August 10, 2006
Commissioners’ workshop
this afternoon in Shelby
Cleveland Cority
Commissioners will hold a work session
Thursday at 4 p.m. at
Board | of
the County
: Minimo vine code violations.
-Paving assessments.
-Zoning map amendments.
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Above, burned insulators at Duke Power substation on (iaston Street. Below, Nick
Hendricks studies map of city’s electrical system as his men lack feed power through the
new Margrace substation. : :
POWER
From 1A
Hendricks explained.
“Our contingency plan worked great,” he
said. “Our guys worked extremely hard.”
The Margrace substation was built to serve
the area of King Mountain High School,
Country Creek and part of Meadowbrook,
Hendricks said. The city’s first priority was
to restore Kings Mountain Hospital, and tak-
ing power from the Margrace substation
through the high school area was the shortest
route to go.
“We were throwing switches here and
dropping switches there,” he said. “People
probably saw bucket trucks all over town.
One of our worst nightmares came to pass.
We have one of the hottest days of the year
Commission Chamber in Shelby.
Items to be discussed are: Fak
-An economic development report from
Stuart Gilbert of the Chamber.
-Paper ballots vs. machine ballots in small
elections.
-Possibility of applying to be a pilot county
for the primary election method.
-Merit pay evaluations.
-A countywide leash law.
-Animal shelter improvements.
-A progress report from the Health
Department on the solid waste “covered
loads” erdinance.
-Personnel grievance procedures.
-Employee bonus.
=A progress aeport on Dihe Toluca fire sta-
tion.
-Code enforcement.
-Employee recognition banquet.
-Automotive purchases.
The meeting is open to the public.
Commissioners will break for dinner at 6:30
and at 7 p.m. will join Rep. Patrick McHenry
at his town hall meeting in the Commission
Chambers. The work session will reconvene
at 7:15 p.m.
McHenry to speak in Shelby
Tenth District U. S. Congressional
. Representative Patrick McHenry will be fea-
tured at the Chamber's annual
Congressional luncheon this month August
10 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at North Lake
Country Club in Shelby.
Congressman McHenry will serve as the
guest speaker for the event and he will pro-
vide a summary of his work in Washington
to date as well as give information on
upcoming issues and initiatives at the feder-
al level. A question-and-answer session will
follow.
The cost for the luncheon is $20 for mem-
bers and $25 for non-members. Seating is
limited and reservations with advance pay-
ment are appreciated.
For more information, call the Chamber at
(704) 487-8521.
and it goes down. It was a tough challenge to
bring it back. The hospital has generators but
it’s only to run minimal necessities. It doesn’t
back everything up.”
While the electric department was concen-
trating on getting power restored, Mayor
Rick Murphrey, Interim City Manager
iy | Marilyn Sellers and Fire Chief Frank Burns
were coordinating efforts with the Red Cross
and Patrick Center to provide emergency
shelters.
According to Murphrey, the word was dis-
tributed around town that anyone that need-
ed to go to an air conditioned shelter could
call the fire department. Firemen were ready
to go get them, and worked out an arrange-
ment with the senior center to use their van
for transportation.
Thankfully, power was restored quickly
and emergency measures weren't necessary.
Kings Mountain police were directing traf-
fic at every major intersection in town. The
only area that did not lose power was the
eastern part of town which is served by the
1 York Road substation.
Despite efforts to keep animals out of elec-
trical substations, they continue to cause
shutdowns on occasion, and it’s usually dur-
ing the worst of times, Hendricks said.
“You've got ainimal protection devices all
over the stations,” he said. “You protect them
as much as posible without damaging the
integrity of the station. Growing up as an
avid outdoorsmjan, I see more squirrels in
town than I do in the country anymore. It's a
problem everywhere. It’s just something to
work hard to.try| to protect. We have squirrel
guards on transformers and breakers but
they are very inf; elligent little animals. They
can get places you wouldn't think they could
get. We spend a lot of money trying to protect
them but they allways seem to get in areas
you don’t want | them. They'll get between
two phases or between a phase and the
ground, and when a flash occurs it kind of
escalates.”
And, it does seem like it happens either
on the hottest day’ of summer of coldest day
of the winter.
“It it’s going to Jhappen you hope its one of
those nice spring; days when it's about 70
degrees,” Hendricks said. “But we really
hope it doesn’t happen.”
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TESTA
From 1A
parties in the past, he had no
foresight into the alleged sit-
uation. “As I understand,
Mr. Testa is merely a witness
whose completely legal cam-
paign contribution may have
been used illegally by
Speaker Black or
Representative Decker. As is
the case for many other con-
tributors from across the
state who also testified
before authorities,” he said.
Moore described Testa’s
situation as similar to some-
one who witnessed a bank
robbery - he would not be
the Tobber but merely a wit-
ness whose legal right would
be to testify and help investi-
gators pinpoint the real bad
guys. He said that if the alle-
gations of the Decker and
Black scandal are true, “the
folks who broke the law
should be prosecuted.”
“When I gave my testimo-
ny to the federal grand jury
in Raleigh a few months ago,
they told me not to discuss
any part of the testimony
and even though I don’t
have anything to hide, I
wouldn't want the federal
government coming after
me,” Testa said. He added
that he is as concerned and
intrigued by this matter as
the rest of North Carolinians
are and can not wait to see
how it will play out in court.
He was unable to comment
further (before printing), due
to severe health reasons.
Testa ran a close race
against Sen. Walter Dalton
(D - Rutherford, Cleveland)
in the 2004 elections for a
senate position in the NC
General Assembly.
“The whole situation with
Black and Decker is sicken-
ing and the reason we passed
a number of laws this year to
further restrict money and
campaigns,” said Moore,
who serves as chair of the
Committee on Elections Law
and Campaign Finance
Reform.
“Mike Decker embodies
the corruption that gives
elected officials a bad name. I
certainly hope that those
who broke the law and
abused the public trust are
held accountable for their
criminal activity,” he said.
Decker was in office until
2004, when he was defeaed
in the election by Larry
Brown. He is scheduled to be
sentenced on November 1,
2006. The crimes he has
admitted to may carry a
weight of five years in prison
and a fine of up to $250,000.
What are the ben
$60.00 per
couple
includes meals,
snacks, and
materials
nA
of Gaston noun
A special i retreat ot for rr ng to be
married or who have been married 12 months or less.
Saturday, August 19, 2006 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday, August 20, 2006 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm
OR
Saturday, October 28, 2006 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 29, 2006 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm
** Retreat Topics**
In Good Times and Bad -- The Gift of Dialogue (presented by James Neely, PAIRS, Inc.)
Couples are given the skills and tools to communicate skillfully, to problem solve
constructively, and to build lasting commitments to each other.
From This Day Forward (Presented by Dr. Loretta Dodgen and Dr. Malinda Lowery Partners in Multiple Choice, Inc.)
Couples will be given the opportunity to develop a shared vision and discuss
expectations for their marriage.
For Richer or Poorer (Presented by Craig Klutz of RBC Centura Bank)
Money, money! Information will be given managing household checking accounts,
types of insurance, debt management, credit card charges & budgeting.
In Sickness and in Health (Presented by Nancy Porter, RN, MSN, Director of Health Education at Gaston College)
Nancy Porter will explore how couples can care for each other's physical, mental,
emotional, and spiritual health.
To Love and to Cherish (presented by Dr. john Arey, Clinical Services Director, Methodist Counseling and Consultation Services)
Sexuality and intimacy are key components to a health marriage. This session will
explore these important issues.
IO EN Te
IRST
oT
Gastonia, NC 28053
First Things First of Gaston County has as its
iv vision strong, healthy, life-long marriages,
with mothers and fathers who are active in the
lives of their children.
Located at the
beautiful
gi ST
i,
1856 Remon
Rd., Gastonia
PO Box 1695