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Thursday, April 6, 2000
Vol. 112 No. 14
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What will
happen to
proposed
KM school?
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
In all the talk about school
merger, one aspect that that has
been overshadowed by what
will happen to the schools and
students is how the merger will
influence, and be influenced, by
tax monies.
With the current supplemen-
tal school tax set at 22 cents per
$100 in Shelby, 19 cents per $100
in Kings Mountain, and 10
cents per $100 in the county,
changes will come to those fig-
ures with merger. The proposed
new countywide education tax
will be set at 13 cents- but can
be raised if needed according to
provisions in the merger plan
approved Tuesday night.
Current base county tax rate
is .627 per $100 property value
for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
The rate for fiscal year 2000-
2001 will be set in June.
According to Cleveland County
Tax Collector Brenda Gardner,
no proposed base rate has yet
been set. Though property
revaluation will increase the
amount of money available to
the county, but without a clear
knowledge of what a new base
rate will be, there is at this time
no way of knowing how much
more money will be available
for, among other things, schools
in a merged system.
See School, 3A
Chamber votes
to be neutral
on merger
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce voted
Friday to remain neutral on
school merger. The vote came at
the end of a three-hour closed
meeting that saw over 20 inter-
ested parties voice their opin-
ions on the merger subject. The
voting was done by secret bal-
lot, and the Chamber didn’t an-
nounce the final count.
“The discussion was cordial,
and everyone tried to respect
the opinions of each other re-
garding the merger issue,” said
David Faunce of Kings
Mountain. It was a genuine ef-
fort to make everyone's life a
little easier.”
Faunce also said that the
Chamber wanted to take a lead-
ing role in being a “bridge
builder” between the differing
merger factions.
“No matter what the outcome
on merger, there will be some
people with hurt feelings,” said
Faunce. “We have worked too
long and hard to let the
Chamber be a divisive influ-
ence.”
The debate was informal, but
according to Faunce followed
Parliamentary procedure as
closely as possible.
“Everyone is concerned about
doing the right thing for the
children of Cleveland County,”
said Faunce.
Kings Mountain school board
member Stella Putnam said the
fact the Chamber decided to
stray neutral indicated that the
county commissioner's state-
- ments about the business com-
munity being behind them on
merger didn’t ring true.
“The vote should tell the
commissioners that business is
not behind them,” Putnam said.
“I've talked to several business
‘leaders and none of them say
that they are for merger.”
Merger plan approved,
public hearing April 18
Nearly 100 protesters picketed Tuesday before the Cleveland
County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a draft plan
for school merger. Motorists honked their horns in support of
Willie McIntosh casts ke
! BY ALAN HODGE
: Staff Writer :
The Cleveland County Board
i of Commissioners voted 4-1
i Tuesday night to approve merg-
i er of the Shelby City, Cleveland
i County and Kings Mountain
¢ District Schools systems. Willie
i McIntosh cast the sole “no”
: vote. If final approval comes
i April 18 when the public will be
i given their last say on the sub-
: ject, merger will take place July
i. 1 of this year.
The ballot came after several
i months of contentious argu-
i ment between commissioners
: who declared they were merely
i studying the issue, school
i boards, and citizens- especially
: in Kings Mountain- who were
vehemently opposed to merger.
With merger now all but a reali-
ty, the complex business of sort-
ing out just what will take place
when combining three separate
school systems into one will be-
in.
“It has been very frustrating
and disheartening to see this
take place,” said Kings
Mountain school board member.
Melony Bolin. “I can’t see that
the commissioners have done
any more real investigating of
options other than merger.”
Another Kings Mountain
school board member, Stella
Putnam, expressed concern
over the way that the commis-
sioners hired their attorney Gil
Middlebrooks with taxpayer's
money.
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
the marchers which included participants from all over the
county.
“You get what you pay for,”
Putnam said. “They hired
Middlebrooks and did it with
our money to do something we
don’t want. They are going to
do something in this county
that hasn’t worked elsewhere.”
Middlebrooks’ bill in January
had hit $16,000. The bulk of his
fee has yet to be turned in.
Putnam also questioned the
commissioners’ concern about
their perceived disparity in the
quality of education in the
county and merger ’s ability to
address it.
“Who will gauge the achieve-
ment difference?” said Putnam.
“Will there be special teams ap-
pointed by the commissioners?”
Leader of several 1960s-style
protest marches against merger,
Joe Smith, one of KM’s best,
succumbs to prostate cancer
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain citizens
mourned the loss of one of their
best friends and civic leaders
this week.
Joseph R. Smith, 65, died
L — Monday at
his home af-
ter a lengthy
bout with
prostate can-
cer.
