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City Cleared
Audit Repeats
; As Top Story
Compiled By Lib Stewort
For the second year in a row
the audit by the Department of
Housing and Urban Develop
ment of the city’s community
block grant program was again
the top newsmaker.
The year 1980, however, pro
ved to be good news for the city
as HUD cleared all 14 findings in
the audit conducted two years
ago which questioned spending
of $ 1 million in federal funds.
Other top news stories of 1980
made news all over the nation
when violence erupted at
Chesterfield Courts, a low rent
housing complex on Margrace
Road, culminating a July 4th
weekend of bickering and squab
bling among white kids arid
black kids and continued by the
adults. Life is getting back to
normal now at the 50 unit apart
ment complex where Beverly
Ernestine Mauney, 22, was kill
ed, and four other people, in
cluding KM PD Sgt. Johnny
Belk, were injured. Henry Ervin
Boone, of Forest City, a friend of
the Mauney family, was charged
with second degree murder and
Miss Mauney’s father, Ernest
Mauney, was charged with
assaulting the police officer. Belk
is back at work.
Another major news event in
Kings Mountain was the 200th
anniversary celebration of the
Revolutionary War Battle of
Kings Mountain. The Oct. 7th
birthday was preceded by weeks
of preparation by a large
Celebration Committee spann
ing five states and drew many
visitors to Kings Mountain dur
ing the five day event
culminating on Oct. 7 with a day
long round of festivities.
Nationally, the Republican
Party’s sweep of the elections,
which put Ronald Reagan in the
White House and gave the GOP
control of the Senate for the first
time in almost three decades,
was named the top story of 1980
by member editors and broad
casters of the Associated Press.
• The election’StorynaiTowly edg
ed the Iran hostage crisis, which
finished first in the 1979 poll.
The troubled economy was
third. The Soviet intervention of
Afghanistan was fourth, the
volcanic eruption of Mount St.
Helens in Washington state was
fifth, the events in Poland was
sixth, the murder of former
Beatle John Lennon in New
York was seventh, the earth
quake in southern Italy, which
killed thousands, was eighth, the
war between Iran and Iraq was
ninth and the boatlifi from Cuba
and the influx of thousands of
Cubans and Haitian refugees
and the fire that killed 84 people
in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las
Vegas tied for 10th in the poll.
As the strains of “Auld Lang
Syne”, traditional harbinger of a
brand new year, are played
Wednesday night. Kings Moun
tain citizens can look back on
1980 as a year in which they .
generally had their share of hap
piness, fun, prosperity and
sadness.
The community lost to death
many well known citizens in
cluding Sam R. Suber, veteran
retired superintendent of Moun
tain Rest Cemetery; Former Fire
Chief Floyd Thornburg, Edward
A. Smith, May Plonk, Donald
Blanton, Margaret Cornwell,
John W. Gladden, Joe N. Mc
Clure, Billy Putnam, Grover
Mayor C.F. Harry, Jr., Buford
DeFore, J.C. Clary, L.V. Gaff
ney, Dewey Falls, Grady Mc
Carter, Frank Cox, Helen
Logan, J.W. Gill and Willis
Bagwell.
Rachel Blanton Ledford was
killed in an automobile accident
as the family returned from
celebrating a wedding anniver
sary in Shelby and Danny Earl
Spearman, 24, drowned in a
quarry on Henry’s Knob. The
youth was standing on a 75 foot
cliff when he lost his footing and
fell into the water below. Jerold
Burris, 36, was struck and killed
by a hit and run driver as he was
walking to a service station to
get gasoline. Randy Gene
Sanders, 18, drowned in a
private pond in Gaston County.
Horace Lemmons, 47, formerly
of Kings Mountain, was one of
the 32 victims of the Sunshine
Skyway Bridge collapse in St.
Petersburg, Fla. Charles Mack
Biddix, 18-year-old deaf youth,
was killed when he was struck by
a train. He didn’t hear the north
bound train approaching as he
walked the tracks near Margrace
crossing.
