CITT TY
Four more file for
a
ERC
Retired city planning director
Gene White made the mayor's race
a three-man race Friday.
Ast
had been ru-
mored for sev-
eral weeks,
White paid his
filing fee with
Elections
B.o:a rd
Chairman
Becky Cook
near the noon
deadline.
White
WHITE
White running for mayor
ran the successful petition effort re-
cently to change the terms of city
council and mayor from four to
two years.
He said he is offering for mayor
because of the input he received
from citizens during the petition ef-
fort desiring a change.
White challenges incumbent
Mayor Scott Neisler and former
councilman Jim Childers.
He paid for a half-page adver-
tisement in today's Herald detailing
his platform topped off by a pro-
posal, if he wins election, to cut the
See White, 11-A
>
Li I PSP NE
4, i
WN (1
fie.
LJ
Thursday, August 10, 1995
Last-minute filing by four candidates for city com-
missioner in Wards 1 and 2 has assured races in all
three seats up for grabs on City Council October 10.
Joe King, 42, of Mica St., and Tim Johnson, 35, of
921 Sterling Drive, are challenging incumbent Ward 1
councilman Phil Hager.
Jerry Mullinax, of 1007 Ramseur St.,
Brackett, of 909 Grace St., are challenging incumbent
Ward 2 councilman Jim Guyton.
There is already a four-way race for one At-Large
seat on the board. Incumbent Councilwoman Norma
Bridges is being challenged by Wendell Bunch,
Ronnie Grigg and Jim Norris.
King, a Kings Mountain native, is the son of Ellis
and Maude King of Kings Mountain and retired from
the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department after 20
years in law enforcement. In the early 1970's King was
a detective in the Kings Mountain Police Department.
He is married to Teresa Cash King and they have one
years.
Mountaineers putting fe;
in new offense
Kings'iountain, N.C. » 28086 »
ouncil
"I've always wanted to serve on Council because 1
think I have something to offer Kings Mountain,:"
King who has been active in city politics for at least 20
said
"I have no special agenda and own allegiance to no
group," said King. He says he wants to work for all cit-
and ‘Albert
izens and chose to run in his ward because it's his
home. He plans to canvass the community and seek in-
put from the residents of his ward on how he can serve
them.
Johnson, a newcomer to city politics, works in the
Shipping Department at Commercial Intertech. He is
married to Donna Williams Johnson and they have one
son, Wayne, a 10th grader. King ran unsuccessfully
four years ago for an at-large seat.
at midfield.
NASCAR driver Michael
a group of runners out of Kings
Mountain to South Carolina
Tuesday morning. The run con-
cludes Saturday in Clemson
where the Panthers play their
first ever NFL home game
against the Denver Broncos.
"It's exciting," said Panther fans Sandra Livingston
and Tony Bohannon who rushed to buy Thrill on the
Hill packa es which includ da air f
"Let's hear it for the Carolina Panthers," cheered the
Waltrip carries the ball and leads :
Jeannie Moore.
mayor as he led with the ball as it approached down-
town Kings Mountain where the entourage stopped in
late afternoon in front of Antique Mall for music, more
fanfare and free Coca-Cola.
"I thought it was a real success and something that
brought people together and especially the kids loved
it," said local Cleveland Chamber office manager
Old and young alike dressed out in Panther gear, in-
cluding shirts emblazoned with the Panther logo,
Some of the crowd and at least a dozen more runners
returned to cheer the group Tuesday morning as they
left Kings Mountain for Blacksburg, SC, Gaffney,
Spartanburg, Greer, Greenville, Easley, Liberty and on
to Clemson on Friday night.
A lemonade stand Monday ‘was a crowd pleaser for
was gre t and it was a lot of fun,"
wid Chief of Police Bob Hayes who was on the route
along with Captain Richard Reynolds, Sgt. James
Camp, Officer Melvin Proctor and other officers.
PANTHER MANIA
Celebrities run through KM on way to Clemson for first home game
Carolina Panther mania hit town Monday afternoon
and Tuesday morning as crowds estimated by police at
between 800-1,000 cheered local runners in the Coca-
Cola/Carolina Panthers Run to History.
At least a dozen local people, including KMHS
Football Coach Ron Massey, varsity football players
and Mayor Scott Neisler carried the football with an
entourage that included police and highway patrol and
four Harley Davidson riders equipped with sidecars
shaped like the Genuine Bottle' made its way through
town enroute to Clemson, SC for the August 12
matchup against the Denver Broncos when the ball
will be presented to Panthers owner Jerry Richardson
gs
Neisler stays in the pocket to
throw a pass after running
Panther football through down-
town Monday.
Printer, public servant
John M. Smith, 63, dies
JOHN McGILL SMITH
The sudden rh of John
McGill Smith, co-owner and
President of the Printin' Press in
Kings Mountain since 1974, was a
shock to his. co-workers and
friends.
The Clover, SC Mayor died
Thursday night of an apparent
heart attack shortly after bevoming
ill while campaigning at a political
forum for a second term in office.
Private funeral service was held
Monday morning for the 63-year-
old printer, who died 12 days be-
fore the Clover election.
