Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / July 28, 2005, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
§ "OUR VIEW Eminent Domain ruling bad One of the worst decisions of our time was recently handed down by the U.S. Ss Court in the Kelo et al v. City of New London suit. The ruling will allow gov- erning agencies to seize peo- ple’s personal property for economic development under the Eminent Domain law. Eminent Domain certainly has its place in today’s soci- ety, but we believe its pur- pose is for projects such as major highways, schools and other projects which are Demy or the good of all peo 2 purpose of this latest ‘ruling SH t benefit every- one, just a few. It’s purpose « is to allow any “economic development” project that a governing agency thinks would broaden its tax base. There is a move in the U.S. House to pass a law that would eliminate federal funds for any city or county that allows this type of seizure under Eminent Domain. We certainly applaud such a move, and hope that if any local politicians ever take such action that a go- zillionnaire developer who has the funds and determi- nation to do it targets every one of their homes and turns them into a hotel. No action best action A possible alcohol referen- dum was discussed again last week at a Grover Town Council work session. . Councilor Jackie Bennett spoke out in favor of a refer- endum during this fall's elections, stating that “the people are the ones who elected us (and) we should let them decide.” We don’t disagree that the people of Grover should be the ones to decide this issue, if it is one, but we strongly disagree with the Town » Council calling for the vote. By law, town council can * call for a referendum; or the : people who favor alcohol sales in town can circulate a petition and obtain the sig- . natures of 35 percent of the : those si + council town’s registered voters. If atures are valid, as to call for a ref- . erendum. Only recently, such a peti- : tion was circulated and fell . » short of the required num- ber of signatures. Alcohol is one of those + issues that splits a commu- * nity about in half. Should TW EW WW 0 WE ALA ee LUE a ESE EW we wo OAR WW Town Council call for a ref- erendum it would only be making life easier for the pro forces who maybe should have worked a little harder on the petition drive. While council members are certainly in office to rep- resent all of the citizens, whether they're registered voters or not, we believe they are also in office to vote their own conscience. We feel like they've already spoken by not taking action. EH A A OPINION... Thursday, July 28, 2005 HE SIDEWALK SURVEY BY ANDIE L. BRYMER THE HERALD Do you think city council members should serve two or four year terms? Two. That gives you a chante if they're not doing their jobs to replace them with someone who will. Leroy Young Kings Mountain Two. Switch them out faster. Phillip Fisher Kings Mountain I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to politics. Brandi Hiland Grover Kings Mountain Four years. Todd Reid We need year-round schools School’s out right now and really for no good rea- son. Just because the calen- dar says it’s summer that doesn’t mean we have to close the school house doors. Decades ago when our society was largely agrarian, students were given time off when their services were needed on the family farm. For the most part, children working full-time on farms, with unfortunately the exception of migrant work- ers, is a thing of the past. Months off in the sum- mer is a tradition but has no real reason to continue. I'm not opposed to time off. I would like more of it myself. Four two-week breaks throughout the school year would help reduce teacher and student burn-out more than one long vacation. Many children forget some of what they've learned during the long summer break. That in itself Andie Brymer Staff Writer is reason enough to do away. with it. Those same students could be served well to attend a remedial pro- gram during two-week quarterly breaks. Enrichment programs could be set up for students who are not falling behind. In addition to helping develop well-rounded kids, this would benefit the fami- lies who struggle to find childcare during the tradi- tional summer break from , school. Another reason to elimi- nate the two-month sum- mer break is the long stretch of often unsupervised time it creates. Boredom sets in and for some children, the temptation to misbehave is too great. I understand that the for- mer Kings Mountain District Schools attempted to implement year-round school but community opposition was too great. I wasn’t working at the Herald when that happened so I don’t know the details, though I imagine some folks were worried family vaca- tions, camps and other pro- grams would suffer. That doesn’t have to hap- pen. The two-week quarter- ly breaks are a great time for these activities. It would take some getting used to but in the long run would benefit our children. Gas prices go higher and higher If it’s negative, and it makes the newspapers and TV news, gasoline prices will go up. That's just the way things are. Does anybody remember the day gasoline prices first escalated? I had filled up my tank for about 30 cents a gallon the day before. That evening there was an obscure story on the news about oil prices, and the next day I was driving to work and got the shock of my life. The first station I passed was selling gas for 57 cents a gallon. Ridiculous, I thought, that must be a joke. It was a joke all right, and it was on us. Overnight, according to our government, energy supplies became scarce. I've always believed high gaso- line prices came about because a handful of rich people thought the Arabs should live better. Henry Kissinger comes to mind. I can remember Congressional hearings, and every time a cabi- net member testified, gas prices went up. I think the guy who kept going on TV to tell us we were going to