Thursday, May 24, 2007
See Graduation 2007
special section inside
today’s Herald
Memorial Day event
Monday at cemetery
HR
Memorial Day will be
observed with a ceremony
honoring the fallen heroes
and veterans of America’s
armed forces on Monday,
May 28, at 10 a.m. at
Mountain Rest Cemetery.
Jane Gulden, a piper, will
begin the program with a
prelude on her bagpipe.
Mayor Rick Murphrey is
scheduled to give the wel-
come and KM Police
Explorer Unit will present
the colors.
Rev. Danielle Duncan, of
Grace United Methodist
Church, is set to give the
invocation, followed by
KMPD Chief Melvin Proctor
leading the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Kings Mountain's award-
winning vocalist Shana
Adams will sing the national
anthem. Afterwards,
Murphrey will make
remarks and Chaplain Ray
Long of American Legion
Post 155 will give the veter-
ans address.
Gulden will play
“Amazing Grace” on her
bagpipe and Murphrey and
Long will place a wreath at
the memorial in Veterans
Park. Paul Fulton will play
TAPS.
Photos, info needed for
for Honor, Glory & Pride
The Herald will publish a
special section on the men
and women who are serving
or have served us in the mil-
itary. “Honor, Glory &
Pride” will publish on June
21. Deadline for stories and
advertising is June 11.
The Herald needs pictures
and information on anyone
who is currently serving in
the military and have served
in the past. There is no
charge.
Send your photos and sto-
ries to The Herald, P.O. Box
769, Kings Mountain, NC
28086 or bring them to the
editor’s office at 821 East
King Street, Kings Mountain.
You may also Email them to
gstewart@kingsmountain-
herald.com.
CLOSED MEMORIAL DAY
_. Post offices.
“ Banks.
Kings Mountain City Hall.
Grover Town Hall.
All Kings Mountain City
Offices.
KM Police Department
administrative offices (police
on-duty 24 hours/7 days a
peek).
_ Cleveland County offices.
_ Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce
offices.
. Mauney Memorial Library.
H. Lawrence Patrick
Senior Center.
_ Public Works (City of
Kings Mountain garbage col-
lection will be delayed one
da y):
The Herald (reopens
Tuesday at 8 a.m.
BLOCDMOBILE Isis
. Tuesday, May 29 -
Christian Freedom Baptist
Church, 246 Range Rd.,
Kings Mountain, 2-6: 30 p-m.
(American Red Cross tote
bags for all donors).
Tuesday, May 29 Double
Springs Baptist Church, 1130
Double Sprigs Church Rd.,
Shelby, 2:30-6:30 p.m.
T
KINGS MOUNTAIN
The Herald E
Vol. 119 No. 21 -
winning check was fraudulent
#° EMILY WEAVER
© eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
When Patricia Barber received
check in the mail Friday afternoon, she thought her
prayers were answered.
This new money would be just enough to help
her daughter buy the house she
windfall was a deception in dis-
guise and after reading the letter,
which urged her to keep quiet,
she smelled a rat.
The letter, with poor spelling
and grammar, reads: “You are
hereby informed that after the
just concluded PREMIER RAN-
DOM LOTTO held in Dublin,
Ireland, you emerged as one of
the winners in the third category.
CONGRATULATIONS.
Participants were selected via a
computer ballot draw from
1,500,000 names drawn from
Europe, Asia and North
America.”
It said that her name, “attached to coupon num-
ber 102-35485 with serial number 004-984 drew the
lucky numbers of 12-23-15-27-33 which subse-
quently won the lottery in the third category.”
Several other “winners” that have since posted
their experiences with Premier Random Lotto on
ripoffreport.com and fraudwatchers.org, also had
coupon #102-35485, serial #004-984, and “lucky”
Since 1889
50 Cents
EMILY WEAVER / HERALD
Patricia Barber holds letter notifying her that she had won money In a lottery she didn’t enter.
Kings Mountain woman’s lottery
KNP 5003217030 and winner code #NNCP 64350
was also identical to several other complainants.
The letter went on to inform Barber that she has
a nearly $3,000
won $130,000 (minus $4,290 for the 3.3% Sponsor's
Commission) “from a total cash prize of $3.5 mil-
lion, split among 16 international winners in dif-
wants. But this
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
? A US. citizen cannot legiti-
mately play or win a lottery’ in a
different country.
2 No one can win a lottery they
did not enter.
2 All official lotteries should
have websites and real address-
es.
? Along with fines, banks may
prosecute individuals who
attempt to cash a fake, altered o or
stolen check. ;
ferent categories.”
The enclosed check for $2,997.90 was to help her
pay the international clearance
fees of $2,840, so that she can
receive her total prize money,
according to the letter. It told her
to forward her clearance fees to
an agent and to contact that agent
with any questions she may
have. But perhaps the biggest red
flag of all for Barber was the line
that read: “In order to avoid dou-.
ble claiming or unwarranted tak-
ing advantage of this program by
participants and the public, we
therefore strongly advise that
you keep this award highly confi-
dential as part of our security
protocol until your winning has been processed
numbers 12-23-15-27-33. Her reference number
and money remitted to you.”
