Volume 129 • Issue 30
kmherald.com • 704-739-7496
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
75¢
Filing deadline August 1 for Nov. 7 election
More candidates file
Race to watch Contests develop for two council seats is school board T h e election season is in full swing and the race to watch is the KATHY FALLS Clevel a n d County Board of Education where four seats are up for grabs and where three Democrats and four Republicans have officially filed for the Nov. 7 municipal election and the eighth, incumbent Kathy Falls, has acquired petition paperwork and is collecting signatures required to appear on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. The filing period for all candidates has been extended to Tuesday, Aug. 1 and the deadline to collect signatures to appear as an unaffiliated candidate was extended to Sept. 27. Danny Lee Blanton, 1827 Creek Ridge Road, incumbent, Robert Paul Queen, 2632 Pamlico Drive, Rodney Eugene Fitch, 905 Allendale Drive, all of Shelby, and Kevin Whisnant, 206 Lutz Road, Lawndale, all Republicans, have filed as candidates with the Cleveland County Board of Elections. Three Democrats – board Chairman Phillip Glover, 125 Chickasaw Drive, Guy N. Suttle, 358 Country Club Dr., and Barbara Bass Romich, 122 Oak Point Dr., Cherryville (Moss Lake), have filed with the Cleveland County Board of Elections. Other races in the Nov. 7 election: City of Kings Mountain Ward 2: Incumbent Mike Butler and Patty Hall; At Large - Incumbent Curtis Pressley and David Allen; Ward 3: incumbent Tommy Hawkins. Kingstown Mayor – David
Lattimore, incumbent; Edgar Oglesby, Clarissa Reid, Johnny Smith. Kingstown town council (four seats) – incumbent Horace Jefferies, incumbent Michael Mintz, Janet Gerald, Gregory Freeman, Debra Johnson. Lattimore Mayor – incumbent Alton Beal; Lattimore aldermen (three seats) Gary Hall, June Whitaker, Carolyn Wince, all incumbents; commissioner, Paula Eaker. Fallston mayor – Doris Weaver, incumbent; town council, two seats, incumbents Bill Herndon and Doug Clay. Earl Mayor – Incumbent Max Hopper, Noah Anderson; Earl Town council three seats, incumbents Patti Norman, Ann Thackerson, Betsy Lavender, incumbents, Debbie Anderson. Casar Mayor – Eddie Walker, incumbent; Casar council, three seats, Harrill Bracket, Sharon Moses, Debbie Morgan. Boiling Springs Mayor – Bill Ellis; Boiling Springs commissioners - two seats, incumbents Marty Thomas and James Beason Jr. and Patrick Litton. Belwood council (two seats) Rodney Willis and Emily Sisk, incumbents. Cleveland County Water Board – Amy Bridges, incumbent; Don Melton, John Taylor. Shelby – Ward I Eric Hendrick, incumbent; Ward 4, Dennis Bailey, incumbent; Ward 5 – Ben Kitrell Jr., incumbent. Mooresboro town council – Benny Smith and Tom Whitaker incumbents. Town of Lawndale Mayor – John F. Sain, Lawndale commissioner – Paula Eaker. Town of Waco alderman – Judy Thompson and James McAbee Town of Polkville – Harold Terry.
Aiken assuming CCC duties Native Tennessean Dr. William C. (Bill) Aiken will assume his duties as Interim AIKEN President of Cleveland Community College August 1. “We have been very impressed with Dr. Aiken’s credentials and with him personally,’’ said Wes Westmoreland, chairman of the college board of trustees. “The Board believes Dr.
Aiken will help us move the college forward,’’ Westmoreland added. Aiken retired in 2012 as President of Sampson Community College and since retirement served as Interim President at Haywood Community College, Rockingham Community College, Paul D. Camp Community College in Virginia and Robeson Community College. He said that among his priorities are being a part of campus life as well as being visible in the community and meeting the needs of students while responding to the needs of business as the college plays an important role in advancing economic development for the region.
A contest developed this week for the Ward 2 and Atlarge seats open on the Kings Mountain city council in the PATTY Nov. 7 municipal HALL election. Patty Hall filed last week for the Ward 2 seat held by incumbent councilman Mike Butler and incumbent At-large coun-
cilman Curtis Pressley filed for re-election and will face David Allen on the ballot. Ward 3 councilman Tommy CURTIS Hawkins has also PRESSLEY filed for reelection. The filing period for all seats open in the county was recently extended to Aug. 1, and the deadline to collect
signatures to appear as an unaffiliated candidate was extended to Sept. 27. Patty Powell Hall, 111 Stowe Acres, has worked in city government over 30 years, 22 years as superintendent of the water plant in Cherryville and before that as lab technician at the Bessemer City water plant for 10 years. Butler, who also serves as mayor pro tem, is running for a third term at city hall. Curtis Pressley is running for a third term as At-large commissioner.
