Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Aug. 21, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
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IIIIS D8/20/V1 ODDOO i^HCHUlL I'SIh CAROLINA COLLECTION JSn library UNC-CH g,g°HILL NC 27599-373C ^Ums WM USPS 091-380 yME 71 ■ number 33 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY. AUGUST 21, 1993 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE:30 CENTS NationsBank Denies Sturdivant 1 letter dated August 10, 1993, j by John S. Patterson, asset iger of AMRESCO, to jcy Larry Hall, representing je Sturdivant, AMRESCO jtional, Inc., informed Ronnie ivant that NationsBank "has mined to withdraw the ,[ly [Temporary Quarters jential Inn] from the aplace at this time." RESCO Institutional, Inc., as agent of NationsBank, is isible for the adminisnation management and disposition 01 certain assets of NationsBank, including the Residential Inn, As news of this decision on the part of NationsBank crept into Durham’s African American community this week, reactions heard by representatives of The Carolina Times have ranged from "outright disgust" with NationsBank and the Durham power structure to "this is an insult to all of black Durham." In February, 1993, Sturdivant entered into a lease agreement with NationsBank and the bank subsequently reached an agreement in principle to close a sale to him and others’ The property is a former motel on West Chapel Hill Street on the edge of downtown Durham. It had gone into receivership in November 1991. Due to poor occupancy, the receiver decided to close down operations on November 26, 1991. Subsequently, NationsBank of North Carolina. N.A. took title to the property on December 17, 1991. After it' became publicly known that Sturdivant was negotiating to purchase the property, Eugene A. Brown of Distinctive Properties, wrote a letter to Hugh h^cColl, head of NationsBank, making several accusations about Sturdivant and Residential Inn. McColl tequested that the Asset Management Group of AMRESCO Institutional, Inc., respond on his behalf. John S. Patterson, asset manager of AMRESCO, came to Durham to investigate. According to a June 23, 1993 letter from AMRESCO to Brown, "The visual inspection showed the property to be in a vastly improved condition .... Mr. Sturdivant has been able to rehab and refurnish approximately 70 to 90 rooms and expects to have all rooms operational within the next two weeks. I found the property to be quietly operating and I had no feeling of personal threat during my visit." This letter was signed by John S. Patterson, asset manager. Patterson wrote, "The results of my tour of the property and my discussion with Mr. Sturdivant have convinced me that ybiir concerns relative to the subject property appear to be overstated. The visual inspection showed the property to be in a vastly improved condition since the Bank took title..." The African American community has held two large rallies in support of Sturdivant and his efforts, the second one on August 7 in the rain. Tired Traveler, Two Men On he Prowl, Ends With Death By Fred Bayles AP National Writer traveled with a tired James when ho stopped to rest in tt morning hours of July 23.' also arowled with Larry 0' and Daniel Green, two ' men with a history of violent as chance that crossed the )f ilie three men on the gravel in front of the T&A Flea t, a wide spot at the jclion of U.S. 74 and ilc95, m was the victim, killed by a shot as he sat in his sivc red car. Demery and are the alleged killers, two ar-olds^ho, police say, were in wait of a victim, any iwasn’t just any victim, dead man was, plain and , ihe father of the world’s famous athlete. Most any viciim’s death woultf have of only passing local interest society numb to random cc. one, and the grief of Michael s family, became a national tory and a glaring cautionary Dili lives and our times, aild have been any one of lid Jim Coman, director of )iih Carolina State Bureau of ipiion. :s Iordan had put in a long, liy by the time he eased his 400 off U.S, 74 just south of tnoii, N.C. It was a logical 0 stop for a weary traveler another 120 miles before he id Ills home outside Charlotte, an had spent the previous day lilmington, attending the il of Willie Kemp, a friend lilic old days when both d at the General Electric Co. there, a lifetime before el Jordan had become a word ymous with basketball, a le before James Jordan was h leave the factory line to start ping business. [avuncular man who was a te at Chicago Bulls games. It shared his son’s fondness imbling and a shaved head, as down to earth, a fan who eat of his way to talk with ere and fans, even when el chose not to speak, “thefuperal, Jordan drove 20 [outside town to visit with [’s widow, Azella. He left P p.m. to drive a friend, ;yn Robinson, back to fagton for a late dinner her M was cooking. ! left Wilmington around determined to reach h^use he was scheduled Chicago the next day. ■ the hour, Jordan was used grueling travel. He spent ITS in his car, driving for Ome without calling ’■ L^xus was like a home tljere was a CD player “ lent, a phone for If he got tired, he wough to pull off the road The T&A I Flea Market looks right. Lit by four vapor Hglits,’ its parking lot Can be easily spotted from the road. An asphalt driveway leads right back to the highway. And, after all, this was rural North Carolina, far from urban dangers. Jordan stopped the car, lowered the passenger side window in the sultry sumrher night, and fell asleep. : Sometime earlier, at a trailer park less than a I mile away, Daniel Andre Green left his mother’s trailer and joined up with his old friend Larry Martin Demery. According to police, they already had a plan for the evening: robbery. Less is known about the movements of Green and Demery than their alleged victim that fatrd morning.The two are in custody. Authorities, wary about hurting their case, will say little. What they do say is this: Green and Demery were out for a score. Armed with a .38 revolver, they planned to rob someone, anyone. The intersection down the road seemed a logical hunting spot. Green was just two months out of jail, paroled after two years of a six-year sentence for assault and armed robbery. Demery was out on bail, awaiting trial on armed robbery charges. Authorities describe the two as Ihe products of good homes. "They grew up together," said Robeson County Sheriffs LL Mark Locklear. ’’They’ve been friends for a long time." A young neighbor of Green, 8-year-old Thomas Dial, said he was friends with Ihe alleged killer. Green, he said, taught him the rules of fighting. "He said the only way you get in a fight is if anybody hits you, you hit them back," he said. Police say there was no preliminary to Jordan’s death. Sometime around 3 in the morning Ihe two friends spotted a Lexus with North Carolina plates UNC0023, Michael Jordan’s number when he played for the University of North Carolina. Inside the unlocked car, Jordan slept. "He started to wake up and the gunman got scared," Robeson County Sheriff Hubert Stone said. Authorities have refused to say who was the triggerman. Death came in the form of a single shot to the chest. The bullet remained in Jordan’s body. There was little blood to stain the expensive leather seats. It was only after searching the car and body that the killers realized they had picked a high-profile victim. It took another three weeks before the final pieces came together. Jordan’s body was found Aug. 3 in Gum Swamp, just over the border in South Carolina. The Lexus tiinicd up stripped to the north ill Fayetteville two days later. The bod) was not identified until last Friday. Police .say the killers made their job easy by riding around in the car, making phone calls to their friends. .After their arrest, police said they recovered the NBA champioiship ring Jordan had received rom his son. Back a. the T&A Flea Market, owner T.L, Gerald looked out on his now notorious parking strip. Was it strange to look out on the scene of a murder? he was asked. He shrugged. "Things happen," he said. "They was just looking for someone to rob. They could have found someone a mile away. They could have found me or you. It’s not going to make me afraid of my place." ELECTED OFFICIALS — Left to right are: Horace Johnson, mayor of Hillsborough; Vernon Malone, cliairman. Wake County Commission; William Bell, chairman, Durham County Commission; Moses Carey, Jr., chairmai). Orange County Commission and president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. (Photo by Ray Trent) Moses Carey, Jr. Leads Black County Officials By Ray Trent Moses Ciircy, Jr., chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, was honored at a gathering Thursday at Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, sponsored by the North Carolina Association of. Black County Officials. The occasion was in recognition of his election as president, of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners — the first time an African American has been elected to that position in the 85-year history of the organization. The event was attended by most of the coithty commissioners. North Carolina legislators, city officials and others. In his presentation of Carey, Durham .County Commission Chairman William V. Bell said that 15 years ago, such a gathering of black county commissioners "could have been held in a phone booth." Today, there are almost 90 African American commissioners in North Carolina. Three of them chair their boards; Bill Bell in Durham, Vernon Malone in Raleigh, and Moses Ctifey, Jr. in Hillsborough. Carey credited others with paving the way for him. He cited Richard Whitted who was the first African American Orange County commissioner. Whitted became Orange County Commission chairman and ran unsuccessfully for slate association offices severi times. Carey said that he is carrying on the Whined legacy. "It’s not my skin color that is going to get things done," he said. He credited Durham County Commission chairman Bill Bell witli being his role model. During his tenure as head of Ihe slate organization, Carey said he will lead' efforts to reduce the number of programs that federal and state governments require counties to undertake without supplying the funds to operate them. Carey introduced his future wife] Ms. Peggy Richmond, ; her daughter, Ms. Zanzi Hopkins, and his daughter, Ms. Anndrea Carey. : Music for the event was provided by "Shades." Catering was by Saunders Catering. Mrs. Diane Pledger, director of the Hayti Heritage Center, acted as hostess. Analysis: Hunt Hopes Voters Will Have Change of Heart In Business Recruitment A News Analysis By Dennis Patterson Associated Press Writer RALEIGH (AP) — Gov. Jim Hunt argued that industrial recruiting methods have changed as he convinced legislators to approve $35 million to lure Mercedes Benz, $5 million for recruiting incentives and extended tax credits for jobs in depressed areas. He’ll be making the same argument this fall as he tries to convince voters to accept an economic development bonds proposal they rejected 11 years ago. Voters will decide in November whether td' approve a constitutional amendment that would allow counties to issue bonds for road, water and sewer or other improvements needed to attract an industry. The increased property taxes froip the developed business would theh be earmarked to pay off those bonds, rather than go into the county’s doffers like other property taxes, 1| With i the constitutional amendment, the bonds would be issued without a local vote. Hunt said that is needed because businesses often require a quick response to requests for such improvements when considering sites. "Sometimes, there just isn’t time to have a bond issue with the people," he said. Voters ^ot a chance to make this same constitutional amendment 11 years ago[ And when they went to the polls in 1982, they rejected it on a vote of 810,565 to 182.167. Hunt himself has acknowledged that the proposal might be a harder sell this time around because of the increasing^ erosion of public trust in government. He told a group of 300 county cbmmissioners last week that there are distinct differences between his current term as governor and his two previous, terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ’The problems are bigger and the resources more scarce, he said. And the attitudes about government among those who are governed have undergone a significant change. "People ate more ... questioning, that’s a nice way to put it, about government," Hunt said But Hunt is hoping for a change of heart in the next two months. The constitutional amendment has the support of the county commissioners association and other government groups, but local officials are privately worried about how the measure will fare. It will be on the ballot with $740 million in bond issues that voters are being asked to consider. Those bonds would fund improvements at universities and community colleges, parks, and water and sewer projects. Some supporters are banking that municipal elections — the only other elections being held in November — will mean a heavy percentage of urban voters at the polls. Urban voters, they figure, are more likely to support the bond package than rural voters. And since rural voters have no other reason to go the polls, they are more likely to slay home. A Wake County bond referendum earlier this year was considered a bellwether for the November vote. The bonds narrowly passed, with rural precincts solidly rejecting them. Supporters of the economic development bonds, like Hunt, argue that they will be a good tool for rural and small urban areals to use in recruiting industry. Advocates argue that since the taxes won’t increase on a piece of property until business develops J , county governments can’t lose anything by earmarking the increased taxes for bond payments. (Continued On Page 3)
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