2016 2016 2016
Volume 127
Issue 52
Shipp to be sworn Wednesday morning Ward I city councilman Howard Shipp, who was reelected to another term in city SHIPP elections recently, will take the oath of office today (Wednesday) at 10 a.m. in Council Chambers at Kings Moun-
tain City Hall. Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives Tim Moore, Kings Mountain lawyer, will conduct the ceremony to which the public is invited. Other councilmen and Mayor Scott Neisler were sworn Dec. 15 but Mr. Shipp was hospitalized at the time.
New York man jailed on gun, threat charges A dispute that may have been about bus fare quickly escalated Saturday evening, leaving one man SAVAGE behind bars and facing charges of communicating threats, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon. Police responded to the call at 612 Charles St. (a small street located behind Wendy’s on York Rd.) around 9:30 p.m. when the driver of the commercial passenger bus reported to police that a passenger on board was making threats. “He made threats to shoot and stab every one on the bus,” reads the arrest report narrative detailing the arrest of Jullan S. Savage, 28 and a resident of Staten Island, N.Y. When police arrived at the scene, a search of Savage turned up a .22 caliber revolver tucked into his
kmherald.com
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
waistband. According to the police report of the incident, Savage had been consuming alcohol and/or drugs at the time of his arrest. No one was hurt in the incident, police said. Aboard the bus at the time of the incident were Savage’s three daughters, ages one to three. Savage cooperated with agents from the Cleveland County Division of Social Services and arranged to have the children put in the custody of his mother, who lives in Anderson, S.C., according to police reports. “It all apparently started because he thought the bus company had charged him $20 too much for his ticket,” said Kings Mountain Police Patrol Captain Jerry Tessneer. Savage, whose address is listed as 346 Findley Rd., Staten Island, is currently jailed in the Cleveland County Detention Center. It was not clear what the nature of his prior felony conviction was.
75 CENTS
2015: Year In Review DAVE BLANTON dave.kmherald@gmail.com
2015 in Kings Mountain was a year of getting ahead and building on success as we saw a new mayor getting elected, the ground broken on a massive power plant and a historically deep run in the football playoffs for the Mountaineers. New faces Former mayor Scott Neisler beat out incumbent and long-serving Mayor Rick Murphrey, who was running for an eighth term. Jay Rhodes defeated incumbent Rick Moore for the Ward 5 seat. Neisler campaigned on a message of more transparency, while Rhodes won over voters by emphasizing his strong background in fundraising. In the same election, three incumbents were returned by voters to serve another four years: Ward I councilman Rev. Howard Shipp, Ward 4 councilman Rodney Gordon, and Atlarge councilman Keith Miller. The 2015 election season was also tinged with the bizarre, with long-shot candidate and convicted felon Eugene “Sherlock” Holmes running on a anti-homosexual platform that drew attention from Charlotte TV stations and national web sites that cover politics. Holmes fared poorly at the polls, garnering just two votes while also managing to get himself arrested at a polling site on Election Day for obstruction of justice, communicating threats and resisting arrest. Powerful Stuff In was a warm July
NEW NEISLER ADMINISTRATION – Pictured is the new Scott Neisler administration. Front row, from left, Tommy Hawkins, Mayor Neisler, Keith Miller, Rodney Gordon and Jay Rhodes. Back row, from left, Mayor pro tem Mike Butler and Curtis Pressley. Councilman Howard Shipp, not pictured, will be sworn-in this morning at 10 a.m. at city hall. (photo by HALEY WILSON)
Justice Newby administers the oath of office to Rep. Tim Moore of Kings Mountain after his election as N. C. Speaker of the House of Representatives. Moore’s sons, McRae, left, and Wilson Moore, right, on either side of their father. morning when then-Mayor Rick Murphrey joined county and state officials in a clearing on the south side of town to tout the Kings Mountain Energy Center as a major cornerstone in economic development. That day they broke ground on an $450 million NTE power plant facility on
Gage Road, a 480 megawatt natural gas electric generating facility will be capable of powering 400,000 homes and touted by city officials as the largest development project in the city’s history. “You’ve made a wise choice in coming to Kings Mountain,” said Rep. Tim Moore, the speaker of the
N.C. House. “There’s a lot of excitement about this project.” The plant is set to be online by early 2018. Representing Us, Speaking for the House The political star of Tim Moore, a Republican who See 2015, Page 3A
Four in GOP Primary March 15
Three challenge incumbent commissioners ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Count down to New Year in downtown KM Mayor Scott Neisler says that timers to “count down to the New Year” are now included on the Fantasy Light Show in downtown
Kings Mountain and everyone is invited to enjoy the spectacular show for a New Year’s Eve celebration. The mayor said that J Olivers, Cherokee Street Grill and Gentle Moon will all be open for New Year celebrants. “We’ve added a sequence to the light show which is called “The Grinch See COUNT DOWN, Page 6A
Locally, there is just one political race with a Primary on March 15 ( Republican County Commissioner.) Three seats are available and four Republicans have filed, so a Primary will be held to narrow the field to three candidates. The three incumbents – Ronnie Hawkins, Susan Allen and Johnny Hutchins, all of Kings Mountain, face opposition in the Primary from Douglas Bridges of Shelby. The Primary will elim-
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inate one of the four GOP candidates. The three winners of the GOP Primary March 15 will face Democratic challengers Mary Accor of Kings Mountain and Willie McIntosh of Lawndale Nov. 8. Not listed on the March 15 ballot are the two candidates for Register of Deeds
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for Cleveland County – Debra Mull Harrill, Democrat, and Betsy Selznick Harnage, Republican, both of Shelby, face off on Nov. 8. The current Register of Deeds Bonnie Reece did not seek reelection. Tim Moore, NC House of Representatives District 111, is unopposed for re-
McINTOSH
election to his eighth term in the NC House. His name will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. Two Cleveland County residents – Meredith Shuford of Shelby and Justin K. Brackett of Kings Mountain - are on the November ballot as candidates for District Judge 27B- the Shuford See THREE, Page 7A
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