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LINCOLN
TIMES-NEWS
P.O. Box 40
119 W. Water Street
Lincolnton, NC 28092
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Local News - January 2002
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Presbyterian applies to open Huntersville hospital
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Jan. 30, 2002 - HUNTERSVILLE — For almost 100 years, Charlotte-based Presbyterian Hospital has been
expanding and growing. Now its parent company Presbyterian Healthcare is asking for state approval to build a 60-bed facility, in the Huntersville area.
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Destructive hydrilla invading Lake Norman
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Jan. 30, 2002 - It’s straight out of a ’50s B movie: noxious, slimy green plant rapidly
reproduces, threatening to overrun a community.
But hydrilla is for real and it’s taken up residence in Lake Norman..
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Lake Keeper Jay Bunzey rakes up strings of hydrilla offer a Neck Road boat landing. Below, Bunzey holds clumps of the fast-growing weed.
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United Way celebrates success
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Jan. 30, 2002 - United Way volunteers Tuesday celebrated surpassing fundraising goals despite
a rough climate for charity fundraising.
The agency raised $388,000 and expects more to come in before the campaign ends March 1.
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United Way Director Rhonda Sigmon (center) talks with fundraising volunteer Doug Phillips and Beverly Allran, board treasurer. Allran and
Sigmon are with First Citizens Bank. Fundrais-ing volunteers celebrated surpassing the agency's goal during a breakfast meeting Tuesday.
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Hungry pie lovers swarm Citizens Center
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Jan. 30, 2002 - Pecan praline, coconut pineapple, chocolate chess, sweet potato and
peppermint were among the more than 30 varieties of pies served Tuesday at the National Pie Day celebration in Lincolnton.
Pie lovers came in droves to the Citizens Center to enjoy the tantalizing treats prepared by members of the Lincoln County Extension and Community
Association.
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Mikaela Quiles, 3, inspects each bite as she reaps the rewards of attending this year's National Pie Day celebration Tuesday at the
Citizens Center.
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New school on schedule
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Bad weather hampers work
Jan. 30, 2002 - Construction is behind schedule by one week at Lincoln’s newest school but officials say it will still
open August, 2003.
Bob Sebire of M.B. Kahn, the school’s construction management firm, met with school board building and site committee members Monday afternoon.
Work on the footings was slated to begin last week but was delayed due to rain.
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Hallman to run for clerk
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Jan. 30, 2002 - A former Lincoln County commissioner will make a bid for the Lincoln County Clerk of
Court’s office.
Republican Jim Hallman said Monday he will run for the four-year position.
“At this time in my life, this will be my last opportunity perhaps for that. I feel I need to make the effort,” Hallman
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Workshops scheduled
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Jan. 30, 2002 - The Lincoln County Fire Marshall will hold three workshops on open burning regulations in
the next couple of weeks.
The first will be on Jan. 31 at the Denver Volunteer Fire Department, the second on Feb. 11 at the Howard’s Creek Volunteer Fire Department and the third will
be Feb. 14 in the Senior Center at the Lincoln Campus of Gaston College. The workshops are scheduled for 7 p.m. on all three dates.
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Legal assistant seeks clerk’s post
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Jan. 28, 2002 - A local legal assistant hopes to run for Lincoln’s Clerk of Court as an
unaffiliated candidate.
Before Janet Carpenter Spears can get her name on the ballot, she will have to get 1,593 signatures of local registered voters. The petition is
required of any candidate who wants to run unaffiliated.
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Dental clinic speeds services
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LMC opens operating room for indigent
Jan. 28, 2002 - A preschooler’s mouth is filled with decay; some teeth need filling, others must be removed. Sedation
is required to get the teeth fixed, a procedure that used to mean a months’ long wait to visit an out of county hospital’s operating room. Today, the work can be done quickly right here in Lincolnton.
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Dr. Cordell Scott is using Lincoln Medical Center's operating room to do extensive dental work on indigent children.
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Morganton’s Daugherty seeks 10th District seat
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Jan. 28, 2002 - A Morganton man hopes to be the 10th Congressional district’s next
representative, running on a platform to keep jobs in the United States or North America.
Ron Daugherty recently announced his candidacy for the seat now held by U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-Hickory, who is expected to seek re-election.
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Pumpkin Center clowns around
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Jan. 28, 2002 - It was barrels of fun Friday at Pumpkin Center Elementary as Physical Education teacher Sherry Bourbeau's fourth-graders
put on Clown School for kindergartners. Above, Johnathan Auton, helps kindergartner Dakota Newsome to stack shapes. Fourth-grader Emily Cooke, right, smiles through her special Clown Day make-up.
