Thursday, November 8, 2001
County
tackles
economic
downturn
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
State and local officials along
with business owners in
Cleveland County gathered for
a work session to combat the
high jobless rate in Cleveland
County. :
David Cline with tne
Charlotte Regional Partnership
said the although there has
been a 43 percent investment in
the Charlotte region, it remains
the hardest hit by the latest eco-
nomic downturn.
Ideas Cline mentioned to
increase jobs were pooling
resources with neighboring
counties to attract jobs, using
money from the Golden Leaf
Foundation, and taking advan-
tage of a possible toll road that
is expected to be completed
within ten years.
The Golden Leaf Foundation
is a fund from the Tobacco
Settlement which Cline said:
could give emergency funds to
close deals.
Non-traditional alternatives,
such as the equestrian center
near Cherryville, were what
people at Monday/sibetting
were searching for. .
“That's a very nice way to
have economic development,”
Cline said. “You have a quality
of life that you want to pro-
tect.”
An office in Germany was
one of the things Cline said
Cleveland Courity could use
with the partnership to make
contact with European
Companies.
During a'recent visit to a
Chinese restaurant, Willie
Mcintosh thought about the
components of soy sauce, and
from that thought of having a
factory that could make the
condiment associated with ori-
ental food. ;
“We've got to start thinkin
See Downturn Page 5A
KINGS
The Heral
Vol. 113 No. 45
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Two previously
appointed candidates
to the Kings Mountain
District Schools Board.
of Education were
elected to the board
during Tuesday’s elec-
- tions.
+ For the two open
outside seats Jerry
Blanton and Terry
McClain held off Cathy
Falls, and Michael
Smith defeated Trace
. Barnette for the at-large
seat
According to unoffi-
cial returns from the
Board of Elections
Wednesday morning,
Blanton was the top
vote getter with 1,443
votes, McClain had
1,387, and Falls had
1,108. Smith defeated
Barnette 1,361 votes to
965.
Blanton said he was
Since 1889
pleased with Tuesday’s
vote.
“Well I'm pleased,”
Blanton said. “I was a
little disappointed in
the voter turnout but I
was pleased to win.”
Blanton was appoiats
ed to fill the spot of Dr.
Larry Allen when he
was named superin-
tendent.
Defeating the school
merger that was cham-
pioned by the previous
county commissioners
is one of Blanton's
goals, but not the sole
one. :
“Defeating the merg-
er is the number one
goal, and I'd like to see
us accomplish a little
more on Closing the
Gap,” Blanton said.
“Those two right now
are the main goals.”
McClain, another
previously appointed
See Blanton Page 5A
onfidence
"MOUNTAIN
50 Cents
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Becky Cooke posts the totals in the Kings Mountain City Council race Tuesday night at City
Hall.
Blanton, McClain, Smith
win seats on school board
Harry, Rollins and Willis
elected to Grover council
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Two incumbents
were reelected to the
Grover Town Council,
with only one with a
decisive margin of votes
to fill the three available
seats.
John Harry, who was
appointed earlier this
year to the council, gar-
nered 64 votes, while
Max Rollins and Bill
Willis each had 42.
Willis will now occu-
py the seat previously
held by John
Higginbotham who did
not seek reelection.
Harry, who participat-
ed in his first election,
said he would like to
continue to have com-
munity support.
“I'm really grateful
Yor their stipport and 1
hope I can continue to
earn that support.”
One of Harry's goals
is to have more cooper-
ation within town gov-
ernment.
“I think we need to
foster cooperation with
the mayor and council
and continue to make
Grover a wonderful
place to live,” Harry
said.
Rollins has served
multiple terms on the
town council and as
mayor.
Bill Willis, who will
be serving on the coun-
cil for the first time said
See Harry Page 5A
Grover council addresses water issues
At its monthly meeting Monday, the
Grover town council addressed several
water related issues. :
According to an opinion issued to coun-
cil members from town attorney Mickey
Corry, the town did not have responsibility
in water problems with residents on Linden
Street. During the October meeting
Emmett and Hilda Moss said drainage
problems have been causing a buildup of
trash and a large pool of water at their
home.
The couple said at the October meeting
the part of the property where the problems
have occurred is on an easement the town
purchased but has failed to maintain.
In a separate water problem on Linden
Street, the council passed a motion to install
a blow off valve for the line, which would
cost approximately $1,000, according to
town officials. :
Mayor Bill Favell said in the October
meeting that a resident had complained of
having brown water.
Council members mentioned possibly
talking with the
Isothermal Planning and Development
Commission on securing grant money to
replace other older lines in the town.
