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“wn T> Be Tore PT TT Ta erie Herald/Times March 4, 1999 : How ya : Editor: Gary Stewart * 739-7496 ‘em on farm ; 2 5. ® ® i 1n this age? Co ————— EERE g LOOKING BACK LETTER POLICY The back- bone of Br ersienates America is ; slowly dis- We appreciate your letters : appearing, to the editor and encourage : No, this you to write. ¥ piece is not : i about the We limit the number of let- recent de- ters than any one person may bauchery in have published to one a Washington, Al month. We ask that you keep i it's about an your letters short, no more f the decline than two pages double-spaced | in the num- Hodge Or one page Se spaced. ! ber of fami- Handwritten letters must be ly farms in Staff legible. our state Writer and nation. We will not publish letters This problem goes beyond from anonymous writers; | mere dollars and cents. Some names, addresses, and phone of the most memorable times numbers must be include. We | of my life were the days reserve the right to edit letters spents on my grandfather's for grammar, punctuation, farm in Catawba Heights. clarity, brevity and content. Scant few are the children § these days who have had the Letters must be received no pleasure of exporing a loft full of hay, or simply roaming field and forest in search of nothing in particular. A farm is a cornucopia of sights, sensations, and even smells that everyone should experience. There's something Tom Trott, right, tries to bribe the judge (C.A. Allison celebration of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1980 GARY STEWART / THE HERALD ) with a buckeye to keep from going to jail at “Jail-A-Thon” at 200th anniversary later than 5 p.m: on Monday of the week they are to be published. Mail letters to The Editor, P.O. Box 769,Kings Mountain, NC 28086 or fax them to (704) 739-0611. TC mysterious and slightly scary YOUR VIEW about the dim interior of a BE sssscesestsssossvesainsesessssansssnessstssssvessessessssesesssss onsen horse stable or COW barn that 3890404305408405404494508668863036403808899845003033066680648000808034304403940346063350090395005665608009908000869999,09606008680.9 eoecoee can carry you back to a sim- ! ler time when the relation- educating all students must be tants right away and that auto- ~~ Educating children should be children and protecting the tax- i Ah between man and animal Board member our Wa one priority. I en- matically will save money. out top as not feelings. I ~~ payers. She might not believe as I was more profound than a ° 9 courage each of you to get in- Unfortunately, we have some would urge that all school I do on every issue. Just because | piece of meat on a plastic tray. Says she didn t volved in our future, our chil- contracts that may stop that board members and citizens at you don’t agree on every issue Though farmers who crawl dren. from happening because of the least think about it. As far as does not mean that she does not out of the bed at 4 am to tend spark merger way they were written up. We agenda goes, the Kings have your best interest at heart. their flocks and herds might Respectfully, need to question the wisdom of Mountain Herald needs to look We need more conscientious laugh at my notion, I am also of the opinion that farming is a more noble type of work than say, fiddling with com- puters. Who can deny that seeing the sun come up and watching the earth come alive with its light is not akin to a religious experience. The mir- acle of vegetable and animal life is at the fingertips of farm- ers everyday, for the rest of us it seems to be slipping away with ever-increasing speed. Parents can do their chil- dren, and themselves, a great service by visitng a farm. There are lots of places right here in Cleveland County where folks can let their kids see how a farm works and where our food really comes from. Killdeer Farms on Goforth Road near Kings Mountain will soon be plant- ing for the spring season. Across the street from Killdeer, Ed Goforth has an os- trich farm that is a sight to be- hold. Up in Fallston, McMurray Farms is also a thriving operation. Give the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension Service a call at 482-4365 for some oth- er suggestions. Before the world becomes completely computerized, re- member that we started out as an agricultural nation. As southerners, our agricultural roots go especially deep. With spring just around the corner, let's renew our bond with the land and those who still work it. talk in county To the editor: ‘Truthfully, I do not believe that I sparked the debate over merging Kings Mountain, Shelby City, and Cleveland County Schools. This has been discussed for many years. The bottom line to merging is con- trol and who has it. The ques- . tion we should ask is, what is “best forithe students? It was never my intention to have a . “mega” school system or to take away from the individuality of any of the respective schools. Nor did I want students from Kings Mountain riding buses all across Cleveland County. For me it was simply a matter of putting all three systems under one administrative unit, “trim- ming the fat,” having more funds for the classroom and saving taxpayers money. Certainly, I was elected by the people to serve the people and I will continue to listen. I am not above reproach and I do make mistakes. Please know this, in all my decisions I put the chil- dren first. Each of us as North Carolinians should be con- cerned about public education and hold school systems ac- countable. Recently (February 21) the Charlotte Observer print- ed the latest School Report Card. Talking about merging is just