NCPA Award
Winning Newspaper
KJNG&JWQUIITAIN
MIRROR'HEIALD
15
(L 86 NO. 45
Cleveland County's Modern News weekly^
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA 28086 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13,1975
By Union Members
?olice Chief
fe Being Sued
By TOM McIntyre
Editor, Mirror-Herald
{ings Mountain Police Chief William Roper
and one of his patrolmen have been named
an $880,000 lawsuit filed in district court by
former employes of Beaunit Trucking Co.
le lawsuit claims the employes’ rights. It
j claims that Beaunit “hired the entire
gs Mountain Police force” to prevent a
keby Teamsters Local No. 71; that the men
■e told they would be arrested if they
ieted; and that the police would shoot any
tie drivers and mechanics “making
jile” around the terminal.
hief Roper told The Mirror-Herald “The
iisations made by those people are com
ely false. We were never called to the
linal. I was not even aware there were any
Hems at the Beaunit terminal until I read
mitinthe paper.”
he was not aware his name and
1 of Burton had been mentioned in connec-
1 with the Beaunit situation until he was
(od with papers Tuesday,
lie only contact I’ve ever had personally
iMr. (William) Nolen (manager of corpo-
itracking for Beaunit) was when he came
le to ask about hiring several officers to
;e as night watchmen at the terminal
igthei. rrffuiicytoui'S,” Ropc^ .a.,iid. ’^This
laround Labor Day.”
((ler said Patrolmen Julius Burton, Bill
ton and reserc'e officer Phil Witherspoon
LL Bob Hayes had “moonlighted” once as
It watchmen at the terminal,
tee men were off-duty,” Roper said,
leydrove their own personal cars to the job.
tehas never been a patrol car called to the
nlnalfor any reason since it opened here a
months ago.”
Nolen, contacted at his office on Charles St.,
verified the comments made by Chief Roper
Wednesday morning. Nolen and Frank Hood,
manager of the Beaunit terminal, located at
607 Charles St., were also named in the lawsuit.
“I do not have the authority to make any
comment on the situation other than to say the
comments made by Chief Roper are true,”
Nolen said. “As far as the labor dispute be
tween the drivers and mechanics and Beaunit,
I cannot make comment.”
Nolen said he had no idea when the suit
would be brought to court.
“This has caused patrolmen Burton, myself
and the city police embarrassment and harass
ment,” Roper said. “And the thing we’re ac
cused of doing are entirely false.”
The lawsuit, filed in Shelby District Court by
a Charlotte attorney, asks that all intimidation
by the company and police be stopped and that
each of the 44 men be awarded $10,000 com
pensatory and $10,000 punitive damages, or a
total of $20,000 each.
The men named on the lawsuit have not
worked since Sept. 7. They claim they were
locked out at Beaunit after they rejected by a
43-0 vote a new contract offered by the com
pany. The old contract expired at midnight
Aug. 31. Although the contract had expired the
men stayed on until Sept. 7 to vote on a new
contract and expected to continue working
while negotiations continued.
.'e . oiinfc., Beaunit •;pjoyes have been de-
ied state unempioyrae::t pay because such
pay is not possible if the lack of work results
from a labor dispute. This ruling has been
appealed and hearing is set for Nov. 18 in
Rdeigh.
The names on the lawsuit include Charles
Fortenberry, Lawrence Justice, Lamar Usery,
Howard Gribble, Tro Herron, Bob Stamey,
Don Williams and J. J. Wilson, who say they
are representing the others.
flGr Elliott, chapiaia lar
begins clearing away the
fast f bridge over Hwy. 29 about a
fsdav* •^bigs Mountain city iimits
y morning. The wrecked truck in the
Photo By Tom McIntyre
background was being dragged away foilowing
the police investigation. The truck cab was
gutted by fire, but the driver escaped with a
minor cut on his head. ,
Boco'ding
The Blimp
Mayor JohnHenry Moss (wavingin cabin doorway) boarded
the Goodyear blimp for a short ride Tuesday afternoon at Gas
tonia Municipal Airport. The Goodyear blimp was in the
Gaston-Cleveland counties area Tuesday and Wednesday
during a nationwide promotional tour for the Goodyear Co.
