What's in store for
Central School? 3A
gs
ith, Sth
contenders
emerge In
at-large.
city race
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail, com
The hot contest for the open
At-Large seat on Kings Moun-
tain City Council is now a five-
man race | ;
with the
filing this
week by
two more
Kings
Mountain
candidates,
Brian
Cloninger,
38, 304
'Siliver
Street and
Curtis
Pressley,
45, 711
Oakland
Street.
Incum-
bent Com-
missioner
Houston Corn announced two
weeks ago that he is stepping
down from the position he has
held for two terms.to spend
mote time with his grandchil-
dren.
Candidate filing for mayor
CLONINGER
and three council seats up for
grabs Nov. 8 ends Friday at
noon with the Cleveland County
Board of Elections. :
As of Tuesday, Mayor Rick
Murphrey, Ward I councilman
Howard Shipp, and Ward IV
councilman Rodney Gordon
were unopposed for re-election
to four year terms.
See RACE, 7A
Bessemer
(City now in
elite Main
St. program
BESSEMER CITY - The
Town of Bessemer City is now a
Small Town Main Street City.
The community will join 31
other communities — including
Warrenton, Pittsboro, Lillingon
and Troutman — from 17 appli-
cants as Small Town Main Street
communities in the program .
which started in 2003.
Kick-off activities will be
held in Bessemer City during the
month of September.
Bessemer City is counting on
this new status to gain more vis-
itors, shoppers and new resi-
ls
Volume 123 © Issue 32 , Wednesday, August 10,2071
| Election 2011
Final shows this week
RA
Muddy Fork’ Greek will this quench our future thirst for water?
Quenching Qur Thirst for
WATER
A crystal clear stream gave birth to a gold rush
in Kings Mountain. Now the water itself is gold
KMLT presents ‘Harvey’
50
and Moss Lake is the gold mine. In the final
chapter of this four-part series we look at this
potent resource and how it affects how we
work, play and live. This week...
Will we have enough for the future?
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Herald looks at the
history, current status and future of our
water supply in this four-part series.
Part 4 of 4
: ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
‘Could a second lake be in the future
for Kings Mountain?
Not now, the US Army Corps of En-
gineers has told city officials. A second
reservoir is not economically feasible.
Preliminary studies have indicated
that by the year 2050 John H. Moss
- Lake may no longer be able to supply
the growth expected for the region, but
the crippling recession has made a sec-
ond lake a dead issue...for now.
However, Mayor Rick Murphrey
says “Necessity is a great creator,”
adding that 50 years from now a second
lake may be needed to provide drought -
protection and water for future growth.
“We still need to leave John Henry’s
idea on the drawing board.”
Kings Mountain’s former mayor, the
late John Henry Moss, made a pitch for
a second lake as early as 1986 to Kings
Mountain city council.
The Herald reported that Moss said
a number of people had persuaded him
to propose a $25.8 million water district
in response to recent ronghis) None'of
the plans had been finalized, he was
quick to point out, and none of the city’s
money had'been spent on the project. In
response to unaridwered questions that
some said tempered second lake enthu-
siasm, the mayor told his board that a
district would have to stand on its own.
Moss, accompanied by several city
council members, campaigned for an-
other reservoir (lake) to government
leaders in area towns, inviting them to
sign on to the project either as a partic-
ipant for a new water district or on a
“wait and see” approach. Several mu-
nicipalities in the region were very in-
terested in the proposed lake and its
accompanying regional water system.
Kings Mountain citizens were interested
in how the project would be paid for and
whether it would actually benefit Kings
Mountain taxpayers. f
The Herald reported in 1986 no
groundswell of support for the district
water project but interest.
Patterson Springs Mayor Hugh
Dillingham wrote the mayor that his
town council was sincerely interésted in
a water distribution system in that rural
area of Southeastern Cleveland County.
Dillingham encouraged Kings Moun-
tain to proceed with the project.
See PROTECTING, 4A
A Bans” Tradition of Dignity,
Service & Understanding 5
108 S: Piedmont Ave.
o 0 Kings Mountain, NC
739-2591
Man charged
with bribery to
keep sweeps
cafes open
‘Last man standing’ really
wasn’t last man with sweeps
+ EMILY WEAVER
Editor
A four-and-a-half-month long operation codenamed ‘Last’
Man Standing” ended Wednesday morning with the arrest of
a suspect who, Sheriff ‘Alan Norman said, wanted to be the
“last man'standing” with video sweepstakes operations in the
county. He now stands before a judge.
Sixty-three-year-old Artie Stevenson Smith of Gastonia
was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center in
the wee hours of August 3 under a $500,000 secured bond.
He has been charged with eight counts of bribery of a gov-
ernment official and two counts of felony possession of five
or more video poker machines. «
Sheriff Norman says that Smith operated two establish-
ments that offered video sweepstakes: Susan’s Sweepstakes,
1319 S. Post Rd., and Waco Sweepstakes, 2415 Cherryville
Rd.
“Mr. Smith originally was charged approximately four
and a half months ago with several misdemeanors at the S.
Post Rd. location,” Norman said. “Right after that he made
contact with a sheriff’s sergeant in our narcotics division and
attempted to bribe that sheriff’s deputy for protection to be
the last man standing in Cleveland County.
SCHOOLS
Some jobs saved,
cuts will still hurt
i ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Teaching positions are 100% funded in the'2011-2012
state education budget for Cleveland County Schools but
painful cuts still impact the elassroom this school year and
could be deeper next year if recession continues.
Assistant teacher jobs are not in jeopardy. Wrangling in
the state legislature for months kept anxious assistant teach-
ers worried about their jobs. They return to school Aug. 15
for the Fall term.
“We are really fortunate in the overall picture but there
are serious ramifications in the budget for us,” said Finance
Director Dr. David Lee reporting to the Board of Education
Monday night. “The painful cuts are not as big a hit as we ex-
pected,” he added.
Lee said that the classroom will be impacted by a46% cut
in instructional supplies,.an 81% cut in textbooks and a 5%
cut in instructional support, a loss of four positions. The
budget allocation is 18 students to a teacher in grades 1-3.
Lee said that for the fourth consecutive year there will be
no salary increases and if employees are insured by an 80/20
plan of insurance their individual premiums will be $21.62
monthly. There is no monthly premium for a 70/30 plan.
See SeHOOLs, 7A
EMILY WEAVER
Editor
“Years ago my mother used to say to me... In
this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart or oh so
said Jim Champion playing the role of
Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey”. “Well, for years I
3
pleasant,
was smart. I recommend pleasant.”
“Harvey”, one of the most pleasant of comedies
Atarvey, final shows this week
put on by the oh so smart volunteer staff of the
Kings Mountain Little Theatre, continues this
weekend. Two final showings of this “back-by-pop-
ular-demand” play will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday and
Saturday at the Joy Performance Center, 202 S.
Railroad Ave. Tickets ranging from $8 (students
and seniors) to $10 (adults) will be sold at the box
office. For reservations, call 704-730-9408 and
| ' leave a message.
dents and-to bring new life to
downtown. :
The story comes to life in the 1950s at the home
of the well-mannered and oh so pleasant Elwood P.
See HARVEY, 7A
KYRA TURNER/MHERALD
Jim Champion, playing the role of Elwood P. Dowd reads+o Harvey, his six-foot tall imagi-
nary friend...that also happens to be rabbit.
RTD
Building Trust. Building Smiles,
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain * 704.739.5411
8798525700200
PEPE Tee
Banks Trust
www.alliancebanknc.com « memser ric