' Charles Webber, who resigned to
VOL. 106 NO. 3 . :
Thursday, January 20, 1994
KM, county chambers merge
A merger between the Kings Mountain
Chamber of Commerce and Cleveland County
Chamber was announced Tuesday night at the
annual C of C banquet at Kings Mountain
Middle School.
Leaders of both groups hailed the partnership
arrangement as a move to unify their collective
services for the future growth of this county.
Wade Tyner Jr., president of the local
Chamber, and Ruby M. Alexander, past presi-
dent, said they have been working with county
officials for some time on the venture.
Friday, the local board of directors voted
unanimously for the new partnership, and
Tuesday the Cleveland County board voted
unanimously for the partnership. :
Tyner said the bold action was a giant step
for Kings Mountain. He said officers for both
organizations are optimistic about the opportu-
a
Bagley city's new
personnel director
Winston Bagley of Concord has
been hired as the City of Kings
gee. | Mountain's
Wm |Personnel
Director, effec-
tive January 31.
City Manager
George Wood
said Bagley's an-
nual salary is
$27,643.38.
Bagley
- i is currently em-
BAGLEY ployed with
Philip Morris in Concord as a
Training Facilitator and prior to
that was Associate Dean of
Financial Aid, Veteran's Affairs
and Minority Affairs for Gaston
College for six years. He dealt with
pers¢znel matters in both of these
capacities: In addition, he has been
a Sociology instructor at Gaston
College and a social worker in
Gaston County.
Wood said that "Bagley comes
highly recommended both by per-
sonnel administrators at Gaston
College and by leaders in the edu-
cation and civic fields."
Bagley holds a B.S. degree in
Social Work from Western
Carolina University in 1980 and a
Master of Social Work from the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1984.
Bagley becomes the city's sec-
ond personnel director, succeeding
accept similar employment in
Monroe.
nity for sharing resources to maximize service
to all members.
Tyner said there would be no dues increases
for Kings Mountain members this year. The
present officers and directors of the KM
Chamber are unchanged for the new year.
With the merger, effective April 1, the cur-
rent Chamber will be the Kings Mountain
Branch of Cleveland County Chamber. Current
offices of the KM Chamber are the red caboose
at the the Depot. Cleveland County Chamber's
office will be called the Main Office and is lo-
cated in Shelby.
"I believe with all my heart that history will
prove this partnership to be the very best oppor-
tunity possible for both organizations," said
Tyner. "It will enhance services and benefits to
the members of both Chambers and all the citi-
zens of Cleveland County."
Jim Crawley, chairman of the board for
Cleveland County Chamber, said,"T am pleased
and excited with the spirit of cooperation we
have developed and look forward to our collec-
tive efforts as we strive to better serve the total
membership. I believe this partnership. will be
positive for business and industry in Cleveland
County."
Alexander said she thinks the partnership
will be good for Kings Mountain.
"Back when the Chamber was organized it
was more of a Merchants Association to give
credit reports to merchants extending credit to
customers," said Alexander. "Now, all the sav-
ings and loans and banks have their own com-
puters tied directly with the credit bureau and
they don't use our services anymore."
See Chamber, 5-A
Ronnie Wilson, left, Assistant Superintendent for School Personnel, greets Dr. Sam Houston, the speak-
er at Tuesday night's annual banquet of Kings Mountain Chamber of Commerce.
‘Houston: Schools must prepare
students for different vocations
Houston said that youth will be working in the 21st
century in micro-electronics, robotics, software devel-
opment, and telecommunication, among other areas of
high-tech jobs. % ¢
"Go to the high school and look at thd kids todjy
The governor's executive director of the commission
charged to set the standards students should achieve
for a high school diploma charged Kings Mountain ed-
ucators Tuesday to prepare a work force for the 21st
century which will be “an entirely different place with
Ward Kellum files
for county sheriff
Retired N.C. Highway
Patrolman Ward Kellum said this
week that if he is
elected Sheriff of
Cleveland
County that he
will push for re-
structuring of the
Sheriff's
Department,
: guarantee fair
: : non-partisan
= $558 equal opportunity
KELLUM hiring practices
and base promotions on merit and
performance, not just seniority.
Kellum, a former law enforce-
ment officer for 30 years who re-
tired as First Sergeant with the
Highway Patrol, made the remarks
in a filing statement Wednesday.
"I am not indebted to anyone
and therefore I can make a serious
effort to make these campaign
promises come true,” he said.
Kellum spent 20 years of his law
enforcement career in supervisory
capacity and administration. He
pointed to his experience in such
areas as planning, coordinating and
supervising district-wide DWI
Task Forces involving numerous
departments, specialized training
and supervisory experience in han-
dling major disasters such as hurri-
canes, tornadoes and mock nuclear
exercises and training and exten-
sive experience in the investigation
of patrol applicants and internal
complaints.
Kellum said that if he is elected
that he will make every effort, di-
rectly and indirectly, to bring about
solutions to the drug problems and
violence occurring in our commu-
nities.
an entirely different look."
Dr. Sam Houston of Raleigh, Kings Mountain native
and a 1962 graduate of Kings Mountain High School,
the speaker for the annual Chamber of Commerce ban-
quet, said that only by preparing a work force
equipped with technological skills will bring the com-
munity economic development.
By the year 2000, Houston said that job skills will
require at least two years of after-high school educa-
tion and only about 15 percent of jobs will be available
for unskilled laborers. He said teachers should teach
students to read, write, computate, problem solve,
work in teams and operate all: forms of technology.
and find out about the skills they are learnitig to do and
go to the board of education and demand they get
these skills," said Houston.
