Thursday, July 18, 2002
Vol. 114 No. 29
Since 1889
50 Cents
. JOT
7A
KM, Shelby hospitals approve
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain Hospital and
Cleveland Regional Medical
Center in Shelby took the first step
toward merging the two facilities
when both hospitals’ board of
directors approved a letter of
agreement Monday morning.
That will also give Kings
Mountain Hospital about $4 mil-
lion needed to expand its emer-
gency room and outpatient servic-
es.
Both boards met simultaneously
before announcing their approval
of the agreement at a news confer-
ence.
“I think first off the citizens of
Cleveland County and Kings
Mountain ought to feel real proud
of the negotiation team,” CRMC
Trustee Council member Larry
Corry said.
Corry said one of the points they
dealt with first was keeping two
acute care facilities in the county
under a single hospital system.
And one thing that is valued in
many hospitals is the emergency
room.
Officials from both hospitals said
a 24-hour emergency room will be
kept running in Kings Mountain.
“Geographically, in my opinion,
it would make no sense to close
this emergency room because of
the proximity to Gaston
Memorial,” KMH Trustee
Advisory Council member Stella
Putnam said. “To keep patients in
this county and revenue in this
county, we're going to have to
have a viable emergency room in
Kings Mountain Hospital. I cer-
tainly expect that to happen.”
Corry said maintaining an emer-
gency room in Kings Mountain is a
point he considers critical.
And while emergency room doc-
tors move fast in treating patients,
representatives from both the
Kings Mountain and Shelby hospi-
tals said they would like to move
forward and try to have the merg-
er process completed by the end of
the year. Final approval would be
made by the Cleveland County
Board of Commissioners.
Here are selected points from the
letter of agreement:
Assure that a combined lease
states that both hospitals will con-
tinue to be acute care hospitals.
Allow both sites to maintain
their current names /identities
under the umbrella of a system
name. :
* At the completion of the inte-
gration between KMH and CRMC,
sufficient capital investment will
be provided for emergency servic-
es expansion and outpatient sur-
gery expansion as defined in the
KMH 2002-2003strategic plan.
° Assure there will be no major .
layoffs of staff at KMH or CRMC
as a direct result of the integration
of the two hospitals.
® Within the first year, provide
salary and benefit equity for
Cleveland Regional Medical
See Merger, 3A
merger
“To keep patients
in this county and
revenue in this
county, we're
going to have to
have a viable
emergency room
in Kings
Mountain.”
Stella Putnam
KMH Trustee
GONE FISHING
High speed
chase ends
in wreck
A Kings Mountain man
faces 28 charges following a
high speed chase which
began late Sunday night in
Kings Mountain and ended
in a wreck early Monday
morning in Albemarle.
According to Captain
Maurice Jamerson, officers
stopped 37-year-old
Michael Haithcock of 207
Ware Street, Kings
Mountain at approximately
11:30 p.m. at a license
checkpoint on NC 216 near
Center Street.
According to Sgt. R.S.
Costner ’s report, Haithcock
presented a Florida license
and a KM officer reported
smelling alcohol and seeing
two cans of beer in his
truck. Kings Mountain offi-
cers told Haithcock to pull
over to the shoulder of the
road, at which point he took
off traveling south on NC
216. Police later learned the
Florida license had been
revoked.
Kings Mountain officers
pursued him. They entered
Gaston County on US 74
and onto I-85 North. After a
four-mile run on Lowell-
McAdenville Roads with
speeds exceeding 120 miles
per hour, police lost sight of
the truck.
The NC Highway Patrol
took up the chase in Gaston
County, but the pickup
eluded them also.
The vehicle was spotted
at approximately 1:30 a.m.
Monday by an officer with
the Stanly County Sheriff's
Department. Haithcock
reportedly ignored blue *
lights and siren and another
chase ensued with speeds
See Chase, 2A
Bethware Fair begins
6-day run on Monday
The 55th annual Bethware
Fair will be held July 22-27
on the campus of Bethware
Elementary School in Kings
Mountain.
The six-day event is spon-
sored by the Bethware
Progressive Club.
This year’s Fair Queen is
Karla Elizabeth Chavis,
daughter of Stephanie and
Chuck Dover. She is a rising
fifth grader at Bethware
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
It’s never too hot or too cold to go fishing. Brandon Davis, Buddy Davis, Bubba Noell and Matt
Ledbetter, left to right, weren't bothered by the 92-degree heat while fishing near the boat landing at
Moss Lake in Kings Mountain.
