| behind?
|
|
|
High field.
season this week.
If it’s baseball and softball season, can spring be far
Kings Mountain school baseball and softball teams will
begin their seasons this week. The KM High baseball and
softball teams will host Crest and Canton Pisgham in roun-
| drobin action Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. While the var-
| sity baseball teams are playing on Lancaster Field, the
softball teams will be playing at the adjacent KM Junior
The junior high baseball team opens its season Monday
at home at 4 p.m. and the KMHS tennis team also opens its
For pre-season reports on all these teams, plus basket-
ball, wrestling and bowling results, see pages 1-3B.
of blood.
Bloodmobile Visits Thursday
Kings Mountain Hospital will sponsor an American Red Cross Bloodmobile visit on
Thursday, March 5, in the Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church.
Donors will be processed from 12:30 until 6 p.m. Goal for the one day visit is 125 pints
To be eligible to donate, a person must be between the ages of 17 and 70 and be in good
health. Anyone wanting additional information can call the Red Cross Office at 487-8594.
VOL. 100 NUMBER 10
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1987
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA
Apartments
Damaged
By Fire
Four duplex apartments
were damaged by fire and
water Friday morning when
fire, believed to have started
in an electric blanket, spread
quickly through the attic to
an adjoining unit and
resulted in evacuation of four
families on Thornburg Drive.
Kings Mountain Fire
Department was called to the
residence of Ophelia Watson,
216 Thornburg Drive, where
the fire originated in the
bedroom. Watson’s home and
her neighbor’s house at 218
{| Thornburg Drive were heavi-
J. ly damaged by fire. Two
more units in the apartment
complex were water damag-
ed, according to firemen, who
said that all four families had
to relocate until repairs could
: be done to the four apart-
: ments.
Turn To Page 4-A
~~ ata Deinocrats are gear-
ing up to fight proposed
changes in precinct lines at
area precinct meetings
Thursday night at 8 p.m.
‘““‘We encourage all
Democrats to attend precinct
meetings at the polling
places”’, said West Kings
Mountain precinct chairman
Willie Marable.
Mrs. Marable said one of
the items on the agenda for
the meetings will be vote on a
resolution drafted by the
Cleveland County
Fifty years of service to the
community was celebrated
by the Kings Mountain
Federal Credit Union
(formerly Margrace) at the
annual meeting of officers,
directors and stockholders
Thursday night at Resurrec-
tion Lutheran Church.
Curtis Ring, Vice President
of Governmental Affairs for
the N.C. Credit Union
League, presented a 50 year
plaque to Treasurer and
Credit Union Manager Carl
Goforth under whose leader-
»NC 28086
PIEDMONT AVE.
MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
KINGS MTN.
100-5.
looks on.
Photo by Ray Clemmer
FIREMEN ANSWER SECOND AUTOMOBILE FIRE—A 1962 Ford Van operated by Lee
Smart of S&P Painting Company caught fire on the 161 Exit ramp on Cleveland Avenue Tues-
day. It was the second car fire extinguished by city firemen this week. Minor damages were
reported.
changes in. precinct lines
which would reduce the
number of precincts in they
county. Mrs. Marable said
that at each Precinct meeting!
in the area new officers
would be elected for the com-
ing year.
West Kings Mountain
Precinct will meet at the Na-
tional Guard Armory where
Mrs. Marable will preside.
East Kings Mountain
Precinct will meet at the
Community Center where
Bill Cashion will preside.
Democratic Party opposing Grover Precinct will meet
Credit Union Celebrates Anniversary
ship a new charter was ap-
plied for and on May 24, 1982
the Kings Mountain Federal
Credit Union came into be-
ing.
Today the membership has
grown from 300 members in
1982 to more than 1,200
members and the assets from
$3434,000 to over $2 million.
The local association reached
the $2 million mark in
February, said Goforth, in
his report to stockholders.
Howard Bryant, a member
of the board of directors, in
at Grover Rescue. Squad
Building where Dear B.
Westmoreland will preside.
Bethware Precipict will
meet at Bethwave School |
where Myers T. Hambright
will preside.
The county elections board
has been working on possible
changes in precinct lines in
an effort to make the voter
registration totals in each
precinct more uniform. As
currently being proposed, the
changes would reduce the
number of precincts from 28
to possibly 17.
presenting a history of the
association, said that 15 men
bought one share of stock for
$5 and started the Margrace
Credit Union at the old
Margrace-Pauline Mills 50
years ago. They were F.C.
Roberts, Charles H. Moss,
G.C. Barber, R.P. Thomas,
R.H. Webb, Lemuel L. Ware,
R.D. Miller, M.B. Moss, Hall
A. Goforth, Howard Jackson,
Harry Kimmell, Haskell D.
Wilson, John H. Floyd, Paul
Turn To Page 8-A
[ERVICE—Curtis Ring, above, at right, presents a 50 year plaque to Carl
rer and Manager of Kings Mountain Federal Credit Union, center, as director
Local Democrats To Meet Thursday
fab Deaton, chairman of
the Democratic Party of
Cigveland County, said that
y ieddears of the pariy plan to be
vey Bs int their opposition
to {the changes being con-
sidered by the Elections
board and have drafted a
resplution of opposition which
precinct members will con-
sider at Thursday’s meeting.
Hearing
Tuesday
Kings Mountain’s Board of
Education will hold a public
hearing on the proposed
reorganization of the schools
Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Cen-
tral School auditorium.