that, talk. I believe our at- tention should be focused on the 21st century and where N.C. Public Schools (Kings Mountain District Schools) are headed. Academics must come first and Melony C. Bolin Please note: I am not speak- ing on behalf of the Kings Mountain Board of Education, it’s views or policies. Writer agrees schools should be merged i To the editor: Merging the school systems is back in the news again thanks in part to Melony Bolin who had the courage to speak up in favor of merging. I have great respect for her in doing what she has done. A large portion of Kings Mountain is against merger including the Kings Mountain Herald. On the sur- face everybody would probably be against it but its when you start thinking about it that ques- tions start to arise. First let’s discuss some of the ‘questions that the Kings Mountain Herald thinks they have answered. From a geo- graphical perspective the Kings Mountain Herald was right that merging would have no bene- fits to Kings Mountain. No one was talking about Kings Mountain in this case so there was no reason for the Kings Mountain Herald to bring this up. Now lets talk about the su- perintendents and their assis- tants. If you merge the school systems you eliminate two su- perintendents and their assis- our school board for allowing this, knowing that the commis- sioners can make the schools systems merge at any time. The local supplement given to teachers to keep from losing them from one school to anoth- er will in time be the same any- way. In the case of taxes being raised, the Kings Mountain School Board has already asked to raise taxes... J acd iw . The Kings Mountain Herald and anybody else who says that there is a high level of parental involvement in the schools are living in a fantasy world and need to come back to reality. I have been to school board meet- ings, open house, fall festivals and other meetings and I have yet to see that high level of in- volvement. As far as contact goes, the only one we may have a little problem talking with, is the superintendent. Teachers, principals or any other employ- ees won't change because the schools are not changing. So in “bigger is not always better” may not be as true as the Kings Mountain Herald thinks. County unity to me is a non- issue, but the Kings Mountain Herald makes a case for non- merger by saying that the three school systems cooperate better than any other agencies. If that is the case then they might as well merge. Now in other issues such as the school board, that’s up to the state to decide. The multi- million dollar facility is already built in Kings Mountain. As for ill feelings goes, who cares. inside first. Freddy Wall Kings Mountain Writer says Bolin stands for beliefs CAINS To the editor: =~ The Kings Mountain Herald gave their opinion on the school merger issue that they are not in favor of it. As my husband points out, Melony stands up for what she believes in. This earns her a great deal of respect from both my husband and I. I feel that she is doing a great job on our school board. For in- stance, on the October 12, 1998 school board meeting the vote was 4 to 1, Melony being the 1, to give the district office per- sonnel a bonus, which came from unbudgeted revenues. At our elementary, the children share glue and other supplies and our PTO pays for the school’s copying supplies. In my opinion this bonus money should have been used toward the shortfalls in our schools. Melony knows this and made her decision accordingly. So when people accuse her of hav- ing her own agenda I tend to get a little defensive. When you look at your check each week and see the taxes taken out do you not get a little mad? What I believe Melony to be doing is what is best for our people in our public offices like Melony Bolin to help reassure people like me that we are not being taken advantage of. As for the merger, I can’t say what is best for Kings Mountain, although I can see a big benefit in the consolidation of salaries. I don’t know what all is involved. I'll wait to see what a study might suggest. The Herald suggested that the savings would be to the state and not the taxpayers of Cleveland County. Wouldn't any savings help us taxpayers than none? We do pay state tax- “es as well as county taxes. As far as the local supplements to the teachers and salaries of non- certified personnel what about those unbudgeted revenues that we take in. We shouldn't have to increase taxes locally if we use those revenues accordingly. You as the citizens of Kings Mountain don’t have to take my word or the Herald's word on any of this. Call Melony Bolin yourself or attend the school board meetings and listen to what she has to say and then decide for you. That is the only way you will know the truth. I have prayed and prayed about this and know it is past time for us to start making those respon- sible for spending our tax dol- lars accountable. We need a voice and locally to me Melony is that voice. Robin Wall Kings Mountain SIDEWALK SURVEY By ALAN HODGE Kings Mountain Herald What is your favorite stock car driver, and why? | like Dale Earnhardt. My husband pulls for him too. Debbie Dover Clerk at Lil’ Dan’s I’m for Dale Earnhardt. I've got his poster at home. | like Mark Martin, he’s got class. Martha Shank Homemaker My favorite is Mark Martin because he drives a Ford. Bill Parker Store Owner I’m for Rusty Wallace. Anybody but Jeff Gordon. Tim Hinson Computer Consultant Earl Postell Retired
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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March 4, 1999, edition 1
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