KINGS
, " an al A
307 KXXCAR
MAUN ;
10 UNE fidich 2300000 LOT xxg 002
KINGS Ho SonoNT AVE RARY ui 55
- IN NC 28084,
Viwrsday, September 6, 2001
MOUNTAIN
Mounties
Defeat
Red Raiders
Page 1B
Vol. 113 No. 36 Since 1889
Final senior center Bos $3.1 million
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
In a related matter, Council members
voted to commit money out of their
own pockets to pay to dedicate a sec-
tion of the stained glass window in the
lobby of the new center in honor of
Aging Director Monty Thornburg. The
cost will be $450, with the mayor pay-
ing $100 and each councilman chipping
in $50.
Clavon Kelly, who made the motion,
said that was the least the council
could do for Thornburg in recognition
of the “wonderful job” he has done not
only with helping plan the new center,
but his leadership throughout the
years.
Although the budget amendments
passed unanimously, several council-
men voiced concern that the building
plans were amended so many times
during the construction period.
Councilman Jim Guyton said the city
may have violated its own codes by not
having final landscaping plans
approved from the beginning. City
Manager Jimmy Maney said they were
included but many different people
had input in the design. He said every
change order was brought before City
Council and approved.
“I don’t know of a $3 million project
anywhere that you don’t have to
change something,” Maney said. “We
had committees and as they made
changes every one of them came before
Council. It’s just like building a house.
If you make changes you're going to
spend more money.”
Guyton said he agreed the project
needed to be finished, but urged
Council to look closer at future proj-
ects.
“From here on, we need to get the
whole project when we go into it and
not bring it back and bring it back,”
Guyton said.
Kings Mountain City Council met in
special session Friday morning to make
budget amendments necessary to han-
dle the final costs of the new H.
Lawrence Patrick Senior Life and
Conference Center
Final budget amendments of
$254,700 brought the final cost of the
new senior center to $3,116,950.
5 youths
See Center Page 3A
KM man escapes World
PLAYTIME
charged
in murder
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Three suspects have been
arrested in the Justin Braswell
murder, Kings Mountain offi-
cials said last Thursday at a
news conference at the Kings
Mountain Police Department.
Timothy Aquilla McDowell
and David Allen Glover of
Kings Mountain were charged
with murder, armed robbery
and one count of attempted
armed robbery.
Officials said Brian Hemphill,
who was originally charged as |
a juvenile, will be booked as an
adult. Hemphill turned himself
in to Kings Mountain Police
after returning from a trip.
The three suspects are 18-
years old'or older. :
Two other juveniles, Betws
14 and 15 years old will also be
charged.
- McDowell and G lover are
being held in the Cleveland
County Detention Center in
Shelby and appeared in court
Friday.
The two juvenile suspects are
being held in the Gaston
County Juvenile Detention
Center, and appeared in court
last Thursday.
Whether the juvenile sus-
pects will be tried as adults,
defendants under 17 can’t get
the death penalty in North
Carolina.
Police officials said the
motive for the murder was rob-
bery, and one of the juvenile
suspects pulled the trigger of
the 22 mm handgun.
The shooting was described
as random by police, and they
said the suspects did not know
— Braswell.
The murder weapon had
been recovered, police officials
said Thursday.
- Braswell had approximately
$20 on him at the time of death.
“It’s scary,” Kings Mountain
Police Chief Houston Corn
said. “I think they'll hurt you
quick.”
Visitation for Braswell was
last Wednesday at Harris
Funeral Home on Piedmont
Ave.
Justin Wade Braswell was
shot in the lower back while
walking from a late Saturday
night concert at city hall to his
grandmother's house on North
Carpenter Street.
His body was found at 12:20
a.m. last Sunday morning on
East Ridge Street.
The concert was the last of
the city sponsored Summer
Nites series which approxi-
mately 1,000 people attended
Braswell, a student at North
Shelby School, which serves
students with special needs,
was alive when police arrived
on the scene but was pro-
nounced dead on arrival at
Cleveland Regional Medical
Center.
See Murder Page 3A
Playground build day.
BEN LEDBETTER/THE HERALD
Larry Hamrick Sr., from left, John Harris and Tim Plonk shovel dirt at a recent Project
Community joins together
to build kid’s playground
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
After a rainy start to
the build, the new
playground on
Cleveland Ave. was on
schedule for its com-
pletion date Sunday.
And when it was
finished Sunday,
organizers held a ded-
ication at the site.
Project organizer
Gina Collias said par-
ticipant turnout
improved since last
Tuesday when work-
ers coped with rain for
much of the day.
“Well it’s coming
along a lot better,”
Collias said. “We've
had a lot better
turnout today,” she
said.
