Thursday, April 15, 1999
Vol. 111 No. 15
Since 1889
KINGS MOUNTAIN
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ERIE
SPORTS
1940s KMHS football and
baseball star James Gibson wil
be inducted into the Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of Fame
on Monday, April 26. 1B
Yankee great John’s
surgery world renown
Former major
league pitch-
ing great
Tommy John
made history
after his come-
back from a
elbow surgery
in 1975. 1B
YMCA CEO makes
proposal. to rec group
Cameron Corder, CEO of
the YMCAs of Cleveland
County, made his proposal on
a YMCA-City of Kings
Mountain recreation partner-
ship to the City Recreation
Committee Tuesday night. 4B
COMMUNITY
WH
Grover Board denies
water for SC businesses
Grover Town Council
Monday night denied a re-
quest from South Carolina
gaming developers to run wa-
ter to their proposed establish-
ments. 3A
Gaston Election Board
says no to polling place
The Gaston County Board of
Elections says it will not con-
sider establishing a polling
place for the Kings Mountain
citizens whose homes are in
Gaston County. 5A
OPINION
Mu
Ash was one of KM’s
most popular players
Clarence Ash,
who died last
week at the
age of 47, was
one of Kings
Mountain best
and most pop-
ular athletes
the 1960s. 4A
Church News
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No tax hike in KM budget
City Manager Jimmy Maney
says he foresees no increases in
gas, electricity or city taxes for
Kings Mountain citizens in the
1999-2000 city budget.
But Maney told Council
Monday night at a work session
that the bottom line is that wa-
ter and sewer rates must go up
or the city will have no money
for improvements in the new
year.
“Realistically, how much of
$1 million needed for capital
improvements do you want to
address in the next budget,”
asked Maney of the council.
Board members Gene White
and Jerry Mullinax were absent.
Council had requested that
Maney present a rate study that
would address capital needs
but Maney said the average
customer can’t afford the kind
of increases in water and sewer
it would take to realize the
goals in one year.
Maney said he will return to
Council in the next week or two
and present a five-year layout
with five or six options. “If we
can bite little pieces off at a time
we can afford to do some of
these things,” he said.
The plan may suggest a six
percent increase to residential
water and sewer customers
each year for the next five years,
a 4 percent each year increase
for inside industrial customers
for water and sewer; and a 7
percent increase for outside in-
dustrial users of water and sew-
er.
Maney showed charts that
pointed out that if Council took
steps now to spend $1 million
in the next budget for capital
improvements that the increas-
es could run 31.7 percent for
water and 39 percent for sewer.
“That's unrealistic,” said
Maney, who said that a conser-
vative estimate on a typical
household water bill of 3,000
gallons could run $2.52 more a
world-renown
Relay For Life
Begins Friday
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
One of the most important
events in Kings Mountain this
year will take place on April 16
and 17. Held to benefit the
American Cancer Society and to
honor cancer survivors and vic-
tims, the Relay For Life will
come to Kings Mountain
Community Center's walking
track on those days with food,
entertainment, teams walking
for cancer, and the serious busi-
ness of cancer awareness and
prevention.
Opening events for the Relay
for Life will kick off at 6 pm
Friday. At 6:30 a special
Survivor's Victory Lap around
the walking track will be taken
a ipiedi high
by people who have actually
whipped cancer. Information on
participating in the Survivor's
Lap can be obtained from Betty
Mitchell at 734-0449. Friday
evening, then all through the
night until Saturday at noon,
over one dozen teams of ten or
more members will take to the
track to raise money for the
American Cancer Society. Team
organizing information is avail-
able from Mike Neely at 739-
4952.
As the teams circle the track,
other activities will be going on
in the infield. Starting at 7 pm,
Dance Magic will present a
show, followed by gospel
singing by Daystar and 5th
See Relay, 3A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Kings Mountain Fire Chief Frank Burns, (right) and Relay
For Life organizer Mike Neely put up another sign advertis-
ing the big event to be held April 16 and 17 at the Kings
Mountain Community Center walking track. The Relay For
Life focuses on cancer fund raising and awareness.
Momrickt to receive Scout Award
Sunday School, Boy Scouts
of America and the U. S. Marine
Corps instilled in Larry
Hamrick Sr. the values he has
addressed all his life.
The Kings Mountain insur-
anceman, recognized a number
of years ago with the Silver
Beaver, Scouting’s highest
achievement for Scouter leader-
ship, will be honored as the sec-
ond recipient of the Rev. Dr.
Charles Bell Award at Kings
Mountain Boy Scout's 91st an-
niversary celebration next
Thursday at 7 p.m. at First
Baptist Church.
