Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / May 28, 1998, edition 1 / Page 1
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DA says no grounds to prosecute Kings Mountain teacher 7A KMHS Awards Day Story and pictures 4A Commander Larry Deaver throws first pitch to open American Legion season SA - rel | SONI = FL 4 anna’ J LNNOL aT 1062-9808¢ Teal 09 R08 SFT A, intl - 2 - EAS NOR ili toa A Sd = v5 Eo RRKXX = = Z — - dé 4 RK RREKKKS QM AR ICr¢ 3 Vol. 110 No.22 Thursday, May 28, 1998 : Kinds Mountain, NC eSince 1889 *50¢ Sheriff's office vows to rid county of illegal gambling KM business and club raided, 20 video poker achines confiscated Three oils have been charged with illegal gambling and other charges are pending following the raid of the Amvets Club, 712 Slater St., and Breakers Billiards, South Battleground Ave., Friday. “We hope this sends a mes- sage,” says Rocky Smith, narcot- ics officer with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department. Smith said arrest warrants have been issued for Jessie Heath of Plantation Drive, manager of the Amvets Club; Roger Philbeck, owner of Breakers Billiards; and Sammy Joe Jenkins of Clover, SC, manager of Breakers Billiards. At least two other people are ex- pected to be charged with misde- meanors on Thursday and will get a citation to court and a court date. In addition to seizing 20 video poker machines, nine at Amvets and 11 at Breakers, and gambling records, officers seized illegal al- cohol at the Amvets location. “They have no license or per- mits for brown bagging or any- thing,” said Smith. “They don’t even have the license they need for a club. They weren't making any attempt to comply with the "We're letting them know... we plan to enforce the law." - Narcotics officer Rocky Smith law.” In addition, a patron at Break- ers will face drug charges. Smith said the video poker machines cost from $2,000 to $5,000 each. The county will prob- ably have them destroyed, he said. About $1200 was seized at Breakers and between $600 and $700 at the Amvets club, Smith said. Smith said the two week inves- tigation which resulted in the raids was spurred by complaints about both locations. "Mostly it was about people in there gam- bling and losing a substantial amount of money and not being able to pay their bills,” he said. Smith said wives and employ- ers of patrons of the two establish- ments were among those who had complained. Library campaign nears end The Children First Campaign, the fund-raiser to build a new children’s wing at J.S. Mauney Memorial Library, has reached © 86% of its goal and is expected to "achieve 100% within the next few weeks. The campaign has confiraed $455,000 in pledges toward a goal of $524,000 from about 100 con- = tributors. The fund drive is ex- pected to meet or surpass its goal and be completed by June 17 as the campaign steering committee, chaired by Charles Mauney, Stella Putnam and Thad Roberts will hold the lat official campaign re- port'session. A final campaign push will be made to successfully complete the fund-raising by mid June, so that the architectural plans for the library expansion can be finalized before construction bids can be solicited for the project. Construc- tion is expected to begin in the fall and the new wing will be com- pleted by 1999. “The new children’s wing is certainly needed just to keep up with the rapid growth in children’s services over the last few years,” said Library Board Chairman Jett Mauney. “We are very pleased with the business, individual, and public sector sup- port we have received. We think ‘the new library addition is a project in which the whole com- munity can share a great deal of pride. Our campaign steering committee has done a ‘great job rallying support and getting out ~ the word on this project.” The Cleveland County Board of Commissioners is considering a $125,000 request for the project. The commissioners are expected to make a decision on the request at its regularly scheduled meet- ing at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 2. Kings Mountain City Council ap- proved a $100,000 contribution at its January meeting. Contributors will be recog- nized with their names inscribed on a plaque inside of the new children’s wing. Contributors will be listed on the plaque in four categories: “Founders” will be recognized for contributions of $12,000 and higher; “Benefactors” will be recognized for contribu- tions of $6,000 to $11,999; “Pa- trons” will be recognized for con- tributions of $3,000 to $5,999; and “Sponsors” will be recognize for contributions from $500 to $2,999. Contributors have been encour- aged to make three-year contribu- tions. The new library addition will be called the “Harris Children’s Wing” in honor of the late Sena- tor Ollie Harris, his wife of 62 See LIBRARY page 7A KMHS GRADUATION - Kings Mountain High's graduating seniors take the long walk down the hill from the high school to John Gamble Stadium for Friday’s commencement ceremonies. Almost 200 received their diplomas. Smith said defendants face possible fines, 45-day jail sen- tences and loss of the seized mer- . chandise. Smith issued a warning to other businesses or clubs in vio- lation of the law. “There’s a lot more coming because Sheriff Dan Crawford has said we've got to clean them out of the county. “People have to comply with the law and get rid of the gam- bling machines and we think we have a fair number of them to confiscate,” said Smith. Smith said letters will go out from the Sheriff's Department this week to about two dozen places from which complaints have been generated. “We're letting them know they must get into compliance and we plan to enforce the law,” said Smith. Clubs, particularly muili- tary service clubs, need to com- ply with ALE permits “One place voluntarily closed and left the county,” said Smith. “We're not trying to close down social halls for veterans.” “The Sheriff and KM Chief of Police Richard Reynolds were on * the scene when officers with the Sheriff's Department and Kings Mountain Police conducted the raids Friday and the sheriff per- sonally delivered a message to one of the defendants,” said Smith. “This is an important issue that we will continue to address,” he said. Moss Lake property owners apparently won the battle with the City of Kings Mountain over