THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1991
46 PAGES THIS WEEK
75 cents
*
lem Chronicle
'The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly" VOL. XVII, No.43
Gospel drama resembles reajMife
drama of the drug problem^^M
ft?ass
Plea bargain leaves
neighborhood in fear
By RUDY ANDERSON American, feels the same way. Her 13-year
Chronide Managing Editor ^ was ^ sieged victim of a rape,
.J and lines' son was exposed to hard core
Residents in a southeast Wiwuon- pornographic material by the same man
Salem neighborhood say they believe the with a criminal history involving similar
handling of a child sex-abuse case lasjgveek abuses dating back to 1953.
may eventually put other children and other But the children, nor their relatives,
residents in their community in jeopardy ever had their day in court, because a
once the man convicted for the crime is Forsyth County assistant district attorney
released. handling the case decided on a plea-bargain
* "If the children in these cases had been arrangement. And that has both Crump and
white, and it was a black man accused of Imes furious because they say they were
these crimes, I just think the outcome neither consulted about the prosecutor's
would have been a whole lot different, V%lans nor told that the case would not be
said Sandra Imes, the parent of one of two heard.
children at the center of a sexual-abuse case "I was told to go back home because
heard last Monday. ' the case would not be heard by assistant
Imes, who is white, has two sons district attorney Janet Branch," said
through an inter-racial marriage. A neigh- Imes, who said she came to court early with
bor, Carolyn Crump, who is an African- her child. &
"Why should our
children be - ~
made to feel
that what hap - *
pened to them
doesn't matter?"
- Carolyn Crump
But the case involving Bobby Junior
Oldham, a white man, was heard. And as
part of a plea bargain, the second-degree
rape charge against him was dismissed and
he pleaded guilty to two counts of taking
indecent liberties with a minor for which he
got a four year prison sentence plus five
years probation.
Both women believe that because the
more serious offense was dropped, Oldham
Please see page A 13
? . ? ~ ? ? ? ? ? t Chronicle staff photo
Carolyn Crump (left) and Sandra Imes (right) believe their children were ~
treated unfairly by the justice system.
City/County leaders
wrestle with budgets
By RUDY ANDERSON -
Chronide Managing Editor
ft
/.The Winsion-Salcui Hoard of
Aldermen, and the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners, were both
debating with major decisions about
adopting operating budgets for the
the coming fiscal year. _
City aldermen, uncertain of
what state reimbursements may be
coming from the state legislature
approved an interim budget Mon
day to begin July 1, in order for the
city to continue operating until a
final budget could be adopted. That
proposed budget calls for a two cent
increase in property taxes from $.60
to $.62 cents per $100 valuation.
The county commissioners
have tentatively agreed to raise
property taxes by as much as five
and a half cents above the current
rate.
It is a frustrating time for both
city and county officials who have
to make decisions about what ser
vices, programs, and employees
will have to be let go, or drastically
curtailed.
The commissioners informally
agreed on a budget of $ 169.3 mil
lion with a property tax rate at $ .70
for eafch $ 100 of value on property.
The rate is a penny more than what
county manager Graham Pervier
had proposed, and would be used to
raise an extra million plus dollars
Please see page A9
N-A-T-l-O-N-A-L
NEWS
. :"'-W Associated Press photo
ANC leader NMion Mandela and wife, Winnie, greet crowds
to commemorate 1 5th anniversary of sowtto dots.
Apartheid law repeal does little to help
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) ? Anti -apartheid leaders
and ordinary people alflce say parliament's repeal of the 41-year-old taw
that classified all Sooth Africans by race does little to improve the lot of
blacks. , r " ? . .
It doesn't give us the right to vote. We are still not represented in
parliament," said one black man questioned about the repeal Monday of
the Population Registration Act
Newspapers today urged the main opposition African National
Congress to quickly enter negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk.
Statehouse corruption hurts blacks
COLUMBIA, S.?. (AP) ? The Statehouse corruption scandal has
weakened chances to address key issues for blacks, the Columbia Urban
League said in a report issued Monday.
The report said key black concents in political ethics and accountabil
ity, teen violence, the prison system, workplace diversity and education
are suffering because of the scandal^
7
mil
Photo by David Amundson
Annette Scippio (left) and Margaret Newman (right) talk it over
as they prepare to assume their new roles.
