Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Jan. 13, 1994, edition 1 / Page 1
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AA a a Chamber of Commerce banquet Tuesday Duke plans power outage 3-A 10 28086 ~RT-SORT**CRO2 RY E. 10/21/96 1 SY MEMORIAL LIBRA 00 SOUTH PIEDMONT AV Ss MOUNTAIN NC U 1 1 spaaaaresaasetsCAR KING VOL. 106 NO. 2 The city's auditor Darrell Keller says the city is violating state statutes when it does not require signed contracts for services by an architect, consultant and engineer. He told City Council Tuesday at a special meeting that state statutes allows units of government to ex- empt projects less than $30,000 from "announcement provisions" if there is a written policy. Keller, who recently completed the annual city audit, said the city shows no written policy. City Manager George Wood said the the city will adopt a written policy exempting small projects for professional services. Community Services Director Tom Howard took issue with what the auditor considered a signed contract. He said after proposals are approved by Council for engi- neering work that letters containing the scope of work are forwarded to the city's longtime consulting engi- neers W.K. Dickson, water and sewer; Heath and Associates, gas; and Southeastern Consulting, elec- “trical. Auditor: City violating law Commissioner Ralph Grindstaff asked Howard if there were in- stances where architects and engi- neering firms didn't sign contracts for work done for the city. Howard said there were none. Wood blamed the flap between the auditor and engineer over com- munication between the two of- fices. The auditor has been housed for several months in the second floor conference room at City Hall going over the city's books. During See Auditor, 6-A Thursday, January 13, 1994 A nine percent increase to industrial water users could get the City of Kings Mountain out of a deficit problem in this year's budget but city fathers weren't buying the idea at a special City Council meeting Tuesday night. With several industry representatives in the second floor meeting room at City Hall objecting to rate hikes projected at from 6-9 percent, commissioners got a glimpse of the city's budget future from City Auditor Darrell Keller and then received three proposals/op- tions from City Manager George Wood for rate in- creases to close the gap. Ward 3 Commissioner Ralph Grindstaff gave no specifics for his plan to cut $118,000 from the water/sewer budget but he says there are plans in the works to do just that without cutting services and avoid a hike in the cost of water to the city's big indus- Kings Mountain, NC 28086 « 50¢ Council looking at water rate hike Ward 6 Commissioner Rick Murphrey said he had no idea how much Spectrum would be paying for addi- tional usage. "There's no way for any industry to re- coup the loss," he said. : But Spectrum Corporate Engineer Hubert Johnson didn't mince words. He said Kings Mountain is losing one million gallons of water a day it could have billed to Spectrum if the plant had given them more water when they asked for it about 18 months ago. Now, Johnson said that money is going to Belmont where Spectrum moved some of its business. Johnson made the statement after Grindstaff made trial users. After the meeting, he said he had some work to do and would not elaborate. Rev. Richard "Dick" Newsome, the new minister of First Presbyterian Church, is the sixth member of his family to accept the call to the gospel ministry. Newsome, 30, follows in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, his father, and his sister. His wife, Karen Walkup Newsome, is also an ordained Presbyterian minister. Newsome represents the third generation in his family to answer the call to preach, a call which came to him after he had decided on a career in banking. ~~ After graduating from Vanderoi University, Newsome had planned to pursue his love for banking but found that God had something else more wonderful in store for him. "It didn't happen overnight," he said. A native of Athens, Tennessee, Newsome, his wife, and their two children, Burns, 3, and Sarah, 3 1/2 months, arrived in Kings Mountain last week and on their first Sunday in the pulpit were greeted with yellow ribbons tied around the big oak trees at the church and big yellow ribbons on the doors. Rev Newsome new pastor at First Presbyterian Church "I have been welcomed so warmly and. royally," said Newsome, who has moved his family into an apartment until their new home is finished. Newsome grew up in Paducah, Kentucky and went to high school in Atlanta. A 1985 graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics. In 1990, he graduat- ed with a master of divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur. Newsome ho also spent a. ool ciate pastor at Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in South Alabama for three years before ar- riving at First Presbyterian. His = father, Rev. James Newsome, is a former summer - supply pastor of both First and Dixon Presbyterian Churches in, King Mountain. The Columbia Seminary Professor of Old Testament History will preach the installation services at 3 p.m. on January 30 at First Presbyterian Church. Young Newsome will be See Newsome, 6-A REV. RICHARD NEWSOME Debbie Clary to run for State House Debbie A. Clary, president/gen- eral manager of Radio Station WA- DA in Shelby, has filed for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 48th District. A Republican, Clary says as a member of the media she is well aware that there is a breakdown in communica- tions between house members and the public and, if elected, she will be in CLARY Andy Dedmon enters race for District House seat Earl resident and Shelby realtor Andrew Thomas Dedmon, 33, has filed for one of three seats in the N. 4 i 1 C. House of z Representatives from the 48th District. Dedmon has been a real- tor and property 4 manager with A Century 21 AD ed m on ; Properties, a 4 . — family business, DEBMON since 1990. From 1986 to 1990 he was a salesman with the Lance snack food company. It is the first run for public of- fice for Dedmon, who is Western Region Membership Coordinator for N. C. Young Democrats and was voted one of the top five Young Democrats in North contact with area media on a week- ly basis and provide them a private telephone number where she can be reached. "Public safety will be the major focus of my campaign,” she said. "As taxpaying citizens, our govern- ment owes us the right to safety. The crime problems in our state must be addressed with more than just a quick fix. On a per capita