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Shriners barbecue ||
Saturday at 10 am, | H
Vestibule AME Zion Church ||
celebrates th anniversary |
KMHS baseball team
tied for Swe lead
VOL. 105 NO. 16
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Captain Bob Hayes is retiring June 1 after a career
that spans 32 years with the Kings Mountain Police
Department.
Hayes' dedication to duty and his rapport with
Kings Mountain people have endeared him to public
limelight that he likes. He won't retire to a rocking
chair, he says, but to an active volunteer role in the
community.
For Hayes, making an arrest has never been a diffi-
cult assignment. He stands 6 feet 6 inches tall and
weighs 270 pounds. Would-be criminals know he
means business.
December 19, 1977 is a date that Hayes will never
forget. He was shot six times in the back while trying
to arrest a suspect. After four months of recuperation,
he returned to his job and never thinks about his near
tragedy unless he visits Carbo's Police Museum in
Pigeon Forge, TN, where his clothes and newspaper
articles about the shooting are on display. Hayes ad-
mits that seeing the uniform and pictures of himself
Thursday, April 22, 1993
Bob Hayes retiring from KMPD
there gives him a funny feeling.
Hayes joined Kings Mountain Police Department
on August 12,1961 and worked for two months be-
fore President Kennedy called him back to active du-
ty during the Berlin Crisis. Discharged from the US
Army Signal Corp on October 16, 1962, he returned
to work at age 23 in the first and only job he ever
held.
Times have changed at KMPD over the years.
With the computer age, the department has almost
revolutionized since the young Hayes became a cop
and bought his own gun and holster and shoes. State
certification was not required nor were special police
schools. All that was refuired when an officer was
hired was that he ride with a senior patrol officer.
Hayes was lucky when he began training with Sgt. B.
P. Cooke. He credits his expertise as a cop with the
veteran officer, working under Cooke's supervision
six years.
During his tenure Hayes has served with seven
Chiefs and five mayors. His first police rookie school
lasted 120 hours in 1966. Now city patrolmen are re-
quired to complete 780 hours of schooling and be
state certified before they can be hired.
During the years the organization and rank struc-
ture in the police department increased, along with
equipment and more staff, including drug dogs. As
the community population increased, the police de-
partment grew and the increased city budget over the
years brought improvements.
Being a police officer demands dedication. Hayes
says officers must be patient and understanding but
they also must be aware of the potential dangers they
face on the streets. A policemen meets "all kinds of
people,” says Hayes.
Son of Mrs. Madge Padgett of Kings Mountain,
Hayes attended Shelby High School. His wife, Sue,
has been bookkeeper at Winn Dixie since 1957. Their
daughter, Deborah Hayes, works for Venture
Telemarketing of Charlotte.
Hayes is a member of the Cleveland County Law
Enforcement Officers Association, the Gaston
County Law Enforcement Officers Association,
Fraternal Order of Police, American Federation of
Police and International Police Chief's Association.
See Hayes, 3-A
Mahon walks U.S.
to help homeless
Dennis Mahon is the "walking
man"
The 6'S" tall advocate of the
homeless, who has walked across
America in nine months, reached
Kings Mountain Monday.
It's ironic that the Charlotte resi-
dent, a former Yankee turned
Southerner, never really liked to
walk until he got tired of seeing
people live on the streets in
Charlotte because of a lack oy shel-
ters. Now he walks 15 miles a day.
Last July 14 the staff supervisor
for Uptown Shelter/George Shinn
Shelter took to the streets on foot
to ask people to pledge a penny a
mile-$30 each-for his coast to coast
walk or a goal of $1 million.
Mihon wants to buy or build a fa-
cility in Charlotte for homeless
families without public money in
order to avoid the restrictions on
religious activities that apply to
tax-supported shelters.
