Thursday, July 20, 2000
CHEE
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Vol. 112 No. 29
Since 1889
KINGS MOUNTAIN
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INSIDE
PEOPLE
m
Faye Harry at home
spinning gospel tunes
#
.
a
Since she was
a young child,
Grover’s Faye
| Harry has
| been a big
i cospel music i
| fan. Her job as
“ Manager at
Radio Station WKMT allows
her to make a living doing
something she truly loves. 5A
Sunshine Johnson
in beauty pageant
on Kings
Mountain’s
Sunshine
Johnson will
be among the
contestants vy-
| ing for the
crown of Miss
Gastonia
Saturday night at Gaston
College. 2B
New golf manager
at KM Country Club
Fa Gaston
County teach-
i er Jim :
| Paysour’s re-
| tirement
| didn’t last
+] long. He re-
3 il tired from
5 teaching
ou Nok school in May,
a and in July ac-
cepted a full-time position as
Manager of Golf and Sales at
Kings Mountain Country
Club. 6A
BUSINESS
Firestone celebrates
its 100th birthday
Kings Mountain's Firestone
plant on I-85 celebrated the
100th founding of the compa-
ny Thursday. 10A
CVS Pharmacy
expands services
i
Be
The pharmacy department
at CVS Pharmacy in Kings
Mountain is expanding its ser-
vices by adding a new drug
counting system which will
make filling prescriptions
faster and safer. 10A
ETT
: COMMUNITY
Council to consider
video arcade ordinance
Kings Mountain City
Council will hold a public
hearing Tuesday on a pro-
* posed amendment to video ar-
KM ETJ hearing Tuesday night
City wants to manage growth, some citizens fear annexation
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
With Kings Mountain grow-
ing in every direction, the job
facing planners is how to keep
that growth from becoming a
pair of trousers too small to
wear.
The combination of industrial
and commercial development
as well as folks moving into the
city from surrounding areas,
has made planning for future
growth in Kings Mountain im-
perative. But, some folks who
want to retain their rural way of
life think bigger is not better.
Wanting to take advantage of
its excellent job opportunities
and high quality of life, more
and more people are coming to
Cleveland County and Kings
Mountain. Recent statistics
show that for the period 1994-
1998, 5,432 people moved from
Bl A HANDFUL
Cleveland County to neighbor-
ing Gaston County. However,
for that same period, 7,009
moved from Gaston County to
Cleveland. About half of all
newcomers to Cleveland
County came from Gaston.
Behind Gaston, the next four
counties that people move
from to Cleveland are
Rutherford, Mecklenburg,
Lincoln and Cherokee, S.C. .
Many of the newcomers are
settling in Kings Mountain and
building homes. Since January
of this year, permits have been
issued in Kings Mountain for 16
new single family dwellings
with a total value of $1.2 mil-
lion.
“Though we are seeing some
subdivision building, much of
the new construction is single
homes on existing roads or on
lots between other houses,”
said Kings Mountain planning
director Steve Killian. “As far as
subdivisions go, Mountain
Manor is the most active with
building going full tilt.”
Growth means that long
range planning is on the Kings
Mountain plate. Last week's de-
cision by the Cleveland County
Board of Commissioners to ap-
prove a two mile Extra
Territorial Jurisdiction (ET]) for
Kings Mountain went a long
way in making that zone a real-
ity. The area was approved with
the stipulation that efforts be
made to educate the public
about exactly what the ET] was
and how it would handled.
The next step in the process
will be a public hearing on the
matter at the July 25th meeting
of the Kings Mountain city
council. After the public hear-
ing, the city council can adopt a
See Hearing, 2A
ALAN HODGE /THE HERALD '
Down from Wisconsin to visit friends, Tom Jordens (left) and Chuck Treywick (right) were eagerly
buying some good Southern melons and cantaloupes from Brooks McAbee in Kings Mountain. The
A Kings Mountain tradition -
the 53rd annual Bethware Fair -
will be held July 25-29 on the
grounds of Bethware
Elementary School.
The event, sponsored by the
Bethware Progressive Club,
opens at 6 p.m. Tuesday
through Friday, and at 3 p.m. on
Saturday. Proceeds go to benefit
Bethware School and other
community activities.
There will be games and con-
tests for children, numerous
shows and rides on the
midway, exhibits in the school
gymnasium, and a number of
special events for the entire
Bethware Fair |
opens Tuesday
of Fairs and is approved by the
NC Department of Agriculture.
Raeford White serves as
President of the sponsoring
Bethware Progressive Club,
which was founded in 1947.
Craig Mayes is vice-president,
Mitchell McKinney secretary,
Fred Tate treasurer and Jim
Yarbro assistant treasurer.
