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KINGS MOUNTAIN NC 28086-3450
INSIDE.
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BIG JULY 4
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kmherald.com
Volume 127 eo Issue 25 ¢ Wednesday, June 24, 2015
15¢
Local woman who aided in manhunt says heart goes out to victims
== DAVE BLANTON
dave.kmherald@gmail.com
The attention of a
shocked nation was focused
briefly on Cleveland County
late last week as authorities
closed in on a man sus-
pected of a horrendous mass
shooting that left nine dead
in a Charleston church.
At the center of that
focus was Debbie Dills, an
unassuming office manager
for a Kings Mountain florist
who spotted 21-year-old
Dylann Roof on her way
to work Thursday morning.
She quickly notified author-
ities and Roof was appre-
hended without incident in
neighboring Shelby around
11 am.
As the national media
descended on both Shelby
and Kings Mountain in the
aftermath of the exciting
capture, Dills quickly found
herself in front of CNN,
NBC and Fox News televi-
sion cam-
eras and a
sought-af-
ter in-
terview
subject, in-
cluding a
live satel-
lite inter-
view with
ABC’s
“Good Morning America”
Friday.
Dills, for her part, was
used to watching the news —
not being the news.
“It was a little over-
whelming ... it was awk-
ward,” Dills said while
standing behind Frady’s
Florist reception desk
Monday morning. “It was
something I’ve never been
through before.”
By Friday afternoon,
calls were still pouring in
to the King Street florist
owned by Todd and Rhonda
Frady. Members of the press
were looking for interviews
DYLAN STORM
ROOF
and some [
both in the |
Charles- |
ton area
and lo-
cally were
calling to
congratu-
late Dills,
send her
flowers,
or both.
(Dills and
Frady are
request-
ing that
any flowers or other gifts
be instead be directed to
Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church in down-
town Charleston). She has
also spoken briefly with a
nephew of one of the vic-
tims.
After an exhausting 24
hours, Dills said that by that
point she was making her-
self scarce. Besides, her big-
gest concern was for those
killed and wounded in the
DYLAN STORM
ROOF
..arrested
in Shelby
attack at the AME church,
one of the oldest black
churches in the country. She
said her heart was going out
to the lives shattered in what
appears to be a racially mo-
tivated attack by a Colum-
bia, S.C., native with white
supremacist leanings.
“Really, the whole time
the news people were here
I was thinking ‘this isn’t
about me,’” Dills said. “The
focus should be down there.
This was about nine peo-
ple sitting in a bible study.
I understand he needed to
be caught, but my thoughts
were always with the vic-
tims. It was such a terrible
tragedy.”
Roof was charged Fri-
day with killing nine peo-
ple during a prayer meeting
at the iconic Charleston
church on Wednesday night.
A Charleston judge set his
bond at $1 million.
According to police, he
toted a .45 caliber handgun
Debbie Dills, right, poses for a photo with her boss, Todd
Frady, at Frady's Florist in Kings Mountain. . Dills and Frady
made the initial call Thursday morning to KMPD Officer
Shane Davis who relayed to Shelby police that the suspect's
black Hyundai was traveling on US Highway 74 west. Shelby
police arrested Roof without incident and on Thursday eve-
ning took him to the Shelby Municipal Airport and flown
back to Charleston, SC.
to the church that evening
and quietly participated in
bible study for about an
hour before opening fire on
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
churchgoers. One survivor
— uninjured in the attack —
said the gunmen was
See WOMAN, Page 7
Revolutionary drama
opens Friday night
By Caleb Ryan Sigmon
The = costumes
have gotten their last
few stitches. The
lights have been pro-
grammed. The stage
has been swept. The
weapons are loaded and
ready for battle. It is time
for “Liberty Mountain” to
have a triumphant Opening
Weekend!
Playwright = Robert
Inman (former newscaster
on Charlotte’s WBTV and
author of numerous books,
movies and plays) has skill-
fully crafted this captivating
i 633 RT
NEE IN
story about the Battle of
Kings Mountain. It fea-
tures live onstage fighting,
a wide-ranging scope of
settings, adrenaline-rushing
music and a story that will
yank on your heartstrings.
Even few new surprises and
special effects that weren’t
in last year’s premiere!
