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Thursday, February 10, 2000 Vol. 112 No. 06 Since 1889 50 Cents
| & 7
BRIEFLY xX =.
Be om
McIntosh to host
merger discussion
Cleveland County
Commissioner
Willie McIntosh
has scheduled a
public meeting
for Saturday at
6 p.m. at Kings
Mountain's
#4 B.N. Barnes
#! Auditorium to
#8 hear citizens’
- S88 concerns over
MCINTOSH the possible
merger of the
county’s three school systems.
McIntosh plans a series of
meetings around the county. He
held his first meeting Monday
night at Union Elementary
School and most of the estimat-
ed 100 people in attendance
spoke against the merger.
XM School Board
to meet on Monday
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education will hold its regular
monthly meeting Monday at 7
p.m. at Central School.
The Board will hear first
reading on numerous policy re-
vision and discuss several mis-
cellaneous items.
School Boards
to discuss merger
The three Cleveland County
school systems will meet
Wednesday, January 16 at 7
p-m. at the Cleveland County
Office Building. Auditorium to
discuss the school merger as-
sessment.
The meeting is officially a
~ called meeting of the Cleveland
County School Board.
The Cleveland County
Commissioners have been invit-
ed to the meeting.
This is the first meeting that
the boards will have a chance to
engage in a direct conversation
with each other. The Boards
participated in a recent public
meeting with the Board of
Commissioners, but the majori-
ty of that meeting time was tak-
en by the individual commis-
, sioners and their lawyer.
Lady Luck adds
nude dancing
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
They said it couldn’t be done,
but the Lady Luck video gam-
ing emporium in Blacksburg is
doing it. The subject in question
is all nude dancing.
Even though the business ad-
vertised last November their
intent to bring the entertain-
ment on, opposition from lo-
cals and a threat by law enforce-
ment to arrest anyone cavorting
in the raw stopped the show.
Now, the game is back in town
and right across the interstate
from Grover.
Even though Lady Luck can’t
sell alcohol to dancing fans, re-
freshments such as popcorn -
and coffee are available. Price to
see all that you can see is $10
cover. The shows got cranked
up last Friday night and busi-
ness has been brisk. Not only
gents, but couples have come
by to get an eyeball full.
What do folks get for their
ten bucks? Well, according to a
knowledgeable source who saw
the action first-hand, the gyrat-
ing gets under way with ladies
dressed in night clothes, then
goes round and round from
there. Action can take place ei-
ther on the specially construct-
ed stage or more up close and
personal at your table.
iia
¥
JERRY MULLINAX
ABC Board
fires former
Councilman
By GARY STEWART
8 Editor of The Herald
Calling himself a “scape-
goat,” former Kings Mountain
City Councilman Jerry Mullinax
said he would retain an attor-
ney to appeal the Kings
Mountain ABC Board’s decision»
Thursday to terminate him as
Gas going up, Up, UP
Fewer imports, bad weather hike
cost by 33 cents a gallon in year
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
No, there’s not a hole in your.
car’s fuel tank, but there might °
i be onein your wallet before
i gasoline prices stop climbing.
i With memories of last year’s
i gas war that saw prices as low
i as 89 cents per gallon a thing of
i the past, motorists could be
i paying twice that amount be-
i fore the end of 2000.
Two factors seem to be driv-
i ing the current surge in fuel
i prices. One reason gas and
i heating fuel has gone up is the
i fact that oil imports have
i dropped. The other factor has
: been the recent increased de-
{ mand due to bad weather. This
. i combination has brought about
i a classic case of supply and de-
i mand- if there's less of some-
: thing that everyone needs, the
i cost goes up.
