kmherald.net
City ready
to move
on rezoning
After months of meetings with a developer
and° West End property owners the Kings
Mountain Planning & Zoning Board is sending
a recommendation to City Council Monday
night to rezone for office use property of
Faunce Properties at W. King and W. Moun-
tain streets.
The vote by the planning board was split —
4-2 — with Lamar Fletcher making the motion,
seconded by Phil Dee, that the property be re-
zoned as requested with the stipulation that it
would not be used for an “urgent care facility.”
David Faunce agreed to the stipulation,
saying he understood traffic concerns ex-
pressed by West End property owners whose
homes lie in an historical district. Fletcher,
Dee, Bobby Pearson and Ernest Rome voted
in favor of the motion. Voting against were Jim
Potter and Bill McMurrey, both of whom are
West Mountain Street residents.
The new zone would mean that a medical
or non-medical office building could be con-
structed at the site where a day care is now lo-
cated. Faunce has also agreed to put up fencing
and shrubbery on the Mountain Street side of
his property.
The public hearing in the matter, continued
by city council for several months, will be con-
ducted at 6 p.m. in council chambers at city
hall.
Davey gets
21+ years in
abuse case
A Superior Court jury found a Kings
Mountain man guilty Monday of sexually
abusing three children; beginning when the
girls were about 5 years old.
Rex Reed Davey, 42, will spend 21 to 26
years in prison for the first degree sex offense
and three years for 12 counts of indecent lib-
erties.
After his prison sentences Davey will spend
five years on probation, have to comply with
sex offender conditions and register as a sex
offender for 30 years.
Two women, now in their 20s, came for-
ward during the trial, which began last week,
and testified that Davey began abusing them
as children. A third victim, a six year old , also
See DAVEY, 2A
Bridges -
more charges,
lower bond
Superior Court Judge Eric Levinson, at a
bond hearing-Monday in Shelby, lowered a
half-million dollar bond to $100,000 for
Charles Kevin Bridges, 55, 1768 Bethlehem
Road, jailed last Thursday on 14 additional
child porn charges.
The Kings Mountain man was originally
arrested Feb. 14 and charged with six counts
of sexual exploitation of a minor and was out
of jail on $500,000 bond.
Investigators confiscated multiple comput-
ers, iPads and iPhones from the Bridges home
Feb. 14.
Last Thursday Bridges was arrested on 14
additional counts of third and second-degree
child sex exploitation charges.
Bridges was not listed as an inmate at the
Cleveland County Detention Center Monday
See BRIDGES, 2A
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West Elementary parents and students with guidance counselor Beth Lloyd, principal Heather Pagan, and Jason Bridges, F P.E. instructor,
at Parent Bullying Prevention Training.
(Photo by BETH BROCK)
It’s time to stop bullying
Parents, students work together on anit-bullying program
BETH BROCK
beth.kmherald@gmail.com
hae
Parents at a West Elementary School
training session Thursday say school bully-
ing has to stop.
As apart of a Cleveland County Schools
initiative, West Elementary has imple-
mented the “Stop-Walk-Talk” Bully Preven-
tion Program and parents got together at two
sessions Thursday afternoon to discuss how
children can respond to this aggressive be-
havior.
The Cleveland County School Board pol-
icy defines “bullying” as “intentional, ag-
gressive, repeated behavior that involves a
real or perceived power imbalance between
the victim and the perpetrator.”
Bullying can be physical and/or emo-
tional.
Several parents who have formed “Par-
ents Against Bullying” attended the recent
board of education meeting to air their con-
cerns about bullying and child safety in the
schools.
See ANTI-BULLYING, 6A
City to host Smart Grid Showcase Friday
Electric smart meters are utilized in
many utilities across America, but few util-
ities have applied smart meter technology to
water and natural gas along with electriz
under one communications technology.
The City of Kings Mountain recently
awarded a contract to Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) to assist
city staff in delivering a smart grid infra-
structure solution for electric, water, and nat-
ural gas to a selected pilot area. The pilot
area consists of 1,200 meter applications.
“We are the first municipal utility in the
Carolinas to utilize smart meter technology
on natural gas, electric and water meters,”
said Kings Mountain Mayor, Rick Mur-
phrey. “Smart meter technology will help us
continue to maintain some of the lowest util-
ity rates in the Carolinas. We are excited
about our future and what this means to our
customers.”
Kings Mountain will be hosting a Smart
Grid Showcase on Friday, March 22, at the
See SHOWCASE, 6A
Work continues
on Memorial
The City of Kings Mountain is con-
tinuing progress on the completion of
the Patriots Memorial honoring those
soldiers who fell in battle during WWI,
WWII and Korea. : :
“We are working with a number of
veterans who are helping us determine
which soldiers from Kings Mountain
were killed in action during these three
wars. We're now asking the citizens of
Kings Mountain who they recall as
having served and been killed in action
during these wars. Now is the time to
recognize all of these brave Kings
Mountain soldiers who gave their lives
to preserve our freedom,” said Kings
Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey.
The public is asked to share any in-
formation so that the plaques can be en-
graved and placed on the monoliths that
are part of the Patriots Memorial, lo-
cated at Patriots Park m downtown
Kings Mountain. :
Names for WWII will include: John
C. Bridges, James Gideon Darrocott, Jr.
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
Dennis Wells, Water/Sewer Director, Holly Black, Codes Director, Nick Hendricks, Energy
Services Director, Matt Dull, IT Director, and Mayor Rick Murphrey, left to right, look at
smart meters they will show off to representatives of other municipalities Thursday. The
city is the first municipal utility in the Carolinas to begin the pilot program and is testing
the meter in three areas of the city.
There’s still time to see ‘Oklahoma!’
pg ELIZABETH STEWART
. | lib.kmherald@gmail.com
The challenge for Kings
Mountain Little Theatre di-
rector Jim Champion was
finding the vocal talent to
pull off the Broadway musi-
cal “Oklahoma!” at Joy The-
atre in Kings Mountain.
Champion, longtime
KMLT actor, director and
former president, did just
that with the cast he selected.
Ten of the 19 cast members
are newcomers and with
tremendous singing voices
you will appreciate.
Area Little Theatre-goers
are in for a treat. Two nights
- Friday and Saturday at 7:30
p.m. - remain of the show
which played to big crowds
for its first three perform-
ances last weekend.
You will be thrilled with
newcomer Jon Jones’ lyric
baritone voice in the title
Jessica Pickens as Ado Annie and Trey Ross as Will Parker
light up the stage in a scene from Oklahoma. Tickets are still
, Robert Lee Falls, Roy E. Harmon,
Sidney E. Lovelace, Lester P. Moss,
and John C. Stewart.
No information has been received
See MEMORIAL, 6A
song and “Oh What a Beau-
tiful Morning” and of so-
prano Jada McDaniel’s ‘Out
of My Dreams” and “The
Surrey with the Fringe on
Top” featuring Jones, Mc-
availabe for the two remaining shows, Friday and Saturday
at 7:30pm. Photo by BRYAN HALLMAN
“Aunt Eller.” Jessica Pickens
See OKLAHOMA, 6A
Daniel and Julie Marshall, as
the patriarch of the family
’
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