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JUSTICE FOR ‘KIMMIE’
Family
still seeks
answers
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
A year after 20-year-old Kimberly
Frances Pagano, 20, was murdered her
family is still looking for answers.
"We want justice
for our daughter,"
said Kathy Pagano
who said Christmas
was sad at her home
because a vital part
of their lives is
missing.
Cleveland
County Sheriff's
Detective Pete
Hamrick said the
homicide remains an "active investigation"
KIM PAGANO
‘and he, along with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, is investigating every lead in
what he called "an open case.’
"My daughter was shot to death Jan. 30,
2008, almost a year ago," said Mrs. Pagano,
who said "Kimmie" was four months preg-
nant. :
Mrs. Pagano says she calls the Sheriff's
Department almost daily, praying for new
See ANSWERS, Page 3A
Volume 121 «Issue 52 ¢ Wednesday, December 30, 2009
~ Mountaineers
break two-game
losing streak,
~ beat Crest 55-39
SPORTS 1B
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Top 10 stories 012008
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Alcohol and sweepstakes
seemed to dominate the head-
lines this year, but as we take a
look back at 2009 one thing
seems clear - there was a lot of
news. From a majority vote to
allow mixed beverages in
Kings Mountain to sweepstakes
operations that took over
Grover's main drag to a serial
killer with ties to Cleveland
County, take a look with us as
we remember the top 10 stories
of 2009.
Liquor-by-
the-drink
passes in
KM,
Beer and wine
passes in Grover
An issue that Kings Moun-
tain has battled for over six
decades and one that Grover
has struggled with for at least
two, came to surprising deci-
sions this year. But neither were
reached lightly.
A group of citizens, who
wanted to vote on the issue of
allowing mixed beverage sales
in city limits, pleaded ‘with
Kings Mountain City Council
last year to set an election date.
After council denied their re-
quest in a 4-3 vote, the group,
under the name of "Citizens for
Progress", circulated a petition.
For 90 days they sought
enough signatures to call for a
vote. The petition was turned in
to the Cleveland County Board
of Elections and early figures
hinted that they had just enough
names. But their battle wasn't
over.
Another group of concerned
citizens, who stood firmly
against liquor-by-the-drink,
began contacting those on the
petition to see if they wanted to
change their minds. A few
names were scratched from the
list, but not enough to cancel
the end result.
An election, which carried a
price tag of over $50,000, paid
for by the city, was held on May
5. It was a slim-margin win for
the wets with 1,143 votes for
and 1,062 against.
In a move some in Grover
have referred to as "sneaky",
the town council voted unani-
mously to add beer and wine to
the ballots in the Nov. 3 general
election.
The vote came just a few
Computers with sweepstakes games inside a business.
months before Nov. 3, in just
enough time for the board of
elections to add it to the ballots.
The town. has battled with
this issue since the early 80s
with four referendums resulting
in the same “dry” (neigh) ver- 4
dict. But this fifth time, the cit-
izens voted yes. Yes to the on-
and off-premises sale of beers
and wine.
It also passed with narrow
margins. Days before the elec-
tion, signs popped up across
town urging citizens to vote for
beer and wine or to vote against
it, citing scripture.
Sweeptiokes take
% over
© Grover,
sweep
through
KM
Businesses offering promo-
tional sweepstakes began
sprouting in old, abandoned
buildings on Grover's Main
Street in April.
See TOP 10, Page 4A
EE GE EER END
Statewide smoking
City to aggressively seek new industry and business
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
As the strains of 'Auld
Lang Syne' mark the end of
one year and signal the be-
ginning of New Year 2010
Thursday night at midnight,
the Greater Kings Mountain
area can look back on a year
of frustrating job loss and
an economy that hit its low-
est in a decade.
By: all accounts, Kings
Mountain's big priority for
the new year is the same as
2009: jobs.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
said the city will continue to
aggressively seek new in-
dustry and business in 2010
working with the state and
county Economic Develop-
ment commissions with a
goal to bring more business
and more jobs to the area
while maintaining competi-
tive utility rates and infra-
structure upgrades.
A new Dollar General on
York Road is set to open in
January, Bell Lines LLC
took hundreds of applica-
tions for trucking positions
recently with long lines of
the unemployed signing up.
Several new utility cus-
tomers of the City of Kings
Mountain signal prospects
for jobs at Spectrum Dyers
(formerly Spectrum Dyed
Yarns), Qual-Tech, and
Southern Power which held
a groundbreaking
Grover. The city entered
into a 20-year contract with
near’
Southern Power to supply
both potable and raw/gray
water for the production of
electricity. Ulosoy
Chaneille LLC is a new in-
dustry in the old Parkdale
plant on North Piedmont
Avenue.
A new 15,000 square
foot Kings Mountain Hos-
pice House is expected to
open in January. An early
Christmas present was the
announcement by Duke En-
ergy of an expected training
center at Cleveland County
Industrial Park.
