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Thursday, March 29, 2001
Vol. 113 No. 13
Since 1889
50 Cents
Hall of Fame 6A
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Kings Mountain takes another merger blow
Gaston County Commissioners say they’ll no longer pay for students who live in city
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
The old saying “the check’s in the mail” will
apparently no longer be the case in the relation-
ship between Gaston County and Kings
Mountain District Schools.
The stop payment scenario is linked to the
funds that Gaston sends over every month for the
181 students who reside in the part of the Kings
Mountain city limits that jut into Gaston County.
The money amounts to $971 for each student over
a 12 month span.
The decision to stop the money and hold it in
escrow until the merger issue is decided was
made by the Gaston County Board of Education
and forwarded to the Gaston County commis-
sioners. The flow of cash is scheduled to cease be-
ginning April 1.
Adding salt to the sore is the fact that Kings
Mountain school board members had to find out
about the move by reading it in the media.
“My phone was ringing off the hook after the
news came out Sunday,” said board member
Melony Bolin. “They are still our students and I
am shocked we had to find out about the situa-
tion the way we did.”
Friday and Saturday, April 6
and 7, will be the culmination
of months of preparation as
“CrossWalk” is presented to the
Kings Mountain community by
its citizens.
The downtown intersection
of Mountain Street and
Piedmont Avenue will be
transformed into a series of
stages for a unique dramatiza-
tion of the meaning of Easter.
An original presentation,
CrossWalk will involve what is
being called “dramatically ac-
tive tableaus” to bring to life
five essential scenes of the
Passion weekend. Scenes will
range from the Last Supper to
the Resurrection.
Regal Ventures Creative
Ministries is organizing devel-
opment of this presentation on
behalf of the Kings Mountain
community.
“This will be a unique experi-
ence for the audience,” said
ministry director Reg
Alexander. “Instead of simply
passing by and viewing the
Cross Walk Easter drama
slated for downtown KM
scenes from a distance, the au-
dience will become physically
involved. They will become
part of a ‘tour group’ that liter-
ally walks through the scenes,
following Jesus and the disci-
ples as they encounter the
events of that crucial weekend.”
Steering Committee chairman
David Allen said the purpose of
the dramatizing was two-fold.
“We want to draw the com-
munity together in the recogni-
tion of the meaning behind the
Easter observance of the death
and resurrection of Jesus,”
Allen said. “We also was to be-
gin a tradition that will become
known throughout the area as a
reflection of the values of the
citizens of Kings Mountain.”
Selected streets will be
blocked off during the event
and street lights will be
dimmed to create the atmo-
sphere needed for the presenta-
tion.
According to organizers,
CrossWalk will be a true com-
See Walk, 3A.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Ed Richards (left) and David Allen test the sturdiness of the
cross being built for CrossWalk. A number of props are being
constructed for the sets of this unique downtown pageant
which will take place April 6 and 7 in Kings Mountain.
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KM patrol team aims to stop speeding on I-85 and Highway 74
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Even though the official
headgear of Kings Mountain
police officers Cpl. M.T.
Dellinger and B.S. Biletnikoff
may resemble that of a Marine
Corps drill instructor, it’s obvi-
ous from even a brief perusal of
their weekly schedule that they
wear many hats.
Working as a team, Dellinger
and Biletnikoff not only patrol
Interstate 85, Highway 74
Business and Bypass, and
Highways 161 and 216, but also
visit schools and take part in
Freeze does
slight damage
to area crops
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
If March came in like a lamb,
it is definitely going out like a
lion.
Temperatures in Kings
Mountain were below freezing
on Monday and Tuesday nights,
affecting some of the area’s
Crops.
Freezing temperatures can
hurt the income of some farm-
ers.
Ervin Lineberger, owner of
Killdeer Farms, said his straw-
berries fared the best out of his
crops.
“Well at this point, we're not
sure about the peaches or black-
berries,” Lineberger said. “We
frost protected the strawberries
with water.” !
Lineberger said he started ir-
rigating the strawberries at 8
p.m. Monday night. He said the
See Freeze, 3A
traffic checks. The guys have
been on the traffic patrol beat
since March 5 and are on the job
seven days a week. Both joined
the police force in February
1999.
“The money to hire these two
additional officers came from a
Governor's Highway Safety
Program grant,” said Kings
Mountain police chief Houston
Corn. “One purpose of the pro-
gram is to have traffic patrol of-
ficers in each city or town that
Highway 74 passes through
across the state.”
Besides traffic patrol, the
guys also visit local schools
where they give lectures on
driving safety, proper use of
child restraints, seat belt use, bi-
cycling safety, DWI, and more.
Still, it’s where the rubber meets
the road that the officers spend
the majority of their time.
“We take part in at least three
or four license and DWI checks
every week,” said Biletnikoff.
“We also participate in check-
ing stations with the Highway
Patrol, Cleveland County
Sheriff's Department, and
Gaston County police.”
According to Dellinger, he
and Biletnikoff each travel over
100 miles every day patrolling
the streets and highways
around Kings Mountain. The
guys give out an average of ten
or more tickets every day.
Dellinger says he cited a driver
recently for going 92 miles per
hour on 74 Bypass.
“During our first three weeks
on traffic patrol, we issued 198
citations and 50 warnings,”
Biletnikoff said.
