The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 21

Section (tflmrlctt Monday February 14 1)72 Classifieds Slow-Moving NC Legislature Enticing Few Candidates ing who was elected to his first term in 1970 has announced for reelection and is the only Democratic incumbent to do so at this point Also announced for the House are John Robbins a UNCC history professor and former City Council candidate: banker Ben Tison III retired Charlotte fire chief Walter Black restaurant owner Gus Economous and schoolteacher Ben Franklin Rep James Vogler dean of the Mecklenburg delegation with 28 years service in the See BUT WHO Pg 12C Cl 1 By HENRY EICHEL Observr Staff Writer Every other January the 170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly gather for a six-month stint that includes a lot more than just passing laws There is politicking to be done old friends to chew tin fat with visiting delegations of Boy Scouts to be given tin courtesy of the gallery and resolutions to be passed commending local high school football teams on their fine records the kind of hoopla that many legislators enjoy but it drives some legislators like But Foley said that most General Assembly members liked things the way they were "People from rural areas who are in farming or in some type of business that doesn't require their being home enjoy the sessions" Foley said go down there spend time with their old friends they want it to be all business and get it over with" So far here's the way the legislative races hi Mecklenburg shape up: Rep Craig Law- Mecklenburg Rep Hugh 3 Campbell Jr to frustration Campbell considered by many to be the best member of the Mecklenburg delegation announced last week that he would not seek reelectiou can't get good people from Mecklenburg to go up there on a continuing basis" he said have families and businesses People from here like the rural atmosphere of the legislature the slowness no push to get business So far this year five Mecklenburg half the will run instead for the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners While the incumbents have been dropping out not enough new faces have turned up so far to guarantee full two-party slates Barely a week before the Feb 21 candidate filing deadline only six Democrats and four Republicans are sure bets to run for the eight House seats Mecklenourg gained one seat tms time through reapportionment In the upcoming Senate contest for four seats in a new Mecklenburg-Cabarrus district four Democrats and only one Republican have announced so far The Republican is Michael Mullins a 31-year-old lawyer who is running for the first time One Republican who is going to run for the NC House is retired banker HY "Ken" Kin-ard He announced Friday and said that he wouldn't have been able to if he were still in the bank "I've been wanting to do this sort of thing for Rep Peter Foley Quitting After 1st Year he said "but it takes so much Kinard agreed with every other Meckenburg legislative candidate so far that annual sessions two or three months NCC LEADER Ever To Rep Hugh Campbell Jr Deplores have decided not to try to go back to Raleigh The latest Rep Peter A Foley announced Friday that he was quitting the legislature after his freshman term He 1100 Sunday was an experiment to see if people want this type of live entertainment downtown Radio executive Todd Branson also of Solar Productions had been a little disappointed Sunday afternoon as the second show opened with only a couple of hundred persons in the audience That performance was interrupted by someone with what Branson called "a misguided sense of humor and a The theater was evacuated while police officers and firemen searched for a bomb in what turned out to be a hoax In addition to the cash and pledges from viewers he said the station got some additional advertising support About 15 firms said they were interested in buying advertising time lie said and "they look pretty solid" Observer Photos by Wilton Abel Two Hours Of Music Starred Solomon Burke See If People Want Live Entertainment Live Show 7 Charged In Drug Arrests By DEAN DUNCAN Observer Staff Writer Seven persons were arrested on drug charges Saturday night and Sunday morning John Harold Hicks Jr 20 of 1910 Washington Ave was arrested by police acting on a tip who said they found 18 bags of suspected heorin 31 brown envelopes containing suspected marijuana and five suspected marijuana cigarettes Hicks was charged with possession of heroin and marijuana His car a 1966 Buick was impounded after Hicks was arrested in the vehicle at the corner of Beatties Ford Road and Russell Avenue Saturday night Hicks and the car were placed under $10000 bond apiece pending a hearing Feb 16 in District Court 6A Lamar Edward Chandlpr 22 of 3324 Avalon Ave and Willi-mam Ray Hardin 20 were arrested at residence 3210 Bonair Drive by vice squad officers at 1:40 am Sunday Chandler was charged with unlawful distribution of drugs and conspiracy to violate drug laws Hardin was charged with two counts of distribution conspiracy and possession of a needle and a syringe Eric Max Hedrick 20 of 6923 Tuckaseegee Road and William Thomas Peevie 19 were arrested at residence 1300 Camp Greene St at 2:20 am Sunday Hedrick was charged with possession of a needle and syringe and Peevie with distribution of marijuana and phencyclidine and two counts of conspiracy to violate nar-f cotics laws Jacob Billy Mason Jr 22 of 2927 Clyde Drive was arrested in an apartment at Tuckaseegee Road and Freedom Drive at 2:35 am Sunday Mason was charged with (wo counts of conspiracy to violate i drug and unlawful distribution of drugs Jack Farthing Batson Jr 21 of 1444 Winston Drive was arrested at his residence at 3:50 am Sunday and charged with selling heroin to an un-dercover agent Batson who remained in jail late Sunday under a $10000 bond will have a hearing Thursday in District Court 6 Chandler remained in