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PAGE 2, KINGS MOUNTAIN MIRROR, WEDNESDAY. JUNE 14, 1972 < -< WILSON GRIFFIN GRADY WEAVER 4(« JAKE NANCE MILDRED GLADDEN MRS. FATE ARROWOOD RANDY BLANTON CLYDE TAYLOR JIMMY STOLL Local People Quizzed Favor Federal Gun Controls We decided to borrow a question from a Congressional opinion poll this week to get out own reactions from local citizens. We asked; “Do youfavora Federal law prohibiting the sale of handguns unsuitable for sporting purposes?” The answers them selves were quite normal, but there was no controversy at all ex pressed by those asked. Wilson Griffin, local druggist favored controls, but expressed some reservation about the control being regulated by the Fed eral Government. “I resist total regulation when It could be han dled by local governments. I would be In favor of regulations of heavy gauge guns...I would like to see air-rifles outlawed.” Grady Weaver of Grover answered, “Yes, that way no one can get handguns for other purposes. People don’t need one unless they are authorized to carry It.” Jake Nance said, "Yeah, sure. If we didn’t have the sale of handguns, there wouldn’t be as much violence going on.” Mildred Gladden replied, “Yes, I would!”, and Clyde Taylor said “I’mlnfavor of outlawing it, yes sir!” Ra ndy Blanton said, “Yes, I believe they ought to be outlawed.” Mrs. Fate Arrowood thought for a minute, then said, ’ 'I wouldn’t be in favor of selling guns other than for protection purposes.” Jimmy Stoll said, "I don’t think they ^ould be used except for military use, like fighting in Vietnam.” The Forgotten Ones . . . The Police By DICK SHANEY For the past several weeks I have attempted throughout this series of articles to arouse public interest, espec ially in our local law enforce ment agencies. I have tried to give you an inside look at what our policemen actually lace each time they report for duty. The danger they bee, the sac rifices their families make- as they come second, their frustrations and anxiety. Be ing a policeman Is no easy job. When you examine it more carefully you wonder why any one would put up with what they do tor any price, much less for what they are paid. Police pay is probably the least talk^ about, most mis understood subject in the world. In asking some 10 people what they thought our local police officers made in salary, I received 8 different answers varing from $200 per week to $15,000 per year. This is the subject we will talk about today, even though most city officials would rather not. In discussing salaries with policemen throughout our sta te, not one felt that police of ficers were paid In compari son with otherprofessions re quiring as much training, exposure to danger, long Last Of A Series hours and on call 24 hours a day. After comparing these salaries with industry and the other professions I can easily see why policemen are unhap py and disgruntaled. Another interesting and unexplainable fact is why so much different ial in police pay exlstsbetween different police agencies bas ically doii% the same work. Let’s look at our own situation here in Kings Mountain: Be ginning police salaries for pa trolmen are $100 perweekfor a schedule like this--Sevenon and two off on the 1st and 2nd shifts; seven on and three off for the 3rd shift. When you calculate this out over a month you will find a policeman works a 28 day-month gener ally. Based on the total hours an average policeman works during the year, countingdays off missed due to Superior Court and emergencies such as storms, riots, relief for sick personnel, etc. - our local police officers makeap- proxlmately $1.50to$1.78per hour. This is not to say that pay increases are not given poiicemen who have been on the force several years. Top pay for patrolmen is $120 per week even if you have 17 to 20 years service. Calculated into the number of hours these men work amounts to around$2.00 per hour. Why is it that less than 30 miles east of here po lice pay increases greatly even though it’s still Inade quate. Charlotte, N. C. pays starting policemen salaries of $660 monthly ($7,820 an nually) compared to Kings Mountain’s starting salary of $433 ($5,200 annually). Char lottes starting salary U $1580 more than Kings Mountain’s top patrolman’s pay for giving 15 or more years on the force. Another puzzling fact is the difference in pay for police officers from one agency to another. EffectlveJulylstthe N. C. State Highway Patrol starting patrolman’s pay is $660 monthly or $7820 annual- iy. Why is it so wide a gap exists for the difference in salaries. Across our state is the tact that Municipal and co unty officials have failed to stay abreast with what Is hap pening in our country. They Holshouser, Bowles Race Is One To Watch By John Kilgo KQ SYNDICATE Skipper Bowlesand Jim Hol shouser are not very much alike but they share at least two things in common--they both won races the experts said they would lose and they convet the same job. When it comes to political upsets, Holhouser’s win over Republican Jim Gardner has to rank as the hit of the year. Most people who dabble in pol itics had awarded the race to Gardner months ago. Holshouser didn’t see it that way. He had been running for Governor for several years and had quietly done a beauti ful job of lining up support. Gardner people made a mis take early in the campaign. They looked at the way Gard ner had crushed JohnStickley in the Republican gubernator ial primary in 1968 and fig ured Holhouser would be just about as easy. But the reasoning was faulty. Stickley, while a capable man, didn’t iaow the ABCs of poli tics. Holshouser is well- versed on the subject. Gard ner played it cool during the first primary, because his pollster was predicting a healthy victory. Holshouser stayed on the attack. And during the runoff, Gard ner campaigned from day one like he was behind. Holsbous- er then played the role as statesman. Holshouser went into the gubernatorial campaign with an image problem. Even thou gh most people conceded that he discussed issues intelli gently and understood state government quite well,hewas too “boyish” looking to win a primary for Governor. By defeating the toughest op ponent his party could offer, Holhouser tes laid that pro blem to rest. He is his Party’s number one horse and people now know that he can win a state-wide race. Skipper Bowles had a dif ferent problem and pollsters refer to it as “voter identi fication.” People across the state didn’t know Bowles from