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KINGS MOUNTAIN
Judy Champion
to be inducted
into Kings Mountain
Sports Hall of Fame - 6A
Thursday, March 22, 2001
50 Cents
Making a Difference
Cops, community join together to clean up Hillway
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Depending who you ask in
i the newly annexed Hillway
: community of Kings Mountain,
: police officers T.L. Reeves and |
i Brad Bumgardner are a blessing ET
Tra curse.
Part of the Kings Mountain
i police department's
: Community Oriented Police
: (COPS) program, Reeves and
: Bumgardner are heroes to the
: hard working and law abiding
i citizens that constitute the ma-
i jority of the area’s citizens. To
i the drug dealers, trash
: dumpers, bootleggers and other
i shady characters who consider
i the neighborhood their turf,
i their presence is not nearly so
: ‘welcome.
A ride along Hillway Drive
and some of its side streets and
i pathways presents a study i mn
i contrasts. Sitting within a
i stone’s throw of neat and tidy
: bungalows are shanties a rat
: would find distasteful.
: Not only dwellings, but the
landscape as well suffers from
: this syndrome. Within the shad-
: ow of some spectacular out-
i crops and peaks on Crowders
: Mountain are roadsides cov-
i ered in a blizzard of cans, bot-
i tles, and paper. 1
Folks such as Rev Pruella
Sanders of Adams Chapel AME
Zion Church are glad to see offi-
cers Reeves and Bumgardner on !
the Hillway beat.
“I'm real happy with the
COPS program and their in-
volvement in the community,”
Sanders said. “It has already
started to make a difference.”
Helping jump start the in-
volvement of Kings Mountain
police in the Hillway section
was a meeting held last month
at Adams Chapel. That gather-
ing saw mayor Rick Murphrey,
police, and 56 local citizens
gather and discuss ways to
work more closely together.
“The city is committed to es-
tablishing good communica-
tions with the Hillway area citi-
zens,” Murphrey said. “We are
- determined to clean up any ille-
gal activities and substandard
buildings that are encoun-
tered.”
Several abandoned shanties
in the neighborhood are already
‘slated for demolition. Also,
plans are in the works to have a
major roadside trash pickup
day where city workers, neigh-
bors, and other volunteers can
come together to clean up the
mounds of garbage that have
accumulated in some areas.
Kings Mountain police chief
Houston Corn recognizes that
most people who live in the
Hillway area are law abiding
citizens concerned with their
neighborhood.
“Much of the trouble with il-
legal activity such as drugs and
alcohol comes from outside in-
fluences,” said Corn. “We will
be working closely with the
neighborhood watch committee
to eliminate this.”
Putting action to Corn’s
words, a crew of city workers
erected signs on Hillway
ALAN HODGE /THE
HERALD
Unsavory elements in °
the Hillway Drive area
had best beware. As
the top photo shows,
local leaders Rev.
Pruella Sanders and
Kings Mountain may-
or Hick Murphrey are
working with COPS
policemen Brad
Bumgardner (left)
and T.L.Reeves to rid
the neighborhood of
trash. Places like the
“hole in the wall” be-
low are on the route
the patrolmen drive
every tay as part of
their community
watch program.
Monday afternoon indicating
the area was indeed part of a
community watch program as
well as a place where children
were at play.
Long-time Hillway resident,
Robert Curry, says he’s glad to
have officers Reeves and
Bumgardner patrolling the area. :
“They have definitely been a
help,” Curry said, “I can tell
things are improving.”
Curry’s neighbor, Cleveland
Brown even praised the efforts
of Animal Control.
“Since the city has sent the
animal control officers down
here, there’s not nearly as many i
stray dogs running around, 7
said Brown.
One area of Hillway that po-
See Cops, 3A
‘County SAYS
it will hold
line on taxes
and budget
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Just like Mecklenburg,
Gaston, and many other North
Carolina counties, Cleveland is
feeling a budget pinch. What
that boils down to is a dilemma
those same counties are strug-
gling with- if they don’t raise
taxes, they might have to cut
services.
With many citizens strug-
gling financially due to job lay-
offs and astronomical utility
bills, tr axes are a political
powder keg. That leaves the op-
tions of county departments
cutting back on services or at
least holding the line for anoth-
er fiscal year. The recent retreat
Hd the Cleveland County Board
of Commissioners took a pre-
liminary look at where the
county stands financially.
“We took a tentative look re-
garding any shortfalls we might
have,” said commissioner
Ronnie Hawkins. “We are look-
ing at holding the line and con-
tinuing the hiring freeze for
now.’
Hawkins said the budget pros’ ;
cess would last until Tune. At
this stage, department heads
have not turned in their final
needs.
See Tax, 3A
a
Commissioners
‘endorse’ library
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Proponents of the new
Grover public library got some
encouraging news at Tuesday's
meeting of the Cleveland
County Board of
Commissioners.
