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~ INSIDE...
GROUNDBREAKING - Wirtz Manufacturing broke ground for a new plant
A on Grover Road
Tuesday. From left to right are Plant Manager Larry Brown, Cr Ca, Joyce
Cagion from Kings Morin, President John Wirtz and Dr. Jim Petty of Cleveland Com-
ege participating in ceremonies attended by cit ici in-
ogee hatte y city and county officials and local in
Wirtz Plant Breaks Ground
Groundbreaking for a
25,600 square foot assembly
plant for Wirtz Manufactur-
ing Company of Port Huron,
Michigan was held Tuesday
morning at the newly-
acquired 18-acre site on
Grover Road.
Cost of the new construc-
tion is $900,000 and 40-50
| employees are expected to be
Bl employed in the next 12-18
Simonths.
i Mayor Kyle Smith and
irtz President John O.
irtz said at a press con-
ference that the new plant is
Bn expansion of Wirtz
(rastonia facililty and con-
v vkiruetion will begin im-
mediately with completition
expected by June 1988.
Larry Brown of Shelby,
formerly with Chase-Brass,
will serve as the new plant
manager. General contrac-
tors are Rick Daggenhart
and G.L. Wilson of Alexander
County.
The new Kings Mountain
facility will serve as the
assembly plant for the com-
pany’s battery division and
will be built beside the new
Shelller Globe Plant on
Grover Road, now under con-
struction.
“We're excited to be a part
of the Kings Mountain area’,
said Wirtz who expanded in
North Carolina two years ago
in a business founded in 1932
by his grandfather.
The new plant will offer top
wages for skilled machinists
most of whom will be trained
at Cleveland Community Col-
lege and will employ 25 in-
itially, said Wirtz.
Wirtz estimated the
Gastonia plant would be
phased out in 18-20 months.
The principal products of
the battery divisionhere will
be equipment used in the
manufacture of automotive
batteries. In the past six mon-
ths, the compnay has begun
to market a new line of equip-
ment which has been in
development for over 10
Turn To Page 4-A oR
_ Kings Mountain voters
joined their Cleveland County
neighbors in i i
approving on Super Tuesday
at $25 million bond issue for
Cleveland County Memorial
Hospital in Shelby by
margins of 3-1.
Local voters at the polls
also agreed with voters in
Hospital Bond Vote Pass
Cleveland County and 14
southern states, marking
presiaeniial preference
allots for Vice President
George Bush and Tennessee
Senator Albert Gore, Jr.
Republican Bush overcame
Sen. Bob Dole’s ties in North
Carolina to win the
Republican primary and
stake a commanding claim
on the GOP nomination for
President.
Among Democrats,
Senator Albert Gore, Jr. edg-
ed the other Southerners in
the race. In Kings Mountain
and Cleveland County voters
gave the second choice to
Massachusetts Gov. Michael
Dukakis and their third
choice Jesse Jackson.
Statewide, Jesse Jackson
received 32 percent of the
vote to Gore’s 35 percent.
No. 4 Township voters a
proved the hospital bon
1179 to 700 by 1,884 voters at
the polls on Tuesday. At
Bethware, where 1,076 voters
are registered to vote, a total
of 300 people went to the polls
in a 18.08 percent turnout
which favored the bonds
209-115.
At East precinct, where
1,076 voters are registered to
vote at, the Community
Center, 4 total of 554 people
voted in a 17.03 percent tur-
Early, Mack, Adams, Moss Going Into
By GARY STEWART
Managing Editor
Three professional athletes
and a promoter of baseball
from the amateur level to the
professional ranks will be in-
ducted into the Kings Moun-
tain Chamber of Commerce
Sports Hall of Fame at its
first annual banquet Mon.,
Apr. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Kings
Mountain Community
Center.
Honorees will include the
late Jake Early, one of the
major leagues’ best defen-
sive catchers in the 1940’s;
former Gardner-Webb Col-
lege All-American basketball
great George Adams, who
also played with the San
Diego Conquistadors of the
ABA; former Kings Moun-
tain Mayor John Moss, who
organized the Class A
Western Carolinas League
and currently serves as presi-
dent of the South Atlantic
League; and Pro Bowl foot-
baller Kevin Mack of the
Cleveland Browns.
Results of the initial year’s
voting was announced Tues-
day night at the Hall of Fame
Committee’s meeting with
Chamber of Commerce of-
ficials at the Holiday Inn.
Tickets will go on sale early
next week at $10 apiece. Bill
Grissom will chair the ticket
sales with Jim Cloninger ser-
ving as his assistant.
Carl Champion, overall
chairman, announced that
Marty Schottenheimer, head
coach of the Cleveland
Browns, will be the featured
speaker. Many other well-
known sports personalities
from the amateur, collegiate
Greene Buys Herald,
Gaston Newspapers
The Kings Mountain Herald has been purchased by Greene
former owner Garland Atkins.
Greene Newspapers is based in Charlottesville, Va., and is
headed by Gary M. Greene, President. Greene and his wife,
be relocating to the area in the near future.
“Selling a newspaper is a very important event for the
newspaper’s employees and the community,” Atkins said.
“We feel that the Greenes re
the area and to the continued growth of the Herald.”
Greene, whose parents are North Carolina natives, grew up
in a newspaper family and has published numerous weekly
and daily newspapers during his career. Prior to establishing
his company last year, Greene worked 16 years for Worrell
Newspapers, Inc., in Charlottesville. Greene was Executive
Vice President of the Worrell group and oversaw daily opera-
tions and acquisitions.
ed us back to North Carolina. :
Greene said no personnel changes are anticipated.
Atkins purchased the Herald 14 years ago from Martin Har-
mon. Atkins also owned the Cherryville Eagle, The Mt. Holly
News, The Belmont Banner, The Tri-City Record and the
Gaston Independent. They too were bought by Greene. Atkins
will remain with the company on a consulting basis, and will
spend a portion of his time in book publishing.
The Greenes are active in civic and community events and
are members of the Presbyterian Church. They have two
children, Nathan, 9, and Caroline, 2.
%
Newspapers, Inc., according to an announcement today by §
resent an excellent addition to .
“We are very excited about moving to the area,” Greene |
said. “The quality of life, the people, our relatives, and the |§
strong prospects for continued growth are strengths that pull- |
Boo, who is the company’s Vice President and Secretary, will B=
5
GARY M. GREENE
GARLAND ATKINS
and professional ranks will
take part in the induction
ceremonies.
Schottenheimer has coach-
ed the Browns to the AFC
Central Division title each of
the past three years, and his
last two teams lost narrow
decisions to Denver for the
AFC championship and the
right to play in the Super
Bowl.
Schottenheimer is a former
All-America defensive back
at Pittsburgh and played pro
ball with the Buffalo Bills,
Boston Patriots, Pittsburgh
Obituaries . ... .. 3A Clubs........... 3-B { TS
Churches dea 6-A TV Listings ....4-5B A Lal d DE =
Classifieds 13-15A Sports ....... 10-13B - = SZ
Weddings....... 1-B Schools...... 14-15B “wo
Business............................... 16-B wii
YOL. 101 NUMBER 11 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1988 KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH = = 5
Bush, Gore Lead Ti (el
ush, Gore Lead Tickets, : --
2 |
~~
A
SUPER TUESDAY—Betsy Wells, above, casts her vote in
Grover Tuesday. Grover followed the lead of their neighbors
all over the county in approving a $25 million bond issue for
Cleveland Memorial Hospital at Shelby and in marking
‘Presidential Preference ballots for Republican George Bush
and Democrat Albert Gore, Jr.
nout and favored the bond favored the bonds 191-83.
issues 329 to 211. With all 24 precincts in the
At West precinct at The Ar- county reporting, 9,009 voters
mory, where 2,847 people are favored the $25 million bond
registered to vote, a total of issue and 3,051 opposed. Tur-
754 people went to the polls in nout 33.2 percent.
a 26.5 percent turnout and One third of registered
favored the bonds 450 to 291. voters in Cleveland County
At Grover, where 1,108 peo- went to the polls in Cleveland
ple are registered to vate, 276 County. Election officials
people went to the polis in a said 39,099 Clevelanders are
24.9 percent turnouf and Turn To Page 4-A
KM Hall
Steelers and Baltimore Colts.
He began his pro coaching
career in 1974 as linebacker
coach for the Portland Storm.
He coached with the New
York Giants from 1975-77 and
with the Detroit Lions from
1978-79. He joined the
Cleveland Browns as defen-
sive coordinator and secon-
dary and linebackers coach
in 1980 and took over as head
coach in 1984.
HEE
* Danny Ford, head football
Turn To Page 14-A
SCHOTTENHEIMER
Board Hires Management Firm
City commissioners Tues-
day night bought a computer
system for the city and hired
Management Advisors, Inc.
of Virginia Beach, Va. to con-
duct a management survey.
The management survey
will cost $18,000. The com-
puter system will cost
$120,000 over a five-year
period plus a maintenance
ee of $7600 annually and
$10,000 for memory updates.
Logics of Goldsboro was
awarded the contract and
Gary Sanders, president of
the firm, said the software
will be installed in 45 days
and he and a staff member
will begin training of city
employees. Logics put in a
similar computer system in
Cherryville and in Morgan-
ton, among 25 cities in the
state the company has served
recently.
Commissioners started
thinking about getting in the
computer business two years
ago when the board voted to
do a feasibility study working
with the Center on Urban Af-
fairs at N.C. State Universi-
ty.
~ Commissioner Fred
Finger, chairman of the
study committee, said the ci-
ty will be running its first pro-
grams in late September or
early October and will then
be able to handle payroll,
general ledger, personnel
records, accounts payable,
tax collections and virtually
every city service involving
business accounts and book-
keeping.
City Clerk Marvin Chappell
said the computer system has
been needed for many years
and that employees are ex-
cited about the new system.
The computer package pro-
vides for 120 hours of
employee training on the soft-
ware.
Hiring of an outside
management team to study
how the city is run, including
how much the city pays its
170 employees, has been a top
priority of new Mayor Kyle
Smith. Pay classification is
only one phase of the pro-
gram which is expected to
take four or five months to
complete. Including site field
work and a comparable study
of city salaries versus in-
dustry, etc. The team will of-
Turn To Page 9-A
Mayor Says City Manager
Could Be Hired By May 1
Mayor Kyle Smith: is
shooting for May 1 as the date
a -new city manager will
assume new duties in Kings
Mountain. 3
During executive session
following Tuesday night’s
regular board meeting, com-
missioners narrowed the
finalists for city manager to
two and voted to call them
back to Kings Mountain for
more interviews. Last week
commissioners interviewed
the last of four candidates
who had emerged as the top
four from a field of 31 people
who had applied for the job.
Mayor Smith, who has not
named the candidates
because they are presently
employed as city managers
elsewhere in the state, said
the top two choices of the
board are highly qualified.
“Whomever is hired will be
expected to work a 30 day
notice, said Smith, because
all cities are now involved in
working up new budgets for
the new fiscal year and we
will give him that opportunity
to work a notice.”
Mayor Smith plans to work
with the new city manager
for a month before resuming
work at Combustion
Engineering, where he took
leave-of-absence to serve as
full time mayor.