KM National Night Out is Tuesday A bicycle safety class for children who can bring their bikes with them is featured along with exhibits, displays, music and free hotdogs at Kings Mountain’s celebration of National Night Out from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, at the city’s Walking Track at the Jake Early Sports Complex on Cleveland Avenue. Lt. Lisa Proctor will lead the bike safety class and participants in this class will receive a free helmet on a first come basis while supplies last. The Kings Mountain Police Department will
have exhibits, displays , demonstrations and information from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), First Responders, the K-9 Unit, Traffic Units, the Moss Lake Boat Patrol and Explorer Scouts. The Gaston County Rural Police, North Carolina Highway Patrol, and Bessemer City Police Department will be joined by the Kings Mountain Fire Department, Kings Mountain Rescue and the Cleveland County Emergency Management Services. Music will be provided by Parkwood Baptist
Church and Mark Blanton, vocalist, of Mink Productions. Kings Mountain police and firemen will serve free hotdogs and drinks Take your lawn chair and enjoy all the activities,
says Special Events Director for the city Christy Conner. National Night Out, usually, held at Patriots Park, is moved to the city’s See NIGHT OUT, Page 7A
Restraining order extends filing and petition deadlines A temporary restraining order filed by school board incumbent Kathy Falls through attorney Paul Ditz will allow unaffiliated voters in Cleveland County to file for school board using the same deadlines as municipal races. Superior Court Judge Robert Sumner signed the order last Thursday morning that extends the filing period for the November election
Block Party Thursday A Block Party Bash, a Main Street special event, will be held Thursday, July 27, from 6-9 p.m. in downtown Kings Mountain. “This will be a great time for merchants to show off and promote their business or service,’’ said Main Street Director Jan Harris. Booths can be set up on W. Gold Street between Battleground Avenue and Cherokee Street from 5-6 p.m. this Thursday and the public is invited from 6-9 p.m. Mark Blanton will be DJ for the event. Call the Main Street Office at 704-730-2197 for more information about setting up your exhibits.
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to August 1 and extends the deadline to collect 4 percent of registered voters’ signatures (2,535) on a petition to Sept. 22. Falls, who has served on the school board two terms, is registered as unaffiliated. She obtained the petition paperwork from the board of elections to appear on the ballot as unaffiliated and is collecting signatures. Senate Bill 253, which
was ratified June 29, changed school board elections in nine counties, including Cleveland, from nonpartisan to partisan which means a candidate’s political affiliation must be disclosed on the ballot. The bill goes into effect for eight counties in 2018 but for Cleveland County it goes into effect at the November 7 election. Falls said the N. C. Board of Elections interpretation of
the bill was that candidates would have needed to file their petitions by June 30, giving them less than 24 hours to collect the necessary signatures. The declaring of a political party would have had to be done 90 days before the candidate filing opened. The Cleveland County Board of Elections on July 1 voted to apply NC General See RESTRAINING, Page 7A
City’s Gas pipeline work 90 percent complete Nick Hendricks, the city’s assistant city manager/energy director, said that over the last three years the city has identified and repaired several casing shortage issues in gas pipelines. The work being done on Gold Street is the last known casing shortage issue. The city contracted with Dawn Development Company Inc. to install a new natural gas 6 inch steel pipeline from a point in front of the Gentle Moon Restaurant to a point near the intersection of Gold and Cansler Streets. That is why the street has been closed.
Through yearly federal compliance inspections, the City of Kings Mountain’s Natural Gas system owns and operates many natural gas casings that are located under highways and railroads. These casings provide an avenue for a natural gas pipeline to run through, while being protected with electrical DC current called cathodic protection as well as the pipeline itself. All casings are steel pipe and all pipelines that travel through the casing are also steel pipe. Per Federal requirements these steel casings and pipelines must maintain
separation with spacers to eliminate the potential of a DC short. When the current is disrupted pipe corrosion will take place, thus creating a potentially unsafe situation. Hendricks said 90 percent of all work has been completed on Gold Street between Cherokee and Battleground, as well as in Patriots Park. The only thing left on the Cherokee Street side is welding the new pipeline to the existing pipeline. This is scheduled for some time the week of July 31. Until then the portion of the street will be opened and closed See PIPELINE, Page 7A
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