Vol. 107 No. 31
County’s first black
commissioner seated
7
TSA VR TI TI A YE
b
i pt
Mu
A
by
|
hs
3 \
HT Wa TPR Nar ll eg
:
(3
3
°
AN ¢
V/
ie
fv)
Thursday, August 3, 1995
= LoEo¥1A08
Local runners will carry the
football in the Coca Cola/Carolina
Panthers Run to History Monday at
4 p.m. and Tuesday at 9 a.m.
festivities in downtown Kings
Mountain.
Celebrity runners, including
Kings Mountain Mayor Scott
Neisler and Kings Mountain High
School varsity football players,
will participate in the Tuesday
morning run, taking the ball from
the Gaston County line to the KM
Antique Mall area on S.
Battleground Avenue, the same lo-
cation where the entourage will
come into town on Monday.
The hoopla promoting the
Panthers has been arranged locally
by the Cleveland Chamber.
Kings Mountain Chamber exec-
utive officer Jeannie Moore says
that local residents are sprucing up
downtown to show the historical
flavor of the area.
At least 10 local people will help
carry the ball in the two events ex-
pected to draw a large, crowd of
spectators.
Moore said each Chamber of
Commerce is planning celebrations
along the Panther's route from
| Charlotte to Clemson, SC for the
Panthers ' home opener.
In Kings Mountain, the ball will
also be taken to the local hospital
and nursing home by the Panthers
mascot who will be making the
first-ever public appearances dur-
ing the event.
"This is going to be a major hap-
pening," said Moore.
"It has the potential to touch a
lot of Cleveland County people and
involve them in the spirit of this
historic first game."
The entourage into Kings
Mountain will come in from
Gaston County on King Street, turn
onto S. Battleground at the over-
head bridge and stop in the center
of town. Several vendors will be
offering hot dogs and sandwiches,
including Griffin Drug and Sub
Station, and Coca-Cola will be dis-
tributing free Coca-Colas.
The entourage will be escorted
by four Harley Davidson riders
with Coca-Cola Contour Bottle
sidecars with the riders handing out
free Coca-Cola soft drinks, a mo-
torized diner that's really a remote
radio station and the WBT Panther
van. At all stops, fans can purchase
"Thrill on the Hill" packages,
which include a pair of game tick-
ets and commemorative t-shirts.
All proceeds go to Panthers
Charities.
The entourage will spend the
night in Kings Mountain Monday
and participate in the Kings
Mountain celebration at 9 a.m.
Tuesday.
The 135-mile Charlotte to
Clemson run begins with a pep
rally Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to
1 p.m. in the heart of Uptown
Charlotte at Trade and Tryon
Streets where Carolina Panthers
owner Jerry Richardson and sons
Mark and Jon will join a group of
dignitaries to hand the ball off to
the Panthers’ new mascot for the
first leg of the run.
From Charlotte, volunteer and
celebrity runners will carry the ball
through Gastonia and Kings
Mountain into South Carolina
through Blacksburg, Gaffney,
Spartanburg, Greer, Chreemville,
City workers Willie Inman, left, Carroll Sanders and Steve
Hamrick, forman of the Water/Wastewater Department, make repairs
after a main water line burst on Crocker Road early Saturday morn-
ing and left a 30 feet hole in the road.
Myers promoted to
Community service comes natu-
rally to Sgt. Bob Myers, who vol-
unteered as a city reserve officer
for seven years before he became a
full-time patrolman in June 1983
and a full-time officer in 1990.
This week Chief Bob Hayes pro-
moted the Kings Mountain native
to the rank of Sergeant.
"Bob does a good job and loves
his work," said Hayes.
Myers grew up in the Kings
Mountain Herald print shop, deliv-
ered newspapers at age nine and
then went to work at The Herald on
a full time basis after graduation
from Kings Mountain High School
in 1957. At one period in the
Herald's history, Bob. his brothers,
Bill, Allen and David all worked in
the Herald composing room and in
1970 Bob and Allen opened Myers
Printing in downtown Kings
Mountain which Bob still operates
on a part time basis.
"Paul Jackson, Red Walker and
Gene Matthews taught me the
ropes at The Herald and I worked
at the Mount Holly News (the
Herald's sister paper) for a while
before I got into my own business,"
said Bob.
One summer during a slow sea-
son at his local print shop Bob ex-
tended his volunteer service to the
local police department and he
found that he liked being a cop bet-
ter than he liked printing church
State prepares King Street
for next month’s repaving
State highway crews will soon
begin repaving of King Street in
Kings Mountain from one end of
the city to the other, according to
Public Works Superintendent Karl
Moss.
