Thursday, March 29, 2007
John Yarbro
leaving KMHS
to become
assistant
superintendent
of Cleveland
County
Schools.
Friday
wreck
kills
Child only survivor
in U.S. 74 accident
= EMILY WEAVER
eweavcr2kingsmountainherald.com
A “tragic accident” that hap-
pened on U.S, 74 Friday night
took the lives of two Kings
Mountain residents, Wendy
Jones Evans and Timothy Alan
Walker, and forever altered the
lives of two sons. KMPD Capt.
Derek Johnson said that Evans
was traveling east on 74 when
she entered the grassy median
and came back onto the road,
causing her car to flip more
than six times, according to
witnesses. The car came to rest
at the top of the Bessemer City
exit on Highway 74.
During the accident, Walker
was ejected from the vehicle.
Another tragic result of the
accident happened in the back
seat, where Evan's and
Walker's 4-year-old son,
Trevor, was strapped into a car
seat. All three were transport-
ed to Carolinas Medical Center
in Charlotte, where Walker
and Evans were pronounced
dead. Trevor has been released
from the hospital, but is proba-
bly far from being in “good
condition” as he is, at such a
young age, dealing with the
loss of his mommy and daddy.
“It’s a miracle that baby is
alive and it is all due to the
child restraints he was wear-
ing,” Capt. Johnson said. “This
just reinforces the use of seat
belts and child restraints. They
really do save lives.”
It has been reported that
Evan's former husband drove
past the wreck on his way
home, not knowing the moth-
er of their 16-year-old son,
Derek, was involved.
Although the exact cause
and specifics of the accident
are still under investigation,
Johnson said that when a vehi-
cle travels from a hard surface
(like the road) to a soft surface
(like grass) and back, and
especially if the driver over-
corrects his or her steering,
there is a good chance the car
will “barrel roll” or flip. The
exact speed was not known at
the time, but Johnson said the
speed limit on that stretch of
U.S. Highway 74 is 65 mph.
KINGS MOUNTAIN
The Herald
Vol. 119 - No. 13
remaining Deputy Superintendent Dr.
Larry Allen makes his retirement depar-
ture on July 1, 2007.
after-school programs.
Since 1889
In charge of operations, Yarbro will
oversee the district's facility mainte-
nance, transportation, food service and
Superintendent Dr. Bruce Boyles said
that he has received and interviewed
See Yarbro, 9A
CROSSWALK
50 Cents
rw o_o —
Yarbro ending 7th year at KM High
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
In a unanimous vote Monday night at
the Cleveland County School Board
meeting Kings Mountain High School
Principal John Yarbro was named the
new assistant superintendent of opera-
tions for Cleveland County Schools. He
will be stepping into the role as the last
~ EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
when he was in high school.
2007
EMILY WEAVER / HERALD
Jesus, played by Eddie Parker, is crucified in the Easter drama Crosswalk, which opened last
week and is scheduled for a last run Friday and Saturday in downtown Kings Mountain.
Downtown drama set for final ‘07
showings on Friday and Saturday
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
One weekend a year for the past seven years,
streets in downtown Kings Mountain are trans-
ported back over 2,000 years ago to a different
place, a different time - to the land of Jerusalem.
But this year the opportunity to travel back
through time has been extended to two week-
ends. The Passion adventure Crosswalk contin-
ues Friday and Saturday at 7 pm and 8:15 pm.
Tickets for $5 can be purchased at Regal
Ventures or at the start of each show on
Mountain Street. .
Hundreds of spectators showed up Friday
night for Crosswalk's first holy trip through
time. When asked who was visiting Crosswalk
for the first time, almost everyone raised their
hands. :
Cross Reference, a local group, began the pro-
gram singing Christian tunes and hymns in a
common area next to Griffin Drug. At about
7:35 p.m. Rev. Reg Alexander, director ‘of the
play, introduced the program. Over 200 volun-
teers came out to help bring the streets of
“Jerusalem” to life, he said.
The first person he introduced was the jour-
ney's guide, Joseph of Aramathea. Through a
set of archaic-looking wooden doors Joseph
welcomed the travelers to the land of Jerusalem,
See Cross Walk, 9A
EMILY WEAVER / HERALD
Joseph of Aramathea (Rev. Dale Swofford)
leads crowd through the streets of Jerusalem
in Crosswalk.
