INSIDE...
SPORTS - 1B
Obituaries ........................ 2A Police Log ........................ 2A Lifestyles ......................... 6A Business .......................... 6B
■ Dellinger breaks
Lao New Year Celebration
scoring record; Ladies in state playoffs next week
Page 8
TOWN HALL MEETING Thursday, May 19, 2016 • 6-8 PM at the PATRICK CENTER
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Volume 128 • Issue 19
kmherald.com • 704-739-7496
75¢
45 new jobs coming ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
KMLT PLAY OPENS FRIDAY – Pictured are six members of the cast of “Divorce Southern Style” which opens Friday and continues this weekend and next at Joy Theatre. From left Leslie Brown, Mark Griffin, Greg Dixon, Maddie Spurling, Mary Grace Keller and Jonathan Price. Photo by BRYAN HALLMAN
'Divorce, Southern Style' opens at Joy on Friday The wildly, funny farce, “Divorce Southern Style,'' opens Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Joy Theatre and continues on Saturday night at 7:30 p .m. and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Next weekend shows are on Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. Kings Mountain Little Theatre and corporate sponsor Edward Jones: Jack and Pam Buchanan, are sponsors of the play by Jennifer Jarrett. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. The play is rated PG-13. Directed by Teresa
Williams, who has also appeared on stage in numerous KMLT performances, is directing the fast-paced favorite of stock theaters. The play centers on the zany schemes of a middle-aged divorcee who decides that the time is ripe to get back together with her ex-husband. Divorced for 15 years and running low on cash, Eleanor Bender ( Mary Grace Keller) decides reconciliation with her ex-husband ( Greg Dixon) is her best hope. Supporting roles are played by Maddie Spurling, the daughter who is engaged again for the fifth time;
her long-standing fiance' (Jonathan Price) and the ex-husband current flame ( Suzi Shelter and Nikki Wood), a former classmate who was Eleanor's competition from high school. As the plot thickens which it does with growing hilarity, Eleanor's friends and neighbors ( Leslie Brown and Mark Griffin,) become involved in the action. Kings Mountain Little Theatre, a tax-exempt 501 (c) non-profit, is a funded affiliate of the Cleveland County Arts Council and is supported in part by a Grassroots Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.
Project Maroon, a code name for a new industry looking at relocating to an existing building in the Kings Eddie MounHolbrook tain area, c o u l d mean 45 new jobs to the Kings Mountain area that could bring $55,000 in yearly salaries and an investment of $3.8 million. Eddie Holbrook, com-
missioner liaison to the county's Economic Development committee, said the formal announcement could come in early June. The county board of commissioners last Tuesday night approved an economic development incentive grant for Project Maroon for $14,480, which is a 5% match to a $297,600 NC Rural Division Infrastructure Grant for a total grant amount of $312,400. Holbrook said the City of Kings Mountain would be facilitating and administering the grant on behalf of the client. The grant would fund the construction of sewer and water infrastruc-
ture that is necessary for the proposed building to be considered viable for the operation. “This is a stable company and we feel good about it,'' said Holbrook, who said the proposed client would be taking an old building out of inventory and into everyday use with upgrades and renovation and adding revenue to the tax stream.” Kristin Reese, Executive Director of the Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership, asked the county commission last week to approve the incentive payment, saying that the company has a solid See 45 NEW JOBS, Page 7A
Old Dominion Service Center opening Thursday in KM Old Dominion Freight Line is holding an open house at its brand new Kings Mountain service center to celebrate the official opening on Thursday, May 12. A ribbon-cutting will be held at 11 a.m. after which open house and tours of the facility will follow until 5 p.m. The new 61-door service center, just .5 mile from I-85 at 604 Innovation Drive just off York Road,
is an expansion of the Charlotte service center due to the rapid growth in the Charlotte marketplace. Officials say the opening will lead to further growth and job openings by the end of 2016. Kings Mountain will be the 9th terminal in North Carolina. Old Dominion also has terminals located in or near the cities of Wilmington, Fayetteville, Wilson, Durham, Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte and
a major break facility in Greensboro. Kings Mountain will serve the area west of the Catawba River. Old Dominion purchased the building and completely renovated and expanded. Mayor Scott Neisler will speak at the opening Thursday. Greg Gantt is President and Chief Executive Officer and Gerry Broadwell is Regional Vice-President of the company's Gulf States.
Fichter new manager Town Hall meeting set Upbeat energy gets A plus of KM Farmer’s Market in David Reed’s classroom
The opening of the Kings Mountain Farmers Market is just around the corner and Foothills Farmers Market has announced that Nancy Fichter, Foothills local foods coordinator, will be the Market Manager in Kings Mountain. “I am excited,'' says Fichter, who formerly was head chef and dietary manager at Neisler Life Enrichment Center in Kings Mountain. Fichter has been involved with the food movement for the past five years in the county and in Kings Mountain she will also head the community supported agriculture program, working with farmers who bring their vegetables to the mar-
A Town Hall meeting will be held Thursday, May 19 and you are invited. Mayor Scott Neisler and Kings Mountain City Council want to hear input from local citizens and
next Thursday is the time to make comments and address any concerns. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the H. Lawrence Patrick Senior Life & Conference Center on East King Street.
Hamrick “Farmer’s Wife” book-signing May 12 NANCY FICHTER ket. She is already working on an outreach program, meeting local restaurant owners and new people to talk 'one on one' about the market and its benefit to this area. Traveling for 15 years as a biological anthropologist after graduation from Michigan State University, she and her husband, Robert, moved to Moss Lake with family. Nancy's late father, a professional engineer, See FICHTER, Page 7A
After 30 years of writing about life with “The Farmer,'' it's time to share the humor which may be the richest crop ever grown on the family farm, says Kathryn Hamrick. Kings Mountain Historical Museum will host the former newspaper columnist for a program on her new book, “The Farmer's Wife” Thursday, May 12, at a book signing at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited. In her columns, which appeared in the Shelby Star from 1983-2004, Hamrick shared the witty and com-
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Upbeat energy gets a big A plus in David Reed's 6th grade Language Arts class. Reed, 36, is Kings Mountain Intermediate School's Teacher of the Year and one of five finalists for Cleveland County Teacher of 2016. “I believe in giving back to my students, teaching is a team effort because each student learns differently and come from diverse backgrounds,'' he said, adding, “It's up to me and my co-teacher Julie Sparrow and our support staff and we're on the same page to reach all 54 of these teenagers so they want to be in school.'' Obviously Reed has a good rapport with his students and brings excitement into the classroom. When Reed isn't in school he's on the Swarm Squad for the Charlotte Hornets and runs flags for the Carolina Panthers, part
DAVID REED time jobs he has held for five years. His job begins when the Panthers score a touchdown, he brings down the flags across the field and in the recent season when the Panthers won the national championship there were many touchdowns. “The final game was so exciting with the crowds and the celebration with confetti everywhere and I was a part of it,'' he said. The Swarm Team's job for the See REED’S CLASS, Page 7A
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