Thursday, January 13, 2000
SPORTS
Sipe to be inducted
into Hall of Fame
Kings
Mountain High
School men’s
{ basketball
coach Larry
| Sipe will be in-
ducted into the
; gil Cherryville
Sports Hall of Fame on
January 29. 4B
Fortner appointed
KMHS softball coach
Ricky Fortner
E| has been
ll named head
women’s soft-
ball coach at
Kings
School. 5B
Mountaineer swim
teams win tri-meet
Kings Mountain High's
swim teams won a tri-meet
with Forestview and Canton
Pisgah Wednesday at Neisler
Natatorium. 6B
SCHOOLS
Merger meeting
January 25 in Shelby
The second meeting of
county commissioners and the
county’s three school boards
on possible merger will be
held January 25 at Cleveland
Community College. The
Kings Mountain School Board
will discuss the matter at its
meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at
Central School. 2A
COMMUNITY
Mountain High
Council approves
zoning amendments
Kings Mountain City
Council Monday night ap-
proved the rezoning requests
of nine property owners. 3A
Flu outbreak not
as serious in county
Although the number of flu
cases are up in Cleveland
County, it’s not as bad here as:
in other parts of the nation. 5A |
'
Rabies cases still
on rise in county
Cleveland County Health
Department reported three
"more rabies cases during the
week, including the first in-
volving a domesticated ani- ~~:
mal. Citizens are urged to take
extra caution when handling
their pets. 6A
Grover approves
water, street repairs
Grover Council Monday
night approved repair of wa-
ter lines and repaving on
Walnut Street. 9A
re
Vol. 112 No. 02
Since 1889
50 Cents
Hit the Trails
Winter hiking
opportunities
abound in area 1B
KM ABC Store tunds missing
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain Police are in-
vestigating an alleged embez-
zlement of $3,800 from the
Kings Mountain ABC Store, and
the State ABC Board has or-
dered an audit of the store’s
business during the latter part
of 1999. The State ABC Board
also closed the business until at
least Friday while the audit is
conducted by the State ABC
Board's auditor and the local
store’s auditor, Darrell Keller.
The store’s new manager, for-
mer City Councilman Jerry
Mullinax, reported the incident
to police on January 5.
According to Mullinax, it al-
legedly occurred sometime be-
tween Friday, Dec. 24 and
Monday, Dec. 27.
According to the report
Mullinax gave Kings Mountain
Ptl. J.C. Shull, $3,800 was re-
moved from a deposit bag. Lt.
Melvin Proctor is now in charge
of the investigation but said he
has no information at this time.
Mullinax, who was defeated
in his bid for reelection last fall,
said he began working at the
store the week before Christmas
and officially took over as man-
ager on Monday, Dec. 27. He
said he worked “two or three
hours a day” Christmas week
while also working a notice
with his former employer.
Mullinax said he and one oth-
er employee began work that
week, and December 24 was the
last day for two previous em-
GIVING
Kings Mountain Middle School 6th grader Eric Pardo enjoys the view from John Cluca's Kenworth truck.
Pardo gave his last 30 cents to Clucas and his family when their house burned last December.
KM youngster gives his last 30 cents
to family who lost their home in fire
BY ALAN HODGE
Pardo, who lives a 825 Church
“It made me cry when I heard
ployees.
“It has to be a pretty nasty
thing, for me at least, to begin
work and this type of thing
happen,” he said. J
Mullinax said he had nothing
to do with the disappearance of
the money but said speculation
“points to” either a current o
previous employee. :
“Two of us are new,” he said.
“I don’t know if this is some-
thing that was done to make it
look like the new employees or
not.”
Mullinax said the money in
question is part of the funds
taken in at the store on
Christmas Eve. Banks closed at
2 p.m. that day, he said, and the
ABC store closed at 5 so a de-
posit could not be made until
Monday morning, Dec. 27. He
said “four, five or six” previous
and current employees had ac-
cess to the safe.
Mullinax said the zipper-type
deposit bag had approximately
See ABC Store, 5A
Accor, Bridges
join race for
expire.
commissioner
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Two more Kings Mountain residents have filed
for the office of Cleveland
County Commissioner,
bringing to six the number
of persons seeking three
positions on the board.
