Thursday, March 22, 2007
#% ELIZABETH STEWART
Herald Correspondent
The “Jesus” in the Easter season Passion
play, “CrossWalk,” will never be worthy of
the name, says Eddie Parker. Every day he
says he finds it hard to live up to the chal-
lenge.
Parker has portrayed The Messiah for six of
Two men
in custody,
another
sought in
shooting
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Three Charlotte men are
charged in an early Sunday
morning shooting incident in
Ki ings
Mountain
that left two
men hospital-
ized.
According to
Kid Rog §
Mountain
Police,
Gabriel
Correa, Juan
Td n'ocio
Boutista and
two unnamed
persons
arrived at
their home at
800 E. Ridge
Street to find
that they had been followed.
The men who had allegedly fol-
lowed them all the way from
Charlotte were brandishing a
gun and demanding money. The
four complied and emptied
their pockets. Two of them were
shot.
KMPD Officers arrived on the
scene and got a description of
the suspects’ vehicle. They sent
out a BOLO (Be On the Look
Out) for the vehicle to other law
enforcement agencies. A chase
began in Lowell when the police
there noticed what looked like
the description of the wanted
vehicle. The officers followed
the vehicle to Charlotte, where
the suspects then abandoned the
car and started running. Chavaz
Chamaal Stephens and Antoine
Lamont Isles, both of Charlotte,
were caught and transported
back to the KMPD.
According to police, during
interviews they gave the detec-
tives another lead to the shoot-
ing - suspect #3 Ronnie Jerome
Davis, of Charlotte. All three
have been charged with two
counts of Assault with a Deadly
Weapon with Intent to Kill
Inflicting Serious Injury, two
counts of Assault with a Deadly
Weapon with Intent to Kill, one
count of Robbery with a
Dangerous Weapon, one count
of Felony Conspiracy, and one
count of Discharge of a Firearm
in an Occupied Property.
KMPD Chief Melvin Proctor
said that this type of crime does
not usually occur in Kings
Mountain. However, he said
that they have noticed an
increase in crimes, similar to this
one, in Charlotte where
Hispanics are being targeted.
Correa and Boutista were
transported to the hospital.
Correa was discharged from
See Shooting, 2A
ISLEY
KINGS MOUNTAIN
The Herald
Vol. 119 No. 12
the seven years that Regal Ventures Creative
Ministries has presented the outdoor drama -
at a literal cross walk on five blocks of down-
town Kings Mountain transformed by over
200 volunteers into the Holy City of
Jerusalem where the Passion of the Christ
becomes alive for several thousand each
year who witness the recreation of that Holy
Week over 2,000 years ago.
Since 1889
50 Cents
| Crosswalk drama begins Friday
Over 200 volunteers retell Jesus’ passion week story
The large cast, under the direction of Rew.
Reg Alexander, will present the drama eight
times the next two weekends - beginning
Friday and Saturday, March 23-24 and again
on Friday and Saturday, March 30-31 at 7
p-m. and 8:15 p.m. each evening. A concert
by Cross Reference will precede each
evening's show. Tickets at $5 are available at
See CrossWalk, 6A
SPORTS - 1B
Donna Deaton
portrays Mary .
Magdalene
in the Easter
passion drama
CrossWalk,
which will
open for a
two-weekend
run Friday
in downtown
Kings
Mountain.
‘A National Landmark’
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Old one-lane overhead bridge in Kings Mountain is one of the oldest T-Beam-built bridges in North Carolina.
Old overhead bridge included in
National Register of Historic Places
LIZABETH STEWART
Herald Correspondent
The old Southern Railroad reinforced
concrete Tee-Beam bridge built in 1919 at
North Battleground and Railroad Avenue
has been designated a Historic Place on
the National Register of Historic Places.
Mayor Rick Murphrey was notified of
the bridge selection this week by the
North Carolina Department of Cultural
Resources State Historic Preservation
Office. Jeffrey Crow, State Historic
Preservation Officer, said the entry in the
register was approved by the Department
of the Interior.
The federal program is administered by
the North Carolina Park Service in part-
nership with state government to protect
property of historical significance.
The overhead bridge on West King street
is already listed as an Historic Place in the
National Register. Kings Mountain's his-
torical committee has been working for
East Elementary mourns death
of popular teacher Dorcas Beasley
months to preserve these type landmarks
and other Kings Mountain landmarks in
keeping with Kings Mountain's tradition
as a historical city, said the mayor.
