August 22, 2012
A charter bus will be
. leaving Cleveland County
- on Thursday, Sept. 6th, tak-
ing people to Charlotte for
the last night of the Demo-
cratic National Convention
at Bank of America Stadium
where attendees will see
President Obama accept the
Democratic Party’s nomina-
tion for re-&lection to the of-
fice of President of the
United States. %
The group will leave
Cleveland Mall at 10 a.m.,
stopping in Kings Mountain
at 10:30 a.m. at the YMCA,
to travel to Carrowinds park-
ing area. There they will
board shuttle buses to go to
the stadium. At the conclu-
sion of the stadium event,
these shuttle buses will re-
turn the group to Car-
rowinds. : :
Cost for riding the bus is
$15 for each participant and
should be paid to Betsy
Wells. Each participant
needs to go to Barack-
Obama.com/community-
credentials to sign up for
Community Credentials. If
you do not have access to in-
~ ternet, contact Betsy Wells at
704-477-7024 or wells-
betsy@gmail.com
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net
Charter bus available
to attend Sept. DNC
Forty-nine seats are avail-
able and they are selling fast,
says Wells.
“In 2008 in Denver, Col-
orado at the Broncos’ Sta-
dium, seeing the thousands
of people who came to see
Barack Obama accept the
Democratic Party’s nomipa-
‘tion was an extremely awe-
some experience. I highly
encourage the people of
Cleveland County to grasp
these once-in-a-lifetime op-
portunities and go to Char-
lotte on Sept. 3rd and Sept.
6th," Wells adds.
7
GOP Headquarters ITT IA
GOP HEADQUARTERS OPENS - Cléveland County Republicans opened a headquarters
office in Kings Mountain Saturday in the former First Union National Bank building in
downtown Kings Mountain. From left, candidates on the ballot in November assist Mayor
. Rick Murphrey in cutting the ribbon officially opening the headquarters. From left, Rep.
Tim Moore, Ronnie Hawkins, Jason Falls, Susan Allen, Murphrey, Ruth Wilson, Johnny
Hutchins and Senator Warren Daniel.
Page 5A
he 2% :
photo by LIB STEWART
JUSTICE: first soldier from Kings Mountain to die of injuries in combat in Afghanistan war
~ FROM Page 1
Six feet tall with an ath-
letic build, young Justice had
blonde hair and blue eyes. .
All he wanted to do, said
Lisa, was to protect his
country. "His family, his
church, his country were im-
portant to him."
Lisa said James came
home to Cherryville in on
Tryon Courthouse Road in
April to see family and
friends. He was assigned to
the 2nd Battalion, 503rd In-
fantry Regiment, 173rd Air-
borne Brigade,
Team, Caserma Edrle in Vi-
cenza, Italy where he and his
wife and children resided.’
"We hear all the time that
President Obama is bringing
the troops homme and yet sol-
diers like my brother are still
being deployed," said grief-
Combat
stricken Lisa, "I don't under-
stand."
Local people knew James
as "Justice." He grew up in
Kings Mountain, attended
Kings Mountain Middle
School, Cherryville High
School and was in the ROTC
at Hunter Huss High School
in Gastonia. In Kings Moun-
tain he attended New Begin-
ning Church of Jesus Christ
off Crocker Road.
* The soldier's wife and
their children returned to
Cherryville with the Justices
to make funeral arrange-
ments.
"We don't know how long
it will take for my brother's
body to return home, proba-
bly 4-5 days, but he will
have a homecoming in
Kings Mountain," said his
sister.
SCHOOL: bells ring Monday as thousands of students and teachers head back for another year
FROM Page 1
This year, 12 schools (the top 10
percent) are invited to submit port-
folios to identify the best practices
contributing to their schools’ suc-
cesses. They have the opportunity
to represent the state in the Na-
tional Title I Distinguished Schools
program and are eligible for Re-
ward School Mini Grants, with a
base allotment of $20,000 and ad-
ditional funding per the school’s.
ADM (average daily membership).
Lamanna said a key to East’s
success is the commitment by its
staff to help students succeed.
East’s culture is one of team spirit
and focusing on putting the chil-
dren first, he said.
“All our certified staff members
stay after school and tutor students
at least one day a week during the
entire second semester,” Lamanna
said.
East, Bethware, Grover and
North elementary schools will be:
open 3-5 p.m. Wednesday for drop-
in orientation. West Elementary is
set to be open for orientation 4-6
p.m. on Wednesday.
Open house sessions at Kings
Mountain Intermediate will begin
atat 10:30 a.m: and at 5:30 p.m. for
fifth graders and at 3 p.m. for sixth
graders. Kings Mountain Middle
will open their doors to all new and
returning students and families at
10am. and at 4:30 p.m. on Thurs-
day.
At Kings Mountain High, where
four-year graduation rates climbed
by nearly 10 percent last year, ori-
entation for.10-12th graders begins
at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. First pe-
riod starts at 8 a.m. Monday.
Principal Ronny Funderburke
will welcome 341 freshmen and a
total of 1,270 students to his halls
this year. Several new teachers are
also joining the KMHS team:
Sierra Martin - English, Tara Rhom
- English, Laura Boyles - Math,
Laura Chapman - Math, Seth Free-
man - Math, Margot Plonk - Sci-
ence, Drew Howell - History,
Casey Shirey - Spanish, Maurice
Tate - Business, Cindy Robbs - Art,
dren. .
