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Vol. 107 No. 37
Thursday, September 21, 1995
Kings Moun
in, N.C. ¢ o
City Council ponders natural gas increase
Natural gas customers of the city can expect their
gas bills to be higher with October bills if City Council
passes on, as expected, a 3 to 5 percent transportation
cost to firm customers.
Still up in the air is who will pay for the cost of 500
mcf's per day of gas to be bought at cost of $33,000 to
assure industrial users on the city's interruptible rate
they will have plenty of gas in the cold winter months.
The city utilities committee will recommend at
Tuesday night's 7:30 p.m. City Council meeting that
Council pass on the increased transportation costs, the
hike which equates to the 17 percent "revenue neutral
increase” from Transcontinental Pipeline Corporation
Last month the utilities committee indicated the cost
of the additional gas would be spread across the board
with all users of gas picking up the tab, approximately
$3 per customer.
Finance Director Maxine Parsons said after
Monday's meeting of the utilities committee that
"$33,000 is cost of the product and should be shared
by everyone buying gas."
Parsons said that industry is now paying more for
gas than the most recent rate study recommended that
industry pay and that a higher rate for residential users
had been recommended several years ago by consul-
tants but city management did not take the recommen-
The three big users of city natu-
ral gas on the interruptible rate
schedule told the city utilities com-
mission Monday in no uncertain
terms they had no choice but to
switch to fuel oil this winter if the
city cuts off the juice.
Hubert Johnson, Spectrum's cor-
porate engineer, Ernest Rome of
Anvil Knitwear and Marty Bailey
for firm transportation.
The gas wholesale rate to the city went up
September 1.
Williams
hearing
October 9
Robert Williams, the often-times
controversial member on the Board
of Social Services, will get his day
in "court" October 9 as he presents
his case for staying on the board to
the board that appointed him, the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners.
County commissioners Tuesday
night set the date of the hearing for
October 9 at 7 p.m. in the
Commissioners Chambers at the
County Administrative Offices,
to respond to questions.
Williams was told he must step
down from the Social Services
Board at meeting of the county
board several months ago but
Williams has refused, stating that
by law he can't te removed until
his term expires.
Williams says the board has no
grounds to dismiss him.
The October 9 meeting will be a
continuation of the regularly
scheduled October 3 of the county
board, Dickson said. ?
Meantime, Williams has faxed
several pieces of correspondence to
Lorene Rogers, Director of Social
Services, with copies to the news-
paper, questioning the board on at
least 10 points he wants to get a re-
sponse to at Monday afternoon's 4
p.m. meeting at the county office
building in Shelby. The public is
invited.
See Williams page 3A
Larry Rountree
lucky man
Larry Rountree, Clevemont
Mills employee, is a lucky man.
Not only did he win a brand new
1996 Chrysler last week in a
Carolina Panther drawing but in
April he won a 1995 Ford Ranger
among 20,000 entries in a drawing
at Harris-Teeter.
Rountree drives his truck to
work the third shift in the dyehouse
and plans to drive his new car to
church and to take his best girl to
the movies.
Both vehicles are fully loaded.
Rountree is ordering the car in
medium fern green and plans to
pick it up in the next several weeks
at Shelby Chrysler where he got an
entry blank.
"I felt like a movie star when I
stepped to the 50-yard line at mid-
field of the Panthers home game at
Clemson University and the crowd
cheered," he said this week.
The car giveaway was the first
of several that Carolina Panther
Radio Station Network and
Dodge/Chrysler are giving to some
lucky drivers this fall.
"I was getting ready to go to
work last Monday and a call came
at 10 p.m. notifying me that my
name was picked in a drawing held
by Carolina Panthers in Charlotte
and I could not believe it," said the
Kings Mountain man who was sent
See Rountree page 1A
dations.
Gas consultant Scott Heath agreed
See Gas page 11A
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
of Clevemont strongly disagreed
with the city's gas consultant, Scott
that "it's a ver
Y Heath, that the economics of the
Big users say they may switch to fuel oil
city's buying more gas was "over-
whelmingly negative."
Each of the three industries was
curtailed 10-15 days last winter
This winter Gas Supt. Jimmy
Maney is predicting that each in-
dustry could run over 20 days its
allocation of natural gas.
"If it does we have no choice but
to switch to fuel oil," said
Johnson.
Johnson said that Spectrum has
never switched to fuel oil although
the plant was interrupted 15 days
last winter.
Heath said he based his com-
ments ona report that industry on-
ly curtailed 8-10 days last winter
and said that after 20 days "you
would be in trouble.”
Heath suggested that the city
build a peak shaving plant and al-| #
so suggested that until the plant is
built that industry get on the firm
rate that is bought by residential
See Industry page 11A
Becky Lineberger, the new Crisis Ministry dire
The new director of the Kings Mountain Crisis
Ministry, Becky Lineberger, doesn't take the problems
she hears about daily home with her.
Instead, she gives them to The Lord.
Lineberger also has a habit of praying with her
clients, asking the direction of God for helping them
with the problems they face.
"God works in mysterious ways His wonders to per-
form," says Lineberger who said she asked for a vol-
unteer job at the Community Center and then decided
to apply in a place where she knew she was most need-
ed.
The work of the ministry is no stranger to
Lineberger, who formerly worked with Lifespring
Church of God' s ladies jail ministry in Charlotte
which she founded 12 years ago. For six years she di-
rected the homeless feeding program of the church and
worked for five years with families in the bereavement
program at Hospice of Charlotte, a year with AIDS pa-
tients and for three years with the Florence Crittenton
services for unwed mothers. She also spent a year
working with clients in Dove's Nest, a program of al-
cohol and drug rehabilitation.
