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Kings Mountain, NC
sO IST 0 I
Young girl's dea
The parents of a six-year-old
child who died Thursday when she
was struck by a truck on West King
and Watterson Streets want new
signs which state "Slow, Kids
Playing" put up US 74/King Street
West at the playground area near
West School.
Mike and Shirley Wells, of 503
West Mountain St., parents of
Bobbie Jean Wells, said traffic
| slows during the school zone to 20
m.p.h. but after school hours the
area is a 35 m.p.h. zone.
Kings Mountain Police Chief
{Warren Goforth said that investiga-
Parents want safety signs erected
tion is continuing into the fatality
and a full report will be given to
District Attorney Bill Young.
Goforth said that Alan Dean
Cray, 36, of 601 Meadowbrook
Rd., was driving a 1984 Dodge
truck which struck the child who
witnesses said was running from a
playground at West School onto
King Street. The child was struck
by the front tire and the rear tire of
the truck ran over her, according to
the report filed by Sgt. Melvin
Proctor.
See Lights, 3-A
h took ray of sunshine
of our life," said the doting father.
Tuesday, the grieving parents sat on their tree-lined
porch directly across the street from West School and
talked about their miracle baby. Bobby Michael and
Shirley Carroll Wells had Bobbie when they were in
their late 30's, - when their four children by previous
marriages were already teenagers.
"We were told that Shirley could not have another
baby but when she became pregnant at age 35 we were
delighted," said Mike. Doctors had told them the new
baby would be a girl and they had picked out Carrie
Ann for a name and then settled on Bobbie Jean, part
of both of their names.
Bobbie Jean had other ideas for a name, however,
she told her West School classmates. She dressed up in
her mothers’ clothes and makeup and called herself
Tiffany. When she grew up she wanted to be a country
music singer like Reba Mcintyre. On the last day of
her life when she started out to play with her cousins
See Death, 3-A
Like most adorable little girls, Bobbie Jean Wells, 6,
was the apple of her daddy's eye.
Her mother watched her beautiful blonde-blue eyed
daughter read and even write "I Love You" all over the
house and feared the worst for the unsuspecting lov-
able child who never met a stranger.
"We walked her to school and tried to keep her
safe," said Shirley Wells, 41.
On Thursday, Bobbie Jean died after being hic by a
truck just after 7 p.m. on King Street between the in-
tersection of Watterson and Goforth Streets behind
West Elementary School, a short distance from her
house at 503 West Mountain Street.
Because her family thinks she would definitely ap-
prove, they donated her eyes to help a child who needs
them.
"Bobbie Jean loved life and if her eyes can help an-
other child to see all the things she loved, that's what
we want," said Mrs. Wells.
"We had six years with her and it was the best years
Sex ed
curriculum
discussed
Some Middle School parents
said Tuesday night they may not
send their children to the opening
classes on Monday in the "Revised
Course of Study for Healthful
Living" in grades 6-8.
Health Coordinator Cindy
Borders told a crowd of at times
angry parents at the Middle School
that two or three weeks of lessons
for middle school students will
start Monday. = =
But Borders and health teachers
said that students can be excused
from the classes and will be given
alternate assignments.
"But will they be red-flagged?"
asked Melony Bolin.
The Health Council, bowing to
pressures of parents, will separate
the boys’ from the girls for the
anatomy portion of the 7th grade
lesson material which deals with
the sex. education, although
Borders said she disapproves of
that change.
Borders said that the boys and
girls will be separated for the entire
four to five days of instruction in
fifth grades. Male teachers will
teach boys and female teachers will
See SEX ED, 3-A
CMHA running Kings Mountain Hospital
The new Operations Director ‘of
Kings Mountain Hospital, Hank
Neal, said she always wanted to get
to know people in Kings Mountain
since her mother was reared here.
Neal's mother, Henriette Neal,
and her aunt, Martha Kershaw,
daughters of cotton broker Paul
Manget, have fond memories of
growing up in Kings Mountain, ac-
cording to Neal who joined the lo-
cal hospital staff Monday.
Walking the halls and meeting
the staff, Neal said she already felt
"right at home" and had found
BOBBIE gIAN WELLS
KM Hall
The seventh annual Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of Fame ban-
quet and induction ceremony will
be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the
Kings Mountain Community
Center.
Jeff Mullins, head men's basket-
ball coach at UNC-Charlotte and
former All-American at Duke and
Oe ny be the guest
speaker. Tickets are $10 and are
available at the Kings Mountain
Herald, Carolina State Bank and
McGinnis Department Store.
Tickets will also be available at the
door.
Inductees include Grace Neisler
Page, who was the North Carolina
Woman's Open Skeet Shooting
Champion in 1935 and 1936; Zeb
Plonk, a baseball and football
standout at Kings Mountain High
School and N.C. State College in
] the 1920s; Jimmy Littlejohn, Kings
am Mountain Pop Warner football
CL coach for 35 years; and the 1955
KMHS football team which won
the school's first-ever conference
Grover parent Tom Sees, standing, speaks in opposition to the sex education portion of the school's
health curriculum during a parent meeting Tuesday night at Kings Mountain Middle School.
great support from local people.
Her job for a year will be to com-
plete an operational assessment
and strategy plan for the hospital
‘which is having cash flow prob-
lems.
