MAKING
CONTACT
Mm... ah aanat Eel h : ees, : ” Sn ; Toe arenes = wn To ; Sl
iccl er. But, as evidenced by the 5to practically every level of our a step forward to speak to the
Commissioners 6 seconds it took to approve the government from the White Remember County Commissioners at the
5 3 merger, even after all the ex- House on down. * recent public hearing concern-
Ci evel and not listening pressed opposition, in the opin- to vote th ree ing school merger. You took the
ion of the people most affected -COMMISSIONEerS appropriate steps in voicing
C ou nty to the people by this action, fell on deaf ears The only. reason Lheard for - your views and you should
: and to minds that were already Yr out of office continue to seek information on
Cc = = : made up. be TEvRaien of hy Jour 8 issues in the political arena, es-
om m ISSIOoNn : To the editor: One supporter of the merger 2 Hy. to lossen Lis Sy hen f : pecially those that involve you,
: On Tesday, April 181 at even dared to compare this pro- fhe incronse canced by the To the editor: your family, and the citizens of
tended the public forum regard-
cess with that employed to pre-
Herald/Times :
revaluation after the full 8
Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496
Api) 217, 2000 Section na; Page 4 4
We must not, we must not
your county, state, and country.
Cleveland County ing the impending school sys- re Pa aes Cg years. This reasoning is now in forget hpnimes % pose a . i — nr he
Commissioners tem merger and witnessed a ment was an atl empt to justify question. It now appears as if tyico th i 0 pote to allowed to i) alwa y exercise
scene that I thought I would secret meetings held to deter- the 5-year revaluation was £ : i > Spl _- > that right. Do not sit Si and
Joe Hendrick never take place in Cleveland mine the ed A onal fate of the timed to increase property taxes M Gi ne oo ih e Tot ER . the decisions f
105-22 Northshore Ct. County. children and young adults of to coincide with the comvis- i ig Eek 2 o ie. ou without your v §
Cherryville, NC 28021 I was, in one sense, very rar young sioners’ intent to merge the Be or y For some lly ed toners
482-4616 proud to hear a student clearly Some of the checks and bal- ~~ Shoo! sysiems, These three don’t deserve to in our schools in Kings
Joe E. Cabaniss
216 Park Circle
P.O. Box 1742 ¥'-1= c=
Shelby, NC 28151-0174
487-6900 (h)
484-6204 (w)
Jim Cawley
articulate his view and thoughts
on what democracy means to
him regarding the rights of citi-
zens to be represented fairly by
elected officials.
I heard student after student
talk of their pride in their
schools, pleading with the com-
missioners to leave their schools
ances in the Constitution were
opposed, violently in some cas-
es. However, when the docu-
ment was completed it re-
mained true to its purpose of
providing enduring guidelines
for democracy that includes the
rights of all citizens. Yes, even
the citizens of Cleveland
I have never been a single-is-
sue voter. I have always tried to
consider the broader political
perspective even with all the
campaign platforms that I have
heard in my lifetime. But, this
May my vote will be to oust the
ever serve the people of
Cleveland County again.
So, when you enter the voting
booth on May 2, remember
those three names: Crawley,
Cabaniss and Hendrick.
Remember, “we the people”
now have the power! Use it!
Mountain, their children, as
well as many other children,
may be forced to attend Gaston
County Schools. Not being
against Gaston County Schools,
these teachers have strong com-
munity ties with the residents
_ of Cleveland County. There are
Q a : incumbent commissioners who little to no ties to Gaston
Rag. oe eat of Countysome224 years later voted for the merger withouta Sincerely, - County. I pray that these stu-
482-2508 Po g in ai have the right to determine public referendum, and for the Rev. Richard E. Plyler dents will be allowed to remain
hd the wa ne Us alone.” their own destiny by democrat- candidates who are running Kings Mountain in Cleveland County Schools re-
Charlie Harry Ih i ves ot the mialorit of 1c process. 2 against 1 them regions of their gardless of what grade level
P.O. Box 79 these Cl y rd C i 4 When by all estimates at least pasty affiliation. they may be.
Grover, NC 28073 C HE it AE th 3010 90% of all peopls afeced Ten lessons As for the public hearing and
937.7434 ©“. OT rau are against the merger of the the shock of what seems to be
perintendents, principals, teach-
ers, parents, or students should
school systems of Cleveland
| 1am deeply difturbed by the
learned from
deaf ears, it is amazing to me
i gly ro County, the decision to proceed €rosion of our collective politi- the hard work that all three
ge Mr AR haven Tone how itd coun- with this action by the county ¢al voice that now AA school merger school boards of this county
Lawndale, NC 26090 : ty sc i i ily 0 oe commissioners only shows a have reached even into have put in to a plan to address
Sra managed. from all over the { further erosion of people’s Cleveland County. To the editor: all the needs that
gounty, members of evs sthio rights. This blatant disregard SEI Lethe share withivour ten Commissioners have cited and
districts voiced their opposition ¢,. public opinion has caused Fred A. Tate lessons 1 learned int the the Commissioners are not even
to the impending school merg- our nation embarrassment in Kings Mountain . school merger issue: willing to look at the plan nor
give it a try.
NC State
Board of
Education
North Carolina State Board of
Education members:
Phillip J. Kirk Jr.
- Kings’ Mountain District reason for being i in education at PN
Chairman { ore H Schools. whatever level. Negative atti-» ie
P.O. Box 2508 5 - A prerequisite to being a tudes, resistance to the in- I |
Raleigh, NC 27602-2508 county commissioner is to be evitable changes that will come 1
919/836-1407
Lt. Gov. Dennis A. Wicker
State Capitol Building
Raleigh, NC 27603-8006
919/733-7350
State Trea. Harlan E. Boyles
Albemarle Building
Raleigh, NC 27603-1388..
919/733-3951" cian
CARTOONITORIAL
1 - Only white haired busi-
ness men from Shelby have a
voice in Cleveland County.
2 - If it is good for Shelby,
then it is good for the whole
county.
3 - If a majority of the people
in the county are opposed to an
issue then the county commis-
sioners will vote for it.
4 - If you work hard and
achieve excellence you will be
shut down, for example the
able to lie to the people with a
straight face.
6 - Only lawyers hired by
county commissioners know
best. Educators know nothing
about what's best for education.
7 - Black people have very lit-
tle voice in Cleveland County.
8 - Old dictators never die;
they just become county com-
missioners.
9 - The children of-Cleveland
County are not nearly as impor-
tant as the real estate in Shelby.
10 - The railroad system is
With state approval, we will
be Cleveland County Schools as
of July 1, 2000. The coming year
or two will be tremendously
hard for our school boards, our
interim board, our administra-
tors, our teachers, our students,
and our parents. We must find a
way to make peace with what
has happened and remember
the reasons we are in education.
Each and every child of this
county is the most important
will only prove to be a negative
result on our students. Our stu-
dents need us to have a positive
attitude toward their education
and toward others. This does
not mean that we should not
voice our opinion against what
we believe to be wrong, but do
so in a manner that would be
positive in the eyes of our stu-
dents. Regardless of where you
live in Cleveland County, there
are good things happening in
education in your area. Let's
keep our focus on the students
Kathy A. Taft : alive and well in Cleveland and giving them the highest
611 Queen Anne’s:Road County and moves at the speed quality of education we know
Greenville, NC: 27858 of light. how to give. Let's show the
919/ Si 7299 ins oi
Grace M. Costner
Commissioners that we can
work together across Cleveland
Murgeet] B. Harvey - A ] : Kings Mountain County, without blaming others
901 Dewey Street - v for what a few people have
Kinston, NC. 28501. . done.
919/523-4490" 5
IN (Vi A
Don’t blame
EN . Annette P. Burt
Edgar Murphy WZ all for action Kings Mountain
Mal St D16/01/0C9. tee? =F
35 onion by B of few people :
27700
Si SEN To the editor: Vv
O E MPLAT] N ¢ 0 | Bl Lr ‘ 1 £ i First of all I would like to say Address letters to the
Evelyn B. Monroe how proud I am of all the stu- Editor, P.O. Box 769, Kings
PO. Box 2000 dents from the middle and high Mountain, NC 28086 or fax 739-
Pinehurst, NC 28374 sihinels in thik coutdty for takong:. 0011
910/295-5710
Maria Teresa Palmer
205 Wilson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
919/932-4818
Jane P. Norwood
7026 Ballentyne Court
Charlotte, NC 28210
704/541-3908
Ronald E. Deal
1460 6th Street Circle NW
Hickory, NC 28601
704/324-7466
Robert R. Douglas
P.O. Box 2807
Asheville, NC 28802.
704/258-0546
Zoe Locklear
803 Harry West Lane
Pembroke, NC 28372
910/738-4844
Eddie Davis III
405 Stinhurst Drive
SIDEWALK
SUEY
By ALAN HODGE
Herald/Times
Do you think
the
government
did the right
thing in
taking Elian
Gonzalez?
They did the right
thing. He needs to
be with his father.
force.
He should be with
his dad, but they
used too much
The government
went too far in the
‘way they took him.
should be allowed
to stay here.
The boy survived a
terrible ordeal and
"Elian did.
| wouldnt want a
child of mine to
go through what
Shane Stanley Paul Pittman Earl Sellers Marshall Stiles Joe Cody
Lake Wylie Kings Mountain Bessemer City Shelby Grover
ET Em,
Durham, NC 27713
919/560-3925