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rr ——————— I ——————— ee — f | i | i February 5, 2004 CR “OUR OPINION The Kings Mountain Herald City should decide if it really wants city manager government Kings Mountain City Council will soon begin the task of interviewing candidates for the position of City Manager. Phil Ponder, who has held the job since April, recently announced that he would be leaving for a position in Gaston County. Although Ponder has not publicly stated the reason for his leaving it is obvious from rumors circulating around town and from comments of some former Council mem- bers at last week’s Council meeting, that the relationship between Ponder and some members of Council had been strained recently. Some of the comments last week verify what we've felt for years, and that is that Kings Mountain has never truly gone from a mayor / council to city manager form of gov- ernment, except possibly for the brief four- year period that George Wood served as the city’s first manager in the late eighties and early nineties. Since Wood's departure, we have sensed that some members of council have on occa- sion tried to micro-manage city government. Now, it’s obvious because since last week's meeting two new Council members have said that they met individually with Ponder recently and he told them of five sit- uations in which he was asked to take some actions which he felt violated city policy. 2 YOUR VIEW We appreciate those Council members being willing to tell the truth to the taxpay- ers of Kings Mountain, and hope that in the future City Council will be more open in conducting the city’s business. Before council hires another city manager, its members should make a commitment to hire a strong city manager (which Phil Ponder was) and leave the every day run- ning of the city to him or her. If the city council does not agree, it should set policy stating such and make all candi- dates for the city manager position aware of it so they will know in advance what they will be facing if they accept the job; or sim- ply return to a full-time mayor /council form of government and forget about a city man- ager. A couple more suggestions for the council: - Require that the city manager and department heads live inside the city limits of Kings Mountain. That used to be the case several years ago, but those rules were relaxed as favors to certain people. If Kings Mountain is good enough to work in, it’s good enough to live in. - And develop a nepotism policy. There are too many cases where the city employs members of the same family. Theres not much that can be done about persons already on city payroll, but for the future the practice should be stopped. Add post office to thank you list The recent ice storm has given me time to stop and appreciate all the things that we so often take for granted. We think of the fire- men, policemen, city workers and others that are on call during such a time and we appreciate the job they do, but do we say thank you? I have been watching more closely what goes on at our local post office. The employees, after cleaning off their cars, etc. at home, arrived at work to find their trucks covered with ice. After gather- ing their mail, they had a problem just get- ting it from the building to their trucks. Although just a small incline, all the carriers had to have help in fusing and pulling'the® carts to the trucks!” Some of the employees’ cars were parked facing Gaston Street. Sometime after leaving these cars, the front tires of one car (with no one around) slid over to touch the car next to it. It was really a sheet of ice. The Post Master was out sliding around trying to put down salt. Of course, all I saw was from the employ- ees parking lot, but they had many other problems I'm sure after they left the post office. And those making house-to-house delivery must have really had problems. Just want to say “thank you” again to the fire department, police department, city employees and to add the post office to this list. Juanita H. Steffy Kings Mountain Money needed for Jesus Video Project To the people of Cleveland County: [ am the project leader for the Jesus Video Project - Cleveland County. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders of the various media outlets for all of their cov- erage in this great project. We have received coverage by all of the local newspapers and radio stations. We appreciate this coverage very much. We plan to mail the Jesus DVD to all 47,000 homes in Cleveland County this April. The Jesus DVD includes the Jesus Video and the Story of Jesus for Children, in several languages. Near the time of distribu- tion we will offer to give a copy of the Jesus Video to anyone that doesn’t have a way to view the DVD and wants the VHS format. We are part of a larger project to mail the Jesus DVD or Jesus Video to every home in North Carolina. We in Cleveland County must have a check for the full amount, approximately, $150,000, no later than Monday, February 16, to meet the deadlines for the Easter mailing. As 1 write this we have less than $50,000 with two weeks left to meet this goal. People are encouraged to make gifts to their church, marking the gifts to Jesus Video Project - Cleveland County. The church should combine the gifts and write a check payable to Jesus Video Project - Cleveland County and mail to Jesus Video Project - Cleveland County, 1175 Wyke Road, Shelby, NC 28150. Individuals making donations directly to Jesus Video Project - Cleveland County will be mailed a receipt for their tax- deductible gift. Any excess funds will be used to mail the Jesus Videos/DVDs to other parts of North Carolina, America, and the world. Thank you for all your support. Max Miller Shelby » Letter Policy Mail all letters to Mike Blanton, Publisher, P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086. Letters must be signed in ink and include the full name, address and phone number of the writer. Letters should be no longer than two typed pages double spaced, or one page single