Thursday, December 21, 2000
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Vol. 112 No. 51
Since 1889
50 Cents
Jim Belt | 3
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Christy
luminar,
High Heat
Cold weather, gas prices make it expensive to stay warm
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Swooning is an old fashioned
word that will probably apply
to a lot of folks over the next
couple of months when they get
their heating bill.
With the combination of un-
usually harsh weather already
this season and steep increases
in the prices of natural gas, con-
sumers will see the highest
chunk in several years of the
family budget go to staying
Suspension
lifted for
EdenGardens
warm. According to federal en-
ergy sources, the average home
heating bill this winter will be
around $200 more than last
year. This figure could go up if
the already nasty weather wors-
ens.
People who heat with natural
gas will probably get hit the
hardest. According to the
National Energy Information
Center, the price of natural gas
in North Carolina was around
$7 per thousand cubic feet in
1995. Currently, it’s hovering
Phase Two
City begins installing water
line around Northside Loop
around $12.50. National num-
bers were $6 per cubic foot in
1995 and are just below the $10
mark now.
People who heat with oil are
paying more than last year, but
not a whole lot more. According
to Ray Thomas at Thomas
Petroleum in Shelby, heating oil
is currently selling for $1.34 a
gallon- up about a nickel from a
year ago.
“The price is subject to
See Heat, 9A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
George Melton at Bridges Hardware in Kings
Mountain has been busy tuning up and repairing
kerosene heaters. According to Melton, around
125 folks have brought their heaters in for work
this season.
KM may get
final decision
on new school
on Thursday
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Supporters of a new grade 5-6 school in Kings
Mountain were all smiles following Tuesday's
meeting of the Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners where school board chairman Dr.
Larry Allen once again asked for help in getting
additional funding for the project.
“It was an entirely different atmosphere,” Allen
said.
The reference was to the congenial way that the
new commissioners received Allen's request for
ways to come up with the additional $1.9 million
it will take to get the school done. This in contrast
to the reception the idea got earlier this year
when Kings Mountain School Supt. Dr. Bob
McRae went before the commissioners with a
similar request.
By ALAN HODGE During his presentation Tuesday, Allen laid out
taff Writer the “bottom line” figures for the school which
By GARY STEWART will be built on Kings Mountain Blvd. near the
Editor of The Herald
Some surprises are good
ones. That's the way an unan-
nounced visit from a state
Division of Facility Services
team turned out for
EdenGardens of Kings
Mountain earlier this month.
Unlike a previous trip, this time
the team found everything
ship-shape.
Under a suspension of new
admissions since September
. when DFS found violations in
several areas of operation and
care, EdenGardens got busy to
set their place straight.
Pylons lined the center lane of the three lane
road.
Cement barricades blocked the northbound
lane.
Some motorists seemed confused as to which
lane they should drive in.
Horns blared.
Some appeared frustrated at having to stop, or
slow down momentarily.
Some waved and smiled.
A concerned school bus driver even stopped
and opened the door to ask if she’d knocked
down some of the pylons.
current middle school.
“There has been tremendous interest by con-
struction bidders,” Allen said. “This is a good
time to get started.”
Allen told the commissioners that the estimat-
ed cost per square foot for the school had come
down from $92 to the low $80s. Total cost to build
will be $10.8 million. Kings Mountain Schools
currently has $8.9 million available in state
bonds, capital reserve, and projected receipts. The
question was where to get the extra $1.9 million.
“We are coming to you to ask for your help,”
Allen said to the commissioners. “We want to
work with you and you staff to come up with the
best way to fund this project.”
See School, 2A
“The narrow stretch of Cansler Street between
PRA
According to EdenGardens new iu.
executive director Kristi
Anthony, that effort has paid off
in the lifting of restrictions.
