kmherald.net
Council seats
up for grabs
pg ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
It’s a race for all three city council
seats up for grabs in November as a
Kings Mountain woman threw her hat
into the political ring to contest Ward 2
incumbent Mike Butler.
Previously filing for city council
were Butler, Jerry Mullinax, who seeks
to unseat incumbent Tommy Hawkins
in Ward 3, and Curtis Pressley who is
opposing incumbent councilman Dean
Spears for the At-large seat.
Patty Hall, 54, 111 Stowe Acres,
who filed last week for the Ward 2
seat, has worked in city government
for 26 years, beginning with the City
of Bessemer City for six years as a lab-
oratory tech operator in the water de-
partment. She joined the City of
Cherryville 20 years ago and heads the
Water Department/ Treatment Plant
where she supervises five employees
and recently won awards from the state |
and the Environmental Protection
Agency.
“I want to give back to this commu-
nity and feel that my experience in
running a water department will be
valuable as Kings Mountain moves to
run water lines and make improve-
ments in water/sewer,” said Mrs. Hall.
Her husband, Stanley Hall, retired
from Chemtura after 34 years and has
worked at the City of Lincolnton
Wastewater Plant for three years.
Daughter of the late Nora Elizabeth
Croft and John Bennett Powell, Mrs.
Hall’s mother was reared in Kings
Mountain. Mrs. Hall was born and
raised in Morganton but moved to
Kings Mountain 36 years ago. Sheisa |
graduate of Freedom High School in = |
Morganton and is earning a two-year
degree in Environmental Science. She
served two years on the board of ex-
aminers in the Division of Water Re-
sources which tests water and holds a
grade A Surface Center certification in
water and a grade 2 in wastewater
treatment and is state certified in lab
testing. Her 2012 award from the state
was from the Area-wide Optimization
program. Mrs. Hall presents the water
department budget to Cherryville city
council annually and says she and her
employees in the water plant are very
conscious of public health. The Halls
attend Cornerstone Church of God on
Margrace Road in Kings Mountain.
]
Patty Hall
Mike Butler
Jerry Mullinax
Dean Spears
Two file for Grover
city council seats
.
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photos on page 1B of today’s edition.
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Cu
Even Mayor Rick Murphrey got in on the watermelon eating contest at last Saturday’s BeachBlast! See more BeachBlast
photo by Ellen Devenny/COKM
BeachBlast beat the heat!
Thirty-seven youngsters
in the Teeny Weenie Bikini
contest were crowd-pleasers
at Saturday’s BeachBlast at
Patriots Park which attracted
hundreds of people who ob-
viously enjoyed the “Grand
Strand,” shagging to beach
music, the Beach Ball Drop,
and all-round family fun dur-
ing the 12 hour festivities.
The weatherman was
smiling on the event spon-
sored by the City of Kings
Mountain and kids took to
the Rotary splash pad as
soon as the event opened and
stayed in the cool water most
of the day.
Events on the bandstand
of the Gazebo attracted
crowds as visitors brought
their chairs, watched shag
Real to Reel
Cleveland County Arts Council’s
14th annual Real to Reel International
Film Festival will start rolling tonight
(Wednesday) at the Joy Performance
Center with the showing of the first of
34 films from short length to animation
clips, documentaries, and feature-length
shows which will light up the silver
© screen through Saturday.
The festival showcases the works of
filmmakers in a variety of genres and is
co-sponsored by the Kings Mountain
Little Theatre and Historic Kings Moun-
tain Tourism Development Authority.
Filmmakers from as far away as
Spain, Germany and New Zealand and
as close as Concord will be showing
their films during the four-day competi-
tive festival. Show time is 7 p.m. each
evening and includes a 1 p.m. matinee
on Saturday.
Returning this year is the silent auc-
tion, which runs throughout the festival.
Items such as scripts from movies, trips
to famous movie locations, and unique
movie memorabilia will go to the high-
est bidders at the end of the festival.
There will also be question/answer ses-
sions with all visiting filmmakers and
special giveaways throughout the festi-
val. A wrap up party following the Sat-
urday night shows will feature
presentation of $1750 in cash awards to
the winners in both the professional and
amateur categories.
The competition is keen. The 34
films were chosen from many that were
See BEACH BLAST, 7A
entered in the festival. Theatre-goers
will view a number from North Car-
olina.