But his
memory
lives on in
the hearts of
family and
| friends, who
will never
forget his strength and courage
in a time of weakness.
A native of Fl&rida, Smith
moved to Kings Mountain 33
years ago to work at what was
then Kings Mountain Savings
and Loan. The last several years
in a number of civic, church and
community organizations.
Smith, who had become pro-
gressively weaker over the past
several weeks, was honored at
a retirement party Friday at
Foust.
The news of his death,
though not unexpected, sad-
dened the multitude of friends
he had made over the years
here.
John Plonk of Foust said he
was not just a co-worker, but a
good friend.
“He was a first class gentle-
man in every way,” Plonk said.
“He was dedicated to the town
and he wanted it to be right at
the top all of the time, and he
worked hard to make it that
way.”
“Joe Smith never met a
stranger,” noted Larry Hamrick
Sr., a fellow Rotarian. “Joe was
real active in his work, his
church and his community. He
loved people and engaged in all
said as soon as the family
moved to Kings Mountain Joe
fell in love with the town and
its people, and at every oppor-
tunity he always did his best to
promote the community.
“He helped get the canon that
was originally brought in by the
governor that was in front of
the Joy Theater,” she recalled.
“He just always loved this
town, so he’s done whatever he
could.”
As a lad, Joseph Rivers Smith
Jr. accompanied his father to
town every Saturday morning.
The two dressed in overalls and
went from store to store talking
with the merchants and fellow
townspeople.
“Everything was so impor-
tant to him,” said Joni. “He just
wanted everybody to know
how much he loved this town
and how wonderful it was. He
felt like everybody ought to be
able to love it as much as he
did.”
ne dissenting vote;
Kathy Falls of Kings Mountain
didn’t see the need to mince
words in her contempt of merg- :
er. A mother of two children,
Falls weighed in with both fists :
figuratively flying.
“They should change the
name of Cleveland County to
Communist County,” Falls said. :
“Call the new school system
‘Communist County Schools’
too. I'm furious that at the so-
called public meetings on merg- :
er, the public wasn’t allowed to
speak. We citizens have done
our best to tell the commission- :
ers that we are against merger.”
“The commissioners think
they are above the law,” said
Esther Muench of Kings
Mountain. “They wanted merg- }
See Merger, 3A
KM Hall
of Fame
Tuesday
at KMHS
The 13th annual Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of Fame
dinner and induction ceremony
will be held Tuesday, April 11 at
6 p.m. at Kings Mountain High
School.
The meal will be served in
the cafeteria. The induction cer-
emony will follow at 7 p.m. in
B.N. Barnes Auditorium.
Gil McGregor, commentator
for the Charlotte Hornets radio
network and former Wake
Forest and NBA basketball
great, will be the guest speaker.
Tickets are $10 each and can
be purchased at The Kings
Mountain Herald, McGinnis
Department Store, or at the
door.
Jay Rhodes, Treasurer of the
Kings Mountain Sports Hall of
Fame, will be the Master of
Ceremonies.
The Hall of Fame will honor
four inductees and a host of
high school athletes for their
special achievement during the
past year.
This year’s inductees include
former City Recreation Director
Roy Pearson, former KMHS
and The Citadel baseball and
football player Keith Layton,
former KMHS wrestling coach
Steve Moffitt, and former
KMHS and Western Carolina
University basketball and vol-
leyball great Regina Brown.
.... Pearson served several years
as City of Kings Mountairt
Recreation Director, and served
the department in a volunteer
capacity prior to joining it on a
full-time basis. He was one of
the coaches of the 1966 Teener
All-Star team which won the
State and Regional champi-
onships and finished third in
the Teener World Series in
Hershey, PA.
Brown was a volleyball, bas-
ketball and softball star at
KMHS from 1983-86 and went
on to play four years of volley-
ball and one year of basketball
at Western Carolina University.
She still holds 17 WCU school
records in volleyball. She was
Southern Conference Player of
the Year in 1990.
Moffitt won 11 conference
championships in 15 years as
See Hall, 3A
ALAN HODGE, THE HER) HERALD
Four-year-old Natalie Fedysyn of Kings Mountain was trying to
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YOUR
HOMETOWN
BANK
he had served as head of the the activities that brought him Smith wos instrumental in decide which Easter bunny was her favorite at the One Stop
Finance and Credit Department close to people.” Smith’s the organization of the Kings store on Shelby Road. Besides the rabbits, Fedysyn was also
at Foust Textiles. He was active ~~ daughter, Joni Smith-Wilson, See Smith, 3A on the lookout for Easter eggs and a basket.
Kings Mountain Gastonia Shelby Bessemer City
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