VOL. 101 NO. 38 Erroneous Report Upsets KM Citizens The Lake Belongs To Us City Manager George Wood's telephone has been ringing since a story appeared in a daily newspaper Friday that erroneously stated that he, as a member of the county's Oversight Committee, recommended linking the seven existing water systems in the county and placing them under county control. Wood demanded a clarification of the story which he said "was flat out wrong" and the newspaper print- ed a clarification Saturday. "There is no way that Kings Mountain would agree to giving another city control of Moss Lake," he told callers and The Herald. Wood said that the panel didnot approve "Alternative Five" in the draft of a water study pre- sented Thursday by Ron Geiger of Woolpert Consultants. The panel recommended, instead, that individual boards maintain separate ownerships of their systems but that the water systems be joined together for back- up. Systems will have the option of selling water on long-term agreements, if it is in the best interest of the system, In Section 6, "Recommendations and Conclusion", "There is no way that Kings Mountain would agree to give another city control of Moss Lake." — George Wood Thursday, September 21, 1989 ND p> OQ ~ X i li the report on Page 87 reads: "through numerous meet- ings investigating the various components of the alter- native plan, a consensus was reached by the members that a county-wide system should maintain the individ- ualism of each water supplier while at the same time providing for future needs for the county by working together to provide the necessary support to each sys- tem." "Agreements would be made between the utility systems to buy and sell water to one another as neces- sary to meet the user demands,” the agreement con- cludes on page 89 of the final draft. Some specifics in the six alternates in the 89-page long-awaited water study are unclear but are to be clar- ified in the final report presented by consultants to Joe Hendricks, director of the Cleveland County Economic Development Office which initiated the study. All water systems would remain totally separate, owned, operated, maintained and controlled by the same entities that own and operate and control them now, said Wood. "Kings Mountain will always retain control of Moss Lake." : "There was never any talk or agreement to sign con- trol of Kings Mountain's lake and/or our water plants and systems to Cleveland County," he said. The ap- proved proposal states " whereby the county would be asked to assist or pay for major lines that would connect the systems and those major lines would have meters on them whereby in emergency situations Kings Mountain could sell water to Shelby or vice ver- sa and with any other entity the city is connected with." "The result is that Kings Mountain would be building additional emergency capabilities. In addition the county would look at putting major lines to con- nect these systems and to improve these distribution See Lake, 3-A They're Not Dummies Lineman Vital For Rescue Randy, a 120 pound "dummy", is being rescued from atop a utility pole by lineman in a training exercise here every day this week. Forty employees of utility de- partments in Western North Carolina are in school at Holiday Inn in a program hosted by the City of Kings Mountain and sponsored _« by Electri Cities. To complete the course, linemen must rescue Randy in about 45 sec- onds. The simulated rescue is all part of the training. Carlton St. John is coordinating the school and instructors are Jim Rushing of Granite Falls, Larry Jacobs of Greenville, Robert Smith of Shelby, Bob Godfrey of Morganton and Eric Dean of Concord. Among the students are Todd Hambright, Tom Roddy and Andy Scoggins, all linemen with the Kings Mountain Utility Department. Pole climbing expertise is es- sential to linemen, although 95% of municipalities in the state own and operate bucket trucks. In an emergency situation, however, the training experience is vital for line- Course Safety men to be able to do their jobs ef- fectively and safely. The safety feature is being un- derscored Thursday with a visit by the linemen to American Safety Engineering Company in Shelby where they will tour the test labs to see how rubber blankets, line hose and protective gear are tested and observe equipment and tools which make their jobs easier and safer. "They most important aspect of the school is safety learning the right way to do things efficiently and more effectively," said Elaine Conyer, communications specialist for Electri Cities. The basic lineman course is for linemen with less than two years experience. The local school is the largest Electri Cities has held in this section of the state. Basic electricity, a video on pole climb- ing, the simulated exercise with Rescue Randy and a written test are included in the training . An advanced course will be hosted next month by Kings Mountain. Kings Mountain is the 64th of 65 cities to join Electri Cities of North Carolina, a service organiza- tion. KM Man Allegedly Shoots Wife, Then Kills Himself A 27-year-old Kings Mountain: man allegedly shot his wife, then killed himself Saturday. Kim Jenkins Lail, 30, of 1700 Parkdale Circle, is in fair condition at Kings Mountain Hospital where she is being treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Her husband, William Lee Lail, a truck driver, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head Saturday night on a service road off Dixon School Road on the northbound side of I-85. Deputy Ricky Beaver of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department said the couple had separated last week and Mrs. Lail had called the Sheriff's Department about 3:15 a.m. Saturday to say Lail had returned to their home and they were having a domestic dis- pute. About a half hour later, she called back saying Lail had gone. Just before 6 a.m., Beaver said Mrs. Lail was shot. She walked to a neighbor's house to call for help. Authorities said Lail was last seen alive at 6:10 a.m. near the scene of the shooting. A search be- See Lail, 5-A Della Heffner, 100, Maybe Oldest Citizen, Dies Sunday After a century of living, Della Rosella Foster Heffner, of 202 Blanton Street, died Sunday at age 100. She was probably Kings Mountain's oldest citizen and a for- mer resident of York, S. C. Funeral services were held Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Mount Carmel Free Will Baptist Church in Sharon, S. C. Rev. William Benton officiated and interment was in Rose Hill Cemetery in York. A native of Concord, Mrs. Heffner was the daughter of the late James C. and Kate Herring Foster. She was a retired York, S.C. Mills employee and oldest charter member of First Baptist Church of York. She was widow of Charles Heffner. Surviving are two sons, Peyton Heffner of York and William Heffner of Kings Mountain; two daughters, Mrs. Grace Hubbard of York and Mrs. Bessie Welch of Ramseur; one brother, Harvey Foster of El Paso, Texas and one sister, Mrs. Maggie Long of Gastonia. Also surviving are 26 grandchildren. 61 great-grandchil- dren and 21 great-great grandchil- dren. GEORGE WOOD Forum At High School The 10 candidates for three seats open on Kings Mountain City Council in the Oct. 10 city election will meet the public Monday night at a "Meet The Candidate Night" sponsored by Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. at Barnes Auditorium. public is invited to attend. dates should be submitted to mod- erator William Davis, retired schools superintendent, who will conduct the forum. Davis will ask the questions sub- mitted by the audience. There will be no oral questions from the audi- ence. All three incumbents for three Council seats have opposition at the polls on Oct. 10. District 2 Councilman Humes Houston faces opposition from Gilbert (Pee Wee) Hamrick and Elvin Green. District 5 Councilman Fred Finger faces opposition from Marshall (Coot) Camp. District 6 Councilman Harold Phillips faces opposition from Floyd (Will) Sanders, Jerry White, Crime doesn't pay and a Kings Mountain teenager learned a hard | lesson Saturday when he borrowed a car on pretense of going to the hospital to see his mother. Kings Mountain Police charged he 16-year-old with a felony and | he faces charges of breaking and { entering and larceny of a vehicle. He was released on $15,000 se- cured bond. Ptl. Monty Neal said that the bizarre story started when the boy took a van from Wade Ford park- ing lot where the vehicle was left SIMULATED RESCUE-Cecil Ward, a lineman from Harrisburg, Va., climbs a city utility pole to rescue "Rescue Randy" during a training exercise for utility lineman which City of Kings Mountain Utility Department and Electri Cities are co-sponsoring here this week. President Bobby Maner said the | Meet Candidates On Monday Night Willard Boyles, and Scott Neisler. "We encourage all voters to come out for this forum and will be happy to receive your input and questions for the 10-member pan- el," said Maner. -— The Chamber of Commer sponsoring the forum as a p service project. : Should a run-off be necessary | iT } would be held the same time as * Written questions for thé, candi- f school board election in;Novemt Five of the seven chaliengers a. newcomers to city politics. Two o. the challengers have run for city and school board offices previous- ly. Both Phillips and Finger are running for second terms on the board. Houston is the veteran; member of the city council, also offering for reelection. Kings Mountain voters will vote Oct. 10 at two precincts: West Kings Mountain at the Armory and East Kings Mountain at the Community Center. All registered voters in the city will receive one ballot and may cast three votes, al- though the commissioners repre- sent three different wards in the city. Election officials will use new voting machines to tabulate the vote. Right Place At Right Time, Woman Recovers Her Vehicle to be repaired. The keys had been left in the 1986 Van by Deborah Kay Smith, 401 Garrison Drive, and Mrs. Smith had gone to nearby Kings Mountain Hospital to visit her husband who had suffered a broken leg. Upon leaving the hospital, Mrs. Smith said she saw her van being pulled up in the parking lot by the young man. He got out of the van and Mrs. Smith asked him for the car keys. He gave her the keys. See Van, 5-A Love Knows No Barriers Page 10-A Ping Pong Champion Page 1-B INSIDE AT A GLANCE Obituaries ...cceeereeeesns2=A Editorials .....cesessnneesnid=A SchoOlS...eccrersesesesenserans=A SPOILS .coossesssesssssrssssnsenl=B Religion ...ciesrsnsnnnse3=A Community News....7-B Classifieds....ccoeeereeesns9-B Weddings ....ccsssensensnes2=C FOOd....ccrerssrssonsetrsnsossec:3=C $100 WINNER: DELLA HEFFNER Kim Franks of Kings Mountain. This Week's Football Contest On Page 6-B.