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28 Jan F.I.T. & P.H.A.T. CARDIO PARTY FUNDRAISER 2012 HAS BEGUN AND IT?S TIME TO GET OUR WORKOUT ON!! YOU?RE INVITED AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO JOIN US FOR THE LARGEST FAMILY…

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28 Jan Charlotte Bobcats vs. Washington Wizards Everyone?s ecstatic that the NBA is back an action, and that means Tickets to the Bobcats vs. Wizards game are as popular as …

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Mount Holly Area News

Family wants answers in unkempt cemetery full of unnamed graves

It took Jasmine McCorkle and her family members an hour searching through waist high weeds to find her father's headstone.

It appeared to be uprooted Friday when the family visited.

"It's sad in itself that I don't have my father anymore, but…” Jasmine McCorkle said as she burst into tears.

Her father was buried at Beasley Memorial Gardens in 1994. The cemetery near Mount Holly has not been maintained in years.

Bones have reportedly surfaced at other grave sites.

"This is ridiculous, uncalled for," said Vanessa McCorkle.

They don't want to point fingers. They just want Calvin McCorkle's remains moved.

"It's not what you want to come back to," Jasmine McCorkle said.

But they are not sure his remains are even by the headstone they visit.

Calls to Beasley Memorial Gardens only lead to a dead end. The number is disconnected.

The owner, Odell Beasley, was arrested in 2007 for the condition at the cemetery, but the charges were later dropped.

The Beasley Funeral Home and Beasley Good Samaritan Church own the cemetery, but both are no longer in operation.

The Gaston County's assist manager said in an email that the Beasley family has "so far been able to legally shield themselves from responsibility."

And they have left the McCorkle family wondering what has happened to Calvin McCorkle's remains.

The county has worked for years with no resolution. The county has not responded to questions about what they will do next. 

_{Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:26:00 -0500}

Details on the death of Rock Hill man

Donald Hardin and his older brother Alexander both retired from General Tire, and they lived only a few houses down from each other on Orr Drive in Rock Hill.

On Thursday afternoon, Alexander, known as "Boot," was found dead.

"I can't understand it," Donald Hardin said. "I don't know why anybody would do that."

The 64-year-old had been beaten in the head, possibly several days before he was discovered.

Family members became concerned for a variety of reasons. Neighbor Corey Minton had been close to Hardin for more than twenty years.

"He was like a father to me," Minton said. "He had my back."

Minton noticed on Wednesday that Hardin's dog was running loose in the street chasing the mail carrier, which was very unusual. He also missed seeing Hardin that morning. He usually saw him outside on his front porch eating breakfast.

"He'd always be yelling at me from his porch. I missed hearing him talking," Minton said. Hardin's daughter, brother, girlfriend and Minton all decided to try and get inside the house on Thursday afternoon.

"I opened the back door and let them in. They walked to the front door and found his body," Minton said. He'd been dead at least a day, possibly two.

On Friday afternoon Channel 9 was with Rock Hill police as they canvassed the neighborhood, going door to door on Orr Drive. Detectives asked neighbors if they heard or saw anything, who usually hung around with Hardin, and when they last saw him alive.

"We're just looking for any kind of information," said Lt. Brad Redfearn with Rock Hill police.

Channel 9 learned of a new detail in the case on Friday. On Sunday, a man named Larry Ellis filed a police report saying someone robbed him, and hit him in the head. The alleged incident happened outside of Hardin's home. The report is sketchy and police are investigating that case as well.

Ellis has been interviewed about the robbery, but not about Hardin's death, police said. It's not clear if that incident is linked to the slaying.

Donald Hardin said his brother never bothered anybody and that the whole ordeal is in God's hands, but he struggles to sleep at night.

"It's a hurting thing. I do my best to try and hold up, but it's hard when you're laying by yourself at night," he said.

The York County coroner has not yet pinpointed an exact time of death. It's also not known if anything was missing from the house.

_{Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:20:32 -0500}

For Dem hopefuls, none have McCrory's campaign cash

Their records are crucial to winning over voters, but candidates have to have money to make sure their message is reaching those voters.

The latest campaign finance reports were due Friday.

Gov. Bev Perdue, who is no longer in the race for a second term, has more than $2 million in her campaign war chest.

Former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory’s information had not been posted online Friday afternoon, but he said during a conversation he had raised a similar amount of campaign capital.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, who announced he was running for Perdue’s open seat, had $356,000 left over from his mayoral race.

Congressman Brad Miller had $187,000 in his federal war chest about four months ago.

And it appears that Erskine Bowles, who has also been quiet on his plans for 2012, does not have a campaign fund set up yet.

Davidson College professor Susan Roberts said any Democrat thinking about a run is well aware of the financial hill he or she has to climb to catch up to McCrory.

“Money’s a factor. Endorsements and the primary – you’ve got several months before the primary, a very short window to raise a lot of money,” she said.

Perdue has the ability to forward her war chest to the state Democratic Party, if she chooses to.

_{Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:04:54 -0500}

News Source: MedleyStory More Local News Stories