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kmherald.com
Volume 127 eo lssuel ¢ Wednesday, January 7, 2015
75¢
Jumping into
new year with
fitness goals
YMCA Wellness Director Daron Dwyer explains some of his
gym’s features to Mike and Susan Johnson giving a tour to
the couple, who signed up Monday.
DAVE BLANTON
aave.kmherald@gmail.com
The leftover turkey sand-
wiches and Christmas cakes
have been gobbled up, and
lazily sitting around the
fire — or watching college
football games on television
-- with relatives may have
gotten a little old weeks ago. .
It’s that time of the year
that many vow to get fit,
lose a little weight or sim-
ply re-address some health
goals that may have gotten
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
lost in the shuffle during the
back to school frenzy and
the busy holiday season that
followed.
For Mike and Susan
Johnson, the first week of
the 2015 calendar hadn’t yet
rolled by when they found
themselves signing up at the
Kings Mountain YMCA.
For the newly retired Beth-
lehem couple, the move
was about intensifying and
building more structure into
See JUMPING, Page 3
KM mayor's race
and 4 seats up
‘in new year 2015
A city election in 2015
will set the tone for the
new year in Kings Moun-
tain politics.
Just because 2015 is
an. odd-numbered year
«doesn't mean it will lack
“political activity.
Consider:
=. The mayor's seat is up
“in 2015 but Rick Mur-
' phrey is expected to offer
for his eighth term as
Kings Mountain mayor.
‘He joined the city staff 21
| years ago and was on Citys
council for six years be-
fore being elected mayor
and has served 15 years in
the top city spot.
Four city council seats
are also up in 2015. They
include Ward I, Ward IV,
Ward V and one at-large
commissioner seat.
Rev. Howard Shipp,
Ward I; Rodney Gordon,
Ward IV; Rick Moore,
Ward V; and Keith Miller,
At-Large, are all expected
to seek re-election along
with the mayor.
. Filing for city offices
starts in July but you can
bet all the candidates will
be lining up soon.
\
Dicey Mills sold
to Valdese Weavers
“The Paul M. Neisler Sr.
iy of Kings Mountain
ind Michael Shelton, pres-
ident and CEO of Valdese
‘eavers LLC, have an-
98525 mT 1
ok in TE
nounced the sale of Dicey
Mills Inc. by the Neisler
family to Valdese Weav-
ers, the leading designer
and manufacturer of deco-
rative textiles in the United
States for use in residential
and contract markets.
Valdese Weavers oper-
ates four facilities in Burke
County and trades under
See DICEY MILLS, Page 4
Bitter cold hits area
ELIZABETH STEWART -
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Bone-chilling
peratures will greet Kings
Mountain people today with
weathercasters predicting a
low of 11-13 degrees and not
~ much of a warm-up entering
the weekend. .
A huge swath of the coun-
try is experiencing the win-
tery blast but the story with
this system is eold, not snow.
Kings Mountain Mayor
Rick Murphrey says the city
is prepared for King Winter
with a new salt brine system
and a new storage building
for salt located at the back of
the Kings Mcuntain Public
Works Building on N. Pied-
mont Avenue. Public Works
Supt. Rickey Putnam and
David Smith took the mayor
on a tour of the new facility
Monday and explained how
the new system will work
if and when snow and ice
should arrive this winter.
tem-
David Smith, left; Public Works Supt., Rickey Putnam and Mayor Rick Murphrey look over
the city’s new salt brine system which will be put into service on city streets this winter.
“We’re ready. for the win-
ter,” says the mayor.
Putnam says the new
building built by city staff
and the salt brine system
purchased recently from
stormwater fees charged cit-
izens is safe, more environ-
Photo by ELLIS NOELL
mentally friendly, requires
less clean up and there’s less
See BITTER COLD, Page 4
KM native beset
with health struggles
Misty Whetstine-Polk and husband Michael have endured
a bout of health emergencies in the past several months.
Michael suffered a medical problem akin to a severe stroke
and has been left partially disabled. Misty underwent a col-
ectomy. The couple also have a newborn baby.
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
If you talk to Misty
Whetstine-Polk on the
phone these days you can
hear the fatigue in her voice.
But you can also hear the
hope.
The Kings Mountain na-
tive is sounding an extraor-
dinarily upbeat tone after a
2014 that brought a number
of health calamities and
other surprises to her young
family, which now lives in
Memphis, Tenn.
Her husband Michael
suffered a bronchial spasm
_ in June that nearly killed the
father of her two children.
In fact, according to Whet-
stine-Polk, Michael did die
in the ambulance en route to
the hospital. While doctors
worked to treat him in the
hospital minutes later, they
“lost” him again.
The doctors advice to her
that day? There’s no hope —
‘he will live, but only in a
comatose state.
Michael Polk spent-the
next several months surpris-
ing the doctors and nurses
who have tried in yain to
understand his improbable
recovery. By Halloween,
he was living at home again
and learning to walk again,
struggling to re-learn motor
skills after the stroke-like
“See KM NATIVE, Page 4
Jobs, expansions
of city leaders for 2015
but running a second in
goal-setting is the upgrading
and expanding of the city's
customer base to keep tax
and utility rates low. .
City Manager Marilyn
Sellers says the city will
continue to work with the
county Economic Develop-
ment Commission and N. C.
Department of Commerce
to bring new industry and
provide job opportunities
for Kings Mountain area
people.
Mayor Rick Murphrey
says that several major
Top 2015 city goals
Jobs are the priority
projects are in the works.
Among them:
The senior center expan-
sion is expected to be com-
pleted in the second quarter
of this new year. The ex-
pansion includes the build-
ing of a new multipurpose
room, craft room and exer-
cise room which will double
in size. A covered entrance
and reception area at the
rear of the building will be
a big asset to those taking
part in the activities of the
senior center. A walkway
will be extended completely
See JOBS, Page 3
KM man killed on
74 after leaving car
A man involved in an
argument with his girlfriend
was killed late Saturday
night after stepping out of
the car he had been driving
and getting struck almost
immediately by another ve-
hicle, according to Kings
Mountain Police.
The incident happened
a few minutes before mid-
night Saturday night in the
Gaston County portion of
Kings Mountain off U.S. 74
Bypass.
“Police identified the man
who died as Victor Lee
Sessoms, 47, of 201 Stowe
Acres, Kings Mountain.
Sessoms and his girl-
* friend, Crystal White-Bras-
well, 'had been physically
See KM MAN, Page 4
.Accu Weather
Wed., Jan. 7 | Thurs., Jan. 8 | Fri., Jan. 8 | Sat., Jan 10
Cold & Sunny, Sunny
Windy, .Colder Cold
Low13 | -Low20
High 40 High 31
Sunny, Sunny,
Not as cold Chilly
Low 22 Low 25
High 44 High 44
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To schedule an appointment contact Baker Dental Care today! Call 704-739-4461
703 E. Kings St, Suite 9, Kings Mountain * www BakerDentalCare.com
Open on
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