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kmherald.net
Volume 126 ¢ Issue 11 ¢ Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Kings Mountam Herald
15¢
Who will
School board gets input on new leader search
DAVE BLANTON
i dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Don’t spend a lot of
money on an outside party
to conduct the search. Hire
someone who embraces di-
versity. Choose a relatively
young candidate. Ensure
that the person you hire is
someone who will focus
solely on the job, not on out-
side interests. Don’t pick a
local.
The Cleveland County
Board of Education got an
earful Monday after opening
the floor to members of the
public as part of its quest to
Lovelace named
KM Business
Person of the Year
= ELIZABETH STEWART
© lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Brenda Neal Lovelace,
Senior Vice-President at
Bank of the Ozarks in Kings
Mountain, is Kings Moun-
tain’s 2014 Business Person
of the Year.
Mrs. Lovelace was hon-
ored by the Cleveland
County Chamber with the
prestigious award Tuesday
night as a highlight of the
16th annual Chamber’s
Business Showcase at Kings
Mountain City Hall.
“For many years Brenda
Lovelace has contributed to
our community well by serv-
ing on many different boards
and committees while main-
taining a very important job
at the same time,” said
Shirley Brutko, manager of
the Kings Mountain Office
of the Cleveland County
Chamber of Commerce.
Lovelace, wife of Ed-
ward Lovelace of Kings
Mountain, began her career
in banking 47 years ago this
August at Kings Mountain
Brenda Lovelace
Savings & Loan Association
as a teller. She continued in
the same location with First
Carolina Savings, then First
National Bank, and
presently with Bank of the
Ozarks.
Daughter of the late
Laura Holland Neal and
Charles Eugene Neal Sr., she
graduated from Bessemer
City High School and at-
tended Gaston College.
Brenda and Edward
Lovelace have been married
See LOVELACE, 7A
KM man pleads
guilty to child porn
A Kings Mountain man
has pled guilty to two counts
of child pornography and is
awaiting sentencing in
Mecklenberg County Jail.
Charles Kevin Bridges,
54, accepted a plea agree-
ment Wednesday that
dropped several other
charges related to his case,
which involved the posses-
sion of images of minor
children participating in sex
acts with other children and °
adults. He was arrested in
February of last year.
Bridges pled guilty to re-
ceipt and possession of child
pornography, felonies that
require a federally mandated
minimum sentence of five
years. The prosecutor in the
case, U.S. District Attorney
8 "798525 ll 1
Anne M. Tompkins, how-
ever, has argued for a
lengthier sentence of 12-15
years.
Bridges will be formally
sentenced in 60 to 90 days,
according to his attorney, H.
Monroe |
danger
to the’
community ... and he has a
good family,” Whitesides
said. “These mitigating fac-
tors might allow a judge to
give him the minimum (sen-
tence).”
Prior to accepting a plea
arrangement with federal
prosecutors, Bridges has
maintained his innocence in
the case, saying that the il-
licit material that investiga-
tors discovered on his
See BRIDGES, 6A
Bridges
choose a new superintend-
ent.
“I think you should look
at the top 10 districts in
North Carolina — and maybe
in the United States — and
actively recruit those super-
intendents,” said Robert
Williams. “The status quo
pre
City approved for nearly
has not worked.”
Other members of the
public echoed that senti-
ment, urging the members of
the board to simply seek out
the best talent — whether
from the next county over or
in another part of the coun-
try altogether — and aggres-
sively recruit the
administrator who will re-
place outgoing superintend-
ent Dr. Bruce Boyles, whose
retirement is effective June
30.
For Yvette Grant, the
most important trait of the
school system’s next leader
is that they have a strong
background in teaching.
Grant’s other major priori-
ties were that the individual
be a relatively younger per-
son than those who have
be our next superintendent?
won the job in the past, that
the next superintendent be a
woman and someone who
has a “strong commitment to
God, to humanity.”
“Women bring different
perspectives to the table,”
she said.
Most of the six who took
to the podium at the monthly
board of education meeting
See SCHOOLS, 7A
‘Godspell’ now playing at the Joy
LAST SHOWS FRIDAY, SATURDAY - Trey Ross, Dori Medlin, Josh Carper, Cody Jones ( as Jesus) and Loren Ware
Radford, left to right, are among the 10 talented cast members in the Kings Mountain Little Theatre's presentation
of the musical “Godspell” Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Joy Theatre. The show is sponsored hy Harris
Funeral Home. Read all about it on page 3A.
EE ———————
$34M for water infrastructure
ws ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @gmail.com
It’s official. The North
Carolina Department of Envi-
ronment and Natural Re-
sources has approved 33.8
million dollar loan to the City
of Kings Mountain for water
infrastructure.
Mayor Rick Murphrey re-
ceived the official notice last
week of the approval of the
20-year no interest loan from
the state revolving fund. The
Local Government Commis-
sion joined NCDENR in ap-
proving the funding.
These are the projects:
. Water plant expansion
and rehabilitation -
$12,483,330. Permit was is-
sued March 26. The new ex-
pansion will permit the city to
up its treatment capacity from
8 to 12 million gallons per
day.
.The new 36 inch water
transmission lane from Moss
Lake to the city will cost
$16,162,670. Main - plans
have been approved and per-
mit issued by NCDENR. All
easements and right of ways
have been secured for the in-
stallation. Construction con-
tracts are expected to be
awarded in April.
.Water line rehabilitation
project - $5,243,500. The
project, under budget by
{fa
TI IK
A State Utility worker, Mayor Rick Murphrey and Water Resources Director Dennis Wells,
left to right, are pictured on Business 74 as workmen install water lines, one of the major
infrastructure projects to be funded by a $33.8 million dollar loan the city has received from
the state.
$800,000, has enabled the
city to add Ridge Street to the
project from N. Battleground
Avenue to Oriental Avenue.
The bid has been awarded to
State Utility Contractors and
residents observe these work-
ers in several areas of the city
which brings up the question
of “when is it to be finished
and when do these orange
traffic markers come down?”
The mayor says that Decem-
ber is the estimated comple-
tion date. The rehab project
also includes West Mountain
to Gaston, Gold Street from
Phifer Rd. to Battleground
Avenue, West King Street to
Railroad Avenue and East
King Street to Oriental Av-
enue.
“These old cast iron pipes
have been in the ground 80-
90 years,” the mayor re-
sponds to residents asking
about the new, blue PVC
pipes that are visible along
King Street and other sites.
The mayor said that No-
vember-December 2014 is
the target date to complete the
water line rehab project. The
Ridge Street portion of the
project is expected to be com-
pleted in early January 2015.
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
Clean-up of King and side
streets at Mountain and Gold
are underway this month,
paving and sidewalks, as well
as some repair work.
Dam spillway repairs at
Moss Lake are not included
in the projects to be covered
by the $33.8 million loan, the
largest in the city’s history.
The mayor said that dam
spillway costs will be paid
with conventional funding.
By end of next year city
officials promise residents
will enjoy major water and
sewer infrastructure improve-
ments.
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