Mecklenburg County Jail under a $10000 bond late Sunday Hardin was free on a $10000 bond i Hedrick was free on a $500 bond late Sunday and Peevie remained jailed under a $10000 bond Mason remained in jail Sunday night under a $5000 bond All will have preliminary hearings Thursday in District Court 6 BY SAM COVINGTON Observer Stall Writer Great pressure for increased cooperation between churches is building up among lay persons on the local level across the nation the president of the National Council of Churches said in Charlotte Sunday Dr Cynthia Wedel declared that ecumenism is still the "great new fact of our as described by Archbishop William Temple 50 years ago Dr Wedel first woman president of the nation's leading inter-church cooperative agency addressed the worship service at Charlotte's First Presbyterian Church "Our task as Christians in this period of profound change is to be ever alert to discern hand and will in what is she said There is a "desperate need for church leadership which believes in an active creative God and which looks upon change as challenge and not a She noted a growing demand for local participation in the mission of the church and said one challenge to ecumenical agencies was to not only bring denominations together but to help heal divisions within denominations She called for a balance between personal faith and devo- Bridge Own Gaps First -Dr Wedel Christians cannot begin to bridge the gulfs in society until they bridge the gulfs which separate them from other Christians the president of the National Council of Churches said Sunday- we begin to take seriously the scandal of our unhappy divisions we can work for reconciliation Then as Christians we can begin to reach out to said Dr Cynthia Wedel of Alexandria Va Dr Wedel in Charlotte for the annual meeting of the National Council of Churches preached Sunday morning at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church are living tn a time when there has never been more need for reconciliation (And) if church is to be the agent for reconciliation it must be reconciled she said "For the first time since Jesus Christ (there is) among all Christian bodies a growing sense of this need to get together Think what it is going to mean when every Christian recognizes every other Christian as a Christian when all care about each other and love each other" The first woman to be elected leader of the ecumenical movement nationally Dr Wedel told the congregation that reconciliation and ecumenism do not mean all Christians would become Episcopalians or Baptists and "pluralitv" are "facts of she noted The rifts between the races between generations and between activists and pietists can only be helped after Christendom is brought together as she said Then the Christian churrh be one of the jeat agents for building some ing closer to the kind of world God wants Draws By SUSAN JETTON Observer Staff Writer Live entertainment returned to the Carolina Theatre Sunday after a 16-year absence and it may become standard fare there again Its promoters theater-owner Kermit High and Solar Productions hope to bring in a show every three weeks The next will be announced later An exciting two-hour musical starring Solomon Burke played three shows Sunday High said Sunday night that total attendance at the show was 1122 But he said not Hoax Despite the disruption the show went on with the Vele-tones of Atlanta and singer Mitty Collier of Chicago as well as Burke High said the live shows represent "our part in trying to revive the downtown" The Carolina Theatre he explained opened 45 years ago next month as a vaudeville theater The old dressing rooms still are intact despite renovations to the building 10 years ago After vaudeville died the stage held orchestras and road shows Fred Waring played there So did Bob Hope The last road show was in 1951 Elvis Presley in 1956 gave the last live performance there The Carolina out of the business when Ovens Auditorium High said He said bringing live entertainment to the 1050-seat theater was a "big gamble but trying to get a feel for w'hat the people want Plenty of artists are available "This is a new era in entertainment and got to change with it if you're going to stay in show said High Alert Will Dr Cynthia Wedel Defines Task tion and Christian Social action The afternoon service spon-sored by a task force of local clergy involved Protestant and Roman Catholic worshipers Among the local clergy who participated were Moravian Bishop Herbert Spaugh Catholic Abbot Edmund McCaffery and Southern Baptist Lutheran and Presbyterian ministers Dr Wedel said that new forms of church cooperation were developing across the United States in local situations and suggested Charlot- See Pg 12C 1 room caused over $1000 damage to city policeman A house 3813 Chickasaw St firemen said The fire started in the concrete block and wooden frame dwelling shortly after 6:45 pm and was extinguished at 7:21 pm Bed clothes covering a wall radiator was the probable cause of a fire whKIi did considerable damage to an apartment at 2016 Summey Ave rented by Dennis Stapels firemen said The fire which was reported at 806 pm sent smoke through the apartment one of five in a small complex owned by Lois Carver The blaze was extinguished at 8:33 pm by city firemen with the assistance of the Oak-hurst Vohiiiteer Fire Department Food left cooking on a stove caused minor damage at 8 46 pm to an apartment at 6603 Monroe Road rented by Char-mi Haynes firemen said Firemen went to Meyers Hall at Johnson Smith University after students reported smoke coming from a trash chute at 9 31 pm 7 Zoning Petitions 01 By BRADLEY MARTIN Observer StaH Writer The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission and the Mecklenburg County commissioners at their monthly county zoning hearing at 2 pm today will be called upon to rezone the Hickory Grove tract upon which the Kingston Corp