Police seek
band of thieves
in Advance
Auto robbery 7A
The
Easter N
Bunny
will be hop-
ping into town
this weekend to
spread joy to children on the hunt for eggs and a “hoppy”
holiday.
On Thursday and Friday, the man-sized Peter Cottontail
will visit little ones in preschool centers and others at the
Patrick Senior.Center and Summit Place Assisted Living
Center around town. On Saturday, the city’s annual Easter
Egg Hunt will kick off at 10 a.m. at the community play-
ground next to the YMCA on Cleveland Ave. On Monday,
the renowned bunny will hop to an Easter Egg Hunt and
“Roll” on the grounds of the Inn of the Patriots in Grover.
Volunteers with the Patrick Senior Center will hide eggs
for the children to find at St. Matthew’s Lutheran preschool
this morning and, although, the Easter Bunny may not come
there until Friday, the children will still explore the church’s
playground to find the eggs left for them.
At the city’s Easter Egg Hunt this Saturday, little ones will
also be invited to enjoy a petting zoo provided by the Stumbo
family of Kirigs Mountain. CVS Pharmacy will provide bot-
tled water and will be on hand to take pictures of children
with the Easter Bunny to be sold at discount prices.
One lucky girl and boy will win a special Easter basket
during a drawing that is set to be held at the hunt. One golden
egg will be mixed in with the other eggs in each of the hunts,
See EASTER, 7A
SPORTS 1B
Mountaineers take
down Huss 18-1
eccsccescccccsse
Champion signs
with S. Wesleyan
ecesccsecne
CCC forum open
to six, five show,
three speak out
By ELIZABETH STEWART
staff writer
Three of six candidates for the high office of Cleveland
County Sheriff - Democrat Mike Chapman and Republicans
David Morrow, and Don Allen - participated in a political
forum last Tuesday night at Cleveland Community College:
while two Democratic candidates watched from the sidelines
and a fourth wasa no show.
"Where aré the others?" asked several people in the audi-
ence as Chapman took his seat alone on the stage for a round
of questions from moderator CCC President Steve Thorn-
burg: Then, Allen and Morrow gave the GOP perspective.
Three other Democrat contenders -- Chief Deputy Danny
Gordon, Sheriff Raymond Hamrick and Captain Alan Nor-
man notified Thornburg before the Tuesday 5 p.m. deadline
that they would not participate. Gordon and his wife sat on
the front seats in the Auditorium, Norman stood at the back
and Incumbent Sheriff Raymond Hamrick did not attend.
I Harris Funeral Home
Locally Owned
& Operated Since 1947
% A Family Tradition of Dignity,
%! Service & Understanding
#5 108 S. Piedmont Ave.
a
Kings Mountain, NC
739-2591
Ps
Lg
HAMRICK
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
At top, Mike Chapman sits alone in the democratic
candidate forum for the sheriff race. Candidates
Don Allen, left, and David C. Morrow, right, par-
ticipated in the Republican forum.
Thornburg said the forum was designed to give the voting
public a chance to meet the candidates. He said questions
were issue-based and submitted - by a committee from the
See FORUM, 5A
Q&A - sheriff candidates speak _
out on issues
Race for 110th district heats up
between Rep. candidates
Mayor
CITY ZONING
commends
KMPD for
city’s low
crime rate
By ELIZABETH STEWART
. By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer ;
Staff writer
Sweepstakes
public hearing
set for April 27
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
An unlikely theft might
have snuffed the bi-annual
cookout the White Plain
Criminals beware—
Kings Mountain's crime
rate has dropped signifi-
cantly-nearly 64 percent in
the last six years—and
KMPD wants to maintain
that record.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
took the occasion at Tues-
day's city council meeting
to present a proclamation to
the Kings Mountain Police
Department, which Chief
Melvin Proctor and his staff
accepted with pride.
The mayor cited com-
munity involvement in
Community Watch pro-
, grams, Community Ori-
ented Policing and
programs for children such
as the Santa Toy Room
which helped over 200 fam-
ilies at Christmas plus po-
lice interaction with
students in the schools as
some of the vital programs
conducted by police.
"The combined efforts of
Drug Enforcement, Crimi-
nal Investigative and Patrol
Divisions, traffic enforce-
See KMPD, 7A
Kings Mountain City Council Tuesday set a public
hearing for April 27 at 6 p.m. on a proposed new zon-
. ing amendment intended to regulate sweepstakes oper-
ations cropping up in town and which, if approved,
‘would require conditional use permits by Nov. 30 from
- both non-conforming and new gaming operations.
The amendment, which has the recommendation of
the city's Planning and Zoning Board, also requires that
permit applications be made with the Board of Adjust-
ment 60 days prior to Nov. 30.
The text amendment specifies that if all conditions
of the permit are not met within 60 days of issuance the
city could revoke the permit, shut down the business
and remove machines. The amendment also specifies
that the conditional use permit may be issued for one
year at a time after application is resubmitted to the
. Board of Adjustment 60 days prior to the expiration -
date of the valid permit.
A six-months moratorium on new sweepstakes op-
"erations ends in June.
The amended zoning, according to Planning Direc-
See HEARING, 7A
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain 704.739.5411
www.alliancebankandtrust.com e MEMBER FDIC
Shriners planned to fire up
this weekend at their bar-
beque pits if it had not been
for the generosity of Morris
Scrap Metal.
A few weeks ago as club
members came to prepare
their cook-site beside City
Auto and the American Le-
gion, on the corner of York
Rd. and Gold St., some no-
ticed that the tin lids, which
are used to cover the grills
and cook their barbeque,
were missing. After asking
other members, the Shriners
realized that the lids had
been stolen.
But as the club pondered
what to do, Morris Scrap
Metal came through with
new metal for the grills. The
tin lids are used to help the
Shriners to sell BBQ
despite thieving setback.
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
White Plains Shriner's President Jeff Ward stands at the
uncovered BBQ pits they use for their annual cookout
fundraisers. Club members suspect the tin lids used to
smoke the meat were stolen a few weeks ago.
meat absorb the flavors from
the aromatic smoke that is
circulated in the covered
grills.
The club moves forward
See BBQ, 3A
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