“We have worked long and
hard hours to correct any prob-
lems of the past,” Anthony said.
came up with some innovative
changes that are already bear-
ro Childers Street and Waco Road was alive with a¢-
tivity Thursday afternoon as workers from Ronny
Turner Construction and Al Moretz Engineering
began the massive phase two construction of the
main water line that will eventually replace the
See Water, 3A
and connect
the water to
KM gas director
Clemmer retiring
“We reorganized and imple- BY ALAN HODGE
mented systems that were ei- Staff Writer
‘ther not in place or not
functioning. It was glorious Employses of When John Clemmer retires December 29, he
when the inspection team from Roney Tuer can say that his job has been a gas- literally.
the state came in unannounced Inc. prepare Director of Gas Utilities for the City of Kings
on December 8 and said we the trench onan for the past 21 years,
could admit new residents. and pipe for Clemmer has been at his post
Once the restriction was laying of new long enough to see some pro-
gone, EdenGardens had it first ‘16-inch water found changes come to the de-
new resident, Edna Bobbitt, main on livery of that commodity.
come on board just four days Cansler St. A native of Gaston County,
later on December 12. Even Workers Clemmer came to the gas de-
while things were in flux at tapped the partment after a career that in-
EdenGardens, Anthony said pipe before cluded running a KOA
that not one resident left be- installing it Kampground for 17 years, and a | = % ib
cause of dissatisfaction with the n ie Soli spell at Akers and Kerns truck- CLEMMER
lace. ing companies. He attended
P Working together, Anthony i ie Som: Gaston Community College and Belmont Textile
and the staff at EdenGardens pe ny School. He also served three years in the Army in
Alaska before it became a state.
Clemmer is the son of the late Oscar and Mertie
ing fruit. homes. Ayers Clemmer and was born in 1937. He has
“We are now sending out a been married to the former Jane Angel for 42
biweekly newsletter that keeps STEWART/ years and has two daughters, Dana C. Wray who
families informed of things HERALD is married to David Wray and Marti C.
such as special activities,” said
See EdenGardens, 2A
KM people come to aid of friend
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
People coming together to
help someone in need is what
Christmas and the friends and
relatives of Shelby McDonald of
Kings Mountain are all about. A
caring and giving group,
they're pulling out all the stops
to make this holiday season
one that will turn a life around.
McDonald's story is one of
unrelenting and excruciating
pain. A medical condition that
arose 20 years ago when she
was pregnant with her son
Brock led to blood clots in her
legs. Rejecting the emergency
abortion that doctors said was
Shortly after Brock was born,
McDonald had a clip put in the
vein near her heart to keep the
clots from migrating there- a
potentially fatal occurrence.
Now, the clots are teats to
the clip as McDonald says, like
“a cluster of grapes.” Clots in
her legs currently number
around 70.
“It hurts to breathe, sneeze,
or move,” McDonald says. “I al-
so have open wounds on my
legs that need to be packed ev-
ery day. Bad days make for bad
nights and bad nights make for
bad days. I can’t imagine a day
without pain”
Photos of McDonald's
wounds are shocking, yet she
tries to bear it all stoically. A
thought of others before herself.
“Shelby was there when my
husband was dying,” said
‘riend Donna Philbeck. “She is
the most Christ-like lady I
know.”
Since she often keeps her
medical troubles to herself,
even some of McDonald's clos-
est acquaintances were unaware
of the severity of her malady.
That is until her friend of 20
years Twyla Lundsford got
wind of the situation.
“Shelby finally began talking
to me one day about her pain,”
Lundsford said. “She said it
was like being electrocuted. I
knew then that something had
to be done to help her.”
According to Dr. Mark
Hospital, the medical condition
that McDonald suffers with is
known as “ischemic vascular
ain.”
“She has problems from
blockage of the blood vessels of
the legs,” Scheutzow said. “Her
vessels have been injured and
so the muscles don’t get the
proper blood supply. This pain
is one of the hardest syndromes
to treat and medicine won't
help it.”
Scheutzow explained that the
blood vessels in the legs are
“nerve rich” and if those nerves
become injured they send pain
signals to the brain. This in turn
creates changes in the spinal
. cord that heightens sensitivity
Ringenbach who is married to Todd Ringenbach.
See Clemmer, 5A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Friends and relatives of Shelby McDonald (seated left) recent-
ly gathered at her home to plan strategies for funding the op-
eration she needs to relieve 20 years of leg pain. Pictured
necessary, McDonald ended up ; 10 Dain are, seated right, Maggie Cabe. Standing left to right, Sandy
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in the hospital.
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