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73 cents *"C?22 Salem Greensboro High Point ? Vol.XXVIII No. 19
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Wise v^HRON IC Lrr
The Choice for African-American News
from
New group
being touted as.
chamber tries
to mend fences
Meeting planned to discuss idea of forming
independent business group for blacks
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Fallout from the decision by
the Winston-Salem Chamber of
Commerce to replace the East
Area
Council
with
another
group
with
similar
aims has
led to
t h e
schedul
ing of
t w o
I I
* McCarter
meet
ings next week.
Chamber President Gayle
Anderson plans to meet with
disgruntled former members of
the East Area. Council - which
was 3 subgroup of the chamber
for black businesspeople - to
smooth ruffled feathers and halt
a mass exodus of African Amer
icans from the chamber.
The other meeting is being
spearheaded by Ed and Miriam
McCarter. It is being held in
order to bring black business
people together to discuss the
idea of forming a business
group of their own - separate
and independent of the cham
ber.
"I see this as an opportunity
for black businesses to take
their destinies into their own
hands," said Miriam McCarter,
who owns and operates Special
Occasions, a book and gift shop,
with her husband. "It will give
us an opportunity to act in what
will be our own best interests."
McCarter said the idea
sprang from feedback she got
from a letter to the editor pub
lished in The Chronicle last
week. In the letter she advocat
ed that African Americans start
their own business networking
group. Miriam McCarter said
she received calls of support
from several people, including1
members of the former East
Area Council, which the cham
ber decid
ed to
replace
with the
Minority
Business
Council
in early |
Decem
ber. The
Minority
Business Anderson
Council A
will reach out more to Hispan
ics, Asians and other nonblack
Sec IAC on A4
Talks about the
future of Diggs
coming to a close
Parties expected to decide within the next
two weeks the fate of the elementary school
BY SAM bAVIS ?
THE CHRONICLE __
It won't be long now
before parents, teachers and
students find out whether
Diggs Elementary will
become an arts-based charter
school for the 2002-2003
school year.
Within the next two
weeks, parents of current
Diggs students will vote on
whether they support the
local system merging with
the Arts-Based Elementary
charter school to form the
arts-based charter school..
Parents of the Arts-Based
Elementary charter school
are expected to vote early
next week on whether they
support the plan. That vote
will determine whether the
arts-based charter board pro
ceeds with its plans. If the
two factions of parents vote
in favor of proc^ding with
the plan, teachers at Diggs
are expected to vote on
whether they support it. That
"'vote is scheduled for Jan. 25.
In order for the proposal to
work, both groups of parents
and the teachers must all cast
their support for it.
Since the plan was pro
posed in October, many
Diggs parents and teachers
Martin
have expressed reservations
about it. School officials and
members of the arts-based
charter school board have
met with parents to discuss
their concerns. School boqttl
officials scheduled a trip to
an arts-based school in Char
lotte and have gone door to
door in the Happy Hill com
rtiunity to inform parents of
the details ofjhe plan.
On Tuesday night the
Arts-Based Elementary char
ter school board met with
officials from the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
School System to iron our
details of the proposal and to
answer several other issues.
The first is getting past the
Sir Diggs on A4
The Big Chill
Populations
increase at
local shelters
as temps
spiral down
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE *
Thomas Owyn made his way
from the Bethesda Center on Pat
terson Avenue to the Labor
Ready office on Liberty Sheet as
snow fell on already covered
streets last Thursday.
He hoped that showing a will
ingness to work, even in the
worst of conditions, would gamer
him a day's work and wages at
the temporary agency.
"1 am trying to find work.
Things are kind of rough right
now," he said as he waited, sat,
and hoped that work would
become available. "With the
weather like this maybe someone
will see that 1 am really out here
trying and will give me chance."
Gwyn found his living quar
ters at the Bethesda Center a lot
more cramped after temperatures
dipped below freezing last week
and snow and ice began to form.
"It has been pretty much
crowded since the snow has fall
en and since the weather has been
cold," he said.
