SRR Pre a a ly
Huckabee coming
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be speaking
in Kings Mountain at 8 a.m. June 11 at a breakfast spon-
sored by the 10th District Republican Party.
The event is open to the public. A limited number of tick-
ets are available for $25 from Jason Falls at Falls insurance.
Huckabee is a former presidential candidate and is a talk
show host for Fox News.
Kings
to KM
ila Leach
MOT.
Volume 121 « Issue 19 » Wednesday, May 13, 2009
| A mother’s
love...Page 5A
_ |Hall of Fame
“linductees...
Mountaineers
host playoffs...
Page 1B
11LI dl
No tax, fee hikes in new KM
by ELIZABETH STEWART
staff writer
Nothing is passed - and won’t
be until after a public hearing in
June - but the 2009-2010 city draft
recommended budget is on the
table without a tax or utility or
any other service increase,
Kings Mountain City Council
laid out the details on the budget
at a budget work session Tuesday
night.
As proposed by City Manager
Marilyn Sellers the general budget
stands at $32,473, 487, down 9
percent from $35,473,499 last
year. A “cut to the bone” budget is
how Sellers described it to council
members.
No. salary increases and no
cost-of-living increases are pro-
posed. for the 200 full time and
part time employees. Sellers says
that employees are comfortable
with her proposal. “They stlll have
their jobs and benefits and we
haven’t cut back on hours ,” said
Sellers.
Mayor Rick Murphrey said
that department heads and associ-
ates are offering to help out in
other .departments = since the
budget allows for only emer-
gency overtime/stand-by pay, only
emergency travel and training ex-
pense is included in the proposed
budget.
Because of loss of industry and
a downsizing of many firms doing
business with the city, the mayor
said the city has a $2.5 million
dollar shortfall in revenue. How-
ever, he praised Sellers for the
hard work she and department
heads have put into the budget
which calls for absolutely no in-
creases to city taxpayers and no
job cuts to city employees.
The mayor said he is proud
that the city has had a perfect audit
for the ninth year in a row, that the
peak shaving plant saves $1 mil-
lion a year in electricity costs, a
performance contract will pay off
to the tune of $3 million overa 12
year period, and the city’s tax rate,
40 cents per $100 property valua-
tion, lowest of any city in the area.
See BUDGET on Page 5
From Russia, with love... |]ake fees
may rise;
residents
don’t like it
Mayor calls proposed
increases ‘fair’
by ELIZABETH STEWART
staff writer
If you live on city-owned John Henry at v
Moss € and you pump raw water from 3
lake to water/irrigate your lawn the
chances are that you’ll pay more in the new
city fiscal year. ]
Although members of the Moss Lake
Homeowners Association are up in arms
about the proposed increase, Mayor Rick
Murphrey says the proposal by City Man-
ager Marilyn Sellers to raise the annual fee
from $50 to $400 is “fair.” He says that lake
fees have gone up only slightly in the last
10 years and the $50 annual fee for lake
water has been in effect for years - probably
the only fee proposed when Kings Moun-
tain built the reservoir for city water years
ago. The building boon got underway
which has resulted over the years in beauti-
ful homes on the lake shore, a top recre-
,| ation area for fishing and boating.
Since raw water is not metered at the
lake, the residents are expected to come to
City Hall and sign up to use the water and ,
pay an annual fee. ( Kings Mountain citi-
zens pay $1.82 per 1,000 gallons for treated
water. Cleveland County’s cost is $4.66 per
1,000 gallons to customers.)
City Council members were presented a
draft proposal of the lake budget Tuesday
night. Already, councilmen and the mayor
are receiving calls from lake property own-
ers about the proposed increase.
Kings Mountain receives no income
from the lake other than the fees charged
and next year’s fees could see slight yearly
increases ranging from $5 to $50 based on
usage. Daily fishing permits will increase
from $3 to $4; daily boat fees from $10 to
$12; daily fishing permits from $15 to 20;
boating permits from $50 to $60; existing
ramp permits from $25 to $50; pier dock fee
(from $25 to $50; land lease from $175 to
$225; and the family plan, which includes
all of the above services, $250 annually to
$300 annually.
~The budget proposes some capital im-
provements at Moss Lake in the coming
year and Sellers sees the increases neces-
sary to do those improvements. Environ-
mental studies are currently underway plus
engineering and design for the spillway,
drawing permits, and a new roof on the lake
building are among those repair items to be
completed.
Sellers said that the capital improve-
ments budget has been cut to the bone,
down from $858,953 to $554,407, and
much of that expense comes from the work
to be done on Moss lake.
Alex McCachren and his Mom and Dad, Steve and Jenifer McCachren
Alex is the baby ‘God made for them’
by ELIZABETH STEWART
staff writer
ence, the Kings Mountain couple quickly
developed a special relationship with
‘Alana’ and her Russian-born family and
learned the human dimension of the
process, what it cost emotionally and the
rewards after they put their trust and
faith in them.
“The Lord works in mysterious
ways,” says Steve. Alana’s mother, Eu-
genia, and Alana‘s brother lived in Tula,
Russia and speak the Russian language.
They knew the Russian court system,
contacted interpreters who were with the
McCachrens throughout the process,and
met them at the airport when they got off
the plane in Russia.
See ALEX on Page 5
Alex’s adoption was approved in Jan-
uary 2009 and on January 22, 2009 after
* three trips to Russia the exhausted and
excited parents flew with their son to a
new life in America and Kings Mountain,
North Carolina.
The McCachrens began the adoption
process 1 1/2 years ago. Mandola
Agency in Hillsborough, where Steve’s
cousin had worked, referred them to
Child of Hope, a non-profit licensed
adoption agency in Mount Pleasant, SC
that specialized in placing children from
Russian and Ukraine in loving homes in
America.
Because the Russian adoption process
is such a personal and intimate experi-
Going into their marriage September
9, 2000 Jenifer and Steve McCachren
knew they wanted to have a baby. Both
loved children and were working with
children in their church, so they put off
their decision to start a family.
It would be hard to convince anyone
who has seen their adopted son, 22-
months-old Alexander Sasha Pruette Mc-
Cachren, that he is adopted.
Alex, a Daddy’s boy, looks like his fa-
ther with his brown hair-and brown eyes,
a healthy 28 pounds of all boy. He was
born June 23, 2007 in Russia.
‘I never thought a man
could get breast cancer’
by ELIZABETH STEWART
staff writer
type of fear I hope no one will ever have to
face,” said Thompson, who has counseled
many families who have lost love ones to this
insidious disease. He went by himself to get:
the report, not wanting to worry his wife if what
turned out not to be a little pimple.
Thompson’s experience with breast cancer
has been for him an eye opener, he said. And
because he is open and speaks freely about his
experience he believes God is using him to hepl
others. He understands. He tells men that they
need yearly examinations.
Thompson underwent a mastectomy of the
left breast in December, 2007.
See CANCER on page 5
Most people consider it a women’s illness,
but Rev. William Thompson, 61, is a breast can-
Cer Survivor.
The Grover pastor of St. Peter's Baptist
Church never thought a man could get breast
cancer.
In August 2007 he said he felt a lump “a lit-
tle pimple under the skin.” His family doctor
took a look at it and exclaimed, “what is this?”
and recommended he go to a surgeon who or-
dered a biopsy.
“Waiting to get a report is a nightmare, the
Rev. William Thompson
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