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Teacher commits to racing for a cure
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Jan. 25, 2002 - Karen Lounsbury ran 13 miles during a January marathon at Walt Disney World.
The three hours of pounding the pavement through the theme park were grueling but Lounsbury did not give up.
As each step got harder, she would look at her bracelet. It bore the name “Sarah,” a 12-year-old Statesville girl with leukemia. Lounsbury was
running to raise money for a cure.
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Karen Lounsbury runs to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research. The S. Ray Lowder teacher and her husband Steve completed a half
marathon in Florida earlier this month.
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Task Force wants help with man hunt
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Jan. 25, 2002 - The Lincolnton-Lincoln County Drug Task Force has been looking for fugitive
James Taylor Gettings since he made bail in 1997 and never returned for court.
When last seen, Gettings, now 56, had short brown hair, hazel eyes and stood about 5 feet 10 inches tall. He weighed about 190 lbs. and wore
prescription glasses.
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LMC looks to new scanner to boost its bottom line
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Jan. 25, 2002 - Lincoln Medical Center is updating its CT scanner, enabling patients to receive care
without traveling to Charlotte or Gastonia.
Board members voted unanimously during a Wednesday board meeting to either purchase or lease a G.E. Lightspeed CT Scanner.
The current computerized topography scanner is eight-years-old, Teresa Watson, vice-president of administration, told board members.
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Tough economy is fueling rise in domestic violence, say officials
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By COURTNEY MARTIN, LTN Staff Writer
Jan. 25, 2002 - With Lincoln County’s unemployment rate increasing, so are crime and domestic violence. That’s what local law enforcement officials have
been seeing during the past several months.
“When people are out of work, it’s a known fact that there’s more crime,” said Lt. Ronnie Matthews with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
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Board tells county: School needs top $9 million
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Jan. 25, 2002 - County schools have requested $9.4 million in personnel, furniture, instructional materials, computers and software though it may take years to fulfill the wish
list, officials say.
School board members discussed the request with Lincoln County Commission Chairman Jerry Cochrane during a Wednesday night Budget and Finance Committee meeting.
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Sports juice softens slowdown for Lincoln bottler
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Company’s product switch save jobs, improves outlook, and brings a new brand name to town
Jan. 25, 2002 - A sweet aroma wafts through National Fruit Product Company’s Lincoln plant,
but it’s not the same fragrance as when the plant opened 28 years ago.
And that’s likely a surprise to many in Lincoln County.
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Rachel Austin works on the Gatorade bottling line at National Fruit Product Company's Lincolnton plant. The bottles 11-1/2 million gallons
of the sports drink each year at the plant.
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Area students learn history can come to life in the classroom
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Jan. 23, 2002 - Area students have been traveling back in time, taking on roles as Egyptian reporters and English colonists.
It’s all part of making history fun at East Lincoln Middle and the east campus of Lincoln Charter School.
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Tax refunds may be tapped
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Jan. 23, 2002 - Owe county taxes? Failed to pay a water or ambulance bill? The money will now come out of
your state income tax refund.
County commissioners gave tax administrator Madge Huffman permission to use a clearinghouse set up by the state League of Municipalities and the North Carolina
Association of County Commissioners.
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Family proud of new Habitat home
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Jan. 23, 2002 - Their home was an old trailer. The floor had holes. Pipes leaked water.
Today, they live in a new three-bedroom home, thanks to Habitat for Humanity.
“If it hadn’t been for God and Habitat we would still be out there,” said Johnny Smith.
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Edwards takes Lincoln stage
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Avoids comment on presidential bid during tour
Jan. 23, 2002 - Lincoln County Democrats whispered approval to each other as they warmly received U.S. Sen. John
Edwards Tuesday.
Edwards could be the next president, many confided as they watched him greet the crowds at the Lincoln Cultural Center.
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WLMS student wins spelling bee
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Jan. 21, 2002 - Spelling
“subsequent” correctly garnered Joshua Bowman the county spelling championship Friday morning.
Bowman, a seventh grader at West Lincoln Middle School, will advance to regional competition in Charlotte later this year.
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Sunrise families thriving
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Jan. 21, 2002 - Parents are returning to school, kids are learning to cook and teens are getting more involved with the community in
the Sunrise public housing neighborhood.
The Communities in Schools program is credited with the positive trend.