pay higher prices was James. Schlesinger. I don’t remember what his job was, except to make gasoline prices go up. When the so-called energy crisis first start- ed, it took some kind of catastrophe to jack prices up. Last week when a hurri- cane was getting closer to the country, there was an announcement that gasoline prices were going up, because there was “fear” that some oil facilities would be harmed. If one of those caricature heads of state in the Middle East sneezes, it costs us another three cents a gallon at the pump. If Prince Faud, or Saud, or whatever his name is stumps his toe, con- sumers pay for it in the Jim Heffner Columnist form of high- er gasoline prices. When : OPEC meets, gas prices go up, even if they increase their output. If OPEC announces a price hike on crude oil, it is reflected at the pump almost before the announce- ment is completed, but when something happens that causes prices to go down (rare these days), it takes months for the decrease to show up. By then, of course, a minor trash can fire at a refinery in Lower Slobbovia has occurred, causing prices to go up once again. If you want to blame any- one for high gasoline prices, focus on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and then look around at all the environmental nuts in the country. The EPA says we have to use different blends of gaso- line in different parts of the country, therefore there are 57 different kinds, known as boutique blends, of gaso- line. It stands to reason that if refineries could turn out regular and high test, or ethyl, as in days of yore, prices would be lower, but having to manipulate crude oil so many different ways is expensive, thus the high prices. Then there are the nuts who have kept this country from building a new refin- ery for 30 years. Obviously, when the number of cars on the roads increase, more gasoline will be needed, and the only way to pro- duce more is to build more refineries. I think the nutso environ- mentalists want us all to go back to horses and wagons, or walk. Just remember this: every- thing is in the mix. If the weather is bad, prices go up; if the weather is good, prices go up; if there is any unrest in one of the coun- tries in South America, prices go up. There is always unrest in South America and we don’t use their oil, but that simply is not a factor. Gasoline prices go up in the winter because oil com- panies are refining more heating oil and not as much gasoline, they go up in the summer, because it is vaca- tion season and, therefore, demand increases. Light, sweet crude is sup- posed to be the best oil to refine into gasoline. I won- der who tastes it? If any- thing ever happens to that guy's taste buds, gasoline prices may go out of sight. Come to think of it, this column could cause a spike in prices. Opinion The Herald welcomes your letters to the editor for pub- Letters should be limited to 500 words. Letters@kingsmountainher- ald.com. Letters sent by fax Letters to the editor and columnists who appear on Mon. Tues. Thurs. 9:30-7:30 Wed. + Fri. 8-1 : 204 Brook Rd., Kings Mountain Owners: Janice Phifer, Cindy Phifer Adridigee welcomes Nail Technician Sith First Service - 1/2 Price 104.739.9142 le ® couple million dollars in the ground and then didn’t do anything else to it. It needs to be continued in the next couple of years.” Spears would also like to see the city take a more active role in revitalizing downtown. “We have an incentive for someone that improves their building - and I'm all for that - but the city hasn’t had a whole of of involvement in downtown renovations,” he said. Hawkins, who lost to Jerry Mullinax by nine votes in the Ward 3 race in 2003, says he is much more prepared to serve on Council now. “Since July 2003 I have attended every Council meeting except for two,” he pointed out. “I have been to more meetings than some of the council members. I have Adjustments by the current council. “I feel like now, more than ever, I am qualified to serve on the council and to serve the citizens of Kings Mountain. By attending the council meetings I know the issues and I have all the agendas.” Hawkins said he has spo- ken with many citizens in Ward 3 and they feel there is a lot of wasteful spending in the city. “We need to maintain expenses through revenue and monitoring,” he said. “We need to recruit new employment opportunities, and provide the lowest water /sewer rates possible while aggressively seeking ways to maintain the budg- el.” Another issue that con- cerns Hawkins is the ambu- lance service and response lication in each Thursday's Mail your letter to Editor, and e-mail must also the editorial page do not P age paper. All letters must be The Herald, P.O. Box 769, include name, mailing necessarily represent the oh signed, and for verification = Kings Mountain, NC 28086; address and phone number views of the Kings Policy purposes include the fax to (704) 739-0611; or e- for verification purposes. ~~ Mountain Herald. address and phone number. mail to KMH Letters may be edited. ELE CTI ON also been appointed to the times in Ward 3, particularly Planning and Zoning Board in the Gaston County area of From 1A and to the Board of the ward. “In Gaston County, it’s ter- rible the way it is,” he said. Also touching on Gaston County issues, Hawkins said Kings Mountain resi- dents who live across the Gaston County line should be allowed to attend Cleveland County Schools without paying a tuition. Hawkins said he would not favor a tax increase, would be an advocate for senior citizens and city employees, and would “pro- mote Kings Mountain as a good place to work and live and raise our children and grandchildren.” “I feel like I could jell with the present board,” he said. “I could work with them and the mayor.” Contact Gary Stewart at 704-739-7496 or gstewart@kingsmountain- herald.com.
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 28, 2005, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75