KINGS
Snakes Alive! An
animal show they
won’t soon forget 10,
MOUNTAIN
| The Hera
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Vol. 118 No. 29
Since 1889
50 Cents
Pop Warner football players getting
ready for the season 1B
GARY STEWART
| gstewart@kingsmountainherald.co
Military and police work
were in his blood, but after
over 25 years as a proven
leader in the Military Police
Mike Bumgarner says
there’s nothing like football
Friday nights in Kings
Mountain.
Colonel Bumgarner, who
recently completed 15
months of duty as
Commander of the Camp
Delta Moore prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
says as a teenager he wanted
to coach football and be just
like his high school coach,
Bob Jones.
Bumgarner was the start-
ing quarterback at KMHS in
1974, 1975 and 1976, leading
HOMEFRONT
Beach Blast
is Saturday
at gazebo
Kings Mountain's 7th annual
Beach Blast will kick off
Saturday, July 22, at 10 am and
include activities for the whole
family until 10 pm at Patriots
Park in downtown Kings
Mountain.
The Blast will feature a “Teenie
Weenie Bikini Contest” for ladies
6 years and under, a watermelon
eating contest, an Ultra-light air-
craft flyover, a beach ball release,
a shag contest, a wet and wild
celebration, the county’s largest
sand pile, and plenty of food and
thirst-quenching drinks.
Local musicians and artists
Crimson Rose, Panyelo (a steel
drum band) and The Tams are
scheduled to be in concert dur-
ing the event.
Beach Blast is a tribute to the
best of vintage Rhythm, Blues
and Soul music and is co-spon-
sored by the City of Kings
Mountain, Kings Mountain
Business and Professional
Association, KM Tourism
Development Authority, The
Herald, Gateway Properties,
WOHS Superstations, afab pro-
motions, Davidson Insurance
Company and SunTrust. All
events are free and open to the
public.
DEATHS
the Mountaineers to an over-
all record of 19-9-2, includ-
ing a 7-2-1 record in ‘74 and
an 8-2 mark in ‘76. He was
an excellent passer - being
on target to break the school
passing record after his first
two seasons - but sacrificed
personal glory for the suc-
cess of the team when, dur-
ing his senior year, many tal-
ented runners came on the
scene and the Mountaineers
went to a ground game.
Bumgarner, always a
leader on the field, uses the
lessons he learned in high
school football to direct his
men in one of the most diffi-
cult times in our nation’s
history.
“When I look back on my
life I've been real lucky,” he
says of his 25-year Army
Lessons learned
Leadership, discipline helped Bumgarner deal with detainees at Guantanamo Bay
career. “But the thing I think
about most are those Friday
nights on the football field.”
Bumgarner is currently on
leave before going to his
next assignment He and his
wife, the former Sandra
Moore of Kings Mountain,
have moved 20 times during
those 25 years.
“She’s an expert in pack-
ing boxes,” he laughs.
Serving 15 months at
Guantanamo Bay was a
challenge, but Bumgarner
says it was the highlight of
his military career. During
the last days of his time
there the prison drew inter-
national attention when
three detainees committed
suicide.
The U.S. detains suspected
terrorists at the prison and
in football
the government has come
under heavy criticism from
the press and international
officials for continuing to
operate it. But the Bush
administration considers the
prisoners a very definite
threat to the United States.
“It’s very difficult circum-
stances down there,”
Bumgarner said. “It’s not
like Central Prison in North
Carolina. It’s a totally differ-
ent world every day. You
can’t trust any of them (the
detainees). It’s not like they
stole a car and are going to
serve their time and go
home. We're there to protect
them and the United States,
trying to keep them out of
the U.S. right now.”
Bumgarner referred to the
situation there as a “fish-
BEATING THE HEAT
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Ramiro Chairez with Hall Builders takes a break from the 96-degree heat Tuesday
bowl,” where anything you
say or do is being watched
by somebody. “They (the
prisoners) hate the United
States. It’s not like a guy in a
U.S. prison cell. He wants to
kill you, kill me and kill all
other Americans.”