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West schools need space
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Intermediate schools for 5th, 6th graders would help
Jan. 18, 2002 - Intermediate schools serving fifth and sixth graders could be a solution to
overcrowding in west Lincoln, board members learned during a tour Thursday at West Lincoln high and middle schools.
West Middle School is 84 students above capacity, Principal James Ball told committee members.
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LTN Breakfast
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Jan. 18, 2002 - Calvin Carlton, right, and Bill Ramseur were among the hundreds who attended the annual Lincoln Times-News breakfast
Thursday at the at them Lincoln House. The breakfast is a tradition started some 28 years ago. The gathering celebrates the New Year, while bringing many community leaders together. See
coverage on page 9A.
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Long Shoals plant to close by midyear
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Jan. 18, 2002 - Some 75 employees of a Long Shoals manufacturing plant will lose jobs this year.
Harstville, S.C.-based Sonoco announced Thursday it will close the Long Shoals tube plant by mid-2002.
Company officials say they will offer out-placement assistance and some transfers to other Sonoco operations.
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Jury convicts teen in Lincolnton shooting
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Jan. 18, 2002 - A Lincoln County Superior Court jury deliberated about four hours Wednesday before
finding a Lincolnton teen guilty of shooting a man outside Carolina Restaurant in April of last year.
Doneal Jeffrey Gillespie, 17, of 209 Newbold St., was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and attempted
armed robbery.
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Foundation awards high tech grants
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Jan. 18, 2002 - Maps and dioramas with a few keystrokes, hand held mini-word processors and
computerized weather monitoring – technology is making its way into Lincoln County Schools thanks to the Lincoln County Public Education Foundation.
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Fatal crash ends chase
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Vale resident was 1999 honor graduate of WLHS
Jan. 18, 2002 - HICKORY — A 20-year-old Vale man died in a car wreck resulting from a high speed police chase Wednesday.
Benjamin “Benji” Ray Lanier, of 6051 Fairview School Road, was driving his 2001 Firebird Trans Am south on U.S. 321 in Caldwell County around 3:40 a.m. when
Granite Falls Police Officer K.T. Anderson clocked the Firebird at 112 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to a press release from the Granite Falls Police Department.
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Lincoln leaders greet 2002 with confidence
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Jan. 18, 2002 - Yes, there is an undercurrent of concern about the economy, the state budget
deficit, and the aftermath of Sept. 11, but it is tempered by optimism: Lincoln’s civic and business leaders seem to agree that 2002 holds the potential to be a very good year.
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Father, son team up to realize a dream
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Jan. 16, 2002 - Father, son team Tim and Ken Sigmon have long had a dream of opening a
restaurant.
Last week it became a reality.
“I am absolutely tickled to death with the restaurant,” says Ken Sigmon, co-owner of Denver’s new Turn 4 Pizza restaurant
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Volunteering leads to special friendship
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Jan. 16, 2002 - Giving the gift of time has turned into a blessing and a bond, between a
volunteer and the grandmother she adopted.
“To experience the thrill of sharing friendship, and seeing someone light up is truly an awesome experience,” Wolford, said.
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East charter begins work on campus
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Town looks to the past for its future
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Jan. 16, 2002 - Cornelius is looking to the past to shape its future.
“We are building new to look like old,” said Bob Race, manager of the fast-growing Mecklenburg town. .
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Service at ground zero reaffirms faith
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Jan. 16, 2002 - LINCOLNTN — In the late 1960s Linconlto’s Granville Angell was flying a
Medic helicopter in Vietnam, risking his life to save others. He learned about post-traumatic stress and survivor guilt first hand, taking that knowledge with him when he trained as a counselor.
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City committed to park
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Public hearing
Jan. 16, 2002 - The crack of bats and swish of soccer balls will be heard on Highland Drive.
But exactly when that happens will depend on the arrival of state and federal grants.
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City Manager Jeff Emory, Recreation Commission vice-chairman George Smith and Recreation Director Erma Deen Hoyle discuss plans for a park
on Highland Drive during a public meeting Tuesday night.
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New N.C. 16 is on track, DOT official tells ELBA
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Jan. 16, 2002 - Drivers should be able to use the first stretch of the new N.C. 16 — from Lucia north to N.C. 73
—by 2004.
That’s what Frank Johnson, a commissioner with the N.C. Department of Transportation told east Lincoln residents Tuesday night at a meeting of the East Lincoln
Betterment Association.
