Thursday, March 16, 2000
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Vol. 112 No. 11
Since 1889
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WHAT'S
INSIDE
Commission
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Next Tuesday evening's
meeting of the Cleveland
County Board of
Commissioners will be going
mobile.
In anticipation of an over-
flow crowd interested in the
school merger question, the
meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in’
the regular council chambers.
Following several public hear-
ings and other business, the
commissioners and all interest-
ed parties will then move en
masse’ to the auditorium at
‘Cleveland Community College
where the real action will begin.
With everyone in place at the
community college, the meeting
will be reconvened around 7:30
p.m.
Highlights of the reconvened
portion of the session will be
the presentation of attorney Gil
Middlebrooks’ report to com-
missioners on school merger.
Middlebrooks was hired late
last year by the commissioners
to conduct a study of the merg-
er matter. Also on tap will be an
address to commissioners by
the chairmen of all three school
systems in Cleveland County.
The board chairmen are ex-
pected to give commissioners a
list of ways that the three school
systems can cooperate to better
education without merger.
“Chairman Tommy Greene
from the Cleveland County
Schools will present seven items
for consideration,” said Larry
Allen, board chairman for
Kings Mountain District
Schools. .
Items for consideration in-
clude: A countywide education
tax; countywide facility task
force; educating the public
about the role of school admin-
istration; study the possibility
to get merger report
fer and tuition fee; over utiliza-
tion/under utilization of facili-
ties; explore changing district
lines; search for ways to help
underachieving students.
“We feel we can work togeth-
er on these topics,” Allen said.
For those unable to attend the
portion of the meeting at
Cleveland Community College,
that segment will be aired by
Time Warner Cable on the edu-
cation access channel 19.
Ee
Nelson Dixon has a knack
of growing delicious vegeta-
bles on his farm south of
Kings Mountain. Read about
Nelson and some of your oth-
er friends and neighbors, and
get some expert gardening
tips in the Herald’s annual
Lawn and Garden Tab inside
today’s paper.
SPORTS
Soccer, softball
teams impressive
Kings Mountain High's
women’s spring sports teams
are off to a fantastic start. The
soccer team won last week’s
West Iredell Tournament and
is undefeated and unscored
on. The softball team, though
young, defeated pre-season
favorite R-S Central in its first
game. 1B
Bloodmobile visits
Boyce Memorial
Boyce Memorial A.R.P.
Church will host a visit of the
Red Cross Bloodmobile from
1:30-6 p.m. today. All eligible
donors are encouraged to give
blood. 2A
Cleanup effort to
target junk cars
Mayor Rick Murphrey’s
Operation Spring Cleanup is
under way and
encouraging citizens to call
City Hall and report unsightly
junk cars. Owners of cars in
violation of city codes will be
given seven days to remove
them. 3A
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald .
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education assigned four principals
to new positions at Monday night's
meeting at Central School.
The appointments are effective
July 1.
John Goforth, Principal of Kings
Mountain Middle School, has been
named Director For Instructional
Services. He will replace Jane King,
who retired as Assistant
Superintendent for Instruction in
1998, but continued to serve until
June 30, 1999 and was hired for an
additional year as a consultant.
Phil Weathers, Principal of Kings
Mountain High School, will become
Director of Student Support
Services, replacing Jean Thrift who
retired last June but stayed on for an
additional year.
Bob Grigg, Assistant Principal at
the Middle School, has been named
the mayor is
A recent sunny morning saw friends Joshua Bruckner, Joe Lawrence, an
flowers on North Piedmont Avenue. Joshua is the son of Edie and Dan Bruckner, Joe is the son of Melissa and
Bill Lawrence, and Jack is the son of Butch and Margaret Pearson.
4 KM principals promoted
Assistant Principal at Bethware
Elementary and Lynda Stewart,
Assistant Principal at Grover
Elementary, has been named
Elementary Curriculum Specialist. .
Supt. Bob McRae said the system
will begin advertising for all four
vacant positions.
Goforth, a native of Blacksburg,
SC, came to Kings Mountain in 1984
as a teacher and coach at KMHS. He
became assistant principal at KMHS
in 1987, and in 1989 assumed the
Principal’s position at East
Elementary. He has served as prin-
cipal at the Middle School for the
past eight years.
Prior to coming to Kings
Mountain, he taught and coached in
Georgia and Florida.
Weathers began his teaching ca-
reer in Kings Mountain in 1976 as a
teacher at Central School. He later
taught at Kings Mountain Junior
High and coached the Patriots’
wrestling team to a 116-8-2 record.