The original bridge was built in 1872 as a
wood bridge by Atlanta and Richmond
Airline Railroad and the newer bridge in
1919 when the railroad expanded the track
to a double track opening up industrializa-
tion in this area and expansion of the rail-
road to Charlotte and Spartanburg and
beyond.
The North Battleground bridge is one of
the six oldest Tee-Beam-built bridges in
North Carolina, one of only four built by
Southern Railroad Company and one of
two surviving bridges virtually unaltered
since construction in 1919. The other sur-
viving bridge is in Bessemer City and is
scheduled for replacement.
The bridge was important, according to
the July 24, 1919 Kings Mountain Herald,
because of double tracking between
Washington, DC and Atlanta which
opened up this area. The bridge required
17 people to construct and two months to
get it open to increased automobile and
truck traffic in Kings Mountain. The
town’s first passenger station and first
depot was erected on the track side and
became the commercial center of Kings
Mountain, according to another story in
The Herald. In the winter of 1918-19,
according to the Herald, repair work was
done on the Depot for passenger and
freight service. In an editorial in The
Herald January 16, 1919 the writer wrote
that “the rattle trap (depot) was con-
demned because it’s a fire trap and a new
depot is needed.” The new brick passen-
ger station at the Depot was built in 1925.
The mayor said as soon as a certificate of
authenticity is received from the
Department of Cultural Resources that a
proper ceremony will be held at the
bridge, which is located across the street
from another landmark, the restored home
of Kings Mountain's first mayor W. A.
Mauney.
Apartment
proposal on
agenda for
City Council
#8 ELIZABETH STEWART
Herald Correspondent
Faunce Realty is proposing to
build a 38-apartment complex
for the elderly and 48 rental
units at market rate on 11 acres
of land at the corner of Gold and
Ruppe Streets. :
Kings Mountain Planning an
Zoning Director Steve Killian
said the city’s Planning and
Zoning Board is recommending
the site plan and will recom-
‘end to City Council rezoning
of the property. Pendergraph of
Raleigh is the developer.
Several rezoning requests are
on the agenda for the Tuesday 7
p-m. meeting of City Council at
City Hall.
The Planning Board also unan-
imously recommended at its
recent meeting: that Couricil
approve a zoning map and ordi-
nance text amendment that
would create protection and
enhancement overlays for most
of the arterial entrances and the
downtown area. The ordinance
would cover particularly US 74
Business and NC 161, Cleveland
Avenue and York Road, and the
downtown area.
A public hearing will also be
held on rezoning requests by
Dianna Allen to rezone property
at the intersection of Blair Drive
and Shelby Road from
Residential to Residential Office,
and Laura Fannin for properties
on Cansler Street between its
intersections with Morris Street
and Waco Road from R-6 and
Neighborhood Business to RS-6.
Co-applicants include Mary
Tesseneer, Helen R. Tate, Oliver
Tate, Kenneth Kitzmiller, Joseph
Tesseneer Jr, Judy Tesseneer,
Joseph Tesseneer Sr. Michael
Dess, Joyce Howell and Ray
Howell. Council will also.con-
sider budgeting $117,000 for
footings and railings for a
Marine Travel Hoist, a boat lift
at Moss Lake. Mayor Rick
Murphrey said Council had
received a $200,000 grant for the
equipment.
East
School
Principal
Jerry
Hoyle
speaks at
Monday
morning
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Monday was a sad day at East
Elementary School as family,
staff and students said goodbye
to their beloved 3rd grade
teacher Mrs. Dorcas Beasley.
She taught her last lessons on
Monday. She took her last
breath on the following Sunday,
March 18. After beans and
iving it twice, she suc-
Bed the cancer that had
attacked her with lethal inten-
tions for the past 30 years.
Longtime friend and volun-
teer assistant Wanda Wilson
asked the crowd to sing with
her at the school’s memorial
service held on Monday after-
noon. Their voices softly filled
the air on the front lawn of East
Elementary with “Jesus Loves
Me,” and other children’s
hymns.
East Elementary Principal
Jerry Hoyle told every one that
they should all “strive to be like
Mrs. Beasley. We shouldn't cry
for her, but should be happy for
her as she is now in a better
place,” he said.
Beasley's mother Mrs. Francis
Elizabeth Martin Golightly,
fighting back the tears under-
neath her dark shades, agreed
that “our loss is Heaven's gain.”
Pink and purple Relay for
Life balloons, held by Beasley's
students and staff, were
See Beasley, 6A
lt
Th A OT ie imho AN. 1 id
ceremony
honoring
longtime
teacher
Dorcas
Beasley,
who died
after a
lengthy
bout with
cancer.