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Huskey to step down
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Jan. 14, 2002 - Long time clerk of court Pam Huskey is retiring later this year, leaving the election
field open.
Huskey, who has served as clerk since 1986, will step down in 2002 though no firm date has been set. She is still waiting on state officials to tell her when
her 30 years is officially up.
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W. Lincoln to open new branch library
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Jan. 14, 2002 - West Lincoln residents will soon have quick access to library books without a
10 or 15 mile trip to Lincolnton.
Library officials hope to open the West Lincoln Branch Library by Jan. 21.
The 2,400-square-foot building will house fiction, non-fiction, reference books, movies and books on tape.
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Doctor helps coach high school wrestlers
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Jan.14, 2002 - While other doctors head for the golf course, Lincolnton physician Mark
Kiefer hits the mats for his weekly workout.
Kiefer, a family physician at Lincoln Medical Group, helps coach the West Lincoln High wrestling team each Thursday afternoon.
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New coordinator’s challenge is to strengthen
existing industry
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Fiscally Fit
Jan. 11, 2002 - Boosting the viability of Lincoln’s existing businesses is Laura Foor’s business.
On the job since mid-November, Foor is the Lincoln Economic Development Association’s first full-time Existing Business Coordinator.
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Ledford launches petition drive in bid to be sheriff
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Jan. 11, 2002 - His intent is to give voters a choice — and to satisfy a question which has troubled
him since 1990.
That’s what retired Lincolnton Police Capt. Tommy Ledford says is behind an unusual bid for the job of Lincoln County Sheriff.
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Area schools will display patriotic posters
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Jan. 11, 2002 - Posters declaring “In God We Trust” and an American flag will soon appear in Lincoln
schools.
Board members voted unanimously Monday night to allow display of the poster in schools.
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Fewer quitting school
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Jan. 11, 2002 - Fewer students are dropping out of school in Lincoln County, according to new figures
released by the state Department of Public Instruction.
The figures were especially encouraging because they showed Lincoln County retaining students better than surrounding counties.
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Needs cited for Rock Springs, Asbury
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Jan. 11, 2002 - Additional classrooms, bathrooms, a workroom, storeroom and more parking top
Rock Springs Elementary’s wish list.
A technical career preparation program is the biggest need at Asbury School. It does not need the population of bats that have taken up in a
multipurpose room.
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SouthLake basketball games to benefit pregnancy centers
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Jan. 9, 2002 - SouthLake Christian Academy will donate all gate receipts to local crisis pregnancy
centers from high school basketball games played on Friday, Jan. 18.
Proceeds of “Pack the Gym Night” will benefit Mooresville Community Pregnancy Center, Mooresville, East Lincoln Pregnancy Counseling Center, Denver, and
New Life Pregnancy Services in Lincolnton and Gastonia.
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Lake mayors address top issues of 2002
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Growth, land use, transit
Jan. 9, 2002 - They are four distinct communities physically linked by I-77, geographically connected by Lake Norman and facing like challenges of
growth, economic development, transportation and quality of life.
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Club Opening
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Jan. 9, 2002 - East Lincoln's Verdict Ridge Golf and Country Club recently opened its 15,500-square-foot clubhouse. The club, which has
full restaurant dining and all ABC permits is open to the public for a limited time. The club and Verdict Ridge subdivision are being marketed in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area as providing an
alternative to congested roads, large classrooms and high taxes. Promoters also tout quick access to N.C. 16 into Charlotte as an alternative to I-77 commute. For more information, call 704-748-6676.
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‘Pumpkin Center’ name draws support a hearing
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Jan. 9, 2002 - The name Pumpkin Center High drew the most support at a Monday public hearing on what Lincoln County’s newest high school
should be called, though some fear the name will invite ridicule.
Tommy Drum presented Lincoln County School board members with a petition containing 1,049 signatures endorsing the name Pumpkin Center High.
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Breakfast to be served in school classrooms
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Jan. 9, 2002 - Mom’s advice to eat breakfast is being taken seriously by some school officials.
School nutrition experts say the morning meal can boost brain power and raise test scores. Battleground and G.E. Massey elementary schools are part
of a pilot project to see if the theory holds water in Lincoln.
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Lincolnton kicks off 2002 Relay
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Jan. 9, 2002 - Lincolnton kicked off its cancer-fighting Relay for Life campaign Tuesday, setting higher
goals for fundraising and team participation.
Relay Chairman John Dancoff greeted committee chairs, team captains and other supporters to a “celebration of life” at the Senior Center. The group mapped
plans for the next relay, scheduled for May 4-5 at Lincolnton High School.