Dr. Larry Allen, who is retiring at the
end of the current school year after over
40 years as an educator, did not plan to
go to college and definitely did not con-
sider going into the field of education
SPORTS - 1B
‘Allen has over 40 years in education
“I was planning for the military or to
drive a truck,” he says.
But one day his course was redirected.
When he was a senior in high school, his
English teacher asked him to stay after
class. She closed the door and asked him
if he was planning to go to school. He
told her that he had not planned to
attend college. “She said “You need to
See Allen, 9A
Dr. Larry Allen
is retiring at
the end of the
school year
after more
than 40 years
in education.
Council approves
overlay districts
by split 4-3 vote
ELIZABETH STEWART
Herald Correspondent
Kings Mountain City Council
voted 4-3 Tuesday night to
approve the creation of five
inside-city overlay districts but
not before opposition by three
York Road residents and con-
cerns by some council members
that they needed more time
which resulted in a. lengthy
meeting by a-bpard split ‘on the
issue.
The vote came after Mayor
Rick Murphrey suggested the
outside area of York Road-161 be
deleted from the text amend-
ment . Voting against the amend-
ment were Councilmen Rodney
Gordon, Howard Shipp and
Jerry Mullinax. Voting for the
amendment were Councilmen
Dean Spears, Keith Miller,
Houston Corn and Mike Butler.
The changes would affect
future development in the four
major arterial areas leading into
the city and also the downtown
district.
Planning Director Steve
Killian presented the recommen-
dations from the Planning &
Zoning Board which he said
came after six months of study
and hundreds of surveys by
mail and telephone to people in
the affected areas. “We respond-
ed to all concerns and had no
negative feedback,” he said.
Council voted 4-3 to amend
the zoning ordinance map creat-
ing overlay districts for Shelby
Road, King Street, Cleveland
Avenue, York Road and the
downtown area stipulating
inside city only, and again elimi-
nating from the map the outside-
city section of York Road.
Mullinax left the room as the
vote was being taken so his vote
was. counted ‘as .a “yes” along
with Spears, Miller and Corn.
Voting “no” were Shipp, Gordon
and Butler.
“I'm not opposed to overlay
districts but this plan needs
some fine tuning, if we pick up
the ET] on York Road we need
to be consistent and I am not pre-
pared to vote tonight,” Gordon
said.
“Let's table the entire issue for
30-90 days, we're split on this
issue” said Mullinax.
Miller said he had seen the
benefits of overlays and also the
problems but “we can fix the
problems,” he said.
Spears said, “It’s really not set
in stone for these outlying
areas,” referring to Norman
Bumgardner’s complaint that
according to the new ordinance
he would have to build a brick
building to store his tractor. Ann
Bennett, also of York Road, was
See Overlay, 2A
5th high school
on the horizon?
“EMILY WEAVER
. eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
A fifth high school unlike any
other in the county and most in
the state could be on the horizon
for Cleveland County Schools.
Administration is trying to get
an average $25,000 planning
grant to develop a strategy and
receive a five-year implementa-
tion grant for an Early College
High School (ECHS) on the cam-
pus of Cleveland Community
College (CCQ).
There were many questions on
this approach to a hyper educa-
tion alternative, but most of the
Board members at the Cleveland
County Board of Education
meeting Monday night
expressed support. Cleveland
County Schools (CCS) is work-
ing with CCC for the grant pro-
posal to the North Carolina New
Schools Project in Raleigh, part
of Governor Mike Easley’s initia-
tive to establish ECHSs in all NC
counties.
“We hope that it will provide
funds for us to plan the imple-
mentation of such a school,”
John Goforth told the board.
“The school in question will be
small, with a maximum of about
200 students. It goes for five
years. Students earn a high
school degree and an AA
(Associate’s of Arts), AS
(Associates of Science) or ASA
degree in that five-year period.
After those five years they will
have two years of college and
will be able to transfer to anoth-
er university in the North
Carolina system.”
He said that the concept of
ECHS is not a new one, but
North Carolina is the first state
‘in the union to put the idea into
action. There are 33 ECHSs cur-
rently operating in North
Carolina and about another
dozen are scheduled to open
next year, Goforth said. The old-
est ECHS in North Carolina is
three years old.
See New School, 9A