Continuing the design
and engineering for a new
36-inch water line into town
from Moss Lake to replace
See JOBS, Page 3A
MPI marks great year
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Mountaineer Partner-
ship, Inc., the downtown re-
vitalization group, had a
great year in 2009. With a
new leader, a focused vision
and inclusion in the North
Carolina Main Street Pro-
gram, the group looks for-
ward to even more
advances in 2010.
Adam Hines, a federally
trained walkable communi-
ties facilitator and licensed
real estate broker, was voted
in as ‘MPI’s new executive
director earlier this year.
The skill sets and experi-
ence he brought with him to
the job have helped to pro-
vide vision for the future
and the hope that this shared
vision can be realized.
“We hired an exceptional
executive director for the
Mountaineer Partnership,”
said MPI President Mitch
Johnson, who works at First
National Bank. “Adam was
instrumental in the collec-
tion of downtown data and
the preparation of the appli-
cation (to the Main Street
program).”
The group was awarded
status in the prestigious pro-
gram in September. The
Main Street program will
help MPI breathe new life
into downtown through
technical assistance, train-
ing, program guidance, net-
working, advocacy and
leadership. NCMSP. will
pump about $150,000 into
downtown revitalization ef-
forts in Kings Mountain
over the next three years.
Representatives of MPI
will attend a meeting in
New Bern in January to be
officially recognized as a
part of the program. But the
benefits © have
Alliance,
Banke Trust
already
started. Main Street De-
signer Lauren Malinoff,
who specializes in preserva-
tion architecture, met with
downtown property owners
last month to look at build-
ings. Since her visit, she has
been working on a few de-
signs, including the facade
ideas for Stevo's bar, which
she delivered to the new
business.
Main Street Director Liz
Parham, who works out of
the Office of Urban Devel-
opment in Raleigh, came to
speak with MPI board
members a couple of weeks
ago.
Inclusion in the NCMSP
was perhaps the brightest
“highlight of the year.
“Getting the Main Street
APY*
ban takes effect Jan.
A new state-wide smoke-free law ef-
fective midnight Saturday, Jan. 2, will
force smokers to put their lights out at all
restaurants, bars and other businesses that
serve food and drink
County.
Health advocates are smiling because
they are anticipating healthier nights out.
Some smokers who like a cigarette after
their meal may not be as happy.
Cleveland County Health Director
Denese Stallings says, "The new smoke-
free law will help protect workers and
customers from the known health hazards
of second hand smoke and may encour-
age may folks to eat out more than ever,
now that doing so will be safer."
The law covers all restaurants and bars
and the common areas of lodging facili-
in Cleveland
ties that serve food. Many other places
that serve food and beverages, such as
convenience stores and recreational fa-
cilities will also be smoke-free by law.
Health Department officials said that
many communities across the state are
5130.
hosting local events to celebrate the new
law, which was passed by the General
Assembly and signed into law by Gov-
ernor Bev Perdue in May.
For more information about the law or
to report a violation, visit www.smoke-
free.nc.gov, call the CARE-LINE at 1-
800-662-7030 or call the Cleveland
County Health Department at 704-484- -
The local health department is in
charge of implementation and compli
ance of the new law.
for downtown in 2009
designation is going to
mean so much for Kings
Mountain,” said ex-officio
member of MPI Shirley
Brutko, who - leads the
chamber office downtown.
- “Now with the expertise
and guidance from the Main
Street program our potential
for growth and develop-
ment in downtown Kings
Mountain is unlimited,”
said Suzanne Amos, who
operates an insurance
agency in the heart of
downtown.
For Brutko, the brightest
moment of 2009 was the
Gateway Trails, which offi-
cially opened with the com-
pletion of phase 1 on Nov.
7. She said that she esti-
mated 2,500 people came tor
SUPER SAVINGS AGCOUNT!!!
1.50% $2,500.00 minimum to open
the trail during the opening
weekend.
She anticipates that the
trail, located about a mile
from the business district on
Battleground Avenue, will
be a big attractor for Kings
Mountain, drawing more
people downtown.
She also noted the new
pub Stevo’s, now open, and
the arrival of a new upscale
restaurant, yet to be named,
that plans to come down-
town.
“The: renovations have
started on the Joy (Theatre)
and in three years we hope
to have a Revolutionary
play on stage during the
summer months,” ‘Brutko
said.
A lot has changed down-
WWW. alliancebankandirust. com © MEMBER FDIC
) minimum to open. If balance falls below $2,500, rate will reduce to regular published ily J Ne
town already, including
more traffic, according to
Amos.
“When I opened The
Amos Agency, LLC, in July
2008 I would leave at night
and see few people down-
town except for those pick-
ing up pizzas (from Papa
Johns). No one walked by
my windows or read the in-
formative flyers I post
there,” she said. “Now we
have folks at the Emporium
and J Oliver’s and the Joy
Performance Center and
Extreme Talent (attracting
crowds). Potential cus-
tomers actually walk into
my office occasionally.”
“With new businesses
See MPI, Page 3A
$2,500 minimum to earn advertised rate
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain e 704.739.5411
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