Woman lawyer
opens KM office
Kevin Mack retires
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Thursday, July 22, 1993
Kings Mot .. 28086 «50¢
The search for Viengkeo Sinnorai, 34, who is be-
lieved drowned in Moss Lake, has been called off un-
til Saturday at 8 a.m.
Investigators ended the search Tucsday at dark af-
ter completing two complete searches of the area
where he disappeared after jumping in the lake
Sunday at 8:15 p.m. to rescue his nine-ycar-old
daughter who fell from their boat.
Chief Warren Goforth has led the rescue effort
which at times included up to 75 people from various
rescue squads, fire departments, police, the Civil Air
i Hone i Patrol, the North Carolina Wildlife Department and
Ja Eee eT ! I deputies from surrounding counties dragging the lake
ali SE Rs 7 trying to locate the body. The American Red Cross
was also at the scene.
"It may be awhile before the body surfaces,” said
Captain Bob Hayes. He said investigators were told
that Sinnorai was an excellent swimmer but they
think he either panicked during his rescue attempt or
was struck by his boat which continued to circle
while he and his daughter were in the water,
Rescue personnel from several Cleveland County units drag Moss Lake for the body of Viengkeo
i . Sinnorai, presumed drowned after diving into the water in an attempt to save his daughter from drowning
Sunday.
| Harris-Teeter, Carolina State
i victims of robbery last week
Paquito R. Brown, 873 Radio St, Gastonia, has
been charged with the Thursday armed robbery of
Harris-Teeter Inc.
Kings Mountain police and the FBI are checking
- out leads in the Carolina State Bank robbery which
occurred Friday.
Det. Billy Benton said he will serve the warrant
on Brown in Gaston County Jail where Brown is be-
ing held on similar charges. Benton said police have
two other suspects in the super market robbery and
' are continuing their investigations into both rob-
_ beries.
The bank robbery at eight minutes until 2 p.m.
‘Friday marked the second bank heist in Cleveland
“oun days. South Trust Bank in Fallston
as robbed last Wednesday by a lone robber.
An undisclosed amount of money was taken by a
black man in his early 20's who entered the Carolina
State Bank on East Gold Street and handed a teller a
note that said "You have five seconds to put money
in a bag or I will pull my gun"
The suspect never produced a gun, said police.
After taking money, he went out the east side of the
bank and ran toward the stoplight at East Gold and
Gaston Streets. Police said there was one customer at
the window when the robbery happened.
The suspect is described as five feet, seven inches
tall, weighing 150 pounds and wearing a Chicago
Bulls baseball cap with black t-shirt, white silk-type
zip up jacket and light colored pants. He wore
wraparound black rimmed dark tinted sunglasses and
black tennis shoes. The teller said she had a customer
at the drive-through window. "I'll be with you in a
minute,” she told the man.
A gunman grabbed two employees of Harris-
Teeter as they locked up Thursday night at 11:24
p.m. and with two others forced the man and woman
back into the store and cleaned out the cash drawers
See Robbery, 3-A
warehouse.
COVERING KINGS MOUNTAIN - The Goodyear Blimp, which is seen almost daily
on TV covering some major sporting event, flew over Kings Mountain on its way south
Monday afternoon.
Spears joins race for City Council
intentions to seek reelection.
Rock Hill,SC.
is the son of the late Goldman and
Ruth Spears and is a graduate of
Kings Mountain High School. He
is a veteran of the Navy in the
‘Korean Conflict. Mrs. Spears, the
former Betty Watterson, is on the
staff of Kings Mountain Family
Practice and Dr. Scott Mayse. They
have two children, Robin Spears
and Mike Spears and three grand-
children. They are active in First
Baptist Church.
A four-man race developed for
the At-Large seat on Kings
Mountain City Council Tuesday
when political newcomer Dean
Spears, of 301 Maner Rd., an-
nounced his candidacy.
Spears filing was the only politi-
cal activity during the week.
Spears joins former mayor Kyle
Smith, Jerry Mullinax and Frank
Brackett, who seek to unseat Al
Moretz, who has not announced his
To date, 11 people seek four
seats open on City Council. Other
‘candidates are: Ward 3, Gilbert
Hamrick, Charlie Smith, Elvin
Greene and Gary Joy; Ward 4, Jim
Childers; and Ward 5, Rick
Murphrey and Fred Finger.
A Kings Mountain native,
Spears owns and operates Dean
Spears Construction Company. He
Cullman, AL.
DEAN
SPEARS
‘ The new manager, of Kings
Mountain, has been in the furniture
business since 1970. She has two
children; Gregory Coprider, man-
ager of the Badcock store in
Gaffney, SC and Vickie Mixon of
Florida; and three grandchildren.
