Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Jan. 18, 1996, edition 1 / Page 1
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North Carolina Press Association Vol. 108 No. 3 BRIEFS Clogging classes at Woman's Club Get ready to kick up those heels and have some fun. The Sidetracks Cloggers will conduct beginner clogging class- es for youth and adults for six weeks on Thursday nights begin- ning January 25 from 6-7 p.m. at the Kings Mountain Woman's Club on East Mountain Street. Registration fee is $25. Jean Stephenson of Catawba, SC will instruct. A special Spectator Night will be held January 18 from 7-8 p.m. and the public is invited to pre- view the course. For more information call Pat Hammett at 434-9277 or Corene Scarborough at 739-5860. Health Council meeting planned The Kings Mountain District Schools Health Council will meet Thursday, February 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Teacher Center at Cential School. The meeting was rescheduled because of last week's snow. The meeting is open to the public. Women's Resource Center sets meeting The monthly meeting of the Women's Resource Center of Cleveland County will be held at at the Women's Resource Center, 916 N. Lafayette St., Shelby (be- hind the Children's Clinic). All interested persons are en- couraged to attend. The Women's Resource Center normally meets the fourth Tuesday of every month. Financial workshop January 25 at KMHS All parents of seniors planning to attend a college, university, community college or trade/tech- nical school in the fall are en- couraged to attend the 1996 Financial Aid Workshop January 25 at 7 p.m. at the Kings Mountain High School cafeteria. “Eileen Dills of Queens College in Charlotte will instruct on how to file for financial aid and how to complete the finan- cial aid forms. The free applica- tions for federal student aid forms are now available. For more information, contact KMHS counselor Anita €ampbell at 734-5647. CB to build 1 new p1¥E 9808 Ze 1H0S- 1-H vitice In W SONIA 4 5 001 AIM 7 TW TA0H3H REL Ce 12-01 LOE FE¥ FEEERRERRERRRE NIVINTCH NOwda1 = FEY BC..cvss ens Oo B (JT XH | Since 1889 Thursday, January 18, 1996 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 23, i} +f Snakes Alive! KM's Kevin Cook to open exotic pet store downtown Just nickname Kevin Cooke, 23, "Mr. Snake Man." The Kings Mountain man loves snakes, in and out | of cages and even around his neck, and they are in- cluded in the wide selection of pets he features in his new business, Kings Mountain Pets & Supplies. Cooke has always loved reptiles. His grandfather, Espy Cooke, introduced him to snakes as a little boy and ever since Kevin has read books on how to care for all kinds of animals and birds, took home stray pets of all kinds and dreamed he would one day own his own pet store. Several weeks ago he leased the former Quality Sandwich building on Railroad Avenue from Mike Brown and has stocked it with supplies and cages filled with any and every pet imaginable. In between his job with Food Lion in the Meat | Department he will run the business with the assis- tance of family members. His parents, Gary and § Christi Cooke; his brother, Jonathan, 16; and his sister, [* Kristen, 11. He hopes his grandfather will also help out on occasion but not Grandma Cooke. She won't get anywhere near his three-year-old Columbia Red Tail Boa, his six-months-old Diamond Carpet Python or his E three-year-old albino baby Burmese Python, popular snake pets. One of Cook's favorite pets is his exotic Tiney African gray parrot, one of his most expensive pets, which when grown will have the vocabulary of a five- the most year-old human. The bird picks up on conversations among family members, calls the Dalmatian dog "Maggie" and Simon the cat by name and makes kiss- ing sounds to familiar family members., Hands-on learning is how Cooke describes his ex- pertise with animals. He reads how-to books, and he “has, books in stock, but his secret is giving his pets tender loving care. If he didn't have to make a living he would rent a building and house every pet that needed shelter and food. Cats, dogs, to exotic reptiles, first as a hobby. He learned how to take care of the various pets and started saving his money after he went to work in 1991 after graduating from Kings Mountain High School. Traveling for Food Lion to various supermarket loca- tions, he works for vacationing employees and learns about the food business. "My hours at the pet store will have to be flexible at first and then I hope to get in the store full time as the said Cook who sees a demand for a store to provide pet necessities as well as new business catches on," pets for the public. Parrots have charmed humans down through the ages. From Alexander the Great to King Henry VIII and beyond, people have been