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AMT AO fH J el I te rt AB OP bt, 4 Rim pr 00 PIA hh hd dd Mh ttn The Kings Mountain Herald | March 31, 2005 Page 3A SE RE yo i. i ES —- EN i a iA ¥ I i ‘Miss Julia’ BY ANDIE L. BRYMER Staff Writer The author of the best- selling Miss Julia series will be in Kings Mountain Tuesday. Ann B. Ross will speak at Mauney Memorial Library community room at 4 p.m. The sixth book in the series, “Miss Julia’s School . of Beauty,” was released March 21. In the book the outspoken but proper Miss Julia attempts to adjust to living in her new husband’s home. Attempting to distract herself, Miss Julia volunteers to teach etiquette to contest- ants in a beauty pageant organized by Hazel Marie. Ross is often asked if Miss Julia is patterned after an actual person. She is not, according to Ross. Instead, the character appeared in Ross’ imagination along with a little boy. By asking herself a series of questions about the woman, Ross deduced she was not the child’s grandmother. From there Ross developed the idea that Lloyd was the son of Miss Julia’s late husband. KM POLICE REPORT ARRESTS Donjuan Rainey, 18, Northwoods Dr., felony pos- session of cocaine, carrying concealed weapon, simple possession of marijuana, $5,000 secured bond. William Schoener, 25, Eastend Dr., possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, posses- sion of Xanax, possession of controlled substance, $1,000 secured bond. George Wilson, 54, 122 Press Sweezy Rd., DWI, left of center, $500 unsecured bond. Ishmar Grier, 24, 500 Margrace Rd., assault on female. Benjamin Brown III, 26, 201 N. Cansler St., posses- sion of schedule IV sub- stance, $120 cash bond. Richard Wallace, 50, 318 . Walnut St., order for arrest/failure to appear on DWI, resist public officer, $400 secured bond. Sherry Miller, 41, Dallas, DWI, $2,000 unsecured bond. CITATIONS Kenneth Allen, 33, 539 Lot 16 Stony Point Rd., larceny. Aubrey Childers III, 830 First St., speeding 53 in 35 zone, reckless driving. Anthony Strickland, 218 Thornburg Dr., driving while license revoked. Erica Self, 133/15 Tiara Dr., simple assault at school. Lisa Gamble, 204 Putnam Pl., driving while license revoked. Daniel Mason, 5005 Tary Ct., driving while license revoked, displaying a sus- pended license. Daniel Mason, 5005 Tary Ct., improper headlights. Darrell Ponder, 322 Margrace Rd., driving while license revoked. Donyell Minor, 320 Lackey St., open container. Jermaine Strong, Shelby, no operator’s license. John Smith, 210 Thornburg Dr., no driver's license. Sherry Jenkins, 603 Alexander St., driving while license revoked, expired reg- istration plate. INCIDENTS Clyde Bess Jr., 119 School St., reported receiving coun- terfeit money. Kings Mountain Housing Authority and Carolyn Garde, 214 Orr Terrace, reported break-in and larce- ny. Items stolen were a Play Station valued at $188, X- Box valued at $200, various CDs valued at $20 each, seven games valued at $49.96 each, five DVDs val- ued at $8 each, two duffel bags and a CD case, value unknown. There was dam- age to two panes of glass. Shelia McClaine, 1818 Alpine Dr., and Roger McClaine, 1304 Northwoods, reported larce- ny of a 1990 Oldsmobile Regency. Linda Carrigan, 412 S. Oriental Ave., reported that someone slashed two tires on her vehicle, causing $250 damage. Scott Hendrix, Morris St., reported larceny of money. Premier Federal Credit Union, 1113 Shelby Rd., reported that someone obtained money by false pretense. Connie Allman, Heath Springs, reported larceny of a child support check. Virginia Hamilton, 103 Patterson Rd., reported break-in. WRECKS Vehicles driven by Doyl Shelton, Tiffony Smith and Connie Cain, all of Kings Mountain, struck on W. Mountain at Sims St. Damage to the Shelton vehi- cle was $1,200, damage to the Smith vehicle was $3,500, and damage to the Cain vehicle was $100. Vehicles driven by Latoya Thompson of Shelby and Tonya Bumgardner of Blacksburg, SC struck on First St. near Shockley St. Damage to the Thompson vehicle was $3,000 and dam- age to the Bumgardner vehi- cle was $1,500. Vehicles driven by James Brown of Gastonia and Rodney Sellers of Kings Mountain struck on Cansler St. at Walker St. Damage to the Brown vehicle was $4,000 and damage to the Sellers vehicle was $5,000. Art exhibit extended The Southern Arts Society has extended Jack Greenfield's water color show through April. His work is on exhibit at the Kings Mountain Arts Center. Hours are 1 to 4 * p.m. on Friday and BRIDGES HARDWARE AND HOME CENTER 100 S. Cansler St. at East King St. Mon. - Fri. 8-8 + Sat. 8-6 704-739-5461 Hardware Supplier | in Kings Mountain Bring in this coupon | ' or ONE FREE KEY | Per Visit « Sales Tax Not — — — — — — \ Saturday. Admission is free. REWARD Lust Dog On The East Side of Kings Mountain Lab and Greyhound mixed. Wearing red collar, weighs 85 pounds. Her name is Ruby. Please call if you have any information. 