a I 5 "5 ol 0 NW
Page 2A
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missing lawn mower
= Sizemore found
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7~ Marijuana found in | Ground and
plans stirring
7 Reward offered for | for Gateway
Trails
Mounties
beat
Kennedy
50-12 in
opening
Page 4A
*Watlick & Hamrick Insuran BR
704.739.3611 N
Volume 121 © Issue 34 Wednesday, Scntember 2, 2009
SILENT NIGHTS IN GROVER
It’s quiet on Main Street
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
7:30 p.m., Friday, August 28 — downtown Glover | is
dead. Nearly every Friday night for the past few months,
. before now, the parking lot along Main Street has been
crowded with cars.
People came from all over to play the “sweepstakes”
and games offered by the new businesses that seemed to
have sprouted all of a sudden and left just as suddenly. By
Tuesday afternoon last week four of the Main Street busi-
nesses, some operating under the auspices of “Internet
cafes”, were closed.
The cafés offered Internet services, copies and faxes, but
used online sweepstake games as a means of promoting the
businesses. Others were stores that just had a few of the
video gaming machines in play. All were rumored to have
offered pay-outs or “redeem-outs”.
County zoning officials and deputies considered fiom
to be in violation of gaming laws. Profits from these busi-
nesses were equated to gambled winnings.
At least two of the downtown establishments seemed to
-have “folded” last week, allegedly “bluffed” into closing
by law enforcement.
Two others, Cyberline and M&M's, seem to be waiting
it out, at least for now. On the darkened door of Cyberline
is taped a sign that reads “Closed for software updates. Call
us tomorrow.”
But what happened? Are they really updating their soft-
ware? Where did the businesses go?
Two Grover business owners, who only spoke to The
Herald on condition of anonymity, said that one FBI agent
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
On most Friday nights in downtown Grover, over
the past few months, cars would pack the parking
lot along Main Street. The lot was empty last Fri-
day night.
visited the establishments with dntbars of the Cleveland
County Sheriff’s vice squad last Monday.
See QUIET, Page 3A
ot for am i
makes changes to laws
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
In a unanimous decision Kings Mountain City Council
denied Kevin Cooke’s request to rezone property at 1537
N. Piedmont Ave. — a part of the late John Henry Moss’ es-
tate —from Residential to Conditional Use Residential.
“The Planning and Zoning board voted unanimously to
recommend that city council not rezone the property as re-
quested,” Planning Director Steve Killian told the council
Tuesday night. “The request was for, at a minimum, horses
as a livestock use. No specific provision was included that
would have excluded mobile homes and other non-Resi-
dential (R-10) uses, swine and poultry as this sort of appli-
cation typically contains.”
The nearly half-an-acre property lies outside of the NC
Hwy. 216 right-of-way, and Killian said that the rear yard,
where the horse pasture would be located, is only about
10,000 square feet.
The P&Z board “felt that the impact on neighbors, the
existence of 10 or so dogs in the area of the future barn,
CPB ORES ORRBEORESS
BM DRUG BUST
Grover Police arrest
women for growing pot
and the small size of the horse pasture, along with an un-
specified number of horses, would not support a positive
findings of fact,” according to Killian.
In his zoning application, Cooke noted that he sought
conditional use zoning so that he could be allowed to have
a horse for his daughter.
No one spoke in favor or against the: zoning petition dur-
ing the public hearing Tuesday night.
In other action, the council voted unanimously to amend
the city’s Community Appearance Standards Code regard-
ing “chronic violators” of the “overgrown grass and weeds”
ordinance.
Codes Director Holly Black told the council that the
North Carolina General Assembly ratified a bill, signed into
law by the governor, which gives municipalities the “right
to enact an ordinance that deals with chronic violators of
their overgrown vegetation codes.”
