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KM boys swim team
Is state champion
6A - 1B
Byers wins
state crown
Say 'No' to Drugs
and Alcohol
» See Special Insert -
Inside Today's Herald
VOL. 105 NO. 8
30 deficiencies
at water plants
A state OSHA inspector has
told the city it needs to make cor-
rections at its water treatment and
wastewater treatment plants to
comply with stepped-up safety re-
quirements.
City Engineer Tom Howard said
he asked the inspector to make the
inspection Monday.
Howard told City Council
Tuesday night that the inspector
noted 30 deficiencies, seven la-
beled as "serious." Some of the
"serious" deficiencies include no
handrails around clarifiers and
chlorine contact chambers at the
water treatment plant; no guards
around two gil drive shafts on
two motors at the water treatment
plant, and no outlet cord for the re-
frigerator at the wastewater treat-
ment lab.
"We asked an inspector to come
to Kings Mountain to review our
facilities," said Howard who said
the . man came from Black
Mountain at no cost and spent six
hours at the plants. He said the cost
for an independent safety consul-
tant would have been in the thou-
sands of dollars,
Howard said the city has 30-90
days to make the corrections or the
city could face fines. Howard said
the inspector praised the city for
moving ahead on new health and
safety requirements outlined in the
Occupational Health and Safety
Act of 1993.
In a related action Tuesday, the
board passed a hazard communica-
tion policy, another OSHA require-
ment, that outlines policies for em-
ployees who work with chemicals
and hazardous materials.
Howard said that OSHA inspec-
tors do not customarily let a city
know when they are coming into
Little Dan's grand openin
Roger and Danny Goforth,
brothers and partners in business,
will hold grand opening Saturday
at the new Little Dan's No. 4 at I-
85 and York Road.
Mayor Scott Neisler will cut the
ribbon at 10 a.m.
The family owned and operated
business features three businesses
under one roof--a convenience
store and Amoco service station, a
restaurant and a laundromat in
5,000 square feet of floor space in
the extensively remodeled Caveny
Lincolnton's
Is KM's new
Kings Mountain's new postmas-
ter Bob Howard on his first day on
the job Monday says he already
feels at home.
The Lincolnton resident, a 21
year veteran of the U.S. Postal
Service, was meeting the 25 em-
ployees and getting a tour of the
city.
Howard, who is not related to
former postmaster Mike Howard
who retired last September, was
promoted through the ranks to his
present position. He joined the
Lincolnton Post Office as a part-
time clerk/carrier after a three year
the area. "They usually make sur-
prise inspections,” he said. "OSHA -
was complimentary on the steps we.
are taken to comply with all regu-
lations.” :
In other actions of a long meet-
ing, Council:
Transferred franchise rights from
Jones Intercable to Alert Cable,
giving that company the right to
serve Kings Mountain cable sub-
scribers.
Rob Bridges, Jones Intercable
general manager, told the board
that Jones, which has served Kings
Mountain for 10 years, is being
sold to Alert Cable TV of North
Carolina, Inc., a subsidiary of
Cablevision Industries. CVI, based
in New York, is the ninth largest
multiple system cable television
operator in the country. The sale is
expected to take effect in May or
June, said Bridges.
Responding to a question by
Mayor Scott Neisler, City Manager
George Wood said he had checked
with six cities who are served by
Alert Cable and they praised the
company for quality service. He
said he had contacted officials in
Georgetown, Cary, Mooresville,
Carrboro and Wilson with favor-
able comments. The sale is not ex-
pected to effect current customers
nor employees.
In a related action the board auf
thorized assignment and transfer of
the Cablevision Pole Agreement
which spells out that Alert will pay
$3 per pole for the 100 poles it
uses.
Twelve residents of the Lake
Montonia area opposed a rezoning
request by Roy S. Moore. Connie
A. Allison said that Moore wants
See Deficiences, 4-A
Fabric building. All three business-
es are open 24 hours a day seven
days a week.
"We hope the public will come
out and tour our facilities," said
Danny Goforth for whom all four
Little Dan operations are named.