The last 12 months has seen
: the price of crude oil go up
: from $11 per barrel to $28 per
: barrel last week. The average
: price over the last 10 years has
i been $18 per barrel. Not only do
i motorists feel the pinch when
: they fill their vehicles up, com-
i mercial trucking firms and
‘McRae addresses Gaston Board
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain District
Schools superintendent Bob
McRae and members of the
Kings Mountain school board
were, featured guests at a work
i meeting of the Gaston County
Board of Commissioners
Tuesday night. McRae present-
ed to the commissioners the
! BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The City of Kings Mountain
is serious about attracting new
: business and residents. That
was the thrust of a special
called meeting of the Utility
and Finance Committees held
February 2nd at City Hall.
One of the main topics dis- -
cussed at the meeting was the
i need for an official city industri-
al inducement policy to attract
: new businesses to Kings
{ Mountain.
“As we sit down with
prospective clients, we have
i seen the need for an incentive
i program to make us competi-
tive with surrounding counties
and communities,” said mayor
Rick Murphrey. “In today’s
drivers are finding it necessary
to raise their delivery charges to
compensate for extra fuel costs.
Prices for diesel fuel, jet fuel
and heating oil have gone up
200 percent according to the Cil
Price Information Service.
Prices for regular gasoline in
the Carolinas averaged 89 cents
per gallon in January, 1999. By
June, the price had risen to
$1.05 per gallon. Last week, the
average price of a gallon of reg-
ular in the Carolinas was up to
$1.22. Things are worse up
north. The price of a gallon of
regularlast week in Hartford,
Connecticut was $1.45.
On the local scene, gas is av-
eraging around $1.65 per gal-
lon. High test was $1.47 per gal-
lon at the Exxon near Grover.
Lil Dan’s on Battleground
Avenue reported regular at
$1.33 and premium at $1.59.
The One Stop station on Hwy.
74 near Kings Mountain was
selling their regular gas for
$1.28 and premium for $1.54.
Silver Express on King Street in
Kings Mountain had regular at
$1.28 and high test at $1.38.
Thomas Petroleum in Kings
See Gas, 3A
Kings Mountain case for why
Gaston County should join in
the fight to oppose merger of all
three schools systems in
Cleveland County:
Giving a four part presenta-
tion, McRae began by explain-
ing the fact that 183 students
who live in Gaston County cur-
rently attend Kings Mountain
schools. The majority, McRae
said, go to East Elementary.
market, you must have a pro-
gram to attract growth.”
Presented at the meeting was
a draft copy of a resolution es-
tablishing the industrial devel-
opment incentives for the City
of Kings Mountain. The draft’s
stated purpose was to “expand
economic development options
for the City of Kings Mountain
that will diversify and increase
the tax base, offer improved
employment opportunities for
[its citizens and promote eco-
nomic growth and welfare of
the business and industrial
community.”
Kings Mountain's incentive
plan is basically modeled after
those already in place in
Cleveland County as a whole
and Shelby. Advantages that
Kings Mouritain can offer
the local ABC Store Manager.
Mullinax was fired on a 2-0
vote following a special meet-
ing of the Board with their con-
sultant, Gary Harding, manager
of the Morganton ABC Store.
Harding has been working with
local ABC employees since the
State ABC Board mandated nu-
merous changes in bookkeeping
and safety procedures follow-
ing a “missing money” investi-
gation which began in early
January.
As it turned out, the $3,800
that was reported missing be-
tween December 24 and
December 27 was not money at
all but a clerical error resulting
from an employee not removing
an erroneous deposit ticket
from the bank bag.
Board members David
Faunce and Dot Hayes voted to
terminate Mullinax. Member
Terri King abstained. Board
Chairman Tim Moore does not
vote except to break a tie.
Moore, citing state personnel
laws, could not give a reason
for Mullinax’s termination but
said it was not related to the al-
leged missing funds. The action
was taken after a closed session
' with Harding. Mullinax was not
involved in the meeting.
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Billy Brooks of Kings Mountain gets ready to gas up a vehicle
at the Citgo station on Battleground Avenue. Brooks said the
price of fuel has been going up for about three weeks.
McRae also pointed out the su-
perlative job that Kings
Mountain schools do in educat-
ing their students.
