KINGS MOUNTAIN \
_ust-second
shot lifts KM
over Burns
od : 6A
Thursday, January 9, 2003
Out with
the old, in
with new
New year sees more
people getting in shape
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
Vol. 115 No. 2
Since 1889 50 Cents
Homeland
security
touches Kl
Police training program
required by federal law
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
The holiday season has ended, but
the holiday pounds have not been
packed away with the silver bells. With
the new year, many people vow to lose
weight.
Whether beginning their own walk-
ing or jogging routine or depending on
local fitness centers, there seems to be
an increase in the number of persons
hoping to shed the extra pounds put on
by Christmas and New Year's feasts.
“We've enrolled 125 new members
in the last three weeks,” said Kings
Mountain YMCA Wellness Director
Rosemary Suess. “Our goal is to retain
at least half.”
Suess said that people normally
begin to stop coming to the YMCA in
March, in part because the weather is
nicer to exercise outside. However,
Homeland Security is
not just an office in
Washington. Kings
Mountain also has a number
of Homeland Security
requirements to meet locally.
Currently certain city police
officers are going through
the third and final training
program now required by
federal law.
some members stay throughout the The city already has a
year. natural disaster response 3
Chris Smith has been a member of team, said Mayor Rick
Murphrey. In addition to
snow storms, hurricanes,
and floods, the team is also
trained to respond to major
accidents on the freeway
and train wrecks, said
Murphrey. While the
Homeland Security Training
is required by law, it is actu-
ally just the next step in the 4h
process to protect the citi- Proctor. All cities have to go .
© zens of Kings Mountain, he Saroughidt coon ie:
aid, pS: The training is given at
“The goal is to have ade- three levels. The first two
a quate protection,” said tiers, for executive officers
Relay for Life Kickoff Monday fis: by
will be available regardless ~~ mid-level management
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
the YMCA for two years. While he
AY attends nursing school, he has to vary
his workout hours each semester to
work around his class schedule.
“I just started back coming [to the
YMCA] several times a week. For the
last few weeks, I've come on a regular
basis,” he said.
He should be able to come more
regularly this semester, he said, because
his schedule is not as demanding.
See Shape, 3A
. : i : tin (ABIGAIL WOLFORD / HERALD
Chris Smith runs on the treadmill at the YMCA. Smith, 2 nursing stu-
‘dent,works his exercise time around his class schedule each semester.
respectively, have already
been given in Kings
Mountain. The training for
these two groups was con-
of whether the problem is a
snow storm, a train wreck,
or bioterrorism, he said.
Staff Writer
Each year Relay for Life raises mil-
lions of dollars for cancer research.
Kings Mountain alone raised
$84,010.50 last year, helping Cleveland
County rank sixth in the nation for per
capita giving. As a whole, Cleveland
County raised $356,000 for cancer
research.
This year, the Kings Mountain
organizers hope to exceed that amount
of money and earn $100,000, said Dena
Blalock, one of the chairs of this year’s
event.
The Relay for Life organizers are
holding a kickoff party on Monday,
January 13, at the senior center. Pre-
registration will start at 5:30 p.m.,
while the program starts at 6. Blalock
said she is hoping for about a hundred
people to come to the event.
The kickoff program will include a
guest speaker, games, and light
refreshments. Attendees are encour-
aged to show the “Power of Purple” by
wearing purple, said Blalock. The new
award to be given at the Relay for Life,
called the “Spirit of the Relay” award,
will also be discussed at the kick-off,
said Dorothea Gonda, the publicity
chair of the event.
The Kings Mountain Relay for Life
will take place at the walking track on
May 2 at 7 p.m. until noon the follow-
ing day. Last year, 34 teams and 138
cancer survivors participated in the
event. Teams are typically made up of
five or more people, said Blalock. She
encouraged the public to go ahead and
start forming teams for the event now.
KINGS MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Steve Killian right at home in small town
Team packets will be handed out at the
kickoff.
Walkers usually include cancer sur-
vivors, friends and family members of
both survivors and those who lost their
lives to cancer, and interested commu-
nity members. Many times, organiza-
tions, churches, and businesses form
teams to walk in the relay. During the
relay, entertainment and information
about cancer research is usually pro-
vided.
The Kings Mountain chapter of
Relay for Life is named after the late
Joseph R. Smith, the very first person
in Kings Mountain to walk for 24
hours to raise money for research for
cancer, said Blalock. He started the
relay in Kings Mountain, she said.
For more information, contact Dena
Blalock at (704) 739-1564.
“lines, pipelines, electric
The Homeland Security
training and implementa-
tion will take approximately
another eight months to a
year to complete, said
Murphrey.
City officials are con-
ducting vulnerability stud-
ies on the infrastructure of
Kings Mountain to see
where the problems that
need to be addressed are.
The vulnerability study will
address the safety of the gas
lines, and the water supply
in Moss Lake. The vulnera-
bility study, like the
Homeland Security training,
is required by law,
saidPolice Chief Melvin
ducted by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation,
State Bureau of
Investigation, Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms, Immigration and
Naturalization Service, U.S.
Attorney's office, and the
Governor's Crime
Commission, said Proctor.
The third level of train-
ing for street-level officers
will begin this month and
will be conducted by the
Academy of Counter
Terrorism, said Proctor. The
training will last until
March, he said.
See Security, 3A
Police allege
man left kids in
By ABIGAIL WOLFORD Master's in geog- work together. It ~~ People want the opportunities : 1 k
Stat Writer raphy. only made sense and conveniences without the car to Pp ay pO er :
4 Geography is the that he pursued a overbearing stress you might :
On December 26, Steve study of the career in city have in a metropolitan area,” ; :
Killian will celebrate his sev- arrangement and planning. he said. A Gastonia man is scheduled to go to trial
enth anniversary with the city relationship of Before he He said he has especially Monday, January 13 on accusations that he left
of Kings Mountain. He came physical places, came to Kings enjoyed working with Kings children in his car for five hours while he was
to Kings Mountain in 1995as ~~ he said. His = Mountain, Killian Mountain city officials, like the ~~ playing video poker machines at a Kings
director of planning and eco- study of geogra- said he worked mayor, council members, and Mountain business.
nomic development. phy naturally led as a planning committee members, because
As a child, he used to visit him to an inter- director in everyone is very eager to help Cpl. J.C. Shull of KMPD arrested Jeffrey Scott
the Kings Mountain National est in how vari- Lincoln County. Kings Mountain grow and Mews, 42, of 412 S. Emerson Street, Gastonia, on
Park. ous elements of a When the job in develop into a place with a two counts of misdemeanor child abuse at 9:04
“My first remembrance of
Kings Mountain is going
there,” he said.
Born in Taylorsville, Killian
said he has lived all up and
down the Piedmont, including
small city
worked together,
he said.
“I was very
interested in
planning and in
STEVE KILLIAN
Kings Mountain
became available,
Killian said he
applied and was
hired. He said he
likes working in
high quality of life.
“It’s nice to be part of a
group of people who want
improvements for the city and
who are willing to work for
them,” he said. “They strive to
p.m. on New Year's Eve.
According to Shull’s report, Mews is accused of
leaving children and a girlfriend who is “mentally
handicapped” inside a car while he was playing
video machines at Little Dan's, 1233 S.
Cleveland, Stony Point,
Blowing Rock, and Boone. He
particularly how small cities
operated,” he said. He said he
small cities.
“It’s a good thing in terms
make meaningful improve-
ments to the city of Kings
Battleground Avenue.
According to Shull’s report, they were “left unat-
attended UNC-Chapel Hill to liked studying how the vari- of profession to work in a Mountain. tended in car for five hours without any type of
major in geography and then ous elements of a city, like the ~~ small city. It has the quality of involvement or food. "
transportation and industry, life that everyone is seeking. See Killian, 3A Mews was jailed under a $5,000 secured bond.
Appalachian State for his
Gastonia
Shelby
Bessemer City
FIRST NATIONAL BANK Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St. 529 New Hope Road 106 S. Lafayette St.
Celebrating 129 Years
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