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Volume 123 © Issue 50 » Wednesday, December 14, 2011 o 75¢
: EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Gateway Trails Inc. received a gem
of an early Christmas present - a
$10,000 grant from the Golden Leaf
Foundation - that will help the group
tell the story of Kings Mountain’s min-
ing history. But Gateway Trails Presi-
dent Shirley Brutko said that isn’t the
only present under the city’s Christmas
tree this year.
A rare collection of gems and min-
erals mined from the Kings Mountain
area is being donated to the city. It was
a collection rumored to have caught the
eye of the Smithsonian. But Brutko
says the unnamed donor desires to keep
it close to home.
Mayor Rick Murphrey said that the
city is pleased to accept the gift and
they are looking for a fitting location to
SP A
- showcase the gems.
City officials, the Kings Mountain
Historical Foundation and the Kings
Mountain Historical Museum are look-
ing for a site, Brutko said.
She envisions a large tourist attrac-
tion will come with the collection.
“There is such a mining history here
for us to capitalize on,” Brutko said,
adding that the history dates back to the
1700s. “We'll have people from all over
coming to see this.”
Brutko said that she is working with
a local geologist, John Conner, to re-
search and write Kings Mountain’s
mining memoirs. “Much of this history
has never been told,” she added.
Research has led her to hear some
interesting tales, like when the old gold
‘mine shaft flooded when workers
chipped into an aquifer under city hall.
“There are all kinds of tales and lore out
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there and I want to hear them,” Brutko
said, adding that sometimes it’s the sto-
ries that add color. “I have always been
an amateur collector of rocks and gems
and minerals. Just about wherever you
go in Kings Mountain you see mica on
the ground.”
The $10,000 grant, sheusaid, will be
used to create and purchase 24” x 26”
informational signs on Kings Moun-
tain’s history, including its long love af-
fair with gems and minerals, to be
placed along the Gateway Trails. The
signs should be ready and installed in
time for the Trails annual SK run next
"April, she added.
One of the signs will be dedicated to
Chemetall Foote, a lithium manufactur-
ing company that donated nearly 70
acres to the Trails. Another sign will be
See GEM, 7A
Sweepstakes go
bust in Grover
Video sweepstakes ma-
chines were silent in down-
town Grover this week after
Police Chief Eric Buff told
operators to “move on.”
Four vehicles were
parked across the street from
the businesses Tuesday at 1
p.m., but most of the eight
doors on Main Street had
closed signs, one door was
open, but no activity was
noted.
“We have done an inves-
tigation,” according to Buff,
“and we gave them opportu-
nity to leave.” City Council-
man Bill Willis said he
watched one of the operators
move machines out of one of
the buildings Monday night.
Video machines, how-
ever, are still blipping away
in many areas of the state. A
pair of Superior Court rulings
and inaction on the legality
or illegality of video gaming
is still pending by the North
Carolina General Assembly.
Sweepstakes parlors went
into business in Grover in
April, 20009.
A law passed by the state
legislature tightened up a
loophole en a 2006 ban of
video poker. But the law has
been * debated in courts.
Sweepstakes companies say
the machines are not video
poker machines because
there are no levers to push,
no slots for currency and no
troughs to catch a player’s
winnings.
Grover’s Main Street
buildings, many of which
had been vacant for years,
have housed internet cafes
and’ other shops offering
sweepstake games as a mar-
keting tool to sell what the
businessmen have said are
their primary goods - time on
the Internet or phone cards.
Town Council upped its
annual privilege license fee
for the operation of sweep-
stakes business to $4,000 - a
fee that operators agreed to
pay.
December 13 declared
“Tim Moore Day”
Tuesday was “Tim
Moore Day” in Kings Moun-
tain” by proclamation of
Mayor Rick Murphrey and
Kings Mountain City Coun-
cil.
Five-term legislator
Moore (R-Cleveland) re-
ceived accolades from city
council and a standing ova-
tion from the crowd gathered
for the swearing-in of a new
administration which hon-)
ored the Kings Mountain cit-
izen for distinguished
leadership.
“Tim is a powerful influ-
ence in our community, the
whole district he represents
and the state,” said the
mayor as he presented a
plaque of appreciation.
Said the Mayor, “Tim
represents the whole district
very well in the N. C. Gen-
eral Assembly, and every
time I go to Raleigh I am im-
pressed by his quality of
leadership. Kings Mountain
and the district are a better
place because of Tim
Moore.”
Moore serves as chair-
man of the standing commit-
tees on rules, calendar and
operation of the House,
chairman of the judiciary
sub-committee. on family
law, chairman of the House
See TUESDAY, 7A
Foot chase leads to
Carroll’s arrest
KYRA A. TURNER
kyra.kmherald@gmail. com
At 3:45 pm, last
Wednesday, a foot chase
with the Kings Mountain
Police led Ricky Lewis
Carroll, Jr., 23, on a short
trip to the hospital, and
then a longer stay at the
Cleveland Law Enforce-
ment Center on warrants
out of two counties.