Another weapon in the fight
against speeders in the Kings
Mountain environs will be com-
ing soon. According to chief
Corn, the department is slated
See Patrol, 3A
ALAN HODGE/THE HERALD
Construction worker llibaldo Jaimes (on truck) and crane operator Juan Ayala recently unloaded
the first shipment of steel beams for the new Kings Mountain Senior Center. Wall panels for the
structure should begin arriving soon.
FIRST NATIONAL BAN K
Celdbrating [E27 Years
oad
One of the lawyers representing Kings
Mountain schools in the merger fight, Brian
Shaw, said he also learned of the move to hold
the money through the media. Shaw, like the
Kings Mountain school board, had not been offi-
cially notified as of Tuesday morning.
When he got word of the situation, incoming
Kings Mountain school superintendent Dr. Larry
See Merger, 3A
Census figures
in, KM to look
at redistricting
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Newly released figures from
the Census 2000 confirms what
most folks already know- North
Carolina’s population is boom-
ing. According to the new cen-
sus, the state’s population
swelled by 1,420,676 people
since 1990- an increase of 21
percent. North Carolina now
has 8,049,313 folks who call it
home.
What is interesting about not
only North Carolina as a whole,
but certain counties in particu-
lar is the boom in the number of
Hispanic citizens since the last
census was taken ten years ago.
Since then, the number of
Hispanic folks in the state has
risen by 400 percent. In 2000,
the total number of Hispanics in
North Carolina was 378,963,
According to the new census
data, Cleveland County's pop-
ulation grew by 11,573 residents
since 1990. This represents a 14
percent increase. Of North
Carolina’s 100 counties,
Cleveland now ranks 24th in
population, down one position
from its 1990 rank of 23rd
statewide.
The Hispanic population in
Cleveland County rose by 281
percent since the last census.
Though this number sounds
impressive, it’s important to
note that it only represents an
increase of 1,433 persons.
The overall racial makeup of
Cleveland is still dominated by
whites with 77 percent of the
population- a drop of two per-
cent since 1990. Other single
race figures are 22 percent of
the population and multiple
races account for the final one
percent.
Towns in Cleveland County
range in population from
Shelby with 19,477 residents to
Earl with just 234 folks. Kings
Mountain comes in second with
a 2000 population of 9,693 peo-
ple- a 10.6 percent increase over
1990. In terms of percentage
growth, Lattimore topped the
mark with a growth rate of
128.9. Lattimore’s population is
currently 419.
Other Cleveland County
towns and their populations in-
clude Belwood, 962; Boiling
Springs, 3,866; Casar, 308;
Fallston, 603; Grover, 698;
Kingstown, 845; Lawndale, 642;
Mooresboro, 314; Patterson
Springs, 620; Polkville, 575;
Waco, 328. The lowest growth
percent was Polkville, whose
population dropped 64 percent
since 1990.
Racial makeup of Cleveland
County's towns shows Shelby
with a 40.1 percent black popu-
lation. Kingstown had the high-
est percent of blacks with 92.8
percent. Fallston came in third
in terms of black population
percentage with 29.8. Lawndale
was third at 22.3 percent and
Kings Mountain ranked fourth
with 21.6 percent of its resi-
dents listed as black. Casar had
the lowest number of blacks
with less than one percent.
The number of Hispanics in
Cleveland County towns ranges
from 304 folks in Shelby to zero
in Casar, Light Oak,
Mooresboro, and Waco. Census
2000 figures showed 139
Hispanics in Kings Mountain,
54 in Boiling Springs, and 19 in
Belwood. Other towns included
Earl and Fallston with six each,
Kingstown and Polkville with
12 each, Patterson Springs with
five, and Lattimore with two
Hispanic residents.
See Census, 3A
Local leaders oppose
North Carolina lottery
BY ALAN HODGE
Staff Writer
Just like a tossed coin land-
ing, the way most people feel
about a lottery coming to North
Carolina is either one side or
the other but rarely on the edge.
Ever since North Carolina
governor Mike Easley first men-
tioned the possibility of having
a lottery in North Carolina to
raise money for schools, the
subject has stirred up deep feel-
ings. North Carolina is current-
ly the only state on the East
Coast that doesn’t have a lot-
tery.
In a press conference an-
nouncing his budget, Easley at-
tempted to clarify his position.
“My major initiative is ‘
not,nor has it ever been the lot-
tery,” Easley said. “My major
initiative is pre-K for four-year-
old at risk and reducing class
size. The lottery is one means to
get there. And I don’t care how
it’s paid for as long as it’s le-
gal.”
Underscoring that comment
is the fact that Easley’s recently
announced budget for 2002-
2003 included a lotto- not yet
approved- that is projected to
raise $300 million.
One argument that lottery
supporters use is that many
North Carolinians are already
participating in them- in border
states like Virginia. With a lot-
tery in our own state, they say,
money that’s going across the
line would stay here.
Estimates are that last year
North Carolinians spent $98
million in Virginia and $10 mil-
lion in Georgia on lottery tick-
ets. Adding fuel to the lottery
« fire is the fact that South
See Lottery, 8A
Kings Mountain Gastonia Shelby Bessemer City
300 W. Mountain St. 529 New Hope Road 106 S. Lafayette St. 1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-739-4782 © 704-865-1233 704-484-6200 704-629-3906
Member FDIC
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