Thursday, April 24, 2003
Vol. 115 No.17
Since 1889
50 Cents
—mducted
into KM Sports
Hall of Fame
6A
KM fire
called
suspicious
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
An Easter Sunday morn-
ing fire at a duplex apart-
ment at 315 Wilson Terrace
caused extensive damage
and is being investigated as
a suspicious fire.
According to Kings
Mountain Police and Fire
Department officials, the
fire was noticed by. a neigh-
bor about 2:25 a.m.
Fire Chief Frank Burns
said when firemen arrived
at the scene two rooms
were fully engulfed in
flames.
“The neighbors were
telling us the tenants car
was home, so we went in
and did a preliminary
search,” he said. “We didn't
find anybody but we found
a cat, a bird and a dog. We
saved the dog but the cat
and bird didn’t make it.”
Burns said firemen and
the County Fire Marshal
found “two points of ori-
gin,” one in the living room
and one in the front bed-
room.
Since no accidental cause
could be determined, Burns
said the fire was ruled as
suspicious.
“Because it was a duplex
apartment and the other
apartment was occupied, it
will be a first degree arson
charge if we find out who
did it,” Burns said... .
Burns estimated damage
to the structure at $25,000 to
$30,000 and damage to the
contents at $10,000 to
$15,000.
In his report, KMPD Ptl.
P.M. King said the owner,
Joana Richardson, arrived
home while firemen were
working on the fire. After
talking with Richardson
and neighbors, police came
up with leads on a suspect.
Sgt. Chris Moore, who is
heading the investigation
for KMPD, said the fire can-
not be considered arson at
this time but the depart-
ment is “still working on a
suspect” and hopes to
know more in about a
week.
The rain which pounded the ground
most of last week and the heavy trucks
and campers hauling cookers into the
walking track infield created a muddy
mess for last weekend's seventh annual
Firehouse Cook-off at the Kings Mountain
Walking Track.
But the cooking competition was as
good as ever, and after judges sampled all
the barbecued pork, beef and chicken
Hickory Knoll Cookers of Franklin, NC
was crowned Grand Champion and
earned the right to receive an invitation to
the prestigious Jack Daniels Invitational
Cook-off in Lynchburg, TN.
Defending Grand Champion
Roadrunners BBQ of Shelby was declared
Reserve Grand Champion. \
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Mayor Rick Murphrey enjoys barbecued chicken during “Anything But” Judging
Friday night at the Kings Mountain Walking Track.
Rain doesn’t dampen spirit
at KM Firehouse Cook-Oft
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Thitty- eight teams from as for away as
Seattle, WA competed for $5,000 in prizes
and trophies and helped raise over $2,000
ments.
for a thermal imaging camera for the
Kings Mountain fire and police depart-
Firemen worked around the clock
Friday and Saturday to pull the event off,
and Fire Chief Frank Burns was overjoyed
with the success.
“The rain was a hamper to the cooking
teams about getting in their spots,” he
said. “We had a few vehicles stuck up,
and we have a little repair work to do at
the waling track. It was only the second
time in seven years that it’s rained on us.
But the cooking was as good as ever.”
Burns said firemen and other city work-
ers will be busy over the next several days
filling in the ruts, because the annual
See Cook-Off, 5A
Law requires diabetic students
to be given insulin at school
Board approves
Ready, Set, Grow
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
On Monday evening, Kings Mountain
Board of Education members unanimously
approved the plans for the Ready, Set, Grow
program this summer.
The program is for kids getting ready to
start kindergarten in the fall who may not
have ever been in a classroom-type situa-
tion. The program is meant to help prepare
them for what they will face in the fall. The
kids are screened to see who would most
benefit from the program. The Ready, Set,
Grow program is free for all of the students
and their families.
The program takes place at three sites
with two teachers for a period of 17 days.
Parents may also attend parenting classes
for a few days while their children partici-
pate in the Ready, Set, Grow program.
Statistics show that the program is suc-
cessful, said John Goforth, executive direc-
tor of curriculum and instruction with
Kings Mountain District Schools.
Approximately 93 percent of the 31 remain-
ing third graders who participated in the
See Ready, 3A
SD
bt Celethnating 129 Years
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
North Carolina legislators recently passed
a law requiring schools to have students
with type 1 diabetes carry their insulin
injection supplies with them.
Kings Mountain has five type 1 diabetes
students in its school system, said Diana
Bridges, school nurse, at the board of educa-
tion meeting on Monday evening. Not all
of them need injections at school; however,
some have to check their blood glucose lev-
els throughout the day. Traditionally, their
supplies have been kept in the health room,
but the new law states that they have to
keep their supplies with them at all times.
