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VOL. 101 NUMBER 37
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1988
Kings Mountain area citizens
got some much-needed relief
from the summer’s drought over
this week as lower temperatures
prevailed and Mother Nature
dropped two to four inches of
rain.
Rains began falling late Satur-
day afternoon and continued
through the night and most of the
day Sunday. The high
temperature for the week reach-
ed only 83 degrees and most of
the week the highs were in the
low-to-mid 70’s, quite a contrast
from the record-breaking marks
of over 100 a few weeks ago.
The temperature dipped to 53
degrees Tuesday night, causing
wear jackets for the first time in
several months.
“This is great weather,” said
Fred Tate, president of the
Bethware Progressive Club
which opened its 41st annual
Bethware Fair Tuesday night.
“This feels like fair weather and
the rains stopped just in time for
us to have a great crowd.”
The fair barely broke even last
year as rains pounded the
fairgrounds every night of the
five-night event. The weather-
man is calling for a chance of
scattered showers Thursday and
Friday but there shouldn’t be
enough to hurt the fair, which.
benefits local schools and needy
Rain, Cooler Weather Bring Relief
“We didn’t have a night last
year as pretty as tonight,”’ Tate
said. ‘“This is going to be a great
fair week.” :
The weekend rain was the best
Cleveland County’s had in
several months, according to
County Agriculture Extension
Agent Randy Sweeting. Kings
Mountain weatherman Kenneth
Kitzmiller measured 1.84 inches
with a high of 1.04 inches Satur-
day, but Sweeting said some
rural areas of the county got as
much as four inches.
“This was the first widespread
rain we’ve had in a long time,”
he said. “It was a good, soaking
rain that came at a nice, steady
This
Week’s
Rainfall
1.84”
August
Rainfall
5.08”
Year
To Date
25.94”
persons heading outdoors to families.
Turn To Page 3-A
KM School Board
To Study Budget
Enrollment figures are in for the number of
students attending Kings Mountain schools this
year and officials are smiling about them.
“Our total enrollment to date is 3,881, up about 23
from last year and that’s good news because we ex-
pected it to be down a little bit,” said Dr. Bob
McRae, superintendent of the district school
system.
School enrollment will be reviewed by the school
board at its monthly meeting Monday.
Board members will be asked to approve the
1988-89 budget for the system which last year total-
ed $3,247,977. According to Dr. McRae the budget
is expected to be higher this year. “It may be
closer to $3.5 million or even higher,” he said.
Also on the agenda for the Monday meeting will
be a presentation by NCAE representatives who
will outline that group’s resolutions for the current
school year.
A proposal for an optional cancer insurance plan
for all school employees will be considered by the
board as well as routine student transfer requests
and personnel items.
Jane King, director of instruction for the school
system, will give a report on the middle school
study. The proposal calls for closing Central
School and aligning the system into K-5, 6-8 and
9-12 grade schools. Over the next two years, a
special committee headed by King will be develop-
ing the instructional program for the middle
school, grades 6-8.
Also on Monday’s agenda is a report by Jean
Thrift, director of exceptional children, giving an
overview of that program.
Later this month, Sept. 18-20, board members
and four administrators of the school system will
gather in Boone at the Sheraton for what Dr.
McRae describes as an ‘‘advance.”
“We're going to be looking at the future during
these sessions and we think to call them a retreat is
looking backward,’’ said Dr. McRae.
A number of general and specific items will be
reviewed and discussed by board members during
the meetings. Status reports will be presented by
Dr. Larry Allen, administration and operations,
Jane King, instruction, and by Ronnie Wilson, per-
sonnel.
Gene Causby, executive director of the North
Carolina School Boards Association, will give a
presentation on the responsibilities of being a
school board member.
Representatives of the NEO Corp. will tell the
board their findings and recommendations
resulting from their inspection of asbestos in the
school buildings. While this situation has been cor-
rected in the schools planned for long range use,
new federal guidelines now require a more inten-
sive search for asbestos. :
Dr. McRae said that he expects the report will
recommend removal of additional asbestos.
