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/ <<) KINGS MOUNTAIN 2 Thursday, March 2, 2000 ] a Aol oa AT aes onk x » N° ers 1. > «tillman, left, : : S007 att Ash win se 3A crowns 1B os oO g Lv Vol. 112 No. 09 . . Since 1889 50 Cents SPORTS Mountaineers open 2000 baseball season Kings Mountain's ‘Mountaineers opened their 2000 baseball season Tuesday night with a 10-3 loss to East Gaston. The Mountaineers host Shelby today at 4:30 at Lancaster Field. 1B Spring Cleaning Mayor wants some teeth in city’s ‘junk’ ordinances By GARY STEWART Editor of The Herald Saying that “first impressions are important,” Mayor Rick Murphrey announced “Operation sms Spring Cleaning” at Tuesday night's Council | i CITY meeting. ! i © Murphrey asked City Manager Jimmy Maney ) Council won't oppose moving of precincts Councilman Gene White's motions to protest Cleveland County Elections Board's plan to move two Kings Mountain voting precincts, and White's effort to reduce the number of members of the local ABC Board failed for lack of a sec- ond at Tuesday’s Council meeting. 3A Council approves incentives policy Kings Mountain is hoping a new Incentives Policy will help lure business and indus- try into the area. 3A and staff to review all the existing codes relating i to beautification and “put some strength” in d them. Murphy indicated that the first phase of what he hopes will be a massive city beatification pro- ject may include dealing with junk cars and ap- , pliances left in citizens’ yards, satellite dishes, landscaping entrances to the city, and obtaining a new sweeper to keep streets clean. “As people bring their friends in from out of town, first impressions are very important,” he said. “It’s important to look good. We've already focused on some things, but we have a window of opportunity because Kings Mountain is posi- tioned for growth.” Murphrey said he encourages citizens to call ® him and city staff and give their input on area of town that need to be improved. “Kings Mountain is a loving, caring city,” he said. “I'm excited about this city and I'm proud to be the mayor of this city.” Murphrey suggested that city s*.. "come back ' { to the Council with recommendations on how to proceed with the clean-up effort. Councilman Gene White suggested that the | city stress construction of fences around older SE swimming pools that may not be included in cur- rent ordinances. DEOPLE : : - i City Manager Jimmy Maney said his staff ; oT Wanda Ammay, left, and Linda Taylor work to repair a house in eastern North Carolina flooded by Hurricane ; I Took op Some of thle: ordinances and ; { Floyd. The ladies were part of a disaster cleanup team sent to Princeville and Tarboro by Bethlehem Baptist pen 4 . : : Church. Maney pointed out that the mowing season is Kenn Steffy S.C. : near, and in the past some owners of overgrown archaeologist of year Kings Mountain native Kenn Steffy, now of Sumter, S.C., has been recognized as South Carolina’s Distinguished Archaeologist BY ALAN HODGE Mountain Baptist Association sent Kings Mountain people aren’t forgetting eastern North Carolina neighbors in need homes that were under water. The vacant lots have not maintained them because the ' city’s penalty / mowing fee is cheaper than com- mercial mowing fees. “We will start increasing fines at a more rapid | pace,” he said. “You're going to see some clean- up but you're also going to see some complaints.” Councilman Carl DeVane agreed with of the YeatiSA Staff Writer workers to help flood victims. Justa procedure is known as a “mudout.” Murphrey that “first impressions are very impor- few of these include Putnam - “The first trip we made to the tant,” and he asked the city to make an “extreme” : Even though media attentionhas ~~ Memorial, Double Shoals Baptist, flood zone, we didn’t take enough effort to clean-up King Street. : : I waned since last September when and Poplar Springs Baptist. tools or equipment,” said Bethlehem “Most people coming through Kings Mountain COMMUNITY Eastern North Carolina was inun- “One group from one church can’t Baptist member Earlene King. “We see King Street and little else,” he said. “Make Wu dated by Hurricane Floyd, the possibly take all the credit or do all had to carry out flood trash and sure it is the prettiest street in town from east to Patterson Grove reliving memories The old Patterson Grove School near Kings Mountain may be gone, but its memory still lives in print. 4B KM historic tour in planning stage Kings Mountain folks are gearing up for the annual Kings Mountain Historic Tour, which will take place May 6. Several homes, the new Historical Museum, and cleanup work still goes on. Part of i the herculean effort to restore a sem- : blance of normalcy to towns like i Princeville and Tarboro that spent i days under water, teams from : Bethlehem Baptist Church in Kings i Mountain have spent hundreds of : hours helping with rebuilding ef- : forts. “We have sent nearly 40 volun- : teers Down East to help clean up : and rebuild homes,” said : Bethlehem’s minister, Rev. David ; Blanton. “We started going as soon : as the flood waters began to recede i around October 1st.” In addition to Bethlehem Baptist, | : many other churches in the Kings the work that needs doing to help the flood