kmherald.net
Herald’s
Isbell
remembered...
“For when that Great *
Scorer comes to write
against your name
He marks - not that you
won or lost - but how you
played the game.”
Grantland Rice
pu ELIZABETH STEWART
.lib.kmherald@gmail.com
What we leave behind
is vitally important.
Ron Isbell, our boss,
mentor, friend who died
Sept. 7, 2012, left behind
a mark on this community
in the faur short years he
was co-owner and Pub-
The Herald’s Ronald
J. Isbell, 63, lost his hard-
fought battle with cancer
Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. He
died at his home on Lewis
Lake Road, his wife,
* Wendy, at his bedside.
Friends and co-work-
ers gathered at Harris Fu-
neral Home in Kings
Mountain Monday to re-
member a newspaperman
who came to Kings
Mountain only four years
ago and quickly became
‘an integral part of the:
community.
. See the complete obit-
~ uary on page 24 of todays
Herald.
lisher of this newspaper
and our sister newspapers
- The Cherryville Eagle
and Banner-News.
God doesn’t promise
us tomorrow. But our staff
believed that with Ron’s
tremendous fight to live
that he would beat can-
cer, that insidious disease
he battled for almost a
See ISBELL, 6A
City on cutting
edge of ‘smart
meter’ project
Kings Mountain is get-
ting in on the “cutting edge’
of Smart Grid/ Smart Me-
ters, the first municipality in
the state, to pilot a program
that is expected to be highly
customer service beneficial
to the city.
“We’re looking to the fu-
ture,” said Electric Depart-
ment head Nick Hendricks,
who made a presentation to
city council Wednesday at a
meeting at the Public Works
Department.
Councilmen will likely
approve on Sept. 25 a
$14,000 contract to Data
Service Solution Centers, a
service provider. located in
Dallas, TX and Little Rock,
Arkansas. .
The testing of 1500 me-
ters in the Sims Street area
and in the Green Tree Apart-
- ment area on York Road will
be the first step in the
process in November. How-
ever, public . information
meetings will be announced
and will begin in October
prior to the meter testing in
two areas of the city. If
Council gives the green light
JI
879852500200
to the project it would be
completed in December and
then a committee would’
evaluate the project with an
eye to implementing the pro-
gram system-wide.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
says what this means for util-
ity customers is that they
will be able to get real time
information about their util-
ity usage, past and current,
on line and if they have no
computer in their homes they
can access their accounts on
computers at city hall or
Mauney Memorial Library.
Customers will also be able
to pre pay their bills on line.
The service provider will be
in charge of 24-7 monitoring
and for unlimited data stor-
age, automated readings, de-
tailed history data, etc. No
new city employees are re-
quired for the Smart Grid
program.
Industrial customers will
get real time date, load man-
agement information,
billing, energy education,
etc. There is no cost for basic
programs
Every meter will be ona
wireless meter network with
constant data flowing. The
data will come through the
electric, gas, water meter to
a data collector on a power
pole and then via wire,
See SMART METERS, 7A
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From left, front row, engineer Joel Wood and Mayor Rick Murphrey. Standing from left to right, Dennis Wells, Water Depart-
ment Head; Beverly Moschler, city finance director; and City Manager Marilyn Sellers.
Photo by Ellis Noell
City applies for $33.8 million loan
The City of Kings Mountain filed
this week its biggest application ever
for a 20-year low-interest revolving
loan - $33.8 million - from the NC De-
partment of Environmental & Natural
Resources.
Mayor Rick Murphrey affixed his
signature on the dotted line as City
Manager Marilyn Sellers, city engineer
Joel Wood, Water Department Supervi-
sor Dennis Wells and finance officer
Beverly Moschler looked on. The big
moment was marked with a photograph
snapped by Events Coordinator Ellis
Noell.
A committee. appointed .by the
mayor earlier in the year has been look-
ing at ways to finance the biggest water
project in recent history - a new 36 inch
water line from Moss Lake to the west-
ern city limits, water plant rehabilita-
tion and expansion of the water
treatment plant from 8MG to 12 million
gallon capacity for ‘a total of
$28,606,000 and for water line
See CITY; 7A
Memories of 9/11 sacrifice live on
photo by ELLIS NOELL
Marine Pfc. Zachary
Taylor, who just graduated
from Parris Island, SC boot
camp, is ready to serve his
country, he said Tuesday as
he saluted the flag and stood
in dress uniform in front of
a huge Old Glory ata “We
Remember 9/11” service at
city hall.
Eleven years have come
and gone but the memories
of September 11, 2001 live
on, said Mayor Rick Mur-
phrey who addressed the
group.
The symbolic tolling of
the fire bell by fireman Eric
Carroll added to the somber
ceremony.
The mayor talked about
the unprovoked and horrific
cowardly act of tertorism on
Sept. 11, 2001 when death
plunged from the sky in New
York City, Pennsylvania and
‘the Pentagon in Washington,
DC: ;
“This was an act that was
intended to scare and hum-
ble our nation for us to sur-
render our ® freedom but
inspired by the heroism of so
‘many our nation found unity
and strength, said the mayor.
“We will always remember,’
‘ he added.
- Police Chief Melvin
Proctor, as he prayed for the
families who lost loved ones,
reminded that 3,497 families
. were affected 11 years ago
by the tragedy of 9/11, some
1,609. spouses and 3,000
children went home to an
empty house. “The Bible
says there.is no greater love
Marine Pfc. Zachary Taylor, left, Mayor Rick Murphrey, right, and KMPD Chief Melvin Proctor,
at podium, join those attending Patriot's Day Tuesday in prayer led by Proctor.
See MEMORIES, 6A
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