Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 11, 1996, edition 1 / Page 1
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Winston-Salem O ?-Je THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1996 75 cents Dedicated to the tof Clarence E. 903-1 VOL. XXII. No. 21 Coretta Scott King gets a hug from the Rev. Jesse Jackson during celebra tion at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta several years ago. Monday will mark the birthday anniversary of Dr. Martin / nth** v:? i Jackson Says Follow Dr. King ?Local birthday celebrations begin Monday, January /5 ST. LOUIS (AP) - The Rev. Dr. Jesse L. Jackson kicked off Missouri's birthday cele bration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. over* the weekend by calling on his audience to ? follow King's example in working for social change. Jackson, who was with King on his last birthday in 1968, was the keynote speaker at a program and awards ceremony Saturday night at Harris-Stowe State College that was attended by about 1,000 people. Jackson received the Chairman's Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. State Celebration Commission. Jackson talked about working in 1996 to register voters and building coalitions to beat the forces that threaten to water down King's image. He charged that House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his allies are trying to take away King's impact. svIt is our burden tonight to follow (King), not merely to admire him. To admire him is merely superficial," Jackson said. He said youth must steb ud and take over leadership roles. Jackson referred to his sort! lesse L. Jackson, Jr., who was sworn into Congress in December. Jackson urged youth ; not to become frustrated with a lack of jobs. ; rhe manufacturing industry has been' replaced with construction of jails and ball parks, he said. Jackson charged that the jails are being Tilled with black males who are arrested dis proportionately in comparison to whites and see JACKSON page 9 Floyd Davis, left board chairman of the Technical Assistance Center, joins Marcia Johnson, board chairman of the Northwest Child Development Council, Alderman Nancy Pleasants, and Nigel Alston, chairman of the Forsyth County Early Partnership, for the ribbon-cutting opening of the Technical Assistant Center. Smart Start Center for Kids Ovens by JOHN HINTON Chronicle Senior Staff Writer The staff of the Technical Assistance Center greeted 40 people last Saturday at the facility's grand opening. The center funded through the Smart Start initiative offers support services for child care providers in Forsyth County. 'it looks like it's 'children friendly,'" said Nigel Alston, chairman of the Forsyth County Early Partnership. Alston joined four others in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the center. The participants in the ribbon cutting also included Alderman Nancy Pleasants, Floyd Davis, chairman of the center's board, and Marcia Johnson, board chairman-of the North west Child Development Council. The facility located at 520 N. Spring Street can accommodate 10 children, said Carol McLennan, the director of the Technical Assistance Center. It employs five people and is administered through the Northwest Child Development Council. The center accepts children from six months to five years of age. "We are willing to work with anyone in the county," McLennan said. "The children see SMART page 9 MEAC Cancels Free's Contract ine Mid-fcastern Athletic Conference board of directors has decided to not renew the contract of commissioner Ken Free. The decision came out about a week before the Dec. 29 her itage Bowl and the position was quickly advertised in NCAA News. Delaware State president William DeLauder, chairman of the MEAC executive council's personnel committee, said the decision was based on a desire to take the conference into other directions. "1 wouldn't want to describe it as diwajtisf^tioB, but more of looking toward the future," DeLauder said. "Just like with any organization, when you want to take the next step, change is needed. It's the feeling of the CEOs that this was the opportu nity to have new leadership." Free, 59, joined the league as its first full-time commissioner in 1978. Free said he was shocked by the news. "It's their privilege," Free told The Associated Press. "It's their choice. They were wanting to make a change. I thought we were doing well. But it's totally * m > * Ken Free their decision. I don't want this to be a negative. I have no locks on the job, no lifetime guaran tees." Free, currently a member of the NCAA's executive commit tee, is a N.C. A&T graduate who played five seasons of profes sional baseball. He supported the effort in gaining 1981, 1982, and 1986 automatic bids for the conference in the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs. In 1981, he ovnrsaw-tho see MEAC page 3 Shutdown Affects Local VA, SS Offices By JOHN HINTON Chronicle Senior Staff Writer Mary Watson of Winston-Salem recently saw the effects of the federal government shutdown. Watson accompanied the Army ROTC unit from East Forsyth High School on a trip to Washington, D.C. Every tourist attraction was closed in the nation's capital. "It was really sad," she said. "The students really wanted to see the sites but they couldn't." Hl* experience came as the fur loughs of 280,000 "non-essential" federal workers entered its fourth week. Prior to President Clinton and the U.S. congress reaching a temporary agreement on the federal budget last week, 480,000 emergency workers were being kept on the job without pay. The U.S. Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board are closed due to the shutdown. However, other federal agencies remained open, including the Post Office, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Depart ment of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Jus tice, and local military recruiting offices. The shutdown also affected the local offices of the Veterans Adminis tration and the Social Security Admin istration. The VA furloughed more than 240 employees at its regional office in Win ston-Salem, and the 25 people that worked in December only received half of their normal pay, said Mike Hamp ton, a VA spokesman. Workers could only open mail, take personal interviews, and assist with claims, Hampton said. "We were not able to process these claims," he said. "We already had a backlog of 11,000 claims prior to the furlough." The VA regional office serves 700,000 veterans and their families in North Carolina. It handles veterans benefits, disability claims, home loans, see SHUTDOWN page 9 ? m *' tie n m*., '? ft A 4 I?~l Conine Shelly, /e/>, a service representative at the Social Security office helps Mary Watson of Winston-Salem. The office is o^en^urwoHce^arej^ece^ CLASSIFIEDS 22 OPINION i 10 ?ENTERTAINMENT 10 OBITUARIES 21 SPORTS 13 This Week in Black Histoty January 15, 1929 Martin Luther King Jr. bom in Atlanta. Died April 4, 1968. "The most peaceful warrior of the twentieth century." -Ralph D. Abemathy. Blacks Lose Supreme Court Challenge Over Electing Ala. Judees By PHILLIP RAWLS ? ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER The Associated Press (c). All rights reserved ** MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) _ A lawsuit designed to increase the number of black judges in Alabama has been scut tled by the U.S. Supreme Court, which will let the state keep its at-large system of electing judges. The Supreme Court, without com ment Monday, left intact lower court rul ings that said Alabama's at-large system does not violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Blacks hold 11 of Alabama's 225 trial court judgeships, or 5 percent in a state that is 25 percent black. State Attorney General Jeff Ses sions, the lead defendant in the case, said the decision reflects a philosophical change in the courts since the Southern Christian Leadership Conference filed suit in 1988. ^Conventional wisdom had it a few years ago the ruling would go the other way and they'd be carving out districts in counties for circuit judges and district judges. Districts lines would have been driven by race. It would have vulcanized justice and it would not have been good for public policy," the Republican attor ?_l X . I .. * f ney general said. The outcome was no surprise to SCLC President Joseph Lowery. A similar case from Florida ended up the same way last year. " The Reagan and Bush judicial appointments are in charge of the system at th^Roment and these opinions are reflections of Reaganism," the Atlanta minister said. In Alabama, circuit judges _ who handle all types of cases _ are elected at large from 40 judicial circuits that cover one or more counties. District judges, who handle family court and juvenile court cases, are elected in county wide elections. Led by the SCLC, a group of black voters filed a class-action lawsuit chal lengiag the system for electing circuit judges in 10 circuits and district judges in four counties. There are 69 circuit judges in those 10 circuits _ 64 white and five black. There are 21 district judges in the four contested counties _ 20 white and one black. The lawsuit contended that: .Predominantly black counties were see BLACKS page 9
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