a.
Thursday, August 5, 2004
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Vol. 116 No. 32
Since 1889
MAUNEY HEMORIAL
1100 6 PIEDMONT AVE
£962 MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3414
night sky with |
; fireworks ;
| 1B
07 11-11-05
30711-1105 0002000
50 Cents
Teacher
killed in
accident
on US 74
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Doree Light Williams’
new co-workers at Kings
Mountain High School were
excited about working with
the young woman they
described as joyful, vibrant
and beautiful inside and
out.
Robin Spicer, who had
known Williams for years,
was sure the Pennsylvania
native would have a posi-
tive impact on students.
All that was gone in an
instant. Williams, 35, was
killed Friday night in a two-
vehicle car crash on U.S. 74
a few miles west of Kings
Mountain. Kimberly
Benjamin Boykins of Shelby
attempted to pass the late
model Volkswagen Beetle
Williams was riding in
when she swerved into the
car. The Beetle hit a ditch on
the right side of the road
and flipped several times.
Williams, who was not
wearing a seat belt, was
thrown from the vehicle,
according to the North
Carolina Highway Patrol.
Boykin’s car struck a guard
rail in the median. She was
not injured.
Williams” mother-in-law
Teressa Hammett Williams,
who was driving the vehi-
cle, was hospitalized with
injuries. She was wearing a
seat belt. Doree Williams’
two children, Jonah
Williams, age 6, and Abbie
Williams, age 2, sustained
minor injuries. They were
strapped into child restraint
devices.
Boykin was charged with
misdemeanor death by
vehicle and driving without
insurance. She was not
injured, a highway patrol
spokesperson said. Boykins”
speed was estimated at 70
miles per hour and Teressa
Williams was driving
approximately 50 miles per
hour.
Williams and her hus-
band Greg Williams moved
See Teacher, 2A
Crime didn’t stand a chance
200 attend
Night Out
event in KM
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Crime didn’t stand a
chance Tuesday night.
Neither did hotdogs and
hamburgers. Two hundred
area residents, law enforce-
ment and public safety agen-
cies attended National Night
Out hosted by the City of
Kings Mountain's Police
Department.
Police Captain Jerry
Tessneer kept the food com-
ing off the grill assisted by
secretary Shirley Payne.
Music by top 40 band Honey
Child filled the air. Soap
bubbles floated through
across the municipal walking
track at Jake Early Sports
Complex.
Kings Mountain Police
Sergeant Lisa Proctor
showed off the department's
arsenal of technology. She
explained that night vision
glasses, sophisticated finger
printing powders and sprays
See Night Out, 9A
— BETHWARE FAIR
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Seven-year-old Samantha Varnadore, left, and four-year-old Cheyenne Watts
check out the rides at the Bethware Fair Tuesday night. The annual event continues
each night through Saturday. Admission is free.
KM councilmen want
to make deal with Hicks
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Will Gary Hicks remain as Kings
Mountain's interim city manager? If not,
who will replace him? City council will
meet in closed session tonight to try and
answer those questions.
Council members voted 4-3 last week not
to pay an approximate additional $450 a
week to keep him. Hicks, a retired Gastonia
city manager, has worked for the city since
late February on a week-to-week basis until
a permanent manager is hired.
Hicks’ $1,538 weekly salary is now inter-
fering with his retirement benefits. He asked
council last week to pay him through a tem-
porary agency which would protect his
retirement. The agency would collect the
approximate additional $450 each week.
Council members Howard Shipp, Carl
DeVane, Rick Moore and Jerry Mullinax
have all said they hope an agreement can be
reached to keep Hicks until a replacement
can be found. Shipp, DeVane and Houston
Corn voted to pay the additional money,
however Moore and Mullinax voted against
it along with Kay Hambright and Brenda
Ross.
In an interview Monday afternoon, Moore
said he would like to see Hicks stay. When
See Hicks, 2A
Gaston Board
takes no action
on KM parents’
school request
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Parents, students and community advo-
cates brought their fight to keep all Kings
Mountain students in Cleveland County
Schools to the Gaston County Board of
Education’s front door Monday night.
Board members were greeted by protest-
ers holding yellow signs reading
“Mountaineers say no to Gaston County
Schools.” More signs lined the sidewalk.
Inside, two parents and one grandmother
asked board members to allow per pupil funding to follow
Kings Mountains Gaston County students who want to
attend Cleveland County Schools.
“The money was good before the merger. Why can’t you
all release it?” parent Carolyn Neely asked the board
Prior to the January merger of Kings Mountain District
Schools with Cleveland County and Shelby City, Gaston
County allowed per pupil funds to follow students living in
the Gaston County portion of Kings Mountain.
Ty have built a foundation where they are at,” Neely
said.
Neely lives minutes from East Elementary. Unless she
pays $1,414 in tuition per child, her five children will have
to attend schools in Gaston County. After the Gaston
County Board refused to allow the funding to continue fol-
lowing Kings Mountain students, Cleveland County School
Board voted to levy the $1,414 tuition. Board members
Shearra Miller and Terry McClain, both from Kings
Mountain, voted against the tuition.
Grandmother Ella Leach told Gaston County School
Board members she “could not pay 50 cents in tuition. I'm
unemployed.” Leach said she prefers schools in Kings ;
Mountain which have had higher test scores. Leach is con- |
See Parents, 2A
JAMES
DAVISON
Ella Leach,
& Hings
Mountain
resident
whose
grandchil-
dren live
with her,
protests
tuition out-
side of
Gaston
County
School
Board
meeting
Monday.
JOSEPH
BRYMER/
HERALD
Parker's
service
Six-year-old Leighann Gibson blows up a balloon at Tuesday’s National Night Out celebration at the Cleveland Avenue
walking track.
Friday
A memorial service for
retired Kings Mountain
High School basketball
coach Donald L. Parker will
be held Friday at 3 p.m. at
Central United Methodist
Church.
Visitation is from 1-3 p.m. -
at the church.
Coach Parker, 91, died on
Saturday, July 24 at his
home in Bloomington
Springs, TN after a lengthy
bout with pancreatic cancer.
He came to Kings
Mountain High School in
1943 as coach of the boys
and girls basketball, football
and baseball teams. He held
the boys basketball coach-
ing position for 23 years,
compiling a 247-139 won-
lost record. He retired as
basketball coach after the
1966-67 season and served
as assistant principal and
later as director of the Title I
program. He retired in 1975.
Coach Parker continued
to live in Kings Mountain
{
until 1998 when, because of
his age and declining
health, he moved to the
See Parker, 2A
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
pr