the BattleshipNorth Carolina. Bowles had to correct that problem with a massive and expensive TV campaign but the opposition still didn’t take him too seriously. Pat Taylor’s poll, for a long, long time, showed him with an overwhelming lead over Bow les in the Democratic chase for Governor. The Taylor poll was encouraging in every way. It said Bob Morgan sup porters favored Taylor over Bowles. It said a high per centage of Tar Heels voters liked and respected Gov. Sco tt. Bowles’ pollster was a dude out of Michigan by the name of Walter DeVries. Bowles lived by what the man said. Early polls showed Robert Morgan leading in the Govern or’s race, with Taylor second and Bowles a not very healthy third. Morgan got out of the picture and Bowles’ stock be gan to rise. About two weeks before the May 6 primary, the moment um in the campaign bad clear ly switched to Bowles. The Taylor people knew it. Itwas felt that Bowles’ pledge not to raise taxes had caught on ina big way. Also, voters were looking for new faces and Bowles offered that. After Bowles woo the first primary, Taylor came out swinging for round two. He disassociated himself from Gov. Scott. He made tax pro posals of his own. He said Bowles was being driven by a huge political machine. And Taylor won the endorsements of Reginald Hawkins and Wil bur Hobby, who were defeated in the first primary. Bowles became itchy. He wanted to fight. But his ex perts told him to cool it. A DeVries poll that came back the Monday before the runoff showed Bowles with 45 per cent of the vote, Taylor with 28 and the rest undecided. Bowles followed his game plan to the letter and won. Not many years ago, a Dem ocrat in Bowles’ position could be assured of winning the victory. But not now. Holshouser—and the Bowles people know this—has an ex cellent chance of winning in November. Holshouser will start off the underdog but that seems to be a plus rather than a minus in present day politics. It ap pears that Holshouser vs. Bowles is going to be most interesting. "TfCOvun P. O. BOX 345 TELEPHONE 739-3851 Rodney Dodson Editor and Co- Publisher 222 S. RAILROAD AVE. KINGS MOUNTAIN, N. C. Lem R. Lyneh Co-Publisher and Business Mgr. Published Eaeh Wednesday by Mirror Publishing Co. continue to compare police salaries with other non-pro fessional jobs within city or county government. On sev eral occasions when salary increases for policemen were mentioned to various K. M. city officials their reaction was “we can’t do anything about them unless we raise everyone else.” This is the reason we still have basically the lowest paid police depart ment in the area. If we, the people of Kings Mountain are truely interested in maintain ing the kind of police depart ment we presently have then we must support them in their total effort. This means main taining adequate liveable sal aries for each policeman, modern, up - to - date equip ment for the protection of their personal safety and the safety of others. By this I mean patrol cars that aren’t worn out and dangerous to the men and the general public. These are items of great con cern to pollceofficers every where. They will never be come a reality unless you and I voice our support to the Mayor and City Council. This can be done in many ways - Through attending City Coun cil meetings and expressing your views, through letters to the editors of our local news papers, and through personal contact with your Councilman or Mayor. Unless we do this the “Police” will still be “The Forgotten Ones.” NEWS VIEWS Melvin R. Laird, Defense Secretary, on costs of the limitations agreement “Peace cannot be bought cheaply.” Richard Nixon, President “In Moscow we witnessed the beginning of the end of that era which began in 1945.” Birch Bayh, SenatoriD-Ind): “Richard G. Kleindi east’s response to an alleged bribe offer casts doubt on his qualifications to serve as thenation’stoplaw enforce ment officer.” Good workers are always in demand somewhere. reflections by Rodney Dodson O I went to Crossroads Music Park Sunday to interview the stars. I have great respect for these artists, and although not a country music nut, I have an appreciation for it, because I don’t believe it has any clear boundaries • look how much of it has spUled over into other areas of music. One of my greatest moments to date was seeing Johnny Cash in person, but I didn’t get to talk with him, and I remember Kitty Wells from listening to the radio when I was a child back up in Stokes County. When she sang “How Far is Heaven” Sunday, it came back so clearly to me. Now I was supposed to inter view her. Whatcouldlaskher about country music when she has been singing it as long as I’ve been around.'Well every thing changes, and from wat ching her show, I’m sure it has. I really enjoyed her back up band — The Tennessee Mountain Boys. I’ll say more about them in the Kitty inter view this week. Seems like Wayne Manning, the announ cer and base singer looked awfully familiar. I wonder who he was with previously. I sat, enjoyably, through the entire show. A real crowd pleaser was a groupfrom Co lumbia, S. C. who shared the stage with the NashvlUe stars. They’re the A & M Three - consisting of a young lady, her husband, and two other men. (That miakes 4 but one plays steel guitar I think). Their small portion of the show was well done. They’ve got that unique rapport with their aud ience, and in my humble opin ion should go far. Tom Brooks remarked that these local groups is one nnain reason why Crossroads is here - to provide a sounding board for them. Sort of a mlnl-opry 1 guess you’d say. It’s amazing somehow that we can continue right on with Sylvia’s Mirror images col umn while she’s in England. Yes, I realize that we have trans-Atlantic mall service, but it still amazes me. Just think - her little blue envelope addressed to the Kings Mount ain Mirror came ail the way from Bridle Path Square, Cross Gates, Leeds, England. The postmark was Edlnburgh- 1:15 p. m. 4 June, and I re ceived the air letter here on June 7 or 8,1 forget which, but it’s an amazingly short time. The Race Is On! Which Salesman Will Be Wade Ford’s Top Salesman This Month? > t WADE TYNER ALTON HOPPER ROGER MCDANIEL MIKE DDCON RED MORRISON Yes, The Race Is On, So Come Out And Support Your Man, And He Will Give You A Good Deal! WADE FORD INC.
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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June 14, 1972, edition 1
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