Leadership program
names new director
By RUDY ANDERSON
Chronide Managing Editor
The executive director of the Delta Arts Center has been named the
new executive director of Leadership Winston -Salem. The announcement
was made last week that Annette Scippio would assume her duties with
the Leadership program effective July 1.
The announcement was made by Jean Irvin, president of Leadership
Winston-Salem. "Annette, a native of Winston-Salem, has a broad range
of experience in the corporate and private non-profit sectors in Winston
Please see page A3
First round begins
< *? ?
Center lays off 1 2
By RUDY ANDERSON
Chronicle Managing Editor
Reynolds Health Center admin
istrators began notifying the
employees targeted for layoff last
Friday in what will become a recur
ring exercise in the wake of massive
budget cuts for both the city and the
county.
For those who fall victim to the
budget axe, how the decisions are
made on who will go and who will
stay will never be fair.
Take Darlcne Brown for exam
ple. She has worked at Reynolds
Health Center for 17 years. She is a
medical records clerk, who sched
ules appoints for patients. She got
the news Friday. As you might
expect, she was devastated.
She is the sole head of her
nousehoid. 5ne was widowed with
three children age 17, 14, and 3.
The oldest child is suppose to be
headed for college in the fall.
For Brown and 11 other health
center workers, their worlds have
been turned upside down.
"I had a feeling they were
going to come after me," Brown
said Friday. "It's just hard for me to
think right now, but I'm not just
going to He and take this," she said.
Brown doesn't feel she was
treated fairly after having worked in
her position for 17 years, when a
white co-woricer doing the same job
she does was not touched, who has
none of the responsibilities Brown
has in caring for a family.
Hazel Scott, who has been the
center's sickle cell coordinator for
18 years, was also notified that she
would be laid off. She does all of
the center's outside test screening.
"The fact that lhey are letting me go
isn't as much a concern with me as
the fact they are planning to cancel
the whole program," Scott said.
"Right now we are the only
sickle cell testing cite, other than
Forsyth Hospital where only new
born oabies are tested,' she said.
But center administrator Den
nis McGovem, said the center hasn't
had a program for the last 13 years,
since federal funds for the program
ran out He said the center will con
tinue to do the screening, probably
Please see page AQ
Bias: 'Youth
must be own
moral agent'
RUDY ANDERSON
Chronicle Managing Editor
She has a voice that resounds like thunder,
and eyes that flash like lightning bolts when she
speaks to young people hoping to teach them to
be unafraid to stand for what's right. And for a
woman who has buried two sons, cut down in the
prime of their young lives, the strength of Lonise
Bias is something one can only hope God will
give should we ever have to face such an ordeal
ourselves.
Bias, who received an honorary doctor of
education degree in honor of her work with
young people around the country, came to Win
ston-Salem lasf week to speak to students of
Vision '94, a drug prevention and leadership pro
gram at Carver High School for rising 10th grade
students. The program is sponsored through the
Crosby Foundation, Sara Lee Corporation, and
the Winston -Salem/Forsyth County School Sys
tem.
Please see page A3
Photo by Mike Cunningham
Lonlse Bias makes appeal for youth to
stand tor right.
Teen abortion
is on the rise
By Vvette N. Freeman
Chronicle Staff Writer
Over the past decade, as teen pregnancies
have increased, so has the number of abortions
among teenage girls, both white and African
American in the United States. In fact, accord
ing to Planned Parenthood Federation of Ameri
ca, Inc. (PPFA), the U.S. has one of the highest
teen pregnancy rates in the western world ?
'twice as high as rates found in England, France,
and Canada, three times as high as that in Swe
den; and seven times as high as the Dutch rate."
And the number increases every year. More
than one million American teenagers get preg
nant each year. Of those, 85% are unintended,
and consequently, about half end in abortion.
Here in North Carolina, 75 teenagers become
pregnant each day. In 1988, that came to a total
of 26, 268 teen pregnancies. The girls ranged in
age from 10 to 19 years of age. More than
10,000 of them had abortions.
In Forsyth County, during the following
year, 26 non-white girls aged 10-14 had abor
tions, compared to only two white teens. With
Please see page A2