"Today Japan and Germany are ahead of the United
States in technological skills, in the quality of the
products they produce, on time delivery of goods and
other services."
"The Chamber of Commerce makes a tremendous
difference in communities,” said Houston, who served
on the Mooresville Chamber four years and was a past
president.
See Houston, 4-A
Republican Congressional candidate David Balmer opened his Cleveland County headquarters in Kings
Mountain Wednesday. From left, Rep. John Weatherly of Kings Mountain, Mr. and Mrs. David Balmer,
and N.C. Senate candidate Dennis Davis.
Jim Crawley, chairman of Cleveland County Chamber, Ruby
Alexander, past president and Wade Tyner, president of Kings
Mountain Chamber of Commerce, and Peggy Bridges, president of
Cleveland County Chamber, were leaders in a merger of the two orga-
nizations.
WEATHER CRISIS
100 homes lose natural gas
on coldest night of the year
Hand-digging 170 feet of two-
inch gas line on North Piedmont
Avenue in frigid eight degree tem-
peratures Saturday was undoubted-
ly the toughest job that members of
Kings Mountain Natural Gas
Department have undertaken.
Utility Director Jimmy Maney -
had high praise for the seven work-
ers who worked with him from 3
p.m. Saturday to 12 noon on
Sunday to restore gas to 100 homes
north of Chestnut Ridge Road, por-
tions of Highiway 216, Scism Road,
Oak Grove Road and Gold Run
Community.
Maney's home in Gold Run was
also without heat. His wife, Cathy
and their four-months-old daugh-
ter, Amber, who was ill with flu,
took shelter at the home of her par-
ents. Luckily, some residents who
heated with gas had alternate fuel
and fireplaces. At least one elderly
resident spent the night at a Red
Cross shelter at Oak Grove
Volunteer Fire Department.
"As soon as we got the first call
about pressure being low in dryers
at Tom's Family Mart on Oak
Grove Road, we knew we had a
problem," said Maney.
Maney and Ricky Putnam, Lee
Perry, John Clemmer, Steve
Greene, Carroll Sanders, Willie
Inman &n¢ “ohnny Putnam discov-
ered quickly that regulators and
meter 2quipment were not the
probleta. Everything appeared to
be working.
Aftcr checking underground
valves to be sure that none was
closed, the employees went door to
door checking services, breaking
down meters and checking on who
had pressure.
Maney said after a process of
elimination, the problem was found
between two houses on the main
line above the Public Works
Building on North Piedmont
Avenue. A bypass line had to be
dug but first the gas meters had to
be turned off at all the houses
along the route and purge points
had to be established to bleed the
line to get the air out.
Maney said the line wasn't leak-
ing. He didn't blame the gas failure
on the weather.
Maney said about 18 months ago
a private, contractor put in a tele-
phone line and hit a water and ‘gas
line on North Piedmont Avenue.
Water flooded mud into the line
and over a period of time because
of the chemical makeup of the nat-
ural gas, it was able to dissipate
that moisture and left dirt. Adding
to the problem was the load on the
line pulling off the system
After hand-digging the by-pass
line, the workers hooked an air
compressor to the line and blew
out the dirt.
Hampering the operation was
the temperature which started
plummeting Saturday. Because
there were three major telephone
lines and one 12-inch water line in
the vicinity, everything had to be
hand dug. "You can't hit a 12 inch
water line in ‘cold temperatures like
we had Saturday,” said Maney.
After the line was dug up it only
took a few hours to do the repairs
but by that time it was nightfall and
residents in the areas had gone to
other homes or used an alternate
fuel, such as fireplaces.
Once the repairs were in place,
workers had to return to all 100
homes in the affected area to turn
the gas back on and light the fur-
naces and hot water heaters.
"We tried to get to those homes
See Gas, 8-A
Balmer declares candidacy,
opens headquarters in KM
Calling for a crackdown on vio-
lent crime and an end to wasteful
government spending, State House
Republican Minority Leader David
Balmer Wednesday declared his
candidacy for the United States
Congress before a crowd of enthu-
siastic constituents gathered at his
new Cleveland County Campaign
Headquarters on Waco Road in
Kings Mountain.
"The juvenile crime wave is ex-
ploding in our region,” said
Balmer. "Turn on your TV tonight.
It is rare if you don't see another
random crime by a juvenile - a 12
or 16-year-old criminal who has
learned to kill before they learn to
shave."
Balmer, 31, called for a crack-
down on criminals, including re-
quiring criminals to serve their sen-
tences, giving three-time felons:
mandatory life in prison and build-
ing more military-style boot
camps. He also laid a plan to tackle
the root causes of crime.
"We must have a new plan to
prevent these child criminals from
developing in the first place,” said
Balmer. "I plan to introduce a new
proposal to give businesses a tax
credit for building at-risk youth
centers in low-income neighbor-
hoods, which will be an important
first step in getting at the root
cause of crime."
Cutting taxes, slashing spending
and reforming Congress were also
at the top of Balmer's agenda.
"I am committed to making gov-
ernment run like a business,” said
Balmer. "America has many well-
run, successful businesses, unfortu-
nately, our federal government is
not one of them. Our government
needs to run like a business, with a
balanced budget and without gov-
emment waste."
Balmer launched his campaign
by hblding announcement railies in
Mecklenburg, Gaston and
Cleveland Counties. He said if he
is elected that he will open a 9th
District Congressional office in
Kings Mountain.
Since Congressman Alex
See Balmer, 5-A