KINGS MOUNTAIN
The Heral
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Vol. 118 No. 7 Since 1889
50 Cents
GARY STEWART
blocked the interstate.
DAVID ALLEN
with Troop H in Monroe.
KM trooper gets
highest award
for pulling man
from burning truck
gstewart@kingsmountainherald.co
David Allen didn’t think twice that early
August morning when a tractor-trailer he
was following on I-85 near Lexington rear-
ended another truck, jackknifed and
He wasn’t on
duty but at 5 a.m.
was on his way to
Raleigh for a meet-
ing. But the “pro-
tect and serve”
instinct built into
every law enforce- ELIZABETH STEWART
ment officer kicked Herald Correspondent
in and Allen ran
from his vehicle to Delivering a babv isn”
; g a baby isn’t usually
see if he could help. jn Cp]. Tim Adams’ job descrip-
“I could see the
truck was torn all
to pieces,” said
Allen, a State
Trooper who lives
in Kings Mountain and is a lieutenant
“As soon as I got out and looked up I
could see flames start to shoot up from the
front of the truck. Right after that I started
hearing a guy yell for help.”
When he went to the driver’s side of the
cab, it was “deteriorated to the point that
See Trooper, 2A
Going beyond the call of duty
South Battleground Avenue,
Adams got the 911 call at 10:16 -
p-m. that summoned him to a
home in the Northwoods
Community. A young mother was
in labor ready to give birth. |
At 10:19 p.m. Adams found the
young father standing in the front
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Officer Tim Adams, left, delivered Destiny, being held by her father
Chad Surratt. Right is Destiny’ s mother, Tamesha Holland.
KM cop delivers baby
doorway. The baby was ready to
make her arrival and there was
no time to get to the hospital.
Adams continues the story:
“My EMT skills kicked in and
tion. then my main concern was for the
But Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, the mother and baby. I assisted in the
Kings Mountain police officer delivery of a beautiful baby girl at
became for a 6 pound. 12 ounce 10:25 p.m., made sure the baby
baby girl her destiny. was breathing and kept Mom
Working third shift on patrol on from going into shock and tried
to keep her calm. The baby was
wrapped up in a towel and her
mother held her close to her to
keep her warm. Emergency
Medical crews transported moth-
er and daughter to Gaston
Memorial Hospital.”
See Baby, 2A
School
Board
approves
policies
| DYLAN LLOYD
“i dlloyd@kingsmountainherald.com
a
LL
The Cleveland County
School Board adopted two
policies Monday night per-
taining to the disclosure of
information.
Policy 4110 deals with the
collection, disclosure and
use of student information.
More specifically, the code
is designed to prohibit the
school employee from tak-
ing personal or identifiable
information from a student,
such as a social security
number or the addresses of
the child’s parents or rela-
tives.
The policy had two sepa-
rate options for the board to
choose from. The first
option was absolute, and
the second option was con-
ditional; being as the sec-
Hidden costs of drinking and driving
(Second of 3 parts)
dlloyd@kingsmountainherald.com
“Most young people
have no idea in the world
how negatively this is
going to affect them,” says
District Attorney Gwynn
G. Radeker.
Radeker is referring to
being convicted of a DWI,
the costs of which can
exceed $3,000 on only your
first conviction. Along with
the fines and lawyer bills,
it takes only one DWI to
land jail time.
Yet beyond the fines and
imprisonment, a DWI will
haunt your immediate
future. The shame on you
and your family, the reper-
cussions on your employ-
ment, the insurance hikes;
they all can affect you.
However, none of those
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Cpl. B.C. Burnette with the Kings Mountain Patrol Division checks a driver’s license
after making a stop.
ond allowed use of personal
information through writ-
ten consent of the 'superin-
tendent.
“With the second option
we would need to notify
the parents annually con-
cerning exact dates on
which information would
be collected,” said Dr.
Linda Hopper.
Members adopted the
first option, as recommend-
ed by parents and adminis-
trators. Government legisla-
tion requires that certain
policies be developed in
consultation with parents.
The other measure
approved by the board was
policy 4330 which requires
the school to notify the par-
ent in advance of any inva-
sive physical examination.
The wording of invasive
refers to a screening or a
procedure involving injec-
See Policies, 3A
y
consequences can equal than an uncontrolled 2,000 2005, when Charles
that of personal loss. While pound hunk of steel and Leabron Rodgers lost con-
it takes only one DWI to rubber,” says Radeker. trol of a Porsche and pas-
receive jail time, one DWI Radeker, having worked senger Max Gardner Jr.
is also all it takes to end a
life.