ALAN HODGE / THE HERALD
d Jack Pearson, left to right, picking
After 14 years of teaching he en-
tered administration as assistant
principal at KMHS. He completed
his administrative degree at
Gardner-Webb University in 1989,
and in 1995 became KMHS princi-
pal.
Grigg began his education career
in Kings Mountain in 1988 after do-
ing his student teaching at North
Elementary School. He taught at
Central School and then moved to
the Middle School as a sixth grade
teacher when Central closed. He be-
came assistant principal in 1997.
Stewart, a native of Kings
Mountain, taught at North
Elementary, Grover Elementary and
Kings Mountain Middle School pri-
or to becoming interim assistant
principal at KMMS in 1993. She be-
came an assistant principal in 1995
and has served in that capacity ever
since at KMMS and Grover.
of eliminating the student trans-
: not an average everyday little project.”
Council to hear
bids on water
line replacement
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
City Council will probably be asked to award
bids on the first phase of the major replacement
of the water main from Moss Lake to Kings
Mountain at a special meeting Tuesday, March 21
at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Engineer Al Moretz gave his latest update to
the City Utilities Commission on Monday after-
noon, and bids on replacing the 3,000-foot section
from the water plant across Muddy Fork Creek
were scheduled to be opened late Wednesday af-
ternoon.
Moretz said 14 firms had requested bid infor-
mation and/or attended the bid meeting.
The project could cost around $700,000, de-
pending upon how the recent gasoline situation
has impacted material and transportation costs.
The city hopes to replace the section of line
during July Fourth week when major industries
traditionally close for vacation and inventory.
If Council approves bids Tuesday night, the
i contractor will be contacted immediately so pipe
can be ordered.
The new 36-inch line will replace a 24-inch line
which has been in existence since Moss Lake was
built in the late 1960s. It also takes out the 90-de-
gree bends where most of the city’s water prob-
lems have occurred over the past several years.
Triagon Engineers of Asheville recently tested
other portions of the line at strategic points and
found that it could last another “10 to 15 years” if 4
it is properly maintained and there is not a drastic
increase in the number of taps.
City Manager Jimmy Maney said beginning
with next year’s budget the city would begin a
continuation or replacement fund for the remain-
der of the line, eventually creating a 36-inch line
all the way into town. :
During the work at Muddy Fork Creek, the city
will also replace a portion of the “North Side
Project” near Public Works to connect to the new
system. That part of the project should go out to
bids in the next 30 days.
Maney said the city will soon make contact
with the Upper Cleveland County Sanitation
District so a connection can be made with their
water system just in case the contractor cannot
make the hook-on to the new line during July
Fourth Week.
“The line has to be operational when it is con-
i nected,” Moretz pointed out. “It has to be disin-
fected and tested for pressure. All prep work has
to be done...this is a very precise installation. It’s
See Water, 3A
SCHOOLS
“Fiddler on the Roof
begins Friday at KMHS
Kings Mountain High stu-
dents will present Fiddler on
the Rook Friday through
Sunday at B.N. Barnes
Auditorium. 3A
HEALTH
West Nile Fever
closely watched
A new disease called West
Nile Fever, which is spread
via migratory birds, is being
closely watched by Cleveland
County health officials. 7A
mm y |]
Hammin’ it up
Curing hams is work of art
for Kings Mountain's Adams
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The Rev. J.D. Adams of Kings
Mountain has a ham what am
at his home on Jack Adams
Road. Almost as big as a bushel
basket, the country cured pillar
of pork once roamed Adams’
pig pen as part of an 800 pound
hog named “Bessie Belle.” Now,
it waits in salt and sugar-crust-
ed glory for the day Adams will
put the first slices in a frying
an.
A short stroll down a path be-
hind Adams’ house leads to his
hog lot. Armed only with a
piece of broomstick, Adams
steps unafraid into his barn
where four hogs the size of so-
fas lounged. Popping the
supine porkers with the broom-
stick created an explosion of
squeals and snorts as the pigs
jumped to their feet and blasted
outside to a muddy corral.
“Theyre as hard as rocks,”
Adams said as he beamed with
pride. “I just love to raise hogs.
Adams has plenty of experi-
ence in pig production. The as-
sistant pastor of Mount Olive
Baptist Church, the 68-year-old
Adams learned about farm
work from his father the late
Alex Adams. Currently, Rev.
”
Adams raises around six hogs a |,
year for meat.
See Adams, 3A
| &
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
ings “Blue” (foreground) and “Butch” soak up some sun on a recent morning at the farm of
tneir owner Rev. J.D. Adams of Kings Mountain. One of their former playmates, “Bessie Belle,”
is now a 100-pound country ham that Adams has been curing for over two years.
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