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Volume 123 * Issue 6 « Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Learn how to make ads work for you
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G. Deal Sterns \
of Rigs 2 Mountain
Classic Gifts & Interior. Design Services
146 West Mountain St., Kings Mountain
Ph. 704-730-8409 Fax 704-730-8410
Baucom aims to hit
cancer out of the park
TIMMY BAUCOM
By KYRA ALEXANDER
Staff writer
Most kids in Kings Mountain were excited to miss a
week of school because of the snow but to Kings Moun-
tain freshman Timmy Baucom, snow days mean nothing.
He will be spending the second half of his freshman year
at home everyday. During the holiday season, while
everyone else was celebrating, Baucom found out he had
cancer.
Like many teens, 14-year-old Baucom enjoys spend-
ing time with his Xbox, riding four-wheelers and dirt
bikes. But the activity he is most enthused with is base-
ball; and unfortunately he will have to sit this season out.
Last September Baucom’s grandfather died of pancre-
atic cancer. Going into the holiday season took the whole
family through some emotional adjustments.
Right before Thanksgiving festivities, Baucom com-
plained to his mother about having a severe pain in his
neck. Taking over-the-counter pain medication seemed to
take care of the problem for a while.
During the Christmas. holidays, Baucom disiotered a
knot the size of a baseball on his neck. Upon this discov-
ery his parents took him to their doctor who sent him to a
surgeon who then passed him on again to the Baptist hos-
pital in Winston Salem.
Biopsies revealed that the growth in his neck and an
additional growth found in his intestines were cancerous;
fortunately there was no cancer found in his bone mar-
TOW. :
Baucom was told he had Burkitt’s Lymphoma, which
is an uncommon type of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
See COMMUNITY, 3A
BOE Chairman: what do trash
dumps have to do with voting?
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Senator Debbie Clary (R-Cleve-
land) wants the state to step in and
consolidate the 26 Cleveland County
polling sites, challenging a majority
vote of the Board of Elections which
scrapped its original plan last month
to explore the benefits and downsides
of consolidation. :
Board Chairman Steve Wells says
he’s not backing down from his
board’s decision that last month re-
solved the issue that precincts stay the
same in the county.
In a related action in February, the
board voted 2-1 to drop, all discussion
’
From 26 to 7
Page 4A - Minutes of the BOE's De-
cember meeting show a list of 26
precincts fused into seven polling sites
about consolidating Kings Mountain’s
two voting sites.
“I’m working on a bill, doing re-
search and setting up meetings with
minorities,” Clary said from her office
in Raleigh Tuesday. “It’s a shame that
the Board of Elections felt the need to
cut off the public input by cancellation
of hearings,” she added. She said she
was called by constituents about the
need for public forums.
Cleveland County Board of Elections
Chairman Steve Wells
N.C. Senator
Debbie Clary
(R-Cleveland)
Could less save more? Or is it more
or less a matter of the people?
The consolidation issue was raised
at both the December 2010 and Janu-
ary 2011 meetings of the board of
elections. In December the board
voted 2-1" to explore with the state
board the possibility of consolidation
and set five fact-finding meetings in
the county with various groups of in- .
dividuals, including minorities and
Party and municipal leaders to explore
the benefits and downsides of consol-
idation from 26 to 7 or 8 sites. The
board is not required to hold public
hearings and makes final decisions,
Chairman Wells said in responding to
questions at the February meeting at
See CONSOLIDATING, 4A
Sever libs. Pecin and Washed, lined stress. in
Kings Mountain Monday - remnants of a midnight teenage
« joyride that landed fouri in hot water.
Midnight
ride leads to
dayin court
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Four teenagers joy-riding on a Sanday night may soon
+ learn that crime doesn’t pay during their day in court.
The four boys - ages 14-16, may also find their al-
lowances cut to zero as they and their parents face the high
costs of malicious damage of 31 mailboxes smashed with
baseball bats. Mirrors were torn from cars and tailgates
stolen at some residences.
Kings Mountain Police Det. Capt. Derk Johnson said
police stopped a car at 12:15 a.m. Saturday on Maner Road
operated by a 16- -year-old and in which three other boys
were passengers.
Con artists
phone home
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor .
Ring. Ring. “Hello, grandmother. It’s your grandson and I’m
in trouble.” The words the caller says next come from an unfa-
miliar voice while he declares a familiar name — the name of
your grandson, but do you really know him?
There’s a new scam going around and one citizen has brought
it to the attention of the Kings Mountain Police. She received a
phone call from a man claiming to be her grandson. He told her
that he had been arrested under false charges and was being held
in a cell in Madrid, Spain. He needed her to send $2:000 so that
he could get out of jail.
Calling the caller’s bluff, the grandmother asked to speak to
the officer in charge. Another voice came on the line. He de-
“manded — not $2,000 — but $22,000 and asked for her credit card
number.
She replied that she had no credit card and just as mysteri-
ously as the phone conversation began, it ended. They hung up.
See STRANGE CALL, 3A
Love letters mark
start of long romance
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Every Valentine’s Day
Helen and Oliver Tate
reread love letters they ex-
changed more than 63
years, ago. Helen Robbs
and James Oliver Tate kept
the local postman busy be-
fore they became Mr. and
Mrs. in 1948.
98525-00200
“You’ve got another let-
ter from your soldier,” the
late Lloyd Phifer would
tell an excited Helen as she
rushed to the mailbox.
Oliver had enlisted in the
USAF, took basic training
at Fort Bragg and was
serving with the US Train-
ing Command, first in
Spokane, Washington and
his last two years of duty in
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
“I had my eye on Helen
in high school,” said
Oliver. He left Kings
Mountain High School as a
senior at 18 and enlisted in
the service, reminding his
[1IEY les
Ta
sweetheart to write him
every day. It was 18
months-before his first fur-
lough but on the next fur-
lough he and Helen tied the
knot before Rev. B.E.
Austin on Sept. 12, 1948 in
Second Baptist ' Church.
Helen was 20 and her
bridegroom was 20.
“We bought a lot of air-
mail stamps, a nickel a
piece,” laughed Helen. Re-
membering their courtship,
Oliver said he luckily did-
n’t see overseas duty and
so their love letters weren’t
See TATES, 5A Love letters that Helen and Oliver Tate wrote to each thet years ago bring! Back happy memories
for them on Valentine's Day.
TH Confidence,
TE TRY AH TTA
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain ¢ 704.739.5411
www.alliancebanknc.com . memser mic