Volume 121 ¢ Issue 4 « We
dnesday, January 28, 2009
Grover resident
celebrates
90 years!
See story page 3
Sates Service Sinee 1
Dilling Heating Co.
JENN
LENNDXD © |
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Battle over signatures ends
Board to set date for LBTD wote at next meeting
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
The state referee has
spoken. The back-and-forth
fight between citizens of
whether or not to have a
vote on liquor by the drink
sales in Kings Mountain is
over. A referendum will be
held.
The NC Board of Elec-
tions certified all of the pe-
tition signatures on
Thursday morning, Jan. 22.
“Once it’s certified there
can be no more removal of
signatures,” said Debra
Blanton, director of the
Cleveland County Board of
Elections. “It’s a done
deal.”
a Citizens for Progress, a
Arrest made
¥ in possible
prescription
drug ring
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
The Kings Mountain
Police are cracking down
on the illegal sale, distribu-
tion and use of prescription
drugs in the community.
After a nearly six-
month-long investigation,
Det. Sgt. Lisa Proctor said
that they arrested brothers
Trotsky Boyce, 48, and
Marcus Boyd, 45, both of
819 Floyd Street, for ob-
taining controlled sub-
stances by fraud.
Boyce was charged with
34 felony counts. Boyd
faces 23 felony counts.
Both brothers were in the
Gaston County Jail for
similar charges in Gaston
County, when the warrants
were served.
If found guilty of all
charges, both men will face
“serious time,” according
to Det. Proctor.
‘ She said that she had
been working with the
Gastonia City Police in the
investigation of the two
men since Aug. But these
charges may be just the be-
ginning. More charges may
be pending for Boyce and
Boyd in other parts of the
state.
Det. Proctor said that
they believe the operation
involved other individuals
and “more arrests will fol-
low.” For anyone else who
may be involved in the sit-
uation, Det. Proctor warns
them to come forward.
“The best thing to do is to
come forward before the
warrants are taken out,”
she said.
The investigation into
Boyce and Boyd showed
instances of “doctor shop-
ping,” where patients go to
different doctors in search
of prescriptions. Police
See DRUGS page 8
group of business profes-
sionals, started a petition to
call for a LBTD referendum
on Oct. 7 after a request for
an election was denied by
the eity council in Sept. By
the petition’s deadline at 5
p.m. on Jan. 5, Citizens had
turned in over 4,000 signa-
tures.
Many of those names
were either repeats or could
not qualify. But as Cleve-
land and Gaston county
boards neared the final
counts, numbers showed
that’ petitioners had col-
lected over 100 more than
they needed.
That difference came
under scrutiny recently as a
_—_-
3
yo
ref opr as
Job fair attracts over
1,000 to KM YMCA
few community members
decided to collect signatures
of their own. Former city
councilman Keith Miller,
deacon at First Baptist
‘Church, and Rev. James
Lochridge, pastor of Second
Baptist Church, had hoped
to have enough names with-
drawn to invalidate the pe-
tition.
The two men went door-
to-door, while a few others
manned the phones, calling
on folks, who had signed
the petition, to see if they
would like their names re-
moved. Until the names
were officially certified, an
option of removal was
available.
Only 2,212 signatures
were needed to call for a
referendum. Blanton said
that the state Board of Elec-
tions has certified 2,272 sig-
Mother,
natures from Cleveland
County alone.
With the state’s certifica-
tion, Blanton said that they
have no choice but to
schedule a referendum,
which will be paid for by
the City of Kings Mountain.
The Cleveland County
BoE will set the date for the
LBTD referendum at its
next meeting at 10 a.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 4. Accord-
ing to state law, the date
must be set no sooner than
60 days and no later than
120 days from Jan. 22,
when the signatures were
officially certified.
Blanton safely estimated
that Kings Mountain citi-
zens will head to the polls
this spring.
The battle for signatures
is over. The fight to sway
the vote has begun.
son die
in fatal wreck
W
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Tuesday’s dual-county job fair at the
Kings Mountain Family YMCA attracted
crowds of over a thousand and compa-
nies in the dozens, all searching for hope
in a doubtful economy.