fascinated by feathered creatures. fish, reptiles, birds, lizards, hamsters and exotic animals will be featured in the new business which is probably a first for Kings Mountain. Cook plans opening week specials next week and will proba- bly get his new sign up this week. He will also ask his customers what they need for their pets that he may not stock and what new pets they prefer. Introduced to King, Black, Copperhead and Rattlers as a youngster, Cooke has devoted much of his studies hello to strangers. Kevin Coke has turned his pet collecting hobby into a new business, Kings Mountain Pets & Supplies on Railroad Avenue. Exotic reptiles are his favorites. Wrapping a Diamond Carpet Python around his neck doesn't bother him a bit. Kevin wound his baby Albino Burmese Python around his neck, cuddled a Diamond Carpet Python and then talked to his pretty parrot, teaching her to say Running a pet store won'tsbe work for a young man ; who loves pets. Kevin may even shed a tear when he marks "for sale" on the cages which hold his prized. friends. Kevin Cooke's prized pet is a Tiney African Gray parrot which is already picking up conversation around his new store. The new business will open in about a week. Second snow sends shoppers scurrying again A second winter snow storm in less than a week sent shoppers scurrying to the local supermarkets to stock up on bread and milk. Almost immediately after the weatherman started predicting more snow Thursday on top of the packed ice remaining on many roads the crowds hit the grocery stores. Department stores were busy with requests for boots. Local stores also had numerous calls for chains and snow tires. Robert Crisp, assistant manager at Food Lion, said business was brisk on Thursday and he had to order extra supplies of both bread and milk. "It was busy all day Thursday and we ran out of both bread and milk and had to get our vendors to bring all they could come up with and it was hard to find extra sup- plies." Crisp said that Food Lion is cur- rently renovaiing its West Gate Plaza store and will be getting ready to offer 24-hour service in February. At Harris-Teeter, where 24-hour service is offered, Co-Manager Helen Smith said the situation was about the same. She said that lines were long at the checkout counters and customers were buying staple items, including bread and milk. "We had to send for an extra bread delivery because of the many calls for bread," she said. Though not quite as treacherous as pure ice, the snow still caused a few problems around the county but Kings Mountain drivers fared pretty well, according to Kings Mountain police who warned them to drive slowly. Ice was blamed for several wrecks in Kings Mountain. Even after the sun had melted much of the roadways there were some ice patches on Monday and ice was blamed for a wreck which sent three people to the hospital and re- sulted in high damages to vehicles. Front wheel drive on vehicles helped drivers to maneuver the roads to get to work on Friday - morning, although some workers remained inside. Town Hall opened later than usual and other businesses also opened several hours late. Schools were closed but will reopen on Thursday after a long snow holi- day. See Snow, 7-A Schools may look at early opening next fall The extended vacation that Kings Mountain students got due to the recent icy wintry blast may cause school officials to eye open- ing school as early as August 10 next year and scheduling mid-win- ter.exams before the Christmas holidays. “Change is always awkward but starting early would also mean get- ting out of school earlier in the summer,’ said Supt. Dr. Bob McRae. McRae said he will recommend to the district school's calendar committee that they also look at more flexibility with mid year teacher work days. Students missed five days of school because of snow last week and then were out Monday for a national holiday and on Tuesday and Wednesday for mid-winter teacher workdays. It has been the most lengthy weather-related vacation for stu- dents in nearly 10 years but getting the students back in class hinged on the condition of the roads and McRae said that ice on back roads were a major concern. McRae said it would have not been fair to students and teachers to try to reschedule Tuesday and Wednesday workdays at the last minute when roads improved with sunshine. Monday was the national holiday honoring the late Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. "All in all students have been in class three days between Dec. 19 and this Thursday when the buses roll again," said McRae. McRae said that he will recom- mend that the calendar committee and the board of education look at scheduling the mid-winter work days at the end of the exam period due to the bad weather that often occurs at this time of year. At Kings Mountain High