Thursday, September 7, 2000
Vol. 112 No. 36
Since 1889
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go A Hp So
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.usby
_» 10 cheer
Mountaineers
to victory Friday
at Bessemer City 1B
INSIDE
SPORTS
G. STEWART / HERALD
Beth Bumgardner serves
for Kings Mountain High
in Thursday volleyball
match with R-S Central.
iB
Stoney Jackson wins
KMCC championship
. Stoney Jackson won the an-
nual Men's Club
Championship Monday at
Kings Mountain Country
Club. 3B
OPINION
Reader says Hayes
should resign Council
A Herald readers says for-
mer Police Chief Bob Hayes,
who is suing the City and
City Manager Jimmy Maney,
should resign from City
Council. 4A
POLICE
made by Kings Mountain law enforcement.
Video will be used to record
sights, sounds at traffic stops
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
when we pull a car over,” said four-
year officer Cpl. C.N. Moore. “Not
ALAN HODGE / THE HERALD
Kings Mountain police officer Cpl. C.N. Moore points to the new video camera recently installed in his patrol
car. Four of the cameras have been purchased and are ready to record the sights and sounds of every stop
mechanism i is locked in the trunk
for security. Tapes can be played on
a regular TV for evidence or review.
erger
on State
agenda
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
: The State Board of Education will vote on
whether or not to reaffirm its approval of the
merger of Cleveland County, Shelby City and
Kings Mountain District Schools at its monthly
meeting next Wednesday at The Hilton in
Greenville, NC.
: Lawyers representing Kings Mountain District
i Schools and the State Board of Education will
i have 10 minutes each to address the Board.
Board Chairman Phil Kirk said the matter was
taken off last month's agenda in Asheville to give
the Board members more time to study the tran-
scripts from a hearing held before the Office of
Administrative Hearings, in which it was ruled
that the State Board followed North Carolina law
when it originally approved the merger plan in
June.
Kings Mountain District Schools and the Save
Our Schools parent group have filed a number of
lawsuits against the Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners and the State Board of Education.
A suit by the parents claiming violation of the
civil rights of Gaston County students who
weren't included in the County Commissioners’ ]
merger plan is slated to be heard October 4 in Ya
Gaston County Superior Court.
A stay of merger was granted Kings Mountain
Schools after it filed suits against the State and
County Boards claiming the plan is illegal be- 3
cause it didn’t include the Gaston County portion |
of Kings Mountain. Those hearings - one in Wake
County and one in Cleveland County - have not
yet been scheduled.
i... However. the State Attorney General's office
has filed an appeal in the case against the State
Board of Education, asking that it be dismissed.
State School Board Chairman Phil Kirk said the
merger issue will be heard Wednesday at 1 p.m.
only does the camera have night-
time capability, it can also record
conversation as well.”
Made by Mobile-Vision, the tiny
camera is only a few inches square.
Mounted on the patrol car’s dash-
board, it can be swiveled to capture
a wide field of view. On the inside
roof near the top of the windshield,
a tiny monitor and control panel al-
lows officers easy reach of controls
and a clear view of what the camera
In previous meetings, the Board has held merger
discussion on Thursday mornings.
“We're doing it on Wednesday because the
meeting facility at the Hilton is larger and we
didn’t know if people were coming or not,” Kirk
said. “It will be more convenient to have itih a
larger room.” :
The Thursday portion of the meeting will be -
held at the Pitt County School offices, which are:
much smaller and will not accommodate a large:
number of people, he said.
“The camera comes on automati-
cally when the blue lights are acti-
vated,” Moore said. “It can also be
operated manually.”
According to Moore, another ben-
efit of the camera is its ability to
zoom in on a license plate from a
distance of four car lengths away.
This allows officers to check the tag
even before the stop is made. The
: Folks stopped for whatever rea-
i son by the Kings Mountain police
should smile- because now they're
on candid camera.
Just installed in four of the KM-
PD's patrol cars, state of the art
video cameras will record the sight
and sound of every stop those offi-
cers make.