has sought to build a public housing development Six other petitions several of them somewhat controversial are scheduled for hearing The Hickory Grove Civic Improvement Association made up of residents who successfully fought to have the size of the proposed project reduced from 200 houses to 100 and then even fewer is asking that zoning on Craigwood Drive be changed to require a minimum lot size of 12000 square feet instead of the present minimum of 9000 square feet Kingston had proposed building the houses for lower-in-come families on lots of about 9000 sqaure feet each and would have to revise its plans if the Planning Commission and the county commissioners approved the requested change and if the corporation wished to go ahead with the project Kingston Vice President Wiliam McGuire Jr said Sunday that the corporation still had not decided whether it would go ahead in the face of federal action last December reducing to about 50 the number of units that could be built in one subsidized housing project let alone what it would do if the minimum lot size were increased Hickory Grove residents who argue that the lower-density zoning for Craigwood Drive would be appropriate since surrounding land is zoned that way filed tiie same petition for Panning Commission and Charlotte City Council action last year but then withdrew it Paul Craig an association spokesman said Sunday that the petition had been withdrawn then because ultimate authority for zoning that sab-urban area a part of what then was known as the Char-lotte perimeter was slated to pass from the Council to the county commissioners Jan 1 as a result of legislative action Hickory Grove which is outside the Charlotle city limits in the residents' view had no power over the City Council Rut Hickory Grove residents vote in the county commissioners' election Craig noted and they figured they might have a better chance waiting and appealing to the commissioners Bimini Good to the taste yet kind to the waist Hunter Jersey Farms adv 3 Residences Dorm 1SETS $53000 WRET-TV Prospects Alter Appeal Guard Says Major Not With The Kids Four fires during a four-hour period Sunday night partially destroyed two Charlotte residences and caused smoke damage to a college dormitory Defective wiring in a back before she signals for the children to crose She has established signs that let them know she's ready for them to move I tell them that they don't play or fight until they get home" They obey her she said because they know she means business "I tell them I'm going right to the principal and they know I mean it" Mrs Powell said She feels she's "working and doing a good deed" at the same time "They call me 'Pee and I call them 'pee Mrs Powell said smiling Television station WRET ended its weekend old-movie marathon Sunday evening with the studio marker showing $53000 donated and pledged by viewers since a fund raising campaign began Feb 4 Before the weekend of continuous oldies the contributions had totaled about $7500 just half punched out" station manager Milt Ledet said when awakened at his home by a telephoning reporter at 8:15 pm Sunday three hours after the end of the campaign be In a pretty good position to pay off our bills" Ledet said "We look forward to any additional marathon We think be Station owner Turner a 32 year-oli Atlanta resident had begun the fundraising campaign by announcing that the station was In thp hole and needed the financial support of viewers in order to stay on the air The telephone number was flashed on the screen often during the movies Ledet said Sunday that prospects for staying on the air looked "real good" Crossing Problem This week has been declared School Safety Week by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education With the focus on the children the theme is Safe Am Here is the first of several stories on the subject By NELLIE DIXON Observtr Stall Writer School safety begins with your walk to and from si bool How safe are you? Mrs Nina Powell is a crossing guard at the Quail Hollow and Sharon Road intersection near Beverly Woods Elementary School She's worked at this job "which I love" she said for thice years "I know most of the children and most of (heir parents Gastonia Man Charged With Police Attack A Gastonia man charged with attacking two policemen in the bus station Saturday afternoon remained in the Mecklenburg County Jail late Sunday night Joe Barnette 46 who was under a $1500 bond is charged with breach of the peace assault on an officer resisting arrest and assault with a deadly wcion on a police officer Barnette is charged with attacking officers James A Cor-nher and James Rruee at 1 in the bus station with a pick handle when the olfi-cets tried to arrest him for threatening people waiting on buses NC Offers Assistance On Tax Forms Assistance in filing slate income and intangibles tax returns is available at the NC Department of Revenue office at 817 Trade St Croom state revenue respresentative here said that assistance would be available from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday until April 17 Croom said that taxpayers should bring with them the pic-addressed forms which were mailed to them from Raleigh Completed returns should be mailed directly to the NC Department of Raleigh NC 27611 after three years" Mrs Pow- ell said Being a cruising guard a dangerons job You have to watch the children and the motorists at the same She starts the kids out right the fiist (lay "I tell them that they aren't to move until I get all the way out in the street" Her major problem with the kids Once she's laid down the rules to them "Ihcy'ie generally okay" Cut "the motorists hate to stop for she said Sharon Road and Quail Hollow is a large intersection Mrs Powell said she had "to be sure at least three and four-way trallic is stopped" 1 The fire which did minor smoke damage was probably caused by a cigarette firemen said i.