KINGS
MOUNTAIN
The Herald
Thursday, May 10, 2007
— HOMEFRONT —
Clarification of
Oak Grove
rezoning story
A story on the front
page of last week's Herald
concerning the meeting of
the Cleveland County
Commissioners contained
numerous inaccuracies,
including:
Kings Mountain
Properties LLC requested
the parcel of land at the
intersection of Oak Grove
and Stony Point roads to
be rezoned from residen-
tial to general business.
It was reported that 160
signatures on a petition
opposing the rezoning
were members of Oak
Grove Baptist Church.
Some of the signers are
members of the church,
and some aren't.
Gene Lovelace is a
member of the county
planning board, not the
Isothermal planning
board.
Wayne Putnam was
incorrectly identified as
Wayne Butler.
Planning Director Bill
McCarter told the board of
commissioners that the
estimate of traffic flow at
the intersection of Oak
Grove and Stony Point
roads.(conducted in 2005)
was around 30 percent.
Ronnie Hawkins said the
estimate should be recal-
culated since “it is one of
the most dangerous inter-
sections I know of.”
DA dismisses
Tina Weaver
murder charge
District Attorney
Richard L. Shaffer
. Thursday dropped mur-
der charges against Tina
Brown Weaver of Kings
Mountain.
She had been charged
following the death of her
husband, Ronald Todd
Weaver, on November 25,
2006.
Shaffer ruled the case
“justified homicide due to
the fact that Ms. Brown
acted in self defense.”
Shaffer said evidence
showed that she had been
_ badly beaten prior to the
shooting. “Even though
the decedent did not have
a weapon, the use of
deadly force by Ms.
Brown was justified given
the difference in the rela-
tive size and strength of
Vol. 119 No. 19
Since 1889
50 Cents
Simulation goggles help KMHS students
learn first-hand the danger of drunk driving
ssa
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Dozens of orange cones, each one representing a
person, were laid to waste under the tread of
“drunk” drivers Wednesday at Kings Mountain
High School's practice field.
Cleveland County’s Farm Bureau brought a
great gift to ninth and tenth grade students at
KMHS - the gift of foresight. Wearing fatal vision
goggles, which simulate an intoxicated person’s
vision at nighttime, each student got behind the
wheel of Jack Scism’s golf cart to drive through a
seemingly easy course. -
The course was marked with small and large
orange cones. D.A.R.E. Officer David Coburn told
the students that each small cone was a person, one
of their classmates. Coach Janice Grant's 9th grade
PE class designated each cone to be one of them.
The large cones were meant to be trees or other edi-
fices.
Wayne Yarbro, of the Bureau, challenged the stu-
dents with a free meal at Outback Steakhouse, as
long as they didn’t “kill anyone.” But no student or
participating adult was able to ace the course with-
out fatalities. The students in Coach Grant's class
occasionally reprimanded the current driver with
“Hey, you just killed me!”
After each student completed the course they
looked back on their trail of destruction behind
them and were faced with a sobering realization —
no one drives well when they are drunk.
Coburn explained to the students that the gog-
gles only distort one thing, their vision. “They are
going to fool your brain into making you think that
you're intoxicated. But in reality, if your drunk,
your entire body will be affected,” he said.
Billy Joe Heath, a student in Grant's class, con-
sistently knocked out all of the cones on the left
side of the course. “I thought I did good until I
turned around and looked and I had killed every
body,” she said. “It was like everything was shift-
Higher electric fees
in proposed budget
ELIZABETH STEWART
ed to one side (looking through the goggles). I was
going to close one eye, but it didn’t help and I fig-
ured it would be cheating so I opened it back up.”
After her experience on the course she swore that
she would never drive drunk. “I would never
drive drunk anyway because my grandmother
was hit by a drunk driver. That is my main moti-
vation not to drive drunk, but this is an extra
point,” she said.
Marcus Childers said that he too will never drive
drunk after his experience. “I couldn’t see any-
thing,” he said.
“You can’t see. It’s a swirl,” added Brooke Davis.
“You have to concentrate. It’s darkbecause of the
green shade (on the goggles) and your vision is
greatly distorted,” said Quintarro Roberts.
“It was hard. I couldn't even see any of the
cones,” said Ellen Hall, who knocked out at least
two of the big cones and several “people.”
They all gave their word that they will not drive
drunk. But Melvin Clark said his commitment to
sober driving is not solely fueled on his experience
on the course. Forget getting locked up, he said his
biggest fear is “facing Mama.”
Scism, who sits on the county board of directors
for Farm Bureau, said that this is done statewide.
The materials, like the goggles, cones and educa-
tional aid are provided by Farm Bureau. They pro-
vided this necessary learning experience to the stu-
dents of KMHS for the first time five years ago and
have returned three times to continue the educa-
tion for new students. “It’s worth our time if we
save one kid,” said Harry Sain, with Farm Bureau.
Another assistant and volunteer with Bethlehem
Volunteer Fire Department, Avery Turbyfill, said,
“It's good to teach young people the dangers of
what can happen. You can learn it, read about it
and whatever, but until you do it, you don’t really
retain it.” He said that he hopes they will draw
from this experience a learning lesson that will aid
them when they get their driver’s licenses in the
next couple of years.
