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MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
100 S PIEDMONT AVE
KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
Elite
sharpening
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page 8A
Volume 127 o Issue 19 ¢ Wednesday, May 13, 2015 15¢
Governor's award Utility Poles stir up Casino talk
to Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins, above, holds the coveted Long Leaf Pine
award he received recently from Governor Pat McCrory.
Long Leaf Pine
is top award
to a civilian
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
The highest civilian
honor in the state —the Order
of the Long Leaf Pine, has
been presented to Ronald J.
(Ronnie) Hawkins, Kings
Mountain native, by North
Carolina Governor Pat Mc-
Crory.
It is the crownirig cap
to a career of extraordinary
service and the most presti-
gious award to an individ-
ual with a proven record of
service, including contribu-
tions to the community.
“ I am very humbled,"
said Hawkins.
Hawkins has been a
member of the funeral in-
dustry for 41 years and
those years have all been
at Harris Funeral Home in
Kings Mountain of which
he is general manager.
Hired by the late Sena-
tor J. Ollie Harris, Ronnie
said that two men — Harris
and former Scoutmaster
Otis Falls Jr. - were big in-
fluences in his life and his
choice of a career.
Licensed in Funeral
Service ( Director and em-
balmer) in the two Caroli-
nas, he is a graduate of
See AWARD, Page 7A
Area ministers, others
plea for GOD’s help on
National Day of Prayer
Mrs. Scott Whitney sang “Statue of Liberty” at Kings Moun-
fain’s National Day of Prayer on Thursday. Rev. James
Lochridge, Jr., the pastor at Second Baptist Church, led in
the singing of The National Anthem.
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Elected officials, ele-
mentary teachers, law en-
forcement personnel and
retired members of the U.S.
military joined area minis-
8 798525700200
ters Thursday at City Hall
for the 64th annual obser-
vance of National Day of
Prayer.
“We know that many of
the ills can be overcome
with a trust in God,” said
Advent Lutheran Church
pastor Marty Ramey during
her invocation for the sol-
emn event. “We come to
you first with confession,
knowing that we have fallen
short.”
See PLEA, Page 7A
DAVE BLANTON
. (dave.kmherald@gmail.com
Folks driving along Dixon
School Rd. in the last few
days may have noticed a line
of fresh utility poles that have
sprouted up along a stretch of
the road close to the intersecs
tion of Interstate 85.
That has led many who
live and work in the commu-
nity to speculate that the poles
are related to the proposed
Catawba Indian gaming com-
plex, whose status has been
in apparent limbo for nearly
two years.
“There’s no connection
between the new utility poles
and the casino,” said Kings
Mountain Mayor Rick Mur-
phrey.
The development instead
is part of the new relationship
the city has with NTE, an
electricity provider that the
city has contracted with that
will be breaking ground in
June or July.
“We're bringing them into
the loop with electrical lines,”
Murphrey sajd. “That’s pri-
marily what that’s about. "
Looping NTE into the
“city’s electrical grid is the
first of three phases. After
an electrical connection is
completed, next will come
water and natural gas ties to
the energy provider. The city
last year dropped it’s nearly
100-year relationship with
Duke Energy when it forged
an alliance with NTE.
“Although they will sup-
ply the city with electricity,
they’ll also become one of
our largest customers for
water and gas,” Murphrey
said. »
As far as the casino goes,
Kings Mountain residents
and especially those in the
Dixon School Rd. community
are increasingly seeing the
Catawba’s gaming complex
as an inevitability.
“Ithink it’s 70 percent yes
and 30 percent no,” said Teh-
seen Bajwa, who is the gen-
eral manager for the Kings
Mountain Travel Center, a
truck stop that sits just oppo-
site of the possible casino site
off I-85 on Dixon School Rd.
“Many people would like
A plot of previously bare land on Dixon School Rd. that is the
proposed site of a Natjve American run is seen adorned with
a string of new utility poles earlier this week. But officials
say the infrastructure is related to a new energy provider
in the neighborhood and has no connection to a possible
gaming complex.
the casino to come, that is
easy to say,” Bajwa said, not-
ing still that business owners
in the area have heard no of-
ficial word. “We know that
property values will rise.”