Also at this time, board members will take a look
at their work and set some goals for the board of
education.
Elementary school attendance zones will come
under review by the board and there will be discus-
sion on the need to redistrict some of these.
The board will also consider extending the repor-
ting period for students from six to nine weeks.
There have been numerous requests from teachers
to return to the nine week schedule which was
changed to six weeks in the 1986-87 school year.
Grover Citizens Must
Hook Onto New System
Grover residents living within the city limits
who are not connected to the town’s sewer system
will receive a notice this week reminding them
that they must connect with the system by October
1
According to Mayor W.W. McCarter, there are a
“few” households within the town limits which
have not hooked up with the system to date. “We
passed an ordinance in 1984 that everyone in the
town limits would have to be a sewer customer,”
he said.
“I don’t think there is anyone who has
deliberately not connected yet, they just havent
gotten around to it,” said the Mayor. He also noted
that the town is responding on a current basis with
requests for connections. ;
The sewer system and its operation will be
discussed at the town council meeting Monday
night.
Kiso on the agenda will be a second reading and
discussion of a mobile home park ordinance. The
ordinance sets forth guidelines for the establish-
ment of parks within the town limits.
The council will meet at the Grover Town Hall
Monday at 7 p.m.
Fair Fun
Photo by Gary Stewart
Kings Mountain area young people have fun on one of the many rides at the Bethware Fair Tuesday
night. The fair, a fund-raising event sponsored by the Bethware Progressive Club, continues through mid-
night Saturday at Bethware School.
Stewart Named Editor Of Herald
Gary Stewart has been named
editor of the Kings Mountain
Herald, Publisher Gary Greene
announced today.
Stewart has served the past
several years as managing
editor with Lib Stewart serving
as news editor.
“We're happy to have Gary in
this new position and will count
on his experience in all areas of
newspaper work as we continue
to try to make Greene
Newspapers the best weekly
papers in North Carolina,”
Greene said.
Stewart has been in the
newspaper business for 24 years
and has experience in writing
news, sports, and features, and
in photography and layout. He
has won North Carolina Press
Association awards in sports and
feature writing.
He is a 1964 graduate of Kings
Mountain High School and began
his career in September of that
same year as sports editor of the
Herald. He served 2 1/2 years on
the Herald staff and then joined
the sports staff of the Gastonia
Gazette.
He returned to Kings Mountain
in 1971 as sports editor of the
Kings Mountain Mirror, which
later purchased the Herald and
assumed the Herald’s name and
publication rights.
In his new capacity, Stewart
will oversee the entire news
operation of the Herald and will
serve as an advisor to other area
weekly papers in the Greene
Newspaper chain.
Stewart is a native of Kings
Mountain and son of Letha
Stewart of Kings Mountain and
the late George Stewart. He is
married to the former Mary Jo
Rogers of Taylorsville and has
two children. His daughter,
Leigh Anne, 14, is a ninth grader
at Kings Mountain Junior High
and his son, Dee, 12, is a seventh
grader at Central School in Kings
Mountain. The Stewarts are ac-
tive in Dixon Presbyterian
Church.
KM Council To Receive Meter Bids
Kings Mountain City Council will receive bids
for 1,200 replacement water meters at Tuesday
night’s regular monthly meeting at the Govern-
mental Services Facilities Center. The 7:30 p.m.
meeting is open to the public.
Faulty meters in almost every area of town have
caused the city to lose utility revenues over the
past several years, a recent study revealed.
City Manager George Wood said a study of elec-
trical rates is still being conducted.
Also Monday, the board will discuss repairs at
the Moss Lake dam. Contractors were scheduled
INSIDE AT A GLANCE
to come to Kings Mountain today to put an exten-
sion on an intake valve and the city is continuing to
lower the lake level so repairs can be made to a
leak in the spillway. The city recently lowered the
level by three feet and will begin lowering it an ad-
ditional three feet next Friday. The city has closed
its public boating access areas and has notified
lake residents that boating, skiing and other lake
recreational activities may be dangerous because
of the low level of water and the possibility of
Samps or other matter just below the water sur-
ace.