The law goes into effect Oct..1 and defines a “chronic
violator” as “a person who owns property whereupon, in
See ZONING, Page 3A
Shoppers
feel pinch in
penny tax
increase
Kings Mountain shoppers
will feel a pinch in their wallets
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
A domestic situation led to a big drug
bust in Grover on August 24. :
Grover Police Chief Todd Martin
said that they had responded to a do-
mestic violence call; which. eventually
led to a tip that someone was growing
marijuana at a residence inside town
limits.
In the investigation that followed,
they were able to locate a plant behind
the home.
After both residents gave verbal con-
sent, Martin said that he and Ofc. Shane
Hamrick searched the residence at 308
Mulberry Road.
Inside the residence, Martin said that
they found more marijuana, additional
drug paraphernalia and equipment like
that used in the indoor manufacturing of
marijuana.
“This was a good bust for Grover be-
cause we get tips all of the time that it’s
here and we finally found it,” Chief
Martin said.
Kristin Enlow Anthony, 35, and Pa-
tricia Price Robertson, 36, were charged
with manufacturing marijuana and were
placed in the Cleveland County Deten-
tion Center under $5,000 secured bonds.
The bust lasted from 10 p.m. on the
night of August 23rd until 8 a.m. Mon-
day morning.
“It was a long process,” Martin said.
Anthony and Robertson were ar-
rested without incident.
this week as sales tax went up
a penny, bringing the rate to
7.75 percent.
At the same time, cigarette
excise tax went up Tuesday
from 35 to 45 cents a pack,
beer excise tax rose to about 5
cents on a six pack, a4 cent in-
crease per bottle of wine, and
excise tax on liquor sold in A
BC stores from 25 to 30 per-
cent of the retail. price. The
sales tax on food remains 2
percent.
Additionally, virtually all
court costs are up and getting
a speeding ticket will hit driv-
* ers harder.
Bl ‘SUSPICIOUS FIRE’
inve ee
Who set fire to a house at 205 Lackey Street on August
24?
That's what Kings Mountain Fire Department. and
Kings Mountain Police Department want to know and they
need help from the public.
“We may not be able to make a final determination as to
what happened unless somebody comes up and says who
did it,” says Fire Chief Frank Burns. ‘
Burns said firemen were called about midnight August
24 to 205 Lackey Street and found a fully involved house
fire in two front rooms: Firefighters had the fire under con-
trol five minutes after their arrival, he said. Firemen ruled
the fire “suspicious.”
Kings Mountain and Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment responded to the blaze as well as Cleveland County
EMS. The State Bureau or Investigation brought in an
arson dog to sniff out accelerant but none was found, said
Burns. He said the fire had two points of origin, the kitchen _
and front room.
Burns said the house had not been set up for residents
but that one unidentified man at the scene reported that he
lived there.
“There were no beds in the house,” said Burns. No one
was injured.
The day after the fire city officials posted a “con-
demned” sign on the outside of the house.
PBOLPOLORPOE OBB
Wl NEW JOBS
62 jobs on
the horizon
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff Writer
City utilities are hooked up at Spectrum Mills on Waco
Road and preparation work is in the works for a new op-
eration that could provide 62 new jobs.
Mayor Rick Murphrey said that the city is working in
an ongoing process with Byeng Ahn, of Fullerton, CA, and
with county and state officials to "hopefully get the old
‘Spectrum plant running again in the next couple months."
Spectrum Dyed Yarns closed in 2008 and put several
hundred people out of work.
Murphrey said the city has received a grant for $7,500
from the North Carolina Rural Center to run a water main
to serve houses on private property once owned by Spec-
trum where wells went dry.
"The new company bought the mill property and the re-
location of the water line was necessary," he said, adding,
"This is a work in progress."
The most recent grant brings to three the City of Kings
Mountain has’ received recently. A Community Block
Grant of $599,550 will install more than 5,000 feet of water
line to serve 22 single family homes on Battleground Av-
.enue and a Rural Economic Center Grant for a half million
($500;000) will be used to rehabilitate or replace 5,000 feet
of sewer System lines in three areas of the id
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