The system is considering
several reorganization op-
tions, all of which would re-
quire some additional
facilities or upgrading of pre-
sent facilities.
For a detailed description
of the options the board is
considering, see Supt. Bob
McRae’s column on page 1-C
of today’s Herald.
I-85 Truck Stop
Damaged
A grease fire in the kitchen
area of the I-85 Truck Stop
and Restaurant on Dixon
Road caused heavy damages
to the second floor of the
building Thursday night.
The lower floor, which
houses a restaurant, was also
heavily damaged by smoke
and water.
Assistant Manager Scott
Laughridge said that no
damage estimates are
available but that work is
underway to reopen the
restaurant. ‘“The Truck Stop
is open 24 hours a day and we
are pumping gas and fuel and
the store part of the Truck
Stop remains open’, said
Laughridge. The second floor
of the building, which con-
tains a lounge, showers and
offices will be repaired he
said.
Firemen from seven
volunteer fire departments
responded to the fire alarm
which went off at 10:30 a.m.
Thursday night, Kings Moun-
tain Rescue Squad, Cleveland
County EMS and a Red Cross
disaster van was on hand dur-
ing the night.
Laughridge said that
youstomers were evacuated
Jwithout incident and that
‘several firemen were treated
for smoke inhalation. The
major portion of the fire was
By Fire
in the roof and ceiling areas
and steel beams made it dif-
ficult for firemen to reach the
blaze, said Laughridge.
Bethlehem Fire Chief
Larry McDaniel, who praised
the work of all firefighters,
said a tanker driver provided
tremendous help by transpor-
ting 9,000 gallons of water
from the fire department’s
filllup point at the Holiday
Inn. McDaniel said the
driver, whom he could not
identify but believed to be a
passerby, stopped and of-
fered his help.
Jim Testa, owner of the
firm, General Manager and
Vice President Barry
Laughridge and Scott
Laughridge, Assistant
Manager, also praised the ef-
forts of volunteer firemen,
the Red Cross and Rescue
personnel. ‘‘We appreciate
all of them and thank them
for their bravery and
courage’ they said.
Fire departments respon-
ding to the blaze were
Bethlehem, Waco, Grover,
Oak Grove, Number Three,
Cleveland and Shahghai
Volunteer departments. Four
firemen remained at the
scene until early morning
Friday.
Three Charges Dismissed
Against Philip Bollinger
Cleveland County District
Attorney William Young
Monday morning dismissed
charges of felonious assault,
resisting arrest and running
a red light against Philip G.
Bollinger, 30, of Kings Moun-
tain.
According to District Court
records, Young said
‘‘charges were dismissed
after an independent in-
vestigation by the SBI reveal-
ed there was not sufficient
Svidence to proceed criminal-
yy.’
Bollinger, son of City
Animal Control Officer
Stretch Bollinger of the Kings
Mountain Police Depart-
ment, was arrested on Jan.
27 by City Patrolman Don
Johnson. Both the senior Boll-
inger and policeman Johnson
were ‘relieved of duty with
pay’ by the city board of
commissioners pending an
investigation by the Kings
Mountain Police Department
and the SBI into an alterca-
tion at a Cleveland County
magistrates office the even-
ing of Jan. 27 as young Boll-
inger was being booked.
Acting Chief Bob Hayes
said the investigation is conti-
nuing of the alleged incident
and neither Bollinger nor
Johnson has returned to work
with the city.
Gary Sale Is Not Guilty
the |.
Former Kings Mountain police officer
Gary E. Sale, 40, was found not guilty Fri-
day in Cleveland County Superior Court on
charges that he stole $10.00 worth of
gasoline from a Kings Mountain service sta-
tion.
The jury deliberated for about an hour
before returning the not guilty verdicts on
four counts of misdemeanor larceny.
Sale had been accused of pumping
gasoline into his car without paying for it on
four occasions in February and March 1986
at Jerry Oliver's Mustang Oil Station on
East King Street in Kings Mountain. After
his conviction in Cleveland County District
Court Aug. 5, 1986, Sale was fired by the
Kings Mountain Board of Commissioners
who had suspended him with pay from his
job as a patrolman when the charges were
lodged by Jerry Oliver, Sr. Sale appealed
the ruling to Superior Court. He was hired
as a deputy in the Rutherford County
Sheriff’s Department. He and his wife,
Mary, are now living in Ellenboro.
Throughout last week’s trial in Shelby
Sale maintained that he was innocent, con-
tending that Jerry Oliver, Sr. was seeking
revenge because Sale helped arrest Jerry
Oliver, Jr. on a more serious charge of
felonious larceny of gasoline. Prosecutor
Deputy Attorney General Chris Brewer of
the N. C. Department of Justice presented
testimony by Oliver, his son, a nephew,
Brian Oliver, and an employee, Scott Bush,
who testified that on four occasions Sale
pulled his car up to a self service island,
pumped a few dollars worth of gas, reset the
pump to ‘0’ and pumped an additional
amount which Sale then charged to a week-
ly account.
Brewer presented sales receipts from the
gas station and readings from the pumps
which, he said, proved that certain amounts
of gasoline were taken without payment.
In making his case for the defense,
Defense Attorney Steve Dolley of Gastonia
presented witnesses who said they heard
the Olivers admit in private they ‘wanted
to get back at Sale.”
Sale had been a Kings Mountain
policeman for seven years.