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Volume 78 • Issue 31 • Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Flood waters rise
with abuse of 2-month old child By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The Mount Holly Police Department has charged two people, William Timothy Walker, Jr., 25, and Carmen Leighann Holden, 18, both of 407 Pine Street, with multiple counts of child abuse in connection with injuries to their 2-month-old daughter. According to Gaston County jail records, Walker was arrested last week and charged with five Carmen Holden counts of felony child abuse. He was placed under $150,000 bond. Holden was also arrested and charged with one felony count of child abuse and four misdemeanor counts of child abuse. She was placed under Willliam Walker $50,000 bond. The case began when Carolinas Medical Center got in touch with officers after seeing injuries to the child that included a number of broken bones. Injuries included a skull fracture, broken leg, broken collarbone, and broken forearm. Walker and Holden say the child fell off a sofa on July 4. Mount Holly Detective W.D. Perry investigated the case and his narrative in the arrest warrant affidavit refuted that claim. “They both continued to say that the child rolled of the couch which based on the evidence is impossible,� he wrote. Further investigation by Terry with a child maltreatment expert at Carolinas Medical Center- Levine concluded that the child’s arm injuries were due to separate incidents of blunt trauma force and that the broken collarbone injury had taken place before that. “The child also had a fractured skull, which would not have occurred by simply rolling off a couch,� Terry wrote in his report. The child was placed in the custody of Gaston County DSS.
2nd Hawkettes team to be inducted into MHS Hall of Fame
Riverside Drive in Cramerton was just one of several streets in the town that were closed due to the floodwaters. ALAN HODGE alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Continued torrents of rain struck Gaston and surrounding
counties over the weekend causing major flooding and other problems. The South Fork River rose rapidly Saturday and Sunday
night following several inches of rain each day. By Sunday night, portions of downtown Cramerton along the river were underwater and roads impassable. Goat Is-
Photo by Alan Hodge
land Park was submerged and the parking lot under several feet of water. The fire station in Cramerton and businesses near it were See FLOOD, page 7A
CaroMont is 1st Purple Heart Hospital ALAN HODGE alan.bannernews@gmail.com
CaroMont Regional Hospital in Gastonia was named the nation’s first Purple Heart Hospital last week, in a ceremony and proclamation that saw several local wounded veterans in attendance including Mike Santmire of Mount Holly, Ron Wade of Belmont, and Larry Rick of Cramerton. The three guys are members of the Military Order of the Pur-
ple Heart Chapter 634 and they were joined by at least a dozen of their comrades at the proclamation ceremony. “I think it was a humbling event that brought back to the front that Gaston Memorial now known as CaroMont Regional Medical Center, was paid for in part from contributions of veterans returning from WWII, to provide medical care locally for veterans, as well as the citizens of which they had become as well,� said Santmire. “It was a
grand gesture that they were willing to become the first proclaimed Purple Heart Hospital in the United States; that they were remembering the sacrifices of the generations before us. That a profession of highly skilled medical personnel would and did show remarkable compassion and caring for us returning veterans, combat wounded veterans as well. As a Purple Heart Recipient myself, I find now the sacrifices that I made, do in the end justify it.� Wade shared his thoughts on
the ceremony and CaroMont’s involvement with veterans. “When I was invited to join the Gastonia Veterans Council and The CaroMont Veterans Council, I could share with fellow veterans things they believe would better the lives of all veterans,� Wade said. “That’s our true goal. CRMC can surely benefit us all more because we veterans expect some really modern technology at this hospital. Gaston Memorial Hospital will never See CAROMONT, page 6A
Boyce won’t seek re-election By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
By Kathy Blake Special to the Banner
Joe Spears had a theory about girls high school basketball. The Mount Holly High School coach didn’t compromise his training regimen just because the 20 or so athletes who practiced every afternoon happened to be female. “I treat ‘em like boys,� he said. “We built pride in playing and being on the team. They worked hard to get on the team, and they worked hard to get in the ballgame. So I just treated ‘em like ballplayers. If you treat ‘em like girls, they’d play like girls.� Spears guided the 1966-67 and 196768 Hawkettes to a combined 35-7 record and back-to-back Little Seven Conference regular-season titles. The 1967 team was the school’s first unbeaten team in league play. For that, those two teams’ members join Spears – a 2010 inductee – in the Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame. “That group, they built up a pride in winning, and the younger girls would See HAWKETTES, page 5A
Filings for the upcoming municipal elections in Gaston County are complete. One of the biggest news items in that arena is the fact that Belmont’s mayor Richard Boyce will not be seeking reelection. Boyce has been mayor for the past eight years. “I feel like I’ve accomplished most of what I set out to do and eight years is long enough,� said Boyce. “It’s time for something new - for me, Richard Boyce and the city of Belmont.� Boyce looked back on some of the things he feels he’s helped the city with during his terms. “We now have a plan for growth, when it returns,� he said. “We’re getting along well together - as members of council, and as a council with staff. I’ve tried to represent Belmont well - around the city, in the county, and in the greater metropolitan area.� Boyce says he feels gratitude for the chance he’s had to lead Belmont. “I thank the citizens of Belmont for the privilege of serving as their mayor for the past eight years,� he said. “I have learned a great deal, and have tried to share my love of Belmont with everybody I’ve met. I wish Charlie Martin and See BOYCE, page 6A
This stretch of Dutchman’s Creek in Mount Holly was where the body of drowning victim Kelly Dean Cogdell, 59, was found last week by two boaters. Photo by Alan Hodge
Body found in Dutchman’s Creek The body found last Tuesday in Dutchman’s Creek near NC273 and NC27 in Mount Holly was identified by the Medical Examiner’s Office on Thursday as that of Kelly Dean Cogdell, 54, of River Street. Cogdell was discovered floating in the creek by two boaters. According to police, the
cause of death was accidental drowning. It took police about 90 minutes to recover the body. “It appears alcohol was involved,� said Mount Holly police chief Don Roper. “The victim had been deceased less than 24 hours when he was discovered.�
Mount Holly CRO moving soon By Alan Hodge Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Mount Holly’s Community Relief Organization (CRO) will soon be moving into a nice new home after
two years of providing its services from the dank, cramped basement of the former city hall. The CRO’s new location will be in a former hair salon at 2120 Spring Street, nes-
tled between the Food Lion grocery and the ABC store. According to Alice Bayne, CRO executive director, the organization paid $156,000 for the 2,500 sq. ft. building. See CRO, page 6A
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