704-739-2478 | The man had had an affair with Hazel Marie. Ross describes her work as “character driven.” “I start with the character and see what she’s going to do,” Ross said. Ross’ first editor initially thought the books would only appeal to southern women over age 40. Instead, men and younger women are showing up at readings. The books have been pub- lished in Japanese and Turkish and now German. Ross” advice to would-be writers is to simply write. When she is working on a book, Ross writes three to four hours each day to keep the story alive. “I get into that world,” she said. Some of her ideas come by writing dialogue, seeing what the characters have to say to one another. When she reaches a blank, Ross will write into the scene a knock at the door. The next morning she'll sit down to write and find out who is at the door. Before writing the Miss Julia series, Ross authored two mysteries and an adven- ture set in the 19th Century. She went on to complete a Ph.D. in English studying in the role Geoffrey Chaucer played in legitimizing the. genre of comedy. To learn more about Ross, visit missjulia.com. The event is sponsored by the library and the Kings Mountain Tourism Development Authority. Walden Books will have copies for sale and Ross will sign them. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the Library. author to speak at library ANN ROSS Scout dinner set Friends of Scouting will host the annual Rev. Dr. Charles Bell Award Dinner Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Christian Life Center. The public is invited. For more information call Ronnie Hawkins or Brad Ellis at 739-2591. Each year, Friends of Scouting honors an indi- vidual and an organization who has played a special role in promoting Boy Scouts in Kings Mountain. The recipients of this year’s award will be announced next week. Past individual recipients include Otis Falls Jr., Larry Hamrick Sr., Donald Crawford, Jim Ferebee, John Hemry Moss and Thurman Eugene Tignor. Past organization recipi- ents include East Elementary, City of Kings Mountain, Kings Mountain Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, and St. Matthew's Lutheran Church Joe Holland Pack 03. Harris Funeral Home is . sponsor of the dinner. ORDINANCE From 1A cut, Black said. Judges often don’t award additional civil penalties. If the property is aban- doned or in foreclosure, recouping the money gets even more complicated. Civil action must be filed in the county that the property owner lives. That makes it hard to pursue cases involv- ing absentee owners. That's where neighborli- ness comes in. Black sug- gests individuals living next door to a unkempt yard include it in their own mow- "ing. “You're saving yourself tax money,” she said. Last year 400 people received notices, according to Black. Most, around 250, cut the grass almost imme- diately and didn’t violate the ordinance again. The city had to pay to have approxi- mately 150 properties cut. Eleven of those became repeat offenders. Last year the city used various lawn mowing serv- ices on a rotation. This year one service will do the job. Codes enforcement has taken bids. Black believes this will make the budgeting process smoother and will get grass cut quicker. Only contractors who carry liabili- ty insurance are being con- sidered. The grass ordinance was created for safety, not appearance reasons, accord- ing to Black. Tall grass har- bors rodents. The animals tend to stay in small areas. When a home is next door to tall grass, mice and rats could venture over. Abandoned, overgrown mills that do not have close neighbors are sometimes better left untouched. Clearing the area can cause the animals to scatter and look for new homes. The grass ordinance does not apply in the city’s ET]. Building and minimum housing codes and zoning guidelines are enforced in the two-mile-buffer around the city. The codes department cannot force property own- ers to clear