This year’s souvenir fair
booklet is dedicated to Don
Welch, longtime member and
friend of the club.
Glenn Hicks and Marshall
Jones are co-managers of the
fair, and Stokes Wright,
Marshall Jones and Sesco White
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
With the merger of Kings
Mountain, Shelby and
© Cleveland County schoolsin ...
limbo because of recent court
rulings, the State School Board
decided against acting on reaf-
firmation of its acceptance of
the merger plan in its monthly
meeting Thursday in Asheville.
Although the Board's
Chairman Phil Kirk said he still
expects the group to eventually
reaffirm its decision, the matter
was pulled from the agenda late
Wednesday afternoon.
Kings Mountain School
Board's attorney, Brian Shaw,
had requested time on the agen-
da to explain KM's position.
“We're just waiting to do the
next thing,” said KM School
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
New homes like this one in the Mountain Manor subdivision
have been popping up all over Kings Mountain this year. Since
January, 16 permits worth over $1 million have been issued
for new single family dwellings in Kings Mountain.
_ KM parents
Board member Stella Putnam
after the matter was taken off
the agenda. “From what I've .
been told theyre evidently go-
ing to review the transcript
from the Office of
Administrative Hearings and
decision by Judge Morrison be-
fore they move forward.”
Morrison recently denied KM
Schools an injunction against
the implementation of merger
until lawsuits could be heard in
court, with the stipulation that
the State Board reaffirm its June
1 decision approving the
Cleveland County
Commissioners’ merger plan.
Kings Mountain contends that
the merger plan is illegal be-
cause it does not include 183
Gaston County students who
live in the KM School District
See Merger, 3A
KM School Board proceeds
with plans for new school
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
The Kings Mountain Board of
Education is going ahead with
its plans to build a new 5-6
grade school on the new Kings
Mountain Boulevard, but it will
need the help of Cleveland
County Commissioners to com-
plete the project by its target
date of August, 2002.
Supt. Dr. Bob McRae and ar-
chitect Roger Holland told the
Board at its meeting Tuesday
night at Central School that the
900-student facility’s projected
cost would be $3-4 million more
than initially thought.
McRae said the Board has
been planning the school for
years and has saved approxi-
MW A straight loan from the
County Commissioners, with
the commissioners “paying
themselves back” by keeping
Kings Mountain's share of sales
tax redistribution funds.
M Have commissioners nego-
tiate a loan contract with a fi-
nancial institution.
Bl Have commissioners ap-
prove a Certificate of
Participation, thus guaranteeing
payment of loans to the school
system.
McRae told the Board that
they do not have to have the en-
tire cost of the project “in pock-
et,” but have to show “evidence
that you'll have it when the pro-
ject is completed.”
Holland went over the floor
plan with the Board, which in-
: : i llre- & family. are exhibit managers. mately $8 million in shares of creased from 93,508 to 112,495
ee as Airis is free. Parking Other fair committee heads state bond money and sales tax square feet after consultations
feet from other arcades, resi- will be handled by the White include Roger Goforth and redistribution. Approximately with teachers and other staff
dences and churches, and 300 Plains Shrine Club. Craig Mayes, parking; Carl $1 million can be saved be- members. Although items such
feet from schools. 2A Kristen Marie Tate, daughter = Burton, Tom Bumgardner, tween now and the projected as wider halls, bathrooms, con-
of Greg and Kim Tate of Kings Roger Goforth and Gilbert opening of the new school, he ference /workrooms and stor-
3 ly Mountain and a rising fifth Patterson, tickets; Sesco White, said. age rooms were added, Holland
Goblet of Fire grade student at Bethware commercial booths; Jim Yarbro, Rising construction cost, and assuged Board members that
at KM library School, will reign as the Fred Tate, Raeford White and adjustments to the original plan the plan is not frivolous and
Bethware Fair Queen. She will ~~ Tommy Yarborough, food; will result in a projected final had already gotten positive re-
Children don’t have to participate in opening cere- Glenn Hicks and Marshall cost of around $11.75 million, action fron the Division of
stand in long lines at book- monies Tuesday at 6 p.m. Jones, rides; Craig Mayes and McRae said. School Planning.
stores to get a copy of the new Bethware Fair is one of the Tommy Yarborough, agricul- McRae pointed to three possi- The Board authorized McRae
Harry Potter book, ‘Goblet of longest-running many ture; Craig Mayes and Ken Dillan tat WOW pli the and Holland to proceed with
ire. i ilableat i fairs in North Carolina. Itis a ws system to go ahead wi e
a 3A # member of the NC Association See Fair, 2A KRISTEN TATE project: See School, 3A
Kings Mountain Gastonia Shelby Bessemer City
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