cae Sa
sue D.C.
/ from what is known as "pre-
“Supreme Court in June made = |
-seek a "bail out" (in voting, not,
KM teen dies in
wreck near BC
Mineral make-up
is in demand
Volume 121 Issue 31 ¢ Wednesday, AD 2009
KMHS
players
warm
up at
mini
camp
Beat the heat with
one of our great
Home Comgort Systems!
$0 good. ™ i
Premier Dealer
Dilling He ating Co. | |
Sales & Service Since 1955 + Lic. #09350
| 1250 Linwood Rd., Kings Mountain
£4T041739,3446,0r Mobile 704.297.0397.
50¢
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Grover voters will go back to the poles Nov. 3rd to de-
cide an issue that has flooded the town with mixed emo--
tions for decades — to sell or not to sell beer and wine.
In a unanimous vote Monday night the council elected
to ask the Cleveland County Board of Elections to add the
question to the ballots of this November’s general election.
Mayor Robert Sides told the council that he spoke to
town Attorney Mickey Corry about having two options:
one for the off-premise only sell of beer and wine or one for
the on-premise and off-premise sell of beer and wine.
Off-premise establishments would include businesses
such as convenient stores and grocery stores, which the
town has hoped to attract in the past.
FRIENDLY LAWSUIT
City may
for a
‘bailout’
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff Writer
Kings Mountain City Coun-
cil will apply for an exemption
to the US Justice Department
clearance" after the US
changes in a section of the Vot-
ing Rights Act of 1965.
Upon recommendation of
City Attorney Mickey Corry,
council voted last Tuesday to
money) to become exempt
from pre-clearance "red tape"
under Section V of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT
KYRA ALEXANDERM ERALD ;
KM Police Chief Melvin Proctor talks about the importance of com-
munity support in fighting crime at KM’s National Night Out.
Kings Mountain, Grover take
On-premise establishments include restaurants.
“The law would not allow bars and beer joints to be on
your streets. That’s not going to come under this,” Sides
said. “Anybody who serves it on-premise has to serve food
so it’s not going to allow anybody to open a bar or a beer
joint on your streets.”
Although the exact wording of the new question on the
ballots has yet to be determined, a bigger question of
Grover’s economic future spurred the need to ask. Factory
closings, job losses, home foreclosings and rising costs in
a wary market have put Grover, along with many other
towns, in a pinch come budget time.
“It’s not going to relieve all of the problems, but we’ve
got to look for revenue,” Sides said. “Right after I came
into office we spent $5,000 on CMR Services to come in
Corry said the city is the
first municipality in North Car-
olina looking at filing a
"friendly lawsuit” against the
US Justice Department.
Corry explained that any-
time there are annexations in
the area, polling sites move,
ward lines change, etc., as has
happened numerous times in
recent years; pre-clearance
must be sought, an often
See CITY, Page 3A
GROVER
Who’s In
the race?
a night out against crime
Six-year-old Griffin Reed: looks out at the crowd gathered for
Grover’s National Night Out last night.
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Read more, page 3A
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
GROVER - It's any-
body's race. But no one has
officially signed up to run.
In addition to the ques-
tion of whether or not beer
and wine should be sold in
Grover city limits on the
Nov. 3rd ballots will be
three fill-in-the-blank
queries of who should serve
on the council.
The three seats that will
be up for grabs are currently
held by incumbents Brent
White, Cynthia "Cindy"
O'Brien and JD Ledford.
After the town council
meeting on Monday night,
O'Brien said that she was
See RACE, Page 3A
Mary Hambright.
By all accounts James A. (Jim) Childers' experience on the Kings
Mountain Planning & Zoning Board was invaluable.
The 10-year chairman and member of the board for 13 years has re-
signed to "go to the house," he laughs, but actually to spend more time in
his own business, Childers Roofing at 224 Kings Road in Shelby.