The rush was on for many as
/ Phglo by Kevin Walker
Thomas Gwyn, seen here waiting in the lobby of a temporary job agency, has been staying
at the Bethesda Center, a local homeless shelter. Shelters were filled to capacity last week.
snow fell across the state - the
rush to the gftxery store for last
minute food items, the rush to
home-improvement stores for
shovels and salt, and the rush to
the closest shelter for the home
less.
Shelter volunteers and staff
workers watch the weather like
everyone else. The only differ
ence is they can't stay home from
work or count on a delay to arrive
to the office on a snow day
because their office is a tempo
rary home for the poor and the
homeless.
Homeless shelters such as
Samaritan Ministries and Soup
Kitchen on Patterson Avenue are
open 365 days a year come rain,
snow or sunshine. Sonjia
Kurosky. executive director of
the shelter, says it is business as
usual when it snows. According
to Kurosky, the numbers of shel
ter clients at this temporary men's
shelter does increase when the
weather changes, but it is
inevitable because no one wants
to spend the day out in the cold,
let alone in the snow.
"The increase (in clients) is
nothing new. It just brings
(poverty) to the forefront of peo
ple's minds," Kurosky said.
See Shelters on A4
A snow day is just another
day at work for many people
Photo b> Kevin Walker
A man makes it easier for downtown pedestrians by shovel
ing snow from a Fourth Street sidewalk.
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
On most days, Kirk Mack
drives his Merita Bread truck up
and down city streets to little fan
fare. But last Thursday, as snow
flakes danced around with the
help of glacier winds and touched
down on slippery earth, Mack
may as well have been hauling
around free color television sets-j
that's How happy folks were to
see him.
"The bread has to go. We
have got to get it out there,"
Mack said as he made a stop at a
CVS Pharmacy.
The CVS and many stores
throughout the city reported that
bread and milk were selling
briskly as residents, bracing for a
frosty start to the new year,
stocked up on staples.
The debut of winter weather
meant a day off for many.
Schoolchildren had their holiday
vacations extended by a couple
of days. Many students were
joined by their parents on living
room sofas as a result of many
businesses giving their employ
ees a day off rather than having
them risk life, limb and car
attempting to make it to the
office.
That luxury, however, was
not extended to all. Mack and
many others are a testament to
the fact that the credo "neither
rain, sleet nor snow" no longer
applies just to the men and
women of the U.S. Postal Ser
vice.
Officer Tom Peterson walked
his beat downtown as normal last
Thursday, his steps more careful
than usual as he traversed icy
sidewalks and roadways. While
Peterson's wife was at home
enjoying a mini-vacation because
of the conditions, he showed up
for work at the normal time.
"I don't get out of work just
because it snows," the city police
officer said with a broad smile.
"We have to be here."
Although pedestrian traffic
downtown was substantially
lower, Peterson still made his
? rounds, checking in on the busi
nesses that decided to open and
Sir Workers on A10
Lots to do in the city on MLK Day
? ?
File Photo
King delivers a fiery speech at a 1960s rally.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
A full day of activities is
being planned in the city Jan.
21. the day set aside for the
nation to remember the life
and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
King would have turned 73
Tuesday, the actual birthday of
(he civil rights giant, had he
not been struck down by an
assassin's bullet in 1968.
Local events being held to
honor King will focus on
keeping alive his dream of
racial tolerance Ttnd cross
racial unity.
The events will start bright
and early with the first annual
Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer
Breakfast, an event sponsored
t
by The Chronicle. The break
fast, which is free and open to
members of the public who
call and reserve space aheadof
time, is being billed as a multi
cultural celebration of King's
legacy and will aim to move
the city forward in a positive,
upbeat way. The breakfast will
feature a number of communi
ty and city leaders, including
Winston-Salem State Univer
sity Chancellor Harold Martin,
Mayor Allen Joines and Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth County
Schools Superintendent Don
ald Martin.
The breakfast will be held
at the Anderson Center, on the
campus of Winston-Salem
Set MLK events on A10
c I J I ? FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (336) 722-8624 ? MASTERCARD, VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED ?