a
Chamber tree planting
project begins in KM
3-A
Member
North Carolina Press Association
Domestic
order served
KM Mayor
A hearing is scheduled at 9:30
a.m. Friday in Domestic Violence
Court in Shelby in Courtroom II on
a 50B Domestic Order served
against Mayor Scott Neisler by his
wife, Janice Cetan Neisler.
Judge James Bowen issued the
order Friday after Mrs. Neisler
claimed she "is in danger of acts of
domestic violence from the defen-
dant."
The Judge ordered that "the de-
fendant shall not assault, threaten,
abuse, follow, harass or interfere
with the plaintiff. A law enforce-
ment officer shall arrest the defen-
dant if the officer has probable
cause to believe the defendant has
violated the provision."
The court order did not banish
Mr. Neisler from home but he said
he left the house after the argument
and returned home this week.
Mrs. Neisler was not available
for comment Tuesday night. She
and her mother were having dinner
together, according to Mr. Neisler.
Police records state that on
February 26 Ptl. Penny Fulton re-
sponded to an alleged simple as-
sault incident at the mayor's home.
Fulton said the telephone call was
from the mayor.
See Mayor, 8-A
Five of the 12 candidates for county commissioner in the May 7 Democratic Primaries are pic tured
during a Cleveland Chamber-sponsored candidate forum attended by 11 of the candidates Monday
night. From left, John McBrayer, Willie McIntosh, Jack Spangler, Ray Thomas and Robert Williams re-
spond to questions.
Candidates forum held in Shelby
With only 13 days remaining until the May 7
Primaries, 11 of the 12 candidates for three seats open
on the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners
made few promises to a sparse audience Monday night
at Cleveland Community College.
The May Primaries will whittle the number to six,
three Democrats and three Republicans, for the
November general election.
The forum was sponsored by the Cleveland
Chamber.
Although they were asked such controversial ques-
tions as their opinions on county wide consolidation of
schools and what areas they would increase or cut for
funding, none of the candidates were specific.
by giving more
All 11 agreed that the major problem facing the
county today is crime and most said the county gov-
ernment could strengthen Cleveland County families
money for law enforcement and
putting more county officers on the roads.
Taking part in the forum were Ruby Alexander, Joe
Cabaniss and Ray Thomas, all Republicans, and
Democrats Frank Cloyd, Ken Cook, Cecil Dickson,
Spangler, Ray
for reelection, sai
Brown plans new businesses
Pat and Jim Childers have pur-
chased the old Belk Building
downtown and will begin renova-
tion this week for JP Cloth
Company.
Mr. Childers said target date for
opening the new store is June 1.
Mrs. Childers will manage the
store and the couple plan to hire
three full-time and two part-time
employees.
The Kings Mountain couple
bought the business from Max
Rainwater who had previously op-
erated Factory Mattress Company
in the 5,100 square feet building.
Major interior renovation will
include painting, carpeting and
lighting improvements. Mr.
Childers said he plans to refurbish
the exterior of the building at a lat-
er date.
JP Cloth going into Belk's building
JP Cloth Company will offer a
complete inventory of dress mate-
rials, piece goods, chintz, polished
cotton and some lightweight den-
im. Mrs: Childers said that all no-
tions that a dressmaker needs to
fashion a garment will be avail-
able, including thread, scissors,
hemming tape, needles, buttons
and a wide assortment of patterns,
including Simplicity, New Look,
See and Sew, Butterick, Vogue,
McCall, Vogue Easy and How To
books.
The store will be open six days a
week.
A grand opening and ribbon-cut-
ting will be held in June.
Jim Childers, a former city
councilman, has been associated
See Childers, 8-A
Kings Mountain developer Mike
Brown will present a sketch plan to
the Kings Mountain Planning &
Zoning Board Thursday night de-
tailing his plans for a major devel-
opment of commercial property on
West King Street.