user fees and will see reduced fees in the 1998-99 budget. By vote of 4-2 City Council Tuesday approved user fees rec- ommended by the newly resur- rected Moss Lake Commission. ~CouncilmanBobHayesand Jerry ullinax_ cast the dissenting Rick = ‘votes. Councilman Murphrey was out-of-town. The resurrected family plan at $250, dropped last year in the budget, will mean a savings of $135 each for property owners. In 1997-98, the typical lease included the land lease, $250; one boat, $25; one pier, $25; an occasional ramp, $50; and one fishing permit, $12, for a total of $362. In the new plan, Moss Lake user fees reduced in KM budget two boat permits and four fish- ing permits are included to owner occupants. The Northshores group facility permit for 1998-99 is $1,250 be- cause it has five lots fronting the lake which are associated with the group pier facility. In 1997-98 the same 20 users paid $6,000., which ‘means g huge reduction for these property owners. Land lease fees were cut $25, from $50; boat permits went up $20, from $30 to $50; fishing per- mits went up $3, from $12 to $15; daily boating went up from $5 to $10; swimming annual permits, up to $30 from $15; daily swim- ming, $5, was $2; and group pier facility, from $200, user, to $250, lot. No charge was made for use See LAKE FEES page 3A City Council protests Election Board's plan Saying it had no input in a re- cent decision by the county board of elections to move the Commu- nity Center voting precinct to Kings Mountain Hospital, City Council voted unanimously Tues- day night to deliver a letter of pro- test to the Cleveland County Board of Elections. Mayor Scott Neisler said the board ignored a letter from Coun- cil recently in which he asked for a public hearing in Kings Moun- tain before any more changes were made by the county board regarding voter precincts. “We had no say so when the board added two precincts and now they’re asking preclearance from the U.S. Justice Department to move Precinct 2 from the Com- munity Center to the Kings Mountain Hospital lobby,” said Neisler. This is the first year the county has run city elections. By law, no public hearing is re- quired to add precincts or change polling places but Neisler said it should be a matter of courtesy. AI EULIS TRIPLETT Recently Previously, the elections board added two precincts. The voting places are Second Baptist Church, The American Legion, The Armory and the Community Center. Director of Elections Debra Blanton said the board of dis- cussed the size of all precincts in the county during a public hear- ing last February. She said com- plaints of lack of election process security due to the flow of nor- mal traffic through the Commu- nity Center brought on the recent polling place change. “The hospital will be more se- cure and closer for the West Kings Mountain voters and by changing we are sensitive also to the needs of precinct officials,” she said. Joyce Cashion, chairman of Kings Mountain No. 4, says the two new precincts weren't needed and Kings Mountain people should have been con- sulted about the changes. Board members directed Neisler to hand deliver letters to Blanton and Ruth Wilson, secre- tary, and Pat Spangler, chairman of the board. City Attorney Mickey Corry said that since the new change by the county board requires preclearance by the Justice De- partment the city has time to state opposition to the plan if it acts quickly. “I called Mrs. Blanton and told her we were quite upset about the election board’s arbitrary deci- sion and to give us the courtesy in the future of letting us know See PROTEST page 7A Triplett finding joys of reading by ELIZABETH STEWART of The Herald Staff Eulis Triplett, 52, will never for- get his 19th birthday when he tried to get his driver’s license. “I missed everything but I told the examiner that I didn’t know how to read and I went home cry- ing because I wanted my license,” he said. Now, instead of crying because he can’t read, Eulis is all smiles. Reading fourth grade material after finishing three books, Eulis tries to forget the paddlings he got in school because he couldn’t read. “I stayed behind three years with shingles and was eight when I started school. I couldn’t read and we moved around a lot and it just got so hard that I had to be made to go to school,” said Triplett. By the time he was in seventh grade at age 16 he dropped out of school. “I couldn’t read and I was so much older and bigger than the other kids and I was afraid they would laugh at me and I wouldnt belong,” he said. Life changed for Triplett when he started back to school in 1995. Unable to do his ABC's, Triplett started reading with the Gaston Literacy Council with Cindy Wood of Kings Mountain, a former elementary teacher. “I opened my book at work one day at the Gastonia Housing Au- thority where I have worked in maintenance for 11 years and read it from start to finish and people were wiping tears from their eyes,” said Triplett, who said his co-workers had supported him in his adventure. “They supported me in my reading and so did Cindi Wood. They're proud of me because as old as I am it takes a man to ad- mit he never learned to read and is now doing something about it.” Triplett’s passion for reading didn’t go unnoticed by Wood who volunteers to tutor Triplett one day a week. Triplett goes to school at Gaston Literacy Coun- cil two days a week, after work on Tuesday and Thursday. “You would not believe the people I know who own busi- yj nesses and can’t read but I en- courage them to start,” said Triplett, who is proud of the reads ing awards he has on his bulleti board at his home on Gofort Road in Kings Mountain. One of the awards is the co¥- eted Celebrate Literacy Award By the Gaston Literacy Councillin recognition of outstanding ser- vice and personal commitment to adult education. Triplett said he always wanted to read the Bible, read to grandchildren and read the orders he receives on hi Now, he says he can read to the grandchildren, so read work orders that pr he had to depend on co- to do. He credits his new. eaitation was his wif scievon, who died six monthgfag:. They were married 23 yea “We need moreftutors like Cindi,” he says. See TRIPBETT page 3A
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 28, 1998, edition 1
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