With great suspicion, she jumped on the internet
in search for answers. She typed in the words
“Premier Random Lotto” on google.com and was
interested, but not too surprised, to find that the
lottery was a ripoff.
The claim agent Barber was told to contact was
Roland Feldman, of Alpha Financial Group in
See Fraud, 9A
“gc
oo
KMHS looking
for new head
football coach
Farquharson
asked to step
down after seven years on job
GARY STEWART
gstewart@kingsmountainherald.com
Ronny Funderburke won't |
officially take over as principal
of Kings
decision as he did Friday
morning when he asked long-
time head football coach and
athletic director David
Farquharson to step down.
Being the professional and ff
“class act” that he is, Coach |
Farquharson, though disap-
pointed, agreed.
Monday
Funderburke
began making
statewide to find a successor.
He hopes to have a head coach
in place by the end of the
school year; however, he said if
he cannot find the right person
during that short length of
time he would consider nam-
ing an interim coach for next
season while conducting a
nationwide search, if neces-
sary, to find the man to turn the
football program around.
“Coach Farquharson is a
good man,” said Funderburke,
himself a former football coach
under Denny Hicks in the
1980s and an assistant on the
1989 and 1993 KMHS baseball
teams that won state champi-
onships. “I respect him. One of
his greatest assets is that he
cares for kids and would do
anything for his players. He is
a man of integrity. He is a team
player on our staff and I would
hope he’d stay on as a teacher.
He is a class act.”
Farquharson, who broke the
news to his players and assis-
tant coaches just prior to the
end of the school day Friday,
said he intends to continue to
teach at KMHS.
“I told the players that I was
asked to step down as head
coach and athletic director,”
Farquharson said. “My plans
morning,
. are to stay on as a teacher. It's
kind of hard to make plans
Mountain High §
School until July 1. But once |
he’s on the job he probably f
won't have to make as tough a §
immediately le. ot
contacts *®
“What | told the kids
and :
coaching staff is...we
move on.”
Dave Farquharson
right now. But what I told the
kids and coaching staff is
sometimes things change and
that we move on.”
Observers of the meeting
were highly impressed with
how Farquharson handled it.
He reportedly told them that
there are a lot of changes hap-
pening in Cleveland County
Schools right now and he’s
part of that change; and he also
told them what they need to
start doing to get ready for
next season and encouraged
them to continue to work hard.
Farquharson came to KMHS
in 1989 as an assistant coach on
Denny Hicks’ staff. He was
offensive line coach under Ron
Massey from 1995-1999 and
built the offensive line that led
KMHS to three conference
championships and a spot in
the state championship game
in 1998. When Massey
resigned near the end of the
1999-2000 school year
See Coach, 5A
Gas price back over $3 for Memorial Day Weekend
MILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
Despite the lack of a hurricane
wiping out a refinery, the price at
the pumps continues to sky rock-
et closer and closer to the price
once payed after Hurricane
Katrina.
On Tuesday afternoon, Little
Dan's was selling regular
unleaded gasoline for $3.199,
slightly higher than the reported
state average of $3.143. Across
the nation, the average price for
a gallon of gasoline was floating
around $3.20 on Tuesday, just in
time for Memorial Day travels.
The $3-plus peak is the highest
recorded price since 2005.
The price jumped around 20
cents over the weekend in the
region. The price jumps at the
pumps are continuing to be a
national burden, causing some
governors to turn to the White
House for federal help. But even
though drivers are fueling up
through clinched jaws, they are
still fueling up.
Mary Helen Skeen, of Stone
* Mountain, GA, was filling her
‘tank at Little Dan’s on Tuesday
- afternoon for her regular trek to
Charlotte. She said that her son
just moved to Charlotte, four
hours north of her Georgia
home, and her daughter lives
four hours south of her. She is
often traveling to see her two
children and said that she will
continue to do so as long as she
can, because those are her
“babies.”
“I hate the price at the pumps,
but what can we do? We have to
drive,” she said.
Sharing her sentiments was
Windell Burchfield, of
Lincolnton. “This is terrible,” he
said. “I guess everybody will
have to start carpooling or some-
thing.”
He’s had to cut back on his
travels due to the price at the
pumps, especially since his car
will only take premium gasoline.
It costs him about $80 to fill up.
County Commissioner Johnny
Hutchins talked about the price
of gas outside of a different sta-
tion on Tuesday afternoon. He
suggested that the only way to
stop the bleeding is to apply
pressure. He said that if every-
one would just observe one day
away from the pumps and
unnecessary travel the price may
begin to drop.
Jayne Cannon, spokeswoman
for AAA Carolinas, said that it
may take a more drastic meas-
ure, like widespread fuel conser-
vation, before there is a big
change. “Consumers are using
between 3-5 percent more gaso-
line this year, compared to last
A
year,”
she said, adding that a
rash of fires, refinery shutdowns
and breakdowns over the Spring
have hurt supply, feeding the
high prices. There are 130
refineries in the country, not one
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Mary Helen $keen of Georgla fills her tank at Little Dan’s on 185.
of them younger than 30 years
old, she said, and none of them
are running at 100 percent. She
predicts that prices may continue
to rise, but should stabilize in
June.
EB