Each Week , in the
arolina
ederal Football
Savings Contest
Bank See page3B
MOUNTAINEERS WIN OPENER See page 1B
Vol. 109 No. 36
Crusade makes
impact on KM
Local organizers said last week's Jay Strack
Impact Crusade at Kings Mountain's John
Gamble Stadium was true to its name - it made
an impact on Kings Mountain.
Chairman Ronnie Hawkins said unofficial to-
tals indicate that about 10,000 people attended
the five-night event and about $11,000 was re-
ceived in offerings. Of that amount, about $5,000,
or Sunday's offering, will be used to meet the
Crusade's $29,000 budget and the remaining
funds will go to the Jay Strack Ministries to help
provide crusades in other areas of the country.
Hawkins said Sunday's attendance was about
2,500. Attendance slacked off to about 1,200
Monday, and Dr. Strack said Monday is typically
the smallest crowd at a crusade, and the atten-
dance picked up to around 1,800 to 2,000 for the
remaining services.
For the five nights, Hawkins estimated there
were about 400 commitments and rededications.
"I believe from what I'm hearing from different
people, and what I saw in the schools...people are
saying this is one of the most amazing things they
have seen happen in Kings Mountain in a long
I time."
premarital sex, and pregnancy.
Ninth District Rep. Sue
Myrick praised the balanced
budget and some of the tax
past session of Congress, and
pledged to tackle the IRS and
other important issues at a
Town Meeting Thursday night
at Mauney Memorial Library.
She said the balanced budget
bill passed earlier this year is
good through the year 2002 and
will continue to be balanced as
long as "we (Republicans) con-
trol the House."
The budget will be balanced
at the end of next year, she said.
"That means we will have zero
deficit barring a catastrophe.
Hawkins said he was particularly impressed
~~ with Dr. Strack's emphasis on youth. Close to
1,000 youngsters attended two separate pizza
blasts, and many young people made first-time
commitments or rededicated their lives.
Dr. Strack also went into the high school and
middle school and gave talks to students, talking
straight to them on the negative impact of drugs,
"As he alluded to almost every night, it's not of-
~ ten that they have such openness in thee schools
that allow them to come in and be able to speak
to kids," Hawkins said. "He did not ask them to
come down to the crusade, he did not ask them to
~ be saved, he didn't have an invitation for them to
come out of the Coats ie Jus fried to give
credits included in it during the
Thursday, September 4, 1997
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER REUNIT™" See page 7A
a fir: t-
Myrick says she wants to abolish IRS
That's real encouraging to us
since this will be the first time
since 1969 we've had a balanced
budget."
Myrick praised the tax cuts
and credits included in the bud-
get and tax bills, including the
$500 tax credit for children un-
der age 17 and tuition credits of
$1,500 for the first two years of
college and 50 percent of up to
$5,000 for the second two years
of college.
"This is a real help for people
who have kids in school," she
said.
She also praised capital gains
tax cuts which not only in-
cludes a tax rate cut from 28 to
Kings Mountain SAT
Kings Mountain High scores
on the 1997 SAT were seven
points better and the best of the
three school systems in
Cleveland County.
Kings Mountain students had
a 956 score. North Carolina's
average was 978 and the nation-
al average was 1016.
Supt. Bob McRae said he was
- pleased with the scores, not on-
Whitworth keeps moving on
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Gene Whitworth moves
faster in his electric cart,
wheelchair and garden tractor
than most people move on two
legs.
A visit to the home of Gene
and Catherine Whitworth in the
Long Branch Community of
Grover restores one's faith that
with the right attitude no obsta-
cle in life is insurmountable.
Whitworth, 63, lost his right
leg about five years ago. A col-
lapsed artery in his left leg cut
off the blood supply and has
left him without the use of both
legs.
But that hasn't stopped
Whitworth.
With the help of his preacher
and friends in the community
he redesigned his house for his
convenience with a door off the
orch to his bedroom wide
enough for his wheelchair to
ly because they were better than
last year's 949 figure but also
because more Kings Mountain
students took the test.
"I've always been real cau-
tious about reading too much
into the fluctuation of scores,"
he said. "With a small popula-
tion like ours two or three very
good or two or three weaker
students can make the scores
navigate. Adding a ramp, he
can exit into the yard and tend
to chickens and goats and pick
fruit
through a path built especially
for is tractor or cart
Using his wheelchair to get
onto the back porch, he rides to
the edge of the porch and
carefully slides onto the seat of
his tractor. Then he and he and
his young three-year-old buddy
who calls him Paw Paw ride a
path through dwarf trees heavy
with apples, and grape vines
that were planted low enough
for Gene to reach to pick. He us-
es an electric cart to work his
farm and he drives his own
truck, and just recently got his
driver's license renewed for five
years.
"I had to take the woman
driver's license examiner a ride
in the truck but I passed with
flying colors," said Whitworth.
“It kills people when you take
20 percent, but also allows -
homeowners who live in their
homes two years to sell them
and not have to pay capital
gains tax on the first $500,000 of
profit.
"A lot of us, myself included,
would love to sell our homes
and make $500,000," she said.
But she said more important-
ly, the previous requirement of
being able to keep the profits
just once has been eliminated.