This week state highway crews
starting raising manholes and
valves and placed orange and white
signs which mean that drivers
should use caution in traveling
busy King Street, said Moss.
Moss said that paving probably
won't begin for about a month but
highway department crews are
making preparation.
Moss said he has been told that
the State Highway Department's
next project after the completion of
Highway 18 is King Street or
Highway 74 which runs through
Kings Mountain.
Moss said that King Street, from
the West at Pizza Hut to the East at
Canterbury Road, was last paved in
1988.
City crews have been working
for several weeks on the realign-
ment of Sims Street at First Baptist
Church.ion.
The State Department of
Transportation approved funding
for paving of 19 miles of sec-
ondary roads in Cleveland County
during fiscal year 1994-95 at cost
of $1.4 million; in 1996-97 of
10.57 miles at estimated cost of
$1.4 million and in 1997-98 of
10.81 miles of $1.5 million.
PANTHER PATH
Carolina Panthers Run to Clemson coming through KM next week
Easley and finally to Clemson for
an August 11 pep rally prior to run-
ning the ball on the field for the
home opener August 12 against the
Denver Broncos.
"The kind of spirit shown by the
local chambers of commerce
demonstrate that this team has won
the hearts of people all across the
Carolinas," said Hal Price, sports
marketing manager for the run
sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company.
"The enthusiasm has been
tremendous. It's going to be a lot of
fun and a great event to launch our
new affiliation with the Panthers."
The run will leave Charlotte
from the Charlotte Coliseum on
See Panters, 2-A
ime
ak eaves hospital,
other areas dry Friday night
A main water line on Crocker
Road burst shortly after midnight
Friday and left most of Kings
Mountain without water for a short
period while city workers scurried
to find valves in the dark.
Walt Ollis, Director of
Water/Wastewater for the City of
Kings Mountain, said that a mo-
torist apparently did not see the
30x20 feet hole cut by the break
and drove into it. When city police
and the highway patrol arrived they
found the driver sitting atop his ve-
hicle and unhurt. Clifford Lovelace
towed the vehicle, according to po-
lice.
sergeant
bulletins, club booklets and politi-
cal cards.
For Myers policing is a real
challenge and his philosophy is to
take one day at a time.
"I enjoy working with the public
and each call that a policeman
makes is different,” he said.
Myers said he has the opportuni-
ty to work with dedicated profes-
sionals and he highly recommends
law enforcement as a career for
young people.
Myers completed rookie school
at Shelby Police Department and
most recently was a patrolman in
Sgt. Derek Johnson's squad. When
See Myers, 2-A
Ollis said that almost all city
residents lost water for at least two
hours because of the high volume
of water shooting from the hole.
Workers shut down valves lead-
ing to the break about 1:30 a.m.
Saturday, according to Ollis.
* The road was closed this week
as city workers made the repairs to
the line. State road crews will also
be working to build up the road
from the base and replace asphalt.
"Just before the line was re-
paired Kings Mountain Hospital
was beginning to hurt for water
See Water, 2-A
remaining bills of the six-month ses-
"SGT. BOB MYERS
Inthe cool, cool, cool of the evening.
KM Mountaineers open football practice
y1ve 98082
er ——————tet—
quvaail 7 C6 VIZ 2/01
_pu-EVORNRAX ' -—
A
on INNO oR $ So
NIV
TAY OHS 31d. ea
gTaoWan * 0%
Kings Mountain, N.C. = 28086 + 50¢
Lawmakers rest
after historic,
lenghty sessions
Lawmakers this year legalized
carrying a concealed handgun with a
permit after December 1 and ordered
the Governor’s Crime Commission
to report to next year’s session of the
General Assembly on how the law is
working.
Rep. John Weatherly, Kings
Mountain Republican, said the action
came at the urging of the public.
“The pub-§
lic was clam
oring for this §
to be law,” he
said this week | ;
on his return f
home after}
adjournment f
of the historic
1995 session LL
dominated by fi
Republicans Sa
for the first]
time this cen- }
tury.
Other area
WEATHERLY
legislators are Rep. Debbie Clary, of
Shelby, Republican; Dr. Jack Hunt,
Democrat Representative, of
Lattimore; and Senator Dennis Clary,
Republican, also of Lattimore. Nei-
ther was available for comment at
The Herald’s presstime.