With about an hour to go at 1 p.m., the
total number of job seekers who ventured
to the fair counted 1,086. Jason Falls,
with Falls Insurance, said that they had
received around 200 resumes for the one
customer service position they had avail-
able by noon.
Susan Alcide, with the Region C
Workforce Development board, said on
Monday that they planned to have be-
tween 30-35 employers, all with current
job openings, at the Cleveland and Gas-
ton County Job Fair. The fair opened at 9
a.m. and by the time it closed at 2 p.m.
thousands of applications or resumes
were submitted to companies with a few
hundred positions to fill.
The parking lot was completely full
for a majority of the morning, sending
job seekers to lots nearby. Lines wrapped
around the building and stretched to the
ball field behind the YMCA.
Norma Jean Coble, of Stanley, said
that when she arrived around 10:30 a.m.,
she joined the line with her umbrella in
hand. She added that she wasn’t sure how
long she would have to wait and didn’t
want to face prospective employers
drenched in rain. She made it inside
about 20 minutes later, dry and smiling.
See JOB FAIR page 7
Arrest made in BB&T robbery
Kings Mountain Police
responded to a bank robbery
at the BB&T (Branch Bank-
ing & Trust), at 410 E. King
Street, Wednesday around 2
p.m.
A suspect reportedly
showed a teller a note
“threatening harm” and “de-
manding money.”
Police say that he left the
scene on foot and further in-
vestigation showed that he
got into a white, four-dour,
mid-compact Ford Taurus,
driven by an unidentified
white female with blonde
hair. :
At approximately 5 a.m.
on Friday, the KMPD ar-
rested Steven Scott Cline, 46,
of 1923 Lancer Court, in
Gastonia, for the robbery. He
was charged with robbery
a
| Alliance
Banka Trust
Building Communities
with a dangerous weapon
and conspiracy to commit
armed robbery.
He was transported to the
Gaston County Jail, where
he is currently being held
under a $600,000 bond.
The KMPD was able to
make an arrest from infor-
mation leading to the identity
of Cline that was gathered
through the Street Crime
Unit of the Gastonia Police
Department and the Concord
Police Department.
The robbery is still under
investigation.
Those with any informa-
tion regarding the
should contact the Kings
Mountain Police Depart-
ment’s Criminal Investiga-
tions Division at
704-734-0444 or Crime
Stoppers at 704-481-8477.
case
Visit us today at
Kings Mountain
‘Just a split second, it could change your life’
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
In a split second life can change. It can end. It can be
forever altered.
That split second came for one family Saturday morn-
ing.
Sheena Williams, 23, was returning home down the
same road, N.C. 161, that she drove everyday. Her four-
year-old son Blake was strapped in his car seat in the back.
Her seven-year-old daughter Alexis “Lexi” Leg was buck-
led into her booster seat next.to him. :
“She took her eyes off the road to turn around and do
something with Blake, the baby, and when she looked back
dround she had drifted over the center line and it was too
late,” said Donna Pate, grandmother of Blake and Lexi.
Williams hit a tractor-trailer truck head-on. The impact
sent Lexi flying back through two windows, Pate said, into
the back of the camper-covered bed. She was taken to Gas-
ton Memorial Hospital and then to Carolinas Medical Cen-
ter where she was treated and released a day-and-a-half
later,
Lexi survived the crash with a few bruises, a couple of
stitches to her lip and a stress fracture on her right foot.
Both Williams and Blake were pronounced dead at the
scene.
Pate said that Lexi is staying with her maternal grand-
mother.
“She is doing okay,” she said. “She understands that her
mom and brother are gone but she’s not talking about it and
not asking any questions.”
“As horrible as the death of Sheena and Blake is, every-
+ body has still put Lexi first. We're focused on getting her
through this.”
The whole family has had a difficult time with this tragic
loss.
“She was so familiar with that road. She drove it 10
times a day,” Pate said.
Williams was only about two miles from her home when
the wreck happened. “It shows you that when people reach
down or take their eyes off of the road, in just a split sec-
ond it could change your life,” Pate said.
She considers it a miracle that Lexi was thrown into the
back of the truck, where the cover seemed to provide a
layer of protection. “There was no explanation why she got
thrown backward and not forward,” she said.
See ACCIDENT page 7
209 S. Battleground Avenue
704.739.5411 » www .alliancebankandtrust.com
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