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es set to od ‘Cardinal’
City, county leaders set sights on top secret
Project Cardinal; announcement today
EMILY WEAVER
Editor
The deal is done. The nest is set. But will
Kings Mountain and Cleveland County land
Project Cardinal? And who is the industry, set
to bring 106 jobs and invest over $851 million,
behind this red-feathered curtain? An indus-
trial announcement is set for 11 a.m. today at
Cleveland Coin Club, where the first phase
of “Project Cardinal” and the company behind
it is set to be revealed.
Kings Mountain City Council and Cleye-
land County commissioners unanimously ap-
proved incentives for a new “big” data center
in a joint session inside room 1139 at Cleve-
land Community College Tuesday afternoon.
See CITY, COUNTY, 3A
_ City councilmen eye in-
centives for “Project Car-
dinal” at a joint meeting
‘with the Cleveland
County Board of Commis-
sioners Tuesday. From
left, City Manager Mari-
lyn Sellers, Howard
Shipp, Mike Butler,
Tommy Hawkins, Rodney
Gordon, Mayor Rick Mur-
phrey, Rick Moore, Keith
Miller, Dean Spears and
city = Attorney Mickey
Corry.
Herald's
Isbell
honored
with
‘BOY’
Business
Showcase on
gah March 16
Ron Isbell's community-first
approach, giving to local charities,
supporting Kings. Mountain
schools, small ‘businesses and
downtown revitalization earned
The Herald's leader recognition
Tuesday night as the Chamber's
12012 Business Person of the Year.
Isbell was presented the presti-
gious award at the opening of the
14th annual Business Showcase,
underway at city hall through
March 16. It recognizes Isbell for
See ISBELL, 7A
City eyes
grants for
‘Merlot’
More new jobs could be coming
to Kings Mountain.
~ Kings Mountain City Council
-has set a public hearing for Tues-
day at 6 p.m. to consider applying
for an incentive grant for an indus-
trial project code-named "Project
Merlot".
Completion of the project could
result in 62 new jobs and total tax-
able new eligible investment of
$4,919,500.
Planning Director Steve Killian
said in a memorandum to city
council that Cleveland County will
be offering an industrial incentive
grant also and in addition will
apply for the One North Carolina
Fund. Other state credits may be
See MERLOT, 7A
Contraception Mandate vs. Freedom of Religion
‘WAR ON CHRISTIANITY’
«= KYRA A. TURNER
kyra.kmherald@gmail.com
A move from President Barrack Obama, that
on the surface seems sympathetic to women's
rights, has initiated a firestorm of protests by
those who fear the increasing loss of religious .
‘liberty in America. Arming their sheaths with
the points of Freedom of Speech and Freedom
of Religion, Christian organizations are battling
the government in court.
Belmont Abbey College is a local leader in
the charge. They've filed a lawsuit, standing on
the principle of the First Amendment of the Bill
of Rights: "Congress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof..."
In August 2011 the federal government is-
sued a regulation requiring that all group health
plans must cover "(FDA-) approved contracep-
tive methods, sterilization procedures, and pa-
tient education and counseling for all women.
with reproductive capacity."
This mandate, a provision of the "Affordable -
Care Act", goes into effect August 1.
After this mandate was issued, chaos
erupted from the religious community. Two
lawsuits were filed through The Becket Fund
for Religious Liberty, which is the first and only
law. firm to legally challenge the Obama Ad-
ministration's contraceptive mandate. The
Becket Fund: quickly raised alarm by suing on
behalf of Belmont Abbey College, a nearby
Catholic liberal arts college on Nov. 10, 2011,
and Colorado Christian University, an evangel-
ical college located outside Denver on Dec. 21,
2011.
Belmont Abbey is suing Kathleen Sebelius,
Secretary of the US Department of Health and
Human Services; the US Department of Health
and Human Services; Hilda Solis, Secretary of
the US Department of Labor; US Department
US Department of the Treasury; and the US De-
partment'of the Treasury.
Belmont Abbey argued that it could not be
true to both the government mandate and its
church teachings. The Catholic church stands
opposed to all forms of artificial contraceptives.
The President faced flack over requiring
companies to provide contraceptive coverage in
insurance. The mandate was later altered to re-
quire insurance companies provide the cover-
age instead of employers. The Catholic church
Students rally for religious freedom at Belmont
Abbey College.
of potatoes sprouting food and hope.
is set at 100,000 pounds.
ing at 9 a.m. Volunteers are needed.
Bill McMurray plants a row of potatoes.
of Labor; Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the
has argued that the change changes nothing.
| Volunteers dig in
to feed the hungry
Volunteers with the Cleveland County Potato Project
planted the seeds of 2,800 pounds of potatoes last week in
the first three 2012 plantings of the three-year-old mission to
grow tubers to curb local hunger. In the Project's first two
years, the cause has spread throughout the county with plots
In 2010, a volunteer labor force produced 30,000 pounds
of potatoes and delivered them to the Kings Mountain Crisis
Ministry, Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association, U-
Can and the Salvation Army for distribution. Last year, the
project raised 84,000 pounds of potatoes. This year the goal
‘The next planting, weather permitting, will be Saturday,
Feb. 25, at Glenn Williams property in Boiling Springs, start-
Photos by Emily Hardman
President of Belmont Abbey College, Dr. William Thierfelder, eft) is seen with Abbot Placid Solari,
in front of Belmont Abbey.
"The Diocese of Charlotte is self-insured
and would still have to pay for this," said David
Hains, communications director for the Diocese
of Charlotte, the local Catholic district under
Bishop Peter Jugis. He added that they stand
behind Belmont Abbey in its lawsuit. "The
United States Department of Health and Human
Services is threatening religious liberty."
The contraceptive mandate includes a num-
ber of drugs Belmont Abbey and many scien-
tists consider to be abortifacients, most notably
Plan B, Ella and sterilization services.
Plan B One-Step, also known as the "morn-
ing after pill", is a backup plan that helps pre-
vent pregnancy after birth control failure. Ella,
the "week after pill", is an emergency contra-
ceptive product shown to be safe and effective
to reduce 'the risk of pregnancy up to five days
after unprotected intercourse or contraceptive
failure.
Were Belmont Abbey to choose not to cover
contraception and sterilization as required by
‘the government mandate, it would be penalized
with a hefty fine and forced to terminate its
See CLERGY, 7A
INSIDE
‘PROUD TO BE AN
AMERICAN’ - Me-
morial honors ser-
vicemen. 3A
FIRE PROBE - A fire
that damaged a
Lake Montonia
home is under
investigation. 3A
REALIGNMENT -
New draft puts
KMHS in confer-
ence with Cleve-
land, Rutherford
teams. 3B
See POTATO, 7A
98525"00200""1
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