Page 4A
The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Opinions...
Quote of the week
It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people's business.
Martha
Wright Blan-
ton, 61, who
died suddenly
September
13, 2014,
was Adminis-
trative Assis-
tant to Chief
Melvin Proc-
Lib Stewart
Managing Editor
tor.
The KMPD Honor Guard
stood in tribute and the entire
Police Department, 50 mem-
bers strong, sat in a place of
honor at the standing-room-
only funeral Sept. 16, 2014 at
Oak Grove Baptist Church.
Family and friends walked from
the church to the cemetery on a
pathway lined on each side by
Kings Mountain's finest stand-
ing tall and proudly displaying
their devotion to one of their
own.
Atop the church piano,
which sat empty for the first
time in over 30 years, was a
solitary rose in memory of the
pianist.
Marty Wright was hired by
Chief Jackie Dean Barrett 36
years ago and also served as
secretary to Chiefs Warren Go-
forth, Bob Hayes, Richard
Reynolds, Houston Corn and
Melvin Proctor.
No one was more pleased
than Marty when the old city
hall was torn down and the
handsome, new police depart-
ment went up.
Marty's first job was in the
old city hall and she remarked
on more than one occasion
when we picked up police re-
ports that she was glad she did-
n't have to climb stairs from
the basement. Her sense of
humor and her personality, to-
gether with strong work ethics,
was a perfect fit for her job.
"Marty had been my Admin-
istrative Assistant for the past
12 years and 8 months.
Through those years we be-
came closest of friends along
with her family. Marty had
been my friend now for almost
28 years. Through those years
we laughed together, cried to-
gether, shared together and
built our relationship with our
Lord together. | can still remem-
ber the day | was hired, and
Marty already knew about me
and my Church life. Her com-
ments were so supportive that |
was coming to work here at the
Police Department," said Chief
Proctor.
He continued, “Marty was
so efficient at her work. | could
tell her how | wanted some-
thing done and she would
make it look fabulous on paper.
Marty was like a mother to us
all. She wanted to make sure
we were dressed properly and
actually showed many of the
officers how to wear their uni-
forms.
On many an occasion she
would make her delicious
sausage
balls. As the
smell went
through the
building,
everyone
would come
looking in-
cluding my-
self. A real
treat was when she would get
her mother to make sticky buns.
Man those were so good. She
would be so excited when she
brought a pan of those in.
"When my wife was diag-
nosed with cancer, I'll never
forget how Marty looked after
me, listening to my fears and
frustrations, of having to watch
my wife go through that, with-
out me being able to fix it for
her. | felt helpless, but Marty
kept me on track, and kept re-
minding me to pray. When the
Marty Blanton
Yours,
Ours,
Others
~ Dolley Madison
Kings Mountain Police mourn the death of one of their own
times got tough, Marty was
there, giving me whatever sup-
port | needed.
"Through her 36 year career
with the Police Department,
Marty was the cornerstone, not
only for here, but throughout
the city. She had watched us
grow over the years, and knew
so much about how things had
been done over the years, that
she always had ideas when
some project came forth.
"August 25th ended Marty's
36th year and she had begun
her 37th year. Words cannot
begin to express the loss that
we all have nor can words do
justice here. Marty was Fabu-
lous! We're really going to miss
her!"
No higher compliment can
be given a mother than the trib-
ute paid by her son. In a stirring
and compassionate message,
the Rev. Steven Blanton com-
pared her life to another
Martha, the sister of Mary and
Lazarus who were close friends
of Jesus the Messiah. Each
Martha's attention to detail,
comfort of others, providing for
each person's needs, and care
for “the little things in life”
were virtues that he extolled.
The parallels were fitting and
emotional, bringing laughter,
tears, and lumps in the throats
of those assembled to pay their
respects.
God does not promise us to-
morrow. Marty will be missed
by her close-knit family, her
church and community, the po-
lice department and all those
lives she touched.
Kings Mountain is a better
place because Martha Wright
(Mrs. Jerry) Blanton passed our
way.
Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor,
Casino “Facts”... Where Are They?
Last week's Herald featured
an article by former county
manager David Dear continu-
ing his campaign for the pro-
posed Catawba casino. |
respect Mr. Dear and the fine
work he and his colleagues
have done for our county over
the years. | have no doubts of
the sincerity of his concern for
the unemployed in our area.