trees or sew grass on undeveloped lots. Another city code, the one governing junked vehicles, can sometimes be misunder- stood, according to Black. State laws define what is a junker. Tax and insurance aren’t the only criteria. The car must be worth less than $100. The price of scrap metal alone can push the car’s value over the $100 threshold, Black said. Just because the car has no tires and is sitting on blocks, it’s not automatically junk. Nor is it junk if all the car needs is a set of tires or a new bat- tery. “A person has the right to their personal property,” Black said. Local ordinances allow property owners to have one junked vehicle in their yard as long as it is in the back yard and not visible from neighboring yards. When there is a violation, taking action is not as sim- ple as with grass cutting . cases. The owner must be mailed a pre-towing notice and have an opportunity to appeal to the city manager. After the vehicle is towed, a post-towing notice is mailed" naming where the vehicle is stored. The peddler’s ordinance also is sometimes misunder- . stood. The only place some- one may “park and sell” is the old depot. Vendors pay a $25 annual fee to use the lot. - However, vendors may enter into a contractual agreement with a business allowing them to use a por- tion of the business’ parking lot. Both an area sign and cotton candy vendor use this provision. A regional barbe- cue vendor is able to set up in the parking lots of stores which sell its slaw. This falls under a vendor event law. Out-of-town sales people sometimes set up in Kings Mountain on the weekend hoping that because the codes department is closed no action will be taken. However, residents can report these violations to the Kings Mountain Police Department. Non-permitted vendors will be asked to leave. The codes department keeps the names of people making appearance, junked car and vending ordinances complaints confidential. Black encourages these folks to leave a name and number when they call her depart- ment so she can report find- ings from the investigation. “I like to be able to call them back and explain,” LOTTERY From 1A Clary made similar points as Moore, citing lower gas prices in South. Carolina and the greater chance of the poor being victimized by a lottery. Clary said she expects to hear from constituents on both sides of the issue. State Senator Walter Dalton did not return calls. Cleveland County Schools board chairman Dr. George Litton didn’t speak out for or against a lottery but did say “if we're going to have one, I certainly would like to see it going to education.” Litton raised the possibly that money from a lottery could be used for school construction. Currently that comes from county money which is raised through property taxes. “I'd like to see some relief that way if it’s going to hap- pen,” Litton said. According to the South Carolina Education Lottery website, approximately 40 percent of the money spent by lottery players goes to education. Lottery prizes are generally broken down like this. No less than 45 percent of the money generated goes back to the prize pool. No more than eight percent may be used by the lottery for the actual cost of running the lottery. Seven percent goes to the retailers in the form of commission for selling the tickets. A portion of unclaimed prize money will be used to purchase new school buses. Lottery funds must be used to create new programs and offer scholarships. The funds ‘will not be used to increase salaries or hire new teachers, according to the website. Andie Brymer can be - reached at abrymer@kingsmountain- herald.com or 704-739-7496. 609 N. Main Strect Delmon: NC 28012 ts Tel: 704-825-9948 : KINGS MOUNTAIN Published every Thursday Periodicals postage at Kings SM , NC 28086 USPS 118-880 by Republic Newspapers, Inc. Postmaster, send address changes to: P.-O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Phone (704) 739-7496 ° Fax (704) 739-0611 Office: 824-1 East King Street ® Kings Mountain, NC 28086 E-mail: heraldnews@kingsmountainherald.com Don Elmore ...Publisher delmore@kingsmountainherald.com Gary Stewart Editor gstewart@kingsmountainherald.com Andie Brymer : Staff Writer Nancy Miller.........c.ccovorisrsesiisrenss Advertising Coordinator | Shelley Campbell...........cccuserverraenes Composition Manager Mail Subscription Rates Payable in Advance. 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