Some of the films are of a mature
theme. A schedule in this week’s Herald
gives the showtime for each film as well
as how the film is rated PG, G, or PG-
13. Another story in today’s Herald also
gives a synopsis of each film for the
four-day festival.
At least five filmmakers are expected
to be present for evening showing of
their films or for the grand finale on Sat-
urday. They include Bob Pondillo of
Tennessee, “New True Charlie Wu”
which shows Wednesday night; Kevin
opens tonight
Balling of North Carolina, “Bathanti”
which shows Thursday night; Melanie
Wainber of Florida whose “Dr. Gut-
man’s Eulogy” shows on Friday night;
and Larry Evans of Raleigh, “Chair-
works” and Margaret Williams of New
York whose 90 minute feature “Wet Be-
hind the Ears” shows Saturday night.
Tickets are $8 per session, in ad-
vance, or a festival pass for $30 pur-
chased at the Arts Center, 111 8S.
Washington St., Shelby, or online at
www.realtoreelfest.com. Tickets at the
door are $10 per session or a festival
pass for $35. Children ages 12 and under
are admitted free.
‘The New Charlie Wu’
Polling change for KM
wr ELIZABETH STEWART
of Elections, met Tuesday
ELIZABETH STEWART s ¢ cB
lib.kmherald@gmail.com change
come to
As candidate filing ended 0 com-
last Friday two residents of munity,”
Grover filed for two of the ¢ , i 4 [0
three seats on city council up Ross di
for grabs in November. He said}
Jackie Hope Bennett, 73, he wants
323 Briarcliff Road, is run- to see
ning for re-election to her (he com-
seat on the board, and new- munity
comer to politics Rodney come to-
Ross, 46, 107 Walnut Ave., gether
has filed for one of the open “tighter”
seats for a four-year term. ;, this
Neither incumbent Cindy con -
O’Brian, who is serving as omy and
mayor pro tem, and Shane
Davis, filed with the elec-
tions board but may mount
write-in campaigns.
“I want to run for office
for my children and I want to
Lil
98525 Il
get back
to help-
ing peo-
ple when they are in a
crunch. He wants a safer
neighborhood for all families
and he wants to help make a
change not only for his chil-
dren, but for all families in
the community. He is inter-
ested in growth and wants to
be the new face on city coun-
cil in November.
See GROVER, 7A
Rodney Ross
to premier at festival |p
Like Charlie in “New
Charlie Wu”, the 30-minute
film he wrote and directed
for tonight’s opening of the
International Film Festival at
the Joy Theatre, Dr. Bob
Pondillo was once locked in
a job he hated.
Dr. Pondillo, Professor of
Mass History and American
Culture at Middle Tennessee
State University, wants the
audience to leave the theatre
tonight (Wednesday) with a
sense of joy and hope and he
chose a multi-cultural, multi-
ethnic cast for that reason in
the musical fantasy in which
he collaborated with
Nashville songwriter Casey
Kelley. He had never written
a musical and he wanted to
have fun with the film.
Says Pondillo, “I hope
the audience will see the uni-
versality of a basic human
drive — the desire for authen-
ticity in one’s life and how
one’s work gives one mean-
ing, purpose, and identity
and that they see a little bit
of themselves in the film, it
may prompt them to have
their own Charlie Wu mo-
ment.”
See DIRECTOR, 7A
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Kings Mountain citizens
who have been voting in re-
cent elections at the North
Precinct (the KM Family
YMCA on Cleveland Av-
enue) may cast their ballots at
a new location this Novem-
ber - the H. Lawrence
Patrick Senior Life & Con-
ference Center on East King
Street.
Members of the Cleve-
land County Elections Board
discussed some prospective
changes in polling locations
at the recent meeting in
Shelby.
Debra Blanton, Director
with the Advisory Board of
the‘Senior Center to discuss
the proposed change in
polling locations. The Advi-
sory Board is expected to
confirm the location change.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
said the election board is rec-
ommending the change to
make voting more convenient
for senior citizens and also to
give all voters in the North
Precinct more parking
spaces.
“The YMCA has been
gracious to us to use the facil-
ity at the back of the building
for voting purposes but the
senior center will be nice]
too, and convenient,” he said.
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