Filing during the past
week were Bethware
Elementary School
Principal Mary S. Accor of
944 Dixon School Road,
and former Kings ;
Mountain School Board ed 2
: member Tom Bridges of 129
{Candlewood Drive. SE
3 Filing previously were
incumbent commissioners
Joe Hendrick of Cherryville
and Joe E. Cabaniss and
Jim Crawley, both of
Shelby; and Kings
Mountain School Board
member Ronnie Hawkins
of 316 Countryside Road.
Hendrick, Accor and
Bridges are Democrats, and
Hawkins, Cabaniss and
Crawley are Republics.
Filing continues through February 7 at the
Cleveland County Board of Elections in Shelby.’
The primaries will be held in May and the gener-
al election in November. The terms of commis-
sioners Charlie Harry and Willie McIntosh do not
RIDGES is
TT
ACCOR
Staff Writer
Like the parable in the Bible
about the widow's mite, Kings
Mountain Middle School 6th grader
Eric Pardo had little but gave it all
to someone in need. Down to his
last 30 cents, Pardo donated his
pencil money to help the Clucas
family of Woodbridge who lost ev-
erything in a fire on December 8.
Street in Kings Mountain, says the
plight of the Clucas family struck a
chord in him.
“I have a lot of hope in me and I
like to help people,” Pardo said. “If
anyone knows a person that is
homeless, they should give them
about Eric’s donation,” Clucas said.
“He's not at all selfish.”
So many people donated items to
the Clucas family after the fire that
they had eight boxes of clothes left
over.
Coincidentally, the clothes fit a
Three incumbents have also filed for the
Cleveland County School Board, including Jo
Boggs of Fallston, Tommy Greene of Boiling
Springs, and George Litton of Shelby.
Incumbent Bonnie Reece of Kings Mountain is
the only person to file thus far for Register of
Deeds. The only person to file thus far for
help.” ; family in Polkton that also lost their Cleveland County Soil & Water Conservation
Jean Clucas wants to go on home a couple of weeks after the District is Danny R. Cartee of Shelby.
record thanking Pardo and every- Clucas blaze. As a way of thanking Filing so far for the 48th House of
one else who donated money or
Law needs help
fighting gambling
A Cleveland County lieu-
tenant says police need help in
fighting illegal video gam-
bling in North Carolina. 5A
oD
(O®
YOUR
HOMETOWN
BANK
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 125 Years
“We heard over the loudspeaker
at school that the Clucas home had
burned,” Pardo says. “I had some
money for a new pencil, but decid-
ed to give it to them.”
praise for Pardo and the
tion.
‘Good Old Days
remembered
KM senior citizens recall
ice man, sweeping lawns
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
All that was missing from
Monday's “Good Old Days”
gathering at the Kings
Mountain Senior Center was a
potbellied stove and peanut
hulls on the floor. Scheduled to
be a regular event, the “Good
Old Days” get-together saw 14
seniors enjoy each other’s com-
pany and memories of times
gone by. The event was coordi-
nated by Senior Center staffer
Carolyn Bell.
Topics resurrected from the
Seniors’ memory banks ran the
gamut from preparing foods
down on the farm, to stories
about how the ice man used to
cometh in Kings Mountain.
Though all who took part in the
talk had different stories from
their youth, the common thread
between them was how much
simpler life used to be.
“’Red Mitchem was the ice
man in Kings Mountain back in
the old days,” said Thomasina
Brown. “We used to follow the
ice truck and get little pieces to
eat.”
See Seniors, 3A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
739-4782
items to her family. The cafeteria
manager at East School, Clucas has
Communities in Schools organiza-
+ Pardo for his thoughtfulness, John
Clucas took the young man for a
ride in his Kenworth long-haul
truck.
Representatives are incumbents Jim Horn of
Shelby, Andy Dedmon of Earl and Debbie Clary
: of Cherryville; Dennis Davis of Lattimore and
: John Weatherly of Kings Mountain.
See Giving, 3A See Accor, 3B
Eo]
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Kings Mountain Senior Center regulars Charlie Blalock, Joe Smith, and Wanda Hodge joined a
group of their friends at the Senior Center on Monday to recall the joys and hardships of days
gone by.
Gastonia Shelby Bessemer City
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