w
Gracie Hopper
enjoys the
‘slopes.
hich mixed with arctic
got an extra break.
ounty residents
awoke Monday morning to a
blanket of snow. The winter
torm, fueled by a low pressure
ystem from the Carolina coast
dumped around five inches of
Snow in and around Kings Moun-
ain by Monday afternoon. And
ome nightfall,” the snow was
glazed with sheets of ice as flakes
turned into freezing rain and sleet.
For motorists, traveling was
slow going. For the city’s Public
Works Department and the North
“Carolina Department of Trans-
portation the snow and ice posed
~ more work. Teachers had to put a
pin-in final exams and students
air, ments if needed.
morning.
Gov. Bev Perdue declared a
State of Emergency on Monday
for the entire state because of the
storm, readying to call in the Na-
tional Guard and other reinforce-
With temperatures predicted to
dip into the teens each night this
week, forecasters were reminding
citizens Monday that whatever
melts may refreeze creating pre-
carious travel conditions each
Schools were closed in Cleve-
land County on Monday and
Tuesday as kids were given an
extra two days to study for final
exams scheduled for this week.
But the storm-imposed break will
See THAWING OUT, 6A
Classic Gift & Interior Design Services |
146 West Mountain St., Kings Mountain |
Ph. 704-730-8409 & Fax 104-730-8410
Surviving the storm
Forecasters predicted that sleet and freezing |
rain Monday night would lead to a glazing of
ice, which threatened power lines. and free
limbs. Eo !
Ifa fallen power line does biter to fall on
+ your vehicle while you are inside it or if there is i
no way to avoid driving over a downed line, do
not get out of the car and do not touch anything
metal, officiafs warn.
“Motorists are also cautioned to avoid trying
to drive underneath low-hanging frozen limbs
or power lines.
As Cleveland County thaws out fom inches
of i ice-glazed snow, residents are encouraged to
exercise caution.
« If at all possible, do not drive until roads
are cleared.
~ See TIPS, 6A 2}
MPI takes on NC
Main Street agenda
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Community leaders and
volunteers of Mountaineer
Partnership Inc. are rolling
up their sleeves and tackling
a “to do list” of recommen-
dations provided by the
North Carolina Main Street
Center. Priority number one
- revive downtown.
Over the next six months,
MPI members will be work-
ing on areas of promotion,
organization, economic re-
structuring and design - the
Main Street Center’s’ four-
point approach to downtown
revitalization.
But first, they’ll attend a
conference, learning new
techniques and marking their
first anniversary ‘in the pro-
gram.
On Jan. 26-28, MPI
members and downtown of-
ficials will be joining around
400 others from cities and
towns throughout the state in -
Shelby at the NC Main
Street Annual Conference.
One local businessman
will be honored with a spe-
cial Main Street Champion
Award for Kings Mountain.
The three-day convention
will feature professionals
speaking on topics such as
effective advertising, mar-
keting and preservation. And
perhaps the best part for
Kings Mountain, being a
part of the NC Main Street
Program, the help is free.
Officials of the North
Carolina Main Street Pro-
gram and state department of
commerce visited Kings
Mountain last July, studying
. downtown properties, its as-
98525700200" "1
ANA ERY Tes
sets and features. A couple of
months later, officials re-
turned with a 70-page packet
of recommendations of
things to work on to help
downtown grow.
In December, MPI board
members approved work
plans for each committee
charged with tackling the
program’s four-point ap-
proach to revitalization.
Over the next six months,
the teams will take on the
first three objectives in each
category proposed by NC
Main Street officials.
The Promotion team,
manned by Jim Champion,
Reg Alexander, Jeff Grigg,
Stuart Thompson, Gregg
Johnson, Ginger Ervin and
Ron Isbell will work on the
first steps of . advancing
downtown.
MPI Executive Director
Adam Hines said that the
team will be rebranding the
downtown organization with
anew name, logo and image.
The promoters will be devel-
oping a quarterly newsletter
to be distributed in print and
electronic form.
The team will develop a
website, listing available
properties and other infor-
mation about downtown, in-
cluding helpful news for
consumers on where to shop
and for businesses looking to
relocate.
Hines said that the. team
will develop a downtown
asset inventory and business
directory, including the loca-
tion of features like Patriots
Park and the Gateway Trail.
‘Working ‘together, MPI
and The Herald will host an
advertising workshop open
to all KM businesses at the
Joy Theatre on Feb. 15. The
event, centered on effective
advertising techniques, will
kick off a buy-local cam-
paign.
Ken Pflieger, Mitch John-
son, Bobby Horne, Camiel
Bradshaw, Bernice Chappell
and Ben Hubbard make up
the Design team. They are
currently creating a building
and open space inventory of
all public and private spaces
downtown, according to
Hines.
He said that they are
looking at which properties
are historic, which ones have
See MPI, 6A
- speech, delivered originally at the Lincoln Memorial
Williams.
Octavia Gill dances to a lyrical movement at the Joy
Theatre "Keeping the Dream Alive"
Rev. Lamont Littlejohn, pastor of Mt. Calvary
Baptist Church, will be the keynote speaker at the an-
nual Martin Luther King Day observance Monday,
Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at Joy Performance Center in down-
town Kings Mountain.
The City of Kings Mountain sponsors the commu-
nity-wide program to which the public is invited.
Shana Adams will be soloist and the choir of Mt.
Calvary Baptist Church and lyrical dancers will per-
form. Donna Huie-Brooks will be emcee.
A rendition of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream"
in Washington, DC, will be presented by Lester
Laying a foundation for improvements
Banks Trust
EMILY WEAVER/HERALD
Hometown Hardware owner Howard Elmore, right, helps workers pour the concrete foundation for his store’s
new enfrance. Left to right, Jim Swanson, Kyle Elmore and John Friday work the concrete mix.
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
In January 2010, Mountaineer Partnership
Inc. and the City of Kings Mountain were
awarded a $250,000 grant for three busi-
nesses to expand their operations in. down-
town. One of those businesses was setting the
foundations for its improvements last Friday.
A concrete mixer backed up to the front
of Hometown Hardware Friday afternoon as
the first drops of rain began to fall. A winter
storm was on the way. Hometown Hardware
owner Howard Elmore was anxious to get the
concrete poured before it came.
* The hardware store, which has operated in
downtown since 1971 (first as Phifer Hard-
ware and then as Hometown Hardware), was
granted $25,000 of the quarter-of-a-million
award to enhance its front entrance. Elmore
said that he was glad to get the money to help
him do it.
Hometown Hardware is housed in an in-
dustrial building on the corner of King Street
and Railroad Avenue. It’s been there for 17
years, but Elmore said that to newcomers in
town or to the naked eye it could be hard to
See HOMETOWN HARDWARE, 3A
RT
Building Trust. Building Smiles.
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain © 704.739.5411
www.alliancebanknc.com « memser mic