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kmherald.com
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Grover mulling |
IPDC contract
ELIZABETH STEWART
ib.kmherald @gmail.com
“We've found nothing
extraordinary," said Scott
Dadson, Executive Director
of Isothermal Planning and
Development, the agency
that on Sept. 1 will com-
plete technical assistance in
finance administration for
the Town of Grover.
Dadson made the report
at Monday night's meeting,
saying that their work took
more hours than they had
estimated in monthly bank
statement reconciliations
and preparing financial re-
ports for a prior year audit
and the current audit.
“Everything is in order,"
he told the board.
Three staffers from
IPDC have updated and
maintained the general led-
ger and accounting system,
maintained town payroll
documentation including
IRS forms and reports, cre-
ated and maintained internal
control processes and pro-
cedures, and served as the
point of contact for financial
matters. The bills have been
paid, the revenues received
by the town have been re-
corded, and the required
financial reports and certifi-
cations have been sent to the
state and IRS, among other
things.
The Local Government
Commission, the watchdog
of local governments in fi-
nancial matters, is suggest-
ing that the town board hire
IPDC for another year and
Dadson presented the fixed
contract for services at
$43,248 or $3,604 monthly.
Mayor pro tem Bill Wil-
lis said " $43,000 is a big
chunk of money and we
need to cover all the bases,
I have a lot of questions and
concerns."
“I'd rather have three
people from IPDC who are
knowledgeable than one
person we may hire who
may not be fully knowl-
edgeable," said Mayor J. D.
See GROVER, Page 7A
Latham hired
as new
KMHS Athletic
Director
See Page 1B
osIViountain
RALD
Volume 127 o Issue 34 Wednesday, August 26,2015 75¢
Cleveland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Stephen
Fisher gives a quick pep talk at the Kings Mountain In-
termediate School Monday. From left: Kyla Hughes and
Ja’ Hara Wilson. Fisher visited all 29 schools in the system
for the first day of school.
: DAVE BLANTON
i. dave.kmherald@gmail.com
The weather said sum-
mer, but the calendar on
Monday told public school
students in Cleveland
County that it was the first
day of class.
So under bright blue
skies, they gathered up their
supplies and new shoes
and vacation memories and
marched into the school
district’s 29 schoolhouses,
including eight in Kings
Mountain. The first day of
185.
For some, though, at
Photos by DAVE BLANTON
least one of the three R’s
wasn’t put on hold for the
summer vacation.
A bright young lady ap-
proached Henry Gilmore,
the principal of the Kings
Mountain Intermediate
School, to report that she
had done “a lot of reading”
over the break. As her class-
mates walked past her in the
hall, she and Gilmore com-
pared notes on the books
she’d read.
At East Elementary, a
group of second graders
were already participating
in the school’s Pawsitive
Behavior program, which
Historical
Museum
food exhibit
See Page 8A
Sf the week ¥
CONTEST 3
East Elementary Students feasted on chicken mm pea-
nut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato wedges and fruit
cups during the first lunch hour. Photos by DAVE BLANTON
incentivizes civic respon-
sibility. Shepherded by
teacher Paula McDaniel,
her class had quickly ridden
the playground of litter in an
pre-lunch outing.
At the front office, prin-
cipal Becky Bailey reported
smooth sailing.
“We’re having a great
day,” she said, a few min-
utes before students reported
to a lunch where chicken
nuggest, potato wedges and
fruit was offered. “I’m glad
to see all the familiar faces.”
And at the high school,
seniors took the red letter
as an opportunity to trumpet
their top dog status with car
decorations celebrating the
class 0f 2016.
Cleveland County
Schools superintendent Dr.
Stephen Fisher didn’t have
much time to spare on Mon-
day. By lunchtime, he was
welcoming students back to
school at Grover Elemen-
tary in the district’s custom
of having its top administra-
tor visit all 29 schools in the
county.
