Thursday, November 15, 2001
Vol. 113 No. 4
KINGS
Since 1889
The new H. Lawrence Patrick Senior Life and Conference Center will be dedicated Sunday at 2 p.m.
New Senior Center to be dedicated
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Dedication of the new $3.1 million H.
Lawrence Patrick Senior Life and
Conference Center will be held Sunday at 2
p.m.
Former Kings Mountain Mayor John
Lawrence Patrick for whom it is named.
Aging Director Monty Thornburg, who has
been with the aging program for 18 1/2
years including 15 1/2 years as director, will
speak.
William Merritt, brother-in-law of H.
Lawrence Patrick, will give the dedicatory
prayer and the Graham High School
E
MOUNTAIN
The Hera
50 Cents
and rooms for special activities.
Refreshments will be served.
The Kings Mountain Aging program has
been operating out of the new center for the
past two weeks. Previously, the program
was housed at the Kings Mountain Depot
for approximately 25 years. It began in the
early 1970s at the Community Center.
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
~penings
heading
our way
See Page 1B
NO
[t's now official,
Mauney Hosiery
out of business
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Two closings in Cleveland
County will leave about 200
people out of work.
A Kings Mountain mill has
shut down, leaving 130 people
without jobs. Many of the
employees that had been on
temporary layoffs went on per-
manent layoffs Friday.
Mauney Hosiery, which had
notified the City of Kings
Mountain under the Worker
Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act, was started in
1939 by W.K. Mauney Jr.
The company had been a sup-
plier of military socks since 1939
and also had provided civilian
goods.
About 10 years ago, the com-
pany started purchasing high
speed electronic knitting
machines that improved the
plant’s efficiency, but required it
to downsize.
Henry Moss will be the featured speaker.
An impressive ceremony is scheduled
from 1:15-4 p.m. which includes entertain-
ment and a tour of the facility.
The Lock Norman Pipe Band from
Mecklenburg County: will play bagpipe
music from 1:15-2 p.m., fojlowed by the ib
bon nis and dedication.
Mayor Rick Murphrey will welcome the
guests and share biographical information
on the center and deceased businessman H.
Ensemble, directed by marshall Qualles,
will sing. The Ensemble has performed all
over the world, including Austria and
England, and has performed at the White ing.”
House for Presidents Ronald Reagan,
George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton. The group
will perform for President George W. Bush
next month.
Following the service, the public is invit-
ed to tour the new 17,000 square foot facility
which includes huge dining rooms, offices,
KM High School looks
at scheduling options
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
New State graduation requirements are causing
Kings Mountain High School to look at providing
options that would allow band and chorus stu-
dents to remain in those programs while still
completing strict graduation and scholars diplo-
ma requirements. :
All students currently in grades nine and ten,
and all of those to follow, must choose their grad-
uation path before they enter high school and
choose courses that would allow them to be on a
four-year college track or a college prep track.
Students must have 22 units to graduate, and
those seeking a scholars diploma must have 24,
according to Supt. Larry Allen.
That could - and probably will - present some
challenges for band and chorus students, many of
whom seek scholars diplomas. Students in band
and chorus in a block schedule such as the one at
KMHS spend 25% of their time in those classes
and earn one credit per semester, or eight credits
over a four-year period.
According to Allen, Principal John Yarbro and
Assistant Principal Dianna Bridges, who spoke at
Monday's School Board meeting at Central
School, one of the ways KMHS may deal with the
situation is return band and chorus students to a
55-minute per day course, and use the other half
of their block to give them an option to take an
academic course that would allow them to meet
their chosen path.
The new scholars diploma requirements
include an additional foreign language and math
course.
“We need to look at taking the music programs
back to the way they were six or seven years ago,
before block scheduling came into being,” Allen
said, “that being a 55-minute period every day all
year long and then having companion courses
offered in the other half of that block that would
give the students opportunities to select academic
courses that they otherwise may not be able to
take.”
No decision has been made yet as to what plan
the high school may devise. The school adminis-
trators are currently studying several options.
Currént 11th and 12th grade students are not
affected by the new graduation requirements. But
students now entering high school must select a
career track while they are still in the eighth
‘ grade. There are opportunities to change paths = «
after they get into high school, administrators
noted.
“Some students may have to choose other
courses over band and chorus,” Yarbro noted.
“But we want to try to provide enough flexibility
so students can do both.”
Although they recognize the challenge, Board
members Stella Putnam and Shearra Miller urged
the high school staff to try to come up with a plan
that would keep the band and chorus programs
as they are.
