Member
North Carolina Press Association
Vol. 108 No. 4
Briefs
KM United Fund
surpasses its goal
Kings Mountain United Fund
has topped its 1995-96 goal of
$125,145.
President Nancy Scism and
Drive Chairman Mikie Smith
were elated and were calling all
campaign workers late Tuesday
with the news that the drive was
over and the goal had been at-
tained.
"It's been a long drive and the
goal has been hard to reach but
with the generosity of Kings
Mountain citizens we have made
it," said Scism.
The layoff of plant workers
and the closing of the Clevemont
Mill hurt the campaign, said
Scism, who said workers have
been scurrying for weeks to get
last-minute solicitation complet-
ed.
"Because of the slowness in
the economy now we have decid-
ed to forfeit the annual celebra-
tion dinner and apply that money
to the fund drive," said Scism.
Scism said that both she and
drive chairman Smith and indus-.
try co-chairmen Maude Norris of
Anvil Knitwear and Rita Lawing
of Clevemont agreed that the cel-
ebration dinner would not be in
order.
"Mrs. Smith and all her com-
mittees have done a super job
and industry, which always leads
the fund-raising effort, came out
on top again and we are so
pleased," she said.
Gifts to 16 agencies.and chari- i
table organizations 2
1s benefit from
Kings Mountain United Fund
which solicits one gift for many
through pledges and payroll de-
duction plans and cash contribu-
tions.
Some beer licenses
could be revoked
It's possible that some busi-
nesses could lose their permits to
sell beer as the result of the re-
cent sting by police of local es-
tablishments with video ma-
chines.
Kings Mountain Police
Department forwarded the arrest
log to the North Carolina ABC
Board in Raleigh which will re-
view the findings and if pertinent
schedule hearings, according to
Ken Gilliam of the state office.
Gilliam said it would probably
be as long as four weeks before
the state commission makes the
Teview.
Health Council
meeting planned
The Kings Mountain District
Schools Health Council will
meet Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6:30
p.m. in the Teacher Center at
Central School. *
The public is invited.
Financial workshop
Thursday 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 KMHS cafete-
ria.
Eileen Dills of Queens College
will instruct on how to file for fi-
nancial aid and how to complete
the financial aid forms. The free
application for federal student
aid forms are now available.
For more information, contact
KMHS Counselor Anita M.
Campbell at 734-5647.
Macheth set Feb. 5
at KM High School
The KMHS English
Department will host the Barter
Theatre and its production of
Macbeth Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at
Barnes Auditorium. All KMHS
English and history students will
: receive extra credit for attending.
Tickets, which are $2 for stu-
dents and $4 for adults, will go
* on sale at Mauney Memorial
- Library and the KMHS office be-
ginning Monday,
hae KM Schools to host
All-District Band Clinic
See Page 3-B
Thursday, January 25, 1996
Kings Mountain, N.C. « 28086 * 50¢
may expand gas service
Utilities Director Jimmy Maney
will unveil a proposal for a major
gas expansion in South Kings
Mountain Tuesday at the 7:30 p.m.
meeting of City Council at City
Hall.
The three phase project could
add 364 customers with the city's
payback of costs taking 5-6 years.
Maney was joined by Finance
Director Maxine Parsons in urging
the city utilities commission's ap-
proval of the feasibility of the pro-
ject which they said would take a
green light from the Local
Government Commission for rev-
enue bonds to pay for it,
"We may never get the nest egg
to pay for it but we have an area
for growth which would increase
revenue in gas sales and we need to
go for it," said Parsons,
"We need to look at those areas
of the city where we can increase
our revenue," she added.
Both Parsons and Maney said
that if the city sits still and loses
the market that the loss is forever.
"I'am all for expansion but let's
not start spending our dollars be-
fore we get them," said
Councilman Dean Spears.
Maney said that seven areas of
expansion were outlined in a 1989
feasibility study prepared by Heath
& Associates.