Though the commissioners
stopped short of officially ap-
proving funding for the facility,
they none the less gave what
blessing they could for the pro-
ject. The main sticking point in
the situation was, not surpris-
ingly, county budgetary con-
straints.
Following a motion by com-
missioner Charlie Harry, the
board votedsunanimously on a
resolution to “endorse the li-
brary project to the extent that
we can.” The commissioners
promised to revisit funding for
the Grover branch next year. }
Their vote was a show of sup-
port for library steering com-
mitiee members and their fund
raising efforts.
“The decision was wonder-
ful considering the current bud-
See Library, 2A
EARNRRBIERNEES
iki
isi
First day of spring
brings rain, wind
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Spring might have arrived
this week, but Old Man Winter
went out with a bang. Dumping
a foot of snow on the mountains
and two inches of rain on Kings
Mountain, a strong low pres-
sure system reminded everyone
just how fickle March weather
can be.
According to Kings
Mountain's backyard weather-
man Kenneth Kitzmiller,
Tuesday saw 1.95 inches of rain
in his gauge. By Wednesday
morning, another measurable
amount had fallen. Besides the
rain, Kitzmiller also observed
ice.
“It was mostly pellets,” he
said. “They stung when they hit
your face.”
Winds around 20 miles per
hour blew most of the day
Tuesday. Wet ground and winds
can mean uprooted trees, but
Cleveland County Emergency
Services director Beau Lovelace
said his folks had no reports of
damage.
“We came out OK with the
storm,” Lovelace said.
As usual, some folks didn’t
have sense enough to slow
down in the wet conditions
while driving. The Highway
Patrol reported over a half
dozen wrecks Tuesday morn-
ing. According to Cleveland
County EMS official Lewis
Jenkins, two accidents, one on
Highway 74 Bypass Tuesday af-
See Spring, 2A
KM mourns death of dedicated physician Blue Durham
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
A “quiet, caring, and toyalp person who loved
his patients and they loved him” is how Kings
Mountain friends and co-workers are remember-
ing Dr. T.G. “Blue” Durham, 68, who died
Monday following a four-month bout with can-
cer.
Dr. Durham served the Kings Mountain com-
munity for over 40 years, coming here on January
1, 1960 as a partner with Dr. Paul Hendricks.
Prior to that he drove to Kings Mountain each
Wednesday to work part-time for Dr. Hendricks
while he was interning in Greenville, SC.
Dr. Durham's wife, Casey, said he learned just
before Christmas that he had cancer.
“He had fallen off a stool at the office,” she re-
called. “He went to have his back x-rayed and
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Celebrating 127 Years
they found the cancer in his lungs.”
He took chemotherapy, Mrs. Durham said, but
the cancer spread quickly. “It seemed like every
time one place would get healed another would
pop up
hii that time, Dr. Durham did not return to
work.
Holly Cooke, a co-worker at Kings Mountain
Medical Center on West King Street, said Dr.
Durham's patients missed him and called often to
see how he was doing.
“Some of his patients wouldn't see anyone
else,” she said. “We offered them appointments
with other people. They were all just waiting to
see if he’d come back. Most of them had been
with him for over 30 years.”
The mood at the office was somber this week,
she said.
“He was just a genuinely caring person,” she
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
529 New Hope Road
said. “He was wonderful to work with and very
understanding.”
Two women who served as his nurses echoed
those feelings.
“His patients loved him,” said Jackie McRae,
who left the clinic at about the same time Dr.
Durham became ill. “He was a wonderful boss.
He treated my family just like he treated his own.
He'll really be missed.”
Betty Spears was with Hendricks Clinic when
Dr. Durham came to Kings Mountain to replace
Dr. Paul Nolen, and she worked with Dr. Durham
again prior to her retirement 21/2 years ago.
“He was loved by a lot of patients,” she said.
“A lot of them have told me they just don’t know
what they're going to do.
“When I got married I went to work with Dr.
Hendricks and Dr. Nolen, and then when Dr.
Nolen left to go to Tennessee Dr. Durham came,”
Gastonia Shelby
704-865-1233
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
she recalled. “I was his nurse when I retired. I feel
like a lot of people are really going to miss him.
He was a pillar to a lot of patients, that’s for
sure.”
His son-in-law and associate, Dr. Lewis
Roberson, said Dr. Durham “always went the ex-
tra mile to do anything for his patients. He
touched so many lives in the community his
shoes will never be able to be filled. He is going
to be missed.”
Ronnie Hawkins, manager of Harris Funeral
Home and a County Commissioner, said he has
been going to Dr. Durham ever since the doctor
came to Kings Mountain.
“Blue has always been kind of a quiet, private
‘ person but I always found him to be a very enjoy-
able person,” he said. “When I worked at Kings
Mountain Hospital I found him to be a very con-
See Durham, 3A
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC