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Member NC
Press Association
VOL. 102 NO. 3
REV. BILLY HOUZE
_ Delivers Sermon At Martin Luther King Service
School Board Committee Named INSIDE
Kings Mountain School Board
Chairman Doyle Campbell has
named a 15-member committee to
study elementary schools reorgani-
zation.
The board, which includes par-
ents, teachers and city officials,
must make a recommendation to
the board by the end of the current
school year.
The school system is consider-
ing re-structuring elementary
schools inside the city limits to
achieve racial balance and help the
declining enrollment at East
School. Over the past several
years the percentage of minority
students at East has risen to 60 per-
cent while the enrollment has de-
clined to just over 200.
The board has discussed several
options over the past year, includ-
ing closing East. But the board, at
the urging of East community resi-
dents, decided several months ago
not to do that.
Since that time the board has
discussed changing the structure of
the three inside city schools--East,
West and North--making one a K-1
school and the other two 2-5
schools. The board has also dis-
cussed leaving a K-5 structure in
all five elementary schools and re-
districting attendance zones to
achieve racial balance.
A group of parents from inside
the city appeared at last week's
board meeting to ask the board not
to change the grade structures.
Some of the parents said the issue
needed more study.
Campbell has named the follow-
ing citizens to a special committee
to study the matter:
Billy Houze, representing: the
Board of Education; East principal
John Goforth, representing clemen-
tary school principals; East teacher
Mike Smith, representing the KM
Association of Educators; Bobby
Maner Jr., representing the Kings
Mountain Board of Realtors;
Councilman Al Moretz, represent-
ing the City of Kings Mountain;
teacher Linda Humphries and par-
ent Joe Champion, representing
Bethware School; teacher Kaye
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Jolly and parent Carl Burris, repre-
senting East School; teacher Lynda
Stewart and parent Jimmy Jolly,
representing Grover School; teach-
er Jan Sabetti and parent Geeper
Howard, representing North
School; and teacher Karla Bennett
and parent Allan Propst, represent-
ing West School.
Dr. Larry Allen, Assistant
Superintendent, will serve as an ex
officio member to act as a resource
person.
Campbell said he has called the
initial meeting of the committee for
Tuesday, January 30 at 7 p.m. at
the Schools Administration Office.
"I will meet with them at the
first meeting," Campbell said.
"They will elect their own chair-
man and then meet on their own af-
ter that."
Campbell said he expects the
group to give periodic updates to
the board on its progress. "The
board will expect a recommenda-
tion from them by the end of May
or first of June," he said.
Work Session Deals With Tighter Money Controls
Tighter controls on the city of
Kings Mountains money, assets
and property are the major con-
cerns of Mayor Kyle Smith and
members of the City Council.
These concerns about loss preven-
tion were reflected in board mem-
bers, questions during a work ses-
sion and audit report Tuesday
night.
At the end of the 1 1/2 hour ses-
sion, the mayor and council termed
the audit report, presented by
Darrell L. Keller, the city's certi-
fied public accountant, a "good re-
port."
Keller told council that about 65
to 70 percent of the controls rec-
ommended earlier had been put in
place and are now functioning to
prevent future losses of city assets.
City Manager George Wood ex-
plained to council that one of the
most important new controls is a
procedure in which each clerk at’
City Hall who collects monies-for
utility bills, taxes and other fees-
must have individual, locked mon-
ey drawers. Each clerk has access
to her own drawer and it is kept
locked. No clerk uses another
© clerk's money drawer.
At the end of each day, the clerk
must count her money in the pres-
ence of others; computer print-outs
must be reconciled by the City
Clerk, and when all control proce-
dures are in place, the clerk puts
the day's collections in a locked
money bag-- under the supervision
of other employees--and it is
placed in the city's vault.
Jeff Rosencrans, the recently
hired finance director who reports
to work Jan. 29, will be responsible
for reconciling financial receipts
See Session, 9-A
Lake Authority To Suggest Smaller Fees
Users of Moss Lake may soon
see a reduction in some of their
fees.
The Lake Authority, at its
monthly meeting Monday at City
Hall, agreed to ask City Council to
"reduce some of the fishing fees and
fees residents pay to pump water
out of the lake to water their lawns.
The proposals will be considered
by the Council at its January 30th
meeting.
The Lake Authority is recom-
mending that citizens over the age
of 65 and /or disabled be allowed
to get a free annual fishing permit.
All other fees would remain the
same.
Fishermen currently pay one
dollar a day or $10 a year (non city
tax payers) and 50 cents a day or
$5 a year (taxpayers) for fishing
privileges. Boat fees are $25 annu-
ally (non city taxpayers) and $15
(city taxpayers). Daily boat fees
are $4 for non-taxpayers and $2 for
taxpayers.
The group is recommending that
fees for water pumps be changed to
$30 for application fee and $25 for
annual renewal. The initial fee is
now $65. The city has a separate
agreement with Woodbridge Golf
Links, which pays over $4,000 a
year to pump water out of the lake
to water the golf course.
