The Heral
Thursday, May 4, 2000
KINGS MOUNTAIN
Vol. 112 No. 18
Since 1889
9
50 Cents
YE Dowell
A 9 Sr¥ited head
5 2 MN asketball coach
at KM High 6A
KM man
faces burglary,
robbery charge
A 26-year-old Kings
Mountain man has been
charged with first degree bur-
* glary and robbery with a dan-
gerous weapon following an in-
cident Sunday at a residence on
Hill Street.
Lt. Melvin Proctor charged
Tyronne Deshawn Crocker of
520 Crocker Road. He was
jailed without bond at the
Cleveland County Detention
Center. A $30,000 bond was set
Monday during a first appear-
ance hearing in District Court.
Proctor alleges that Crocker
and another man went to the
home of Mary Ruth Beheler and
James Michael Huskins at 312
Hill Street April 30 at 1:50 a.m.
and knocked on the door. A vis-
itor, Richard Alton Handcock of
619 Chestnut Ridge Church
Road, reportedly did not know
the men and went to get
Huskins.
According to Proctor,
Crocker, who reportedly had
been asked to leave the proper-
ty on previous occasions, and
an unknown individual “let
themselves in” the house and
inquired about purchasing a
necklace.
Proctor said when they were
told the necklace wasn't for
sale, the unknown suspect al-
legedly pulled a gun and
Crocker allegedly took the
necklace from around Beheler’s
neck.
Also reported stolen was a
Zenith VCR. The VCR and
Farago silver necklace are each
valued at $60.
According to Proctor, the un-
known suspect is referred to as
“Cisco,” and he is working on
leads to locate him.
Police are also investigating a
common law robbery which oc-
curred Wednesday at New
China Restaurant, 213 E. King
Street.
According to Lt. Proctor, a
man approached the cashier
and asked for change. When a
female employee opened the
cash register, the suspect al-
legedly reached his hand over
the counter and grabbed money
out of the register and ran out
the door.
The case is still under investi-
gation.
Subway closed
until tax matter
is rectified
The Cleveland County
Sheriff's Department closed
down the Subway on York
Road in Kings Mountain
Thursday, apparently for late
payment of North Carolina
sales and use tax.
Officer Brian Hawkins said
he secured the building around
1 p.m. on a warrant from the
North Carolina Department of
Revenue Sales and Use Tax
Division.
Officials of the NC
Department of Revenue refused
to comment on the case.
Subway owner Paul Brintley
of Kings Mountain said he is
working with the Department
of Revenue officials to reopen
the business.
“We are in the process of re-
opening,” he said. “It’s just a
matter that has to be cleared up
with the state on sales tax. It
should be no more than a day
or two, and we appreciate all
the business from the communi-
ty and look forward to reopen-
ing.”
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Cleveland County voters
who felt their concerns about
school merger fell on deaf ears
let their voices be heard loud
and clear in Tuesday’s primary
election, ousting two incumbent
commissioners and making
sure the third finished a distant
third in his party’s race for
three seats available in the fall
general election.
Democrat Joe Hendrick and
Republican Joe Cabaniss, both
supporters of merger, finished
dead last in tickets led by King
Mountain candidates. Only
Chairman Jim Crawley sur-
vived to run again in
November.
KM School Board member
Ronnie Hawkins led the battle
for three nominations from the
Republican Party. Hawkins col-
lected 77 percent of the vote
(2,633) and won 28 of the 31
county precincts. The only
Shelby #2, #3 and #4.
David Morrow ran second
with 1,655 votes, and Crawley
was third with 1,054. Cabaniss
finished with 963 votes.
Bethware School Principal
Mary Accor, a former appointed
commissioner, led the
Democratic ticket with 4,628
votes, followed by former KM
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Many people in Kings
Mountain cast their votes in
Tuesday's election at a new
place, and not all were happy
about it.
Since the decision by the
Cleveland County Elections
Board to move polling places in
Kings Mountain from the YM-
CA in the former Community
Center and National Guard
Armory to First Baptist Church
and Boyce Memorial ARP
Church, some voters have expe-
rience confusion and aggrava-
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
precincts he did not lead were
School Board member Tom
Bridges with 3,922 and current
Cleveland County School Board
member Kenneth Ledford with
3,781. They will all move on to
the November election against
the three Republican nominees.
The top three vote-getters will
be elected.
Rounding out the Democratic
field were former commissioner
Ralph Gilbert with 2,806 votes,
Ken Jones with 2,599, Bill
Walker with 2,029, and
Commissioner Joe Hendrick
with: 1,705.
According to Elections Board
Chairman Debra Blanton, 28
percent of the registered
Democrats (8,856) and 20 per-
cent of the registered
Republicans (3,150) participated
in the election.
All three Kings Mountain
winners were ecstatic with their
Tuesday showing, and all three
said the vote was an indication
that Cleveland County folks did
not appreciate the way commis-
sue.
“I think the people of
Cleveland County realized
what it was like to have a voice,
and they went to the polls and
made the decision and voted
their conviction,” Accor said. “I
am glad they had confidence in
See Election, 5A
tion.
“They shouldn't have
changed it,” said Roosevelt
Ingram. “It seems like they try
to discourage people from vot-
ing. I voted at the Armory for
30 years, now they move the
polling place. Nothing was
wrong with the armory.”
