Local surveys conducted in
Gaston, Cleveland, and Lincoln
Counties show that more randon
home testing should be done in
these areas. Homes tested in
previous surveys indicate unsafe
levels of radon gas in Cher-
ryville, Crouse, Lincolnton,
Gastonia, Kings Mountain,
Grover, Moss Lake, Dallas, Bel-
mont, and Bessemer City.
In short, every home should be
tested for radon gas, according
to federal government warnings
appearing this past week which
Radon Testing Urged
stated that radon gas contamina-
tion in homes is more prevalent
than first suspected.
Radon appears to be responsi-
ble for about 13,000 to 20,000 lung
cancer deaths per year, accor-
ding to the National Academy of
Science report. Radon deaths are
second only to smoking as a
cause of lung cancer.
Almost three years ago, Dr.
George Bradley, a Cherryville
ostepathic physician, pioneered
the first community testing for
radon contamination in homes
when he felt there was an unusal-
ly high number of cancers in the
area.
“The first index case was in
Pennsylvania when a worker in a
nuclear plant set off radiation
alarms at the plant,” Dr.
Bradley stated in a recent inter-
view. ‘“When the worker tested
the radon level in his home, the
radiation level was over a thou-
sand. Levels here are not that
horrendous, but if testing were
Turn To Page 3-A
THE RADON TEST KIT
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KM Scho
Lines May
Be Redrawn
KM’s Falls Pulls Man
From Burning House
Kenny Falls, 31, pulled Danny Maney, 35, from a
fire in Bessemer City Labor Day weekend and
went on to work at Duke Power Company.
“I wasn’t thinking about being
a hero. I just saw the burning
{house and a woman screaming
that her husband was inside. I'm
glad I was in the right place at the
= right time and could help,” said
Kenny.
Mrs. Maney said Falls left
{before she could find out his
name. ‘I think he was an angel
sent from God. Do you know that
my husband’s hair wasn’t even
burned and the only injury was to
his right hand and the top of his
FALLS
ears and tip of his nose were burned?”’ she said.
Maney, a construction worker, doesn’t
remember anything about the fire, which razed
the couple’s four room rented house, He says he
vaguely recalls barking from ‘‘Toby’’, his pet
peekapoo but has no recollection of a man carry-
ing him from the burning building.
Mrs. Maney, standing on the sidewalk at 3 a.m.
that Sunday morning, was trying to wake the
neighbors when Falls happened by in the Duke
Power truck. Falls, on call in the Bessemer City
area, stopped and ran immediately to the house,
couldn’t get in the first time because of the flames
and went in the second time and pulled Maney out
of the blaze, just as the roof caved in, according to
Mrs. Maney. “That man (Kenny) could have kill-
ed.” “We’ve wanted to find him to thank him for
what he did for us,” she said.
Falls said that Maney was apparently overcome
by the smoke and pi) not reach the door. Mrs.
‘Maney was unable to carry her husband to safety.
The dog escaped without injury.
The Maneys said the incident was a miracle and
was the result of prayer fromsome members of
. her family who had ‘‘been burdened about James,
Danny and me. My sister and her husband, Mary
Lou and Johnny Smith, had been fasting for three
days in prayer for us. When they found out about
the fire they knew that Falls was sent by God to
help us,” she said.
The Bessemer City couple lost everything in the
fire. They had no insurance. Bessemer City
American Legion Post raised some funds this
week and Mrs. Maney said that clothing has been
donated by friends. She and her husband have
rented a furnished mobile home. She works at
Osage Manufacturing Company and Maney works
for Ray’s Construction Company in Charlotte.
Falls said he never knew the name of the man he
pulled from the blaze. After an ambulance and
firetruck arrived, Kenny left for work.
His act of heroism will be recognized by Duke
Power Company, according to Jeff Sirsan. Falls
has worked for Duke Power for five years and
resides in Kings Mountain with his wife, Denise
Hord Falls and children, Cameron, 10; Liza, 9;
and Tyler, 5 %.
City Council To Meet
Kings Mountain City Council will meet Tuesday
night at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. 3
An agenda was not available at presstime
Wednesday. City Manager George Wood said he
thought the meeting would be short and devoted
primarily to a workshop for setting of priorities.
Library Work Continues
nished, and the copper background was stained.
The large hanging light fixture was also cleaned.
Funding for the project has included general
pledges, pledges for memorial and honor gifts,
and county and state grants. Campaign treasurer
Charles Mauney notes that out of the $215,000
pledged, 92% has been collected, leaving only
about $17,000 outstanding. A lump sum of $100,000
also was received as Kings Mountain’s share of a
grant from the County Commissioners resulting
y Mauney Memorial and
Cleveland County Memorial Libraries for con-
Work is continuing on the renovation and ex-
pansion Projet at Mauney Memorial Library.
According to Roger Holland of Holland &
Hamrick Architects of Shelby, the firm oversee-
ing the work, the project was 74% complete as of
August 31. The projected completion date is mid
to latter October.
On-site work underway at present includes
painting and installation of floor coverings. The
removal of books from the shelves and the
presence of workmen installing carpet made it
necessary to close the library, but it should be
possible to reopen it to the public within the next
one to two weeks.
Of interest to passersby on S. Piedmont Ave. is
the newly refurbished plaque above the front en-
trance. The bronze letters were polished and var-
ws
Photo by Shirley Austin
This Weather’s For The Birds!