Pascs Today KM Man Raising
: Bananas
Obituaries 3-A School Page 15-B
Editorials 4-A Dropouts On
Sports 5-9A The Rise
Classifieds 11-13A Page 1-B
Lifestyles 1-B
Health 228 Mounties Host
Religion 4-5B
Senior Citizens 6-B Hunter Huss N
Food 6-B .
Entertainment 10-B Friday
Education 11-14B Page 5-A A
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NORTH CAROLINA |
UF Seeks
‘Record
$115.500
Kings Mountain United Fund will kick-off the
1989 appeal for the largest campaign goal ever —
© $115,500, at a luncheon for volunteer workers Fri-
day, Sept. 9, at noon at Holiday Inn.
Dr. Robert McRae, Schools Superintendent, is
campaign chairman.
The campaign seeks ‘‘fair share of one day’s
: pay’ from contributors. The Board of Directors of
United Fund approved the budget several month’s
ago after closing a highly successful 1988 cam-
paign.
Agencies funded in the
1988 budget include:
American Red Cross,
$19,500; Ministerial As-
sociation Helping Hand
Fund and Chaplain Ser-
vice, $13,300; Girl Scouts
of the Pioneer Council,
$8,700; Boy Scouts, Pied- oo
mont Council, $8,200; Noe
Kings Mountain Rescue
Squad, $7,400; Cleveland
County Shelter Home,
$7,200; Kings Mountain
Boys Club, $8,400; Grover
Rescue Squad, $7,200;
Cleveland Organization
Drug Abuse Prevention,
$6,200; Salvation Army,
$3,600; Cleveland County ] a
Mental Health Associa- DR. McRAE
tion, $1,400; Hospice of Cleveland County, $4,100;
Hospice of Cleveland County, $4,100; Child Abuse
Prevention, $2,600; Cleveland Vocational In-
dustries, $7,200; Cleveland County Abuse Preven-
tion Council, $3,100.
Division chairmen are Susie Howard, advanced
correspondence; Marvin Chappell, City of Kings
Mountain; Mike Huffman, commercial; Huitt
Turn To Page 3-A
DIANE DAVIS STOCKS
SHELVES AT FOOD BANK
Food Bank Helps
Needy In KM Area
Hundreds of people visit the food bank at the
Community Center on a regular basis and in the
winter months the number of needy families in-
crease due to heavier fuel costs.
Kings Mountain United Fund has budgeted
$13,300 to the Ministerial Association-sponsored
Helping Hand project which provides assistance
on a short term, emergency basis to individuals
not able to qualify for government supported pro-
grams. Medicine, groceries and other forms of
assistance to families are given.
In addition, your gift to the United Way also
helps the Ministerial Association pay the salary of
a chaplain at Kings Mountain Hospital to minister
to the needs of hospitalized patients.
Dr. Charles Davenport, president of Kings
Mountain Ministerial Association, said the Helping
Hand budget for 1989 is $29,700. Without assistance
from United Fund contributions local churches
could not meet the continuing rising need of
families in this community. During the first six
months of last year 221 families and 954 individuals
were aided. Expenditures for the first five months
of the year were $9,619.09 and the income was
$12,439.39. :
This year the Ministerial Association estimates
that $26,000 will be required to restock the food
shelves and that requests from churches will
amount to $7,700, from individuals $2,000, from
organizations $2,000 and from bell ringing at
Christmas and special services, $3,000 plus con-
tributions from United Fund to keep the program
ongoing. The United Fund allocation includes $350
per quarter or $1400 annually for chaplaincy ser-
vice at Kings Mountain Hospital.
“Because of the increase in need and rising costs
the Ministerial Association has had to limit their
assistance through the Helping Hand Fund to sup-
Turn To Page 14-A