Brown is asking the board to re-
zone from R-8, two family residen-
tial, to General Business the front
side of King Street or a total of
eight lots. Seven lots on the back
side of the property (East Ridge)
are not subject to rezoning but are
included in the sketch plan which
the Zoning Board will take a look
at for the first time Thursday.
The area that Brown wants to
develop for commercial uses is lo-
cated between the two rock houses
fronting King Street and owned by
B. M. Green and P. M. Medford.
Brown said he plans to operate
at least two new businesses in the
See Brown, §-A
John Goforth, John McBrayer, Willie McIntosh, Jack
Thomas and Robert Williams.
Republican Carl Hasty was absent.
Dickson, the only incumbetit.commissioner offering
d the
See Candidaies, 4-A
county must push for economic
Developer Mike Brown looks
over building plans he will pre-
sent to the Planning Board
Thursday for a rezoning re-
quest.
The new four-footed cop on the
narcotics beat at the Kings
Mountain Police Department is a
friendly 62-pound Labrador
Retriever his K9 trainer has named
Hootie.
The friendly, beige-colored fe-
male went to work with Ptl. Andy
Berry Monday and his job is to
sniff out drugs, search vehicles and
buildings and conduct article
searches of luggage or whatever
his master tells him to do.
"Hootie has moved in with my
wife and me in the Dixon
Community and the city has built a
kennel and provides his food,"
said Berry, who also took special
training for the new K-9 patrol.
Unlike the two previous four-
footed animals on the force, Hootie
is not on aggressive patrol but will
just be used to sniff out drugs.
Hootie has just completed 10
weeks of training for her new job
and is skilled to sniff out a variety
of narcotics, including marijuana
and cocaine. She is 14 months old.
Berry plans to take the animal to
the elementary and middle schools
and offer programs for children.
Berry loves animals and thinks
he and Hootie will get along fine.
‘Hootie’ is KM Police's
first narcotics dog
He has a pet St. Bernard at home
but that animal won't be housed
with the new member of the fami-
ly.
Berry joined the Kings
Mountain Patrol division last June
and before that worked on the
Reserves crew for about a year.
When he learned about the opening
for a trainer for a narcotics dog, he
applied for the job and was picked
by Chief Bob Hayes for the new
job.
"Andy and Hootie will make
quite a team," said the Chief.
Hootie is the local department's
first narcotics dog and Chief Hayes
says she will be a valuable addition
to the entire force, including the
Detective division.
Hootie is in line for a badge and
soon Andy hopes to enroll her in a
tracking class and what he calls
scent discrimination.
"If she can learn to follow the
scent of a suspect she will be very
valuable to us," he said.
Berry also hopes to enroll the
dog in search and water recovery
training so that in event of a
drowning at the city-owned Moss
Lake that the animal could assist in
the search and rescue efforts.
&
Hootie, the new four-footed cop on the narcotics beat at the Kings
Mountain Police Department, is pictured with his K-9 trainer, Ptl
Andy Berry.
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Ski patrol KMPD's |
latest crime fighting tool |
Since 1889
KM Hall of Fame
banquet Monday
3 individuals,
softball team
to be inducted
The ninth annual Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of Fame din-
ner and induction ceremony will be
held Monday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m.
at Kings Mountain High School.
The dinner will begin at 6:30 in.
the school cafeteria. The induction:
ceremony will follow immediately
in B.N. Barnes Auditorium.
Tickets are $10 and are available:
at Carolina State Bank, Town and’
Country Barbecue, Kings
Mountain Herald, McGinnis
Department Store, and Champion
Contracting. Tickets will also be
- available at the door.
Bobby Richardson, former All-
Star second baseman with the New
York Yankees, will be the guest
speaker.
Inductees include former KMHS
football player and coach Bill
Cashion, former KMHS baseball
coach Fred Withers, former KMHS
football player and college coach
Pride Ratterree, and the Second
Baptist Church men's softball team
which dominated the local slow-
pitch scene in the seventies and
early eighties.