Last weekend’s rains, which dropped almost two inches on the area, were welcomed only by the
farmers who needed help for their fall crops, and this gaggle of ducks which enjoyed all the extra water in
this lake at Kings Mountain Country Club.
By LIB STEWART
Staff Reporter
Possible redistricting of elementary school at-
tendance lines may be on the agenda of the Oct. 3
school board meeting in connection with a report
from those attending a weekend retreat session
with school administrators.
Dr. Bob McRae termed the recent “Advance”
session by board members and Supt. McRae, Dr.
Jane King, Dr. Larry Allen and Ronnie Wilson as
“most beneficial’ in terms of goal settings and in-
depth discussions which cannot be done during a
regular monthly business meeting session in the
school environment.
McRae said the board talked at length about
redefining 12 goals established four years ago and
how to do it. They listened to several speakers.
The Board will also take a look at a significant
financial investment in computer hardware and
software equipment for a Uniform Education
Reporting System required by the state. McRae
said the state legislature has approved some funds
but that the school’s local investment would mean
Imre and better equipment to do a more effective
job.
McRae said preliminary findings of asbestos in
the schools indicate that the board has it work cut
out for them in dealing with the problem. A
representative from ASC Corporation presented a
study report.
New programs and new initiatives by the state
were discussed and Gene Causby, executive
secretary of the N.C. School Boards Association,
talked about general boardsmanship, the duties
and responsibilities of a school board member and
some of the problems they face in their relation-
ships with staff and parents and how to ap-
propriately handle situations.
The Advance session began on Sunday night,
continued all day Monday and ended on Tuesday
at Sheraton Hotel in Boone. All school board
members were present.
Uninterrupted discussions away from the home
environment comes highly recommended by Supt.
McRae who said he hopes the board will take a
retreat on an annual basis.
The 12 goals of the school system will be review-
ed publicly at the next board meeting and pro-
gress on each will be reviewed, said McRae. ‘We
used those 12 goals as a jumping off point to revise
the goals and come up with a current set of goals
for the next several months,” he said.
Staff members used the occasion to present in-
depth reports in their areas of responsibility and
operations. :
No Dead Letters In KM
Kings Mountain’s 26 postal
employees handle approximate-
ly 60,000 pieces of mail every day
and that leaves very little activi-
ty in the dead letter department.
Acting Postmaster Dave
Reynolds credits longtime
employees like Bud Medlin with
having: the x-ray memory to
remember names and addresses
of some postal patrons unclear
on letters to insure that the mail
is delivered-and on time.
If postal employees like Bud
can’t deciper the addresses or
the addresses are incorrect and
Bud and some of the other
veteran employees don’t recall
where they live then the letters
from a joint appeal
struction funds.
The library’s Board of Trustees plans to have
an Open House when all work is completed. Area
library patrons and all interested citizens are en-
couraged to watch for the announcement of this
date.
are returned to sender but in
most cases the mail is delivered
to the right person.
If not deliverable, the dead let-
ter mail is forwarded to the
Atlanta, Ga. dead letter office
where workers open the mail. If
there is an address on the inside
of the letter or package or if a
check is enclosed with an ad-
dress the mail is forwarded with
postage due attached. If there is
nothing inside the envelope to
identify the sender or the
receiver then the mail is
destroyed after several weeks
and if any valuables are inside,
such as money, the cash goes in-
to a Postoffice Fund. If there is
merchandise undeliverable, that
merchandise is auctioned off and
the proceeds also go into a Post
office Fund. No dead letter mail
is handled at the Kings Mountain
Postoffice and very little dead
letter mail is ever sent to Atlan-
ta. “We just don’t have any,”
said Reynolds, for which he is
very pleased to report.
Kings Mountain employees
give service beyond what is ex-
pected, said Reynolds who gave
superior accomplishment award
this week to Bud Medlin, veteran
of 29 years as window distrubu-
tion clerk.
Turn To Page 3-A
United Way Campaign
Benefits Grover Rescue
JEFF CASH
ASSISTANT CAPTAIN MARCIA WILSON
CAP
The all volunteer Grover Rescue Squad is the on-
ly Squad in Cleveland County authorized by the
Cleveland County Board of Commissioners to
begin classes at the highest level of care,
paramedics.
, Twelve of the 14 members of the Squad have
already qualified as Emergency Medical Techni-
cians and emergency Medical Technicians I.
Seven have completed the Intermediate level of
training and the remaining members are EMT's
with the exception of one ambulance attendant.
Classes are to be taught by Cleveland Community
College and Grover expects to have paramedics in
the field in 1991.
Grover Rescue Squad is one of the 15 agencies
funded by your contribution to United Fund with a
$7,200 budget. The Squad needs a transport van
Turn To Page 3-A
‘
*
cc LIBRARY BOARD CHAIRMAN BROWNIE PLASTER (L)
PRESENTS $100,000 TO KM’S GRADY HOWARD.
INSIDE AT A GLANCE
Now, Who Parked
That Car There?
A red-faced Monty Thornburg,
the city’s young Aging Director,
backed into a vehicle at the
Depot Center the other day and
jumped out quickly from the
city-owned van to ascertain the
damage and locate the owner of
the parked car.
He couldn’t believe his eyes
nor his bad luck when he realized
that he had backed the 1988 Ford
van into his personal vehicle, a
1984 Olds he had mistakenly
parked just behind the van.
The City van wasn’t damaged
but Monty’s car was to the tune
of $400.
Never will he park in that
same spot again, he vowed, and
called Police.
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