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MAUNEY MEMORIAL LIBRARY
100 S PIEDMONT AVE ##
i KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
Volume 27 o Issue36 * Wednesday, September 9, 2015 75¢
704.739. 3611
106 East Mountain Street
Kings Mountain, NC
www. KMinsure.com
BREEN
CANDIDATE PROFILE - Third in a series
Murphrey talks up quality of life, economic development
DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald @gmail.com
Rick Murphrey forms a
circle in the air with his hands
as he talks about the things he
says make Kings Mountain
work.
From a recent expansion
of the H.L. Patrick Senior
Center and the city forming
partnerships with the Kings
Mountain Little Theatre to
economic incentives that
bring new industry into town
and extending a long-term
youth sports contract to the
local YMCA and the city’s
partnership with the popular
Gateway Trail.
“All those parts come to-
gether to build quality of life,”
said Murphrey, who at 70 has
served as mayor since 2000
Mayor Rick Murphrey
and is running for his seventh
term this November (four
two-year terms and two four-
year terms).
“Building quality of life
has been the biggest goal that
the city has taken on in recent
years — and reaching that goal
is what makes Kings Moun-
tain Kings Mountain. It’s
what makes Kings Mountain
unique.”
Murphrey, who spent a
long career in textile sales
before retiring in 2008, said
he has brought the skills he
learned in industry to the
mayor’s job in Kings Moun-
tain, a city that in many ways
operates like a $39 million
business.
The city is in fact a busi-
ness in a way that most mu-
nicipalities are not. It supplies
its residents and businesses
with electricity, gas, water
and sewer, as well as trash
pick-up and recycling ser-
vices.
Like any business, Mur-
phrey says, it has to keep a
hard eye on growth. And that
means aggressively recruit-
ing new industry to town at a
time when much of the coun-
try is reeling from one of the
biggest economic downturns
since the Great Depression of
the 1930s.
Murphrey ticks off a list
of some of the biggest recruit-
ment success stories during
his tenure as mayor, .
» $1.3 billion capital in-
vestment stem from the util-
ities giant Southern Company
moving to town in 2008.
» $205 million capital in-
vestment resulting from a
Disney Corp. data center set-
ting up shop in 2011.
» $850 million capital in-
vestment in the form of a new
AT&T data center in 2012.
Additionally, an NTE
Energy facility that is now
under construction dominated
business headlines in the area
over the spring and summer.
The building of that large
operation represents a $450
million capital investment. It
is expected to come online in
2018, at which time it would
become the city’s sole sup-
plier of electricity while also
becoming the city’s largest
water customer.
Coaxing industry to Kings
Mountain creates lucrative
customers for the city. It has
also created, by Murphrey’s
and the city’s calculation,
around 3,000 jobs since 2000.
While Murphrey ac-
knowledges that industrial
recruitment is “extremely
competitive,” it is a job he
feels at home with.
“I’ve been a salesman my
whole life,” he said in a con-
ference room in City Hall last
week. “At Spectrum I had a
great product to sell. In the
mayor’s office, well, it’s re-
ally just a continuation of that
in a way because I still have a
great product to sell.”
If Murphrey, who has
been married to his wife San-
dra for 48 years, seems like a
highly visible mayor, he says
that’s in part because he’s a
people person who likes to
get involved and see people
succeed. He rarely misses a
ribbon cutting for a new busi-
ness that has decided to plant
roots in Kings Mountain.
And he eagerly takes up the
microphone — or takes to the
stage in Revolutionary War:
re-enactments -- at the city’s
various festivals and outdoor
celebrations.
See MURPHREY, Page 8A
Kings Mountain to observe
Patriot Day Friday 9-11
The City of Kings
Mountain will observe Pa-
triot Day on Friday; Sep-
tember 11.
This solemn annversary
is an annual commemora-
tive service for those who
lost their lives on Septem-
ber 11,2001.
