3Bus schedules
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Member
North Carolina Press Association
JIMMY MANEY
‘Grover signs
water contract
Grover Town Board signed. a
five-year contract with the City
of Kings Mountain for water
Monday night at a municipal
rate of 99 cents per 1,000 gal-
lons.
"This will cost us less than
our present arrangement,” said
Spivey.
Queen said the 37 cents de-
crease, from $1.27 per 1,000 gal-
lons, could not be passed on to
citizens because of high mainte-
nance costs the town incurs for
old water lines. Queen estimat-
ed that the town will break
even this year.
"We need to keep good water
to drink and close up the old
wells," said Queen who said the
contract stipulates that only one
rate increase could be made
during the year and that
increase would come at budget
time. Grover had been buying
about 40 percent of its water
from Kings Mountain and using
town wells.
In other actions, the board:
Appointed Commissioner
Elizabeth Throop to chair a
committee studying the need
for a branch library and ap-
proved recommendations by
the mayor and Commissioner
Noel Spivey to replace one of
Grover's three part time police
officers.
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New City Manager making changes
Maney busy
after five days
on new job
Sanitation routes will proba-
bly be rerouted since City
Council has for now scrapped
privatization and incentives to
boost employee morale are two
of the priorities of the city's new
interim manager.
Jimmy Maney, 42, in his new
job at City Hall five days, is a
man on the move.
He wears several hats, re-
porting to Public Works for con-
School bells ring
ferences with his employees
there at 7 a.m. and then to his
busy office at City Hall the rest
of the day. He said his door is
open." ’
Maney admits that he relishes
working with the city's 160-plus
employees.
Kings Mountain's utilities su-
perintendent for 16 years and a
23 year veteran of running a
utility operation was the unani-
mous choice of Kings Mountain
City Council last week after
Gary Hicks resigned almost a
year to the date he started work
in Kings Mountain.
Maney has already initiated
some priorities:
+open lines of communica-
tion between the manager's of-
fice, the mayor and city council
and the public. He plans to tele-
phone each of the seven council
members and the mayor every
Monday and list any com-
plaints they may have received
from citizens over the weekend.
Then he plans to relay the com-
plaints to the department head
or supervisor to respond. Each
Friday he plans to update the
mayor and council with a re-
_ port on the progress.
Maney says citizens will be
informed, for instance, as to
why their utility bills could be
late and will be told on what
BACK TO SCHOOL - Milia Simpson, 5, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Simpson, is ready for West
School kindergarten after testing and registration by new teacher, Amy Bailey, above. Milia is
among the more than 4,000 students enrolled for the fall term of KM District Schools.
~ School bells will ring for
4,250 Kings Mountain District
students Monday, five days
earlier than last year.
The projected enrollment at
the eight plants in the system
includes 1,033 students at Kings
Mountain High School; 923 stu-
dents at Kings Mountain
Middle School; 620 students at
Bethware Elementary; 484 stu-
dents at Grover Elementary; 438
students at North Elementary;
302 students at = West
Elementary; 293 students at
East Elementary; 72 students at
Parker Street School and 85
Head Start students, 34 each at
Bethware and Grover and 17 at
North School.
United Fund goal remains unchanged
Kings Mountain's United
Fund goal for 1997 will be the
same as last year, $125,145.
President Mikie Smith said
funds no new agencies have
been added.
Vickie Thornburg Hicks, an
officer of First Citizens Bank,
will head the campaign.
Officers and directors met
Tuesday at noon at Town and
Country BBQ to kick off the
drive and to name divisional
chairmen and new directors.
Gifts to the United Fund will
support Hospice, the Red Cross
Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts,
Ministerial Association Helping
Hand, Kings Mountain Rescue
Squad, Grover Rescue Squad,
Kings Mountain Boys club, CO-
DAP, Children's Home of
Cleveland County, Cleveland
County Mental Health
Salvation Army, Cleveland
Vocational Industries, Youth
Assistance program, Abuse
Prevention Council and United
Family Services.
Rita Lawing, Kings Mountain
Chairman for Cleveland
County's second Day of Caring
September 21, said that several
projects are being planned and
urged participation from the
community.
Hicks will announce a full
slate of divisional chairmen for
the campaign next week along
with goals for the drive.
Kings Mountain People |
Olympics 'unbelieveable' experience
Terrorist won't
destroy spirit
After 12 days in Atlanta for
the 100th anniversary Summer
Games, Kings Mountain's
Richie Scruggs says no act of
terrorism can destroy the
Olympic spirit he witnessed.
The Crest Middle School
wrestling coach has plenty of
pictures and ideas to share with
his students when school starts
next week.
And he's keeping his fingers
crossed that he can work at the
Olympics in Sydney, Australia
in 2000.
