COCHRAN - A middle Georgia city plans to keep the Confederate flag flying at the municipal building -- at least for now. <br>
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Cochran Mayor Charles Killebrew cast the deciding vote Thursday in a dispute about flying the flag on city-owned property. <br>
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The City Council in Cochran -- which has 4,500 residents -- called the meeting after residents objected to the flag. <br>
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Council members were split three-to-three on the issue of whether to take down the flag -- now padlocked in a spot near a Confederate memorial. <br>
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The flag was erected last year next to a 1910 monument to Confederate soldiers that stands in front of the city's chamber of commerce. The Sons of Confederate Veterans did not seek permission before raising the flag on city property, but the mayor says he thought its location at a monument would not be controversial. <br>
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The head of the local chapter of the NAACP -- Doris Harris -- says the flag represents slavery and the issue is not over.