“I have to stay on sched-
ule to be able to visit all 29,”
said Fisher, who was ac-
companied by the district’s
See FRESH START, Page 7A
Candidate Profile
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
One Kings Mountain
man’s card reads, in part,
“Do you think safe, clean,
Christian small town living
is wonderful and precious?
Cast your vote for it Nov. 3,
2015.
The vote, of course,
would be Beauford Burton,
who is running for mayor
this fall.
A frequent letter writer
to the Herald and the Shelby
Star, he has been an outspo-
ken critic of the proposed
Catawba casino that has
won the approval of the
Cleveland County Board of
. Commissioners and most
of those who sit on Kings
Mountain’s city council,
including Mayor Rick Mur-
phrey.
Burton has appeared be-
fore both bodies to speak
against the casino, which
he says would be “bad for
Kings Mountain and I think
bad for any community.”
In comments in print
and in public meetings, he
has said that government
sponsorship of a gambling
525700200
(first in a series)
A
BEAUFORD BURTON
enterprise sends the wrong
message. Burton said that
while he understands the
economic development side
of the argument, he would
like to see his hometown
work to entice other kinds
of industry.
“My vision for the city
is that this is a small city,”
Burton said. “I don’t think
it needs to be booming me-
tropolis. I think people who
live here enjoy the quiet at-
mosphere. Obviously they
need access to jobs and
amenities. I think people
want it to be a clean, safe,
God-loving place to live.”
A casino, he feels, would
be of no help in the long run
to local citizens. And he
feels that goes against his
idea of what local govern-
ment should aim to do.
“I think the local govern-
ment should do everything
it can within reason to help
people,” Burton said.
See BURTON, Page 7A
City Council christens new rescue tr truck
City Council didn't take
a ride in the new, red, fire
rescue truck but they chris-
tened it with high praise Fri-
day afternoon at the city fire
station.
Fire Chief Frank Burns
says the 5,200 pound rescue
truck is a much needed piece
of equipment for the depart-
ment and that it was pur-
chased for $195,000 because
it was used ( but looks brand
new) and a new truck would
have cost the city $650,000
to $750,000.
“Check out this light
tower that could light up a
football field," said Mayor
Rick Murphrey.
Council members took a
look inside the rescue truck
and saw that it was a com-
mand post with all the maps
of the city's gas, electric and
water lines.
Burns explained that the
rescue truck has a 35KW
Pictured from left: Ward 4 Councilman Rodney Gordon, Mayor Rick Murphrey, Ward 5
Councilman Rick Moore, Fire Chief Frank Burns, At-Large Councilman Keith Hawkins,
Ward I Councilman Howard Shipp and Ward 3 Councilman Tommy Hawkins christening
the city's new heavy rescue truck.
generator, an all steel and
aluminum body which won't
ruts or corrode, and is twice
as large as the 1977 Emer-
gency Command Post that
firemen have been using
that was bought with a grant
from the police department.
Photo hy Haley Wilson
“We got a real good deal
on this beauty," said Burns.
See full photo of new fire
truck on page 3.
Shelby man charged in fatal KM hit and run
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
Police have arrested a
Shelby man they believe
had a role in the death of a
pedestrian in a Kings Moun-
tain incident that happened
early Friday.
Davie Demond Boone,
36, of Dakar Dr., Shelby,
has been charged with one
count of felony hit and run
resulting in the death of a
pedestrian, according to
Kings Mountain Police,
who say the investigation
into the fatality continues.
Boone is in custody in the
Cleveland County Deten-
tion Center with a bond of
$10,000.
His first court date was
Monday. According to jail
officials, his next court date
is set for Sept. 15.
Around 7 a.m. Friday, a
passerby spotted what ap-
peared to be a body lying
near the on-ramp of the Oak
Grove Rd. exit onto Hwy.
74 eastbound. Police and
emergency personnel re-
sponding to the scene found
Jose Abel Lopez Mejia, 24,
an apparent resident of Gas-
tonia, dead at the scene.
Kings Mountain police
officials, led by Sgt. Lisa
Proctor, spent most of the
morning Friday collecting
See HIT AND RUN, Page 3A
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