Total Press Run
4,000 Copies
Vol. 1 No. 15
‘THinnon,
Kings Mountain, N.C. Wednesday, December 8, 1971
lOe
City Approves Cansler Renewal Resolution
o
By RODNEY DODSON
The Kings Mountain Board of Commiss
ioners Monday night gave unanimous ap
proval to the Cansler Street urban renew
al project by adopting a resolution which
constitutes local approval of the $3,000,
000 plan.
The next step will be for Redevelopment
Director Joe Laney to turn In a part 2
application to HUD, hopefully by Christ
mas.
^^Thls should take one to two months to
HIprove, after which a contract will be
drawn up and then actual financing and
purchasing of property can begin. Hope
fully In the first quarter of 1972, accord
ing to Laney.
The action came Monday directly foll
owing a public hearingatcity hall attended
by City Board members, Mayor Moss,
Laney, and other city officials, and about
30 interested citizens from the project
area, including the project officials and
neighborhood workers.
This was the final public hearing on the
Cansler project. An earlier bearing was
held by the Redevelopment Commission
on Nov. 2nd, and plans were presented to
the Kings Mountain Planning Board which
approved them on November 15th.
The overall objective of the 110 acre
urban renewal project is, as the mayor
outlined, to provide a quality home lor
every family, a modern subdivision... a
place for people.
The plan consists of 75 single homes,
100 apartments, and 100 units of public
housing, with the goal of providing housing
for every Income and family need.
«»>
Up to $200 In moving costs will be paid
to a family, and up to $5,000 available in
replacement housing payment available.
Executive Director Joe Laney addressed
the hearing, recalling that the survey and
plan application was put In back inJanur-
ary of 1967. This was approved In Dec
ember of 1969 by HUD with $147,000 lor
the plan. At that time, the city received
a federal grant resevoir of $1,174,000 for
the project. In December, of 1970, the
complete plan was submitted to HUD, and
at that time the federal grant was in
creased to $2,434,000.
In September of 1971, the Part 1 plan
was approved.
As Joe Laney pointed out, the people at
the hearing were all interested citizens.
They asked few questions, but the
VOICE OF DEMOCRACY WINNERS - Charles Blackburn,
Voice of Democracy Chairman; Jackie Metcalf, 1st place win
ner; (Diane Strickland, 2nd place winner was not present) are
shown with B.F. Case, V.F.W, Commander, at Wednesday’s
banquet during which the winners were announced.
Mrs. Ben Goforth, teacher at Kings Mountain High, assisted
the students with their speaches. 9 students, all from Kings
Mountain participated In the contest. Jackie Metcalf was pre
sented with a $50 savings bond. (Mirror Photo by Lem Lynch)
(jiestlons were pertinent and important.
Mrs. Lallage Falls of 106 North City
Street asked Laney, “Why do you keep
referring to this as urban renewal? You
told me in your office that it was not urban
renewal, that It was redevelopment for
Kings Mountain.”
"We’ve always stressed that this Is a
federally funded redevelopment program
for Kings Mountain,” Laney replied, and
stressed that they are one In the same.
Another lady asked, “If the entire pro
perty on Ellis Street wUl be required for
renewal.”
Project manager Hazel Brown pointed
out that on Ellis, the three brick houses
on the corner and Mrs. Barnes’ house
are not acquired.
Mrs. Falls, whose house would be moved
under existing plans, expressed again her
disapproval.
Laney assured her that If her home is
left where It Is, It would be in the midst
of garden apartments. “We tried to come
up with the proper mixture of signal and
multi-family homes,” he said.
"It Is doesn’t suit us to be moved will
you work with us to find another place?”
she asked.
"Yes,” answered Laney, “we’ll work
with you to move you to a home suitable
to your needs.”
With all the talk, hearings, and submitted
plans, the big question seemed to be "How
long before it all goes Into effect?”
Laney reiterated that although he hopes
to begin during the first quarter of next
year. It will take several years - probab
ly 4 to 6 to complete the program. “This
sounds like a long time,” said Laney,
“but we have over 200 families In that
110 acres. You can’t just go in and tell
people to move out... we will take a step
at a time.”
Mrs. Falls spoke up again, asking what
about the trees and shrubs it las taken 25
years to grow. "You can’t move a large
tree! You can see why I’m so upset,”
she protested.
Following the hearing. Mayor John Moss
read the entire resolution covering the
urban renewal plan, and asked the board’s
wishes. Commissioner Cline moved that
the resolution be adopted. The motion
unanimous.
KM Recovers From An
Early Winter Snowstorm
Kings Mountain residents are thawing
this week from the effects of an early-
winter blizzard which dumped an estimat
ed 10 Inches of snow on our area over
the weekend.
We awoke Friday morning to the sight of
a snow-covered landscape, and before the
day was over, one of the biggest early
snowfalls in recent history bad blanketed
the area, leaving many people virtually
snowbound.
Streets and roads were Impassable to
many cars not equipped with snowtlres
and chains.
Driving was extremely tricky and haz
ardous. Motorists who braved the driving
snow Friday found the going rough. Cars
would slide and wheels would spin. The
slightest incline was difficult to climb.