Kings Mountain native, Childers grew up learning how to put on roofs,
do repairs and help out in the sheet metal, heating and air conditioning
business. His father, the late W. A. Childers, founded Childers Tin Shop
in 1931, the year that Jim was born, and then KM Sheet Metal in 1953.
Jim and his brother, Bill, carried on the family tradition, Childers Heating
& Cooling, after the death of their parents, W. A. and Helen Skinner
Childers. He also has three sisters, Helen McAbee; Ann Moss and the late time.
"Steve had been hired by the city two
months before I went on the board," said Childers, who said he had en-
joyed working with Killian and all the members.
"The Planning Board is probably the most disliked board in town," says
In 1980, Jim opened Childers Roofing, in Shelby.
With 55 years experience in the heating, cooling and roofing industry,
he was a natural to serve on the city's planning board. He had served two
terms (1976-83) on city council during the John Henry Moss administra-
Staff Writer
Visit us today at
tion and when Moss stepped down Childers
thought long and hard about running for his
seat. Kyle Smith followed Moss as the chief
executive officer of the city, hiring the city's
first city manager, and then Scott Neisler be-
came mayor and Childers challenged
Neisler who served two terms.
‘One of the new mayor Neisler's first ap-
pointments was the Planning Board and he
picked Jim Childers, who served on the
board three years before he was elected
chairman. Jim has served with Steve Killian,
the present planning director, the entire
and do a shall of the town and what we needed to do to
grow economically. (The ability to sell beer and wine) was
the very first item on their list of things that we needed to
‘pursue and attempt to get done.”
Although the town’s budget restraints continue to
tighten, Sides said that taxes and fees on the average citi-
zen have not increased in the past three to four years. Ex-
penses have gone up quite a bit, but revenues have not, he
added.
“If we don’t do something to increase the revenues, we
will be the one paying the expense or we’ll have to increase .
(taxes). And I don’t know if we will get through another
budget without having to do something to compensate,”
Sides said.
: See ALCOHOL, Page 3A
ROBBERY FOILED
This is a
‘stick up’
One store owner chases away
‘would-be robber who then
robs brother-in-law
By EMILY WEAVER .
* Editor
Shortly before 9 p.m. July 29th, Jitendra Patel, owner
and operator of Mountain Market at 506 Waco Road, no-
ticed a suspicious character lurking outside of his store. The
shadowy figure was wearing a ski mask.
Patel, known as#'J" by many of his regular customers,
i grabbed the heavy, wooden hockey stick he had tucked be i
side him behind the register and tried to prepare himself Lik
for what would come next.
The man walked in with something underneath his
jacket, according to Patel. The suspect allegedly pointed
that still-concealed "something" at Patel and demanded
money from the register.
That "something" could have been a gun or even a hand
making the shape of a gun. Patel didn't know and didn't
seem to care. He slammed the hockey stick on the floor and
gave the would-be robber two choices: either run for his
_ life or stay for a beating.
The suspect ran.
But, according to Kings Mountain Police, the suspects
first attempt wouldn't be his last that night.
Patel said that when the masked-man ran, he rushed to
the window to see which direction he was running and then
called the police.
. While officers were investigating the attempted robbery
at Mountain Market, another call came through dispatch.
Kings Food Store, owned and operated by Patel's brother-
- in-law Kamlesh Patel, a few blocks down the street at 320
Waco Road, had been robbed.
When officers arrived they learned that a man had en-
tered the store, demanded money, and after the clerk com-
plied, the suspect left once again on foot, according to a
release.
Upon further investigation, officers determined that they
were looking for the same man in both crimes. They
combed the area, but couldn't find him until a tip led them
to believe that their suspect was no longer on foot.
See STICK UP, Page 4A
Childers retires after 13 years on P&Z
By ELIZABETH STEWART
JIM CHILDERS
See RETIREMENT, Page 3A
209 S. Battleground Avenue
Kings’ Mountain
704.739.5411 e www.alliancebankandtrust.com
MEMBER EDIC
eam
To