Kevin Queen joins assistant
principals Julie Rikard and Michael
Morehead on the KMHS adminis-
trative team.
"Our scheduling team has
worked tremendously hard this
summer resolving conflicts so most
of our students will have the op-
portunity to take the classes that
they signed up to take," Funder-
burke said. "Our counselors spend
a tremendous amount of time with
this task. Our teachers are well-
rested and we are very excited to
get.a new school year started."
Kings Mountain Middle Princi-
pal Dr. Brian Hunnell said he is ex-
pecting around 700 students this
school year. Mrs. Mary Knight,
who will be teaching Art, and Mrs.
Danithza Baker, who will be teach-
ing Spanish, will join the staff this
year.
"We are extremely excited
about the upcoming school year
and we are looking forward to
making this the best year ever at
KMMS!" he said on Monday. "We
are truly blessed with a wonderful
staff and community."
Classes at Kings Mountain In-
termediate and North Elementary
begin at 8 a.m. Monday. The school
_ day starts at 8:05 a.m. at West, at
7:55 a.m. at Kings Mountain Mid-
dle, and at 8:10 at Bethware, East
and Grover.
and Rachel Bye - Exceptional Chil-
REZONING: battle between developer and neighbors to come up before city council Tuesday night
FROM Page 1
"As if market conditions were not already bad enough,
. zoning the day care property for commercial use will only
serve to depreciate home values making it all the more diffi-
cult to market our properties for residential use," said Ware.
He added that commercial development in any form would
be detrimental to the historic neighborhood and be the cata-
lyst for further development in any form.
Faunce has not stipulated how the property might be used
under a new zoning classification. ;
"This is a piece of property with unique interface," said
Faunce. "I'm one guy trying to maximize my property and I
want the opportunity for the best use and to sell and develop
it. It's a business, there won't be condos, I wouldn't live in a
condo if you paid me. I am not in this business to destroy a
neighborhood. What will happen out there will be good for
the neighborhoods" ?
Ware said R-O zoning opens the door to 48 new business
categories including such things as barber and beauty shops,
tattoo parlors, tanning salons, finance companies and even a
CITY: 0 get new early voting
site at local church in October
. FROM Page 1
The local early voting site will be open Monday through
Friday from 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. beginning October 29 and
continue through Friday, Nov. 2. The site will also be open on
Saturday morning, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
The two polling sites on election day Nov. 6 are the
YMCA and Mauney Memorial Library.
9 Prepare for
) Old Man Winter.
Preseason Sale
on Gas Logs
Buy before Oct. 1
and save 20% on
top quality Empire and
Peterson gas logs.
Outdoor/Patio gas logs also available
Come in soon for best selection!
Craft Stove Fireplace
Carroll-Ann Furniture
1233 West Franklin Blvd., Gastonia, NC
(704) 864-2225
{ www.carrollannfurniture.com
——
4
drug store, to name a few. Also permitted are a variety of of-
fice uses, which he said could result in a multi level office
building up to 50 feet, apartments, townhouses and condo-
miniums, the very last thing he said zoning in June 2000 was
done to prevent. :
Mary Lillian Lewis Nance said she grew up on W. Moun-
tain Street where her son, Lewis, resides. Both said that fam-
ilies vested in their homes, saying the rezoning could set a
precedent, the values of property would decrease and people
would start moving out of an area where a portion of West
Mountain has been designated a historical area. ~~ °
"I'm against it, don't put apartments and condos there.
People love this neighborhood," said Mrs, Nance. In previous
. rezoning of the same property, she said a total of 500 signa-
tures against the rezoning were presented.
"Residential Office is not as benign as it sounds because
many uses are inconsistent with a residential, single family
neighborhood," said Helen Hatch, adding the geography of
this site is different from other sites on King Street because
Accepting
2.%:4
Year Olds
The Carpenter's Clubhouse
~ Pre-School
Gentral United Methodist Church
113 S. Piedmont Ave., Kings Mountain
704.739.2417 ext.
Classes Begin September 4th
The Carpenter's Clubhouse is a Christian pre-school ministry.
Our mission is to provide a warm and loving environment in which children can learn
about themselves, their friends, the word of God, and the world around them. Through
our curriculum each student will be encouraged to discover his/her abilities and interests.
We strive to make every day a joyful experience.
of the way King turns and the streets come to a point.
Mrs. Hatch says there's more frontage on Mountain than
on King and the rezoning would allow heavy retail traffic en-
tering and exiting directly on W. Mountain with lights, noise,
and the view of dumpsters and parking lots ruining the liv-
ability of houses near the rezoned lot. Hatch says the uses
authorized by R-O are even worse for the adfoining residen-
tial district than the rezoning requested on the four previous
failed rezoning attempts.
"The landowner is essentially asking the Planning and
Zoning board to put money in his pocket - at the expense of
the community just so he can flip this property," Hatch said.
"This rezoning request is going to come up over and
over," Phil Dee said. "We would be better to address it and
come up with something that respects’ the property owners
and acknowledge the site."
Said Houze, "Change is inevitable. They (the property
owners) want to know what's going on that site and they just
need to get-to-gether."