After passing the final budget
compromise Friday, lawmakers met
Saturday morning to complete the
y
tion is like me, ready fora vacation,”
said Weatherly, who said they will"
probably return to Raleigh several
times before the convening of the
1996 General Assembly in May.
“We were pleased that we had a
good session and the GOP majority
party proved that we could conduct
the business of the state in a fair and
orderly manner,” said Weatherly.
Weatherly said government
downsizing, eliminating a tax and
spend philosophy dominant for a
long time, and giving the people the
right to vote on veto power of the
governor were important adtions
taken by the General Assembly.
We repealed the intangibles tax
and cut income taxes considerably
but neglected to give community col-
leges a boost as the legislature had
promised about five years ago,” he
said.
Weatherly said the House ap-
proved more money for community
colleges but the Senate took a differ-
ent direction.
“We did downsize government
and cut back on some of the over
zealous regulations,’ he said.
Weatherly said there was a large
1 reduction of the federal government
in block grants to the state and once
the Supreme Court rules on the re-
districting of Districts 1 and 12 the
legislature may have to meet for a
special session.
Weatherly’s bills to enact auto-
mobile air bag disclosure and a video
rental later return measure are s
pending in the Senate. . Also pend-
See Law, 10-A
SS a san,
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Herndon only
candidate to file
The filing by incumbent Grover
councilman Jack Herndon was the
only area political activity of the
week with filing deadline two days
away. :
Herndon seeks reelection on the
board which will fill two commis-
sioner seats and elect a mayor.
Incumbent Mayor Ronald Queen
has also filed for reelection.
The quietness of the: current
election season in Kings Mountain
bothers elections chairman Becky
Cook, who said that she can't recall
a quieter political season in this
area which usually finds many can-
didates seeking offices particularly
in a year when the mayor's seat is
up for grabs.
A contest has developed inthe
mayor's race between Mayor Scott
Neisler and former commissioner
Jim Childers and there is a three
person race for the at-large seat
now held by Norma Bridges.
Challenging Bridges are Wendell
Bunch, James Norris ahd Ronnie
Grigg.
Bunch, a newcomer to politics
and owner and operator of Town
‘and Country BBQ, s
statement this week that he has his
own agenda for improvements in
the city, including projects to keep
from raising taxes.
He pledged to seek fair and eq-
uitable: treatment for all city em-
ployees and said that department
heads should answer to the city
manager, rather than individual
council members.
In Kings Mountain incumbent
Phil Hager has filed in Ward 1 and
incumbent Phil Guyton has filed in
Ward 2.
The Board of Education race in
Kings Mountain has also held little
interest apparently for candidates
other than’incumbents. Shearra
Miller and B. S. Peeler have both
filed for reelection to the two in-
side city seats they hold.
The filing deadline is Friday at
noon. Kings Mountain candidates
must file with Becky Cook, 717
Meadowbrook Road, 739-3950.
Cleveland County candidates
and those seeking the two inside
seats on the Kings Mountain Board
of Education seats must file with
Debra Blanton, Cleveland County
Board of Elections, 484-4858.
HERNDON
SHERRY HAMRICK
Sherry Hamrick leaving Crisis Ministry
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
Sherry Hamrick said she prayed that God would
show her where to serve Him and she found that call-
ing in the Kings Mountain Crisis Ministry.
Her personality fits her job as Director of the Kings
Mountain Ministerial Association-sponsored program
since July 1990.
Hamrick, 48, who is resigning on September 1 to
be a full-time grandmother, not only distributes mon-
ey to help the less fortunate but has been a willing lis-
tener and counselor to the hundreds who seek help in
temporary crisis situations.
According to Hamrick there is no easy answer to the
growing problems of hurting people and she says they
are all around us. She said her faith has become even
stronger during her service as director and before that
as a volunteer at the Food Bank. She says that it will
but she will continue to pray
be hard "to walk away"
and encourage the unchurched to become active in a
church.
ments.
During the first six months of this year 276 people
came to Sherry at the Community Center for help. A
total of 311 people were given food and $1,666.38 was
paid for rent for I'l families and $1.049.50 was paid
for medicine for 17 people. In addition, crisis money
included $8,799.98 to 87 people for help in utility pay-
The hardest part of her job was saying no to the 78
people turned down during the last six months who ap-
plied for funds. Applicants arc screened and some-
times it takes 10 calls about a client before approval 1s
given, says Hamrick.
"Money is donated by churches. individuals and the
United Way for the truly needy people and frankly |
used to get lied to alot from some individuals who
came to me with sad stories that I believed.”
she said.
See Sherry, 2-A
id ina fling} «0
1
{
{
AO