Thursday, March 25, 2004
Iraq
Guardsmen
left last week
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Keisha Turner used to
complain when her hus-
band Brent Turner left his
shoes behind the sofa. Now
she misses those same
shoes.
Angela Holder won't
wash the tee shirt husband
Grant Holder left on the
bedroom floor. It smells like
him.
Both men, serving with
== the 505th
Se North
A¥Carolina
“8 National
y3Guard unit,
left last
week for
Iraq along
with sever-
al other sol-
diers from
Kings
Mountain.
The men were quickly
called to duty and attached
to a unit from Fort Bragg.
Their families know they
are in Iraq but details are
limited. When they'll be
back is another mystery.
Reports indicate eight to 18 *
months but nothing is cer-
tain.
“They could be back or
they could stay longer. You
don’t know until it hap-
pens,” Keisha Turner said.
Just as the Turner and
Holder families were
adjusting to the citizen sol-
diers’ return six months ago
from homeland security
duty in Virginia and
Maryland, they were called
back up.
“We were just getting
back to how it was before
the first time,” Keisha
Turner said Friday.
During the homeland
security tour, families visit-
ed about once a month.
Calls home were frequent.
Now the men are half a
world away with limited
communication to the out-
side.
“We thought going to
Virginia and Maryland was
hard, at least we could talk
to them,” Keisha Turner
said.
Since her husband left
last week, Angela Holder
has automatically reached
for the phone to call him
like she did during the first
deployment.
“You go to pick it up then
you realize you can’t,” she
said.
Two days before the men
got their most recent
HOLDER
Vol. 116 No. 13 Since 1889
Jim Hickey leaves Comfort Inn in Kings Mountain to continue his walk across
America to raise awareness of cancer. Below, he talks about his experiences.
New Jersey man hopes to
raise awareness of cancer
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
When he reaches St. Louis, a support
team is expected to join him to carry
water, food and supplies for him as he
journeys west. He hopes to complete his
trip by Christmas.
“I used to put a time
limit on my walks, but not
this time,” Hickey says.
“The pressure is hard
enough and a timetable
just makes it harder.
You're vulnerable to
injuries and weather and
other things, and you have
to stop sometimes to make
it work. But I really hope
to be there by Christmas.
I've spent the last six
Christmases on the road,
so Santa Claus owes me.”
Hickey got the idea
to walk across America
after his father Lawrence
While area folks are forming teams to
walk all night in the upcoming Relay for
Life, New Jersey resident
Jim Hickey is walking
from Virginia Beach, VA to
Los Angeles, CA to raise
awareness of and funds
for cancer research.
Hickey, 42, has spent the
last six years of his life
walking. His first two
attempts to walk across
America ended when he
failed to get necessary
support for long, hot
walks across the far west
and desert. ;
This time, though, he
has lined up support
teams all across the coun-
A REA Pm TS BREA How ong 13 i
GARY STEWART / HERALD
try and he fully expects died of prostate cancer on
the third time to be a September 5, 1995. On
charm. September 4, 1996, just one
Hickey came through day shy of the first
Kings Mountain last week, spending
Thursday night at The Comfort Inn. He
left late Friday morning on his way to
Shelby, then to Asheville, Nashville, TN
and St. Louis, MO.
anniversary of his father's death, Hickey’s
brother had prostate surgery. He recov-
ered.
“We had my father home the last sever-
See Walk, 3A
2A
50 Cents
Second KM
water lake
recommended
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain may
build a second water
impoundment. Engineers
from HDR Engineering, Inc.
presented a report to the
utility committee Tuesday
afternoon.
The engineering firm rec-
ommended a site near Moss
Lake below where Muddy
Fork Creek and Persimmon
Creek flow together, 300
yards upstream of the Stony
Point Road crossing.
The firm presented three
options. A 520 acre, 3,910
million gallon reservoir
would cost $16.5 million; a
943 acre, 16,400 million gal-
lon reservoir would cost
$25.1 million and a 480 acre,
2,400 million gallon reser-
voir would cost $12.4 mil-
lion. These numbers include
the cost of purchasing prop-
erty and construction.
The project would take
between eight to 10 years
due to the permitting
process, according to engi-
neer Marshall Taylor.
Waiting to begin the project
would drive costs up, he
said.
The land is forested and
1 uaa
used for agriculture though Li
Taylor described it as
“primed for residential
development.”
“Things could happen to
foreclose the option (of pur-
chasing land around Muddy
Creek). There's no time to
plan and move like the pres-
ent,” engineer Scott Alpert
said.
Currently the watershed’s
environmental classification
has no development nor dis-
charge restrictions though
Taylor urged the city to
begin the process which
would change that. The new
restrictions would be similar
to those on Moss Lake, he
said.
That process would take
18 months to two years if
other effected local munici-
palities do not attempt to
block the reclassification,
Taylor said.
He also urged the city to
begin the land and conser-
vation easement process and
apply for watershed protec-
tion grants.
“I think we should strike
while the iron is hot if we
want this. We will never
outgrow our need for
water,” City Councilman
Howard Shipp said.
An impoundment on
Muddy Fork Creek would
enable Moss Lake to stay
near full pond during
engineers. Without a second
water source, engineers pre-
dict Moss Lake can continue
to supply the city’s water
for the next 50 years with
only one failure though the
lake level could drop dra-
matically at times.
“For Kings Mountain
alone you probably have
enough for 50 years. It
(Moss Lake) might not look
pretty,” Alpert said.
Former City Councilman
Jim Guyton spoke out
against development along
water impoundments.
“That's the consequence
of house building around
the lake, then the city catch-
es blame,” Guyton said.
Guyton questioned the
cost of a second impound-
ment and said that the city
does not make money from
the sale of water.
After the city council
hears the report during its
Tuesday night meeting, it
can ask the Rural Center for
a $40,000 grant, according to
Alpert. This would cover
studies of the land acquisi-
tion process, impact of
increased withdraws on
Moss Lake and where to
locate a dam.
Additional grant money is
a
Water Trust Fund to help =
secure easements and buy
land around the proposed
impoundment.
The cost could be shared
with other municipalities in :
the region, according to Fa
Kings Mountain Mayor Rick 3
Murphrey who was at
Tuesday’s meeting. Possible
partners include Shelby,
Cherryville and Cherokee
County. A private public
partnership is another
option.
Despite the lessening
need on behalf of industries
for water, Murphrey con-
tends a reliable water sup-
ply is an incentive for eco-
nomic development.
Kings Mountain’s neigh-
bors are already showing an
interest in purchasing water.
Utility Committee Chairman
and City Councilman Rick
Moore said Cleveland
County was interested in
purchasing water from
Kings Mountain.
Cherryville officials plan to
attend Tuesday's meeting.
According to Moore,
Cherryville can purchase
water from Kings Mountain
for less than it can treat
water. Cherryville’s nearest
lines are 4.5 to 5 miles from
Kings Mountain lines,
according to Water Director
Walt Ollis.
“I think we got the
See Iraq, 3A
Brent Turner stands with his wife Keisha
Turner and their sons Holden, Ryan, front,
and Matthew and the family’s dog Lexie
last week at Fort Bragg.
City is developing a policy
on reimbursing stolen items
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
The City of Kings Mountain is
developing a formal policy for reim-
bursing individuals who have items
stolen while on city property, City
Manager Gary Hicks said Tuesday
afternoon.
This comes after questions were
raised when a Kings Mountain
police officer was reimbursed when
his wallet was stolen while he was
at the police department.
Officer Roger Goforth was reim-
bursed $1,600, according to Police
Chief Melvin Proctor.
Proctor said Goforth had taken
his wallet out of his pocket when he
was completing a yearly personal
information update. Goforth real-
ized his wallet was missing when he
later stopped to make a purchase.
He told Proctor he did not remem-
ber returning it to his pocket while
at the department.
Proctor said he conducted an
investigation and it appeared the
wallet was taken at the police
department though it could not be
determined who took the wallet.
“I felt strongly he should be reim-
bursed. He's no different than a citi-
zen,” Proctor said. “I talked with
Gary Hicks and Mickey Corry and
they said it was the right thing.”
Proctor said he welcomes the pol-
icy which would give formal guide-
lines and would appoint someone to
approve reimbursements.
droughts, according to the horse,” Moore said.
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD e
Scott Alpert, an engineer with HDR Engineering, Inc. of oe
the Carolinas, presents a study recommending Kings
Mountain build a water impoundment on Muddy Fork
\
Creek. \,
AH