Herald House Gift Shop
CLOSED THURSDAY
Half-Price Sale
Continues Fri. & Sat.
America has had troublesome
times before in its dealing with
other countries but none has
seemed so fraught with potential
danger as that now with Iran
where American hostages spent
their second Christmas.
Another major news event
which effects all Americans and
where KM citizens have felt the
pinch of the economy is in the
rising costs of gasoline and fuel
oil. Predictions of higher rates
cast another bad omen for us in
New Year 1981.
Month by month, the com
pilation from headlines of the
Kings Mountain Herald, show
some of the major news events
of 1980.
JANUARY
Shortly after the arrival of
New Year 1980 the City of
Kings Mountain presented a 400
page report to the Department of
Housing and Urban Develop
ment of the use of almost $1
million in federal funds. HUD
listed 14 findings in an audit of
HUD-funded programs con
ducted last summer and released
,in the Fall. HUD is not question
ing the use of money but the
eligibility of the funded pro
grams.
Don Graham, chief of the
Bethlehem Volunteer Fire
Department, received the
“Fireman of the Year” award
from last year’s winner, Harold
Dean Farris, at the Department’s
annual Christmas party.
Eight days after the new year
the city took steps to renovate
the old City Hall into a modem
law enforcement center and
municipal office building. The ci
ty has already submitted applica
tion for a LEA A Grant to cover
the project but Mayor John
Moss says that even if the grant
doesn’t come through that
renovations will be made on a
phase-basis as money becomes
available.
Now that it’s over, Mr. and
Mrs. Sam Leonard can look back
on their wedding day and get a
big laugh. The couple had to be
married twice after Rev. Jerry
Smith, pastor of the Church of
God, discovered they had ob
tained their marriage license in
another county. And to top it all
off, they got lost on their honey
moon trip.
KM District Schools and the
other 143 school units in North
Carolina are seeking a state
school bond referendum to help
ease the growing problem of in
adequate facilities.
Bethware Principal Ronald
Nanney was named Principal of
the Year in the KM School
District.
Kings Mountain businessman
Tommy P. Bridges filed for a
seat on the Cleveland County
Board of Commissioners.
Grover Town Clerk Gloria
Horton was dismissed by the five
member town board who blam
ed their action on Mayor Bill
McCarter and later reinstated
her.
Sbt Kings Mountain students,
Janet Childers, Jeffrey Glenn
Lineberger, Ruth Ann Ollis,
Joseph Leigh Smith, Michael
Dean Spears and Mirion Dante
White, will participate in the an
nual Presidential Classroom pro
gram Feb. 23-Mar. 1 in
Washington, D.C.
FEBRUARY
Champion Contracting Com
pany of Kings Mountain was
awarded the contract for section
three construction of the U.S. 74
byp^ totaling $15,572,77.00
Lib Stewart, Herald staffer,
took second prize in the N.C.
Press Associaton semi-weekly
division of the 1979 contests, her
second feature writing award in
eight months.
Senators J. Ollie Harris, Mar
shall Rauch and Helen Rhyne
Marvin filed for re-election.
Kings Mountain citizens are
conducting a drive for $6,000 to
send the KMHS Band to Disney
World, Fla.
A Friday explosion leveled a
portion of Anvil Knitwear.
Ronald Hawkins and Dwight
Tessenerr were named co
managers of Harris Funeral
Home by J. Ollie Harris,
president-treasurer.
John Brown of Bessemer City
became the first KM area patient
to benefit from the newly install
ed Pacemaker service at KM
Hospital when he received a per
manent pacemaker to stimulate
his heart beat.
Kings Mountain and the area
was well blessed with snow and
(Turn To Pago 3-A)
VOL. 93, NO. 84
TUBS., DEC. 30, 1980
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C.
For Rehab Project
KM Applies For Grant
The city board of commis
sioners Monday at noon
authorized Mayor John Henry
Moss to execute and submit a
pre-application for a Small Cities
Grant aimed at rehabilitating
Cranford, Third, Fourth,
Ellison, Phillips and Fairview
Streets in the Anvil Knit area.
