ih
Kerry McKenzie stands in what was once the back bedrooms of her mother's home at 131 Kristie Lane. The rooms were de- ~
stroyed by a fire on June 27. The family of six was rendered homeless by the blaze. McKenzie and a few volunteers are work-
ing hard to repair what is left of the house to get her family back home. To see how you can help, call Kerry McKenzie at
EMILY WEAVER / HERALD
704-905-7908.
Call Kerry McKenzie 704-905-7908 to find out
how you can help or donate to the Vivian Williams
Help Fund at any Alliance Bank & Trust branch.
iE 0
WARLICK ano HAMRICK
INSURANCE
704.739.3611 :
106 East Mountain Street
Kings Mountain, NC
WWW. KMinsnre: com
Month later, family still
= EMILY WEAVER
Editor.
Sixty-eight-year-old Vicki
Williams sat on the screened-
in front porch of what is left
of her home at 131 Kristie
Lane Monday afternoon
fighting off the heat. Tears
trickled down her cheeks as
she remembered the June
27th early-morning fire that
left her and five others home-
less.
"[ cried, 'Oh God what am
I going to do?" she said.
Minutes later a Kings
Mountain man, who had read
about the tragedy in the news-
paper, called to help.
"He said 'God led me to
call you!" smiled Vicki's
fights to get back into
home damaged by fire
Since then, the Kings
Mountain man has worked to
rally support, seeking volun-
teer labor and supplies :
needed to help the family
move back into their home.
No one died in the blaze
and for that the family is eter-
nally grateful. But rebuilding
their lives from the ashes has
not been easy. What remains
of a houseful of belongings
now fills half of a 10-foot-by-
10-foot storage unit.
With a pink pacifier in her
mouth and her father close
behind, two-year-old Summer
Bell padded quietly through
the empty smoke-stained
front room of the only home
she's known. No toys in sight.
daughter Kerry McKenzie.
See HELP, 5A
Y KEEPSA KE EDITION INSIDE
‘Dark Knight’
victim had ties
to KM native
+ ELIZABETH STEWART °
lib.kmherald@gmail.com
The deadly massacre of 12 people in Aurora, Colorado
and the injuring of 58 other movie-goers Friday shocked the
country and hit home to Kings Mountain friends of one of
the victims.
Rebecca Wingo, 32, a working mother pursuing a college
degree, was the former wife of Robert Wingo Jr., 35, who
grew up in Kings Mountain and graduated from Kings
Mountain High School in 1995.
"Keep us in your prayers," said Robert Wingo Jr. to Betsy
Wells, a retired Kings Mountain teacher whose son, Hart, was’
in his graduating class and keeps in touch with him on Face-
book.
Wingo posted on Facebook that the mother of their two
daughters, Jaelyn and Jewel, was a victim, He asked that
"everyone be thinking of us at this time." :.
Marcus Weaver, who took two bullets to his right arm,
told television reporters that he tried to shield the body of his
friend and another woman and tried to get help.
Authorities identified the gunman as James Holmes, 24,
a neuroscience student at the University of Colorado-Denver,’
who was arrested behind a car at the theatre where "The Dark
Knight Rises," was premiering to a full house.
"My heart goes out to all the families," said Betsy Wells,
who sent condolences to Wingo and learned that Horan &
: : See DARK KNIGHT, 5A
Kings
Mountain’s
Dremiel
Byers is in
London this week/preparing for Fri-
day’s opening of the Summer
‘Olympics.
Byers, a heavyweight wrestler in
the Greco-Roman division, is mak-
ing his second straight trip to the
Olympics after winning the recent
U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa City,
Iowa.
Byers finished seventh in the
2008 Olympics in Beijing, China,
but was disappointed in that show-
ing. 'He said he took his opening
round opponent lightly and has now
has set his sights on winning the
Gold medal in London.
Byers, 37, began his wrestling ca-
reer at Kings Mountain High School
where he was 1993 North Carolina
State Champion. He thought his
wrestling career was over when he
went to North Carolina A&T on a
‘football scholarship, but he resur:
faced as a wrestler in 1999 with the
U.S. Army World Class team in Col-
KM’s Dremiel Byers gets
2nd shot at Olympic gold
orado Springs, CO. >
“This is a big opportunity for
me,” Byers says of the 2012
Olympics, which officially opens
-early Friday morning (London time)
with the completion of the Torch
Run.
“It’s real important to make good
on this one,” Byers said. “I don’t
want to sit back and wait. Some of
the guys are young and they come
right at you. This time I’m going to
put them in their place as soon as the
whistle blows. I want to take points
when I can get.them. I’m not going
to stop until the whistle blows.
“There’s going to be a sense of
urgency this time, because the last
time I didn’t:score,” he said. “That’s
not my way. I am going to go out and
get the points.”
Like anyone else, Byers would
love end his career as Olympic
champion, but at this time he says he
. has no plans to retire anytime soon.
“I still feel like I can keep going
and be a world contender,” he says.
“I feel some pain in my back some-
times. I guess that’s old age.”
DREMIEL BYERS
Many of his Kings Mountain
friends and relatives will be follow-
ing Byers’ Olympic gold quest via
TV, internet, texts and other media.
“I’m very proud of the support of
the people back home,” he said. I
know they are all rooting for me. I
promise them I will give my best ef-
fort. They can count on me to do all
I can to make sure this happens.”
Kings Mountain native
Jenny Goforth, a recording
artist in Nashville, recently
earned the coveted. World
Champion title in her division
at the American Taekwondo .
Association's annual World
Championships Tournament.
Goforth competed against
nine other top ten finalists from
around the world in the
Women's Black Belt ring at the
Little Rock, Ark. Statehouse
Convention Center on June 21
and 22. After a year of hard
work and strenuous compéti-
tion, Goforth claimed the first
place gold medal in traditional
forms.
She also earned a third place
bronze medal in traditional
weapons. Goforth currently
trains at ATA Karate in Brent-
wood, Tenn.
Goforth was just one of the
5,000 competitors, who tray-
eled to Little Rock for the an-
nual ATA World
WORLD CHAMPION - Jenny Goforth earned the gold medal in her division at the American Taekwondo
Association's annual World Championships Tournament.
Championships, which ‘is a
week-long celebration of Taek-
wondo. This year's event drew
more than 20,000 martial art
students, instructors and fans
from nearly 20 countries for
specialty training seminars;
high rank belt testing and
World Champion competition.
The ATA World Championships
is the largest annual convention
in the city of Little Rock.
With active membership ex-
ceeding 300,000 worldwide, in-
KM's Goforth a Taekwondo World Champion
cluding over 60,000 black
belts, ATA is North America's
largest martial arts organization
dedicated to the discipline of
Taekwondo.
Goforth grew up in Kings
Mountain singing in churches,
school and anywhere she could.
After graduating from Kings
Mountain High, she moved to
See GOFORTH, 5A
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