Sports Week
Howard settling into I
leadership role
? ? ? ?
Aggies move forward
alter firing Hayes
See B2
See 43
See A4
Community
Agencies collecting
toys for needy
? ? ? ?
Tips to protect
against CO poisoning
Twf Chronicle
29 120203 CAR-RT-LGT" "C022 *? JL ^ JL ^ ^ ^ V JL-^d
? N C ROOH
FORSYTH CNTY PUB LIB WlNSTON-SALEM ? GREENSBORO ? HIGH POINT Vol XXIX No 15
W 5TH ST * Q
WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755
1 . .
rnncipai
choice
?
Criticized
Some say that
vbices of parents,
community ignored
BjVr KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Next month an African
Anjerican woman will try to fill
Larry Fields' big shoes at Latham
Elementary School. But Ingrid
Medlock is not the black woman
that many
people
had
hoped to
see in the
princi
pal's
office at
t h e
school.
The
Board of
Educa
tion voted to hire Medlock Nov.
26. after Superintendent Don
Martin told board members that
Medlock, an assistant principal at
LEAP with 12 years of experi
ence in education, was the best
person to replace Fields, who
died unexpectedly in September.
Many parents and community
leaders had lobbied heavily for
Gwen Johnson to win the job.
Johnson is an assistant principal
at Latham who worked side by
side with Fields as he was putting
in place the formula that would
take Latham from the academic
bottom to the top. Johnson, who
was contacted for this story but
did not return a phone call by
time, was
a m o n g >
the three
finalists
fhi' the
jot).
Some
support
ers. are
crying
foul now
that
Johnson
will not get the job. They say that
Johnson was the most qualified of
the three and are accusing Martin
of bypassing Johnson because
some of Martin's most vocal crit
ics are vigorous supporters of
Johnson,.
See Latham on A9 I
*- Mendez
Brown
Photo* by Kevin Walker
Schools Superinten
dent Don Martin
shows a group of
people, a group that
included Alderman
Dbn Besse, how the
school system plans
to use parts of Win
ston Lake Park to
construct the $25
million Atkins High
School. The school is
slated to be a tech
nology magnet that
will draw students
from throughout
Forsyth County.
Inching Toward Resolution ?
Full Board of
Aldermen will seek
public input on
school land swap
BYT KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Hope is still alive for those
who want to see a new tech
nology high school construct
ed off Old Greensboro Road.
The Board of Aldermen
will once again take up the
issue of providing the school
system with city-owned park
land so that the new Atkins
High School can be built. The
aldermen's Finance Commit
tee forwarded the item to the
full board after members of
the committee failed to come
to any type of resolution Mon
day afternoon.
The school sjstem is ask
ing aldermen for at least 19
acres of land that is now part
of Winston* Lake"Park. With
out the land, the proposed
school would be awkward
looking. and sports fields and
a stadium would not be possi
ble, school officials said.
Aldermen hedged two
weeks to give their OK for a
land swap that would give the
School system the land it
needed in exchange for sever
al parcels of school-owned
land throughout the city.
Aldermen voiced concern
about turning over more of the
city's increasingly shrinking
park lands: some aldermen
also said that they had been
kept out of the loop about the
school system's plans for
more park land.
In response to the alder
men's indecision on the land
swap, the Board of Education
decided to move the site of
Atkins High to land off
Reynolds Park Road, which
angered many African-Ameri
cans who said they were
promised a school on Old
Greensboro Road when they
voted to pass a bond referen
dum a year ago that is making
the $25 million school possi
ble in the first place.
Most members of the
School Board came to Mon
day's Finance Committee
meeting. Donnie Lambeth,
chairman of the School Board,
said board members will defi
nitely reverse their decision to
build at the alternate site if
aldermen give them at least 19
acres.
The full Board of Alder
men will consider the matter
See Aldermen on A5 I
Members of the Board of Aldermen Finance Committee (Wanda Merschel, from left; Fred
Terry; and Vivian Burke) listen to a presentation Monday by school officials.
Goler
project
moving
forward
CDC plans to
bring new look to
area with complex
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
Prayers have been
answered at Goler Memorial
AME Zion Church because
Friday the congregation held a
ground-breaking ceremony to
launch the construction Qf a
brand-new residential develop
ment, Goler Heights, which is
part of the church's downtown
neighborhood revitalization
plan.
Kev.
S e t h
Lartey,
pastor of
G o 1 e r
Memori
al, was
joined by
a host of
.members
from the
commu
nity who helped the
Goler/Depot Street Renais
sance Community Develop
ment Corp. (CDC) revitaliza
tion plan get off the ground in
downtown Winston-Salem.
"(God) has given us the
blueprint, and we are seeking
to follow the blueprint," said
Lartey, who is also the presi
dent of Goler CDC.
Goler CDC was established
in 1988 by Goler Memorial to
initiate community develop
ment, and the church has
planned a multimillion dollar
renovation project that will
span a three-block area of 10
acres in downtown Winston
Salem. Goler CDC hired Pitts
burgh-based Urban Develop
ment Associates to work on the
project.
"What is it that we are
intending to do?" asked Rev.
Lartey. "A long, long time ago
there was a man who was born
in a manger ...He talked about
the day when all of us must
stand before God. He said to
some, I was sick, I was in
See Goler on A10
Lartey
Restaurant patrons treated to romance
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE ,
It was just another Friday night on the
town for Debra Penn. She and her longtime
beau. Vernal Lazoson, drove up and down
Stratford Road scoping out a place to grab a
bite to eat. They ruled out Chinese, pizza and
settled on Rock-Ola Cafe, an eatery with a
music theme where pictures of '80s pop
stars look down over glossy wooden tables.
Penn and Lazoson found a nice spot in
the restaurant and placed their orders. When
their food arrived. Penn thought it looked
great, but the lettuce for the sandwich -
which was served on a saucer by itself -
looked a little odd. A glimmer of light shoot
ing through the green layers caught Penn's
eye. She grabbed the saucer to inspect it
closer.
"I just looked at it. and I said. 'That looks
like my ring,''" Penn said.
It was indeed her ring. She and Lazoson
had gone shopping for engagement rings and
she had picked out the diamond-sprinkled
band, but she had no idea that Lazoson had
planned to give it to her so soon or so pub
licly.
"She was so cute." Meredith Clinard. a
manager at the restaurant, said, describing
Penn's reaction after discovering the ring.
See Romance on AtO
' , Photo hy Kevin Walker
Members of the Brann family try to keep warm Friday
night at the city's tree-lighting ceremony. The event was
held in Corpening Plaza. For more pictures, see CI.
Pluto by Kevin Walker
Debra Penn and Vernal Laxoson will be married on Dec. 21.
The Only Choice for African-A merican and Community News HSS ????
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