The Goforth family, which in-
cludes their mother, Mary Childers
Goforth; their sister, Debbie °
Goforth; and Danny's wife, Donna
Moss Goforth, run the businesses
and employ about 25 employees.
Donna Goforth has recently
Bob Howard
postmaster
tour of duty with Uncle Sam's
Army. For three years he was
Postmaster of Waco. He comes to
Kings Mountain from Lincolnton
where he was Superintendent of
Operations at the Lincolnton Post
Office.
A native of Stanley, he is the son
of Martha Howard and the late
Vincent Howard. He is married to
Brenda Norman Howard and they
have two sons, Robbie, 18, a senior
at Lincolnton High School, and
Joshua, 15, a freshman. They are
active in Lincolnton Church of
See Howard, 12-A
Rountree’s Hideaway is Glenn
Ross Rountree's Shangri La,
The popular Grover resident, 82
on February 26, built a rustic bu
comfortable shop 15 years ago a
few yards from his residence on
Rountree Road and developed his
own spot for relaxation and rejuve-
nation. He gets both from helping
people who need wood for fuel.
Rountree and his friends gather
on weekends and chop wood from
his property. He won't take money
for the wood. With the wood he
offers a helping hand to the needy.
Friendship and a smile are all he
wants in exchange.
Roger Mullinax, his "sidekick"
in the wood chopping business,
usually drops by on weekends and
the two men “blow off steam” by
Glenn Rountree relaxes in his 'Hideway.'
Rountree's
relaxing around a roaring fire in
the fireplace of the shop Glenn
built with his own hands; Cedar
shavings in every block of the
building and a concrete floor keep
it air tight.
Several friends and kin con-
tributed items for the furnishings.
Grandson Josh drove 100 nails in
one block, a big cedar block used
for his anvil. Buren Randle, put up
the matchbox over the firoplace,
there is an antique railroad spike, a
shovel that a friend made for him,
old overalls and a cap hung for
posterity, his grandson's first tricy-
cle and airplane, and of course, his
1951 vintage jeep which has a
place of honor along with his tools
and other paraphemalia,
Decorating the shop are the wind
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Lengthy camp
Long-term camping at city-
owned Moss Lake will end April 1
when annual camp leases of 15
campers run out.
City Council finally made a de-
cision Tuesday night on the contro-
versial issue by a 6-1 vote after
Ward 1 Commissioner Phil Hager's
motion to set a work session to dis-
cuss the issue died on the floor for
lack of a second.
The Lake Commission, a
Council-appointed board, twice
chimes that Glenn makes and gives
to shut-ins. Pieces of conduit fash-
ion the chimes which Glenn deliv-
ers and installs to give enjoyment
to shut-ins in the community.
Glenn doesn't cook on the open
fire but he used to when he lived
on a farm in Georgia. He was born
in 1911 in a one-room log house.
Glenn's wife, Jackie, is the love
of his life. He said it was love at
1 sight over S50 years ago when
he met Jackie Harry on a blind
date. Glenn was driving for
Atlantic Greyhound on a regular
run from Winston-Salem to
Charleston, West Virginia. Duke
All American Buck Badgett and
his wife, Alice, wanted him to
See Rountree, 12-A
opened Donna's Boutique in the
old Glass Grocery building which
the Goforths bought in 1977.
Danny Goforth cut his teeth in the
service station business at Glass
Grocery. His first job at the age of
eight was pumping gasoline, run-
ning errands and bagging gro-
ceries.
In 1983 the Goforth family
opened Little Dan's No. 2 on
Gaston Avenue in Gastonia and in
1984 they opened the former Fred
Plonk Battleground Service Station
BOB HOWARD
on Grover Road as Little Dan's No.
1. Roger Goforth, who had worked
for 15 years at Foote Mineral
Company, joined his brother in
November 1989 when the family
opened Little Dan's No. 3 on
Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.
The boys' father, Gene Goforth,
had worked at Cyprus Foote
Mineral for 38 years before his
death.
Friday, November 13, 1992 was
a lucky day for the Goforth broth-
ers. They moved into the new
g is Saturday
Little Dan's and started making fin-
ishing touches to the building.
