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VOLUME 95. NUMBER 4
THURSDAY, lANUARY 28,1982
KINGS MOUNTAIN. NORTH CARC
Deaton: Publish All Expenses
IAN DEATON
By GARY STEWART
Editor
Jan Deaton, a Bridges Drive
resident and unsuccessful can
didate for the District Six com
missioner’s seat in last
November’s election, took the
floor at the close of Monday
night’s city board meeting to
question Mayor John Henry
Moss on some of his travel ex
penses over the past two years
and to ask the board to make
public ail expenses of all city
employees during 1981.
Mrs. Deaton said “a lot of em
phasis" had been put on a trip to
Detroit for the National League
of Cities meetings in December
by commissioners Norman King
and Jim Childers and former
commissioner Bill Grissom, and
that she felt that criticism was
unfair since other city officials
and city employees have also
taken trips at the city’s expense.
The three commissioners have
been the subject of a flier which
has circulated around town since
their early December trip to
Detroit, for which they spent a
combined total of $2,490.44.
The flier, however, was unsigned
and commissioners Childers and
King have not been able to learn
who was responsible for
publishing it. Employees of the
City Treasurer’s office said the
information-which is a matter of
public record and can be re
quested by any citizen-did not
come from their office.
Mrs. Deaton said Mayor Moss
took one trip to a National
League of Cities meeting in
Atlanta in 1980 which cost the
city taxpayers $287.52 and that
he took another trip in August of
1981 to Atlanta for a Block
Grant meeting which cost the ci
ty $153.99, and that those ex
penses were “excessive.”
“Would you verify this infor
mation to be true?,” Mrs.
Deaton asked Moss.
Moss, who said he felt the
charges were not excessive, said
that he attended a National
League of Cities meeting in
Atlanta on Dec. 2-4,1980, spen
ding two nights there. On
August 30-31 of last year, he
said, he received a direct invita
tion from the White House to
take part in an Inter-
Governmental Block Grant
meeting and that he went to
Atlanta on Sunday, spent Sun
day night there, attended
meetings all day Monday and
returned to Kings Mountain on
Monday night.
After the meeting. Moss sup
plied the press with information
about his travel expenses for the
past year, which also included a
trip to Raleigh on October
27-28, 1981, to accept the Com
munity of Excellence Award
from Governor Hunt. That bill
came to $49.85.
Moss said he did not feel his
travel expenses for last year,
which came to a total of
$203.84, nor the $287.52 spent
for the 1980 trip, were excessive.
Mayor Moss later pointed out
that while the commissioners
were attending the National
League of Cities meeting, he was
in Kings Mountain working and,
in fact, rode in the Kings Moun
tain Christmas Parade on
November 29.
Commissioner Childers was
quoted in the previous week’s ar
ticle in the Herald as saying
Moss was attending a Winter
Baseball meeting.
Moss said the Winter Baseball
Meeting he .ittended was held on
December 7 -9 and he used part
of his vacation to attend it.
After Moss answered Mrs.
Deaton’s question, she then ask
ed if any commissioner would be
Turn To Pago 2-A
lOHN MOSS
All-State Band Clinic Slated Here
KENKOONTZ
• Koontz
To Speak
Ken Koontz, Community Af
fairs Director for WBTV in
Charlotte, will be the keynote
speaker at the Eta Mu Lambda’s
Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha
A Fraternity Inc., 22nd Founders
™ Day Observance Sun., Feb. 14 at
4 p.m. at New Bynum Chapel
A.M.E. Zion Church. The
church is located at the comer of
Cansler and Ellis streets in Kings
Mountain.
Koontz began his work with
WBTV news as a part-time
photographer, reporter, writer
and all-purpose staffer in 1969
^ while in college. He joined
(ConL On Pag* 2)
The South Central All-Stae
Band Clinic, sponsored by the
North Carolina Music
Educators Association, will be
held at Kings Mountain Senior
High School Friday and Satur
day.
Students in the band have
been selected on the basis of in
dividual auditions.
This district includes schools
from Cleveland, Gaston,
Mecklenburg, Lincoln, Stanly,
Union, Cabarrus, Rowan, Iredell
and Catawba counties.