“It is the most selfish thing
someone can do; there is
nothing more frightening
in the state attorney’s office was fatally injured. Both
for ten years, has seen men were concluded to
plenty of drunk driving have been over the legal
catastrophes. limit for intoxication at the
The most recent area time of the accident.
fatality was in April of If you do survive the
going after 9) we
tourney title
6A
Countryside Road
residents speak out
against proposed
development
DYLAN LLOYD
dlloyd@kingsmountainherald.com
Residents living on Countryside Road came out in force
at Tuesday night's Planning and Zoning meeting to voice
their opposition to a proposed 483 “home. development on
the outskirts of Kings Mountain.
Reasons for opposition ranged from the narrow accom-
modation of Countryside Road to potential overcrowding
of area schools. Most residents shared a concern that the
development would depreciate their land value and hinder
their quality of life.
“My dad taught me right from wrong, and this develop-
ment just doesn’t fit,” said Gary Crisp of 236 Countryside
Road. “It seems to me that these developers will just take
their profits and leave.” All but two land owners living
around the proposed development expressed opposition to
the project. A main issue involved the traffic that would
potentially be caused by the subdivision, which called for
houses built within ten feet of each other.
“The use is not compatible and completely inconsistent
with the large tracts of land surrounding it,” said Rep. Tim
Moore. “It will generate unwanted traffic and stifle future
development.”
The parcel of land, encompasses 119 acres and is currently
zoned R-10. Independent Developer Walter Fields, along
with representatives from Cincinnati-based Mann
Properties, is seeking to rezone the land to R-6 in order to
build high-density single family housing.
Proponents of the development such as Tim Stevens, the
director of Mann Properties, maintains that the feasibility
for such a project comes from Kings Mountain's proximity :
to other large cities and easy access to major highways. The
proposal depicted single family housing units that would
encourage area growth and independent ownership.
“The development would meet water, sewer and gas
See Countryside, 3A
Warm weather
should lower
heating bills
ELIZABETH STEWART
Herald Correspondent
Unseasonably warm tem-
peratures in January should
mean lower heating bills for
Kings Mountain citizens in
February.
“Gas prices are starting to
come down in the right
direction,” says Mayor Rick
Murphrey. The mayor said
that after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita up to 14%
of the country’s gas produc-
tion in the Gulf of Mexico
became unavailable. That
started a price rise and win-
ter weather increases
demand.
City of Kings Mountain
Billing Director Jean Wyte
has been busy responding
to calls from customers.
“We refer our customers
needing assistance to
drive, there are conse- Cleveland County
quences beyond the sen- Department of Social
tence imposed by the Services, Salvation Army,
judge. : Kings Mountain Crisis
David Stone wrecked his Ministry and Kings
$30,000 Mustang and his Mountain Baptist
legs as a result of his drunk
driving. Increased insur-
ance rates, troubles at
See Hidden, 2A
Association,” she said,
adding that she is always
available to review an indi-
See Heating, 3A
Cancer just ‘bump in road’ for Michael Allen
After first treatment, KMHS swimmer helps 400 relay team win state championship
GARY STEWART
. gstewart@kingsmountainherald.co
Kings Mountain High
senior Michael Allen of
Grover had everyone on
their feet as he held off a
challenge from Southwest
Guilford on the final lap to
help his 400-yard freestyle
relay team win the state
championship Saturday at
NC State University in
Raleigh.
His effort brought tears to
the eye of one official, who
is supposed to be neutral
but admitted that in his
+
heart he wanted Michael to
win.
Allen has been an excel-
lent swimmer since the age
of two, and has won state
championships before. But
last week's was special to
him and his teammates,
because Michael wasn't just
battling other swimmers.
He is battling cancer.
The son of Marty and
Dennis Allen had his
appendix removed in
December, and during the
operation surgeons discov-
ered a tumor. He was diag-
nosed with Follicular
Lymphoma and had his
first chemotherapy treat-
ment on the Monday prior
to the state championship
swim meet.
He faces five more treat-
ments - every Monday at
Carolinas Medical Center in
Charlotte - and after that he
says it will just be a “bad
memory.”
Although it doesn’t show,
the treatments have made
him a little weaker when it
comes to competitive swim-
ming. Now that the state
meet is over, he will have to
stay away from swimming
and lifeguard duties at the
KMHS pool until his treat-
ments are complete because
doctors don’t want him to
“contract any disease that
would weaken his immune
system.
Allen has a positive out-
look. He sees the cancer as
a “bump in the road” that
has made him look at
things differently, and after
a few weeks he fully
expects to pick right up
where he left off in the
pool.
“It’s made me mentally
stronger,” he says. “I
haven't been sick from the
chemo but I was weak after
See Allen, 2A
MICHAEL ALLEN