Friday, March 30, 2007

The Friday Rush Home

Traffic was heavy on U.S. 74 Friday afternoon.

Here are some shots I took just before 4:30 p.m.

Photo #1 shows, from a distance, how long traffic was backed up near Dekalb Street.

Photo #2 is me moments later at a stop light, behind about two dozen other vehicles.

Looks like a few of us were in a rush to get home a little early...

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Search for Gary Maynor

The search continues for Gary Ralph Maynor Jr.

Maynor was implicated in an armed robbery earlier this week, robbing a woman in her driveway while armed with a screwdriver. Detectives said he is also responsible for a violent assault last night on a couple on Cleveland Avenue, near Grover.


Here's neighbor Terry P. Hamilton beside the home of John and Shirley Bridgeman, who were bloodied Wednesday night outside their home. You can clearly see blood splattered across the white door.


Read in Friday's Star about the other crimes Maynor has been connected to and how the investigation is progressing.

Investigators seek Blacksburg, S.C. man

The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is looking for a Blacksburg, S.C. man in connection with a series of assaults on females and elderly couples in Cleveland and neighboring counties. The assaults reportedly occurred in parking lots and at the victims’ homes.

Warrants have already been issued in Rutherford County and Cherokee County, S.C. for the arrest of 33-year-old Gary Ralph Maynor Jr. Warrants are expected to be issued soon, investigators say, for recent attacks in Cleveland County.

Investigators say Maynor could be driving a stolen burgundy Chevrolet S-10 truck with South Carolina plates a brown primered hood and fender. The license plate for the truck is 4014 CX.

Officers in Blacksburg, S.C. say the suspect could have a handgun with him.

Maynor is described as a white man, 6 foot, 170 pounds with brown hair and eyes. His last known address is 301 Borders St., Blacksburg, S.C.

If you have any information regarding Maynor’s whereabouts, call the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office at (704) 484-4788 or Crime Stoppers at (704) 481-TIPS (8477).

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Taste-T Closed


The Taste-T Drive-In restaurant was closed Tuesday following the death of founder Don Eaker.

Eaker, 73, died Tuesday morning at his home.

Taste-T, nextdoor to the Cleveland County Courthouse, has been a central part of Shelby since it opened more than 20 years ago.

Read more about Eaker's life and what customers had to say in The Star.



Friday, March 23, 2007

Betty Grant Retires


She doesn't wear a badge but if you've called Shelby Police or went in to get a report over the past few years, you've probably spoken with Betty Grant.

Mrs. Grant, who joined the department in 2001, retired from her job in records Friday. She'll continue to work part-time, helping out when and where needed, but will now have the opportunity to spend more time at home with her husband.

Mrs. Grant was presented with a rocking chair and several bags of goodies during an emotional send-off this afternoon at city chambers.

I grabbed a few moments of her time after the ceremony.


GC: Tell me what brought you to Shelby PD in the first place.

BG: I just answered an ad in the paper. They were looking for a crossing guard. I started out as a crossing guard. I worked part-time for the first year and then I got hired into records and have been there ever since. I love the people.

GC: What about that job kept you coming back each day?

BG: It's interesting, it changed every day. It was never the same. The public, they change every day. The media, they change periodically. It's just being a part of the community and I just enjoyed being with all the people.

GC: For the folks that aren't aware of exactly what you do, would you mind explaining that?

BG: Well it's a multi-task job. We answer the phones, we direct all the calls, we put some calls in for the officers. We enter them and then send them to communications. We're right there with communications, we work there with them. We answer the window, we get wreck reports, we file all the reports, we enter all the reports. Anything that's entered into the computer, we do it. We do it all. And then we have to file everything and keep everything organized so everybody knows where to find the reports when they're looking for them - and all the media gets theirs.

GC: We appreciate that. So you're just doing part-time now?

BG: I'm going to be working whenever they need help at night, part-time. And covering (in records) for Gloria (Philbeck) whenever she takes a day off or takes vacation. So I'm just going to be part-time now.

GC: And spending more time at home...

BG: I'm going to try, yeah, and spend time with my husband.

Wreck on US-74

Here are photos from a wreck on US-74 that happened around 2:20 p.m. on the Cleveland Avenue exit in Kings Mountain.

Witnesses at the scene said a man, woman and child were inside the vehicle when it flipped between 8 and 10 times.

