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75 cents Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point Vol. XXVIII No. 45
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WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755 S M M M \ V J X ^ M S ? JM J
The Choice for African-American News '
Lawmakers
may target
drinkers
for revenue
Beer industry says N.C.
drinkers already pay 5th
highest excise tax in U.S.
BY PAUL COLLINS
l lll CHRONIC! I
* "? ' . . 7 ~ ! ?
One ol the measures the VI Ueneral Assemhly is
considering to help reduce the state budgetary crunch r
is increasing the state excise tax on beer. One of the
bills introduced. House Bill lb()6. would double the
tax to the equivalent of 10 cents for every 12-ounce
bottle/can.
According
to a North
Carolina
based Web
site called
Pennies
Count (Of the
N.C Initiative
to Reduce
Underage
Drinking),
several "great
reasons to
raise the
excise tax on
beer" are:
? "It will
raise revenue
for state and
local govern
ments. A five
cent per bottle
increase will
raise almost
$83 million.
By law,
almost one
quarter of the
excise tax is
distributed to
cities and
counties.
Local govern
m e n t s
received over $20 million from the state excise tax on
beer in 2(XX). Eighty-two percent of North Carolinians
support increasing the beer excise tax if the funds go
to support substance abuse prevention programs."
? "It's time. The state has not raised the tax since
1969. Inflation has eroded the real tax by almost 80
percent. If the the excise tax on beer had been indexed
to inflation in 1969. the state would have collected
roughly $3(X) million more in 2001."
? "It's fair. Nine out of 10 N.C. adults would pay
little or none of this tax. It's a user fee. not a general
tax. Only people who buy beer would pay it. just as
people that drive cars pay gasoline taxes.
"Drinkers cause higher costs for society, like high
er car insurance premiums and health care costs, it's
only fair for drinkers to pay their fair share of these
costs. Heavy drinkers (the estimated 6 percent of
adults who drink at least every other day) would pay
only $8.65 per month.
"Everyone will benefit from lower car and health
insurance premiums and less family violence. Under
go Beer wi A4
f ile Photo
Some say studies show increasing
taxes and the price of beer reduce
underage alcohol use, but an
industry spokesman said that did
n't happen after federal beer
excise taxes were doubled in
1992.
File Photo
A volunteer collects money for WAAA during the station's annu
al MLK program at the Benton Convention Center.
The beat goes on
WAAA back on the air after roller-coaster year
BYT KEVIN WALKER
1111 CHRONIC! I
Since the day 980 AM WAAA went
oft the air a year ago. Mutter Evans has
promised the station's loyal, longtime
listeners that the station would return to
radio airways to continue to provide
music and community information.
Evans made good on that promise
Friday when WAAA went from dead air
to providing the smooth sounds that it
has been known for for five decades.
The station is back on the air. providing
only music for the time being.
"Front day one. 1 knew we would be
back on the air." said Evans, who
worked at the station as a college student
and bought it about 20 years ago.
WAAA has been a staple in Win
u
ston-Salem since the 1950s when it
started spinning now classic soul hits.
The station also gained fans for its pop
ular on-air per
anri
the block parties
the station fre
quently held in
ifeveral city
communities.
Evans has
tried to continue
that legacy. But
the station's
future came into
question in July
of last year
when Evans and her staff were evicted
from their building. The landlord
See WAAA on A10
I_1 I
Evans
REUTERS/Gary llcrshorn
The annual fireworks show on the mall illuminates the Washington Monument to close out Indepen
dence Day celebrations in the nation's capital. Although safety concerns were a big topic this year in
light of Sept. 11, the festivities went off without a hitch.
Quicker-picker-upper
City Sanitation Department rolls out state-of-the art trucks
BY SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
The long haul for Cheryl
B. Mcllwain finally ended
Monday when seven new
trucks rolled out the city of
Winston-Salem's sanitation
terminal. The trucks, spe
cially equipped to mechani
cally pick up containers
filled with yard debris, had
been in the works for more
than 18 months before final
ly being deployed.
Mcllwain. crew supervi
sor in the city's Sanitation
Department, was charged
with the task of implement
ing the new system (Auto
mated Yard Waste Cart Col
lection Service), which was
designed to significantly
lower the expense and occu
pational hazards of collect
ing yard debris.
Although the amount of
personnel was cut from %
to nine, no jobs were lost
because of the utilization of
mechanized debris collec
tion. However, the cost
reduction will be consider
able.
"This is going to really
cut down on the amount of
manpower needed." Mc
Iwain said. "And although
we cut the staff to nine,
there were no jobs lost
because we transferred the
rest to other departments.
But it will cut down on back
injuries, dog bites and
things of that sort."
In the new system, resi
dents can purchase yitrd
waste carts from the city
s, v Sanitation A10
Photo by I in .is Sivad
Cheryl Mclwain and Mark Foreman hold the ribbon as the first truck
rolls out of the terminal at City Yard for the city's Automated Yard
Waste Cart Collection Service.
Hopefuls
are taking
advantage
of primary
stalemate
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
It's business as usual for
many of the candidates now
that primary elections havp
been indefinitely postponed
due to the redistricting battle
between Democrats and
Republi
cans in
i h e
Tarheel
state.
T he
I e g i s I a -
tive pri
maries
were
called
off in
April by
the state
Supreme Court while it deter
mines whether or not the state
Constitution allows for coun
ties to remain undivided in
redisricting.
Candidates across party
lines, however, are sharing the
same sentiment of disbelief
over the postponement of the
elections.
Earline Parmon is still fak
ing every opportunity to
remind voters that an election
season is going on. Parmon, a
Democrat hoping to replace
Rep. Pete Oldham, says that
she was
-i aevas
t a t e d "
when
she
found
out that
the pri
maries
would
(not go
on as
planned
back in
May. Still, farmon says sne is
making the effort to present
herself at any large public
gatherings to push her name
and encourage voters to stay
interested despite the redis
ricting fight.
"It's very difficult to run a
campaign for elective office
when the process is so confus
ing and undefined." said Par
mon. "Like the other candi
dates. it's just something I
have to deal with until a deci
sion is made."
Concerned citizens, says
Siv Primary on At 1
mz i
Parmon
Fisher
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