spaced. HEFFNER From 4A Reagans, which CBS pulled from its sched- ule because of pressure from many American citizens, Babs, whose husband James Brolin played Reagan in the movie, posted the following on her website: "The Republicans, who deify President Reagan, cannot stand that some of the more unpleas- ant truths about his presidency might be depicted in the movie, along with his posi- tive actions. "In fact the film, we're told, presents a bal- anced portrait of a complicated man who said, when confronted with the AIDS crisis, ‘Maybe the Lord brought down this plague because illicit sex is against the 10 com- mandments.' This has been changed in the film to "Those who live in sin shall die by sin,’ but clearly the sentiment behind that statement is the same. No less a source than the World Health Organization recently said that Reagan was slow in responding to AIDS as a public health crisis, and could have even stopped the epidemic if he had taken it more seriously." That's all a lot of baloney. To all but the most moronic, those two quotes are com- pletely dissimilar. Babs doesn't seem to grasp that most Americans couldn't possibly care less what the World Health Organization says, and to say that Reagan could have prevented the AIDS crisis is akin to saying frogs can fly if you just take the time to teach them. Lastly, why do TV stations have to take up a third of the screen to tell you the weather is bad? They take a large bite at the bottom to run, continuously, all the closings from the schools to Homer's Barber Shop over in the hollow behind Arn Shepherd's place. Then they take a big chunk on the side to let you know which channel you're watching, and that their storm team, or weather patrol, or whatever they're calling them is on the job. If you happen to be watching a ball game or a golf match, you have to get binoculars to see the action. I have a solution; just crawl the names of the establishments which are closed along the very bottom of the screen. I wonder if the French have anything to do with the TV stations over in the world class city? Buick, Cadillac, Nissan, Hyundai... ANDIE From 4A must first publicly admit there is a problem. Denial is not allowed. [ believe this approach works equally well for city government. I hope the next city manager agrees. It appears Ponder clearly understood that he had a responsibility to the taxpayers to address problems head on. He knew who he worked for. That, dear readers, was you. I hope you will join me in wishing him the best at his new job in Gaston County. I have no doubt he'll do well. Page SA : GARY STEWART / HERALD Employees of First National Bank of Kings Mountain dressed Carolina Panthers-style Friday in support of the Charlotte-based NFL team’s first appearance in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots Sunday in Houston. Left to right are Cindy Wood, Connie James, Elizabeth Ferguson, Julie Singalevitch and Angela Moore. Alley Cats, Demons make move on bowling leader Quack Attack and the Duck Douters defeat- ed Jomaz 6-2. Mark Midgette’s 148 line and 383 set led It Doesn’t Matter. Pernell Byars had a 118-306 for Quack Attack. Russ Abernathy rolled a 123 line and 355 set to lead the Douters over Jomaz. Mark Abernathy led Jomaz with a 131 line and 360 set. The Alley Cats and Dilling’s Demons made a move on first place No Prisoners in mixed duckpin bowling league action Thursday night at Dilling Heating. The Demons gained a 4-4 split with the Prisoners while the Cats swept the Alley Rats 8-0. The result left the Prisoners with a 16-8 record and two-game lead over the Demons and Cats, both 14-10. The Rats are 4-20. Allen Myers led the Cats with a 140 line and 396 series. Joey Whitaker added a 118- 319. Tommy Barrett led the Rats with a. 132 line and 373 set. Bonnie Warren rolled a 115 line and Ed Philbeck added a 280 set for the Demons. Greg Evans led the Prisoners with a 120 line and 335 set. Last week, No Prisoners and the Alley Cats split 4-4 and the Alley Rats and Dilling’s Demons split 4-4. Greg Evans led the Prisoners with a 156 line and 441 set and Joey Whitaker led the Cats with a 145 line and 358 set. Tommy Barrett rolled a 132 line and 365 set and Zeke Rybczyk added a 141-350 for the Rats. Ed Philbeck led the Demons with a Tuesday night, [t Doesn't Matter swept 125 line and 353 set. Study planned at Shelby church KM WEATHER REPORT Ba SI “What on earth am I here Wl for? What is my Purpess or Oe I Jaga Leds Bs this earth?” "| M (Compiled by Kenan KA First Baptist Church of Shelby will explore these Jan. 28-Feb. 3 Last Year questions beginning Total precipitation 1.07 1.05 February 15 in the “Forty Maximum 1 day 1.07 (2nd) 55 (29th Days of Purpose” campaign, Total for January 1.47 216 based on Rick Warren's February to date 1.07 Trace bestselling book “The Year to date 2.54 2.16 Purpose Driven Life.” Low temperature 24 (31st) 32 (1st) For more information call ~~ High temperature 55 (30th) 67 (2nd) 704-482-3467. Avg. temperature 37.8 48.5 Your Budget is a serious element in your Advertising formula. Let us show you how to get the most attention for your business. We can show you the economical way to reach your target customers! Give ee 704-7 39- z 49% [FREE RENTAL CAF On Parts & Service Over $250 We Have Tires!!! All Makes & Models George Blake Tire Technician We L072 3 2» Rw] p Makes « & Models a RR ET RE 10% Off Discounts Parts & Labor Over $150 Sos sw mae Ea. -— Em me sa. soem = we $1995, $64°5/°19% $4.75 | Lube, Oil | EC RR SLE RE TNT Te (ER r= Mercury, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, | z | Tire ) iy {| &Fiter | Coolant, Balance & | R Wiioel | Rotation & 27 } Flush ! Free Brake, | | Point Check | Up to 6 quarts onlyl | Expires 2-21-04 KM | I Inspection i Alignment Expies, 22004 I Expires 221-04 KM "| Expires 2:21:04 KM Chrysler, Nissan, Dodge, Chevrolet LCE) ET hd 74 Business, ES Mount ‘doar ‘pioJ UO Yiom op “*'|epunii ‘uessiN td duly CRUEL TCT RET IT
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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