Photo By Tom McIntyre
Dignitaries from the two counties were issued special invita-
ti«His to ride the blimp. Tuesday night the blimp was seen over
Gaston County displaying in lights, messages and colorful
designs:
For 78-Uar Parking Lot
City To Purchase
By TOM McIntyre
Editor, Mirror-Herald
The city commissioners
agreed Monday night to pur
chase the property off Chero
kee St. adjacent to 18 business
firms to be used for a 78-car
parking lot.
The price is $61,400 and bids
for development of the free
municipal parking lot will be
received at 2 p. m., Mon., Dec.
1 at city hall.
Mayor John H. Moss said,
“The parking lot is part of the
overall downtown improve
ment plan and the purchase
and development costs of the
land as a free parking lot will
be 100 percent funded under
the city’s community develop
ment funding.”
City Engineer Dennis Fox
gave commissioners large de
tailed drawings of the pro
posed style for construction of
the lot and gave them an
update on information.
“I have only one written re
sponse to the letter we sent
out,” Fox said, “but there was
verbal response from the ap
proximately 18 businessmen
or land owners involved.”
Fox said there are five
areas of response from the
merchants; removable pavers
to cover the gas, water and
electrical lines, all of which
Firemen To Sponsor
Rummage Sale Saturday
Kings Mountain firemen
will sponsor a big rummage
§ale and flea market Satur
day.
Used clothing, furniture and
assorted items will be on dis
play in the parking area
across from the former First
Union National Bank building
on Mountain and Battle
ground.
Meantime, firemen were
sending out the S.O.S. to all
Kings Mountain citizens who
have items to donate to call
the fire department and a
member of the department
will pick up the items.
All proceeds are earmarked
for the Fire Department
Museum Building to be
erected on Cleveland Ave.
Firemen heading up the
benefit include Fire Chief
Gene Tignor, Charles (Pete)
Peterson, and Jerry White.
The big sale starts at 9 a. m.
will be underground in the lot,
openings in the walkways for
the planting of shrubs or trees,
suitable lighting, relocation of
the Dempsy Dumpster trash
containers and relief in the
grading problems.
In the revised drawing Fox
indicated the three large trash
containers, which were locat
ed at the side of the lot nearest
the business houses, can be
located on the Cherokee St.
side of the lot and hidden by a
concrete block screening wall.
The new drawing indicates
five parking spaces to be used
for llie trash containers.
Fox said he would still
recommend use of concrete
walks instead of the pavers to
cover the utilities because
“this will be in the area where
pedestrians will walk. It will
also be adjacent to the loading
and unloading areas.”
Fox said his recommenda
tion about openings in the
sidewalks is to oppose that.
“We will only have six feet in
width for walks and to take up
any of that with trees or
shrubs would not leave much
area for pedestrians,” he said.
The engineer said the
lighting would be handled by
Southeastern Engineering Co.
As for item five, grading.
Fox said the area behind Grif
fin Drug and Grayson’s
Jewelry shows a four and six
feet, respectively, rise above
the existing grade level of the
parking lot.
“In the case of Griffin Drug
we can work a conipromise,”
Fox said, “but there is no way
we can compensate for the six
foot rise behind Grayson’s
Jewelry.”
Fox said the grade level in
the center of the parking lot
would have to be lowered and
curbing and guttering be con
structed behind the buildings
facing Battleground Ave. This
would take care of the surface
drainage, which is at present a
problem. The surface water
would run down to the storm
drains on Cherokee St.
Before the commissioners
voted, James Amos of district
five, asked if the gas, water
and electrical work would be
done prior to the construction
of the parking lot.
Amos was told Southeastern
Engineering already had the
(Please Turn To Page 2A)
Recounts Conducted But
Winners Remain Same
Tractor-Trailer Rig
Flips, Bums On 1-85
Jerome Jensen, a driver for
MW Distributors of Rocky
Mount, Va., counted himself a
lucky man early Wednesday
morning when his tractor-
trailer rig flipped and burned
just east of Kings Mountain.
Gaston County Rural Police
officer G. P. Demetriades said
he responded to the call at 5:37
a. m. Wednesday at the 1-85
bridge over Hwy. 29 about a
mile east of the Kings Moun
tain city limits.
“Apparently, the driver lost
control of the truck just before
he reached the bridge,”
Demetriades told 'The Mirror-
Herald “He hit the guard rail
and the truck began to tip over
coming to rest on its right side
in the middle of the bridge.”
Jensen was taken to Gaston
Memorial Hospital for treat
ment of a cut on his head and
released.
Members of the Chapel
Grove Volunteer Fire Depart
ment also responded to the
accident and fought the bum-,
ing truck cab and trailer blaze
for almost an hour before ex
tinguishing the flames..
Firefighter William Foy
commented, “I don’t see how
the driver got out of this thing
alive.”
The cab was completely de
stroyed by the fire. The trailer
was damaged in the crash and
from the intense gasoline-fed
flames.
Wreckers from City
Wrecker Service of Gastonia
were called to the scene to
drag the truck from the
bridge, get it back on the
wheels and haul it away.
Traffic was rerouted onto the
Kings Mountain bypass for
almost three hours while the
bridge was blocked by the
wreckage.
Officer Demetriades said,
“As far as we know the one
vehicle is all that was involved
in the accident . . . unless we
lift the truck and find a car
smashed beneath it.”
There was no car baieath
the mangled truck.
The truck cargo, wood work,
was damaged, but the inves
tigating officer said it would
be awhile before an estimate
of the extent of damage could
be determined.
Even though the Kings
Mountain Elections Board
granted requests for recounts
in two of the six commissioner
races and spent three hours
recounting the Nov. 4 runoff
election ballots, the final out
come did not change the
names of the winners.
Candidates Ray Cline, dis
trict one, and James Dickey,
district six, wrote the local
elections board on Wed., Nov.
5 requesting ballot recounts
based on the close count in the
Nov. 4 election. Cline was six
votes behind James Childers
and Dickey was 29 behind
Fred Wright in the Nov. 4
count.
Following the three-hour
session at city hall the final
count added one vote each to
both Dickey and Wright’s
totals, but the 29 vote spread
was still there. Childers’ final
tally showed he had defeated
Cline by 10 instead of six
votes.
The official canvass of votes
was held at 11 a. m. Thurs.,
Nov. 6 at city hall and the ab
stract was signed and turned
over to Mayor John H. Moss.
Monday night the mayor read
the canvass and the board ap
proved it for the record.
The official vote tally reads
as follows: James CJiilders:
East 422—West 565—total 987
The abstract certified that
Mayor Moss, with 1,%5 votes
on Oct. 7, will serve a four-
year term. Also to serve four
year terms as commissioners
are James Childers, district
one; Corbet Nicholson, dis
trict three; and Norman King,
district four. Serving two year
commissioner terms will be
Humes Houston, district two;
Bill Grissom, district five;
and Fred Wright Jr., district
six.
The abstract shows a total
vote for all candidates of
11,675; in East KM—5,1{» and
West—6,567.
OFFICIAL VOTE NOV. 4
DISTRICT ONE:
James Childers: EKM 422, WKM 565 Total 987
Ray Cline: EKM 437, WKM 540 Total 977
DIS'TRICT TWO
W. S. Biddix: EKM 277, WKM 420 Total 697
Humes Houston: EKM 576, WKM 681 Total 1257
DISTRICT THREE
James Guyton: EKM 260, WKM 337 Total 597
Corbet Nicholson: EKM 587, WKM 748 Total 1.33.5
DISTRICT FOUR
Norman King: EKM 541, WKM 648 Total 1189
Don McAbee: EKM 309, WKM 446 Total 755
DISTRICT FIVE
James E. Amos: EKM 410, WKM 465 Total 875
Bill Grissom: EKM 439, WKM 616 Total 1055
DISTRICT SIX
James J. Dickey: EKM 392, WKM 569 Total 961
Fred J. Wright Jr.: EKM 458, WKM 532 Total 990