rm ree
Mountaineers shut out
North Gaston...Page B1
Election 2010
Last look at candidates’
priorities...Page A3
Volume 122 * Issue 43 Wednesday, October 27,2010
WARLICK ms HAMRICK
INSURANCE
704.739.3611
106 East Mountain Street
Kings Mountain, NC
www. KMinsure.com
Election Day is Tuesday
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Kings Mountain voters will go to the polls
Tuesday in the 2010 general election.
Several major offices in the county and
state are up for grabs this election year in-
cluding the races for Cleveland County Sher-
iff, NC House seats 110 and 111, two seats
open on the county board of commissioners,
and interest also locally in contests for US
Senator and Congressman.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30
p.m. at six No.4 Township polling places:
Bethware at Bethlehem Baptist Church Ac-
tivities Center, 1017 Bethlehem Road;
Grover at Grover Town Hall, 207 Mulberry
Street; Kings Mountain North at the back of
the YMCA on Cleveland Avenue; Kings
Mountain South at Jacob S. Mauney Memo-
rial Library on Piedmont Avenue; Oak Grove
INSIDE
Candidates share their
top priorities if elected 3A
at Oak Grove Baptist Church Fellowship
Hall, 1022 Oak Grove Road, and Waco at
Waco Community Building, 200 S. Main
Street.
Citizens may also cast their votes at early
voting sites today, Thursday and Friday from
9a.m.-5 p.m. at the Cleveland County Board
of Elections in Shelby and in this area at
Family Worship Center, 1818 Shelby Road
and also on Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at
the Elections Board Office and at Family
Worship Center. If you have not registered to
vote, you can register and vote at the same
NC House 111
MARY ACCOR - TIM MOORE
© time at the early "one
stop" voting sites which close on Oct. 30.
Chief interest for Kings Mountain voters
- centers on the Sheriff race, the House 111
race between two prominent Kings Mountain
citizens, and the county commission race
where voters can elect two people from a
field of four candidates.
The Sheriff's race between two veteran
County Sheriff
DON ALLEN
ALAN NORMAN
law enforcement men
pits Democrat Alan Norman, who works as a
Captain in the Cleveland County Sheriff's
Department, and Republican Don Allen, a
former SBI officer, in pursuit of the High
Sheriff position. Both men have been pump-
ing hands and pushing their programs
See ELECTION page 7A
Legionnaires: post
home not for sale!
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Two dozen or more Legionnaires told
Post 155 club officers and management
Thursday that they overstepped their bounds
by posting a for sale sign in front of Ameri-
can Legion Post 155 without general mem-
bership approval and voted a resounding
no" to any plan to sell the building.
The 71-year-old Post building had its be-
ginning in a garage on the site on East Gold
Street. In years since it has had major reno-
vations to become the 10,000 square foot
building it is today, that has provided space
for many community and Post 155 activities.
Post Commander Louis "Howard" Kieser
said the club isn't generating enough income
to pay expenses and the building has out-
grown the membership. He said members
don't support the club and officers had dis-
cussed leasing the ballroom, kitchen and
back bar to a person interested in opening a
bar/grill with the Legion using the front "new
bar" and conference room for once-a-month
meetings.
"You're booting us out the door," said one
member, as tempers flared.
Members offered several suggestions,
some agreeing to work the bar on their per-
See DEBATE page 7A
Kings Mountain
Great
Pumpkin
parade Friday
The big kids Halloween event in
Kings Mountain is the Great Pump-
kin Halloween Parade on Friday
which starts at 10 a.m. in front of
Kings Mountain City Hall.
Halloween trick or treating is still
on tap, as usual, on Halloween, Oct.
31, which falls on Sunday. “We
changed the date to Saturday several
years ago when Halloween fell on
Sunday and there was confusion and
people were trick or treating on both
- nights,” said Mayor Rick Murphrey.
He suggested that those who wish to
participate Sunday night in trick or
treating to turn on porch lights.
The mayor will welcome children
trick or treaters at City Hall Friday
morning. The parade will start from
City Hall Plaza and proceed to Bat-
tleground Avenue, Mountain Street
and down Railroad Avenue to the
gazebo for games and activities at Pa-
triot Park.