“The new cameras will benefit us
because now we can have a video
Kansas man robbed
in Kings Mountain
A motorcyclist traveling I-
85 was robbed of $120 and his
wrist watch while using a pay #
phone in the parking lot of
Burger King. 6B
See Camera, 3A
AR and audio record of what happens is actually recording. The taping See Merger, 2A
. Crawl ithd f
rawicy withdraws from race,
Kings Mountain Police
radar watch for the week of
September 11-15:
Monday - W. Mountain St.
Tuesday - Cleveland Ave.
Wednesday - Highway 74 at :
Food Lion.
Thursday - N. Cansler St.
Friday - E. King St. at
Canterbury Rd.
BUSINESS
Commonwealth
gears for opening
Commonwealth Aluminum
Tube Enterprises is getting
. ready to open its new plant in
the Industrial Park at I-85 and
Highway 161. 3A.
SCHOOLS
KMHS seeking
former queens
Kings Mountain High
wants to recognize all former
homecoming queens at half-
time of its ball game on
October 6, and they need your
help in locating some of the
ladies. 5A
Thomas named as replacement
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Cleveland County
Commission Chairman Jim
Crawley will soon be heading
south of the border. In an an-
nouncement Friday at the
Shelby Rotary Club, Crawley
said he would drop out of the
© upcoming commission race and
relocate with his family to prop-
erty he owns in Summerville,
South Carolina.
Crawley said the school
merger issue in which he
played a major role, had no
bearing on the move. Others
weren't so sure about that.
“I think merger is the main
reason he’s leaving not just the
county, but the state,” said
merger opponent Kathy Falls.
“Crawley and his business
friends have created this merger
mess and now he’s leaving it to
the parents to pick up the
pieces. It’s too bad he won't be
around for the elections in
November so we can beat him
at the polls the way we beat his
friends.”
Another merger opponent,
Holly Robinson of Kings
Mountain had a variety of reac-
tions to Crawley’s announce-
ment.
“A lot of people have painted
THOMAS
CRAWLEY
Robinson said. “But given his
expertise in recruiting industry,
it will be hard to fill his shoes.
Up until this merger situation,
I've had no complaints against
him. He has done a lot of good
for the county, but I think that
legacy will be tarnished by his
stand on merger.”
That legacy was also the sub-
ject of comments by commis-
sion candidate Ronnie
- Hawkins.
“It’s hard to criticize him
without knowing the real rea-
sons for his departure,”
Hawkins said. “I've never had a
harsh word with him on any is-
sues until merger came along.
His work bringing business into
the county was good. It was the
arbitrary and capricious way
that merger was handled that I
questioned.”
Hawkins also said that he felt
the main issue in the merger sit-
missioners didn’t listen to the
people. He felt that since
Crawley was one of the prime
forces behind merger, that he
should have remained to guide
it on whatever course it may
take.
“If his leadership got us
there, he should stay and help
get the system working.”
Crawley’s own opinion is
that he will leave Cleveland
County feeling as if he made a
real difference in the improve-
ment of life for its citizens.
“There’s no question I've had
a part in many good things in
the county,” Crawley said. “Just
a few include the Broad River
Greenway, the new senior cen-
ters, the recruitment of new
business, a new minimum
housing code, and the new in-
dustrial park in Kings
Mountain.”
According to Crawley, he’s
aware of the talk about his de-
parture and the school merger
situation.
“Current politics in
Cleveland County has absolute-
ly nothing to do with the deci-
sion to move,” he said. “As far
as those who oppose merger, I
respect their opinions.”
With Crawley’s absence from
the November elections, the
question of who would take his
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Construction worker Randy Alexander is part of the crew
preparing the ground for the new medical office going up at
Canterbury Road and Highway 74 in Kings Mountain. Work is
also underway on the adjacent lot where the new Senior
YOUR
CAL
3 BANK
him as the big bad wolf,” uation was the fact that com- See Crawley, 3A Senior will be built.
Kings Mountain Gastonia Shelby Bessemer City
FIRST NATIONAL BANK 300 W. Mountain St. 529 New Hope Rd. 106 S. Lafayette St. 1225 Gastonia Hwy. »
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