Gaston County's top stories of 2022

Kevin Ellis, The Gaston Gazette
·5 min read

As 2022 draws to a close, here are some of the top stories from the past year.

These stories include instances of institutional problems, such as issues with teachers' pay and deaths at Gaston County Jail, along with good news, such as plans for a cross-county walking trail, the start of a nursing program at Belmont Abbey College and sports program at Gaston College.

Happy New Year from The Gaston Gazette and thank you for reading.

1. Teacher pay

Gaston County Schools has been experiencing widespread problems with pay since the district went live with a new payroll system from Oracle.

Gaston County Schools was a guinea pig for the system, which is meant to be implemented statewide. Since Gaston County went live with the new payroll system in January 2022, teachers and other school staff members have complained that their paychecks have been incorrect, money taken from their paychecks didn't make it to their retirement accounts, and paychecks for some didn't arrive at all.

2. Murder charge dismissed

Mark Carver, right, along with his attorney and family walk to the main entrance of the Gaston County Courthouse to have his ankle monitor removed Friday afternoon, August 12, 2022.
Mark Carver, right, along with his attorney and family walk to the main entrance of the Gaston County Courthouse to have his ankle monitor removed Friday afternoon, August 12, 2022.

Belmont resident Mark Bradley Carver no longer faces a first-degree murder charge in the 2008 death of UNC Charlotte student Ira Yarmolenko.

Gaston County District Attorney Travis Page, who inherited the case when he took office on July 1, 2021, formally dismissed the charge against Carver on Aug. 12. "The evidence no longer supports a charge of first-degree murder against Mark Bradley Carver or Neil Leon Cassada. Accordingly, the remaining charge of first-degree murder against Mr. Carver has been dismissed," Page wrote in a press release after dismissing the charge.

Ira Yarmolenko
Ira Yarmolenko

Carver spent more than eight years in prison until a judge found he did not receive a fair trial in 2019. He was soon released from prison and remained under house arrest awaiting a new trial. His cousin, Cassada, died of a heart attack in 2010, the day before he was to go to trial in Yarmolenko's killing.

Yarmolenko's killing remains unsolved.

3. Jail deaths

The Gaston County Sheriff's Office and Jail building.
The Gaston County Sheriff's Office and Jail building.

Four Gaston County Jail inmates have died since August: 47-year-old Jason Lane Pettus, 29-year-old Dillon Teague, 52-year-old Keith Elmore, and 31-year-old Jordan Moses.

Teague died from methamphetamine toxicity, while Elmore's death was a suicide. Pettus' and Moses' causes of death have not yet been released.

4. 20-mile trail

Family crosses new bridge built at Rocky Branch Park, which will be part of a 20-mile trail from the South Carolina state line to Ranlo.
Family crosses new bridge built at Rocky Branch Park, which will be part of a 20-mile trail from the South Carolina state line to Ranlo.

A 20-plus mile linear trail will soon allow people to start walking, jogging or bicycling from the South Carolina state line, follow the South Fork River by Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, pass through parts of Belmont, Cramerton, McAdenville, Lowell and then end atop Spencer Mountain in Ranlo.

The trail, some of it paved, other parts natural, will be known as the Matthews-Belk South Fork River Corridor and be a part of the Carolina Thread Trail. About eight miles of the trail is already finished, with the remaining 12 miles to be completed or under construction in the next four years.

5. Gastonia Police kill man

Police respond to a shooting on North Edgemont Avenue. Gastonia Police fatally shot a man and two officers were also injured on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
Police respond to a shooting on North Edgemont Avenue. Gastonia Police fatally shot a man and two officers were also injured on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Officers from the Gastonia Police Department shot and killed a man who had reportedly picked up someone else's young children from a daycare. Surveillance footage showed Jason Lipscomb, 21, attempting to drive away and running over an officer as he was shot.

The State Bureau of Investigation was asked to investigate the July 20, 2022, killing. District Attorney Travis Page has yet to rule whether he'll deem the fatal shooting justified or bring charges against officers.

6. Lithium mine

Piedmont Lithium’s proposed 1,200-acre mine in Gaston County sits east of Cherryville and just south of the Lincoln County line.
Piedmont Lithium’s proposed 1,200-acre mine in Gaston County sits east of Cherryville and just south of the Lincoln County line.

Belmont-based Piedmont Lithium still plans to open a mine in northwest Gaston County near Cherryville to supply the material to make batteries for the electric vehicle industry.

The company has asked the state for an extension on its permitting process but still hopes to start construction of a mine in 2024, and begin production of spodumene concentrate and lithium hydroxide in 2026.

Gaston County commissioners have said they will not consider necessary zoning changes until after Piedmont Lithium obtains state permits.

7. Law enforcement changes

Chad E. Hawkins is sworn in as the new Gaston County Sheriff during a ceremony held Monday morning, Dec. 5, 2022, at the Gaston County Courthouse.
Chad E. Hawkins is sworn in as the new Gaston County Sheriff during a ceremony held Monday morning, Dec. 5, 2022, at the Gaston County Courthouse.

Gaston County voters elected Chad Hawkins as the county's first Republican sheriff in decades, but that was not the only change in law enforcement in Gaston County.

Gastonia Police Chief Travis Brittain, Gaston County Police Chief Joe Ramsey, and Mount Holly Police Chief Don Roper all retired. Hawkins, who was the police chief of Belmont, left that post when he became sheriff.

Mount Holly promoted Brian Reagan to police chief in July. Belmont named Boyce "Corky" Falls chief in October. Gastonia and Gaston County have yet to select new police chiefs.

8. Belmont Abbey College nursing

A Belmont Abbey College employee tours the new nursing classrooms on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Belmont Abbey started its nursing program in the fall of 2022.
A Belmont Abbey College employee tours the new nursing classrooms on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Belmont Abbey started its nursing program in the fall of 2022.

Belmont Abbey College followed through with its partnership with CaroMont Health to create a nursing program, and will begin graduate-level courses in January 2023.

Belmont Abbey created its nursing program in partnership with CaroMont Health, which is building a second hospital on land adjacent to the college.

9. Homeless in Gaston

Elizabeth DeSilva wipes tears from her eyes as she talks about the two men who died at their homeless encampment in the wooded area behind St. Paul Baptist Church on North Oakland Street.
Elizabeth DeSilva wipes tears from her eyes as she talks about the two men who died at their homeless encampment in the wooded area behind St. Paul Baptist Church on North Oakland Street.

In the last year, the number of people  living on the streets of Gaston County has apparently doubled, jumping from 126 in the 2021 "point in time" count conducted each January to 258 in 2022.

Numerous tent cities have popped up across Gaston County. Government officials have said they are working on the issues that lead to homelessness.

10. Gaston College baseball

Images from the Saturday, March 26 doubleheader featuring the Gaston College Rhinos baseball team playing in its first game at the renovated Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Images from the Saturday, March 26 doubleheader featuring the Gaston College Rhinos baseball team playing in its first game at the renovated Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina.

Gaston College's baseball team finished its first year of competition with a 41-9 record and a national ranking. Coach Shohn Doty and his assistant coaches, Jacob Rand and K.J. McAllister,

After Gaston College's inaugural season produced a 41-9 overall record, a national ranking and a conference championship, more than a dozen of its players moved on to play at four-year schools.

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-201-7016 or email him at Kellis@gastongazette.com. Reporter Kara Fohner contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County's top stories of 2022