In other business:
® The council passed a motion for town
clerk Barbara Barrett to write a letter to the
Cleveland County Health Department to
inquire about the department enforcing a
leash law in Grover. The town had recently
adopted the county animal control ordi-
nance.
See Grover Page 5A
Health department expansion discussed
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
A proposed addition to the Cleveland
County health Department's Grover Street
office in Shelby was added to the county's
capital project list during the Cleveland
County Board of Commissioners meeting
on Tuesday night.
+ The project will include 41,000 square feet
of new construction, and 42,00 square feet
of renovations, and the 90,000 square foot
project will cost approximately $8 million
dollars. 3 :
Shelby Architects Holland, America, and
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 127 Years
Patterson will be used for the project which
is scheduled to take two years to complete.
“I can support the plan when we have the
money to do it,” Chairman Willie McIntosh
said. ; P
Other commissioners shared McIntosh’s
view.
Ronnie Hawkins who serves on the
Board of Health said the department want-
ed it onthe list so it could be done when
more money is available.
Charlie Harry said he favored the plan,
but wanted a provision in the motion that
would help both sides in case other issues
arose in the future.
704-739-4782
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
“I do favor the plan and respect their
work on it,” Harry said. “I think we need to
add to the motion subject to change.”
Engineer Harlow Brown who serves on
the board said the additions would add
need space to the departments Shelby office.
“Were building this for the future,”
Brown said.
Some of the space problems Brown men-
tioned were a lack of space for the
Environmental Health Section, record keep-
ing, and the Pharmacy.
About three years ago the county hired a
See Health Page 5A
‘Gastonia
529 New Hope Road
704-865-1233
106 S. Lafayette St.
~IHAS NC
state title
See page 1B
Murphrey wins landside,
Moore leads at-large race
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
All of the incumbents seeking
reelection were returned to
office in what they said was a
“vote of confidence” in
Tuesday's Kings Mountain City
Council election.
The only new face on the
Council will be businessman
Rick Moore, who won the At-
Large seat vacated by retired
Kings Mountain Police Chief
Bob Hayes.
Moore led the ticket in the
run for two At-Large seats with
910 votes. He led all four
precincts.
Incumbent Gene White was
narrowly returned to office, edg-
ing downtown businesswoman
Bernice Chappell by 22 votes,
739 to 717.
Mayor Rick Murphrey was
reelected to his second two-year
term in a landslide over former
Planning and Zoning Board
Chairman Jim Belt. Murphrey
led all four precincts and fin-
ished with 1,376 votes to 504 for
Belt.
Other incumbents retaining
their seats were Howard Shipp
in Ward 1, Jim Guyton in Ward
2, Clavon Kelly in Ward 3, Dean
Spears in Ward 4, and Carl
DeVane in Ward 5. The only
close call in those races was
Guyton’s 14-vote victory over
Brenda Ross in Ward 2.
Most of the candidates said
Chey were pledsed Wath the out-
come of the election, but Clavon
Kelly said he was disappointed
in what he termed “dirty poli-
tics” over the final weeks of the
campaign. Gossip about the past
criminal records of two candi-
dates was spread all over town,
and copies of one candidate’s
arrest record from almost 20
years ago were thrown out in
yards and left in high traffic
businesses such as the post
office.
“I feel good in a way and bad
in a way,” said Kelly. “I never
did get gung-ho about the elec-
tion after it got dirty.”
Kelly said he actually went to
the Board of Elections in Shelby
three weeks ago to withdraw
from the race, but was told the
ballots had already been print-
STEWART / HERALD
Mayor Rick Murphrey keeps
track of vote totals being posted
Tuesday night at City Hall.
ed.
“Everybody in this town
knows everybody,” Kelly said.
“If I can’t say something good
about you lth not going to taik
about you.”
Kelly said he felt fortunate to
win, because he didn’t cam-
paign much after the gossip got
started. He saw his victory as a
vote of confidence.
“I think we've done a good
job and the people want it to
stay that way.”
Kelly said there are a lot of
issues that need to be addressed
over the next two years, espe-
cially the economic situation.
“It’s scary right now,” he said.
“All the people out of work
bother me. We're looking to find
industry and we've got some
pretty hot tips. I would also like
to have a teen center for our
young adults. We've got some
buildings that would be
See Murphrey Page 5A
GARY STEWART / THE HERALD
Linda Holland casts her vote Tuesday morning at the Kings
Mountain American Legion.
Shelby
704-484-6200
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC
ei