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Volume 127 eo Issued Wednesday, January 28, 2015
In Gaston County
Feds Bust big
video poker den
An illegal video poker
house in Gaston County has
been shut down with federal
investigators saying the oper-
ation pulled in about $10,000
a day from 2012-2014.
Documents released last
week say Clarence Larry Cal-
houn, 1840 S. Battleground
Ave., faces illegal gam-
bling and money-laundering
charges in connection with
“Mr. Lenny’s Place,” which
held more than 60 machines.
Calhoun faces up to 25
years in prison and could
have to pay millions of dol-
lars in fines.
According to a filing
from Assistant U.S. Attorney
Kevin Zolot, the government
alleges that the establishment
earned and concealed more
than $4 million during the
two-year time frame.
The documents issued by
federal officials claim that
Calhoun and an unnamed
partner opened their video
poker house in 2012, then
moved it in February 2014
into a large warehouse “on a
major thoroughfare” in Gas-
ton County.
The dozens of machines
located there ran nonstop,
with the two men employ-
ing a staff of eight, including
guards who would meet cus-
tomers at the door, provid-
ing them with free food and
beverages while they gam-
bled — or while they waited to
gamble.
Under the terms of the
agreement with federal pros-
ecutors Calhoun will be re-
quired to forfeit “all property
See FEDS BUST, Page 10
City eyeing new
contract with YMCA
City Council was con-
sidering a new 20-year
contract with the Kings
Mountain Family YMCA
for recreation at the Tues-
day night meeting at City
Hall.
If approved, the city
and Y would embark on
major, joint fundraisers
to improve the existing
building, expand existing
programs and add addi-
tional equipment to pro-
vide increased recreational
programming for Kings
Mountain area citizens.
The City of Kings
Mountain has contracted
for the past 15 years to pro-
vide recreation and Mayor
Rick Murphrey says “the
partnership has been ben-
eficial, providing more
programs and saving our
city money while expand-
ing recreational opportuni-
ties.”
DOT closes
local bridge
As part of a continuing effort to improve and update the
state’s infrastructure system, the N. C . Department of Trans-
portation closed a Cleveland County bridge near U.S. 74 Mon-
day, Jan. 26, for maintenance.
The bridge on Bethlehem Road over Beason Creek, just
west of Kings Mountain, will be closed until late February.
A signed detour will direct southbound motorists to take Bar-
rett Road to Range Road, then to Bethlehem Church Road to
return to Bethlehem Road. Northbound motorists will reverse
the detour.
For more details about North Carolina's bridges, visit NC-
DOT's bridge information website.
|
9852570020
|
For real-time travel infor-:
mation at any time, visit the
Travel section of the NCDOT
website, call 511, or follow
NCDOT on Twitter. Another
option is NCDOT Mobile, a
phone-friendly version of the
NCDOT website.
Great Expectations after ma
King St.
Taking advantage of
a break from the freezing
weather the area has seen
lately, Jim Falls took his
hot air balloon for a ride
Thursday afternoon.
He and three others en-
joyed a cloud cruise that
began near the intersec-
tion of I-85 and York Rd.
and came to a stop a few
miles away in an indus-
trial park on the far east
side of town.
The trip was also a kind
of classroom in the sky.
For Richard Duren, it
was his first turn as a stu-
dent pilot, as he was learn-
king a soft landing near E.
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
On a clear day
you can see forever
ing more about controlling
the aircraft and packing it
away after landing.
“This is my fifth or
sixth time up, but my
first time as a true student
pilot,” Duren said.
Falls, his instructor and
the pilot-owner of “Great
Expectations,” has been
flying hot-air balloons for
26 years.
“We were in the air
about an hour today,”
Falls said of the trip,
which saw the small crew
climb to a top altitude of
2,300 feet amid “very
light wind.”
Judy Ware Ford likes
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
When Judy Ware Ford
retired from teaching sec-
ond grade at West School
several years ago she didn't
quit doing what she loved.
“I love children and I
love to see the smiles on
their faces when they fin-
ish something they like
to do," said Ford whose
creativity and knack for
involving children in
creative projects is well
known at Mauney Memo-
rial Library and by hikers
who frequent the Gateway
Trails.
Ford got the idea for a
working with children
Baran,
Judy Ford holds a young-
ster at the Gateway Trail
where the Storywalk she
leads has become very
popular with young people.
summer science camp for
students at West School
and pitched the idea at
Kings Mountain Family
See FORD, Page 10
Carl White
15¢
Clean audit
for city again
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
The City of Kings Moun-
tain has a clean audit for the
17th year with no major
findings for the 2013-14
fiscal year ending June 30.
According to the audit
report from Martin Starnes
& Associates, the assets
of the city exceeded its li-
abilities at close of fiscal
year by $47,274,580 and
combined fund balances
increased $582,197 with
available fund balance for
the general fund at 22.43%
of last year's expenditures.
The Local Government
Commission requires 8%
or roughly one month, the
audit report noting that this
is a bare minimum reserve
requirement. Currently the
city has almost three times
that amount as available
fund balance.
The City of Kings Moun-
tain's total debt increased by
$3,918,883 during the cur-
rent fiscal year. The key
factors in the increase were
the new State Revolving
Fund Bonds and debt issues
to cover the cost of smart
meters.
North Carolina General
Statutes limit the amount of
general obligation debt that
a unit of government can
issue to 8 percent of the total
assessed value of taxable
property located within that
See CLEAN AUDIT, PAGE 10
A new look
at grading scales
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
The way North Carolina
high schools assign A’s and
B’s will change with the
freshman class at the be-
ginning of the 2015 school
year.
The North Carolina
Board of Education, meet-
ing in Charlotte last week,
voted to move the state’s
high schools to a 10-point
grading scale from the sev-
en-point scale that has long
been used.
The move has been
advocated by the state’s
largest school districts as a
way to
simplify
the sys-
tem and
level the
playing |
field in
college
applica-
tions.
“It was a push from
folks inside N.C. to get all
students on a 10-point grad-
ing scale,” said Cleveland
County Schools Superin-
tendent Dr. Stephen Fisher.
“It’s in the best interest of
students.”
OE
Dr. Stephen Fisher
See NEW LOOK, Page 10
A place to call home
Diane Wilson is looking
for a place for women with
substance abuse problems to
call home.
“I've been there and now
that I have my non-profit
(5013C) in my hand I am
looking for land to build a
house or a house already
built that I can fix up and
rent with donations I hope
to receive for this project,"
she said this week.
Wilson, of Tate Ter-
race, said she was cured of
substance abuse in 1997.
A retired certified nursing
assistant, she can officially
Diane Wilson
start fund-raising now since
she has a non-profit desig-
nation.
See A PLACE, Page 10
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