“This: was a very dark
day for Americans and the
world”, 'stated Rick Mur-
phrey, Mayor of Kings
Mountain. “We will never
forget the attack on so many
innocent people” Murphrey
continued, “and we honor
those whose lives were
lost and stand proud of our
service men and women
who continue, to this day,
to defend and fight for the
freedom we have here in
America.”
The observance will be
held on the plaza in front of
Kings Mountain ‘City Hall,
101 West Gold Street at
12, noon. Participants will
include the presentation of
colors by the Kings Moun-
tain Police Honor Guard, an
invocation by Police Chief
Melvin Proctor, and Pledge
of Allegiance led by Fire
Chief Frank Burns. Mayor
Murphrey will speak fol-
lowed by a moment of si-
lence and the memorial
ringing of the Fire Bell.
What's happening at ‘Engage’
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @ gmail.com
'Engage’ at First Wes-
leyan Church, 505 N.
Piedmont Ave., is not your
traditional church service.
“The music is loud,
the lights are low, and the
teaching style may be a lit-
tle different but it's all done
for the purpose of engaging
the culture of today," says
Pastor Caleb Williams who
is speaker/teacher.
This Sunday, September
13th is the one year anni-
versary of “The Engage Ex-
perience.” The celebration
begins at 9:40 a.m.
The Engage ministry
began on Sept. 7, 2014
in the student facility and
within five short months
98525700200
Caleb \ Williams, Engare director leads a service at First
Wesleyan Church. A first year celebration of the new min-
istry will be held Sunday.
moved into the Family Life
Center to accommodate the
growth of the worship ser-
vice with a goal to reach
the un-churched and de-
churched of all ages. The
attendance of Engage has
more than doubled over
this past year. The Engage
family continues to grow,
mostly by “word of mouth,"
according to the pastor, as
he encourages families to
attend “no matter what your
story is" to enjoy the pres-
ence of God.
“Every one of us has a
unique story to tell. Jesus
will meet you where you
are and we will too," said
Williams, who said he is
See ENGAGE, Page 8A
City officials embrace new motto
Cory Cooler. an danpiofes or Lexington- “vasedl Signworks of North Carolina, puts then new
sign on City Hall last week. Cooper worked quickly, installing the 15-inch cast aluminum
letters on the brick facade.
Tlie national motto “In
God We Trust” was fitted in
bronze lettering on the front
| of the City Hall building
Thursday.
The familiar expression
was affixed to the public
building at no cost to tax-
payers. Two groups called
“Return America” and the
US Motto Action commit-
tee approached city leaders
earlier this year with the pro-
posal to put the motto up at
their expense. And in May,
council members voted 6-1
to approve the move.
The 15-inch dark lettering
made out of cast aluminum
was placed above the second
story windows of the gov-
ernment building. To date 37
North Carolina jurisdictions
have accepted the offer to
have the motto placed on a
building or in their council
chambers. The cost of in-
stallation, according to the
groups, was $2,400.
Both Gaston County and
Cleveland County are having
the motto installed in their
government buildings.
“This motto is an ac-
knowledgment that is con-
sistent with the mindset of
our founders of this coun-
try and perfectly legal for a
See NEW MOTTO, Page 3A
Tickets going fast for Museum benefit
Saturday's Kings Moun-
tain Historical Museum’s
12th Annual Reverse Raffle
& Auctions at the Patrick
Senior Center starting at
5:30 p.m. is expected to be a
sell-out, according to Adria
Focht, Museum Director and
Curator.
Each $125 ticket provides
dinner for two and a 1 in 300
chance to win the $10,000
Grand Prize, in addition to
many great raffle prizes.
Tickets may be sold out by
the time of this publication,
call the museum at 704-739-
1019 to check availability
See TICKETS, Page 8A
Historical Museum President Susan Champion is ready to
award the hig prizes at the 12th annual reverse raffle and
auction Saturday at the Patrick Senior Center.
File photo
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