The city has completed a loop to
Industrial Park, serving
Northwoods and Mountain Manor
and to the Oak Grove Community
where they estimated 1,000 cus-
tomers could be added over a two
year period.
The Heath study also compared
the city's natural gas rates with
other towns in the area and only
one municipality in the area,
Bessemer City, had the lowest rates
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of The Herald Staff
around this ole town too long
Summer is almost gone and
winter's coming on lve
laid around and played around
this old town too long
And 1 feel like I've got to travel
on.
The lyrics may not be familiar to
some but to June Moss Bridges,
100, the guitar and vocal serenade
by Radio Station WKMT person-
ality Tommy Faile was the perfect
tribute to her 100th birthday.
Bridges, who moved to Carolina
Care Center in Cherryville four
years ago from Kings Mountain,
met her two favorite radio friends
who were only a voice to her when
eS bh bb fe.
Coo
Kings Mountain residents Ken
Cook and Ruby M. Alexander an-
nounced their candidacies this
week for seats open on the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners.
Cook paid his filing fee Monday
at the Cleveland County Board of
Elections.
Alexander announced her inten-
tions to run and said she would file
prior to the February 5 filing dead-
line.
Cook is a Democrat. Alexander
is Republican. Both are seeking
Joe King says city cars are bein
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of the Herald Staff
Joe King, unsuccessful candi-
date for the Ward I seat in the re-
cent city election, has filed a com-
plaint with Kings Mountain City
Council alleging misuse of city
property by two department heads
and alleged unfairness by the city
in dealing with a third employee
for the same infraction.
The third employee, a non-de-
partment head, was allegedly writ-
ten up by the city manager after he
drove a city truck to a local car
I've laid around and played
she started listening faithfully to
June Bridges, 100, loves life
and singing star Tommy Faile
the local radio station and was in-
terviewed on the air waves by
Bridges years ago when he first
came to Kings Mountain.
"I had never met Mrs. Bridges,
who is no kin but I felt like she was
one of the family because we
talked so much on the radio about
any and everything," said Bridges.
Most times when he asked
listener's opinions he chose
Bridges because she gave him an-
SWers.
"And I often teased Mrs. Bridges
about possible male friends and we
played her favorite gospel num-
bers," he said.
Faile's strong voice was accom-
panied by Mrs. Bridges in her fa-
vorite, "I Saw A Man."
Although she is almost blind and
COOK
political office for the first time.
A native of Shelby, Cook, of
ALEXANDER
dealer to test drive a new car.
King said he saw the two depart-
ment heads in a city vehicle in
Shelby in December at a car deal-
ership where one of the two
brought a car back to Kings
Mountain. King said neither de-
partment head was written up for
the infraction but were subject of
discussion at a December City
Council meeting which went into
closed session to discuss personnel.
He said he called six of the seven
Council members and Mayor Scott
Neisler about seeing the two em-
Tommy Faile entertains June Bridges on her 100th birthday
Monday at Carolina Care Center in Cherryville. Mrs. Bridges moved
from Kings Mountain four years ago.
for
Ce
county
Meadowbrook Road, is husband of
Becky Cook, the city's. elections
board chairman for a dozen years
and prior to that a county registrar
for 18 years.
"I have always had a keen inter-
est in serving on the county board
and promised myself that after re-
tirement I would become involved
and encourage everyone else not
to sit back and react rather than be
proactive in the affairs of the city
and county," said Cook.
Cook said he is concerned
about drug and alcohol abuse in
ployees in a city vehicle in Shelby
at an automobile dealership.
"What's right for one employee
should be right for all," said King,
a retired county deputy and former
Kings Mountain policeman.
King said Monday that he lev-
eled his complaints in a two-page
letter to interim city manager Gary
Hicks, the full city council and per-
sonnel director Bud Rhea January
18 in which he leveled the com-
plaints and made a formal request
as a citizen for action and a letter
detailing the action
Ui
Local artist A. B. Snow has presented a painting, "Crescendo at Sunset," to the City of Kings Mountain.
