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* Thursday, August 29, 2002
Guardsmen
called into
active duty
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Parts of the North
Carolina National Guard's
505th Battalion have been
activated.
One of those is the
505th’s Kings Mountain
unit.
Other battalion units
called to duty were,
Gastonia, Forest City, North
Wilkesboro and
Taylorsville.
According to Captain
Maury Williams from
Gastonia, that amounts to
approximately 200 soldiers.
The battalion has several
units across the state.
According to Andrew
Sleeth, Assistant Public
Affairs Officer with the
N.C. National Guard, the
battalion were activated in
support of Operation
Enduring Freedom and
Operation Noble Eagle.
Enduring Freedom was
implemented after the
September 11 attacks. Noble
Eagle is for homeland
defense, Sleeth said.
The Kings Mountain unit
was activated within the
past two weeks, Sleeth said,
and the initial period is one
year with a possible exten-
sion of another year.
Although no specific
numbers were available,
Sleeth said a good portion
of the Kings Mountain unit
will-be going:
' No'other battalions are
~ part of the latest activation,
Sleeth said.
Williams said he, along
with other soldiers are
ready to represent their
hometowns.
See Guard, 3A
pp iby
Vol. 114 No. 35
Since 1889
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Brian McKinney of W.C. Wallace Paint Company paints the gable of Mauney Memorial
Library
Citizens gather
to pray
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Sometimes a crisis can
cause people to act with
short notice.
That was the case last
Thursday at Shelby’s Bethel
Baptist Church during the
county day of prayer for the
drought.
The 20-minute prayer
time was for county resi-
dents to pray for rain.
A variety of people from
local officials, retirees and
people on their lunch break
filled the church sanctuary.
for rain
While Shelby and Kings
Mountain have always been
rivals in certain areas, that
seemed to stop with Kings
Mountain Mayor Rick
Murphrey, Shelby Mayor
Mike Philbeck and
Cleveland County Sanitary
District Board Chairman
John Cline sat next to each
other.
After the service was
opened by Boyce Memorial
ARP Pastor Doug Petersen,
the rest of the time was
open for people to come to
See Prayer, 3A
BEN LEDBETTER / HERALD,
Rev. Charles Reed of the Kings Mountain Baptist
Association speaks during Thursday's prayer service for
drought relief.
Woman's Club camera project
could help PD, FD save lives
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
The term “thermal imagery camera” may
not mean a thing even to the most experi-
enced photographer.
But it may save his life.
The Kings Mountain Woman's Club last
week kicked off a fund-raising drive to buy
one of the cameras for the Kings Mountain |
fire and police departments.
The camera, which works very similar to a
video camera, will take images through
thick smoke and would enable those depart-
ments to identify hot spots in a burning
‘building, locate lost people and pets in a
The camera will cost in the neighborhood
of $15,000 to $20,000. The Woman's Club
began its fund-raising effort Saturday by
sponsoring a hot dog sale at the final
* Summer Nites Concert Series at City Hall.
Future fund-raising projects include pub-
lishing a community cookbook and seeking
~ industries.
donations from individuals, businesses and
' Betty Gamble, President, and Karen Roy,
project chairman of the Woman's Club, said
burning building, and find lost persons at
night.
RY
pe Ta
BANK
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 128 Years
the camera will be worth the investment
because of its potential to save a life.
Fire Chief Frank Burns said his depart-
ment has used one of the cameras in train-
“ing exercises, and it would be a valuable
See Camera, 10A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mouintain St.
704-739-4782
aE day
ast Gaston
6A
in work session
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Former Kings Mountain
Mayor John Henry Moss's
second lake idea is still that
- an idea:
After Tuesday's proserichs
tion by Moss and HDR
Engineering, Kings
Mountain City Council
decided to discuss the mat-
ter in a work session next
Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City’ -
Hall.
Council was asked to
approve the concept and a
lake study.
Moss said the new lake,
which could serve 6,300
new customers, could be
funded three ways.
It could either be funded
with government money, a
public/private combination
or privatization.
He said it could provide
jobs and economic develop-
ment to the area.
“I truly believe this water
project has great promise for
our area,” Moss said.
During his tenure as
mayor, Moss had proposed
the current lake and then
brought up a second one in
1986.
The representatives of the
engineering firm gave a
presentation to Council and
| said a second lake could not
be campleted before 408.
- One of the first steps
“would involve getting
money for the lake. ©
Marshall Taylor with HDR,
- said one place that could
help fund the project would
be'the N.C. Rural Center.
The firm also detailed a
plan that could provide a .
water supply in the interim
while the lake was being
built.
Although still in its pre-
liminary stages, Moss said
the new lake would also be
for recreation.
Current KM Mayor Rick
Murphrey said he liked the
concept of impounding
water.
“I just strongly believe
impoundment of water is
the way to go,” he said. “I
just believe we all have to
look at the future of our
communities.”
Councilman Howard
Shipp said the lake would
help the city in case another
drought comes.
“If 'we get ready now,
when it comes we'll be
ready,” he said.
Councilman Dean Spears
suggested delaying the vote
and talking about it in pri-
vate.
Councilman Jim Guyton
then suggested a work ses-
sion.
Councilman Gene White
asked to read a response
after the work session was
approved and he was inter-
rupted with requests to
bring the items up in the
work session.
On the sheet from which
he read, White wanted to
know why it was urgent to.
© commit to a lake study
Tuesday.
“No study for a second
lake at any cost should be
done at this time. It would
be a waste of taxpayer
money,” White said.
Wirtz is closing
2 Grover plants
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
While other companies
have announced they plan
to locate in Cleveland
County, one has announced
it will close two plants.
Wirtz Manufacturing,
which has two plants on
Highway 29 in Grover,
announced they will be
closed on Friday.
The company cited an
economic downturn as its
reason for shutting the two
plants.
“The severe economic
slowdown in capital equip-
ment coupled with a consol-
idation of battery manufac-
turers resulting in excess
production capacity and
equipment, has forced the
closure of these facilities,”
said company president
John O. Wirtz.
The Michigan-based com-
pany began operating in
North Carolina in 1986.
Workers from the Gastonia
plant were moved to
Grover.
It manufactured compo
See Wirtz, 2A
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Left to right, Police Chief Melvin Proctor, KM Woman's Club members Betty Gamble and
Karen Roy, Jimmy Hensley of Cleveland Community College, and Fire Chief Frank Burns
show off thermal imagery camera the Club hopes to purchase for the police and fire
departments.
(Gastonia
Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233
A a A SAN
704-484-6200
Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906