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McGuire designed to withstand earthquake
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Jan. 9, 2002 - The McGuire Nuclear Station on Lake Norman was not designed to withstand the kind of
attack that toppled the World Trade Center Towers, a Duke Power Co. official said Monday.
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Grant to survey Internet needs
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Jan. 7, 2002 - E-NC, an initiative to connect all North Carolinians to the Internet, has awarded Lincoln
County a $10,000 grant.
The initiative is led by the Rural Internet Access Authority, a group designated by the North Carolina General Assembly to help bring better and less expensive
Internet connections to the state.
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Gym Opens
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Jan. 7, 2002 - Keith Sherrill with the Lincoln County Parks and Recreation Department looks over the brand new East Lincoln Recreation
Center, which officially opens for walkers today. Hours at the gym, located on Optimist Club Road, are
8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The facility is located on Optimist Club Road. For more information, call 704-483-8980
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Eight classrooms added to school
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Board OKs another $389,000
Jan. 7, 2002 - The county’s newest high school has grown by eight rooms.
School board members have approved spending $389,000 to add the additional classrooms to the school, now under construction near Pumpkin Center.
The school system had until Feb. 1 to make the addition at that price. Had they waited until after the deadline, the price would have grown by three or four times that amount, according to associate superintendent Ed Hatley.
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Tank Hill
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Jan. 4, 2002 - Snow enthusiast make there way to the top of Laurel Street's "tank hill," readying for the fast ride down. Over
three inches fell Wednesday night and Thursday.
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Lincoln frolics in a snowy kingdom
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Students welcome extended holidays
Jan. 4, 2002 - Squeals of delight filled the cold air in Lincoln neighborhoods Thursday as smiling children frolicked
in a blanket of soft snow.
Students were ecstatic that they were granted a reprieve. Snow canceled school Thursday — supposedly their first day back after the winter break —
and again today.
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Laurel Street turned into a snowy playground when Old Man Winter gave Lincoln County students the day off Thursday. Caroline Moore, 13,
pulls Hollis Moore, 9, on the sled and carries Logan Thompson, 1, during a morning of sledding fun. Right, Logan Lawing, 11, attempts to catch a snowflake on his tongue. The snow continued Thursday
evening, prompting school officials to cancel classes again today.
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Man stuck in car trunk for New Year’s
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Jan. 4, 2002 - A Lincolnton man spent part of New Year’s Eve in the trunk of his car.
He reported he was car-jacked and kidnapped, but now faces a charge of filing a false police report.
This is what happened, according to Lincolnton police.
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Group wants to zone out mobile home communities
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Jan. 4, 2002 - Mobile homes are not welcome here, say residents in two Lincoln County communities.
Property owners in Buffalo Shoals and Pumpkin Center are hope to change zoning laws, attempting to stop more mobile home communities from being developed near
their homes.
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New attendance lines approved
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Jan. 4, 2002 - School board members approved controversial attendance lines for the county’s newest high school
Wednesday.
Students living in the choice area north of N.C. 27, east of Lincolnton, will attend the new school. Students living in the choice area south of N.C. 27, east
of Lincolnton, will attend Lincolnton High School.
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First birth of 2002 celebrated
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Jan. 4, 2002 - Andrea and David Beachum missed New Year’s Eve festivities this year. They had something more important to celebrate
—Sierra’s birth.
“Nothing in the world could have been better than having her here,” said Andrea Beachum.
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Names sought for new school
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Jan. 2, 2002 - Northwest High? Ore Banks? Pumpkin Center? Will the county’s newest high school go by any of these monikers, or some other name?
School board members will hear the public’s opinion Jan. 7.
Anyone, including students, may speak for three minutes each during the hearing, which will be held at the system’s administrative office on General’s
Boulevard beside Ryan’s Steakhouse.
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County to enforce new ordinance
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Jan. 2, 2002 - A new Lincoln County ordinance concerning fire and building codes took effect Jan. 1 with the new year.
The ordinance will enable Lincoln County authorities to bring more enforcement to regulations relating to construction safety and burning.
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Barefooters brave chilly Lake Norman
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Jan. 2, 2002 - A shivering mix of daring, dedication and bravado compelled 25 men and boys to
brave 50 degree water, skiing Lake Norman Tuesday.
It was all part of the 23rd annual New Year’s Day Barefoot Ski Endurance competition sponsored by Carolina Show Ski Team.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News
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