“~~
Thursday, February 7, 2002
County to
provide
Grover
officers
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Grover will now have police
protection, after former police
chief Ed Pheagin retired last
month for health reasons.
During its Monday meeting
the town council voted to con-
tract with the Cleveland
County Sheriff's Department
to provide the city with law
enforcement protection.
Sheriff Dan Crawford said
contracting with his office
would save the town money.
Councilman Jack Herndon
said he liked the idea of con-
tracting with the sheriff's
office.
Other councilmen also
agreed.
“I think what we're interest-
ed in mostly is police protec-
tion in Grover,” Mayor Pro-
Tem’ Max Rollins said.
Councilman Bill Willis said
people he has talked to said
they preferred the most cover-
age for the least amount of
money.
Deputies patrolling Grover
under this agreement would
provide 24-hour coverage in
the town, and would be under
the supervision of the sheriff.
An additional entry level
deputy is expected to be added
to the number of personnel
covering Grover.
Bessemer City and Gaston
County have also made'a simi-
lar arrangement for law
enforcement.
Details regarding equipment
are yet to be determined.
Public safety also manifested
itself in another part of
Monday's meeting, as the
town voted to change its leash
law, in case the town contracts
with Cleveland County to
enforce the law.
Also, Jimmy Hensley, with
the Grover Volunteer Fire
Department, announced first
responder service will begin in
the Grover Fire District on
March 1.
See Grover, 5A
Talley loses
DEA privileges,
losing patients
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
With his narcotics privilege
revoked by the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration,
Dr. Joseph H. Talley, who has
been practicing in Grover for
much of his medical career has
been seeing his practice
decrease over the past few
weeks.
“It’s creating pandemonium
down here,” Talley said. “It’s
just a sick feeling.”
The loss of his narcotics
license, commonly referred to
as a DEA number, means Talley -
can no longer writer prescrip-
tions for controlled substances
he has used in his practice.
The federal agency made the
seizure on Talley’s Grover clinic
last Wednesday. He is also
scheduled for a March hearing
in front of the NC Medical
Board in Raleigh.
The DEA agents were accom-
panied by agents from the NC
See Talley, 5A
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 128 Years
KINGS MOUNTAIN
The Heral
Since 1889
Vol. 114 No. 6
50 C..«g¢s
ch closer
to State 3A
playoff berth
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
New Kings Mountain Police Chief Melvin Proctor takes oath of office from Mayor Rick Murphrey Friday morn-
ing at Law Enforcement Center.
Melvin Proctor sworn in
as new KM Police Chief
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Vowing that department decisions “won't be made
by me, they'll be made by God,” 15-year Kings
Mountain police veteran Melvin
Proctor took the oath of office as the
city’s new police chief Friday morn-
ing at the Kings Mountain Law
Enforcement Center.
He plans no sweeping changes, but
indicated that there will be some reor-
ganization of the department in the
coming weeks.
A packed house witnessed the cere-
mony, led by Mayor Rick Murphrey
and attended by members of
Proctor’s family, city officials, citizens,
and representatives of the Kings
Mountain and surrounding law
enforcement agencies.
“This is a special day for the city of
Kings Mountain,” the mayor said. “I
have a lot of admiration for all law
enforcement. It takes a special person
tion. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment
because it is a dangerous job.
“Tam so proud of Melvin and his accomplishments,
Chief Proctor looks right at
home in new office.
to have the leadership ability to move into this posi-
and so proud to have someone already in the Kings
Mountain Police Department that we could promote
as chief.”
i Proctor, who moved around a
. lot in his youth because his father *
was in the textile business, said he
decided shortly after moving with
his family to Kings Mountain from
Tennessee that it would be his last
move.
If he has his way, he said he
intends this career move to be his last
also.