David Holmes, planner with
Anderson, Benton and Holmes
of Winston-Salem, said that the
List Taxes
In January
Tax listing gets underway Fri
day in the lobby of the Govern
ment Facilities Building, the new
City Hall, and business is ex
pected to be brisk.
Mrs. Betty Ballard, Mrs.
Joann Hauser, Mrs. Marion
Carpenter and Mrs. Gerry
Werner will serve as tax listers
and will be on duty daily, Mon
day through Friday, from 8:30
a.m. until 5 p.m. through Fri.,
Jan. 30th. The listers will be in
Grover on Sat., Jan. 10th and
Sat., Jan. 24th, from 8:30 until 1
p.m. at Grover Rescue Squad
Building. No Saturday hours will
be offered in Kings Mountain.
Mrs. Ballard pointed out that
taxpayers will be penalized if
they fail t« list during the listing
period and encouraged listers fb
list early and avoid the last-
minute rush.
No. 4 Township taxpayers
who were listed for taxes last
year (1980) may request forms
for the purpose of listing by mail
if they desire. Listing by mail is
optional and is provided as a
convenient method of listing.
However, any person who does
not list by mail may appear in
person and list in person, as in
previous years, she said.
All new listers are required to
list in person at the regualr
listing places. A request for
listing by mail should be made to
PO Box 1210, Shelby, N.C.
28150. Tax returns can not be
mailed to you on request after
Jan. 15th.
Mrs. Ballard reminded that all
real estate and personal property
owners are required to list taxes.
All changes in real estate, such
as new c mstruction or other im
provements must be rertorted to
your list taker. All buildings
under construction which have
not been completed as of Jan. 1,
1981 should be listed and will be
charged in accordance with the
percentage of completion. Dogs
must be listed.
Kelli Harry
Still In Coma
The condition of nine-year-old
Kelli Harry was unchanged
Tuesday.
Mrs. BA. Harry, grand
mother of the child, said the
youngster remains critically ill in
the Intensive Care Unit of
Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
She has not regained con
sciousness, Mrs. Harry said.
The Grover school fourth
grader was injured Dec. 18th
when she was struck by a pickup
truck in front of Grover School.
Watch Night
Service Set
Second Baptist Church will
hold a Watch Night service New
Year’s Eve beginning at 7 p.m.
and continuing until midnight.
The Adult Choir will open the
service with a musical program
to be followed by a worship ser
vice at 8:30, refreshments and
fellowship at 9:30, showing of a
musical film, “His Land,” pro
duced by Billy Graham at 10:30
and remarks by Pastor Gene
Land and prayer at midnight to
greet the new year.
project, if approved for funding
by the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, will
rehabilitate 55 homes, eliminate
five to eight dilapidated struc
tures, and involve 165 persons.
The city is requesting a grant
of $716,570.00 and has
stipulated in the request that the
city will use surplus funds of
$211,000 from other Urban
Renewal Programs in the total
project expense of $927,570.00.
Mayor John Henry Moss said
the project is the second in a
target or Neighborhood Strategy
Area with a total budget of near
ly $1 million. Street, sewer and
electrical improvements are in
cluded with rehabilitation of
homes to be made through
grants or loans. Families in the
five to eight structures to be ac
quired and demolished will be of
fered re-location assistance in the
program which is also designed
to remove slum blighted condi
tions.
“Kings Mountain shows a
good chance of being funded for
a Small Cities grant,” said
Holmes who noted that only 36
of 136 communities are funded.
“Kings Mountain’s performance
in the Community Development
Block Grant Program is outstan
ding,” said Holmes, who said
that he expects an answer from
the agency by April 1. If HUD
approves, the construction
would start about Oct. 1.
Holmes said it is the city’s in
tent to submit a Small Cities ap
plication for a comprehensive
one year grant and, if successful,
resubmit next year for three year
funding in the Community
Block Grant Program.
The target area is located
three blocks from the Old
Phenix Mill where 75 percent of
residents are in the low to
moderate income level and
where housing deficiencies exist.
“Kings Mountain is very for
tunate that it does not have large
slum areas. You’ve taken care of
much of the rehabilitation area
in the Cansler Street project,”
said Holmes. “That’s an asset
which in the future might mean
that you won’t have many
chances for block grant
funding.”
“The Community Block
Grant Program is in fine shape
and 1 think the city has
demonstrated our capabilities in
continuing the upgrading of
housing and other improvements
clearly visible to citizens,” said
the Mayor.
' I-v'
MAN OF THE YEAR — Kings Mountain
Rescuor Chorlos Martin, centor. is prosontod
the KM Rescue Squad's Man of the Year
Award from Captain lohnny Hutchins, right.
Photo by Gary Stewart
and Gene Champion, left, during the squad's
annual Christmas dinner lost Monday at Cat-
tletown Steak House.
Martin Man Of The Year
By GARY STEWART
Co-Editor
Charles Martin was named
Kings Mountain Rescue Squad
“Man of the Year” at the squad’s
annual Christmas banquet last
Monday night at Cattletown
U.S.A.
Martin was voted the honor
by his fellow rescuemen and was
presented the award by outgoing
captain, Johnny Hutchins, and
assistant captain Gene Cham
pion.
Rescuers and their wives,
members of the board of direc
tors, and other special guests, at
tended the fete.
Guest speakers were Charles
Speed, former commander of the
North Carolina Highway Patrol
and now Executive Director of
the North Carolina Life Saving
Program, and Wilbert Forbes,
Vice President of Southern
Railway, who talked to the
group and showed a film of
deaths that occur when motor
vehicles and trains collide.
The State of North Carolina,
in cooperation with a number of
railroad companies, began a pro
gram in 1979 called “Operation
Lifesaver," which attempts to
educate the public on the need to
use caution and common sense
at railroad crossings.
Colonel Speed, an Emergency
Medical Technician trainer for
North Carolina, pointed out that
most accidents at railroad cross
ings occur because drivers of
motor vehicles “have their minds
on something else” when ap
proaching the tracks.
Seventy-five percent of all
railroad crossing accidents in
volve drivers who live less than
25 miles from the crossing and
have “crossed the track hun
dreds of times before,” he said.
Forty percent of the accidents
occur at signalized crossings, he
added, and in 31 percent of the
cases, the vehicle runs into the
side of the train.
Nineteen persons in North
Carolina were killed in railroad
crossing accidents and another
189 were injured in 1979, Speed
said. Over 1,000 persons each
year are killed at crossing ac
cidents in the United States.
Speed’s duty as Executive
Director of the Life Saving Pro
gram is to tour the state and
speak to such groups as
volunteer rescue squads and at
tempt to educate the public
through those organizations.
One group, he said, that his
organization will put special em
phasis on in the f^uture is school
bus drivers. Speed said 45 per
cent of all bus drivers in North
Carolina have already been ex
posed to the program and he has
written every superintendent in
the state about it.
However, Speed said, school
officials in Kings Mountain and
Cleveland County have not yet
exposed the program to their
drivers.
“The potential danger of a
school bus-train accident is
great,” said Speed. “We have
13,500 school buses in North
Carolina and they stop 20,000
times a day at railroad crossings.
Our children and grandchildren
are riding these buses.”
Speed said it would take an
average freight train traveling 50
miles per hour a mile and onc-
half to stop after the engineer
sees a vehicle on the tracks. By
that time, it’s too late.
Speed praised the Kings
Mountain Rescue Squad for its
record of service to the com
munity, and the EMT program
for saving numerous lives each
year.
“I don’t know of anyone doing
more for their community than
volunteer rescue squads,” he
said. “There’s not another
organization in the country that
is performing a better service.
“As for the EMT program, we
met opposition when it was first
introduced to the Legislature,”
he said. “But you can have the
finest hospitals, with the best
doctors and equipment, but
unless the patient arrives alive, it
means nothing.”
Speed and Forbes, the latter a
former State Senator, were in
troduced by Senator J. Ollie Har
ris.