She stands in front of it in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
i
uu
commissioner
NE sl
the county and its economic impact
on health costs, crime and social
services.
He says an outdatead tax system
needs revamping and county-wide-
zoning should be a priority of
elected officials. : :
"There needs to be a concerted
effort on the county's part to recruit
more industry for the county for
more jobs so our children can stay
at home and work when they finish
their education," he said.
See Filings, 3-A
g misused
As of Monday afternoon King
said he had heard from only two
council members, Norma Bridges
and Jerry Mullinax. He said both
expressed concern.
"I am not authorized to comment
on personnel matters and I won't
comment," said City Manager
Hicks.
However, several days after thee
December council meeting Hicks
sent a memorandum to all depart-
ment heads reiterating the city's
See Cars, 2-A
at the time with Kings Mountain
second. Currently, Kings Mountain
has the lowest residential gas rate
in the state.
"We are proud of that record but
we need to take a look at what
keeps our rates down not only for
residential but for large commer-
cial," said Maney.
Maney will present cost figures
See Gas, 2-A
KM may sell
county water
After the severe water shortage
this week in Upper Cleveland
County, the Cleveland County
Sanitary District may present a for- _
mal request to the City Council”
Tuesday night to buy water.
Water Supt. Walt Ollis told the.
city utilities committee Monday
night that an emergency tap be-
tween the district's water lines and
the Kings Mountain city limits
could be installed without a prob-
lem but that shipping a full two
million gallons per day that the
new customer has requested could
limit the city's ability to supply
some of its own customers in case
the water plant shut down.
Mayor Scott Neisler said the city
needs to install a tie-in, not only
for emergency situations but also
r Ki Moutiain i
"A interconnecting water system
in Cleveland County has been a re-
al need for some time," said
Neisler, a meter to work both ways
if the city of Kings Mountain
should experience interruption of
water consumption.
"There is no problem with
putting a tap to tie-in on Margrace
Road but if the water plant shuts
down and we are pumping two
million a day at that point some
water customers would notice it in
30 seconds," he told the committee
attended by a dozen people, in-
cluding five of seven city council
members.
Ollis recommended that the city
charge the sanitary district the
same rate it charges an outside in-
dustrial customer plus the $3360
tap fee. Cost of an eight inch meter
would run $6200. Ollis said that
negotiations would have to be
worked out but that Kings
Mountain should retain ownership
of the meter.
City Manager Gary Hicks sug-
gested that John Cline, chairman of
the Sanitary District, submit his
proposal in writing so that all the
particulars could be worked out.
On a seven-day average Kings
Mountain pumps 4 million plus
See Water, 3-A
SNOW SCENES
Painting music for soul
for KM artist A.B. Snow
By ELIZABETH STEWART
of the Herald Staff
A.B. Snow's new painting in the
Council Chambers at City Hall is a
water color fantasy.
The poppies and daisies in the
picture blend perfectly with the
redwood wall at the back of the
room. The mountain and trees add
to the "Crescendo at Sunset."
When she painted the picture
Snow hadn't planned to give it to
the city.
Mayor Scott Neisler saw the
works and exclaimed how perfect-
ly it would blend in with the motif
at City Hall and Snow said why
not?
“There is really not a good place
to get a good shot of Kings
Mountain but the scene is restful
with daisies, rocks, trees and pop-
pies," she said.
An artist for 22 years, Snow
started what now is a business for
her as a hobby. She had painted for
her own enjoyment when the fami-
ly lived in Rocky Mount and her
walls were getting full of her
works and one day a friend sug-
gested she put a price on them.
When her late husband Maynard
retired as a pilot in the USAF in
1980 the family moved back to
Alice Betty's home in Kings
Mountain after traveling all over
the world stationed in the
Midwest, Topeka, Omaha,
California and England.
"When we moved to Rocky
Mount we heard that it was a cul-
turally deprived area but after a a
grant from the = National
Endowment of the Arts it grew by
leaps and bounds," she said.: She
started art classes by noted artist
John Brady who has been to Kings
See Snow, 2-A