New primary date September 10
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
The State Senate approved a
schedule for the 2002 elections
Tuesday after the May primaries
were delayed.
The proposal sets the primary
date at September 10 and a filing
period which could open Friday.
There would also be no runoffs.
The top vote-getter in all races
would win regardless of the mar-
in.
2 “We certainly do believe the
10th of September is a real good
date for the primary elections,”
Cleveland County Board of
Elections Director Debra Blanton
said. }
President of the Club is
Chuck Dover. Co-managers
of the Fair are Glenn Hicks
and Marshall Jones.
Hours of operation will be
6-11 p.m. Monday through
Friday, and 3 p.m.-12 mid-
night on Saturday.
Smoky Mountain
Amusements will again be
Blanton said while the board
has done work preparing for the
elections since the cancellation of
the May primary, other things still
need to be done.
“We have all of the supplies
ready to go and have done every-
thing we can do generically,” she
said. What's left is preparing
forms specifically for the election,
she said.
She said ballots have to be print-
ed, a piece of equipment is needed
for the voting machines and four
precincts are being informed of
polling place changes. None of the
four precincts are in the Kings
Mountain area.
But while the primary date has
been set, other work needs to be
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
When Jane Talbert and Susan Goforth
were younger things were different, one
being the small amount of opportunities
done.
Blanton said candidates would
have to file for their new districts
and filing dates would need to be
established. New candidates could
also file.
Filing dates would have to be
precleared by the U.S. Department
of Justice.
While preclearance usually
takes 60 days, Blanton said the
Justice Department expedited its
request for changing the absentee
voting place from the Courthouse
to the former Council on Aging
Senior Center on Marion Street in
Shelby.
The original May 7 primary date
was delayed after Republicans
See Primary, 3A
Summit
addresses
textile woes
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer :
About 150 citizens, local officials and
textile industry personnel filled the H.
Lawrence Patrick Senior Life and
Conference Center Monday to discuss
possible solutions to the decline of the
textile industry in the area.
Kings Mountain Mayor Rick
Murphrey, who organized the summit,
said he was pleased with it.
“I was very pleased with the
response,” he said. “We had a good cross
"section of industry leaders.” =
Industry leaders came from Gaston,
Lincoln, and Catawba counties and
South Carolina.
The summit started with state and
local officials, who sat up front, answer-
ing a series of questions followed by a
question and answer session with audi-
ence members.
Kevin Monroe, a representative from
the office of Sen. John Edwards’, D-N.C.,
said textiles, along with the economy,
were the top two issues for the junior
senator when he was in Shelby twice this
year.
One of the issues discussed was
retraining. Many workers who have been
laid off in the area have sought retraining
at community colleges.
State representatives Debbie Clary, R-
Cleveland and Andy Dedmon, D-
Cleveland, said retraining is important.
“They don’t know anything else,”
Dedmon said about textile workers laid
off with just a high school diploma.
U.S. Representative Cass Ballenger, R-
N.C, said he is trying to get federal
money for displaced workers to learn
new skills.
“All in all I want to say this is a huge
issue for all of us,” U.S. Representative
Sue Myrick, R-N.C., said.
Myrick mentioned a possible meeting
with Grant Aldonis, federal Commerce
Under Secretary, which could take her
See Summit, 3A
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
in charge of rides.
There will be live music
nightly, and the Fair will be
for women.
But the two Kings Mountain natives took
advantage of one that was available - Girl
Scouts.
Talbert, Goforth have given
over 60 years to Girl Scouts
RRR
School. broadcast by WKMT Radio. Eh
This year’s fair booklet is Admission is free. Parking Talbert and Goforth have been active in
dedicated in memory of Jim will be handled by the area Girl Scouting for over 30 years apiece.
Yarbro, longtime active White Plains Shrine Club They both started as scouts and have i
member of the club and and will be $3 per car. Roel wih the organization fo benome Jane Talbert, left, and Susan Goforth have
farming community. See Fair, 3A = been active in Girl Scouting since their =
See Talbert, 3A
KARLA CHAVIS youth.
ee
Gastonia Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233 704-484-6200
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
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