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Thursday, December 14,1989
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1 SJ-LQ Ui I\y
loUS HUfY 4.51-s
on-Salem Chronicle
50 ^TVIlle AL 3595Q "The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly"
VOL. XVI, No. 16
Burke should resign or
face recall, group says
By ROBIN BARKSDALE
Chronicle Staff Writer
Alderman Vivian Burke,
I under fire for her actions at last
week's aldermen's meeting, is
being called upon to resign from
her seat as Northeast Ward alder
man. Some members of her ward
have vowed that, should she not
voluntarily step down, they will
continue with efforts to have her
recalled.
The Concerned Citizens of
?the-Northeast Wardv a groupof
residents which organized in
direct response to Mrs. Burke's
actions, earlier this week sent a
letter to Mrs. Burke asking her to
resign from her seat on the board.
The group also is preparing recall
petitions to circulate throughout
the Northeast Ward.
The Concerned Citizens orga
nized Dec. 7 to discuss Mrs.
Burke's decision to side with the
Republicans at the Dec. 4 Board
of Aldermen meeting. Mrs.
Burke's vote gained her an
appointment as mayor pro tern of
the board but atso removed Afro
American aldermeri from the
chairs of the pivotal finance and
public works committees. At the
meeting, the group agreed to for
ward aletter tcrMre. Burke askfng
for her resignation. The group
also began preparing for a recall.
"The committee based its
actions on the fact that Mrs.
Vivian Burke voted with white
Republicans to oust two black
East Ward residents
to oppose 1-40 jail site
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
. * "? tat*4
y. A group of concerned East Ward residents, parents of Winston
Salem State University students and graduates of the college will meet
Sunday to organize their opposition to the county commissioners' latest
recommendation to put a new jail in the Winston-Salem Business Park.
Alderman Virginia K. Newell promises that opposition to the com
missioners' latest proposal could be much greater than that to the previ
ous site off Patterson Avenue. ? ?
"It's the people, not me, who are calling for a meeting," the East
Ward alderman said Tuesday. "It's basically coming from people all
over town. They want to know what they can do to keep this jail from
being placed on the site. In the last 15 minutes I've gotten five calls
from parents who have students at Winston-Salem State and citizens in
my ward."
The commissioners' proposal to place the detention center and sher
iff's office just east of WSSU's campus, comes at a time when university
officials, its Board of Visitors and Board of Trustees are formulating a
plan to better market the university to students who usually leave the
area to attend other state supported institutions.
"These people are upset because this university is our sacred cow,"
Mrs. Newell said. "How are we to persuade students to attend the uni
versity when there's a big jail complex right next door. I hate to call a
meeting during these holidays when people are planning to go away and
be with family. This is supposed to be a time of peace, but what's going
?on is not peaceful."
Sunday's meeting will be held at 3 p.m. in the Middlcfork Christian
Church at 2216 E. First St. in what used to be called the Brushy Fork
Community, Mrs. Newell said.
Members of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
announced Dec. 7 that they wanted to buy 50 acres in the park from the
investment group Rockingham Properties. A county jail, buildings for
the sheriffs and health departments, and possibly facilities for social
?services and other county officers, would be built on the site.
Please see page A11
aldermen from the powerful posi
tions of chairmen of the finance
and public works committees,"
read a press release issued by the
Concerned Citizens of the North
east Ward. "Mrs. Burke betrayed
the?Democratic ?Party, she
betrayed her constituents in the
Northeast Ward and she betrayed
thcrbfack community.11
According to the press
release, Mrs. Burke was asked to
attend the Sunday meeting "to try
to help ward members understand
her. actions Mrs, Burke chose not
to attend."
When contacted at her home
on Monday afternoon, Mrs. Burke
said that she chose not to attend
the meeting because she had been
made aware that some of the indi
Alderman Vivian Burke
viduals at he meeting would not
Ward. She saidlhat she chose not
to appear before individuals who
lived in other wards.
"I did not intend to go to that
meeting and subject myself to
Please see page A11
624 names needed
By ROBIN JBARKSOALE
Chronicle Stall Writer ?
According to the North Carolina General Statutes, an elected official
may be removed from office at any time by the electors qualified to voil;
for a successor of such incumbent
Ron Seeber, city attorney, said that it is his understanding that the
recall provisions outlined in the state statute also apply to the City of
Winston-Salem.
The process begins with the.circulation of a pctitkm among Qulfe
Red wters. In the cise of the recall of Alderman ~ VjvJSn ^
petition would be circulated only among Northeast Ward residents* Ml
only those residents registered to vote would be coti&te^ quatified ;?$;
sign the petition.
Secondly, 25 percent of the Northeast Ward residents casting villi
for mayor in the last election must sign die petition fri order to ihe j|f$p
cess to continue. Therefore, the namesof at least 624 qualified NbrMiil
Ward resident* moslbeonthe pctitkm iapfder to callfor a rc election to
that ward. It is not riecessary fa* the resident signing the petition io have
voted in the last election, only that the individual be a registered voter
living in the Northeast Ward. Residents of other wards are not qualified
to participate in recall efforts.
Please see page A11
Farewelf To The Chiet ~??
Ervin to retire Dec. 29
By TONYA v. SMITH paved the way for the obliteration
Chronicle Staff Writer of lhc barrier in the city's
_ ^ , fire department.
Thirty-nine years as a mem
ber of Winston-Salem's fire Mr. Ervin, born and reared in
department, nine of which he Winston-Salem, was selling insur
spent as chief, have taught Lester ance before he received a letter -
Edward Ervin Jr. the value of an dated Feb. 14, 1951, informing
opportunity. him that his application for
In March of 1951, Chief appointment to the fire department
Ervin and had been
seven other approved and
men were "I think the City Of Wln$tOH- for him to
given the Salem ha$ boon fortunate to report to work
opportunity to hOVO Someone Of his Caliber at Fire Station
prove that employod In our city gov- No- 4
Afro-Ameri- ernmont, Ervin has been pun'eith
cans could be Qnd , m opin,on Q very Street in the
r/"/:0;,;1 rr
Not only did ua'? and thOSO traits have American sec
Mr. Ervin marked his management of tion of the
prove that, but the fire department." city.
he went sev- ? Alexander Beaty He had
eral steps fur- graduated
thcr, emerging ,T from Atkins
as the chief of a nationally Senior High School in 1943,
acclaimed fire department. At served in the U.S. Army and
month's end, Chief Ervin will received a bachelor of science
retire from his legacy as a history- degree in business administration
making firefighter. from Virginia State University in
Petersburg.
By now, nearly every Twin c . . . . . ,
City resident knows the story of P ar y in is career, le
how then Mayor Marshall C. Kur- En"" WaS ?te? f?r h's ??np??y
fees broke a 4^ deadlock among work as a firer,gh,cr- He ^ ,w0
Board of Aldermen members and Please see page A6
Photo by Mike Cunningham
Violence increases at area high schools, Carver student arrested
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
A 17-year-old, Afro-Ameri
can student at Carver High School
was arrested Tuesday for posses
sion of weapons, drugs and drug
paraphernalia and intention to sell
marijuana.
On the same day at Glenn
High School, a black student used
his crutches to injure a white stu
dent badly enough to warrant a
visit to a hospital emergency
room.
And so ends another week of
violence in the city's high schools.
A deputy sheriff, one of three
. on duty at Mount Tabor High
l have been here since School ,0 dctcr furthcr vio)cm
1980 and / would say that acts, was summoned by principal
95j)ercent of the fights here Robcr, F. Clemmcr to report to
have involved the opposite Carver. The arrested student was
St'x , garnishing >+ basHvill bat, a ..iow
-- Samuel O. Puryear bar and a "billy stick" - similar to
a policc officer's baton, said Susan suspicious looking pouch, Mr.
K. Carson, director of Communi- Clcmmer said.
cation Services for the city-county "He was very cooperative and
system. She declined to comment when I asked him to let mc sec it
further on the incident. he did," Mr. Clcmmer explained,
Cpl. Butch Sims, the school saying that when asked, the young
officer at Carver, said he arrested man told the principal of the
Christchon Lamont Bradley of weapons he had in his car. "We
3X31 Sawyer Street, The senior?didn't have any proof, but seveffd
was arrested for possession with students had told us that he may
intention to sell marijuana, pos- he involved with drugs and that he
session of drug paraphernalia and had weapons in his car."
carrying weapons on school prop- Mr. Clcmmer said the entire
crty, rhc corporal^aid. situation has gfeatly disturbed him
Mr. Clcmmer said he greatly because Christchon is not a bad
regretted having to call in law child. In fact he played the scare
enforcement officials to arrest a crow in Carver's recent presenta
student but felt, "that with the tion of "The Wiz" at the Stevens
amount of drugs on the young Center.
man, he had intentions to sell "I hated to do this and have
them. We had a serious problem been working with this young
here and we needed help." man alt semester trying to get him
Kurt W. Telford, an assistant to come around," Mr. Clcmmer
PfChristcV.i -n ;ng said. Maybe this h^d to happen,
out of the boys restroom with a ' to shake him up anu get him out
of this drug business.
"Carver has sort of been
immune to stuff like this, but now
I'm realizing that the drug prob
lem here is much larger than we
would want to admit. We've got to
do something. We need the sup
port of families, churches, every
-body^o-make some headway with
this problem. Maybe I can talk
with our new mayor^ but
something has got to be done. I'm
sure what's happened to this
young man will prompt other stu
dents to come forth with more
information and hopefully they'll
be deterred from using drugs."
Three Glenn students, two of
whom used to be members of the
football team, were suspended for have let our students
fighting. Two Afro^American stu- know by the actions we ve
dents were walking together and taken that that kind of behav
one was on crutches because of an ior can not be tolerated and
ankle injury, Ms. Carson said. For will not be tolerated."
Please see page A10 ? John C. Jessup