Elementary students will be able to keep
their supplies in a closet in the classroom;
however, older kids who have to change
classes will have to carry their supplies with
them. ]
Bridges said she has not yet spoken to the
parents about the new law. All those who
work at the schools, including the mainte-
nance staff, must be trained to handle situa-
tions with the diabetic children if the needs
arises. Their training will last approximate-
ly 15-20 minutes.
Schools will also have to identify some-
one, probably the child's teacher for the
year, as a first responder. First responders
See Law, 3A
Kings Mountain
704-739-4782
300 W. Mountain St.
Ebenezer,
deputies face
drug problem
Meeting
Friday
to disuss
battle plan
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
A small group of residents
in the Ebenezer Community
north of Kings Mountain
hope to persuade everyone
in the community to join
them and the Cleveland
County Sheriff's
Department to rid the com-
munity of drug dealers.
A meeting is scheduled
for Friday, April 25 at 6 p.m.
at Ebenezer Baptist Church
to discuss the drug situation
and what can be done. The
church is located on
Highway 216 north just out-
side the Kings Mountain
city limits.
William Roberts, a long-
time resident of the commu-
nity, said a small group of
residents have already had
some meetings and hopes
by organizing an effort with
the Sheriff's Department
. they can be “eyes and ears”
in the community.
Sheriff Raymond Hamrick
and Det. Joel Shores, head of
the Sheriff Department’s
Narcotics Division, said
drugs are a big problem in
the community.
Hamrick and Shores said
the Sheriff's Department put
a concentrated effort into
running drug dealers out of
the Light Oak Community
near Moss Lake about a year
ago, and some of them
probably have relocated to
Ebenezer.
“When we had a COP
program out there several
years ago drugs were cut
out pretty good,” Hamrick
said. “But the COP program
anyway.
ABIGAIL WOLFORD /HERALD
Rev. Dale Swofford, who played Joseph of
Arimathea, leads the crowd through the last
few days of Jesus’ life on earth in CrossWalk
performance in downtown Kings Mountain.
Gastonia
Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233
704-484-6200
was cut out and changed to
a traffic control division and
we're trying to get officers
back in that community.”
Shores said sometimes
efforts to rid one communi-
ty of drugs results in an
increase of activity in other
communities.
“Sometimes what we end
up doing is moving them
from one place to another,”
he said, “but we're going to
keep the pressure on them.
If we move them out of
Ebenezer they’ll move
somewhere else. We just
have to keep the pressure on
them and do what we have
to do for the citizens of
- Cleveland County. We'd like
to get rid of the problem
completely, but it is U.S.-
wide and that has to come
from higher powers. We
have to get it at the source,
Colombia being one of the
main sources.”
Shores cited numerous
drug-related arrests in the
Ebenezer community since
1995, and he said numerous
other crimes such as house
burglaries and armed rob-
beries are the result of
drugs.
“Drug use leads to every
kind of crime imaginable,”
“he said! “If you'take a'¢rack
head who is desperate for a
rock they'll do whatever it
takes, whether it’s robbing a
convenience store or
bank...it’s unlimited. If they
need money they will steal
and rob and that can lead to
murder if a robbery goes
bad.”
Shores said the drug of
choice in Cleveland County
now appears to be metham-
phetamine, known on the
street as speed, meth and
crack.
He said “street interdic-
tion” officers within the
department will be intro-
duced to the community
during Friday's meeting and
they will discuss ways citi
See Drug, 3A
CrossWalk
brings Easter
story to life
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
CrossWalk battled rain and cold this -
year, but this past weekend those
involved were able to bring the Easter
story to life to the hundreds who came
“It went great when it went,” said Reg
Alexander, one of the organizers of
CrossWalk. “We spent a lot of time
looking at radars on the internet.”
CrossWalk was delayed a week
because of rain during the original week
it was supposed to take place.
However, organizers had sunny weath-
er to build their sets. Despite the threats
of rain and the cool weather, they were
able to draw more than 1,000 people to
the event last weekend, said Alexander.
Alexander said that participants in
CrossWalk spent much time praying for
the rains to be held off until it was over.
The rain was indeed held off, although
Alexander said he has heard reports
that it was raining all around Kings
Mountain on Thursday and Friday.
The Saturday crowds exceeded what
the organizers had planned for, oh
See Walk, 3A
Bessemer (321.25
225 Gastonia ww
704-629-3+</7
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