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‘Yes, Virginia...’
Editor Emily Weaver's
touching reply to a
little girl’s question
Volume 121 ¢ Issue 50 » Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Kings
Mountain
‘wrestlers
win it all!
Page 1B
Premier Dealer
LENNOX)
Home Comfort Systems
innovation never felt so poo
: di Your fo a 8
Whatever the Season.
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
With few exceptions Kings Mountain
citizens are getting ready for Christmas this
week.
The first wintry mix of the year on Fri-
day put a little damper on Friday evening
Christmas shopping but by Saturday the
stores were crowded with last-minute shop-
pers. And with only two days remaining
until Christmas, shoppers were scurrying
around to make gift selections. Weather
forecasters had at first called for some
white stuff on Christmas Eve but now are
saying there may be rain.
City officials are crossing their fingers
that the weather will be perfect for the tra-
ditional lighting of candles at Mountain
Rest Cemetery Thursday night from 6-11
p.m. City crews and some volunteers have
already placed 6,000 milk jugs ‘around the
OMEFRONT
Getting ready for Christmas
Eve.
cemetery grounds and on graves and are
preparing to light the luminaries Christmas
Jim Belt of Belt Ministries started the lu-
minary project 15 years ago. "My back just,
won't let me work this project any more that
I love," said Belt. He said he is overjoyed
that the City of Kings Mountain will con-
tinue what has become a community tradi-
tion. "They (city crews) always worked in
See READY, 7A
Making Christmas EI
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Several people have been hard
at work lately to make this Christ-
mas more merry for others.
Grace Christian Academy initi-
ated a canned food and dry goods
drive to help stock the shelves at
Kings Mountain Crisis Ministry.
After making it a contest between
the classes, children collected
1,232 items in the "Sharing Grace"
Christmas project.
The sixth grade class, with only
a handful of students, netted over
400 items during the week-long
drive. The staff at GCA used the
goods to create five small trees,
which were set up in the gym.
Principal Rita Toney said that
she was proud of all of her students
and their exemplified spirit of
"grace." Children’ and teachers
from pre-kindergarten through
ninth grade participated.
The Kings Mountain Police De-
partment was able to make Christ-
mas brighter for at least 50 local
families this year thanks to contri-
butions from the community.
After a rough start with only a
table full of toys, Police Det. Todd
McDougal said that they were able
to fill the station's training room
twice with donations that flowed in
before Santa's big day.
The Grover Police Department
has been collecting goods to help
bring Christmas to families with a
total of eight children this year.
And inside the Grover Rescue
Squad stands a tree, once decked
with angels, that now shines with
hope.
Folks in the community, includ-
ing civic clubs like the Grover.
Woman's Club, and at town hall
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Staff and students at Grace
Christian Academy amassed over
1,200 items for the Crisis Ministry
in the school's "Sharing Grace"
Christmas project.
have been checking off shopping lists,
supporting the Christmas drives at the
departments. Town Clerk Tricia Willis
was busy wrapping some of those gifts
on Monday.
1 really felt the Christmas spirit this
year," said Grover Mayor Pro-tem
Jackie Bennett. "It's hard to pass up all
of these good sales."
Along with many others, she hasn't
been able to ignore the quiet calling of
those angels on the tree. Bennett said
See MERRY, 7A
Main Street staff meets with Partnership
Main Street Dir. Liz Parham talks to members of MPI board.
State officials with
the North Carolina
Main Street Program
discussed the future of
downtown over lunch
with members of
Mountaineer Partner-
ship Inc. last Wednes-
day in Mauney
Library's community
room.
It was the first offi-
cial meeting the board
has collectively had
with the Main Street
team since being ac-
cepted into the presti-
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD gious state program a
City gets an A-plus on annual audit
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
The City of Kings
Mountain got an A+ on the
audit of its 2009 financial
statements, auditor Shane
Fox of Martin-Starns & As-
sociates told City Council
last Tuesday.
Fox said auditors found
no findings or questioned
costs, no significant defi-
ciencies or material internal
control weaknesses identi-
fied and theirs was an "un-
qualified opinion."
"This is a perfect audit,"
Fox said to a standing-
room-only crowd at the De-
cember council meeting.
Fox congratulated the city
for a "very healthy fund bal-
ance,"
H
saying that the city's
fund balance is 18 percent
and the N.C. Local Govern-
ment Commission only re-
quires 8 percent of the last
year expenditures by mu-
nicipalities. "In these tough
economic times I have seen
few cities that did this," he
said.
City manager: Marilyn
Sellers said the city and all
citizens "are faced with
tough times in the present
Bankes Trust
few months ago.
"This is a momen-
tous day," said MPI Di-
rector Adam Hines,
who welcomed the
Main Street staff to
Kings Mountain.
Main Street Director
Liz Parham, who works
out of the Office of
Urban Development in
Raleigh, discussed
what the program is
about, what MPI can
expect from them and
what they expect
from MPI. Inclu-
sion in the Main
Street Program will
provide the down-
Alliance
economy" and she took the
occasion to thank staff for
their diligence and hard
work.
The general fund sum-
mary showed that revenues
were up from $7,237,744 in
2008 to $7,381,266 in 2009
and expenditures were up
from $9,375,837 in 2008 to
$9,621,364 in 2000. The in-
creased fund balance (from
15 percent in 2008 to 18
APY*
percent in 2009) was based
on unreserved undesignated
funds of $1,693,691 in 2009.
and $1,294,505 in 2008. In
the general operating fund
revenues, ad valorem taxes
account for 39 percent,
other taxes and licenses 29
percent, sales and services
16 percent and other rev-
enues 16 percent. Property
tax revenue accounted for
See AUDIT, 3A
town community with
an investment of about
$150,000 over the next
three years.
The investment will
be used in the forms of
technical assistance,
training, program guid-
ance, networking, ad-
vocacy and leadership.
Main Street De-
signer Lauren Malinoff,
See MPI, 7A
HERBERT G. MOORE
Suspect
nabbed in
attempted
post office
. robbery
Police say man
threatened to blow
the place up if he
didn’t get his
money
Give me your money or
I'll blow the place up.
That's what a customer at
the Kings Mountain Post Of-
fice, 115 E. Gold St. told a
clerk at the window Saturday
morning at 10:45 am.
Herbert George Moore,
63, who gave his address as
Gaffney, SC, but whom po-
lice suspect is homeless and
was living in his car, further
stated, according to Kings
Mountain police, that if his
demand wasn’t met that he
would detonate the device he
planted on the post office
property. “I need money and
I'll do this again,” the suspect
reportedly told officers.
Everything happened fast,
according to Det. Cpl. J.T.
McDougal. A postal em-
ployee called police and in
See SUSPECT, 3A
Mayor Pro-tem
Gordon reelected
as mayor pro-tem
Ward IV councilman
Rodney Gordon was
unanimously re-elected
mayor pro tem by his fel-
low council members
last Tuesday as city
council organized for the
IER TyTN
Gordon, who will
serve a second two-year
term, said he is honored.
adding, "The mayor
(Rick Murphrey) and 1
have a good working re-
lationship." Gordon com-
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mended the mayor for
"always being prepared
See PRO-TEM, 3A
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