ba- sis, North Carolina incarcerates less criminals than any other south- ern state. More than 30,000 con- victed criminals were turned loose on the streets of our state under early release programs in 1993. The recidivism rate is projected to be 65 percent that will go back to Carolina in 1993. He served as president of Cleveland County Young Democrats in 1992 and is third vice chairman of the Cleveland County Democratic Party and the 9th District Democratic Party. "[ am a true believer in the peo- ple and the value of the 48th House District,” said Dedmon. A member of New Hope Baptist Church, he is assistant teacher of the Young Marrieds Sunday School Class. He was a member of the steering committee for Project Graduation for three years and has been a "lunch buddy" at Graham School for two years. He served on the Cleveland County Planning Board for two years and is a mem- ber of the Shelby Exchange Club board of directors. He is married to the former Lisa Pearson. jail within a three-year period. It's past time for changes in the North Carolina Justice System." Clary said she will bring a num- ber of experiences to the House. "My background allows me to walk in many shoes,” she said. "From the struggles of a young person attempting a college educa- tion while working to pay the bills to a small business owner who faces the daily trials and tribula- tions of operating your own busi- ness.” She proudly noted that she is not a "pelitician” but will be a good public servant. "During this campaign, the peo- ple will hear me say many times that I am not a politician," she said. "I say what I think and what I feel, not what I think you want to hear or expect me to say." Clary is a native of Shelby, daughter of Ann P. Clary and the late Steven Bryant Clary. She at- tended Gardner-Webb and Cleveland Community Colleges and holds a degree in Business Administration. She has served on the steering committee of the March of Dimes WalkAmerica, was entertainment -chair for Freedom Fest, co-chair of the American Heart Association, recipient of the 1992 Governor's Award for Dedication and Devotion in Volunteer Services. Good news, the remark that ' ‘Selling more water to Spectrum would have saved us here," referring to the two reject- ed requests Spectrum made for more water. "You've got at least two industries who moved out of town because they were not taken care of by Kings See Rate Increase, 6-A bad news on Schools' Report Card The state's annual report card from the Department of Public Instruction to Kings Mountain District Schools sent a mixed mes- sage. Supt. Dr. Bob McRae said Kings Mountain educators ‘can look with pride on the system's eighth grade writing score, which is one of the highest in the state, and, they can capitalize on the work they are doing to align tests .. with what teachers are supposed to The eighth gr 4 percent of students who scored at or above the grade level on end-of- grade tests compared to 58.6 statewide, or 59.4, Shelby City Schools, and 50.5, Cleveland County Schools. "It's time for our test scores to quit riding a roller coaster and move to a more steady incline," said McRae in Ris report to the Kings Mountain Board of Education Monday night at East School. | While noting that some state percentage scores were at or below the state level, McRae pointed out ‘that attendance figures put the KM systc © at 94.9 percent compared with wn state average of 94.72 and the drop- out rate, which is declin- ing;, was 3.11 percent compared to the state drop-out rate of 2.79. "We won't ever be satisfied with the drop-out report until it is zero," said McRae. ? McRae said that 43: percent of ‘AG English and History students at the high school scored three or above on recent exams where the perfect score was five. é Although participation in Advanced Science exams was a lit- tle below the state average, Kings Mountain High School students scored A or B on their six required East School was recognized as a Josten's Learning Corporation's model site for its computer assisted learning program Monday. Left to right, Dr. Jane King, Grant Gursk, Chris Seckman, Principal Jerry Hoyle and Barbara Blackburn with the flag and certificate. courses for graduation. On elective courses, student scores were just below the state average, 40.1 per- cent. McRae said that some of the most critical areas that teachers and students will need to work on is bringing up reading and math scores. . McRae pointed out that the new report card is unlike previous mea: ethods es the element I evels standard provided by teachers who determined the standard proficien- cy level for students in their grade. Director of Student Services Jean Thrift said that a different standard was needed on the high school level because students take a wider variety of courses. The test scores show students who scored either an A or B in certain courses. On high school Core courses, 36.5 percent of Cleveland County students scored at or above the pro- ficiency level, 39.2 percent in Kings Mountain and 43.5 percent in Shelby City Schools: Thrift said that several tests gave baseline data only because the tests were given for the first time this spring. Dr. Jane King, Superintendent of Instruction, said the report card didn't indicate any trends that local educators were not already aware of. She said the report card is valu- able because it tells the system where it fails in relation to the state and will be much more useful when it can tell how a system's stu- dents are improving or declining from year to year. "We're never satisfied with the standard," said King. "We want to do better." McRae said that fourth graders in Grover scored highest among el- See Report, 6-A East chosen Josten's site East Elementary School was rec- ognized Monday for its selection by Josten's Learning Corporation as a demonstration site for its com- puter assisted learning program. Representatives of the company, Barbara Blackburn, Chris Seckman and ‘Grant Gurksi, presented a flag and certificate to Principal Jerry Hoyle. East was among 65 of 200 schools nominated. as a model school among the 1000 schools in the Eastern Division served by the company. "Kings Mountain Schools took a real risk when they took comput- ers from labs and put them in the classrooms.” said Blackburn, who * commended the Board, of Education for spending $1 million recently for computers in grades 3- 5 in the system Dr. Jane King, Superintenderit of See East, 6-A darker i : i
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Jan. 13, 1994, edition 1
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