Alliance
Bank& Trust
"Building Communities
Carroll was arrested
and served with warrants
out of Rutherford County
on the following charges:
resist delay obstruct, driv-
ing while license revoked
and fleeing/eluding arrest,
and was also served with
warrants out of Cleveland
County on the following
charges: vehicles/parts
See CARROLL, 7A
SUPER SAVINGS ACCOUNT!!!
1.25%
APY*
209 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain ® 704.739.5411
Member
(RR
from city council
- ment of his retirement.
Houston Gorn receives a watch and a pen and pencil sol
from Mayor Rick Murphrey
Kings Mountain City Council said goodbye to retir-
ing At-large councilman Houston Corn Monday night as
a new administration took office.
Mayor Rick Murphrey preseated Corn with a sym-
bolic Kings Mountain seal “with sincere gratitude and
appreciation for eight years of service.” He also received
a watch and a pen and pencil set.
Corn, who did not seek reelection, welcomed the in-
coming At-large councilman Keith Miller to his seat on
the platform at council chambers at city hall. “It’s time
to take a break and spend time with grandchildren,” Corn
told The Herald several months ago on the announce-
See CORN, 7A
Wieie; breaks
tie vote, Gordon
mayor pro tem
Mayor Rick Murphrey
broke a tie vote (4-3) of
Kings Mountain City Coun-
cil Monday night as a first
business of the new adminis-
tration re-elected Ward 4
councilman Rodney Gordon
as mayor pro tem.
The mayor has exercised
few votes in his long tenure
because the board is com-
prised of seven members and
they never miss a meeting.
At-large commissioner Dean
Spears recently underwent
surgery and was absent recu-
perating. :
Ward (I councilman
Howard Shipp nominated
Ward 5 councilman Rick
Moore and the motion was
seconded by Ward III coun-
cilman Tommy Hawkins.
At-large councilman
Keith Miller offered a substi-
tute motion and nominated
, think
Gordon, and his motion was
seconded by Ward II coun-
cilman Mike Butler.
Casting the deciding vote
for Gordon, the mayor said
that he had talked with
Spears, and Spears indicated
he would have liked to vote
for Gordon.
After the vote was taken,
Councilman Hawkins said
that “prior to tonight the cus-
tom was for the mayor pro
tem to serve two years. I
the mayor pro tem
should step down after two
years and let another coun-
cilman have the opportunity.
Talso think it’s a good ida for
a mayor pro tem to preside
over the meeting once every
quarter so that he can pre-
pare himself professionally
to serve in the absence of the
mayor.”
Solar farm cashes in on golden sun
President of Birdseye Renewable Energy Brian Bednar, left, gives Mayor Rick Murphrey a tour of the solar farm.
«= EMILY WEAVER
Editor
On a southward slanted
hillside off of Dixon Dairy
Road, more than 21,000
solar panels at a permanent
tilt planted on 28 acres
stretch upward to the south-
ern sky. Basking in the sun-
®
light, these panels could
produce enough energy to
power 500-600 homes, with
the cooperation of Mother
Nature.
* This multi-million dollar
solar farm, sprouting from a
partnership between Stratus
Solar and Birdseye Renew-
able Energy, is set to produce
around 5 megawatts of elec-
tricity a day for Duke En-
ergy. The land rests in Duke
territory. ..a king of energy
in a realm where the demand
for electricity is spiking with
the emergence of new
power-hungry data centers.
These cloud-computing
warehouses, safe houses for
virtual information, typically
require 30-80 percent more
energy to operate per square
foot than a run-of-the-mill
office building. Duke will be
there. The solar farm will
too. And just down Battle-
ground Road on 275 acres,
another electric company,
Southern Power, gears up to
$2,500.00 minimum to open
$2,500 minimum to earn advertised rate
www.alliancebanknc.com ® MEMBER FDIC
<
come online with its initial
four combustion turbine
units.
But sitting serenely on
this hillside, without a move-
ment, the 21,600 solar panels
on this quiet farm harvest the
sun’s energy. A buzz near the
transformers sounded the
call that Monday was a good
day for solar power.
“We’re humming today. I
think we’re! doing pretty
good,” said Birdseye Presi-
dent Brian C. Bednar on a
tour of the farm Monday.
The hum came from a
ventilation system used to
keep the electrical equip-
ment cool, he added. The
CENBER
clear sky and bright sun had
the meter ticking with good
numbers, close to 2
megawatt hours per inverter
box (a total of about 12
megawatts produced).
Construction of the solar
farm started the first of Au-
gust. Four months later there
was no sign of the nearly 60
workers (including an esti-
mated 25 locally), who
See FARM, 7A
98525700200"™1
“Annual Percentage Yield. Rate effective 9/15/11. Rates subject to change. Offer valid for a limited time only. $2,500 minimum to open. If balance falls below $2,500, rate will reduce to regular published rate.