This week the 19,000 square feet
of floor space in the Kings
Mountain store was being stocked
with name brand furnitures with
special departments devoted to
electronics and floor covering. It is
the 310th Badcock store in the
country, the second in Cleveland
County and the 12th in North
Carolina. Badcock has operated a
store in Shelby for nine years and
also operates stores in York,SC and
From its modest beginnings in
1904, Badcock now has 300 stores
in the South with large distribution
centers having multi-million dollar
inventories in Mulberry and Live
Oak, Florida, Thomson, GA and
With $1.78 of his own in his
pocket and $100 from his father,
22-year-old Wogan Stanhope
Badcock Sr. became the proud
owner of his own furniture store in
1920. His father, Henry Stanhope
Badcock who founded the business
See Badcock, 3-A
Search is called off for man
feared drowned in Moss Lake
City Manager George Wood said that searchers
made a complete search of the area and started over
Tuesday. "Given the depth of the water and the ob-
structions in it, it's possible they missed it the first
time around," said Wood. He said a command post
has been manned at the lake since the accident oc-
curred Sunday night.
Wood said the city can't say enough about the fine
rescue teams who have come out to join the search
for the missing man. He said rescue workers and
divers searched the area of the lake near Zeb Cline
farm all day Monday, leaving the water only during a
thunderstorm and at nightfall.
"What a tragedy," said Wood, who said that the
last person to drown in city-owned Moss Lake was in
1984.
Police say that Sinnorai disappeared into Moss
Lake about 8:15 p.m. Sunday after he jumped near
Zeb Cline farm road in an effort to save his daughter,
See Missing, 3-A
Badcock opens
at West Gate
Badcock Home Furnishing
Centers, one of the Southeast's
largest distributors of furniture, ap-
pliances, floor covering and home
entertainment items, has opened a
new, family-owned retail business
at 1316 Shelby Road, the old
TG&Y location.
Dee Holland, manager, said the
{ grand opening celebration will be
held July 28-31 with a ribbon.cat-.
tingonJuly30atllam. = |
Local people hired this week’ in-
clude Tom Tate Jr., sales and credit
manager; Kathy Ladd, office; and
Scott Waters and Jeffrey Allison,
Steak house
to open here
Hungry Bull Steak House at the
corner of King Street and Piedmont
Thursday morning at 11 am.
Ken and Linda Hamyick, King
ountain residents w
in the restaurant business 25 years
and who own and operate Silver
Express and three shopping cen-
ters, own and will operate the busi-
ness.
Hamrick said the restaurant will
be open six days a week from 11
a.m.-11 p.m. and will feature a sal-
ad bar, hot bar, dessert bar and
menu selections which include
prime rib dinners ordered from ei-
ther a big family dining room or a
private lounge. Hamrick said that
no alcoholic drinks will be served
in the family room which will ac-
commodate 150 people. The pri-
vate lounge has a separate en-
trance.
The business will employ 30
people and Hamrick is taking ap-
plications and looking for an expe-
rienced manager and experienced
‘waiters/waitresses.
Hamrick plans in the next few
weeks to add a buffet breakfast on
Saturday and Sunday.
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilburn
Hamrick of Kings Mountain, Ken
Hamrick got in the restaurant busi-
ness at the old Sonic Restaurant
and also operated Silver Villa for a
number of years. He bought the
Silver Express complex which in-
cludes a number of businesses on
East King Street. He and his wife
and daughter, Crystal, have reno-
vated the old steak house in the
center of town which they bought
recently at auction.
See Steak House, 3-A
Avenue will open for business|
ho have been
New Bridgestone/Firestone
M8 he | plant dedicated Wednesday
Jaggy Anand, president of the Firestone Fibers & Textiles Company, addresses the crowd attending the
dedication ceremonies of the $20 million Kings Mountain plant last Wednesday. On the platform, other
speakers and dignitaries, left to right, Trevor Hoskins, M. Ono, chief executive officer, Porter McAteer,
Gaston county commissioner, Rowe Henderson, local plant manager, Dale Guthrie, North Carolina
Commerce Secretary Davis Phillips and Dr. Nobuya Yoshimura, director and vice-president for research
and development, Bridgestone Corporation.
year."
)
4
Tl AT ll a A a a RR A TE alot om ah
"An example of what local, state
and international investors can do”
is how Commerce Secretary Davis
S. Phillips described the new $20
million tire cord and industrial fab-
rics plant in Kings Mountain at the
dedication last Wednesday.
Jaggy Anand, president of
Firestone Fibers
Company, said "thc opening of the
Kings Mountain plant is a land-
mark for Bridgestone/Firestone and
the United Rubber Workers. The
plant has a very simple and pro-
gressive contract reached after dis-
cussions between management and
URW Local 1133. With this con-
tract, we go from 80 job classifica-
tions (0 just two in manufacturing
and three in maintenance and the
plant will operate 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 360 days a
Anand said the technology of the
Hl pe RL tarts ad es
Kings Mountain plant is the latest
and best in the world. "The new
airjct looms are the linchpin of the
cntirc manufacturing line," he said.
Anand said the plant has adopted
a totally new way of doing busi-
ness. Plant associates will operate
in sclf-dirceted cells with multiple
skills organized in tcams. Through
team-based management, they will
participate in decision-making and
production, quality and cost im-
provements. Management's role
will be to coordinate and partici-
pate rather than supervise or dele-
gate.
Chief exccutive officer
Masatoshi Ono told the audience of
300 that global production was be-
ing localized to insure that cach
market was best served and that
cmployment and investment con-
tributed to the local economy. "The
See Firestone, 2-A
& Textiles
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