See DRAMA, Page 7
Revolutionary drama
a larger, powerful show
ELIZABETH STEWART
lib.kmherald @gmail.com
Returning audiences to
the Revolutionary drama
“Liberty Mountain” should
expect a larger, more pow-
erful show with a few new
twists. The story features
new additions by play-
wright Bob Inman that
were not in last Fall's pre-
Il Il 1
miere. Half of the cast is
100 percent new and the
other half is from last year
but all are in new roles
with the exception of a
few. Jeremy Homesley is
reprising his role as Major
Patrick Ferguson. A few
$100 tickets are available
for Friday night's opening
which is an event mostly
See POWERFUL, Page 7
Second
ELIZABETH STEWART
* lib.kmherald @gmail.com
P
“Pérsonable and popu-
lar Rev. James Thaddeaus
Lochridge Jr., 66, is retiring
June 30 from Second Bap-
tist Church and returning to
what he calls his roots.
“I grew up in the Trop-
ics with the Filipinos as a
son of missionary parents
and the old saying 'what
goes around comes around,”
could apply to me," said
Lochridge, who will be a
pensioner ( the name for
retirees) in Aruba, an island
19 miles long and six miles
wide, 15 miles from Vene-
Baptist
zuela, and a nearly four hour
flight from Atlanta.
Lochridge said he had
been praying about retire-
ment for at least two years
and his brother, Billy, called
from Atlanta one day with
the news that he believed
God was calling James and
Belinda to Aruba. Billy said
he needed his brother to su-
pervise his property there
and the building of an apart-
ment complex.
“Billy said he was sit-
ting at his sewing machine
(he's a well known dress
designer who fashions wed-
ding dresses, etc.) and said
that he wanted his brother
pastor retiring
and sister-in-law to retire
in Aruba. For 27 years their
parents, Mary and the Rev.
James Lochridge Sr., were
missionaries to the Philip-
pines.
The Kings Mountain
Lochridges are advertising
their spacious home for sale
and disposing of furnish-
ings. Then, they will pack
their clothes and head for
the airport.
“We're getting excited,"
said Preacher Lochridge
who said he will miss the
congregation he has served
nine years, the longest ten-
ure during his ministry.
See PASTOR, Page 7
Rev. JAMES T. LOCHRIDGE
JR. = “My best today is ac-
ceptable unto the Lord, but
my best tomorrow should be
better than it was today be-
cause I should have learned
something”
City Council adopts $39.3 M budget
Without
comment
from the pub-
lic, Kings
Mountain
City Council
last Tuesday
unanimously
adopted a
$39.3 M bud-
get for fiscal
year 2015-16.
“This is a tight, lean bud-
get which focuses on infra-
structure upgrades and also
expansion to meet future
Marilyn Sellers
City Manager
“Let freedom sing” at El Bethel Sunday
El Bethel United Method-
ist Church will present “Let
Freedom Sing," a patriotic
gospel/inspirational singing
open to the public on Sunday,
June 28, at 5 p.m.
A love offering will be ac-
cepted on behalf of the mis-
sion team's work, a safe water
project, for Medio Queso,
Costa Rica. Those attending
are invited to take their favor-
ite food pick-up to share with
everyone after the program.
economic development
needs that will bring ad-
ditional revenues to the
city along with job cre-
ation," said City Man-
- ager Marilyn Sellers.
The only addition
from the original bud-
get proposed by Sellers
at a work session with
council recently was
Professional art han-
diers, above, move
the Depression-era
painting, a Revolu-
tionary War scene of
the Battle of Kings
Mountain, back to its
original home, the old
US Post Office, now
the home of the Kings
Mountain Historical
Museum.
Photo by DAVE BLANTON
See story, Page 4
her announcement of a 2%
cost of living raise to city
employees.
This the third and
last fiscal year that Kings
Mountain residents will pay
a 7 1/2% increase in water
and sewer to pay back the
state for the interest free $33
M loan the city borrowed
for major improvements, in-
HOURS:
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cluding running a water line
from Moss Lake to town.
There are no increases in
property tax, electric base
rate, natural gas rate, land-
fill, recycling or storm
water services.
“I'm really excited about
the economic growth we
will be experiencing in the
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 7
oe