Member
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Since 1889
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North Carolinia Press Association
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~ Stawe-approved pay raise
City admits Let's Plow the Lower 40!
pier permit
its mistake
A misunderstanding be-
tween Moss Lake resident
Dean Paysour and the city
codes department may be set-
tled Thursday afternoon in a
meeting with city officials,
Paysour ancl pier designer
Clyde Fesperrnan.
Recently Paysour's pier
building project was stopped
after Jeff Putnam, the city's di-
rector of inspections, discovered
that he erred and issued
Paysour an iricorrect permit.
Paysour says the city owes
him $2900 because he was told
he could put up a pier. Last
month City Council discussed
the matter in, closed session and
later announced that negotia-
tions were underway to settle it.
Putnam said the pilings must
come down but he plans to dis-
cuss with Paysour and
Fesperman how a pier can be
built to the city's specifications.
"We will compensate him for
his labor and removal of what
he has done," said Putham who
said the pilings which hold the
posts are the only things in
place.
See Pier, 8-A
Wendover, Hospice of
Cleveland County's new-home-.
like in-patient and residential
care facility and the new
Hospice office facility, opened
June 12 and has served 18 pa-
tients.
The public will have a chance
to tour the $1.5 million facility
October 20 at a grand opening
from 2-5 p.m.
"This 33-member staff plus all
the many volunteers gives the
best care in the world," said
Harold Hord of Kings
Mountain, president and chair-
man of the Hospice board of di-
rectors.
Several other Kings Mountain
area people have had key roles
at Wendover, including Myra
McGinnis Hamrick, Executive
Director, and Dianne Spearman
George, Director of Nursing,
Lucy Pasquier, social worker
and counselor and Beverly
Stone, patient accounts repre-
sentative. Members of the 21-
The Kings Mountain District
School's annual report card on
the performance of Schools
Supt. Dr. Bob McRae gave him
an excellent rating, Board of
Education Chairman Ronnie
Hawkins said.
All members of the school
board, with exception of Rev.
Billy Houze, were present for a
closed session after Monday
night's board of education
meeting to evaluate the super-
intendent.
Prior to the evaluation, the
board unanimously honored
McRae as its candidate for
North Carolina Superintendent
UNIQUE TRACTOR - Toye Grigg of Kings Mountain is pictured with the unique tractor he and his
son, Ronnie, made from hay. Ronnie got the idea from a similar tractor he saw recently in
Pageland, SC. The two back tires were made from a 1,000-pound round bale of hay, and the front
tires were made of a 1,000-pound round bale which the Griggs rolled off to half-size. The motor
assembly is comprised of four square bales of hay, the muffler is a piece of tin vent pipe, the steer-
ing wheel is and old fan, and the seat is a bean box. Mr. Grigg said all visitors who have stopped
have recognized the creation as a tractor - except for one, who was looking to buy some hay.
Hospice residential facility
open and serving 18 patients
member board from this area
_include Hord, Steve Padgett,
Wanda Conner, Jay Rhodes and
Wade Tyner.
"We have involved people
from all over the county," said
Hord who went on the board
three years ago. ;
Hamrick, daughter of
Margaret McGinnis of Kings
Mountain and the late Dick
McGinnis and wife of Rusty
Hamrick of Shelby, and George,
daughter of Mary Spearman
and the late Charlie Spearman
and wife of Bart George, join
Hord in his pride of Hospice.
"Our organization provides
skilled care and support for in-
dividuals and families experi-
encing the final stages of termi-
nal illness," said Hamrick.
Hospice care includes nursing,
social work, home health aide,
and chaplaincy services as well
as volunteer support, bereave-
See Wendover, 8-A
Superintendent gets excellent grade
of the Year. School systems have
the option to nominate for the
high honor with the winner to
be selected in October.
"Bob does an excellent job for
this system which is one of the
best systems around and he has
served probably longer in this
position than many other su-
perintendents in the area," said
Hawkins.
Hawkins said that each year
the board sets goals for the sys-
tem to attain and McRae's eval-
uation is based on the goals.
"The board looked at all as-
pects of our evaluation proce-
dure and gave Bob McRae top
marks," said Hawkins.
in teachers’ first check
Local school teachers will get
their 5 1/2 percent pay raises
and non-certified employees
will get their 4 1/2 percent pay
raises in their first pay check of
the new school year which be-
gan Monday.
Board of Education Chairman
Ronnie Hawkins said the N. C.
legislature raised educators' pay
during the recent emergency
budget session.
"It's hard to figure because
some employees work 10
months, some work 11 months
and some work 12 months," he
said.
The raise gives an entry level
teacher on a 10-month contract
a $103 monthly increase, bring-
ing the starting pay to $2,165 on
the state scale.
In other actions Monday, the
board:
Heard the first reading of a
policy on distribution of
medicine to students. Currently,
the policy does not cover non
prescription medicine such as
an aspirin which may be sent to
school by a parent.
Betsy Wells and Hilda
Leonard, representing the Kings
Mountain Association of
Educators, presented resolu-
tions which were mostly praise
of the administrative staff.
Wells said the resolutions were
NEW FACILITY - Three of the local officials of the new Hospice facility, from left, are Dianne
Spearman George, Hospice President Harold Hord and Executive Director Myra McGinnis
Hamrick.