Two bands will rehearse on
Friday and Saturday and will
present a free concert on Satur
day night at 7:30 p.m. in B.N.
Barnes Auditorium.
The public is invited to attend.
Conducting the ninth and
10th grade bands will be Dr. Cal
Huber, director of graduate
studies at the University of Ten
nessee. Dr. Huber, a native of
Wisconsin, received his
undergraduate degree from the
University of Wisconsin,
master’s degree from the
Univ^ity of Wisconsin and New*
York University, and his doc
torate from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He served on the faculty staff
of UNC-CH, was band director
for a number of years at Wake
Forest University, and was a
member of the music faculty at
UNC-Greensboro before assum
ing his present position at the
University of Tennessee. He is
well-known as a clinician and
composer.
Conducting the 11th and 12th
grade band will be Dr. Jared
SpeaR, who is professor of
music, resident composor, chair
man of the composition depart
ment and section of procussion
studies at Arkansas State
University in Jonesboro, Ark.
A native of Chicago, he
received his B.S.E. degree in
music education from Northern
Illinois University, his B.M. and
M.M. in procussion and com
position from the Cosmopiolitan
School of Music, and his doc
torate in composition from Nor
thwestern Univesity. Dr. Spears
has taught on all levels of educa
tion, in theory, composition, pro
cussion and band from elemen
tary school through college.
The most outstanding of his
awrds has been the Faricy
Award for Creative Music from
Northwestern University School
of Music, the Award of Merit
from the Arkansas Chapter of
the National Federation of
Music Clubs, Outstanding
Educator of America-1973 and
1975-and has been listed in In
ternational Who’s Who in Music
and Who’s Who in the World of
Procussion-U .S.A.
Besides a continuing writing
schedule, with over 50 published
works. Dr. Spears has conducted
band festivals, band camps and
clinics in the U.S and Canada, as
well as appearances at univer
sities as guest lecturer.
Mrs. Seism In The Race
Martha Ernst Seism of Kings
Mountain has filed for a seat on
the Cleveland County Board of
Commissioners.
To date, only two persons
have filed for office. The other
was incumbent Josh Hinnant,
also of Kings Mountain.
Mrs. Seism, 36, has lived in
Kings Mountain for 32 years.
She is married to Bruce Seism
and has three children. She is a
Baptist and a member of Kings
Mountain Chapter 123 of the
Eastern Star.
She is presently bookkeeper
and secretary-treasurer for
Southern Excavatin Inc. She has
also worked as a bank teller and
manager for Seism General
Store.
Teresa Melton
Aging Director
Teresa W. Melton of Kings
0 Mountain Monday night was
named coordinator of the Kings
Mountain Program for the Ag
ing.
Her employment will be effec
tive February 1.
Mrs. Melton has been
employed the past four years by
the Cleveland County Depart
ment of Social Services, where
A she has worked as a Community
Service Assistant. She has work
ed with elderly citizens in the
fuel crisis program and Contract
Manager of Home Delivered
Meals for the Elderly in
Cleveland and Rutherford
Counties.
She is a graduate of Kings
Mountain High School and
9 Gardner-Webb College, with a
degree in business administra
tion. She earned an Associate
Applied Science degree in
Business Administration from
Cleveland Tech and a Certified
Data Processing degree from
Career Training Institute in
Gastonia.
She is active in church work,
# is a member of the Good Earth
Carden Club and the North
$ '
r
TERESA MELTON
Carolina Social Service Associa
tion, which she serves as unit
chairperson.
*
“Our local officials have
honored me with the privilege to
serve as Aging Center Director,
and I thank them,” Mrs. Melton
commented. “With involvement
of our entire city we will have a
successful center. Our system
will work primarily on a
volunteer basis. Everyone’s
donation of time will prove to be
beneficial.”
She is the daughter of O.H.
“Duke” Ernst and Pauline Ernst,
and is a 1964 graduate of Kings
Mountain High School.
During the past 18 months,
Mrs. Seism said she has attended
almost every county commis
sioners meeting and has also
been to Raleigh several times to
talk with and observe represen
tatives at work.