Kings Mountain Hospital Board
of Trustees Friday approved a one-
year management contract with
the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Hospital Authority to run day-to-
day operations.
"There comes a time when it is
tough on everybody and this is one
of those times," said J. C. Bridges,
chairman of the hospital board. He
said the financially-troubled hospi-
tal has been the concern of the
board and prompted the signing of
a new management contract Friday.
Bridges was out of town
Monday but was at the hospital
Tuesday morning to welcome Neal
to Kings Mountain.
Bridges presided at the Friday
afternoon special meeting which
was the last day on the job for
nine-year veteran administrator
See Hospital, 6-A
City Council tackling serious financial problems
Kings Mountain is facing a fi-
nancial crisis, due largely to dimin-
ished fund balances in the utility
departments over at least a four-
year period.
How does the city come up with
money to pay the monthly bills on
time and budget enough for re-
serves?
That was the question put to
Mayor Scott Neisler and the seven
members of the board of city com-
missioners Saturday and Sunday
by newly-named Interim City
Manager Maxine Parsons during a
planning retreat that focused on the
city's current financial crisis.
Parsons said the financial fore-
cast is bleak and can be blamed on
a number of reasons, largely the di-
minished fund balances in the utili-
ty departments.
"We have a serious cash flow
problem," said Parsons, opening
the Council's Saturday retreat and
report of department heads at
Gardner Webb University.
"When we owe city vendors
$243,924 in July '93 and have only
$4,857 and no reserves in the gen-
eral fund we can't pay our bills,"
said Parsons. She said the months
of January and February accounted
for the largest jump in the amount
owed by the city.
"The City had a negative cash
balance at the end of March of
$300,000 after we paid our largest
bond payment of $600,000," said
Parsons, alluding to the $9.3 mil-
lion bond referendum passed by
citizens for major utility improve-
ments.
Parsons said the Local
Government Commission suggests
$360,000 in reserves for a $4.5
See Problems, 5-A
Taxes, utility rates will probably be raised
The bad news from last week-
end's planning retreat by City
Council will affect your pocket-
book.
City taxes will probably be
raised four cents in the 1994-95
budget year at a May 3 work ses-
sion on the budget. This would be
the first tax hike in many years.
Your cost of electricity will
probably go up five percent.
If you live in Kings Mountain,
that refreshing glass of water and
that relaxing hot bath will get more
expensive.
Water and sewer rates are ex-
pected to go up, both for industry
and residential customers.
Expected rates could be as much as
7 percent for residential customers
and 8 percent for industry and in-
clude a three percent pass-along
rate from Gastonia for the cost of
sewage treatment at the Crowders
Creek plant. Council authorized
Interim Manager Maxine Parsons
to look at options as she begins
work on a projected budget for
1994-95.
See Tax Rate, 3-A
championship in football. Coach
Shu Carlton will speak on behalf of
the team.
"This is shaping up to be one of
our best banquets yet," said Hall of
Fame President Carl Champion.
"We invite everyone to come out
and help us honor these outstand-
ing athletes and coaches."
Jay Rhodes, Hall of Fame trea-
surer, will serve as Master of
Ceremonies. The very popular Bee
Sharps, who recently sang at a
Charlotte Hornets game, will sing
the National Anthem.
In addition to the inductions, the
Hall of Fame will also honor the
1993 KMHS baseball and men's
swim teams with its annual Special
Achievement Award. Both of those
teams won the state championship
last year.
HANK NEAL
of Fame
set Monday night
The plaques of former Hall of
Fame winners will be on display
before and after the ceremony.
Plaques can be seen at other times
at Mauney Memorial Library.
Previous Hall of Fame inductees
include Jake Early, Kevin Mack,
George Adams, John Moss, Marge
Crisp, Jim Dickey, Pat Murphy, the
1964 KMHS football team, George
Harris, Charlie Ballard, Don
Parker, Toby Williams, Jim
Kimmell, John Gamble, Ken Baity,
Red Ormand, Otis Cole, Eugene
Goforth, Shu Carlton, Richard
Gold, Freddy Smith, Coman Falls
and the 1945 KMHS men's basket-
ball team.
Previous winners of the Special
Achievement Award include the’
1988 KMHS girls tennis team, the
1989 KMHS baseball team, the
1990 KMHS golf team, the 1991 °
KMHS soccer team, and KMHS
wrestling coach Steve Moffitt.
Members of the Hall of Fame
committee are Carl Champion,
president; Gary Stewart, vice-pres-
ident; Lucille Williams, secretary;
Jay Rhodes, treasurer; and board
members Darrell Austin, Jonas
Bridges, Dennis Hicks, Mearl
Valentine, John McGinnis, Charlie
Burns, Bruce Clark, and Ruby
Alexander.
Anyone wishing to nominate
someone for future induction into
the Hall of Fame may contact any
of the above. The following eligi-
bility requirements apply:
-The person must be at least 26
years old or must be eight years out
of high school.
-The person must be a native of
the Kings Mountain School
District (Kings Mountain, Grover
or Bethware), or must have lived in
the district at the time of his or her
athletic achievements.
Facilitators Jack Vogt, Debra Henzey and Charlie Horne, left to right, led the city's planning retreat
last weekend. Interim City Manager Maxine Parsons posts departmental requests on the board.