“Becoming the chief of police
nas been my goal from the time I
started in police work in 1987,” he
said. “I thought it would take about -
25 years, but now 15 years later I'm
chief. I've reached the pinnacle half-
way through my career. I'm planning
on finishing my career here. It would
See Proctor, 3A
Good barbecue, good friends
send Corn into retirement
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
After a feast of barbecue
and a lot of well-deserved
pats on the back, Kings
Mountain Police Chief
Houston Corn left the Law
Enforcement Center for
the last time in an official
capacity Thursday.
Retiring with over 30
years with the City, Corn
said he’ll continue to rise
early in the morning. Only
now, instead of reporting
to work he'll be restoring
a recently-purchased ‘40
Ford Coupe.
Restoring old vehicles
has been his hobby for
years, and there was even
on occasion when he
restored one for his job at
KMPD.
SBI agent David Bridges, who worked with Corn at
KMPD in the 1970s, recalled that the city received a
federal grant to fund a Crime Prevention Officer and
Corn was appointed to the position.
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Retiring police chief Houston Corn with wife, Cathy,
left, and daughters Michelle Kale and Christy Nantz
at Thursday's retirement party at Kings Mountain Law
Enforcement Center.
take around to the
schools and show the
- children,” Bridges said.
“Those were the good
old days...when the base-
ment (of the old police
station) would be flooded
and when we got a new
police car it was one that
had already been used
up by the Highway
Patrol.”
Bridges recalled that
he and Corn worked
shifts together in 1974
and ‘75, and would cover
for each other on occa-
sion. “He'd cover for me
when I had to go to class,
and I'd cover for him at
Christmas and other
times. He was great to
work with. He was my
best buddy.”
Corn originally came
to Kings Mountain in 1970 shortly after graduation
from Enka High School. He worked for the city gas
+ department before being drafted into the Army during
the Vietnam War. When he
“He got an old bread truck and turned it into a
crime prevention van, with displays that he would
See Corn, 3A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
rleers
3B
Opinions
different
on merger
of hospitals
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain Hospital's decision to open
merger talks with Cleveland Regional Medical
Center was announced last Wednesday, and the
process was expected to take another step forward
today.
The committee's first task will be to develop a
list of about five to six items of major concern
which need to be addressed or conditions that
must be met before a merger can take place. The
issues addressed would have to be done in a way
acceptable to Kings Mountain Hospital, Board
Chairman Hack Trammell said.
Secondly, the committee, working with a group
from Cleveland Regional and Carolinas
HealthCare System is expected to negotiate pre-
liminary terms of agreement between the two hos-
pitals; or find
those terms are
not possible.
The draft
agreement will
then be submit-
ted to both
Kings Mountain
and Cleveland
Regional’s
Trustee
Advisory
Councils for
review.
Committee
appointee Stella Putnam said her main concern is
keeping Kings Mountain Hospital functional.
“I'm interested in it and I want to see the hospi-
_tal survive and be strong in the community,”
Putnam said. She also serves on the hospital's
Trustee advisory council and is a member of the
Kings Mountain District Schools Board of
Education.
Putnam said keeping local control of the hospital
will be beneficial and she wants to hear what
Cleveland Regional could do for Kings Mountain.
“We're the ones that live in this town,” Putnam
said. “We need to maintain control of the hospi-
tal.”
Talks of a merger with the Shelby hospital
picked up after KMH trustee council members
Scott Neisler and J.C. Bridges met with CHS
President and CEO Dr. Harry Nurkin. The top
executive said no additional money could be given
to Kings Mountain.
“Carolinas HealthCare System is committed to
helping Kings Mountain Hospital become all that
it can be, but that commitment does not mean that
“We’re the ones that
live in this town. We
need to maintain
control of the hospi-
tal.”
- =Stella Putnam
KM Hospital Trustee
See Merger, 2A
BEN LEDBETTER / THE HERALD
A truck turned over at the ramp to U.S. Highway
74 east off Cleveland Ave. on Monday. Police said
no one was hurt at the scene.
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC}