Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 6, 2003, edition 1 / Page 1
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Sports Week MM Community Pro golfer eyes fl B I Read-In event brings Winston Lake job ^^9 lj a nfll^DI out readers ? ? M^ArLklw'rl I ? ? ? ? Wake Forest track BM^^MMM NFL player team speeds to record see s? seeci motivates students Thl~~^qnicle 75 cent. Vol. XXIX No. 23 State death penalty foes inspired by recent events Death penalty moratoriums have been instituted in Illinois, Maryland BY T KEVIN WALKER THE CHBOIff* f Recent condemnations of the death penalty by high-ranking officials in several states have stirred up area capital punishment opponents, giving them hope that one day in the near future North Carolina will take a closer look at the punishment here.* People of Faith Against the Death Penalty - a grassroots statewide group based in Carrboro - says Forsyth County will be one of the places where it will i launch a major publicity blitz aimed at getting residents to push their legislators 'o support a death penalty moratorium in North Carolina. We hope that our attorney general and our governor force the issue in North Carolina," . S1?id Stephen J Dear, executive director of Peo Ple of Faith Against the Death Penalty. "We have the same problems I that those other states have." The "other states" are lllj. nois and Mary land, both of which have taken strong Ranees on look ing closely at the practice of put- | ting people to death. Last month, outgoing Illinois Gov George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 156 inmates on the state's death row. It was his last act as governor. Ryan, citing numerous studies on capital punishment, contends that racial and socioeconomic factors have played a role in death penalty sentencing. "Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error - error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die." Ryan said when he announced the mass commutation. Last week, the attorney general of Mary land expressed similar concerns. Joseph Curran See Moratorium on A9 Death Row Facts 202 Currently on Death Row in N.C. 70 White Males 3 White Females lis Black Males 1 Black Female 7 Native American Males 1 Native American Female 5 Other Males g - Source: N.C. Department of Corrections File Photo Some blacks who have surfed eBay recently have been offended by items offered on the auction Web site. Hatred or History? Online auction company accused of exploiting infamous hate word and profiting from products that demean blacks BYT. KEVIN WALKER THE CHRONICLE . - ? The world's niost famous - an often most infamous - online auetion Web site is once again defending itself from criticism. This time African-Americans are enraged that eBay allows a number of items that many consider racially insensitive to be sold on the site. Critics are further miffed that many of these items can be found by entering the word "nig ger" into the eBay search engine. "I was surprised that eBay, one of the only companies to stay afloat dur ing the dot-bomb era. would display such insensitivity towards Africans and African-Americans," said Dante Lee. president and CEO of A.S.J. Media, a Long Beach, Calif.-based ethnic marketing and public relations firm that manages Blacknews.com, a Web site that provides African-Amer ican-related news stories to thousands of subscribers around the world. Lee said an angry Blacknews.com subscriber first brought the eBay issue to his attention. Seven years ago eBay started along with hundreds of other ambitious online ventures. The com pany allows its customers to list items online that they want to sell. Buyers come to the site, do a search for what they are looking for and get a chance to bid with people throughout the world on the item. The company gets a percentage from each sale. More than 12 million items are See eBay on A4 Hayes honored by friends and peers Large first-floor courtroom will be named for popular judge who recently retired BYT. KEVIN WALKER THE CHRONICLE Judge Roland Hayes will always have a presence at the Forsyth Coun ty Hall of Justice, even though his day-to-day work at the building ended two months ago. Hayes was celebrated for his integrity, fairness and decency Tues day afternoon by members of the county's Bar Association and former colleagues he left behind when he retired from the District Court bench in November. Hayes, a Winston-Salem native, retired after 18 years on the bench because he was nearing 72, the state's mandatory retirement age for most judges. Ironically, the ceremony hon oring Hayes was held on his 72nd birthday. The popular and charismatic Hayes personally greeted many of the hundreds who attended the ceremony, which was held in a spacious ground floor courtroom at the Hall of Justice that will be renamed the Roland H. Hayes Courtroom. Those who spoke during the cere mony shared personal, often light hearted. stories about Hayes, who was Sec Hayes on A10 Pt?o?o by Brace Chapman Judge Roland Hayes standi beside the portrait of him that will hang in the Forsyth County Hall of Justice. Leo Rucker created the portrait. Michael Anderson Spokane blacks idolized Anderson BY NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS TOE ASSOCIATED PRESS SPOKANE, Wash. - Astro naut Michael P. Anderson was an inspiration here in his hometown, especially in the small black com munity that is now mourning his death in the space shuttle Colum bia disaster. Anderson. 43. one of the few black astronauts, grew up in the Spokane area. He graduated from Cheney High School and the Uni versity of Washington before achieving his dream of joining NASA. He died Saturday along with six other crew members aboard Columbia when it broke apart over Texas during re-entry. "He was a hero to a lot of kids," said Earon Davis, deacon of Morning Star Missionary Bap tist Church, where Anderson's parents belonged, and which the astronaut would attend when vis iting Spokane. "It's a great loss for the church and the communi ty" The shuttle's pilot, William C. McCool of San Diego, also had ties to Washington state. In 1986. he completed flight training and was assigned to the Tactical Elec tronic Warfare Squadron 129 at Whidbcy Island Naval Air Sta tion. about 80 miles north of Seat tle. In Spokane, Anderson was such a success story that the Rev. Happy Watkins would use a signed picture of the astronaut as a motivational tool when the cler gyman spoke to young people. "It shows him in an astronaut Lsuit standing next to the Colum bia space ship." said Watkins, Anderson's former Sunday school teacher. "The kids can look at him and see he is black." "It's inspiring to show," Watkins said. "If he can aspire to be the best, you can be the best." Flowers and balloons were placed in halls and doorways at Sec Anderson on A10 Free tax preparation being offered to some by-oourtney gaillard THECHRONlCU During the upcoming tax sea son, Forsyth Working Families Partnership (FWFP) will be work ing to ensure that Forsyth County residents will receive the tax refunds that they deserve. .Last year, according to the Government Accounting Office. Forsyth County residents did not claim more than $7 million in tax refunds because the^ didn't claim millions of dollars from their income taxes because they failed to apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC is a tax break for people who work but do not earn high incomes. Those who qualify' for the EITC could pay less federal tax, pay no tax or receive a tax refund. According to the local IRS office, $27 million of EITC funds went to low- and medium-income households in 1999 alone. Forsyth Working Families Part nership is a coalition that includes the Forsyth County Department of Social Services, the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and other local nonprofit organizations and volunteers. The partnership is host ing free tax preparation sites around the city designed to assist families with incomes less than $40,000 or individuals with incomes less than $20,000. Rather than spending money on an expensive tax filing service. ies^ idents can file their taxes for free at one of four library branches, Good w ill Industries and several commu nity development corporation offices. "What's so wonderful about the (FITC) is that it's for people who work but arc in low - wage jobs, and it gives them a credit through the See Taxes on A9 KRT enhanced image Families with rel atively law incomes can avoid high fees charged by some accounting servic es for tax prepa ration. A variety of different local agencies have teamed up to offer free tax services for the next several weeks. The serv ices will be avail able at several sites. MTrtfffTB
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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