Smith became ill after speaking
at the Clover school district build-
ing and was transported by the
Clover Rescue Squad to Gaston
See Smith, 11-A
son, T. J. Johnson, 15. A 1979 graduate of Kings
Mountain High School, he is the son of the late Mr.
and Mrs. Felix Johnson Jr.
"I want to get involved in the community and share
some ideas that I hope will benefit the whole commu-
nity," said Johnson.
See Council, 12-A
JOHNSON
BRACKETT MULLINAX
Back to school
for 4,000 in KM
School bells will ring next
Thursday for 4,000 Kings
Mountain District School students
and on Tuesday for 550 school sys-
tem employees at the eight schools
in the system.
Dr. Jane King, Assistant Supt.
for Public Instruction, said that
teachers are ready after weeks of
workshops geared to the new block
scheduling curriculum at the high
school and staff development at all
levels.
This week new teachers in the
system were given an indoctrina-
tion program, including tours of
session required of all teachers
next school year and meetings with
new teachers and mentors at the
school administration building.
At the elementary schools the
students will be in class 20 minutes
longer each school day for reading.
In grades K-8 the teachers are
being given new strategies in read-
ing and writing techniques for their
students, according to King, and
workshops focused on ideas on
how to manage the classroom, dis-
cipline, curriculum and the culture
of each school location, for in-
stance.
King said that implementation of
the new reading study committee
by Supt. Dr. Bob McRae has re-
sulted in teacher training in the
new literacy program.
"We are very excited about the
reading program,” said King.
Opening and closing schedules
at the various plants will vary, in-
cluding:
Kings Mountain High School
will open at 7:56 a.m., end the day
at 2:48 p.m.
Kings Mountain Middle School
will open at 8 a.m., end the day at
2:50 p.m.
Bethware, East and North
Elementary Schools will open at
8:10 a.m., end the day at 2:50 p.m.
West Elementary will open at
8:05 a.m., end the day at 2:45 p.m.
each plant introductory training by
Grover Elementary will open at
8:30 a.m, end the day at 3 p.m.
Parker Street School, in its sec-
ond year as an alternative school,
will open at 9 a.m., end the day at
2 p.m. Thirty students are returning
from last year. The program ac-
commodates about 70 students
county-wide.
Faculties are complete for the
fall opening of school and adminis-
trators are: already predicting that
the 10th day enrollment figures
will show an increase over last
year's student population of 3 986.
The new school term will take
new faces i in leadership positions to
; g
Rehool. has moved to Grover
Elementary where former Grover
teacher Steve Wells is assistant
principal for both Grover and
Bethware Schools.
Phil Weathers, former assistant
principal at KMHS, is the new
principal at KMHS and Steve
Moffitt and Chuck Gordon are the
new assistants.
At the Middle School, where
John Goforth returns as principal,
Linda Stewart and Dave Greene
are assistant principals.
North School Principal Joey
Hopper, West School Principal
Sherrill Toney and East School
Principal Jerry Hoyle are returning
to their respective schools but at
Parker Street School Mike Rhoney,
former assistant principal at the
high school. has replaced Mary
Accor, who has moved to
Bethware School as principal suc-
ceeding the retiring Hugh Holland.
School cafeterias will be open
the first day of school at all plants.
Thirty-seven school buses will roll
on opening day.
Dr. Larry Allen, associate super-
intendent, will formally retire
August 31 and Greg Payseur, for-
mer assistant principal at Bethware
Elementary, will be in charge of
school district transportation.
See Page 1-A
Mountain High
SGT. MELVIN PROCTOR
Kickboxer cop wants to KO crime
Sgt. Melvin Proctor likes a chal-
lenge.
The Kings Mountain policeman,
who was promoted this week to
detective over the narcotics divi-
sion, is a professional kickboxer
who gave up his light heavyweight
title to fight crime and then got
hooked on the rodeo circuit by a
longhorn bull.
"And that's no bull," he will
quickly tell you.
He learned to ride after he
stayed on a bull for eight seconds,
an experience that was at first hor-
rifying because he literally could
not turn loose of the bull and then
he found he liked the thrill of it all
and qualified at rodeo cvents in
Boiling Springs.
And, yes, his rodeo adventures
have cracked a couple of ribs but
he got up and tried again.
"That's really what I learned in
kickboxing and riding the rodeo
circuit to get up and try again and I
never give up on my goals," he
said this week as he compared po-
lice work as a career with. fun
things he enjoys such as riding a
bull, kickbox fighting, scuba div-
ing and flying an airplane.
Skydiving is his next goal and a
free fall would be fun.
Proctor, 31, joined the Kings
Mountain Police Department nine
years ago as a patrolman after fin-
ishing rookie school at Gaston
College. Then-Interim Chief Bob
Hayes and Sgt. James Camp
suggested he join the force and
Proctor said he agreed because he
admired the local cops and even as
a child had "looked up to a police-
man."
"I guess every kid likes to play
cops and robbers but the real thing
isn't as fascinating as kid games, "
he said.
Proctor said that career days at
high schools feature officers talk-
ing about stress and the challenge
in law enforcement for young men
and young women.
"It's a wonderful career for the
right person.” said Proctor, who
said that a policeman's job is physi-
cally demanding. not only for the
cop but for his family.
See Proctor, 12-A
PERE IF TNR TNA
freee
—r
BET;
od