Hamrick’s activity in Boy
Scouts spans over 36 years and
began when he advanced to a
young Star Scout in Shelby in
1943. Over the years his exem-
plary service has ranged from
pitching tents with his two sons
LARRY HAMRICK
when they grew up in Scouting
and advanced to Eagle and 'in
most recent years long service
on Piedmont Council’s Board of
Directors where his leadership
in running a successful mem-
bership campaign and capital
fundraising efforts earned him
an enviable record of outstand-
ing service.
His contributions reach be-
yond Scouting to his communi-
ty and to his profession where
his co-workers and fellow
members of civic clubs say he
strives for excellence and car-
ries in his leadership the same
values he learned as a young
Boy Scout.
A Kings Mountain business-
man since November 15, 1966,
Hamrick’s roots run deep in the
Kings Mountain community.
There are-few areas of commu-
nity life where he has not
served as a volunteer and a list-
ing of those affiliations would
take pages to outline.
Hamrick's friends say he
ranks No. 1 as a volunteer
Public Relations person for
Kings Mountain because he
loves Kings Mountain.
The personable insurance-
man and realtor is co-owner
with his son, Larry Jr., in
Warlick and Hamrick
Insurance. A past president and
Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary, he
has not missed a local Rotary
club meeting since he joined in
1968. He is also a past president
of Cleveland County Realtors
and of KM Association of
Realtors, past chairman of the
administrative board of Central
United Methodist church, past
president of the Kings
Mountain Historical Museum
Foundation, past chairman of
See Hamrick, 3A
month and the sewer cost for a
similar household using 3,000
gallons a month could run $2.61
additionally.
“This would mean an addi-
tional $5 a month for the typical
customer,” said Mayor Scott
Neisler.
“I know we are going to
have to bite the bullet but I hate
this issue is coming up with an
election in November,” said
Councilwoman Norma Bridges.
See Council, 3A
Rabies
epidemic
in county
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Cleveland County is on the
verge of a rabies epidemic and
citizens are being urged to mon-
itor their pets’ behavior and to
have them revaccinated unless
they have been vaccinated in
the past three years.
According to Denese
Stallings, Director of the
Cleveland County Health
Department, the county has had
eight cases of rabies in the past
10 months, and one case report-
ed earlier this month may result
in the family of a potential ra-
bid dog being treated for possi-
ble rabies contact.
Stallings reported that a
* Lawndale family’s dog killed a
raccoon on Charolais Road in
Lawndale on April 6. The fami-
ly did not report the incident
until April 8. At that time, the
raccoon tested positive for ra-
bies, and the dog was eutha-
nized and is being tested in
Raleigh. If the dog tests posi-
tive, all who had contact with
the dog will have to undergo
rabies treatment.
“The grave concern that I
have is that if any human gets
it,” Stallings said. “This is a real
public health concern for our
county.” \
~ The incidents of rabies has
been on the rise in North
Carolina since 1990. Eleven cas-
es have been reported in Gaston
County in the past 10 months.
Because of the escalating
problem, Stallings said the
Cleveland County Animal
Shelter has suspended its pet
adoption program unless it is a
pet donated by a family who
See Rabies, 3A
All major KM systems on go for Y2K
Folks who get their electrici-
ty from the Kings Mountain
utility department can rest as-
sured that come January 1,
2000, the juice will flow uninter-
rupted. Thanks to hard work by
the City of Kings Mountain and
its electric utility employees, all
major systems have been tested
and approved for Y2K compati-
bility.
Kings Mountain electric util-
ity systems were given a
through test on April 19- the
ninety-ninth day of the ninety-
ninth year of this century. The
reason that date was chosen is
because it represented a “worse
case” scenario for computers
not Y2K ready. The date also co-
incided with a time utilities na-
tionwide set aside to test their
systems.
“We developed our Y2K plan
from scratch,” said Carol
George, City of Kings Mountain
computer systems analyst. “We
have formed a task force of 21
people in every department of
the city to check all systems for
Y2K compliance. The electrical
utility system was the first one
we checked.”
Other steps that the City of
Kings Mountain has taken to
meet Y2K head-on include mak-
ing sure all PCs are Year 2000
ready, and making a physical
inventory of all city equipment
from valves to heaters to make
sure none have embedded chips
that could cause trouble. The
city has also contacted its ven-
dors to make sure they are tak-
ing steps to be Y2K ready.
Kings Mountain electrical direc-
tor Nick Hendricks was in
charge of the Y2K testing of his
department.
“We ran the tests for two
hours with absolutely no dis-
See 2000, 3A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Kings Mountain City electrical director Nick Hendricks and computer analyst Carol
George look over the results of last Friday's test of the city’s electric utility Y2K readi-
ness. Both Hendricks and George report everything is in fine shape and ready for the
Year 2000.
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
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