The Herald
Vol. 115 No. 45
Thursday, November 6, 2003
KINGS MOUNTAIN -
For Mayor
Gilbert “PeeWee” Hamrick 399
v Rick Murphrey, 1,392
For Ward 1 Council
Lamar Fletcher 36
v Howard H. Shipp 223
Wa {
Preston Leonard 32
vBrenda McFalls Ross 172
Raeford White =~ 86
Ralph Grindstaff 70
Tommy Hawkins 107
Clavon Kelly on 80
verry M. Mullinax ~~. 113
Wayne Worcester Al
For Ward 4 Council ;
v Kay M. Hambright 224
Dean Spears = « 214
v Carl B. DeVane 1299
Clarence “Buddy” Smith ii 68
(Write- -In)
For At-Large Council ; . i
v Houston Corn 1,206
Gary D. Joy 407
William M. Marcellino 614
v'Rick Moore 902
KM SCHOOL BOARD
’, i
v/Shearra B. Miller 1.534
vStella N. Putnam = 1,822
GROVER TOWN BOARD
Mayor
Bill Ellis 20
Ed Pheagin evil
Robert Sides Jr. 55
(Write-Inn) Si
Commissioner
J. Kenneth Bell 41
v/Jacqueline Hope Bennett 84
Jack Herndon 33
Robert L. Hunt 27
v/Barry T. Toney 50
CLEVELAND COUNTY
. SANITARY DISTRICT
Commissioner
v’Kathy Moss Blanton 1,112
v/John W. Cline 1,137
v' Dewey C. Cook 1,256
v/Sylvia A. Lattimore 1,098
C.J. “Pete” Pedersen 912
KINGS
$
Grover ‘Sides’
with write-in
for mayor
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
GROVER - A write in candidate won
the mayor’s race in Grover and two polit-
ical newcomers took council seats quay
from incumbents.
Robbie Sides, who served on the coun-
cil from 1993 to 1997, was elected mayor
after less than a week of campaigning.
“I think everybody was ready for a
change. They proved that tonight,” he
said.
Some of those changes include bring-
ing back a police department. Currently,
Grover contracts with the Cleveland
County Sheriff's Office for police cover-
age.
Bide also plans to apply for water line
and beautification grants. He cautions
change won't come overnight.
“It’s going to take time,” he said.
Sides got 46 percent of the vote. He ran
against Bill Ellis and Ed Pheagin.
Incumbent mayor Bill Favell did not run.
While Sides’ ran a short campaign, top
council vote getter Jackie Bennett says
she has “campaigned long and hard.”
Bennett got 36 percent of the vote.
Bennett decided to run after getting
involved in a petition drive to create
more access to the town’s park. She says
See Grover, 3A
EJS
QE
A Lt]
HOMETOWN
[2314
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 129 Years
MOUN
Since 1889
TAIN
50 Cents
Jerry Mullinax, top right,
talks with Curtis
Pressley after winning
the Ward 3 race in
Tuesday’s Kings
Mountain Council elec-
tion. Left, Mullinax’s sis-
ter, Kay Hambright,
watches as the votes
are posted at City Hall.
Hambright edged incum-
bent Dean Spears by 10
votes in the Ward 4
race.
Photos by Joseph
Brymer
aE vex LIS
competitive
cheering
program |
1B
Siblings elected
to City Council
(cousin, too!)
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain voters made history
Tuesday electing two women and a
brother and sister to city council.
Brenda Ross, Ward 2, and her cousin
Kay Hambright, Ward 4, were voted in.
Hambright’s brother, Jerry Mullinax,
won in Ward 3. Houston Corn won an at
large seat. Incumbents Carl DeVane,
Ward 5, Howard Shipp, Ward 1, and at
large councilman Rick Moore kept their
seats along with Mayor Rick Murphrey.
“I'm ecstatic. I'm so grateful for the
people who supported me,” Hambright -
said.