This week they completed the ren-
ovation by installing installed
Speed Queen washing machines in
the modern laundromat.
Danny Goforth said the restau-
rant features a wide variety of fast
foods, meats and vegetables.
Sunday beer sales are permitted.
He said he has 4,000 square feet of
floor space with loading ramp
available to rent.
City Council approves
environmental projects
Dewatering at the old Petroleum
World Gas Station on Shelby Road
and sludge handling from
Cleveland County septic tank
haulers are two projects Kings
Mountain will take on to help deal
with environmental problems in
the county.
City Council Tuesday night ap-
proved a plan by Shields
Environmental Company for
groundwater contamination
cleanup at the old Petroleum World
Gas Station on Castlewood Road
and Highway 74 West, agreeing to
accept discharge water but requir-
ing sampling and permits. Shields
would be charged double the out-
side-city sewer rate.
A spokesman for Shields said
the project would take 3-4 years to
complete.
City Manager George Wood said
the city's new treatment plant has
the capability of handling pollu-
tants by oxidation.
Wood said that tightened EPA
regulations have sent septic tank
haulers scurrying to find places
that can handle sludge and Kings
Mountain is the only municipality
See Projects, 4-A
voted recently unanimously to rec-
ommend the end of the policy
because they said it was unfair to
other residents and violated city or-
dinances.
City Council hedged on making
a decision when campers came to
last month's meeting asking to stay
and saying their beautification of
the campground area made the
camp sites choice sites. Council
wanted to rethink the issue and
See Camping, 10-A
KM 'Hall'
induction
March 29
Two of Kings Mountain High
School's greatest natural athletes, a
championship basketball team and
a short track racing legend will be
inducted into the Kings Mountain
Sports Hall of Fame at the sixth an-
nual banquet Monday, March 29 at
7 p.m. at the Community Center.
Coman Falls, Richard Gold and
Freddy Smith will be joined by the
1945 KMHS basketball team
which won the school's first
Western Conference championship.
Mickey Marvin, former All-Pro
guard with the Oakland Raiders,
will be the guest speaker and new
chairman Mearl Valentine is lining
up an outstanding banquet.
Valentine's vice-chairperson is Past
President of the sponsoring
Chamber of Commerce, Ruby
Alexander.
Steve Moffitt, the outstanding
wrestling coach at Kings Mountain
High School, will receive the
Special Achievement Award which
is presented each year to an indi-
vidual or team for their achieve-
ments during the previous year.
Moffitt last year coached the
Mountaineers to their third straight
Western North Carolina champi-
onship. Kings Mountain is the only
team to win the Western Regionals
more than once.
Tickets for the banquet are $10
each and are available from the
Chamber of Commerce and mem-
bers of the Hall of Fame commit-
tee. The meal will again be catered
by Town and Country Barbecue.
The sixth annual event promises
to be one of the best banquets yet.
The induction format will be
changed with a member of the Hall
of Fame inducting all four mem-
bers so as to cut the time length.
The athletes being inducted this
year are some of the finest in Kings
Mountain's sports history.
Coman Falls, who is deceased,
was a three-sport star at KMHS in
the twenties and excelled in base-
ball where his lightning speed and
quick bat amazed fans and oppo-
nents. He played several years of
professional baseball before return-
ing home to play in the highly-
competitive area textile leagues.
After retiring from baseball he op-
erated the Kings Mountain Pool
Room for a number of years and
was a perennial golf champion at
Kings Mountain Country Club.
Richard Gold was the Coman
Falls of the sixties at KMHS. He,
too, was outstanding in all three
major sports as well as golf. He
played on championship teams in
all three major sports during his
four-year prep career and went on
to become a first team All-
American second baseman at
Florida State University. He set
nine records at FSU and still holds
the record for hitting in 21 consec-
utive games.
Freddy Smith is recognized as a
legend in small track auto racing,
He began his career in 1965 at arca
dirt tracks and now is a superstar
on the STARS (Short Track Auto
Racing Series) circuit, where he
has won three World
Championships. He is the only
See Fame, 10-A
coe
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