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Page 3
VN,C; is q national leader in using electronic
money -. . rage
Black law grads mostly .angry over failing
marks on bar exam , PageX'
Dr. Frank Weaver sees ; Arj?Af irir or ;
. schools ' . v . -lage ft
Kids Cooking . : PagelU
' Words Of Wisdom
. : The only man who never makes a mistake fa)
the man who never does anything ,. ' '
: - . Thedor Roosevelt
The best way to stop a bad habit is never to
begin it. - " ;
, l.C. Penney
VOLUME 60 - NUMBER 35
DURHAMNORTH CAROLINA SATURDAY; SEPTEMBER 4. 1982;
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913
PRICE; 38 CENTS
9lty."Q. Winers and Community
Leaders At Odds OMr Expressway Plan ,
ft3v StJ 1
The New Community
This is thearea near the present Crest Street Community where residents will j"Ovedo make way for plummet.
completion of the East-West Expressway. Some properly owners in tne area are a. uuu p - r j.
Some Crest Street pro-
'. perty owners and the
leader of the
r neighborhood's' pom-'
A'niunity organization
., : have suddenly found
themselves on opposite
sides of a plan to relocate
' the community artd pave
v way for completion of
the East-West Ex
pressway. The property owners
contend that the N.C.
Department , t , ,.of
Transportation is trying
to. buy property that is
not in the , way of the
highway; much of which
war only recently includ
ed 1n the plan. The pro
perty owners also argue .
that if they move into a
proposed redevelopment
complex neaj1 a Duke ;
Power substation, their .'
property values will
Campus Hill Residents May
Boycott Store They Didn't Want
proposed
redevelopment site
begins at Bass Street near
the old Hickstown
School, and extends
southward to the end of
Crest Street.
Several families cur
rently living in this area
will have to sell their
homes and move, to
make way - for the new
development. The new
development will literally
circle a Duke Power
Company substation,
giving rise to criticisms
from property owners
that their values will
decrease if they sell their
current property to the
i state and move into the
! new area.
Mrs. Lizzie Martin,
for example, a 70-year-old
homeowner who
lives on Shirley Street,
contends that even
though she periodically
attended community
council meetings on the
subject, she was not in
formed until July that
' her home would be
destroyed by the ex
pressway plan.
"At some of the
meetings they said they
wouldn't bother this
street," she said, "and
sometime last month
(July), it just came up all
at once. I still don't get
it."
But Willie Patterson,
president of the Crest
Street Community
Council, says that he is
pleased with the arrange
ment his organization
has worked out with
local and state officials,
and adds that any
disagreement must stem
from misunderstanding.
"The city, the state
and the federal govern
ment dealt with us in
good faith," Patterson
said. "We wanted therri
to know from the very
beginning that we were
serious about what we
were doing. We want to
avoid future court bat
tles, but if we have to go
back to court we will."
The community
organization took the
issue to court in 1975,
charging that plans to
build the expressway to
Hillsborough Road and
beyond to 1-85 would
destroy the Crest Street
community, and thereby
violated their civil rights.
The expressway is
designed to connect
north and south
Durham, and relievc
traffic problems on the
city's western end, accor
ding to city officials.
The expressway could
also have another in
teresting purpose in light
of downtown revitaliza
tion plans currently
underway. If the east
west loop around the city
is ultimately connected
to 1-85, the expressway
could provide a new
direct link to downtown
Durham.
Central to the core of
the Crest Street battle
was relocating the entire
community 'intact. This
was an attempt to avoid
what has been the tradi
tional devastation of ur
ban renewal and "pro
gress" programs in black
communities. In most in
stances, entire black
communities have been
displaced. Family and
neighborhood patterns
that had existed for years
have been disrupted.