The child was carried off by emergency personnel but didn't appear to have any visible injuries. Both the man, who was ejected, and woman, who was trapped inside the vehicle, were unresponsive, witnesses said.


Click the following link to see Star video from the wreck scene.
http://www.shelbystar.com/medarch/media-852.wmv

More on the story at ShelbyStar.com








Thursday, March 22, 2007

Police Officer Promoted



Shelby Police Officer John Hamrick III was promoted to the rank of sergeant during a ceremony held this afternoon outside the department.

Here is Hamrick, alongside his family, being sworn in by city clerk Bernadette Parduski. Police Chief Tandy Carter stands to the far right.

"I enjoy doing this more than anything else in the world," Carter told the crowd before Hamrick's swearing-in.

Hamrick, who has spent 12 years with Shelby Police, thanked those that turned out for the ceremony and said it was a very special moment.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

A Weekend in Atlanta









Just got back from a weekend trip to Atlanta.






The Nickelback concert in nearby Duluth was postponed due to "vocal strain" but there was still a lot of fun to be had.




Here are some photos taken downtown Sunday and at Zoo Atlanta Saturday. Didn't get a chance to tour CNN but Atlanta's not going anywhere. I'll be back.





I never realized CNN Center had so much in common with a mall: a giant food court, lots of stuff for sale, a major league sports team store. Maybe it's just me but I think I'd be pretty cool if the bottom floor of The Star was nothing but Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Subway, and Panera Bread.









Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Dusted off the SNES


So I was cleaning the apartment the other day (still am - it's a week-long process) and came across my old Super Nintendo game console.


I hooked it up and - surprisingly - it works fine, even for being 15 years old. My only problem: adding onto my collection of six games.

Can anyone recommend a local store that sells used SNES games, preferably cheap? From what I can tell, sellers on eBay and Amazon are asking a bit more than what's reasonable.

Employees Fear for Safety

I spoke with employees of this shopping center on US-74 Wednesday about their concerns working at a building that has both gang graffiti and has been shot into.

This is Maxway, a general store, that had two doors shot up around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.









Here's John Bailey, the store manager, watching surveillance footage. His new cameras recently helped catch a 15-year-old in the act of spray painting the outside of the store.




Here's the side door. You can't see it from this view but there's a bullet hole in the left door. The front door was also shot.

For more on what's happened at the shopping center and how police are responding, read Thursday's Star.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Kings Mountain Blaze



This is the aftermath of a fire that destroyed about 25,000 wooden pallets at the Glen Raven Mill in Kings Mountain.

Firefighters spent nearly 12 hours putting out the blaze, the cause of which still hasn't been determined.

For more of the story, read Tuesday's Star.

Friday, March 09, 2007

The Wheelchair Patrol

This is L.G. Wilson and Melvin Tate, members of the "Wheelchair Patrol."

Wilson and Tate might be confined to a wheelchair but that's not stopping them from helping fix their neighborhood.

The two will soon be going door-to-door passing out flyers advertising North Shelby's Weed and Seed Kick Off Celebration.

For more on the celebration, scheduled for Saturday, March 17 from noon to 3 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church, read Monday's Star.

Fatal Stabbing

This is 401 Piedmont Avenue, where a 39-year-old mother, Tammy Simon, was stabbed to death Thursday evening.

Her husband, Frank Simon, was arrested for the crime hours later in Gaston County.

Neighbors weren't talkative Friday afternoon but I did take these photos of the home. The second is taken from the driveway, showing just how close it is to North Shelby School.

Read Saturday's Star for comments from Weed and Seed organizers on how this latest violent crime effects their ongoing efforts to clean up North Shelby.



Tuesday, March 06, 2007

YMCA Girl's Club

Myself and copy editor Emily Killian visited the YMCA Girls Club this afternoon to help some of the girls write stories.

I told them a little bit about what I do - and respectfully declined to answer if I've ever seen a dead body - and then helped them out as they interviewed each other and wrote about their lives.

Some of them actually preferred math to writing (can you imagine that?) but others really took to the assignment and wrote quite a bit.

Here are a few photographs I took during the hour we were there.


If you'd like to volunteer your time helping out at the Girl's Club, located on West Warren Street, call (704) 482-8431.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Lunar Eclipse


Airplane?
UFO?
Close.
This was the view behind The Star Saturday around 7 p.m.
Notice the small white dot near the center of the photo?
That's the lunar eclipse. Hard to see, but there.