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Volume 123 « Issue 9 » Wednes he HOUNTALE a
tN
A fire
district for
‘no man’s
land’
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
The city is negotiating with the county to
look at the possibility of forming a Kings
Mountain Rural Fire District on Highway
161 South (York Road) in what 40-50 home
owners are calling a "no man's land."
The "no man's land" designation comes
from the property owners themselves who
say their fire insurance rates have doubled
because they fall six miles outside the Beth-
lehem Fire District.
Kings Mountain Fire Chief Frank Burns
joined Bethlehem Fire Chief John Mc-
Daniel, Todd Hullender and county fire mar-
shals Dewey Cook and Terry Davis to
update county commissioners at a work ses-
sion Thursday.
The area of concern, according to Burns
and McDaniel, has always been in the Beth-
lehem district with Bethlehem as first re-
sponders. Currently, insurance companies
are using GPS locations to write insurance
policies and because the York Road area —
all the way to the state line — falls outside the
six mile district of Bethlehem the N.C. In-
surance Department has re-classified the
area as 10. Commissioners received copies
of insurance quotes which indicated fire in-
surance rates in the new 10 class had dou-
bled.
Commissioners are eyeing a contract
with the City of Kings Mountain to provide
the protection which would mean a substan-
tial reduction in insurance costs.
Kings Mountain Fire Station No. 1 is {o-
cated at the Kings Mountain City Hall and
could provide the service with another
tanker to haul water to the site. :
Firemen told commissioners that the big
problem for all fire departments is not
enough tax dollars (.03%) coming to pay for
necessary equipment and manpower. A satel-
lite fire station on York Road with two trucks
would be too costly.
"We can't address that end of the county
and leave others out," said county commis-
sioner Eddie Holbrook.
"I'd like to see maps which show the fire
See CITY, 7A
Pain at
the pumps
With gas prices inching closer to $4 a gal-
lon, Kings Mountain motorists are feeling
the pain at the pumps.
Regular gas at most stations in Kings
Mountain on Sunday was $3.30 a gallon. On
Tuesday some stations in town were posting
$3.37 and $3.39.
A gallon of regular gas in neighboring
Grover was $3.19 on Tuesday.
Just how high are prices going to climb?
Pump price for regular gasoline in North
Carolina a year ago was $2.67 and today the
average was $3.36. A month ago pump price
in North Carolina was $3.039 for a gallon of
unleaded gas and a week ago it was $315.8
according to gasbuddy.com. Nationwide, the
price Tuesday for a gallon of regular gaso-
line was $3.363.
in Kings Mountain Tuesday the cost of
gasoline varied from $3.32 to $3.39 a gal-
lon, depending where you fill up.
Websites like www.gasbuddy.com and
www.aaacarolinas.com can help those who
want to bargain shop before starting up the
As Sr Ta AT
Premier Dealer
lome Comfort Systems
\nnovation never fell so good.”
__— T1250 Linwood Road, Kings Mountain NC
Ee 704.739.3446 or Mobile 704.297 (1397
Dilling Lo Fat] Co.
LENNOX
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Crowds rally around “The Masked Ranger” 7th grade social studies teacher David McDonald in the main event of the 5th Annual Anderson
Brothers Tag Team Classic’at KMMS Friday night. The event raised hundreds of dollars for the KM Hospice House.
Win for Hospice and ‘Rock-N-Roll’
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
The bleachers in the Kings Mountain
Middle School gymnasium shook with ex-
citement Friday night at the 5th Annual An-
derson. Brothers Classic
Tournament. Feet stomped, hands clapped,
chants and cheers bounced off of the walls.
Signs were raised and flags were waved. Tt
wasn’t exactly ‘a riot and this wasn’t Wis-
consin, but this crowd sure was fired up.
And why not? They were about to witness
wrestling for the sake of a good cause, in
honor of great legends, in the wake of new
heroes, and the reincarnation of wrestling the
way it once was before incessant profanity
stung the ears and vulgarity shocked the
eyes.
The event, attended by a few hundred
people, including dozens of families, helped
raise more than $700 for the Kings Mountain
Hospice House.
Tag Team
Legend lives on
For five years now this tag team tourna-
ment has been held in memory of Gene An-
derson and in honor of the Anderson
Brothers noted as one of the greatest tag
teams to take the pro-wrestling arena.
“Brothers” Gene and Lars Anderson
stomped onto the scene in their maroon- and
gold-striped boots as the “Minnesota Wreck-
/ ing Crew’ in the ‘60s. The colors of their
trademark boots were the school colors of
the University of Minnesota, where they at-
tended college.
In 1968, the crew was joined by a new
“brother” Ole Anderson (Rock Rogowski).
Gene and Ole Anderson went on to take tag
team wrestling to new levels during their
NWA World tag team title reigns in the
1970s. They won the NWA World tag team
title eight times.
Gene Anderson has since retired to the
great drena in the sky. His “brothers” Ole and
Lars have hung up their boots. But they are
not forgotten. Their legendary moves, rival-
$99K grant
could bring
more jobs
Nineteen more jobs may be coming to Chematall Foote
Corp. in Kings Mountain with the awarding of a $99,250
grant from the North Carolina Rural Center to the City of
Kings Mountain.
City Council at its March 29 meeting will consider filing
a second application to the N.C. Department of Commerce
for another grant for $99,250 to complete the project cost of
$198,500.
Mayor Rick Murphrey, who announced the award, said
the new grant is for a water line for domestic use and fire
safety to serve Chematall Foote’s major expansion under-
way on Holiday Drive.
“The city is excited about Chematall Foote’s expansion
said the mayor, adding that Chemetall Foote is at the
plans,”
forefront of advanced battery technology.
Chemetall Foote is a subsidiary of Rockwood Holdings.
des
1B
INTO THE WOODS
ries and “take no prisoner” attitudes live on
in the hearts of many fans and wrestlers who
remember those “glory days” of wrestling.
And they remember other greats — some
of which are still flipping around in the fing
today. The Rock-N-Roll Express (Ricky
Morton and Robert Gibson) took the world
of pro-wrestling by storm in the ‘80s, with
their signature double dropkicks, mullet hair-
dos and bandanas tied around their calves.
Morton and Gibson reunited at the event and
showed the crowd they still have what it
takes.
In a match for the coveted Anderson
Brothers trophy, they double dropkicked Mr.
No. 1 (George South) .and defeated the
See WRESTLING, 1B
When completed, the Kings Mountain expansion will be a
state-of-the art facility equipped to produce battery grade
lithium hydroxide. Currently the site produces other lithium
salts and lithium metal for primary batteries.
i The expansion project is funded in part by a $28.4 million
da grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand and up-
| grade the production of lithium materials for advanced trans-
The Kings Mountain High School Drama Department wows the crowds
with its production of “Into the Woods”, which continues this week-
end. Gelila Dimetros (as the witch) and Tanner Collins (the mysterious
'man) rehearse a scene. Read more about it on page 3B.
portation batteries.
County commissioners meeting Tuesday night in Shelby
were also considering an economic incentive for the Lithium
Division of Chemetall Foote.
car.
98525700200
TAM
Building Trust. Building Smiles,
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain ¢ 704.739.5411
AVY
www.alliancebanknc.com . memsEr ric