Now, she said, people can sell
and keep the profits as often as
they like as long as they live in
the house two years. She said
that is particularly beneficial to
See Myrick, 8-A
scores best in Cleveland County
better courses. And they've also
been doing some SAT prepara-
look like they're changing a lot.
But the good thing this year is
that they were up, and at the
same time we had a seven per-
cent increase in the number of
students taking the SAT.
MAKES AN IMPACT ON KM - Evangelist Jay Strack makes a
point during Wednesday night's service in the Jay Strack Impact
Crusade at Kings Mountain's John Gamble Stadium. The five-
night crusade was a big success with about 500 people mang
im commitment or. rededication to 4 Christ. : 4
dents to take the test. This year
46 percent of the seniors took
the test compared to 39 percent
last year.
"The biggest predictor of stu-
&
~ ~~
- -
= i \
Kings Mountain, N.C. ¢ Since 1889 « 50¢
Architect looking
at pool repair cost
The city of Kings Mountain has ac-
quired the services of Stewart-Cooper
Architects of Gastonia to prepare an esti-
mate of what it would cost to repair Deal
Street Pool, and the city is also in the be-
ginning stages of major painting projects
at the Community Center.
The pool has been closed the past two
summers because of deterioration. City
Manager Jimmy Maney said by taking a
look at the situation now the city may be
able to re-open the pool next summer.
"You can't wait until February or
March and get it open for the summer,"
Maney said. "We have to start now and
get some work done before winter."
Maney said Stewart-Cooper worked
with the City of Gastonia on the remod-
eling of the old Erwin Center Pool which
is a little older than the 50-year old KM
facility.
Maney said the architects will not only
look at repairing the pool, but also the
filter system, locker rooms and conces-
sion stands. ;
"Basically, they will come back with a
new design of the pool and building,"
Maney said. "We're looking at what it
will cost to fix it all."
Maney said the possibility of a new
recreation complex to include a swim-
ming pool had been discussed, but he
said he has talked to recreation experts
who advised him that most cities are
moving away from that idea.
"If we talk about a new pool and com-
plex that could be yours down the road,"
Maney said. dies
IN KM - U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick speaks at town meeting Thursday
at Mauney Library.
tion courses."
McRae said Kings Mountain
is requiring freshmen who have
Maney said a major goal of the archi-
tects will be to take a close look at the
pool floor and make sure it is sturdy be-
fore any work is done.
"Before we closed the pool we were
losing a foot of water each night,” maney
said. "We have to find out where that
water was going. If you go in there and
pour new concrete and the bottom is not
solid you could have problems. That's
why you have to employ outside people
to do all that stuff. We have a 50-year-old
structure and it has leaked a foot every
single night. That water's going some-
where."
Maney said the city plans extensive
beautification and repair projects at the
Community Center.
The gym was recently closed and the
city is in the process and stripping and
cleaning the gym floor. The floor will be
repainted, waxed and the inside walls
painted. Maney said the goal is to have
the gym project completed in time for
basketball season.
The city is getting price quotes for
painting the inside and outside of the
Community Center and is doing repair
work around the building.
In another capital project, Maney said
the design and development stages of a
new Police Department is almost com-
pleted, and he hopes the architects will
be bringing those plans to the city for a
review soon.
See City, $ 5-A
Si
Putnam no longer
em mployed by city
Putnam Kings
Mountain Chief Codes
Inspector accused by two local
businessmen for allegedly at-
tempting to extort money from
them is no longer employed by
the city.
City Manager Jimmy Maney
said the city's only other build-
ing inspector, Andy Scoggins, is
performing some of Putnam's
duties and the city is receiving
help from Cleveland County on
Level III inspections.
The city is advertising for a
Level I inspector, and Maney
said Scoggins is working to-
ward his Level III certification.
“Inspections = in Kings
Mountain is at an all-time high
with all the residential construc-
tion and everything else going
n," Maney said. "Andy has
probationary Level III certifi-
cates, but we're having to ask
Cleveland County to give us a
hand with our Level III build-
ing plans."
Typically as numbers go up the
scores go down."
McRae said the system has
worked hard the past severaP
years to encourage more stu-
dents doing better is that they
are taking stronger academic
preparation in high school,”
McRae said, "and we have been
encouraging students to take
proven themselves at the
Middle School to take a strong
course load at the high school.
"That should have some im-
pact on down the road," he said.
Maney said Level III build-
ings are major projects such as
the Family Life Center currently
See Putnam, 3-A
from dwarf trees, all
away their independence," said
Gene who was determined that
would not happen to him.
He has been stuck up on his
lawn mower a time or two and
his little cart has become stuck
in the mud a time or two but al-
ways his wife and their minister
help him get back on the road
again.
Christopher Webster, 3, son
of Larry and Kathy Webster, is
just like family and has been in
day care at the Whitworth
home for some time.
Rev. Norris Willis, Gene's
pastor at Allen Memorial
Baptist Church, has become a
big part of his life. The preacher
and Johnny Hogue helped him
with his garden and Gene never
misses a Sunday morning ser-
vice, a Wednesday night prayer
meeting or a Thursday meeting
of Baptist Brotherhood of which
he is director.
See Whitworth, 8-A
MAKING THEIR ROUNDS - Gene Whitworth, with help from Chris Webster, feeds goats on his
farm near Grover.
a
h
4