Mountaineers
bow out of
State playoffs
6A
Since 1soy or - : Ne
Fire Chief
requests more
manpower in
2002-03 budget
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
road and train traffic,” Burns
said during his presentation.
Eventually, Burns said the fire
department would like to get
out of City Hall and move to
another location on the east side
of the city.
While the department
received a new ladder truck in
2000, it is looking
The city of Kings Mountain
will hold its final budget work-
shop next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
at the Patrick Center with
scheduled presentations from
the aging, finance, and special
events depart-
ments. to replace a 1987
Kings Mountain pickup truck and a
| Fire Department 1972 pumper.
—Chief Frank Burns In other busi-
said during ness:
Monday's session * Building
that his depart- Codes and Zoning
ment’s activities Enforcement §
are expected to Director Holly
increase during the Galloway said her
next fiscal year. department issued
BEN LEDBETTER / THE HERALD With the expec mim nd
Kevin Vaughn with Dallas One Construction empties dirt into a front end loader operated by Jay Legursky. The company is put- ed increase, he is with adevelop:
ting in a water line extension to serve the area near Margrace Road and Battleground Avenue. requesting three ment value of $40.1
million: She said
the new Kings
Mountain Middle
School has continued its fast
progress.
“It’s run extremely smooth,”
she said. “We've all been
amazed.”
The department performed 83
minimum housing investiga-
tions in 2001, and Galloway
full time and four
part time additional
personnel during the next fiscal
year.
Burns said members of his
department are preparing to
Battleground water line to
serve annexed properties |“.
Volunteer Fire Department
announced it began first respon-
FRANK BURNS
A By BEN LEDBETTER © = extensions are the Hillway and Galilee expanded the city into Gastoii County: der serviedin its district this oo resaid some of those investiga oo
Staff Writer communities. hd Industries in the area include Firestone | month. ©. tions canbe dangerous. -
: Quality Lane has already received an and Sara Lee Intimate Apparel. Kings Mountain Fire person- During her presentation, she
Kings Mountain is in the process of fin- extension. Landmarks were used to define the city nel already participate on the showed the inside of a house
that had a knife displayed.
Other shots of potentially
dangerous things included an
electrical meter with no cover,
an open 40-ft. well, and lines
from a water heater next to a
gas line. .
e Officials in the water
Cleveland County Hazardous
Materials Team and other vol-
unteer departments in the area.
Calls went up about 97 per-
cent between 1991 and 2001,
Burns said, and last year the
department responded to 33
ishing one of its mandated requirements boundaries, Maney said.
of its 2000 annexation.
Several projects were mandated, and
one of those included a 12-inch waterline
extension on Battleground Ave., heading
toward Grover.
The annexation, which took effect in
June 2000, was one of the largest the city
has undertaken.
It encompassed 10.03 acres in the
Linwood Road area, and 2,318.76 acres
south of the city.
“It actually used to end just before you
got to Timms Furniture,” he said. “You
had some definité landmarks to define
where your city limits were.”
Previously, the city limits followed the
The project which will cost $132,107
with contingencies included, is expected
to be finished in 30 days, according to
City Manager Jimmy Maney. The exten-
sion was budgeted during the 2000-'01 fis-
cal year.
Other areas that are scheduled to get
Maney said the annexation followed a
majority of the recommendations from an
annexation study.
The annexed property included prime
residential and industrial property along
Canterbury Road and Interstate 85. It also
railroad tracks that went through down-
town.
According to the construction company,
approximately 500 feet of water line has
been laid on the Battleground Ave. exten-
sion.
structure fires.
He said the second station on
Shelby Road should help with
the response times.
“The addition of station two
will allow quick response times
for that side of the city and will
eliminate problems with rail-
department said they are
expected to test for new ele-
ments. J
Water Department Director
Walt Ollis said the department
is expected to start testing for
arsenic.
Sara Lee
Benton is hanging up his badge
after 30 years in law enforcement
eo ——.
to begin
it but I think I'll just hang up my shield.”
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
Kings Mountain resident Billy Benton
will end 30 years of law enforcement in
Cleveland County when he retires as
Captain of the Cleveland County
Sheriff's Department on April 1.
Although law enforcement is in his
blood, Benton, 49, said if he pursues
other employment it will probably in
some type of community service but not
law enforcement.
Benton is the last of four members of his imme-
diate family to retire from law enforcement. His
father, the late Wilbur Benton, was a
Cleveland County deputy for 17 years.
His brother, Larry, retired as a captain
with the Shelby Police Department. His
brother, Gary, was a police officer in
Boiling Springs before leaving the profes-
sion to go into construction.
he would be a police officer.
Billy Benton knew at an early age
“When I was in high school I
“Forty-nine is kind of young to retire,
and I know I'm not going to be able to sit
around and fish and read books all of the
time,” he said. “I'll probably enjoy it for awhile
BENTON
and then find something to do. But 30 years is
long enough for anybody in this job. I've enjoyed
Field set for May primary election
The field is complete for the
2002 Cleveland County primar-
ies on May 7.
Filing for most races ended
Friday at noon and there is com-
petition for most nominations.
Two seats are available on the
Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners. Incumbents
are Charlie Harry and
Chairman Willie McIntosh.
Harry is one of only two
Republicans filing, so both he
and John McBrayer of Shelby
will advance to the November
5 general election.
On the Democratic side, how-
ever, there are three candidates
and one will be eliminated in
May. Challenging McIntosh are
Cleveland County School Board
member Kenneth A. Ledford of
Polkville and Freddie Ellis of
Lawndale.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 128 Years
used to ride with my father on week-
ends,” he recalled. “We got into a few
interesting situations and I got the bug. I
always intended to go into law enforcement.”
See Benton, 5A
There is also competition for
the two nominations for Sheriff.
On the Democratic side, incum-
bent Dan Crawford is being
challenged by former deputy
Raymond C. Hamrick of Shelby.
Competing for the Republican
nomination are Mike Drake of
Shelby and R.D. “Richard” Hill
of Grover.
See Election, 5A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
~ 529 New Hope Road
BEN LEDBETTER / HEALD
Sara Lee Intimate Apparel is burning off property for expansion
of its plant on Canterbury Road.
Gastonia
704-865-1233
106 S. Lafayette St.
-
Shelby
704-484-6200
expansion
By BEN LEDBETTER
Staff Writer
Cleveland County’s jobless
rate is no longer the top figure
in the state, but many people
are still out of work.
According to figures recently
released by the North Carolina
Employment Security
Commission, Cleveland
County's rate rose from 12.5 in
to 13.9 percent.
Ninety-one counties in North
Carolina saw increases in their
rates, with Swain County hav-
ing the highest at 18.3 percent.
Layoffs within Swain'’s serv-
ices and trade industries con-
tributed to the rise.
While Swain’s rate has
increased, Cleveland County
has seen an increase in jobless
claims.
According to ESC figures,
Cleveland's jobless population
of 6,530 outnumbers Swain’s
workforce of 6,060.
Antwon Keith, manager of
. the ESC offices in Cleveland
See Jobs, 5A
Bessemer City
1225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
Member FDIC |