Local merchants along the parade
route are encouraged to dress in cos-
tumes and pass out candy. The
Mauney Memorial Children’s Li-
brary, in cooperation with Partnership
for Children, Community Play and
Learn Program and Cleveland County
Childcare Connections will provide
entertainment, games, Halloween sto-
See Parade page 7A
Happy Customers
Time running out for
sweepstakes operations
By ELIZABETH STEWART
Staff writer
Time is running out for video sweep-
stakes operations in Kings Mountain.
Citizens who like to click and play a hand
on computer-based sweepstakes games at lo- |
cations here and statewide will have to find a
new hobby.
State lawmakers panned video sweep-
stakes parlors effective Dec. 1, rejecting ar-
guments from industry supporters about the
jobs, potential tax revenues and rights of in-
dividual choice.
The discussion of the state deadline sur-
faced Tuesday at the meeting of the Kings
Mountain Board of Adjustment.
Soumeta Rithiphong, Oriental Market,
132 S. Railroad Ave., filed for a conditional
use permit for four gaming machines but nei-
ther the applicant or the property owner,
Faunce Realty Inc., was S present for the pub-
lic hearing,
“We don’t have oi information in
this application, it’s incomplete, a lot of as-
sumptions,” said John Houze. Chairman
David Allen, Vice-Chairman Keith Miller,
Lou Ballew, and Doug Lawing agreed that
the application was incomplete and the board
could not pursue with “findings of fact.” Phil
Dee and Jimmy West were absent.
Planning Director Steve Killian said that
the conditional use process requires a prop-
erty owner to sign and/or issue a letter des-
ignating an agent to represent the property
owner when applying for a conditional use
permit. The application must also include a
site plan.
The board of adjustment left open the
public hearing until the next regular meeting
and Killian said he would notify the appli-
cant of the information they did not supply.
The applicant will have the opportunity to
amend the application for consideration at
the Nov. 16 meeting of the board of adjust-
ment at 5:30 p.m.at city hall.
Even without a conditional use permit
Oriental Market can operate the machines
until state law takes effect Dec. 1.
In other business, the board okayed a con-
ditional use permit for Kenneth and Glenda
Williams at property owned by John R. Jack-
son, 318 W. King St., for a kids video arcade.
Gateway Trails
to celebrate 1st
birthday Nov. 6
The first three miles of the Gateway Trails
officially opened to a large crowd on the
morning of Nov. 7, 2009. Now, nearly a year
and thousands of visitors later, the trails will
once ‘again open to a crowd at 10 a.m. Nov.
6th, for its first birthday.
The Kings Mountain Gateway Trails
Committee is planning to host a Barbecue
Fundraiser at the trailhead Nov. 6th from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m.
See TRAILS page 7A
are Our Business! 4 yj:
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain ¢ 704.739.5411
www .alliancebankandtrust.com e MEMBER FDIC
nN
Facade grants OK’d
Downtown incentive facade grants to-
~ taling $16,345 were okayed Tuesday night
by Kings Mountain City Couneil to devel-
opers of properties at 214 and 220 S. Rail-
road Ave.
Bobby and Sharon Horne are installing
a new commercial store front with glass
and metal framing at 214 S. Railroad Av-
enue at cost of $8,850. The city grant for
$4,425 is payable upon completion of con-
struction.
Nick Levecchia and Richard Levecchia
are renovating a portion of the Plonk
* Brothers property for an upscale restaurant
and the facade and general inducement
grant proceeds totaling $8,460 in 2010 and
$3,460 in 2011 will be distributed pending
completion of repairs.
The resolution from the city points out
that the City of Kings Mountain “desires
to increase business prospects and taxable
property within the corporate limits by un-
dertaking economic development activi-
developers to locate in and make addi-
tional investments in the city.”
Quarry eyes
$1.2 million
expansion
Martin-Marietta, 262 Holiday Inn
Drive, has purchased a city building per-
mit for a $1.2 million expansion of its
Kings Mountain Quarry.
See QUARRY page 7A
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