Tire tracks seemed to fill with fresh snow
as soon as they were made. By after
noon, there were few cars or pedestrians
on the streets uptown. Parking spaces
were adrift with snow, and some cars
were parked temporarily in the streets.
Yule Parade
Although the police department reported
no serious accidents, some cars were
stranded on the streets. One auto supply
company reported that they sold over 100
sets of tire chains Friday afternoon.
The Christmas parade which had been
set for 4:00 Friday failed to materialize,
but Is rescheduled for this Friday at the
same time.
By nightfall Friday, most of the snow
had stopped falling. By 12 p.m., all the
streets had been scraped - appro;dmately
60 miles - and were given the finishing
touches Saturday
Mayor Moss.
morning, reported
The city has 6 snow removing units, four
at work in the residential areas and two
downtown. The sanitation crew takes care
of the sidewalks downtown and church
areas.
The crew was out Friday and Saturday
clearing off the sidewalks, with the Mayor
wielding a shovel along with them.
No major electrical or gas problems
were reported due to the snowstorm.
K.M.H.S. Band To Give Concert
Reset For
Improved Garbage Pickup Is Hopeful Friday
The question of garbage, and its coll
ection came up during Monday night’s
hearing of the Cansler Street project.
Mayor Moss offered some encourage
ment to those who have had a problem get
ting their garbage picked up In the past.
1
He said the recent employment of Mr.
Grady Bridges as head of the sanitation
department should improve the situation
greatly.
A new cycling of hours and routes is
being put Into effect, and the Mayor says
he is hoping within 30 days to have a good
sanitation department, and is hopeful that
everyone will be pleased with the service
in the next few weeks.
Commissioner Cline said he knows the
city has had a problem, and is trying to
work it out.
The Mayor also pointed out that while
many citizens do a nice job of packaging
their garbage, many do not.
Shortly, the city will sent out a list of
rules to every homeowner pertaining to
garbage collection.
> 1 J
The Merchants Association’s Christmas
Parade will be held this Friday at 4:00.
The parade was canceled last Friday-
due to the unexpected accumulation of
snow.
According to Jim Downey, parade chair
man, the parade should go ahead as pre
viously planned. The BUtmore float was
lost In the shuffling of schedules, and
there may be some revision In the band
entries, but overall, the lineup will be
practically the same.
The Kings Mountain High School band
will play In concert Thursday, Dec. 16th
at 7:45 p.m. atCentralJunlorHlghSchool.
The 7th & 8th grade band will also play
at the concert.
Traditional Band Literature and season
al music will be performed. No admiss
ion will be charged.
The following students have been select
ed by personal audition to appear in the
Southwestern District All-State Band in
Janurary at Ashbrook High in Gastonia.
Mayor Requests
Servicemen’s
Addresses
Mayor John Henry Moss is requesting
the addresses of all Kings Mountain ser
vicemen stationed overseas.
The mayor has been sending Christmas
cards to overseas servicemen for seven
years now, but he must have the address.
If you have someone stationed overseas,
please call in their address to the Mayor’s
office at 739-2563.
Ireolu Easley; Debbie Lee; Joe Deal;
Meredith McGill; David Stone; John Deal;
Diane Bolin; Glen Harmon; Thomas Hin
ton; Lou Bryant; Vicki Husky; Jane Tal
bert; Jene McClain; Glen Stalls; and Doug
Bell.
Horton Initiated
Reid Horton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben
Horton of 11 Dixie Trailer Park, Kings
Mountain, a junior majoring In biology,
has been initiated into Kappa Delta Pi,
national honor society in education, at
Western Carolina University.
Mu Eta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi was
installed at WCU May 1, 1969. The soc
iety is open to both undergraduate and
graduate students in education. To be
eligible for membership, a student must
rank scholastically in the top 20 percent
of the student body, have a quality point
ratio of 3.00 or better, exhibit commend
able personal qualities and intend to make
education a lifetime profession.
Horton is a member of the Biology Club
and is a resident assistant in Albright
Residence Hall. He is a 1969 graduate of
King Mountain High School.
I
MTI. r n H
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!6.S5;
The inevitable snowman! The snow was perfect, and kids and adults alike found the
urge to create with the snow Irresistable. Scott and Sam Brodnax of 310 Scotland Drive
came up with this beauty on a day off from school Friday. (Mirror Photo by Lem
^ Lynch)
Little Theatre
Little Theatre General Meeting on Dec.
9th, Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kings
Mountain Savings and Loan Association
conference room. All members and In
terested persons are urged to attend by
Theatre President Gene Austin.
Kiwanis
Ranee Henderson, formerly of Kings
Mountain, and Superintendent of the N.C.
School of the Deaf In Morganton, will be
in charge of the -program at Thursday’s
Klwanis meeting.
Inside!
See Mirror Sports for results
and photos of K.M. Invitat
ional Basketball Tournament!
Snow Job!
Digging out of all the Weekend snow and ice was the worst
part. Some let their cars sit till the thaw, but those who had to
go got the melting treatment Saturday morning at city Hall.
(Mirror Photo)