“Gaston County children
who go to schools in Kings
Mountain are well cared for,”
McRae said. “Things are work-
ing well for our school system.”
Continuing, McRae gave
commissioners a brief history
lesson of his board’s stance on
prospective clients include low-
er taxes, an excellent utilities in-
frastructure, and close proximi-
ty to the Interstate highway
system.
Grant values set by the incen-
tive program to companies
would be up to 1 percent of the
total amount of net new invest-
ment in building and equip-
ment beyond a $750,000 thresh-
old. With additional percentage
approved by City Council, the
amount could go up to 1.25 per-
cent. The incentives would ap-
ply not only to new business
coming into the area, but to ad-
ditional investment made by
existing businesses. To get the
. incentives, companies would
have to meet certain criteria, i n-
cluding having their tax bill
pad] in full.
merger going all the way back
to 1981 when Kings Mountain
school board members Kyle
Smith and June lee rejected a
merger overture by Cleveland
County.
The main meat of McRae’s
message to commissioners was
to call attention to North
Carolina General Statute 115¢-
‘See McRae, 3A
KM considering incentives package
However, Mullinax said the
reason was the lack of his com-
puter experience, which he said
the Board knew about when he
was hired in December
“They had their closed ses-
sion, which I didn’t get to at-
tend, then they called me back
and said they were terminating
me,” Mullinax said. “It simply
came from the consultant out of
Morganton, which was another
store manager. He just felt like I
couldn’t reach the computer ex-
perience that is needed. That's
the reason they gave me.”
See Mullinax, 3A
Neisler
tiles for
Senate
A final flurry of filing last \
week brought the number of
persons seeking three seats on
the Cleveland County Board of ‘
Commissioners to ten. |
In addition, former Kings
Mountain Mayor Soot Neisler
filed to oppose [FEET
incumbent
Walter Dalton
in the 37th
State Senate
race.
The final
week of filing
assured pri- Se
maries for both [E
the Democratic rae
NEISLER
and
Republican parties in the
County Commissioners’ race.
David C. Morrow of Earl
filed Friday to make a four-man
race in the Republican Party.
Filing previously were Kings
Mountain School Board mem-
ber Ronnie Hawkins of Kings
Mountain, and incumbent
Commissioners Joe Cabaniss
and Jim Crawley of Shelby.
Six people will seek the three
Democratic nominations in the
May 2 primary. They include in-
cumbent Joe Hendrick of
Cherryville, Mary S. Accor and
Tom Bridges of Kings
Mountain, Ken Jones and for-
mer Commissioner Ralph
Gilbert Jr. of Shelby, Kenneth
Ledford of Polkville and
William “Bill” Walker Jr. of
Lawndale.
Many of the candidates are
running in opposition of the
proposed merger of the coun-
ty’s three systems. Hawkins,
Accor, Bridges, Ledford and
Walker have all voice opposi-
tion to the plan.
See Neisler, 3A
“In today’ s market, you °\
must have a program to
attract growth.”
-Mayor Rick Murphrey
The other major item on the
meeting agenda concerned rev-
enue analysis and utility exten-
sion recommendations for the
Crocker Ridge subdivision to be
built near Kings Mountain. The
project by Johnson and
Associates Real Estate of Crouse
would see the construction of
106 homes valued at between
$90,000 and $130,000. Johnson
and Associates wants Kings
. Mountain to provide public wa-
ter, sewer, electricity and natu-
ral gas to the development. The
company is also asking for the
development to be annexed into
the city.
Part of the Crocker Ridge dis-
cussion saw Kings Mountain
electric utilities director Nick
Hendricks present a prelimi-
nary cost estimate for providing
electricity to the project.
See Utility, 3A
6
YOU
EAA
BANK
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 126 Years
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
739-4782
Gastonia.
529 New Hope Rd.
865-1233
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
484-6200
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
629-3906
Member FDIC