Rebecca and her husband, Larry, moved to Kings
Mountain in February and recently joined Family
Worship Center. They have one son at home, two
Community Center. The Crisis Center is open on Monday from 2-4 p.m., Wednesday from 10-noon and 2-
4 p.m., Thursday from 2-4 p.m. and Friday from 10-12 noon.
New Crisis Center Director
praying for her clients
ctor, puts up groceries in the Food Bank at the
daughters and three grandsons. :
"I can't believe that I will get paid for doing some-
thing that I love," she said during her first week at
work.
She said she grows in her Christian faith from each
experience.
"Everyone at one time or another in life has some
crisis experience. and I'm glad Kings Mountain
Ministerial Association has a place where we can offer
love and some assistance in the way of money for fuel,
food and clothing," she said. Soon the clothing closet
will be moved to the Community Center from KM
Baptist Church where it has been housed 23 years.
This will mean that all the services that Crisis Ministry
provides will be under one roof.
Lineberger said that God used one woman with no
love in her life to show her the way to help other peo-
ple and she has never forgotten that experience.
But she said working with AIDS patients is hard
and is devastating for families.
"All you can do is pray," she says.
A newcomer to the city, Lineberger says she is en-
joying meeting new friends through the Crisis Center.
Her doors are open, she says, to a ministry which is
reaching out to many people.
Mayoral candidates
on Realtors forum
The three candidates for mayor -
incumbent Scott Neisler, Jim
Childers and Gene White - all cited
their qualifications for the job be-
fore the Kings Mountain Board of
Realtors at a noon luncheon
Wednesday. ?
The three men made up an infor-
mal panel for the program at the
club's meeting at Holiday Inn.
Otherwise, three weeks before
the October 10 municipal election
it was quiet in Kings Mountain.
Charlie Carpenter, a Democratic
precinct leader and Kings
Mountain pollwatcher, was trying
na { da [19
the four year staggered term for
city elective offices.
"I really appreciate your candi-
dacy for an elective office in the
City of Kings Mountain," he wrote
all 13 candidates for four city of-
fices up for grabs.
He mailed photocopies of a
handwritten letter to each of the
to stir up some interest with lettets |
seeking a return to
candidates asking that each sign
and return the letter "tossing in a
few dollars" to cover their costs of
advertising he hopes they will copy
from an ad he ran in the local paper
twice last month urging citizens to
vote only for candidates who are in
favor of returning to two year
terms.
After a petition effort by retired
city planner Gene White, citizens
voted down the four year term
three months ago and Council
changed the charter.
Carpenter said he had a response
from a few of the candidates. He
says that Council can’
D
waiting period and that x
early as 1997. :
But both mayoral candidates
Gene White and Jim Childers said
state statutes govern the procedures
and there is at least an 18 month to
two years waiting period.
"I am in favor of four year
terms," said Childers. But he said
See Candidates page 11A
Funeral conducted.
for Mrs. W.T. Weir
Mrs. Josephine Ellerbe Weir,
who died September 15, 1995 at
Covenant Village in Gastonia, was
an educator for 47 years and a for-
mer librarian whose longtime ser-
vice to the community was perpet-
uated by the building and
dedication of the Weir Auditorium
at Mauney Memorial Library in
her honor,
A native of Darlington, SC, she
was widow of William Theodore
Weir and the daughter of the late
Edward Benjamin and Josephine
McCall Ellerbe.
She taught 40 years in the Kings
Mountain Schools, nine of them in
the Central High School building
and before that for three years in
the English Department at Flora
McDonald College, one year as
Clover, SC High School librarian
and three years at Winthrop
College as librarian at the training
school and instructor of classes of
library science for college students.
Co-chairman of the successful
Kings Mountain Centennial cele-
bration in 1974, she chaired the
MRS. W. T. WEIR
beautification committee for the
new City Hall and in 1979 was
grand marshal of the Kings
Mountain Christmas parade.
A 50-plus year member of
Colonel Frederick Hambright
Chapter DAR, she was Woman's
Club Teacher of the Year and
District Four Teacher of the Year in
the Club Federation in’ 1960.
She was a charter member of
Cleveland County Retired School
See Mrs. Weir page 2A
Sr « Wr A By 2
MR. AND MRS. DICKIE TATE
Keeping the romance in their
marriage after 63 years is easy for
Margaret and Dickie Tate.
The popular Kings Mountain
couple celebrated their anniversary
quietly Sunday by doing the same
thing they do every Sunday - at-
tending church at First Baptist
Church.
Dr. John Sloan took the occasion
to congratulate the couple from the
pulpit.
" I was so surprised that so many
people remembered this was our
special day," said Margaret.
"It's a lot of give and take for
any marriage to work," said Tate,
who said he and his wife are
friends as well as partners and have
Their Church and family
are priorities for Tates
worked at making theirs a lasting
relationship.
"We have both tried to live a
Christian life and church has been
a big priority along with our fami-
lies," he said.
Tate also takes the occasion to
compliment his wife's cooking and
said their anniversary meal would
be from her kitchen.
Margaret Styers and Dickie Tate
met at the Battle of Kings
Mountain celebration back in the
depression days when President
Herbert Hoover came to town.
Margaret was a high school senior
and Tate was in town putting in
machinery at the old Margrace
Mill.
The couple married after a short
courtship and set up housekeeping
in the Margrace Mill village.
House rent was 75 cents a week,
including water and lights.
The Depression days drew theme
together. On weekends they attend-
ed a movie at the picture show for
10 cents and see the movie twice.
Doing things together made for a
happy relationship.
Dickie was among the first
group of married men drafted in
Uncle Sam's Army in 1942. Injured
in basic training he came out of the
Army on a medical discharge 14
months and 10 days later and re.
turned to work at the Margrace
See Tate page 111A
R
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