School exams have been rescheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, January 23 and 24, according to Principal Phil Weathers. Thursday, Friday and Monday will be exam review days. McRae said the snow makeup days will take two of the days scheduled for spring break. The makeup days when students will return to class on what was originally scheduled for holidays and work days are: Monday, February 26, originally a teacher work day; Friday, March 22, origi- nally a teacher work day; and three days during spring vacation, stu- dents returning to classes Wednesday through Friday, April 10-12. City's financial picture improves The city's auditor Darrell Keller had some good news and bad news for Kings Mountain City Council Tuesday night. The good news was that the city's financial condition is improv- ing but the bad news is that the city can expect a letter this week from the Local Government Commission admonishing them to hold the line on spending, keep the transfers lower and push for 8 per- cent of the general fund revenues in reserves. Keller, Interim City Manager Gary Hicks and Finance Director Maxine Parsons held a telephone conference with Vance Holleman of the LGC in Raleigh Tuesday and they passed on the information to Council that members could expect a 14-page memorandum this week. "Mr. Holleman told us to budget conservatively again, hold the line on spending and commended us while expressing concerns that the city will lose $1.2 million annually in utility revenues by the closing of the Clevemont Fruit of the Loom Plant," said Parsons after the spe- cial meeting at which Council re- viewed the audit for 1994-95 and looked at financial statements for the period ending December 31, 1995. The city ended fiscal year 1994- 95 with $1.9 million ‘in the bank, which included $581,453 appropri- ated for reserves, $242,276 for cap- ital outlay for projects that went unspent, and $192,000 for salaries since some department head posi- tions had not been filled but funds had been included in the budget. "The LGC is telling us again that our transfers are too high and based on our high transfers we would have problems borrowing and our bond rate would not be ap- proved until the transfers come down," said Keller. "They say the city remains in a weak financial condition and they urge us to get our reserves up to 8 percent," he said. "If we go for a bond issue now it would not be approved," said Hicks, who said the LGC's rule of thumb is eight percent fund bal- ance in the general fund. "I know it's your money." Councilwoman Norma Bridges raised several questions. She asked how the city got money in the general fund and why transfers See Picture, 7-A Two million in the bank The city's bank balance on December 31, 1995 topped two million dollars, according to a fi- nancial report presented by Finance Director Maxine Parsons to the City Council Tuesday. Parsons said the city is paying its bills on time and will have the cash on hand to pay March/April bond payments and for a much- needed waste treatment plant basin. However, she said the city must continue to hold the line on spend- ing. At December 31, the reserve fund totaled $535,436; the Powell Bill fund $567,000; the water and sewer fund $1.3 million; the elec- tric fund $145,000; the gas fund|. $25,405; the sanitation fund $29,000; and the cemetery fund, $87,691. City Auditor Darrell Keller said that the landfill, water/sewer, elec- iric and gas funds showed profits for the first six months of the new | fiscal year with the water/sewer fund showing a $175,000 profit,| the gas fund showing a $255,000 profit, the electric fund showing a} $3,000 profit and the tapdfill fund showing a $70,000" profit. At the} end of the six months he said the general fund was $300,000 in the hole. "If transfers were made we would have broke even," he said. Parsons said the gas department figures should be higher in the next six months of the year since December billings totaled $543,000 and most payments will come in to city coffers in January. "This is on the books as revenue but it isn't collected," she said. Reviewing the cash position at December 31, the auditor said that the general fund was actually overdrawn by $74,000 but the available cash to spend included $1.3 million in water/sewer, $145,000 in electric and $25,000 in gas. In March and April bond pay- ments totaling $562,000 will have to paid and a $300,000 basin wil; have to be paid for from the wa- ter/sewer fund. Bond payments will have to be paid from the elec- tric fund April 1. See 2 Million, 7-A of City Hall last week. Mother Nature dumped four inch and ice in the area at the first of the week, and came back F a couple more. i of snow lay with
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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