Mr. Dear refers to a “small
but vocal group” who believe
that the proposed casino will
negatively impact the area. If
appearance at public meetings
is any indication, It would ap-
pear that the numbers on this
“small but vocal group” are
greater than the numbers of
those who are fully convinced
that this project is a benefit to
the county. They also bring to
the public square, in meeting
after meeting, not just opinions
but documented evidence of
the damage that such casinos
has brought to other cities. This
“small but vocal group” seems
to be the only ones who are
doing serious examination of
this issue.
Dear summed up: “the facts
speak for themselves and the
positives outweigh the nega-
tives.” But a close read of his ar-
ticle does not reveal any
established “fact,” just specula-
tions, repetitions of the casino’s
media packets. We're given no
independent survey that was
done by the county to evaluate
the casino management's state-
ments; no study of how similar
third-party run casinos have im-
pacted other cities; no address
of the legal quagmire of taking
a portion of land out of the do-
main of North Carolina and re-
linquishing it to an Indian tribe
that operates under authority of
South Carolina. “Statements”
a’plenty... but no “facts”.
By all means, give us facts!
Explain to us why the Catawba
casino is claiming to employ
4000 people when the casino
at Cherokee (when it was the
YT ELS Ta TE
Folks around Kings Mountain were asked...
With Wal-Mart opening in December and a casino
possibly coming to Kings Mountain in the near future,
do you think Kings Mountain is growing too fast?
No, I think it's long overdue. With
the growth, it brings jobs.
When big companies come into
small cities it's a win-fail. They're ulti-
| guess I'm kind of neutral about
(the growth). | don't know why people
No opinion on Wal-Mart. But I'm
not sure the casino would necessarily
same size as the proposed
Catawba’s) employed only
2000 people; explain to us why,
if the Catawba casino is such a
lucrative boon to local econ-
omy, it was turned down twice
by South Carolina; give us facts
that contradict the proclama-
tion of the National Association
of Realtors’ conclusion that the
impact of such casinos on local
property values is “unambigu-
ously” negative.
Give us facts to contradict
the numerous studies that show,
as CNN contributor David
Frum wrote recently, that “Casi-
nos do not revive local
economies. They act as para-
sites upon them. Communities
located within 10 miles of a
casino exhibit double the rate
of problem gambling. Unsur-
prisingly, such communities
also suffer higher rates of home
foreclosure and other forms of
economic distress and domestic
violence.” By all means, give
me something to say to the de-
veloper in Charlotte that told
me “we had plans to bring a
restaurant to Kings Mountain,
but now they are on hold until
we're sure the casino is not
coming.”
Above all, give us a good
sensible fact that explains how
the economy in our county is
best helped by welcoming an
industry whose success de-
pends on people losing money.
REG ALEXANDER
Director, SLG
Regal Ventures Creative Ministries
To the Editor,
Having never met David
Dear | cannot attest to nor can |
deny his sincerity in his belief
that a casino would be good for
Cleveland County.
| can state unequivocally that
what was in his article of
Wednesday, September 17th
Kings Mountain Herald was lit-
tle more than his opinion and
the facts that he mentioned
more than once were also opin-
ion.
The question is to those who
might read his article should be
what are his qualifications to
offer those opinions? Are they
his 37 years in local government
business, or are they from his
claimed research of the positive
and negative impacts of gam-
bling on our community?
From my point of view nei-
ther of those make David Dear
an expert on casino gambling.
Even if his entire 37 years in
local government was strictly re-
lated to economic development
also does not point out the refer-
ences for the negative impact
studies he has done. The group
opposing a casino has pages
and pages of negative studies by
non-partisan groups and has the
references to those studies. The
County and City initial admitted
they only looked at the studies
commissioned by the Catawba
Indians. Some have since said
they have studied more but they
too have failed to point out ref-
erences to those studies.
Les Bernal has 10 years or
more studying the impacts of
government sponsored or gov-
ernment condoned gambling
and almost all of it is negative.
Don't you think Les Bernal
might be more of an expert on
the subject since his time has
been totally in that field?
David Dear subtly works into
his article that the opposition is
a small vocal group. Funny that
group has enough signatures on
petitions to win any election in
Kings Mountain and stir things
in the County.
Shaquia Jimson mately about profit. would protest the casino when we al- have a positive impact. i =
Luis Leescano ready have a lottery. Courtney Madden he would not have gained ex See LTE, 8A
Vincent Carnevale pertise in that field. David Dear
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