Richie rubbed shoulders with
the greats of the wrestling
world and became friends with
Bruce Bumgardner, three times
world wrestling champion, two
times Olympic champion and
Bruce Bumgardner, left and Richie Scruggs
bronze medalist this year.
His only disappointment
was not being able to cheer for
the U. S. A. but favoritism was
against the rules because he
was a working athlete escort for
the world, escorting wrestlers to
the staging area and remaining
with them through interviews
with the media.
Richie worked 12 hours a
day, along with 88 other people
on the staff serving 300
wrestlers. :
"I had a few days off and
was home the day the bombing
occurred in Centennial Park,"
he said. After the tragedy
crowds were even larger and
security was tighter, he said.
For Scruggs, the chance to
work at the first Olympics in
the United States in 60 years
was a dream come true and a
once in a lifetime experience
which came after he worked
with world champion wrestlers
last year in Atlanta.
This year Scruggs was ready
to run with the athletes to the
mats in the Georgia World
Conference Centers. He worked
out to gain top physical shape,
shedding 87 pounds.
"Last year I weighed 280
pounds and was bigger than
Bumgardner who weighs 260
pounds and we're both about
days their garbage will be
picked up by city workers.
Sanitation routes will be pub-
lished in the newspaper once a
month and Maney will require
a report of the percentage of
collection. In addition, he plans
to offer incentives to sanitation
workers and honor city em-
ployees of the month and city
employees of the year.
+ He plans to discontinue
weekly Tuesday morning staff
meetings, instead scheduling a
staff meeting on the Wednesday
morning after Council meets
Tuesday to update staff on ac-
tions taken by Council.
+As city manager Maney will
set the agenda, taking advan-
tage of a "consent agenda"
where Council could consider
rapidly such items as setting of
public hearings at the same
time: In order for the meeting to
flow more quickly, he plans to
invite citizen input at the end of
the meeting after the business
of the agenda is discussed.
Another way he plans to trim
the agenda is to respond to
questions himself taking the
pressure from department
heads.
Maney said Council is unfair-
ly blamed when some problems
are not solved and he thinks
See Maney, 6A
Darrell Austin
dies at age 61
Friends remember former
Kings Mountain newspaper-
man Darrell Austin Sr., 61, who
died Sunday of cancer, as a sup-
portive, caring man who was
inferested in his community.
"Darrell was instrumental in
making the six newspapers
owned by Republic
Newspapers the success they
are today," said Publisher Dean
Ridings.
Ridings, publisher’ of The
Kings Mountain Herald and
Cleveland Times in Cleveland
County and the Bessemer City
Record, Cherryville Eagle,
Belmont Banner and Mount
Holly News in Gaston County,
said Darrell's contributions to
the group of weekly newspa-
pers have been significant.
"From the beginning of his
association with the Kings
Mountain Mirror, a competitor
that eventually purchased the
Herald, Darrell has been instru-
mental in making the newspa-
pers the success they are today,"
Ridings said of Austin's 22-year
association with the Herald as a
former advertising director,
general manager, publisher, as-
sociate publisher and opera-
tions manager at his death.
Gary Greene of
DARRELL AUSTIN
Charlottesville, Va., owner and
publisher of the chain of news-
papers in 1988-89, called Austin
"an example of what the news-
paper business is all about."
"I have kept in touch with
Darrell over the years because
he's a man I respected because
he went the second mile, cared
about people and went out of
his way to help other people
without asking why or seeking
credit," said Greene.
See Austin, 8A
Area crusade planned
The Kings Mountain
Ministerial Association has in-
vited Dr. Jay Strack and his
evangelistic team to conduct an
interdenominational, interra-
cial, multi-church area-wide
crusade in Kings Mountain
August 24-28 at John Gamble
Football Stadium.
Rev. Ron A. Caulder, presi-
dent of the association, said he
«is excited about the potential of
impacting this area with the
Gospel of Christ and encour-
aged all Christians to pray for
the crusade.
by KM ministers
Caulder, pastor of Oak Grove
Baptist Church, and more than
30 local pastors and laity from
20 churches met in February at
Central United Methodist
Church for an informational
meeting with Mike Ruth,
Executive Director of the
Crusade Ministries of the Jay
Strack Association.
"It is obvious that the persons
I met with in February have a
genuine desire to see God glori-
fied in this evangelistic cam-
paign," said Ruth.
See Strack, 2A
INSIDE AT A GLANCE
[INDEX
Birthdays.................3A
Business News.......8A
Church News...........3A
Classifieds...........8-9B
Obituaries................2A
Police News.............8A
School News........1-5B
Sports......................48
Weddings............4&7A
Remembering
Big D
See Page 6A & 7A
ee ——RN