Ngee ST Cp le Se er ap 2 f ? KINGS MOUNTAIN Since 1889 rr a. eet eo lr A arr FE AA a l CA ides ior II A NA Sl Sr P| FP Sl ll Hl Sr + SS SPS of rrp Hg Nr YS ; A Ag Se sama Se SR _nird 1B Hamrick’s landslide ‘was not a big surprise By GARY STEWART Editor of The Herald Raymond Hamrick’s landslide victory in Tuesday's Cleveland County Sheriff's race was not all that surprising. Hamrick, who defeated incumbent Sheriff Dan Crawford . by a 2-1 margin in the recent Democratic Primary, soundly defeated Republican Richard Hill of Grover 77 to 23 percent in Tuesday's general election. Hamrick tallied 19,366 votes to only 5,947 for Hill. Hamrick carried every precinct in the county by a large margin. “After the primary, I sort of expected it, but I am still overwhelmed by the support of the people of this county,” said Hamrick, who was a Cleveland County deputy for 26 See Hamrick, 5A “Thrilled and thankful for support in county By GARY STEWART Editor of The Herald Kings Mountain's Tim Moore, making his first bid for public office, unseated incumbent Andy Dedmon in the North Carolina House 111th district election Tuesday. Moore, a Shelby attorney and son of Kings Mountain Councilman and Mrs. Rick Moore, tallied 53 percent of the vote - 9,776 to Dedmon’s 8,666. He carried most of the precincts in the county, including three of four in his hometown. He defeated Dedmon 484- 341 at KM #1, 475-340 at KM #2, and 623-306 at KM #3. Dedmon only led KM #4 by a slim seven votes, 226-219. “I am just thrilled and thankful to the folks in Cleveland County for coming out and supporting us,” Moore said fol See Moore, 5A ELECTION DAY GARY STEWART / HERALD Chief Judge Pam Goforth of Kings Mountain Precinct #4 (American Legion) hands ballots and a pen to voter Mary Ross at Tuesday’s election. KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE Vet Day When fire alarm sounds, Black parade is one of the first on the scene By LIB STEWART Republic Newspapers Living on Monte Vista Drive close to the fire station, Jamie Black heard the trucks go out long before he became a volunteer . "I always wanted to be a fireman," said the 17 -year veteran who volunteered for 10 1/2 years beginning at the age of 19. His goal is to lead the local department as chief some day. Since 1995, Black's job at the Kings Mountain Fire Department is fire inspec- tions and it's mandatory inspections twice a year for businesses, every six months for schools and yearly for hospitals and health institu- tions. Black is a Level III fire inspector who took extra train- ing to become fire inspector and passed state board examinations. He is certified as a fire service instructor to teach Level I and FIRST NATIONAL BANK Celebrating 128 Years Level II courses at the area community col- leges and goes to school at Gaston College and hopes to complete courses for a two year degree next summer When Black graduated from Kings Mountain High School in 1984 there was no fire-related curriculum. Now students at KMHS can enroll in elective courses and receive credits which will lead to completion of Fire Protection Technology with one year of post high school training.. Black highly rec- ommends that young people take the courses and become firefighters or pursue a goal in public safety education. Public safety education is also part of his job. Firemen use fire safety houses from Cherryville and Cleveland County to teach children to "stop, drop and roll" and two ways out of their homes in event of fire. They also teach fire drills, tell See Black, 2A JAMIE BLACK Kings Mountain 704-739-4782 300 W. Mountain St. Tuesday BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD Staff Writer Many citizens of Kings Mountain have served their country in the armed forces. Many others have friends or loved ones who fought and died to defend their country. November 11, Kings Mountain will honor these men and women with a Veterans Day parade and ceremony, beginning at 10 a.m. at the War Memorial at Joy Theater. The parade will go from the War Memorial, where Shana Butler will sing “God Bless America,” to the Veteran's Memorial at Mountain Rest Cemetery, where a ceremony will be held. The keynote speaker will be Jack Icord, the District Commander of the American Legion. See Veterans, 2A Gastonia 529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St. 704-865-1233 Aiand made this decision together!” Maney retiring as (City Manager By ELIZABETH STEWART Republic Newspapers City Manager Jimmy Maney, 48, announced his retirement Friday afternoon to a surprised city hall staff after minutes earlier resigning to the mayor and asking secretary Marilyn Sellers to telephone each of the seven council members. "My wife and I had talked about said Maney, who said he would be available on a limited basis through December 31 and on call to assist the city as a consultant in the elec- tric department and in the transi- tion period to help with budget details if needed. Maney called his retirement "a second chance to take advantage of other opportunities.” City Council met Wednesday at 6 p.m. to start the process of adver- “I would like to thank the citi- zens...the mayor...and all the elected offi- cials for their tising for a new manager and for- trust and confi- mally accepted Maney's resigna- tion "with regret." dence they "Jimmy has been an excellent city placed in me manager for the City of Kings Mountain. It was a pleasure work- throughout the years." ing with Jimmy while I served as a City Council member and that rela- tionship continues during my Jimmy Maney See Maney, 2A City Manager Hospital merger goal January 1 By ELIZABETH STEWART Republic Newspapers A 27,000 square feet two-floor addition to the emergency and operating rooms at Kings Mountain Hospital is the first "out of gate commitment" if a proposed merger of the local hospital and Cleveland Regional Medical Center becomes effective, as expected, January 1, 2003. John Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Shelby facility, said 17,000 patients are treated at the Kings Mountain hospital every year and he said more surgical procedures are being done at the local hospital, thus the real need for this expansion. Young said that drawings of the addition are expected to be shown to members of the Kings Mountain Hospital trustee advisory board at their meeting Nov. 26 at 7:30 a.m. and at the Shelby advisory board meeting November 25. The two boards of trustees and advisory councils will meet to finalize the integration of the two hospitals and com- plete bylaws of the new corporation to be called Cleveland County Healthcare System. Young said that once the integration is finalized by the two boards of directors that the hospitals will maintain their current operating names. Young and advisory board members from both hospitals were present Tuesday night as the Cleveland County board of commissioners approved unanimously an addendum to the lease between the county and The Carolinas Healthcare Systems which sets in motion the expected merger. Young told the commission that the addendum is impor- tant because it allows the two facilities to operate under one See Hospital, 5A Shelby Bessemer City 225 Gastonia Hwy. 704-484-6200 704-629-3906