Bumgarner is the son of
the late Ira and Mildred
Bumgarner of Kings
Mountain. He represents a
long military and police tra-
dition in his family. His
mother’s father, the late PA.
Hawkins, was a policeman.
His father, Ira, was a career
military man and retired
school principal. He had
seven uncles who either
retired from the military or
were discharged due to
wounds in combat, or killed
See Bumgarner, 2A
“It’s not like a guy
in a U.S. prison
cell. He wants to
kill you, kill me
and kill all other
Americans.”
Col. Mike Bumgarner
|
Saturday storm
kayos power,
blows down trees
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
The thunderstorm that ripped through Kings Mountain on
Saturday night, exploded trees, relocated a trailer and left
over 1,200 people without power. “It was a pretty intense
storm,” said Nick Hendricks of the Kings Mountain City
Electric Department. “We had a lot of lightning, a lof of wind
and a great deal of rain.”
Hendricks recalled seeing quarter-inch-size hail bounce off
of his back porch during the storm and he said that unlike
most summer thunderstorms that only last a few minutes,
this one seemed to have lasted about an hour. “The lightning
during the storm seemed to linger the longest,” he said.
The storm downed several trees in the West Gold Street,
Phifer Road area. “A lot of trees fell in the road and got hung
up in the power lines or tore down the lines,” he said, which
made more of an obstacle for utility crews. “We came in
around 5:30 pm and three different crews worked very hard.
At the height of the storm, we probably had 700 people out
of power and we had everybody back on by 11 pm that
night.”
Randy Ward from Rutherford Electric, Cherryville Office,
said that they had four or five poles down and a total of 500
outages in the southern Kings Mountain, Grover area. “Our
crews worked through the night and finished up by 9 am
Sunday morning,” he said. Duke Power customers were
reportedly back on line by 6 am Sunday.
Some Shelby residents said that a tornado blew through
their neighborhood, with strong winds and flying debris
causing property damage. The wind gusts nearing 30 mph
blew a trailer up off of its foundation and set it down seven
feet away at Country Woods Mobile Home Park off of Hwy.
216 in Kings Mountain. “I think it was a twister that did
that,” said park resident Dicie Mason. “It just picked it up
and moved it over.”
She and her husband James were in Gastonia when the
storm hit. They returned home to find a tree had demolished
part of their garden. Other trees throughout the neighbor-
hood were blown apart. Linda Moses was also away during
See Storm, 2A
Teen cell phone law passes General Assembly
purpose is: “to reduce fatalities among
Iph Yarboro, 92
i 5 with some water and shade.
Thomas Runyans, 44
Billie Jean Hoyle, 60
Stan Venclovas, 85 Page 3A
FR
INDEX EMILY WEAVER
Classified 5B Education 8A eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Lifestyles 6A Deaths 3A
AE 4A Police 3A You have the right to drive at the age of
Sports 1B Worship ~~ 5A 16 with a permit or license. But now,
: thanks to Senate Bill 1289 that has been
This week’s advertising sections: approved in the House and Senate and is
Food Lion currently awaiting the governor's signa-
CVS/Pharmacy ture to become law, you do not have the
To advertise or subscribe
call 704-739-7496
right to talk on a cell phone while driving
under the age of 18. The bill states that its
new teen drivers by making the use of a
mobile phone unlawful for a person less
than 18 years of age and who holds a pro-
visional license while driving a motor
vehicle on a public street or highway or
public vehicular area, as recommended by
the NC Child Fatality Task Force.”
Teens caught chatting on their cell
phones, while driving, will face a fine of
$25 once the law takes effect December 1,
See Cell Phone, 5A
M a t t
Bumgardner
talks on his
cell phone
while sitting
behind the
wheel of his
truck.
EMILY WEAVER/
HERALD