Several months ago, .
when city officials an
nounced the so-called
(Continued on Page 4)
"If tneY want tol
boycott the store,"
Blackwood said, "that's
their prerogative. As far ;
as I m concerned, there S :
By Isaiah Singletary -
The convenience store
at the corner of Alston
Avenue and Alston
Avenue Road opened for
business
some'
Campus Hill community ; becaiisc they losUhe bat
say mey may noi spenu , tie at city hall."
any money there. Thecity hall battle was
"We have taken no of-' fierce and bitter. ;
f icial or organized !ac- , Blackwood, : a , local
tions yet," said Thomas1 businessman . who:
meone from the college
raised objections to the
plan.'
cut-through traffic in the 1
neighborhood, thereby
increasing the danger of
automobile accidents. ,
DiirinB the debate. Ci-
residents of the want to boycott the store Hunt J pointed "out the across the street from the
Blackwood referred to .' ;
law Aftri
... fc-Sii --.....: V'
NCCU; . whose
Davis, president of the
Campus Hill Communi
ty Organization, "but ,
the general feeling in the
community is that we
should boycott the store.
Most of our members
.have been put of town,
but I expect that inlour
next meeting, we (will
discuss this issue.. .";
Davis said the group's
next meeting is scheduled
for the second Sunday in .
September.
But the store's owner,
John Blackwood ap
peared unruffled by the
possibility of a boycott k
by community residents.
operates several other;
convenience ' stores,
around the city, went
before the Durham City
Council to get the tract
of land rezoned. The
plot is at the front en
trance of the Campus
Hill Community.
Community residents
packed the council
chambers to protest the
proposal, arguing that
the proposed store would
have a negative effect on
the neighborhood. !
They said the store
would cause property
values to plummet,
would cause increased
council had recently!
turned down a rezoning
request for a black en
treprenuef because of
negative community
reaction. He argued that
it would then be unfair
to grant Blackwood's re
quest. Blackwood is
white.
Nevertheless, the
council granted the
rezoning request.
Blackwood says he
believes most of the com
munity supports the
store.
"Before we built the
store," he said, "I talked
to people whose property
adjoined the store's pro
perty and to people on
both sides of Alston
Avenue. They said they
; wanted a store. There
was no trouble until so-
; store. V As'one of tne
stores vtlosest fb the
Alston Avenue 'side of
the V NCCU campus,
Blackwood says he an
ticipates a high level of
patronage from
students.
However, several
students, questioned ran
domly about the store
and the neighborhood's
reaction to it, said they
will go along with the
wishes of the
neighborhood group.
Others said they don't
,know enough about the
situation to make a wise
decision.
And so the fight con
tinues, and according to
'Davis, Campus Hill
residents shouldn't be
counted out yet;
r
1
1
1
ilb;-i-:-
BUY QUICK
FOOD MART
"4 1 !
t- r 7 - 1 -r
. 1 4
Tkr".
1 ii
-1
3 4 'mXhfnfPi. ;
Neighborhood Group Might Boycott
Several leaders of the Campus Hill community organization say they might launch a boycott of the Buy
Quick Food Market (pictured above) because the neighborhood did not want the store right at the enirano
Frye Retires With Plaudits
I
Newcomers Get Shock From
Durham's High Water Rates
By Donald Alderman
In 'mid-July, Mrs.
N.R. Jordan, a retired
convalescent home
owner moved back to
Durham, her hometown,
arid vuickiy discovered
that in this city water
holds its own, and a lot
of everybody's else's as
well.
- First, Mrs. Jordan, a
widow, got hit with a $20
deposit to have her water
turned on in the smaU
three-room house she
had just moved into.
water bill came. It was
just under $20, and she
"hit the ceiling,
to check her house for
leaks, anything that
might help reduce the
Mrs. Jordan. . water bill. None ot this
Durham native whn haH worked, because Mrs.
lived here for years
before moving away, got
city workers to check her
Then, the first month's r meter, called a plumber
The Meter Means Money
i Every time a city worker comes by and reads a meter for your hous like the
water meater pictured above, it's going to cost you monev. Not onlv thai. It
will cost you more money than In most cities, because Durham has some of the
states most expensive water. . , rsM.,
Jordan much , to her
chagrin had come
home to find that'
Durham, the state's fifth
largest city, has one of
North Carolina's highest :
water rates. ,-;Y
As longtime residents
already know,, and as
newcomers X. quickly
discover, the monthly .
bill takes a sizable chunk
out of your pocketbook. ,
Durham's ' average
water ' bills range from
more than twice as much '
to just over 10 per cent
more than the cost of
water in several other
North Carolina cities.
