The Hera
Thursday, June 28, 2001
Vol. 113 No. 26
Grover
adopts
budget
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
GROVER - With budget ques-
tions looming on a state wide
level, none of those were pre-
sent at the Town of Grover’s
monthly Commissioners meet-
ing Monday.
The Town of Grover passed a
$550,575 budget with increases
in the town’s water and sewer
fund.
Currently the town has a
minimum water charge of $5.36
for usage of 2,000 gallons and
under.
With the increase, the new
minimum charge will be $6.64.
The new charges are in re-
sponse to a 43 percent increase
from the City of Kings
Mountain, who has been pro-
viding the town water.
The new cost will be an in-
crease of sixty cents per 1,000
gallons.
No proposed increases were
made for sewer and trash ser-
vice.
Water and sewer issues were
evident in other parts of the
meeting.
The town passed a motion to
offer a contract to Lee Hayes,
current manager of the Town Of
Bessemer City’s Wastewater
Treatment plant, to replace
Mike Church, who had re-
signed recently.
Because of a state law requir-
ing upgrades to wastewater
treatment plants, Bessemer City
will be closing its plant and will
use the City of Gastonia’s plant.
Town of Grover Mayor Bill
Favell put a strong emphasis on
finding the replacement for
Church.
“We've got to have a manag-
er of the operation,” Favell said.
Mayor Pro Tem Max Rollins
said the issue should be dis-
cussed more.
Hayes, who will be working
as a contractor for the town,
has asked for approximately
$20,800 a year.
If Hayes is hired, the town
will pay for testing of its sam-
ples which it did not do previ-
ously, and he will have to pro-
vide his own insurance.
“I think we can work these
other things out,” Favell said.
The new operator of the
town's wastewater system is
scheduled to start July 1.
In other business:
e Library Committee
Chairperson Robert Hunt will
See Grover, 7A
Parent voices concerns
to KM School Board
Principal John Yarbro, Assistant Principal Dianna
Bridges, and KMMS teacher Jewel Kendrick.
Mrs. Pettis said there were extenuating circum-
stances that may have played a part in her daugh-
ter not scoring in the 85th percentile on the EOG
test and that other factors such as past academic
success, motivation to succeed, and recommenda-
tions by teachers and parents should have been
considered. She said the State Department of
Public Instruction encourages consideration of
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
A parent whose daughter was denied access to
a ninth grade English honors course at Kings
Mountain High School because of her end-of-
grade test score says the school should consider
other factors when assessing a student's potential
for success.
Charlotte Pettis’ daughter, Jennai, was a
Straight A student in elementary and middle
school but was not accepted for the honors course
because her EOG test score fell below the recom-
mended 85th percentile.
Mrs. Pettis voiced her concerns to the School
Board at a meeting earlier this month; and
Tuesday night she appeared before the Board
again in closed session. A friend of the family.
John Jones, Director of Institutional Research at
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3 BEN LEDBETTER / THE HERALD
i Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphirey will don Revolutionary War attire and an
American flag and ride into the City’s Fourth of July Celebration on a horse
Wednesday at Jake Early Field.
KMW’s Fourth of July
celebration Wednesday
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
The City of Kings Mountain will
open it’s Fourth of July festival
Wednesday at the YMCA.
Festival activities will start at 4 p.m.
at the city swimming pool with games,
contests and other activities.
At 6 p.m. Harvest, a band from Oak
Grove will perform and will play until
approximately 9 p.m.
City of Kings Mountain Mayor Rick
Murphrey, who will dress in
Revolutionary War era Patriot's cos-
tume will ride in to an area on Jake
Early Field.
“We thought we would do the theme
of the battlefield,” Murphrey said about
his costume.
Murphrey had previously dressed as
Uncle Sam the past couple years.
After the mayor's entrance and a
such factors.
took the earlier test.
Johnson C. Smith University, also took part in the
discussion along with Board members, KMHS
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 127 Years
KMHS and the School Board agreed to allow
Jennai to take another test that is approved by the
DPI. It will not change her EOG test score, but
Supt. Larry Allen said it could show whether or
not the Jennai had unfair distractions when she
Mrs. Pettis said her daughter did not score as
well as she could have because they had experi-
See School, 7A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
brief speech, a fireworks display will
follow.
