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Volume 123 ¢ Issue 36 * Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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‘This is North Carolina’s Holocaust’
State seeks victims of its Eugenics program
State opens dark chapter on eugenics
program that led to the sterilization of 72
in Cleveland County, thousands in state
w= EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Adolf Hitler incited a world war over his attempts to cre-
ate a superior human race with the elimination of millions
deemed unfit. But before—and long after—his tyranny ended,
North Carolina continued a similar program with little, if any,
resistance.
From 1929 through 1974, nearly 7,600 males and females,
some as young as 10 years old, were sterilized under North
Carolina’s 1929 eugenics law and under the state Eugenics
Board that followed it. They were robbed of the chance of
ever having children. It was state-funded and supported.
In the years after World War II, while other states abol-
ished their eugenics programs, North Carolina’s efforts in the
field of selective breeding soared.
zi
Brown
changes
gears over
RV park
== EMILY WEAVER
Editar
Mike Brown, who came before
the city with plans to build a camp-
ground on the site of a dilapidated
mill, withdrew his application for re-
zoning on Friday.
The issue still came before city
council, Tuesday night, of whether or
not to accept Brown’s withdrawal,
which would give him more time to
change his site plans without putting
a time-lock of six months on any’ new
proposals.
In a motion by Councilman Rick
Moore that was seconded by Coun-
cilman Tommy Hawkins, the with-
drawal was approved by unanimous
vote.
Perhaps planning the withdrawal
would be accepted, Brown submitted
another rezoning request to add to the
city’s agenda Tuesday night. The new
goal is to rezone a portion of the
property that is currently Residential-
10 to Light Industrial, which Plan-
ning Director Steve Killian says
would rule out plans for a camp-
ground.
The city will take up the new re-
"quest in a public hearing scheduled
for September 27, after the issue is
first heard by the Planning and Zon-
ing Board.
Brown'’s original request for the
114 Raven Cir. property (former
home of the Park Yarn Mill/Glen
Raven site) was to get a conditional
use permit and rezone the R-10 prop-
erty. to R-20 for a campground that
would border the Gateway Trails.
In two public hearings, his plans
for the property seemed to unravel
. before questions from the planning
and zoning board, which recom-
mended by a vote of 7-1 the city deny
Brown’s request due to “deficiencies
in the design and enforceability of the
proposal.” :
9852570020 1
See BROWN, 6A
maT
See VICTIMS, 7A
of victims.
Did this happen to
yu or someone
you know?
tis estimated that at least 1,500 women and men
© who were sterilized under state law between 1929-
1974 are still alive today. Only 34 state records have
been matched so far with living survivors or families
The Governot’s Eugenics Compensation Task Forde.
which is currently looking at restitution for the state's’
sterilization victims, hopes more will come forward.
Sterilization survivors are encouraged to-call the
~ North Carolina Justice for Steriljzation Victims Foun-
dation at 877-550-6013 (toll-free) or 919-807-4270,
; between 10 a. m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday. /
Could Eugenics program in America have
at all.
inspired Adolf Hitler?
o KYRATURNER
kyra.kmherald@gmail.com
Could a 45-year-long practice in America, that interrupted
the bloodlines of 72 Cleveland County residerits, have in-
spired Adolf Hitler?
Hitler and his Nazi cohorts victimized an entire continent
and exterminated millions in their pursuit of a so-called
"master race". But this concept of a white, blonde-haired,
blue-eyed master Nordic race didn't seem to originate with
Hitler. The idea first came from Sir Francis Galton of Eng-
land before it was introduced to the United States and culti-
vated in California, decades before Hitler came to power.
The victims of eugenics were labeled unfit, promiscuous
or simply feebleminded before being sent by the thousands to
surgeons who ensured they would never have babies again or
See LONG HISTORY, 6A
ULTRAFORCE
Staffing Services
We place employess in the
following fields:
KYRA TURNER/HERALD
A candidate seeks employment with Ultra Armoring at the job fair Tuesday. The fair contin-
ues through Thursday at the Y.
T5 seeks rezoning
to grow server farm
z= EMILY WEAVER
: Editor
T5@Kings Mountain, a division of At-
lanta-based T5 Partners, sought city ap-
proval Tuesday night to cultivate a nearly
5-acre parcel of land in its data center farm .
sprouting off of Countryside Road.