Jackie Houston, a KMHS junior
BOBBY RICHARDSON
who has won three straight North
Carolina high school tennis cham-
pionships, will receive the Special
Achievement Award for 1995.
Hall of Fame President Carl
Champion said this year's event is
shaping up to be one of the best ev-
er. In the past, the banquets have
been held at the Kings Mountain
Community Center but the high
school was chosen because of spa-
cious and more comfortable seat-
ing in the auditorium.
Bobby Richardson is one of the
most sought-after motivational
See Hall of Fame, 8-A
Peak station, Ingle's rezoning
request on City Council agenda
City Council will take a look
Tuesday at a proposal for a Peak
Generation delivery station on
Gaston Street which could cost
$1.8 to $2 million to build with a
pay back time of 4 1/2 years but
which could ultimately mean big
savings for the city and users of
electricity. -
Utilities Director Jimmy Maney
said detailed bids and drawings
would be presented to City Council
along with an overall projection of
cost which would include mainte-
nance.
"The bids look good," Maney re-
ported to the city utilities commis-
sion Monday night.
Maney said the engineers have
run the preliminary numbers on
cost but Councilman Dean Spears
wanted to know how the city will
pay for it.
"We're trying to beat the six per-
cent interest rates but the first pay-
ment won't be due until March of
1997," said Finance Director
Maxine Parsons.
Construction could begin the last
of September if the board gives ap-
proval.
Spears asked if the current line-
men would operate the high tech
equipment and Maney said that at
least ‘one person would have to be
hired but all his staff would be
trained on the new equipment
which would be electronically tied
into the city's state of the art SCA-
TA system.
"It sounds great but it may be
too good to be true," said Spears.
"I hate to be skeptical."
But Councilman Rick Murphrey
said the proposal sounded like a
good investnient for the city and
Councilman Phil Hager said that
warning signals would be built into
the system.
Bob Thomas of Progressive
Engineering is expected to respond
See Council, 8-A
Potter wins Excellence in Teaching Award
Dan Potter, Kings Mountain
High School government and eco-
nomics teacher, won the
Excellence in Teaching Award at
the annual Academic Awards
Banquet Tuesday night.
Potter is Teacher of the Year at
the high school for 1995-96.
Ann Bennett, 1995 Teacher of
the Year, made the presentation as
the highlight of the program.
The award cited Potter for his
leadership and innovativeness in
the classroom.
Prior to the awards program,
Supt. Dr. Bob McRae took the oc-
casion to congratulate students
who had attained a 3.75 grade
point average during their high
school careers and recognized spe-
cial guests, including administra-
tors and members of the board of
education.
A musical highlight of the pro-
gram was the performance of
Kings Revue under direction of
Gene Bumgardner.
Prior to the awards presentations
in Barnes Auditorium a large
crowd attended a reception in the
school cafeteria.
Twenty-five seniors were hon-
See Potter, 8-A
Payne found guilty of poker machine charge
The first of nine people arrested
in a big gambling sting at eight
Kings Mountain businesses
December 23, 1995 was found
guilty in Cleveland County District
Court Monday of gambling and
possession of gambling devices.
Chief of Police Bob Hayes said
James Larry Payne, 52, operator of
Houston's on Cleveland Avenue,
was given a 45-day suspended sen-
tence on payment of $1,000 on
each of the two counts plus court
Costs.
Hayes said Houston's is closed
and the 12 machines confiscated by
police will be destroyed under law.
Hayes said monies confiscated in
the raid were forfeited.
Det. Sgt. Melvin Proctor was
prosecuting witness for KMPD.
Undercover ALE officers testified
that gambling operations were pay-
ing cash to customers who won on
the machines which by law are for
amusement only.
Hayes said trial of a second de-
fendant, Danny Goforth of Little
Dan's on York Road and Grover
Road, is slated for Thursday in
Cleveland County District Court.
Goforth, 37, faces 10 counts in-
cluding one count of operation of
slot machines or video poker, gam-
See Guiity, 8-A