INSIDE...
SPORTS - 7
Obituaries .......................... 2 Police Log .......................... 2 Lifestyles ........................... 6
Winter snow photos
■ KMHS
sweeps Burns
See Page 3B & 6B
Grand Opening Saturday, January 30 Drawing for a $100 tattoo!
(704) 718-5255 245 S. Battleground Ave., Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Volume 128
Issue 4
kmherald.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
75 CENTS
Over the Mountain Triathlon shelved by city ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
The Over the Mountain Triathlon, a May special event in Kings Mountain for 16 summers, has been canceled by the city of Kings Mountain because of dwindling participation for a number of years. During its heyday, the one-day event brought athletes from as far away as Thailand, Japan and Germany and in its beginning was one of the qualifiers for the Olympics and the largest one-day special event in the county, prior to Shelby's landing of the American Legion World Series. Mayor Scott Neisler and Ellis Noell, special events director for the city for 15 years prior to his retirement May 1, 2015, said “it was time.” Noell said that since
mer and we both kept hoping that the recession would not linger and we could receive some economic impact for Kings Mountain,'' said Noell. Noell said the SCOTT ELLIS NOELL event was a great NEISLER retired City opportunity to showMayor Events Director case Kings Mountain on a regional 2006 he had been evaluating level but with the increase the program and “not getting in races in other localities the numbers.” The city was of the state and sister states paying SetUp Events, pro- “the figures just were not ducers of the race, $20,000 there.” He said he recom( $10,000 from the city and mended to city officials that $10,000 from Tourism De- the event be shelved and velopment Authority) and that the new events coordiscores of volunteers were nator, Haley Wilson, work required plus law enforce- with the members of the ment, rescue personnel, Historic Kings Mountain sheriff's deputies, etc. on Tourism Development Auduty for the event numbered thority in looking at other venues. Noell said he started more than the participants. “I talked to Bill Scott at conversations two years ago SetUp Events every sum- with city officials about the
need to make a change in the events program. The mayor said he was misrepresented in SetUps first announcement about the parting of the ways between the city and the group that ran it, saying on its website that the city canceled because it “was not on the mayor's agenda.” Neisler, a former mayor, succeeded longtime Mayor Rick Murphrey in the November city elections. “Since the inception of the race, we've been fortunate to work with the same mayor who was a huge advocate for the race,'' the post states. “Unfortunately he was defeated in the recent election. The new mayor has a new agenda and his agenda does not include staging the triathlon any longer.” See TRIATHLON, Page 7A
JIMMY JOHNSON ..NASCAR driver here in 2014
It’s time to retire, No power outages says KM’s Wells We were lucky,” says Hendricks ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Dennis Wells, pictured at his desk at the city's Public Works Department, is retiring this week after 23 years of service with the city in the Water Department where he was promoted through the ranks and is currently Water Resources Director supervising a 26-member staff. Story and photos by ELIZABETH STEWART “It's time,'' Dennis Ray Wells, 62, says about his plans to retire January 31. Wells is stepping down after 23 years at the city's water plant where he was promoted through the ranks to Water Resource Director heading a staff of 26 for the City of Kings Mountain. “I love the city, all my employees and the administration and we all work together and we're seeing good things happening,'' he
said. New water lines, the major rehabilitation of the water system, a new 36inch line from Moss Lake to the city, and work underway on the rebuilding of the water plant which will see the production of from 8 to 12 million gallons of water a day and expected to be completed by December 2016 has kept the water department busy over several years. Design for a new water line from Reliance Road to Kings Mountain Boulevard is in the works. All the improvements are included in a multi-million dollar no interest state loan to finance the project. See WELLS, Page 7A
No electrical or natural gas power outages were reported in the first winter storm of the season that dumped between 4 ½ to 5 ½ inches of snow and sleet but very little freezing rain in the Kings Mountain area. Cleveland County weather watchers said 7.8 inches, nearly eight inches of the white stuff, fell throughout the county beginning last Friday and kept people at home. “As always we will plan for the worst and pray for the best,'' said City of Kings Mountain Energy Services Director Nick Hendricks Jr. Hendricks added, “Our prayers were answered and we were very fortunate and very lucky to have experienced no outages during this event.” Students got another holiday in the same week and Cleveland County Schools were also closed Monday although the day served as an optional teacher workday with a two-hour delay for all staff reporting this week and also Tuesday. Some Kings Mountain area churches didn't have services Sunday morning. Hendricks said the city activated its 10-point Plan
For Dental Implants Locally Here In Kings Mountain
Baker Dental Care Preventative, Restorative & Cosmetic Dentistry
of Action which included canceling personnel vacations, staging one electrical contract crew and one on stand-by, staging one tree trimming contract on site and one on standby, solidified hotel rooms as may be needed, food/water preparations were in place if needed for feeding crews, in constant contact with ElectriCities for additional personnel if needed and or if they needed to assist them, FEMA preparations and required documentation was solidified, insured the city had the latest priority customer listing, hours of operation was in place to insure 24 hour service, and activated the customer alert notification in preparation to utilize as conditions change. City police reported only two weather-related accidents and they occurred Friday. Tearonce Lyle Darrow of Sunset, SC was driving a 2014 Freightliner for Ryder Truck Rental, lost control of his vehicle on I-85 South near Exit 8 in snow and sleet and the vehicle jack knifed hitting trees. Joe Hopper, 230 Branchwood Drive, operating a 2012 Ford on Waco Road, hit a slick surface due to accumulated snow, left the road and into a deep drainage ditch. Snow covered driveways
Winter Wonderland – Last weekend’s snow transformed areas into a Winter Wonderland. Skier Bryson Key enjoys the snow. and yards were a concern for many residents getting back to work on Monday after early closings on Friday. And there are still areas that remain icy. Weather forecasters
were predicting rain in mid-week which may wash away all of what's left of the first snow of the year. “I'm thinking Spring,'' said one resident “snowed in.”
Just a few benefits 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. • Improved self-esteem. Smile again and feel better about yourself. • Durable. Implants are very durable and with proper care, can last a lifetime. To find out more about Dental Implants and schedule your next appointment
call us at 704-739-4461
703 E. Kings St., Suite 9, Kings Mountain • www.BakerDentalCare.com