Collias character-
ized the build days to .
holding a party, send-
ing out invitations and
seeing who would
show up.
Kings Mountain
resident Sarah Rhea,
who was applying a
seal to some of the
wood, agreed with
Collias.
“It’s like the old
days when everybody
got together to build a
barn for somebody,”
Rhea said.
The city has ear-
marked $250,000 for
the construction of a
playground at the site
of Jake Early Field,
which is on city prop-
erty leased by the
Cleveland County
YMCA.
Collias said $135,000
of the city’s play-
ground allotment will
go toward working on
the perimeter.
Approximately
$115,000 will go
. toward grading of a
walking track and a t-
ball field.
While the city and
other businesses have
donated time, tools or
money, the Project
Playground
Committee has raised
approximately $12,000
toward a fence, but
Collias said the com-
mittee is still looking
for donations.
“Those numbers are
standing good,”
Collias said about the
committee’s fund rais-
ing. “We are still
See Playground Page 3A
150 participate
in KM Triathlon
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Over 150 participants raced in
the second annual Over the
Mountain Triathlon, sanctioned
by the North Carolina Triathlon
series, which started at Moss
Lake and ended downtown.
Allison Hardy, who was the
first female across the line,
Saturday said the hills were the
toughest part of the course.
“The bike course was excep-
tionally tougher than most,”
Hardy said. “The course went
up more then it went down.”
Hardy had recently moved
from Charleston, SC to the
- Asheville area, and said she was
getting used to the hills.
The initial adaption to the
hills of the North Carolina
Mountains was not kind to
Hardy as she was out the first
four months of the season with
a running injury.
Hardy finished eighth overall
‘with a time of 2:31:32.
Participants began the race
with a 1500 meter swim
through Moss Lake followed by
a 30 mile bike ride through
downtown, and finished with a .
two-lap loop from downtown to
Kings Mountain High School.
See Triathlon Page 3A
Trade Center tragedy
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
“Scared but fine” is how
Kings Mountain’s Linda Ford
described the condition of her
son, Aaron, who escaped the
World Trade Center in
Manhattan without injury dur-
ing Tuesday's terrorist attack by
hijacked airplanes.
Aaron Ford, 25, is employed
by the U.S. Service which had
offices on the 47th floor of one
of the 110-story high twin tow-
ers.
“When he called the first time
to say he was safe I didn’t know
what he was talking about
because I didn’t have the TV on
and hadn't heard about it,”
Linda Ford said.
She said her son began evacu-
ating the building as soon as an
airplane hit the building. She
said she turned on the TV. and.
heard a few minutes later that a
second plane had hit the build-
ing her son was in.
“He was already trying to get
out when the second plane hit,”
Mrs. Ford said. “He called back
and told me they were just
going to a safe place.
“I am just thankful and
relieved.”
The early-morning attack,
along with another at the
Pentagon in Washington, DC,
brought America to its knees.
Said to be the worst attack ever
on U.S. soil, it is being reported
that at least 10,000 people may
have lost their lives. According
to televised reports there were
over 50,000 people in the World
Trade Center towers when the
attack occurred:
While people in Kings
Mountain were safe from attack,
See Tragedy Page 3A
City votes to sell
building to county
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
By a 4-3 vote, Kings
Mountain City Council moved
one step closer to bringing
about 100 jobs to the area.
The vote, which came after
another closed session Monday
will allow the city to release its
claim on the former ABB
Combustion Engineering build-
ing near Grover.
City officials have been meet-
ing with Cleveland County
leaders and Shelby real estate
broker John Barker and accept-
ed a counter offer of $150,000.
City of Kings Mountain
Mayor Rick Murphrey said the
action represents the city’s inter-
est in bringing jobs to the area.
“Everybody is concerned
about high unemployment,”
Murphrey said. “Well, I think
everyone involved is working
toward bringing jobs to the city
and the community.”
Ten days ago, after a closed
session meeting, City Council
unanimously offered to release
the building for $231,000.
With the city’s acceptance of
the counter offer, an outstand-
ing loan of $1.35 million can
now be refinanced, the pay-
ments lowered, and the rental
rate reduced to match current
market values.
A potential 100 jobs, with
wages from $14-$18 an hour,
could be in Kings Mountain by
December.
The company potentially
coming to Kings Mountain is a
manufacturer of electrical,
mechanical, and cleaning sys-
tems services for commercial,
industrial use.
City officials said the compa-
ny is based in Houston and
takes in approximately
See Building Page 3A
BEN LEDBETTER/THE HERALD
Competitors in Saturday’s Triathlon come in and leave the run/bike transition area on Railroad
Avenue in Kings Mountain.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 27 Years
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
Shelby
106 S. Lafayette St.
704-484-6200
Member FDIC