Birthdays... 2B
Church News............ 3B
Classified...............6-TB
Obituaries ............ 2A
Opinion... A
; >por B..iaaanbA
Women's News......1-2B
olice Report...........58 |
EDC to tour industrial parks
County commissioners may
decide soon on the future of a
proposed industrial park fol-
lowing two meetings this week
of Cleveland County Economic
Development Commission.
The EDC met Wednesday in
Shelby to narrow the site list to
two for a recommendation to
county commissioners.
Thursday the group will tour
parks in Statesville, Salisbury
and McDowell County.
One of the sites the group is
looking at is a 235-acre tract
owned by the Plonk heirs off
Vestibule Church Road near
Reliance Electric. The asking
price is $6500 per acre.
The Plonk site was reviewed
at the July 24 EDC meeting
along with at least a dozen oth-
er parcels of land located all
over the county. At that meet-
ing the EDC postponed a rec-
ommendation and issued an in-
vitation to all property owners
in the county with land to sell
to contact the EDC office.
Bill Stevens, deputy director
of the North Carolina
Department of Commerce, told
the board at the recent meeting
that some of the factors to con-
See Park, 8-A
FRANCES GREEN
Kings Mountain People
Life goes on for
Frances Green, 67, is celebrat-
ing 25 years of life after a kid-
ney transplant. She counts her
blessings.
"I just want people who are
facing organ transplants to
know that life goes on," said the
Kings Mountain substitute
teacher who went back to
school at age 49, eight years af-
ter her successful surgery and
after she educated six children.
Back in 1971 Frances Lanier
Green may have been thought
of as a guinea pig for a trans-
plant. She was only the seventh
transplant patient at that time at
Carolinas Medical Center, the
first in Cleveland County and
the first patient to have a live
donor, her younger sister Jean
Shaver, now 54, of Fayetteville
and also healthy.
"I know how hard it is to wait
for a donor but I was devastat-
ed to learn I was waiting for an
accident victim to die so I could
have her kidney," recalled
Frances.
Frances was told to be ready
for surgery several months be-
"fore her sister was tested as a
Frances Green
perfect match. A young woman
named Marguerite was report-
edly dying of injuries she sus-
tained in a car wreck and
Frances' husband, Bud, rushed
her to the hospital.
"I overheard the nurses talk-
- ing and I started praying for
Marguerite and miraculously
the girl moved her legs and the
surgery was canceled," said
Frances who went back on a
waiting list.
By summer that year Mrs.
Green's two sisters, her father
and brother were tested and the
younger sister was a perfect
match.
After the transplant, Frances
was on a kidney machine six
hours once a week for eight
months.
"My sisters teased me that I
fed my kidney Pepsi Cola and
chocolate cookies and that's
why I survived," she said.
Frances' husband, a WWII
veteran, died in 1978. They had
married in 1948.
A substitute teacher since
1986, she was a 4-H leader from
a 23-year tradition for the
group.
The resolutions were based
on teacher surveys with 111 of
158 members responding and
reiterated a request for smaller
classes, better scheduling of the
current school day, additional
teacher assistants and class vol-
unteers, no combination classes,
voluntary use of teachers for af-
ternoon or summer tutoring
and strict limitation of the num-
ber of interruptions in the class
day. The teachers also asked for
a supplement increase, free den-
tal insurance, increased medical
coverage, additional increments
in the supplement scale, addi-
tional clerical assistants and du-
ty-free lunch by the use of vol-
unteers.
Jean Thrift, Director of
Student Support Services, pre-
sented the Title I application for
the 1996-97 reading program
and Workforce Director Sheila
Sisk presented the workforce
plan.
The board approved an
agreement with the Cleveland
County Board of Elections
which makes clear the responsi-
bility of the school system to
preclear any district boundary
changes or any other changes
which would affect its elections
through the United States
Justice Department.
City, Duke
to settle
LR SAR 4
| contract
One issue remains before the
City of Kings Mountain and
Duke Power Company settles a
proposed four year contract for
electricity.
Interim City Manager Jimmy
Maney says the deal should be
closed this week.. . :
Maney said consultants are
now drafting a new agreement
which clarifies some definitions
in the contract that local offi-
cials questioned.
The contract, when approved,
will seal an agreement between
the city's supplier of electricity
and the city that will cap cur-
rent electric rates.
Kings Mountain, Concord,
Dallas, Forest City, Prosperity,
SC and Due West, SC will still
buy power wholesale from
Duke for the next four years so
they can sell it to local cus-
tomers and Duke Power would
agree to no rate increases dur-
ing that four year period.
The six cities filed a com-
plaint against Duke Power,
along with Greenwood and
Seneca, SC, with the Federal
Emergency Regulatory
Commission in May 1995. The
complaint was the result of a
rate study. The complaint said
cities felt they were being over-
charged for electricity.
Water, sewer cost
to be discussed
An indepth presentation on
water and sewer costs and rates
by utility consultants SVBK of
Charlotte will feature Monday
night's 6 p.m. meeting of the
city utilities committee.
Councilman Phil Hager
chairs the meeting. Other mem-
bers are Council members
Norma Bridges and Dean
Spears.
Last month City Council
asked SVK consultants to return
to the utility committee to re-
view projections on rates after it
was learned that a 3 1/2 percent
rate increase for sewer had not
been passed on to customers by
the city finance department.
Then city manager Gary
Hicks said at the time that the
consultants had no knowledge
on the Council-voted increase
and therefore would not have
included the figures in the utili-
ty study they presented.