The Catawba Indian Na-
tion submitted an applica-
tion to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs in September of 2013
for what some officials say
would be a $600 million proj-
ect on that parcel of 16 acres
of rural land that lies a few
miles south of downtown
Kings Mountain. Officials in
Washington have provided
no timeline a decision con-
cerning the land-in-trust ap-
plication. ~~
Murphrey said city leaders
have heard no news about the
proposed casino.
“We don’t know any-
thing,” he said. “It’s out of
the city’s hands.”
Big job fair tomorrow
Looking for a new job?
Thursday afternoon may be
the time to strike while the
iron is hot.
More than 30 local em-
ployers will participate in a
big job fair held on the cam-
pus of Cleveland Community
College from 1 to 5 p.m.
Interested applicants —
from entry level to skilled
professionals -- should go to
the Student Activities Center
at the college located at 137
Post Rd. in Shelby. There they
can apply, submit resumes
and have a chance to meet
with representatives from
more than two dozen local
employers, including PPG In-
dustries, Urgent Care Shelby,
Lowes, Fifth Third Bank, the
Kings Mountain Fire Depart-
ment, City of Shelby Fire and
Rescue Department, Daimler
(Freightliner) and Greenheck.
“Employers are here to
meet potential new employ-
ees face to face, explain job
opportunities and seek in-
terested candidates,” Chad
Chastain, CCC Director of
Workforce Development and
Cleveland NC Works. “As
the economy expands and re-
covers, companies are seeing
growth.”
The full list of compa-
nies attending the Cleveland
County Job Fair:
Walmart Distribution
Center, StaffMasters, Hurst
Jaws Of Life, Helping Hands
Nursing Service,
Pioneer Motor Bearings,
Kings Mountain Fire De-
partment, Springfield LLC,
Clearwater Paper, Cleveland
Yutaka Corp., Steag Energy
Services, Shelby Police De-
partment, PPG Industries,
Meritor, Cleveland Commu-
nity College
Cleveland County Veter-
ans Advisory Council, IMA,
KSM Castings NC Inc.,
Cleveland Vocational Indus-
tries Inc.,
MACO Inc., Lowes, Ur-
gent Care Shelby, Absolute
Collision, Kings Plush Inc.,
Personnel Services Unlim-
ited, Carillon Assisted Liv-
ing, Cleveland Community
College, Fifth Third Bank,
American MTS, PNC Bank,
Western & Southern Life,
GCA, Talentforce, Green-
heck, City of Shelby Fire and
Rescue Department, Daimler
(Freightliner) and Small Busi-
ness Center.
Testa Family Hospice House named
Hospice volunteers and
staffers joined area civic
leaders and the Testa fam-
ily at Friday’s unveiling of
the newly named Hospice in
Kings Mountain.
“We’re very grateful for
this wonderful and generous
gift.” That was the message .
from Myra McGinnis, the
chief executive officer of
Hospice Cleveland County,
as she unveiled a new sign
that showed off the new
name of the Kings Mountain
Hospice House.
The palliative care fa-
cility is now known as the
“Testa Family Hospice
House” following a dona-
tion from local businessman
Jim Testa and members of
his family. :
“Our family is honored to
be a part of helping Hospice
become a better place,” said
Testa, who told the crowd
FOR DENTAL IMPLANTS
LOCALLY HERE IN KINGS MOUNTAIN
Baker Dental Care
Preventative, Restorative
& Cosmetic Dentistry per
Pictured are Hospice volunteers at a ribbon cutting Friday of the newly named Testa Family
Hospice House.
that the caregivers at Kings
‘Mountain Hospice provided
unequaled and loving care to
his wife Sandra in her final
days in October of last year.
“This month marks the
5-year anniversary of Hos-
Just a few henefits of Dental Implants:
* Improved appearance. Dental implants look and feel like your own teeth.
* Improved speech. Dental implants allow you to speak without the worry that your dentures might slip.
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2»
pice in Kings Mountain,
McGinnis said. In that time
795 patients have been
served. We’re honored to be
part of his community.”
The Testa Family Hos-
pice House and Dover Hos-
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DENTAL IMPLANTS
AND SCHEDULE YOUR NEXT APPOINTMENT
CALL US AT 704-739-4461
pice House are under the
umbrella of Hospice Cleve-
land County, a not-for profit
founded 14 years ago. The
amount of the Testa dona-
tion to the organization was
not disclosed.
HE
J
4
2 i
at
703 E. Kings St., Suite 9, Kings Mouniain ° WWW. BakerDeniaiCare. com