Food vendors will be available.
Along with Kings Mountain, Moss
Lake will be holding Independence Day :
activities.
A pontoon parade will start at Snake
Island at 2 p.m, and the decorated boats
will parade the perimiter of the lake.
Other festivals in the area:
e Cherryville’s Fourth of July
Celebration will start at 6 p.m. on Main
Street with music by the Fantastic
Shakers. Fireworks are scheduled to
start at 10 p.m.
¢ Cleveland Mall will celebrate the
Fourth of July on Tuesday.
The band Sugarfoot will play play
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Ocean
Boulevard will play from 4 p.m. to 8
p.m.
Other activities at the mall include
face painting, a magic show and a slide.
Council allocates
quarter-million
for kids playground
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
City Council Tuesday night adopted
an ordinance establishing a capital fund
of $250,000 for a new kids playground
at Jake Early Field behind the YMCA.
Councilman Gene White cast the lone
no vote, saying he was not against a
playground but would have preferred
more specific information about plans
and actual cost.
City Manager Jimmy Maney and
members of the playground committee
said the project must proceed quickly to
meet the targeted September 4 construc-
tion date.
The committee is holding several
public fund-raising events to help raise
money for equipment, which will be
constructed by some 400 volunteers.
Mayor Rick Murphrey, who said the
park will be designed similar to the
Martha Rivers Park in Gastonia, said the
playground will be “unique” because it
will be “designed by the kids.”
Murphrey and members of the commit-
tee went to all elementary schools in
Kings Mountain to seek input from chil-
dren as to what type of equipment they
wanted.
“This is a wonderful quality of life
project for the city of Kings Mountain,”
he said. “I had looked at all of our play-
ground equipment in Kings Mountain
and had only found a small amount at
the walking track that wasn’t in very
good condition. This is something we
need for the city.”
Councilman Dean Spears also ap-
plauded the project, noting that City
Council is responsible for looking after
the needs of all age groups from youth
to senior citizens. He pointed to the new
senior center and downtown activities
as major projects that have been put in
place for middle and older age groups.
“I think we’d be doing the kids an in-
justice if we didn’t do this,” he said.
“We're elected to provide representation
and money for all three age groups.”
Several parents said the park is need-
ed to keep them from having to take
their children to Shelby or Gastonia to
play. In fact, Murphrey said, when he
first visited the Martha Rivers Park in
Gastonia he saw a lot of Kings
Mountain residents there.
“This would benefit all of the children
of Kings Mountain,” said Margaret
: Gilliken. “This would be a place for chil-
dren to meet and play and not be divid-
i ed by where they live or go to school. It
would be an asset to the community.”
Wanda Connor, a local realtor, said
the park would be a “real drawing tool
{ for Kings Mountain.” Mayor Murphrey
agreed, saying that several industrial
i clients he has talked to recently were ex-
i cited to learn about the plans and said
they would support the project if their
See Park, 2A
Brooks McAbee has some of the biggest and best watermelons and cantaloupes in Kings
GARY STEWART/THE HERALD
Councilman Gene White with handful
of nails he picked up out of his drive
Councilman offers :
reward for persons
who threw nails
in his driveway
By GARY STEWART
Editor of the Herald
City Councilman Gene White hit the
nail on the head Tuesday night at the
monthly Council meeting at City Hall,
hammering out a brief speech that
would have made the Washington politi-
cians’ speech writers envious.
White is enraged about an incident
last week in which someone threw
roofing nails in his driveway and those
of other Council members, Mayor Rick
Muphrey and City Manager Jimmy
Maney.
White came to the meeting intending
to ask Council to offer a $2,500 reward:
for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the perpetrators;
however, he said he wasn’t sure if that:
would be in accordance with the laws
of the State so he offered his own per- -
sonal reward of $300.
White said he has no proof “as to
who committed this silly and fruitless
. act” other than to say a couple of peo- -
ple have said they know who did it.
Some of his comments, though,
seemed to indicate he may have been
referring to owners of video poker es-
tablishments who have been under
close scrutiny by the city police over
the past several months.
See Nail
Mountain. He was selling them yesterday from the back of his truck which was parked beside ~~
the Kings Mountain Depot.
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
Hl Ae EA a ST 59.5
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
Bessemer City
704-629-3906
Member FDIC