victims,” Blanton said. Nonetheless, Bethlehem Baptist has been one of the most diligent in helping those who lost homes, pos- sessions, and peace of mind when the Tar River overflowed its banks. Since early October, the church has had volunteers in the Tarboro area all but a few weeks. Not only is the work hard, it’s hazardous as well due to contamination of everything the flood waters soaked. For their own safety, volunteers had to take tetanus shots, wear masks, and rub- ber gloves. A major part of the flood cleanup involves tearing out the walls of sheetrock in buckets.” Just learning how to do things like hanging sheetrock was a new experience for volunteers. Fortunately for Bethlehem Baptist, many of their members were “tool literate.” “We learned as we went along,” Blanton said. “We had some great construction instructors in members like Bill King, Brian Johnson and Tim Echols.” At night, many flood volunteers rested their weary bones by sleep- ing in the nursery at First Baptist of Tarboro. See Church, 3A west.” Dean Spears said Kings Mountain should use Forest City as a model. “When we began discussing a mural down- town, I visited Forest City to see a mural there,” he said. “Forest City is great compared to Kings Mountain. They've got something to be proud of. They've worked at it and that’s what I'd like to see us do.” ; In another matter, Murphrey appointed David Allen, Rodney Gordon, Ronnie Humphries and Dale Green to a special Citizen Police Task Force to work with law enforcement to rid the city of il- legal video poker machines. “They will work with law enforcement and city staff to review codes and review other cities to see how they address this issue,” Murphrey said. See Spring, 3A 4 Commissioner calls for merger vote Central School will be fea- ' tured. 5B AHP BY ALAN HODGE community have spoken tome Schools embraced the ideaofa Cleveland County are against Hamrick from Shelby City i : Staff Writer about it.” referendum. Board chairman merger.” Schools, Greene, and Dr. Larry fi COMING Cabaniss declined to say ex- Tommy Greene said that he Allen from Kings Mountain NEXT WEEK . The issue of merging all actly who he had discussed the . and others have been calling The referendum question plan to take their concerns i three Cleveland County school idea with, but did emphasize for the chance for people to ex- put the brakes to talks about over where merger is headed fi w systems into one has taken yet that he and his fellow commis- = press their opinion on merger redrawing school district lines and by what course directly to i : another turn in its circuitous . sioners had not had any meet- through a referendum since that members of all three the county commissioners at 1 KM Hall of Fame . path to conclusion. Acting on ings on the subject. the issue first flared up back in boards held last Wednesday. their next meeting on March stars to be featured Beginning next week, The Herald will begin a four-week | series on this year’s Kings Mountain Hall of Fame in- ductees. Keith Layton, Roy Pearson, Steve Moffitt, and Regina Brown will be induct- ed at the 13th annual ceremo- ny Tuesday, April 11 at KMHS. Next week's feature will be on Keith Layton. XS) XI | YOUR HOMETOWN [:7:N 01.4 what he feels is quiet but firm support for merger from many citizens, Cleveland County Commission Vice-Chairman Joe Cabaniss has proposed the question be put to voters as part of the May 2 primary elec- tion. “I can’t take complete credit for the idea of a referendum on merger,” Cabaniss said. “People in various areas of the Ee i FIRST NATIONAL BANK Even if the merger question actually ends up on the ballot in May, the results wouldnt become law. Since the commis- sioners don’t really need the approval of voters to merge the county’s three systems, the vote would be little more than a public opinion poll. - At their regular meeting Monday night, board members of the Cleveland County Kings Mountain 300 W. Mountain St. Celebrating 126 Yearo 739-4782 November. Kings Mountain District Schools superintendent Dr. Bob McRae said he favored a vote too. “A referendum would be a reasonable way to settle the question,” McRae said. “Though the commissioners are not required to act on the results, I think a vote would substantiate our belief that the tnajority of citizens in Gastonia 529 New Hope Rd. 865-1233 Board members say they are confused about exactly what it is they can do to avoid merger. Talk of a referendum made the open meeting that the school boards held February 16 in Shelby where they tried to come up with ways to work together to avoid merger a moot point. i Acting on their frustrations, board chairmen Dr. Jack Shelby 106 S. Lafayette St. 484-6200 21. In the meantime, commis- sioner Willie McIntosh will continue to hold his town hall meetings as a sounding board for citizens to speak their mind on merger. The next two of McIntosh’s meetings will take place Monday at 7 p.m. at Township Three Elementary School and Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Crest High School. Bessemer City 1225 Gastonia Hwy. 629-3906 Member FDIC fl,
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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March 2, 2000, edition 1
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