“From observing these
bodies,” she said, “it is very clear
to me that there can be and has
to be changes in elected official’s
Utility
Pay Plan
Approved
Kings Mountain City Com
missioners Monday night ap
proved a utility payment plan
which will allow senior citizens,
blind and handicapped persons
to pay their yearly estimated
utility charges in equal
payments.
The plan, patterned after one
used by Duke Power, was sug
gested by a special committee
comprised of Mayor John Henry
Moss and commissioners Humes
Houston, Corbet Nicholson and
Jim Dickey.
Moss named the committee in
December after a Duke rate in
crease was passed along to city
customers.
Citizens who use the plan will
be allowed to estimate their year
ly power bill and pay equal
payments over the first 11 mon
ths. During the 12th month, ad
justments will be made to make
the yearly payments equal the
actual cost.
The pay plan will take effect
with the March billings.
Mayor Moss said persons-sin-
terested in using the plan must
request it and fill out an applica
tion card.
The plan is available to all
senior citizens (age 62 and over)
and all handicapped and blind
citizens of any age.
All commissioners praised the
plan.
Turn To Pag* 3-A
attitudes toward the people they
represent. We need to elect of
ficials who really care for the
people and put forth every effort
to do the best job possible at
deciding where, how and to
whom our tax dollars will be
spent.
“1 hope the voters of
Cleveland County will give me
the opportunity to be a part of
this decision-making process as a
county commissioner,” she aded.
“1 think the present commis
sioners too often don’t seek out
enough background information
before voting on issues before
them.”
For example, Mrs. Seism said,
the commissioners approved
construction of a new county
dog pound which was supposed
to cost $125,000, however, the
cost has now risen to approx
imately $200,000.
“Even some of the present
commissioners can’t understand
why,” she said. “Why should
there be such a big difference?”
(Cont. On Pag* 2)
MARTHA SCISM
KM Opposes Closing
The City of Kings Mountain
is hoping to convince the State
of North Carolina that a branch
office of the Employment Securi
ty Comissiort is needed by
citizens of this area.
The state plans to close 48
local and brach offices, including
the one at the Kings Mountain
Community Center. The KM of
fice employs two people and is a
branch office of the Cleveland
County office.
In the past, the city has pro
vided a rent-free office at the
Community Center and Mayor
John Henry Moss said the city is
prepared to foot the office’s
telephone bill at a cost of $24 to
$26 per month if the state will
keep the office open.
Moss conferred with the six ci
ty commissioners last week and
forwarded two letters to John
Wilson, area ESC supervisor, in
Raleigh asking the state to re
consider its decision.
Moss said Governor Jim Hunt
had stated that he had received
“as much concern on this issue
as any others he has faced during
his administration” and has
delayed his decision until Thurs
day.
Turn To Pag* 3-A
Tom Franks Bike-A-Thon Chairman
Tom Franks, has been ap
pointed Chairman for the annual
“Wheels for Life” Bike-A-Thon
in Kings Mountain, to benefit St.
Jude Children’s Research
Hospital. The event is scheduled
for April 17 with rain date of
April 24.
St. Jude Hospital is devoted to
painstaking medical research and
treatment of catastrophic
childhood diseases, such as
leukemia, solid cancer tumors,
sickle cell anemia, infant
malnutrition and others. The
Memphis facility was founded
by Danny Thoams in 1962.
The hospital is non-sectarian,
interracial and open to children
anywhere afflicted with
devastating childhood diseases
who are referred by their local
physician. Currently, 50 percent
>«ff the newly diagnosed leukemia
TOM FRANKS
patients at St. Jude can be ex
pected to be cured. Recent
developments indicate a new
drug combination offers hope fro
remission in the other cases. Ex
tensive research continues at St.
Jude.
St. Jude Hospital is largely
supported by voluntary con
tributions, which are tax deduc
tible. Events such as the “Wheels
for Life” bike ride raise the funds
to continue the research, care,
and treatment programs which
extend to all parts of the nation.
The results are studied and in
corporated into medical
knowledge the world over.
The children and young peo
ple who participate in this year’s
ride will be wearing a hospital
identification bracelet bearing
the name of the patient at St.
Jude. Thus, they will be tangiUy
riding for a child, symbolizing
children across the country who
are suffering from catastrophic
illnesses.