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School leaders
talk up big issues,
ask for input
~ Cleveland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephen
Fisher presents the State of District — Kings Mountain Zone
at Barnes Auditorium Monday night.
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
When school adminis-
trators addressed the pub-
lic Monday night at Kings
Mountain High School, the
big themes were increasing
district’s already healthy
graduation rate, bolstering
the literacy rate at the ele-
mentary level and support-
ing high levels of parental
and community involve-
ment.
“I believe in Cleveland
County Schools,” said
Cleveland County Schools
Superintendent Dr. Stephen
Fisher. “I believe we’re
doing the right thing to
make student education here
‘the best in the state.”
Fisher said the path to
success is composed of
“good communication,”
“collaboration” and “good
decision making.”
“Student learning must
be priority number one,”
Fisher said, referring to
specific goals of Cleveland
County Schools, which is
home to about 15,000 stu-
dents and more than 2,200
employees.
A little more than 100
people — among them
school board members,
teachers and school admin-
istrators — were in atten-
dance for the presentation
held at the school’s B.N.
Barnes Auditorium. Follow-
ing the address, members of
the community were invited
to talk with school adminis-
trators in the auditorium’s
lobby.
Fisher also took the
opportunity to key those
present into his goal of
becoming one of the best
ten districts in North Car-
olina. He said by the spring
. See SCHOOL, Page 4
Medicine Drop
Kings Mountain Police
will conduct Operation
Medicine Drop Thursday,
March 19 at Patrick Senior
Center and Saturday, March
21at the Kings Mountain
Police Department.
Det. Sgt. Lisa Proctor
said citizens wanting to dis-
pose of unused prescription
98525700200" 1
or over-the-counter med-
icines may drop them off
from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Thursday at the Patrick
Center and from 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 at the Police De-
partment. Drive up to both
facilities and an officer will
pick up the medicines.
“You don't have to get
out of your vehicle at all,"
said Proctor.
Operation Medicine
Drop is conducted annually
as community outreach and
also allows citizens to meet
some of the local officers
face to-face," said Proctor.
kmherald.com
4903 04-17-15 0024400 5p
MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY >
100 S PIEDMONT AVE
KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
~~ 30East
Students
Volume 127 eo Issue 11 ¢ Wednesday, March 18, 2015
15¢
NTE Energy eyeing May groundbreaking
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
Groundbreaking for the
Kings Mountain Energy
Center will probably be
in May, the city's Energy
Services Director Nick
Hendricks told city coun-
cil during a project update
Monday night.
By unanimous action
City Council authorized
Mayor Rick Murphrey to
execute a natural gas In-
terconnections agreement
between the city and NTE
Energy, motions by Rick
Moore and Keith Miller and
to execute a water/waste
water funding agreement
between the city and NTE,
motions by Howard Shipp
and Mike Butler.
The board also approved
a new large water user rate
and tariff for customers
using one million gallons of
water (currently no industry
uses 1 million gallons) but
with the future development
by the 480 MW natural gas
electric gener-
ating facility,
NTE will be
the city's largest
water customer.
Water Supt.
Dennis Wells
called the new
rate “a wise de-
cision because
it defines ev-
erything to po-
tential customers.”
Hendricks said the city's
Energy Services/ IT Depart-
ments are looking to partner
with NTE on a Joint Opera-
tions Center, giving the city
a presence at the site as well
as a high profile presence
for travelers on Interstate
85. The new facility would
be energy efficient and state
of the art, he said, and will
BEST OF THE BEST
NTE Energy is required by the state to
conduct numerous tests before they start build-
ing the Kings Mountain Energy Center. Testing
the water quality is one of those tests. “Yours is
the best we've seen," company officials wrote
Mayor Rick Murphrey. “The water quality is
excellent and I am pleasantly surprised,” the
official of NTE Energy said.
allow much needed space
to become available at the
city's Citizen Service Center
( Public Works) relieving
the general fund and water
fund from future expansion
expenses.
“I am really excited,"
said Hendricks, who said a
potential win/win scenario
for the city and NTE would
be the development of an
Industrial Park adja-
cent to the NTE site
off Dixon School
Road at I-85 south of
the city.
Hendricks said
the park would be
served with all city
utilities including
fiber. The potential
for an industrial pres-
ence directly off I-85
would make this park an
excellent location for many
industries.
See NTE ENERGY, Page 8
WTVD’s focus on KM history
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
A film crew descended
on the town Monday, cap-
turing shots of the Kings
Mountain Historical Mu-
seum’s campus and con-
ducting interviews with its
director Adria Focht, play-
wright Bob Inman, Mayor
Rick Murphrey and others
in town.
The reason for the visit?
WTVI, Charlotte’s N.C.
public television station, is
creating a short promotional
video about the museum that
will air during the station’s
airing of ‘Carolina Impact.’
It will vie with spots about
two other non-profit organi-
zations for a chance to win
$10,000. The video profile
will provide exposure on to
audiences across WTVI's
13-county viewing region.
Kings Mountain resi-
dents can help KMHM’s
video win the competition
by casting a vote at www.
PBSCharlotte.org from
April 21 through May 5.
The spot will air at 7 p.m.
April 21, but will be view-
WTvI videographer John Branscum shoots footage for a promotional video about the Kings
Mountain Historical Museum on its campus Monday. Pictured in the scene are, left to right,
Mauney Memorial Library staffers Terry Bivens and Christy Conner with museum volunteers
Janet Dwyer and Lynn Eskridge.
able online following that.
According to Focht, the
museum she heads is one
of three finalists along with
the Catawba Riverkeeper
Foundation and the Alle-
gro Foundation in WTVI’s
Community Give Back non-
profit spotlight contest.
If chosen by the viewers,
the museum could receive
$10,000 in free underwriting
on PBS Charlotte as part of
See WTVI's FOCUS, Page 4
238 Cherokee owner in France for cooling school
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
As you read this, one
of Kings Mountain’s best-
known restaurateurs is up-
ping his game at an elite
cooking course held in the
French Mediterranean port
city of Nice.
Robert Bolin, who owns
the popular and upscale 238
Cherokee Grill on Battle-
ground Ave., arrived in the
European country early Sat-
urday morning, primed and
ready to bolster his foodie
education.
In a week long series of
high intensity courses he’ll
learn about making sauces,
preparing fresh-caught fish
from the Mediterranean
Sea and other tricks of the
trade in the tradition of chef
Georges Auguste Escoffier,
the famed tastemaster who
was considered France’s
greatest chef until his death
in 1935.
On the eve of his depar-
See 238 CHEROKEE, Page 4
Robert Bolin stands outside 238 Cherokee Grill last week
before making a trip to Europe to extend his cooking and
restaurant business education.
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