Ms. Brown and the dece-
dent as well as the fierce-
ness of the attack,”
Shaffer said.
Shaffer said immediate-
ly after the shooting that
Ms. Brown apparently
attempted to revive her
husband. He said she
cooperated with authori-
ties and the statement she
gave police was consistent
with the evidence located
at the scene as well as the
autopsy results.
“This case is just one
example of the potentially
deadly consequences of
domestic violence,”
Shaffer said. “the District
Attorney's Office would
urge anyone who is
involved in a relationship
that is affected by acts of
domestic violence to seek
professional and/or spiri-
tual guidance before the
Herald Correspondent
No property tax increase is
proposed in the 2007-2008 city
budget which City Manager
Marilyn Sellers presented to City
Council Tuesday night but resi-
dential customers will see a 7
percent increase in electricity for
the first time in 14 years and
industrial customers will see a
19 percent increase in trans-
portation facility charges the city
will pass on from its supplier.
“We haven't passed on our
additional costs for utilities in
years but transportation facility
costs have increased substantial-
ly and we must pass on these
costs from our supplier,
Transcontinental,” said Sellers.
She said the escalated cost of
power results also in the across-
the boards increase to electrical
customers. She noted that costs
of power poles have tripled as
well as costs of insurance, sup-
The current property tax rate is
40 cents per $100 valuation.
The budget, described by
Sellers as “very conservative,
responsible and a hold-the line
budget” will total $30.4 million,
up $546,019 from the previous °
year’s budget. Sellers and
Finance Officer Lori Hall made
the presentation to City Council
and Council set a public hearing
for its May 29 meeting at 7 p.m.
at City Hall. Sl
Sellers said Kings Mountain's: i
electrical rate is lower than area:
communities. Currently - the
average retail price, cents per
kilowatt, are Kings Mountain
7.32; Shelby 8.01, Gastonia 8.28
and Cherryville 10.10. The city’s
7 percent increase would put the
average retail price in Kings
Mountain at 7.83.
The higher costs of gas Sellers
said has resulted in increased
costs to the city in transportation
and facility charges. “We don’t
like to have to pass on this 19
| KMHS principal
may be named
Monday night
Superintendent to make recommendation
at Board meeting in Barnes Auditorium
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Superintendent Dr. Bruce
Boyles plans to make a recom-
mendation for the next principal
of Kings Mountain High School
to the Board of Education
Monday night at B.N. Barnes
Auditorium. The meeting begins
at 7 p.m.
He said that 13 candidates
have applied for the position
and a large number of those
were interviewed. Boyles began
the interview process about four
weeks ago and admitted that it
was a hard decision.
“It's always hard to decide
when you have so many good
candidates,” he said.
The contenders were filtered
through a couple of rounds of
interviews before they were nar-
rowed down to this lone recom-
mendation. When asked if the
unknown leader will be a good
addition to KMHS, Boyles said,
“Absolutely. Several candidates
would have made a good fit.”
At 5:15 p.m. Monday board
members will tour Kings
Mountain High School's new
career and technology facility on
Phifer Road.
At the board meeting, admin-
istration will be discussing the
career and technical plan for the
schools.. A proposal for changes
to Lancaster Field's lighting at
KMHS is to be discussed, along
with a proposition from a busi-
ness near Shelby High, which
has expressed interest in leasing
out parking spaces to the school.
The board and administration
will discuss a project to renovate
the Shelby baseball park, a
budget amendment, end-of-
grade testing irregularities,
strategic planning committee
nominations, and several board
policies still being fine-tuned.
The agenda includes special
recognitions to-local NC teach
See School Board, 2A
Hall of Fame dinner,
induction Saturday
The 20th annual Kings
Mountain Sports Hall of Fame
dinner and induction ceremony
will be held Saturday, May 12 at
6 p.m. at the Central United
Methodist Church Family
Activities Center.
Baseball coaches Bruce Clark
and Darrell Van Dyke, along
with the 1998 Kings Mountain
High School football and volley-
ball teams will be inducted.
Distinguished Service Awards
will be presented to longtime
youth sports supporters Lucille
Williams and Keith Falls.
The Special Achievement
NATIONAL DAY OF PRAY
Award will be presented to the
State Championship 2006 KMHS
softball team.
Clark coached the 1989 and
1993 KMHS baseball teams to
the state championship. He also
served as head softball coach
and assistant football coach dur-
ing his 11-year tenure with the
Mountaineers. He will be
inducted by one of his former
football players, Brent Bagwell,
who went on to play at NC State
University and is now a local
businessman and assistant coach
to Clark in football at North
See Hall of Fame, 5A
situation turns deadly.”
plies and maintenance.
See Budget, 3A
EMILY WEAVER / HERALD
Jeff Yarbro (left) and Rick Chapman bow thelr heads to pray at the city's National Day of Prayer cer-
.emony held In front of City Hall on Thursday afternoon. Local pastors gathered to pray for Kings
Mountain, the state, nation and world at the ceremony.