Born and raised in a Catholic
home and now active in the Baptist
Church, he says he would not limit
such activity to clergy or coun-
selors who share his own Christian
conviction. He believes a spiritual
component would be valuable to
homeless people trying to struggle
back to self-sufficiency.
He started walking in San Diego
and has seen how the homeless live
on the streets and a picture of
America that he never dreamed ex-
isted. For him, he says, it was a
mirror of life.
Mahon has also seen generous
people, including Telephone
Pioneers who adopted him after
they heard about his zeal for the
homeless. Local Pioneers in
February started providing hotel
rooms and hot meals for the 31-
year-old bachelor.
He will finish his walk in
Charlotte Saturday 19 pounds
lighter, several shades darker due
to sun and wind burn and hundreds
of thousands of dollars short of his
goal. He estimates donations total
$30,000 but that more will be
raised at special celebration events
in Charlotte on Friday and
Saturday.
But he doesn't plan to stop. His
next project will be to walk over
Charlotte and he hopes that his
message of need for the homeless
can reach small and large business-
es, churches and schools.
He was greeted by local memi-
bers of Telephone Pioneers at the
North Carolina Welcome Center
Monday afternoon and treated to
lodging and meals while he was in
this area.
The Walking Man was a little
late meeting his fans at the Holiday
Inn in Kings Mountain, members
of the Foothills Council of
Telephone Pioneers who took over
the duties of host from the South
Carolina chapter who had helped
Mahon on his trip north.
Pam Massey, manager of corpo-
rate and external affairs for
Southern Bell, said he was stopped
and questioned by South Carolina
police looking for suspects from a
Monday morning robbery.
Mahon said that before the
Pioneers took over he was on his
own, depending on the kindness of
strangers.
The 60 pound backpack he car-
ried held a portable cellular phone,
an Apple computer notebook with
a fax machine, books on tape, a
camera to record some 800 pictures
of his journey, and nutritional food
from Relive and extra walking
shoes.
He had no health problems, ac-
cidents or muggings along the
way, quickly adapting to reading
as he walked and walking in day-
light hours mostly except in the
Desert where he had to walk at
night due to the 117 degree heat. In
the middle of the desert in
See Walk, 3-A
Dennis Mahon, the walking man, stopped in Kings Mountain
Monday, logging nealy 3,100 miles on his walk-a-thon for the home-
less.
Hallie Blanton admires paintings by artist Margaret Dixon of
Dixon's grandchildren, Jennifer and Wesley Blanton, at the art
show held at Tuesday night's Kings Mountain concert by the
Charlotte Symphony.
CAPTAIN BOB HAYES
Waco tragedy gets
mixed reaction in KM
Kings Mountain people had
mixed reaction to the Waco, Texas
cult tragedy.
Most said they watched in hor-
ror with the rest of the country the
51-day standoff by law enforce-
ment and cult leader David Koresh
which ended with him and his fol-
lowers going up in flames believed
set by the cult Monday.
President Clinton called Koresh
a "religious fanatic” but Rev. Mark
Bardsley, pastor of First Wesleyan
Church, objected to the title.
"Religion looks at God and these
people were looking at a man as a
self-imposed ruler,” said Bardsley.
Bardsley, who is also chaplain of
the Kings Mountain Police
Department, said he had seen po-
lice deal with domestic and strife
and knew the frustrations that a
peace officer has trying to
negotiate with subjects.
"I am sure there were mixed
emotions by all the different de-
partments involved but I am sorry
that law enforcement had to force
the issue without realizing they
were, indeed, dealing with a
zealot."
Evelyn Bridges and Chief of
Police Warren Goforth said law en-
forcement had no choice.
"Those people got caught up in
something that got out of control
and were deceived by their leader,"
said Bridges. "I think we can see a
lot of mind control devices at work
in a dangerous situation not only
for the people inside that com-
pound but for those who lived in
the area.’
"I sympathize with families and
especially the children,” said
Goforth. "It's sad that an individual
has so much power over people."