Lake homeowners now pay
$125 annually for roped off swim-
ming areas, and $175 for a family
+ use plan which includes land use,
fishing permits for immediate fam-
See Lake, 9-A
Photo By Dieter Melhorn
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The Dreame
Over 350 Kings Mountain area
citizens attended Monday morn-
ing's worship service honoring the
late civil rights leader Dr. Martin
Luther King at Kings Mountain
High's B.N. Barnes Auditorium.
Rev. Billy Houze of Grover, a
member of the Kings Mountain
Board of Education and pastor of
Lawndale Baptist Church, was the
featured speaker.
Other area ministers and city,
county and school officials partici-
pated.
Rev. Houze said he was well
pleased with the representation of
the total community. Many white
people attended.
Rev. Houze spoke on "Behold
the Dreamer: A Comparison of
Joseph and Dr. M.L. King." He
took his text from the Genesis sto-
ry of Joseph, who interpreted
dreams and was sold into slavery
by his brothers.
"Dreams are born in small places
and are often carried to a larger
spectrum,” Rev. Houze told the au-
dience. "With every dream there is
a price to be paid for real
dreams...dreams of which you dare
to be different. Sometimes dreams
create hostility but the person who
dreams recognizes that, while the
dreamer may die, the dreams don't
suddenly die."
"Every time you kill one dream-
er there is another one waiting to
take his place," Rev. Houze added.
"We always should be dreaming,
and some of our dreams are based
oi the dicarm thig Dr. Maru Y
Ralph Gilbert, Samué
Luther King has given us and we
should not be satisfied until all
men have achieved equality."
Monday's service was the sec-
ond annual observance of the birth--
day of Dr. King in Kings
Mountain. The day has been set
aside as a national observance and
during the past year the Kings
Mountain School System and City
of Kings Mountain added the day
as one of its holidays.
City and county governmental
agencies, as well as local schools,
were closed Monday. School stu-
dents received an additional vaca-
tion day Tuesday as the School
Board declared it a workday for
teachers.
Dr. Robert McRae,
Superintendent of Schools, and
Mayor Kyle Smith welcomed the
citizens to Barnes Auditorium. City
Manager George Wood, County
Commissioner Joyce Cashion and
other local government and church
leaders attended.
Rev. Pruella Kilgore, pastor of
Adams Chapel AM.E. Zion
Church, was the mistress of cere-
monies. Rev. Dewey Smith, pastor
of Gallilee and St. Paul United
Methodist churches, also took part
in the program
The King's Revue, a choral
group comprised of Kings
Mountain High School students,
did a rendition of the old Negro
spiritual "Precious Lord, Take My
Hand" by Thomas Dorsey, and also
sang "The American Dream." The
group was directed by Eugene
Burmgardner, § a
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| Gold
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Join Race For Commissioner
A race developed for a four-year
term on the county board of com-
missioners this week when Ralph
Gil _rt of Fallston and Samuel H.
Gold of Earl filed for the two seats
up for grabs, challenging incum-
bents Joyce Falls Cashion and
Coleman Goforth.
Gilbert, active real estate ap-
praiser and farmer and a member
of the county board of elections for
25 years, lost his bid for election to
the county board in the general
election last year, after beating
Cashion twice in the primary. The
late banker L. E. (Josh) Hinnant
~ beat him by 50 votes in 1976. The
County Democratic Executive
Committee appointed Mrs.
Cashion to the board in 1989 to fill
the unexpired term of Hinnant.
Gold, of Earl, works for Duke
Power Co. :
Gilbert attended Lenoir Rhyne
College and UNC at Chapel Hill.
He is married to Beth McSwain
Gilbert and they are parents of two
“sons. He is an active Presbyterian.
RECYCLING-Deniece Talbert contributes newspapers to the re-
cycling bins just put up by the city and county on Elm Street. Bins
are open daily for paper, plastic and glass and other bins are to be
added, say city officials.
PHOTO BY DIETER MELHORN
RALPH GILBERT
In his filing statement Gilbert
said he is running for the office
"with the goal of representing all of
the people of our county without
particular allegiance to any one
See Gilbert, 9-A
Committee
Will Meet
Kings Mountain's recently ap-
pointed recycling committee will
meet Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the
City Hall Conference Room to be-
gin formulating rules and regula-
tions for use of the city's new recy-
cling center.
Bins for paper, plastic and glass
have already been installed at the
collection site on Elm Street and
the committee will begin looking at
adding bins for aluminum and
scrap metal.
The site is open daily from 6:30
a.m. until 8 p.m., said City
Engineer Tom Howard. He said po-
lice regularly patrol the area and
tickets will be issued to anyone
dumping garbage or any other item
that is not recycleable.
The committee will also discuss
how to most efficiently operate the
recycling site. "We'll look at
whether to contract it or do it in-
house,” he said.
"We want to have a real good re-
cycling center for the city of Kings
Mountain," Howard said. "We en-
courage everyone to use it."