Thursday, April 21, 2005
Vol. 117 No. 16 Since 1889
KM reservoir
would cost $12 million
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
In 10 years Kings Mountain may be
selling water to more of its neighbors.
Utility committee members heard a
report Tuesday afternoon from engi-
neer Scott Alpert, a project manager for
HDR Engineering of the Carolinas.
Under the proposed reservoir plan,
the city would dam up Persimmon and
Little Persimmon creeks. Using a gravi-
ty fed system, the water would be
piped to nearby Moss Lake and be
treated at the existing station there.
Moss Lake would be able to stay at full
pond.
The water would first be used by the
city with the secondary use being sales
to Kings Mountain's neighbors,
according to Mayor Rick Murphrey,.
Cherryville was mentioned as a possi-
ble customer. This summer that city
will complete a connection to
Lincolnton’s water system. It will be
used for emergencies and drought.
Some cities and private investors
have approached the city about part-
nering on the project, according to
Murphrey. Committee members
seemed to want Kings Mountain to be
the lone owner of the new lake.
Before the project goes any further,
the city must get the proposed lake's
watershed which reaches into Gaston
County and the City of Cherryville
reclassified. The feeder streams also
must be reclassified from secondary
recreation to water supply. These
watersheds are typically low to moder-
ately developed areas. This would
mean no solid waste landfills.
Agriculture and silviculture would be
allowed.
See Reservoir, 5A
PROM NIGHT
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Crowd gathers for the Kings Mountain High Junior-Senior Prom at the Patrick Center. Below, Tina Gibson and Jeremy
Carnes dance.
Red Carpet Affair
KMHS Junior-Senior Prom held at Patrick Center
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
The young women arrived in long
dresses, corsages wrapped around
their wrist. Many styled their hair in
dramatic upsweeps or tight curls. The
young men wore tuxedos.
Smiling couples and sometimes
groups of friends entered the Patrick
Center Saturday night and strolled
down a red carpet.
The Kings Mountain High School
junior-senior prom themed a Red
Carpet Affair drew approximately 380
teens.
Nylon roping, borrowed from local
banks, kept back the “crowds” of fans
and created a Hollywood-like entrance.
Wearing prominent press badges
Angela Wall and Amber Baxley from
the yearbook staff took photos in the
style of the papparatzi. Teacher Nelson
Connor announced the young women
as they entered.
Huge black and white posters of
past and present stars of the silver
screen lined the entrance to the confer-
ence room turned ballroom. The
posters were produced by senior
Kirsten Martin.
Disc jockies from Turntables played
a variety of tunes. A large screen dis-
KM Relay
For Life
next week
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Relay takes on special meaning
for KM first lady Sandra Murphrey
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
on a three-day rotation of chemotherapy,
rest and lab work. She considers herself
lucky to be able to stay home on the days
between chemo and labs.
Last minute preparations
are underway for the Kings
Mountain Relay for Life
which will be April 29 and
30 at the municipal walking
track.
While teams have already
formed, the public may still
come out and walk. There
will be a registration table
at Relay.
“We want them to come
out and experience the
event,” said Linda Neal,
ACS community manager.
“We would love to have
them.”
Opening ceremonies
begin at 6 p.m. The sur-
vivors lap starts at 6:30 p.m. *
and the parade of teams at
6:45 p.m. ‘
See Relay, 2A
For years Sandra Murphrey had been
part of Relay for Life, wearing the white
tee-shirts given to volunteers. Last year her
shirt was blue. Murphrey had entered a
new category - cancer survivor.
The Kings Mountain woman discovered
her cancer during a self-breast exam in
June 2003. Because the type of breast cancer
Murphrey had is so fast growing, it proba-
bly didn’t exist when she had a mammo-
gram earlier that year.
“It’s so scary. You never think in your life
you're going to hear that big “C” word,”
she said.
Weeks after her gynecologist diagnosed
Murphrey with inflammatory breast cancer,
she saw a surgeon. He acted quickly, call-
ing an oncologist. Dr. Grant Taylor saw
Murphrey the same day during his lunch
hour and started chemotherapy that after-
noon. She calls the aggressive drug “red
devil chemo.”
For the next three weeks Murphrey was
Murphrey’s husband Rick literally sat
by her side for the two-hour chemo ses-
sions as the cancer fighting drug and med-
ications for nausea and asthma dripped
into her veins.
“Every drop of chemo in my body, he
was there,” she said.
Friends took her for labs. On good days
they ate lunch while in Charlotte. When
- the oncologist overheard Murphrey and
one of her friends laughing in the waiting
room he credited the good attitude and
support for her progress.
“Young lady, that’s why you're winning.
Love and laughter beats all sickness,”
Taylor told Murphrey.
After the chemotherapy, Murphrey
underwent surgery. A second round of
chemo with another drug followed. The
medicine was so new that Taylor had to go
to the hospital to pick it up himself. The
See Sandra, 2A
>»
damm
OE (1111114
into KM Sports
Hall of Fame
1B
50 Cents
ANDIE L. BRYMER/HERALD
Engineer Scott Alpert explains plans for a new water
reservoir to utility committee members Tuesday after-
noon.
Child abuse
victims need
friendly place
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer “When a
child feels
comfortable,
they'll talk.”
A pink door is the first tip
off that the Child Advocacy
Center is an inviting place
for little ones. The waiting
room is filled with games,
stuffed animals and a doll
house. Characters from
Winnie the Pooh decorate
the walls. :
For victims of child abuse
the friendly facility is a safe
haven. Instead of having to
visit law enforcement agencies, the Department of Social
Services and the hospital, children have a place designed
with their needs in mind.
Before the center was established, Kings Mountain
Detective Sgt. Lisa Proctor had to use a small, stark, win-
dowless room with only two chairs and a desk when she
interviewed child victims. Because the room was also used
to interview suspects there were no pleasing pictures on the
walls or other decorations.
Now either a detective or a social worker use the center’s
interview room. Cozy chairs and child-size furniture fill the
space. Animal motif wallpaper and bright colors create a
cheerful feel. Crayons and paper are abundant.
“When a child feels comfortable, theyll talk,” Proctor
said. .
But first, interviewers must break through what the abus-
er has often times told the child. Sometimes children have
been threatened that they'll never see their mother again if
they tell, or that the police will take the child away. Abusers
may try to convince victims that the abuse is “our” secret or
that it is not abuse but a normal way to show love.
Proctor says she cannot let horror show on her face. This
Lisa Proctor
KMPD Detective
"could cause the child to stop talking.
“Inside I feel like I'm withering away,” she said.
Because the room is equipped with a concealed camera
and recording device, whichever professional that the child
has developed a rapport with conducts the interview. The
other watches on closed-circuit television. This means the
child doesn’t have to be reinterviewed.
While suspects are never allowed inside the center,
defense attorneys do have access to the tapes because these
See Abuse, 5A
PEOPLE
ANDIE L. BRYMER/HERALD
Sandra Murphrey, a cancer survivor, sits with her dog
Winston. The dog along with friends and family stayed
by Murphrey’s side during treatment.
f
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