See Scheduling Page 3A
“We're very excited to be in the new
building,” Thornburg said. “The seniors are
just thrilled. They can’t believe this build-
Until the building and grounds are com-
pletely finished, Thornburg said the Center
will be used for the same programs as in the
past; however, he said there are already
some new people taking part in activities
See Senior Page 3A
Eventually, the workforce was
down to 125 to 130 people.
But current plant President
Kemp Mauney III said the
plant’s decline is tied to interna-
tional factors.
“Qur situation changed when
NAFTA was instituted,”
Mauney said.
The North American Free
Trade Agreement is an interna-
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Employees of Comco Signs of Charlotte replace the
neon lights on the marque of Joy Theater, which will
open next week as the new Joy Performing Arts
Theatre when the Kings Mountain Little Theatre pres-
ents “Forever Plaid.”
New school construction ahead of schedule
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education got a lot of good news at its
monthly meeting Monday night at
. Central School.
The Board learned that the new Kings
Mountain Intermediate School for grades
5-6 is well ahead of schedule and should
be in the dry within two weeks.
The Board also praised the accomplish-
ments of the KMHS baseball team, which
won the North Carolina High School
Athletic Association Scholar Team Award
‘for having the highest accumulative
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 127 Yearo
grade point average (3.34) of any school
in the State; and the Board honored all of
the schools that met expected growth in
the most recent ABC testing program.
Supt. Larry Allen told the Board that
contractors have already widened the
road in front of the school for turning
_ lanes, and that most of the roof is in
place.
“There’s a lot going on out there,” he
said. “We're very much ahead of sched-
ule. We're seeing things now that nor-
mally on the schedule are not supposed
to happen until later in the winter. We
feel real good about where they are and
what's happening.”
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
* Allen said the new leadership team
has already met twice and is excited
about the opening of the school next
August. Current Kings Mountain Middle
School Principal Ethel Pedersen will
assume duties as Principal in January
and will begin the task of planning cur-
riculum and hiring staff.
Dr. Allen said all of the system's fifth
and sixth grade teachers are expected to
transfer to the new school. There are cur-
rently 720 fifth and sixth graders in KM
District Schools, but the school is built |
for 900 students. :
“The school is too large for the group
that’s coming in,” Allen said, “but that’s
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
the way you want to build. We're poised
and ready to grow and in a few years it
will be filled up.”
Allen said the dry weather was the key
to being so far ahead of schedule. “When
we get inside all kinds of weather can
come.”
Members of the 2001 KMHS baseball
team and Coach Tony Leigh were recog-
"nized with a plaque and certificates for
having the best team grade point average
of all schools in the State. Team members
were Matt Bridges, Caleb Williams,
Hunter Gaffney, David Brinkley, Derek
See School Page 3A
Shelby
106 S. Lafaygtte St.
704-484-6200
tional trade act in which the
United States, Canada, and
Mexico are members.
Mauney said the plant has
lost clout in dealing with cus-
tomers to get higher prices, and
that it has been selling some
products under cost for several
years.
The business which used to be
active in community activities in
Kings Mountain and Cleveland
County has had to scale back its
support in those activities.
“We used to be very support-
ive of the community efforts ®
that have gone on in Kings
Mountain and Cleveland
County,” Mauney said. “With
the way we've been losing
money over the last several
years, it’s made it very difficult
to do anything.”
Although it has shut down its
manufacturing operation,
Mauney said the plant plans to
fulfill a government contract to
provide socks for the military if {
a financial panes will provide :
money. : |
Mauney said he has applied
for unemployment compensa-
tion and retraining for his
employees.
Mauney Hosiery, like most
plants in Kings Mountain, had
employees that have worked
See Mauney Page 3A
Rick Moore
recovering
from surgery
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
A newly elected city council-:
man, who 1
was hospital-
ized on elec-
tion night is
expected to
return home,
this week
Rick
Moore, the
top vote-get-
ter for at-
large seats on
the Kings
Mountain
City Council, was taken to
Carolinas Medical Center in
Charlotte for triple bypass
heart surgery to unclog two
blockages.
Family members said he is
making considerable progress
on his recovery.
“He’s doing really well and
appreciates the calls and letters
he’s received from folks,” Tim
Moore, Rick’s son said.
Moore had 916 votes in the
five-person field, with Gene
White coming in second with
750.
Moore, 52, said he would
strive to bring more industry to
Kings Mountain and to run the
city like a business.
Last Tuesday at City Hall,
Moore complained of pressure
coming back to his chest.
Tim said Rick is expected to
be back work in approximately
one month.
Monday Rick said he was
feeling better from the surgery.
“I'm feeling a lot better,” he
said. “It will probably take me
about six weeks before I get on
my feet. About six weeks I
ought to be raring to go.”
MOORE
See Moore Page 3A
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC