings Mountain civic clubs and
Interested cltlxens the CPR (Cardlo
Pulmlnary Resuscitation) program
Is well underway.
Lyn Cheshire and Sandy* Mauney,
certified instructors by the
American Red Ooss, have already
given toe 13-hour course to the
Klwanls Club, Rotary Club, First
Presbyterian Church, Kings
Mountain Police Department and
Kings Mountain Fire Department.
A* soon as more Instructor* are
qualified, a community-wide CPR
course Is alated In town.
Using four mannequins — CPR
Manle, Ambu Simulator, Recording
Annie and Baby Mannequin — the
students are taught to demonstrate
toe "kiss of life.” There I* also a
filmstrip provided plus the recor
ding "Annie” borrowed from
Clevelsmd County Technical In
stitute. To be certified, student*
must pass both a skills test and a
written test.
KM Fire Department Chief Gene
Tlgnor said the course la being of
fered before virtually all civic clubs.
Last night the Kings Mountain
Bovd of Education got a preview of
the course at their regular board
meeting.
Chief Tlgnor said target date for
kickoff of the community wide In
struction Is sometime this month. He
ssild toe city has offered a central
training room at KM Community
Center where majority of the
classes, to be offered to all cltlsens
tree of charge, will be held.
Tile program la co-spon*orefi by
toe Kings Mountain Fire Depart
ment, City of Kings Mountain and
Cleveland County Red Cross
Chapter.