While Hambright said she is eager to
serve, she praised her opponent Dean |
Spears. She also gave credit to Maryam
Amuda, a seventh grader from Shelby,
who designed her campaign logo.
“I'm thrilled. I think we can all work
together,” Ross said of the new council.
« She and Hambright will be the first
two women to serve together. The only
other woman to be elected to Kings
Mountain's council was Norma Bridges.
“We made history,” Ross said.
* Incumbent Moore thanked his support-
ers for returning him to the council. He
also had kind words for his opponents.
“I want to thank my opponents for a
good and fair race,” Moore said.
He congratulated Houston Corn who
garnered the most votes, 38 percent, in
the at-large race. Two seats were avail-
able.
Mullinax, who won by six votes over
Tommy Hawkins, credited his win to the
absentee vote.
“We're glad we won. I want to thank
my campaign,” he said.
See Council, 3A
Board to meet on video poker
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Video poker is coming under video gambling.
fire from one Kings Mountain
woman as the town’s planning
board considers conditional use
permits from three area business-
es. Those permits would allow
the machines at those locations.
One video poker operator says
the controversy is not fair.
Becky Lineberger, director of
the Kings Mountain Crisis
Ministry, spoke out during last
week's city council meeting, ask-
ing council to outlaw the
machines.
Lineberger said.
problem is still serious,
Lineberger said.
In two interviews following
that meeting, Lineberger elabo-
rated on why she is opposed to .
She has watched one family
member lose two homes due to a
video poker addiction. While
other family members have kept
their homes, they have lost
money to the addiction, she said.
“It’s like taking money and
throwing it out the window,”
While the number of Crisis
Assistance Ministry clients effect-
ed by video poker is small, the
bills and food.
machines at several Kings
drugs, shopping and golf.
tion,” Zena Johnson said.
While state law limits video
poker payoffs to $10 paid off
Lineberger has worked with
one man who admitted to being
addicted to the machines, though
it’s usually the wives of addicts
who seek out assistance with
Don Johnson, who operates
Mountain locations, and his wife
Zena Johnson say it is not fair to
single video poker out. They say
individuals can become addicted
to almost anything including
“Anything can be an addic-
either in store merchandise or
gift certificates, Lineberger says
she has watched the law being
broken. She claims to have seen a
cash payoff at a Kings Mountain
establishment. This was before
she had spoken out publicly
against the machines.
Lineberger’s brother Danny
Shirah, who now lives in King$
Mountain, told the Herald he
formerly owned three bars in
Charlotte which operated video
poker machines. Shirah claims to
have watched customers win
between $5,000 and $7,000 only
to continue playing and lose all
See Poker, 3A
4 charged, investigation continues
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
What began as a suspicious fire in an unoccupied home on
Morris Street now has state and federal investigators’ atten-
tion focused on Kings Mountain.
While investigating the Oct. 23 fire at 104 Morris Street,
police and firefighters saw something suspicious in the yard
across the street at 105 Morris Street. Initially they suspected
a meth lab and called the State Bureau of Investigation.
Instead, investigators discovered a weapons lab. They
found potassium cyanide, according to Ellis Noell, city pub-
lic relations director.
So far, four men have been charged. Roger Carl McFarland
Jr, 21, of Mary's Grove Church Road was charged with sec-
ond degree arson in connection with the 104 Morris Street
fire. He along with three other men also face felony break-
ing, entering and larceny and weapons of mass destruction
. charges.
The three are Phillip Lee Lovelace, 19, of Amy Lane,
Jonathan Adam Garrett, 21, of Amy Lane and George
Marion Adams III, 25, of 105 Morris Street.
Kings Mountain Police met with the district attorney's
office Wednesday morning to determine if additional
See Charged, 3A
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD
Police suspect this home at 105 Morris Street was used as a lab to make
weapons of mass destruction.
Gastonia
Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233 704-484-
Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906
6200
a