Elections Board Chairman
Debra Blanton has said that the
Kings Mountain YMCA “ran us
out.” David Ozmore of the YM-
CA said the elections people
didn’t want to change the loca-
tion of the polling place in the Y
while renovations were being
done. The Armory was closed
sioners handled the merger. i=
oters speak
loud and clear
2 of 3 commissioners ousted,
KM candidates top vote getters
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
‘Sandy Surber of Kings Mountain places her completed ballot in
the vote tabulator at the Kings Mountain American Legion during
Tuesday’s primary election.
down as a poling place because
of lack of parking and tele-
phone service. :
“It seems like we've voted in
every place in town,” said
Raeford White. “They need to
get one place and stick with it.”
Billy Benton of the Cleveland
County Sheriff's Department
didn’t mind coming to Boyce
Memorial to cast his vote.
“The church has more park-
ing and is easier to get in and
out of,” Benton said.
* Kings Mountain contracted
with the Board of Elections to
run city elections in 1997. The
city provided the county with
Budget hearing Tuesday
City Council will hold a public hearing
Tuesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to receive
citizen input on the proposed 2000-01 fiscal year
budget. Council may take action on the budget
after the hearing.
The city is considering a $27,690,419 budget
which represents a $1,405,164 increase over the
current year’s budget. The budget also includes a
decrease in the property tax rate from 40 cents to
36 cents per $100 valuation.
The proposed budget is available for public pe-
rusal at City Hall and Mauney Memorial Library.
One major item in the general fund is an appro-
priation of $830,365 for the Sanitation
Department which includes a proposal to go to
curbside garbage pick-up. According to Mayor
Rick Murphrey, curbside pick-up could generate
$180,000 in savings after one year and would pro-
vide better and more dependable service. There
would be special provisions to continue backyard.
pick-up for totally disabled citizens.
See Budget, 5A
Revitalization meeting
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey has
called a public meeting for Monday, May 8 at 7
p-m. at City Hall to receive public input on a revi-
talization of downtown Kings Mountain.
Murphrey and City Manager Jimmy Maney
have been discussing ideas with Steven Turner of
Communitas of Rock Hill, SC, a firm that has had
tremendous success with downtown revitaliza-
tion efforts in other municipalities. If sufficient in-
. terest is shown to revitalize downtown for tourist
and business attractions, the city may consider
hiring Turner to advise it in the effort.
“We have been looking at what we can do as a
city to revitalize the downtown area, and we've
been meeting with different consultants and orga-
nizations to provide the best economical plan to
See Downtown, 5A
Some voters unhappy with poll change
two voting tabulators and
agreed to pay a monthly charge
of $3 per 100 registered voters
or a fraction thereof for the pur-
pose of maintaining voter regis-
tration in the city.
The city also pays the actual
cost of conducting the elections,
including salaries for judges, as-
sistants, and clerical help. The
Elections Board reimburses the °
city the filing fees of candidates
who run for city positions.
“It seems like they waited un-
til the last minute to tell us
where to vote,” Ingram said as
he went in to cast his ballot.
Merger
battle
goes to
Raleigh
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
As the State Board of
Education began its two-day
monthly meeting Wednesday
morning in Raleigh, lawyers for
the Kings Mountain Board of
Education and Support Our
Schools parents group were
preparing court action in case
the Board approves the
Cleveland County”
Commissioners’ plan to merge
the county, Kings Mountain and
Shelby school systems.
The State Board will hear the
request today at 9:15 a.m. Brian
Shaw, attorney for the KM
District Schools, will be allotted
15 minutes to try to persuade
the Board to deny the request,
but Lue Lesegne, attorney for
the parents’ group, said he had
been denied a spot on the agen-
da. Gil Middlebrooks, attorney
for the Cleveland County Board
of Commissioners, will present
the merger plan.
Both KM groups are protest-
ing the plan, saying it violates
the rights of 183 students who
live in Gaston County and the
city limits of Kings Mountain
and who have always attended
KM District Schools. The KM
school board interprets state:
law to mean that both
Cleveland County and Gaston
County Commissioners must
approve the plan. Cleveland
‘County Commissioners did not
seek approval of the Gaston
Board.
“There are some cases that
our attorneys feel that are relat-
ed to the claim that Gaston
County students are in our sys-
tem,” noted Supt. Bob McRae.
McRae pointed out that there is
“ample evidence” that the
Kings Mountain school liries
have been in existence for a
number of years.
Kings Mountain Schools’
original 1905 charter estab-
lished the distriét lines as “all
the territory embraced in the in-
corporate limits of the town of
Kings Mountain.”
The Gaston students affected
live in the Linwood and
Northwoods communities, both
part of the city limits of Kings
Mountain. Students from
Linwood have been attending
KM schools since the 1960's,
See Merger, 5A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Kings Mountain mayor Rick Murphrey tries one of the new 26-
inch water pipes for size that will be installed near Moss
Lake. The project will lay 3,000 feet of pipe in the first phase
of a new line to Kings Mountain.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 126 Years
739-4782
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
Gastonia
529 New Hope Rd.
865-1233
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
484-6200
Bessemer City x
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
629-3906
Member FDIC
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