The company asked that the city rezone
the property, voluntarily annexed by the city
a few months ago, from Residential to Light
Industrial. City council unanimously ap-
proved the rezoning. The 4.645 acres, ad-
joining the property of T5's first data center
tenant Wipro's Infocrossing, is located at ap-
proximately 229 Countryside Road.
With a Light Industrial zoning, the prop-
erty could be ripe for future data center de-
velopment in the park.
In May, The Herald confirmed that Dis-
ney Worldwide Services, Inc., a Florida cor-
poration, was to be TS5's newest
"sharecropper" on the data center farm. The
company, like its neighbor Wipro's In-
focrossing, located in the former ChrigdCraft
boat manufacturing facility, will share water
piped to the site from Kings Mountain and
Cleveland County. The city will also provide
police, fire, natural gas and sewer services
to businesses in the park.
In July, a building permit for the esti-
mated $70 million Disney data center (at
161 Technology Way) was filed with the
city. The permit for the Whiting-Turner Con-
tracting Co., was issued on July 29.
The center will be housed in a 150,000-
square-foot powered shell building currently
under construction at the Riverside Court
park, off of Countryside Rd. The Disney
data center is set to bring 45 new jobs, thou-
sands of dollars to the city's piggy bank
(through a 3.09 percent franchise tax), and a
$200 million tax investment over 10 years
to the county.
Kings Mountain City Councilmen and
Cleveland County Commissioners met in a
Joint session at Cleveland Community Cel-
lege in March to approve an incentives pack-
age for Disney, codenamed "Project
Roosevelt".
See DATA PARK, 6A
I-85 wrecks bring traffic to KM
Eighteen vehicle collisions caused a
major backup for hours for anyone traveling
south on I-85 Monday afternoon.
.The first wreck reportedly included four
cars and two tractor-trailers near exit 8. Also
involved were five campers attached to
pickup trucks traveling back to Georgia from
helping with the Hurricane Irene Disaster
Relief.
According to police, ambulances trans-
ported five people to Cleveland Regional
il
Medical Center in Shelby. No life-threaten-
ing injuries were reported.
The wrecks occurred around 4:15 p.m.
Monday afternoon and had rush hour traffic
backed up for hours in the southbound: lane
of the highway. Reports say that at 8:15 p.m.
officers were still directing traffic through a
detour in downtown Kings Mountain.
» Officials say the wrecks stretched out at
least 1,500 feet on the highway.
Hl Ill
Re .
Thursday
A job fair from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. will be held at the
Kings Mountain Family YMCA, 211 Cleveland
Ave., today (Wednesday) and Thursday to fill 125-
150 positions at Ultra Armoring with facilities in
Kings Mountain and in Sheiby.
Candidates should bring a resume and must be
able to pass a drug test.
“They’re an excellent corporate citizen and
we’re so glad they continue to operate in Kings
Mountain,” Mayor Rick Murphrey said of the
company. He added that the new contract the com-
pany has to hire more workers is great news.
“We're excited about that. We need jobs,” he
said. “We’re proud to be associated with Ultra.”
Ultra Armoring LLC, a division of Ultra, re-
cently received a $44.7 million contract with the
U.S. Special Operations Command to produce
non-standard commercial vehicles.
“Since Ultra's beginning, the company has
grown into a thriving precision sheet metal busi-
ness specializing in armor plate,” according to
Ultra’s website (umfl.com), The company has
“over three decades of combined fabrication and
machining experience and has gained a reputation
for quality manufacturing with on-time delivery
- See JOB FAIR, 7A
Police Sook.
suspect | in 20
morning assault
and robbery
Police are looking for more information ro
garding a robbery and assault that took place in
the early morning hours of Saturday: Aug. 27,
at 111 Brayton Lane. .
Fifty-six-year-old Bobby Wayne McCleary
was reportedly assaulted with a motorcycle hel-
met and had his hands bound together with an
extension cord at his Kings Mountain home be-
fore 5:25 a.m. Saturday. ;
Police say the assailant then bsconded with :
hisyellowmoped. . :
After Kings Mountain Police arrived, offi-
cers notified emergency medical services and
McCleary was transported to the Cleveland 15s :
gional Medical Center for treatment.
The case is still under investigation. Anyone .
‘with information concerning the incident is
asked to contact Det. J.T. McDougal of the
Kings Mountain Police Department Criminal
Investigations Division. : 3
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www.alliancebanknc.com . memser ric
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