According to John G.
Pedersen, the city's
budget and management
director, Durham's rates
are considerably higher ,
than most other cities
because the water system,
pays for itself. No
money from property
taxes go into the water
expense : - account ,
Pedersen explained.
As a matter of fact,
the way city officials ex
plain the case, the water
and sewer system helps
,to finance .the general
(Continued on Page 7)
By Donald Alderman'
During hiearly career
years Henry E. Frye
fought legal battles as a
Greensboro attorney;
business '. battles as
founder and chief ex
ecutive officer of a bank;
and, academic battles as
a NCCU law professor.
Then, at 36, when
many men are settling in
to the comfortable niche
of a lifelong career, Frye
went to Raleigh and
launched a new battle. In
1969, Frye was elected to
the N.C. House of
Representatives, the first
black since Reconstruc
tion no sit with the,
"a long battle."
I As the first black ap-
I pointed to the powerful
Budget Advisory Com-
, mission, Frye influenced
the increased state fun:
ding for black colleges
and universities that
came about in the 70's.
Frye also helped publicly
supported black or
phanages to get the same
money that went to
publicly supported white
orphanages.
Frye was also behind
; legislation that gives city
governments a greater
' degree of lawmaking
authority before having
to go to the General
many battles have yei 10
be fought and that now
is not the time for black
people to relax vigilance.
The retiring
lawmaker, a native of
Ellerbee in Richmond
County, called for an
end to the second
primary in North
Carolina elections. This
is the only state that re
quires a party candidate
State's lawmakers. In Assemory to gei me
1980 ' Frve. an asute leeway, ne aiso neipea
politician, called a
oioneer by friends and
colleagues, moved across
the lawmaking hall to the
State .Senate.
During his 14 years in
the state legislature, Frye .
has been quietly effective
in many ways spec
tacular but always
without fanfare,
For: example, Frye;
worked behind ' the
scenes to restructure th
state's election laws so
citizens' are encouraged
to register ana vote.
rather than
discouraged.
increase the number ot
! blacks who sit on the
lUNC Board of Gover
nors, that runs the
statewide university
system.
So, with these and
many other notches in
his legislative gun, these
and many other feathers
in his lawmaking war
bonnet, Frye is retiring
from the Senate at
I it J" 1
... ...
end of his current term.'
i' Recently, hundreds of
his colleagues, friends
and supporters from
being across the state gathered
in ivaiciK" unuci me
FRYE
the ' to get at least 50 per cent
He sponsored leeista- I auspices of the Associa
tion that virtually forces tion of Black Elected Of-
landlords to proviac oe
cent living quarters for i;
residents who rent from
these property owners, j
Frye calls the effort to.
eradicate "slumlords"
;of the vote before
I becoming his ; party's
nominee for elective of
fice. He also urged the
black lawmakers to sup
port the establishment of
a lobbying office
mg to give more atten
tion to his law practice
and other business in
terests, and his family,
Frye called the legislative
process "long, hard
; work that is slow to pro
duce results."
His view goes back
, almost 20 years.
I "When I was first
elected," he said. "I felt
I had a heavy burden to
carry. I worked real hard
to read every bill and at
tend every meeting and
just tried to be on top of
everything."
Frye said he made his
decision to retire before
a constitutional amend
ment that would have in-
i , , . r
to four years was
defeated by voters in
June; But he added that
"the constant strain of
getting out every two
years and drumming up
support gets to you after
a while."
.Though he leaves the
Senate in December.
Frye will still be involved
in government as a
member of the Budget
Advisory Commission.
Observing that Trye
some of the senator's
friends and - colleagues
talked about a return to
in the fray.
Kaieign io pusn. tor Ben Ruttin. a senior
ficials to honor Prye and issues and concerns of t assistant to Gov. Jim
bid him adieu from specific interest to black, Hunt, said: "Henry has
public life. ! people. Frye said work .honored us with his ser-
Speaking to the group.
Frye ; characteristically
sounded a warning that
has already begun to' vice...There are lot of
start the lobbying office. ; options for him. He
Noting that he is retir- (Continued on Page 6)
, !;:.'';:? f J. - ,.-::':,rjr,:;;4