KM Herald 1-3-24

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Volume 136 • Issue 1

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

kmherald.com • 704-484-1047

75¢

2023 KM Year in review By Loretta Cozart It was a busy year in Kings Mountain as the community saw more improvements to the downtown district. COVID continued into its third year, with variants causing additional challenges, but folks now treat it like the flu. Funds for the water treatment facility scheduled for the Dixon community were diverted to Pilot Creek for updates and improvements at that facility. As readers will note in this year’s year in review, many story topics continued throughout the year. What was old is being made new again, retaining the town’s history and making new memories for future generations. Below are some highlights taken from the headlines of the Kings Mountain Herald. JANUARY: Thrive Kings Mountain! began the year opposing a new warehouse development by Insignis Partners on 200 acres in the Dixon Community that included eight warehouses. The Catawba Indian Nation filed an appeal after receiving a Notice of Violation due to its relationship with SkyBoat Partners. Tim Moore was voted as NC House Speaker for a record fifth term. Clifford’s

Army Rescue Extravaganza, C.A.R.E., held a hike at the Gateway Trail. The City of KM and Gaston County EMS partnered to offer enhanced services to residents. The American Legion held a male beauty contest. FEBRUARY: Marilyn Sellers retired as City Manager on January 31. CRAVE Hot Dogs & BBQ announced a new restaurant in downtown Kings Mountain in the old Plonk’s Department Store. One of the largest speculative buildings in the southeast, at 799 Sara Lee Access Road, continued construction. Marilyn Sellers received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The city added Work Session to the City Council’s meeting schedule, to be held on the second Thursday of each month. KMLT held a groundbreaking for the next phase of work on the Joy Performance Theater and Liberty Mountain Garden. Objects were shot from the skies over the U.S. and Canada. Preston Brown announced the closure of The Hounds Drive-in. MARCH: The City of Kings Mountain was awarded $400,000 for sediment remediation and a water study. Kings Mountain Family YMCA’s soccer See 2023, Page 4A

Volunteers prepared for the hike at the Gateway Trail in Kings Mountain January, 2022. (Photo by Clifford's Army Rescue Extravaganza)

Albemarle Lithium opened their new location in downtown Kings Mountain in April. (Photo by Loretta Cozart)

City Manager Marilyn Sellers (right) retired on January 31, 2022. Johana pictured with mother after the December 15 city council meeting. (Photo provided)

Pictured L-R: Chris Catania, Bob Arcuri, and Sally Arcuri were announced as the new owners of Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ in Kings Mountain. (Photo by Restaurant Week Magazine)

Cook Out restaurant to build in KM By Loretta Cozart

The Herald heard Cook Out will soon be joining the other dining establishments already on York Road in Kings Mountain. Checking the Register of Deeds Office, a lot has been acquired at 701 Charles Street, on York Road, north of Starbucks. Cook Out was established in 1989 in Greensboro, NC, specializing in fresh meat

for their burgers. According to the company, “All of our meat is ground and pattied every single day, loaded on a truck every single day, delivered to each individual store location every single day, and cooked fresh every single day. This is where our motto was born, ‘Always Fresh, Never Frozen.’”

Their first dine-in restaurant was opened in 1996. By 2008, they had opened their fiftieth restaurant, expanding outside the state into SC by 2010. Its 250th store opened in Mobile, Alabama, in 2018. The closest Cook Out to Kings Mountain is in Gaffney, SC. The Herald has contacted Cook-Out’s corporate office for comments and will share details as they are learned.

Smoke poured through the roof of Eng School of Self-Defense last week. Photos by Eng School of Self-Defense

Two-alarm fire at Eng Auditions for KMLT’s Beauty and the Beast School of Self-Defense By Loretta Cozart

Kings Mountain Little Theater announced auditions for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on: • Friday Jan. 19, 7:00-9:00 pm • Saturday Jan. 20, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm • Sunday Jan. 21, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm • Friday Jan. 26, 7:00 9:00 pm Parts are for ages 10 – 25 years old on the day of your audition. Rehearsals begin February 12 and are on Mon-

days, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Performances will occur on the weekends of April 26 – 28 and May 3 – 5. Check the performance dates to be certain you do not have conflicts for those weekends WHAT to expect at auditions: • friendly faces greeting you inside the door • arrive early enough to fill out form; be prepared to write a short bio • check the rehearsal/performance calendar for personal conflicts • auditions will be in

By Loretta Cozart

groups of 5-8 • only directors and auditionees in the audition area When choosing a monologue or song, remember the content of Beauty and the Beast and that it is a FAMILY show. To prepare for your audition, • Select a monologue from the links provided by KMLT See BEAUTY, Page 5A

On Tuesday, December 26, around 7:40 a.m., the owners of Eng School of Self-Defense at 403 N. Piedmont Avenue at Kings Mountain were notified that fire was detected at the karate school, according to a Facebook post. When the owners arrived, Kings Mountain Fire Department and Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department were putting out the blaze and ensuring no one was injured. According to the post, the owners shared that “the structure still stands and can be fixed. After they

Firefighters walk through the rubble after the two-alarm blaze. cleared the upstairs, they took the time to carry out anything of value. They

helped us load our vehicles with pictures from the See ENG, Page 8A

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