Goforth said he also sympa-
thized with federal agents. "A lot
of times we don't look at the law
enforcement end of a situation. In
my interpretation they stood by for
50-plus days and did everything
possible to bring people out safely
"They could have waited
a few more days."
Bill Baity
and it didn't work out that way. I
would have hated to have made
that decision but I think it was
proper.”
Bill Baity says that law enforce-
ment waited for 51 days before vs-
ing armored vehicles to pound
holes in the complex of buildings
and spray the residents with tear
gas. "They could have waited a few
more days," he said.
"It's a major tragedy when faith,
which is meant to lift people to
higher levels, is manipulated by a
false prophet to bring them down
to death. While there should be an
investigation to determine how we
can better cope with this sort of
think in the future what we don't
need is everyone second guessing
the FBI," said Rev. Donald
Mitchell, pastor of First
Presbyterian Church.
Attorney General Janet Reno
personally approved the plan in
hopes of forcing a peaceful ending
to the standoff. She was quoted in
the media that she never consid-
ered the chances of mass suicide
despite Koresh's warning in a letter
just last week that any agents try-
ing to harm him would be de-
voured by fire.
The fire, fanned by stiff winds,
erupted about 12:05 p.m. Monday
just six hours after FBI agents be-
gan using armored vehicles to
spray the members of the Branch
Davidian religious sect,
Fire believed set by the cult
leader's followers destroyed their
prairie compound as federal agents
tried to drive them out with tear
gas.
Around 85 members of the
Branch Division religious sect, in-
cluding Koresh and 24 children,
were thought to have died in the
flames.
Bill introduced to ratify School Board seating
A local bill was introduced in
the North Carolina House
Wednesday by Rep. Edith Lutz of
Cleveland County asking ratifica-
tion of the Kings Mountain Board
of Education's plan to change an
inside seat on the board to at-large.
Board of Education Chairman
Ronnie Hawkins said the N. C.
Senate has alrcady passed the mea-
sure.
Hawkins said the plan has been
under study by the U. S. Justice
Department for 60 days.
"Once the General Assembly ap-
proves the plan we fecl that the
Justice Department will announce
its final decision by Junc which
will give the board a month before
filing opens in July,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins said the Bill is present-
ly in Local Government I commit-
tee but is expected to reach the
floor of the House on Friday for a
vole.
Three school board seats are up
for grabs in November, including
the current inside seat held by
Priscilla Mauncy which the board
wants to change to an at-large scat
open (o both inside city and outside
city residents of the Kings
Mountain School District; and the
outside city scats held by Hawkins
and recently resigned member
Billy Houze. The board is taking
applications for the new member
for the unexpired term held by
Houze and is expected to make the
appointment May 10.
Hawkins said that three people
picked up application forms at
Supt. Bob McRac's office this
week. Others interested have until
Monday at noon to apply.
City winding up work for new Firestone plant
Kings Mountain is winding
down its work on the big Firestone
project in Kings Mountain
Busincss Park.
City engincer Tom Howard said
that contractors arc cleaning pipe
and landscaping and touching up
manholes and concreting ledges on
manholes this week. Inspectors are
inspecting the manholes for proper
clevation and lamping the pipes,
checking for misalignment or gaps
in joints.
Gas crews installed pipe across
the frontage road to Firestone adja-
cent to Canterbury Road this week
and next week hope to run the gas
lines under the interstate where the
contractors arc putting in steel cas-
ing for the pipe to slide through.
Howard said that road crews
with the Dcpartment of
Transportation were hoping 10 start
graveling a frontage road from
Canterbury Road to the plant but
rain Wednesday ‘slowed the
Progress.
Howard said that city staff is
working to complete OSHA re-
quircments at the Pilot Creck
Treatment Plant. Handrails around
clarifiers and chlorine contact
chambers are being installed.
"We are getting into the heavy
maintenance scason now and con-
trolling vegetation growth,"