Wilder enters blogosphere
RICHMOND, Ya. ( AP) - A former governor and jiow
a former m^iyor, L. Douglas Wilder
is adding a Contemporary pursuit
to bis resume: blogger
Wilder ended his* term as
Richmond mayor this week by
announcing he's starting a blog
called "WilderVisions " He <>ays
he will address local and national
topics on the site.
In his inaugural entry, he wrote
that he's convinced the city is
heading in the right direction after
nis tour years in ottice. Witder
Virginia's first and only
African-American governor ts returning to full-time teach
ing at Virginia Commonwealth University. ?
Wilder's successor at Richmond City Hall, Dwight
Clinton Jones, was sworn in last week.
Charity sends mysterious shoes to Haiti
MIAMI ( AP) - A charity group has stepped forward to
take thousands of shoes that were mysferiously dufnped on
the Palmetto Expressway.
Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charity, is sending rep
resentatives to Miami to "collect the shoes. The group w ill
distribute the shoes to people in Haiti, according to a news
release . ^
The Florida Highway Patrol said thousands of work
boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals, even
pairs of inline skates, inexplicably materialized shortly
before 8 a.m. Friday on the busy roadway. Traffic was dis
rupted for hours.
A private contractor was hired to pick up the sea of
soles and deposit them in an empty field The investigation
into who discarded the shoes continues.
Baby famous after Obama hug
SANFORD, N.C. (AP) - Sanford native Shanell
flighfill said she has already set her 9-month-old daughter's
pink outfit aside to be saved.
After all. how often will little Peyton get to have her pic
ture taken with a future president11
President-elect Barack Obama spotted Highfill and her
daughter, who -is
Uving irt Hawaii
with htfr Marine
husband, as he
worked out at a
gym on Marine
Corps Base
Hawaii last week.
The Highfills
joined about 100
other people out
side the gym look
ing . to meet
Obama. As he left.
Obama shook
hands and thanked
Peyton's dad. Cpl.
Travis Highfill,
for his service.
The he saw the
little baby in the
pink outfit with
?hug me" written
Little Peyton with President-Elect on it
Barack Obama. "He said. 'Let
? ? me hold . that
fella.'" Shanell Highfill told The Sanford Herald. ?
Obama held the child for less than a minute. But photog
raphers. including One from The- Associated Press, captured
the moment and the picture ended up all over the country.
Family and friends from Sanford quickly began calling
and e-mailing Highfill.
, 'lI was floored." said Shanell Highfill -s mother. Tammy
Shenkel. "I told her it was like winning the lotto."
The pink outfit has been set aside for a shadow box. and
Highfill said she is also saving all other mementos she can
find. ? ?
"It gives me chills." Highfill said. "To meet the first
African-American president... I think that's a big thing for
her." - -.V - * :
Highfill said the meeting with Obama \*as by far the
highlight of her daughter's day. When the picture was taken.
>he still had on a bandaee from some immunizations.
? **
Chicago police union faces
suit over Burge defense
*
CHICAGO ( APt YA lawsuit has been filed in federal
court demanding that Chicago's police^uflion stop paying
legal fees for former Cimlr Jon Burge
Burge is accusettot lyihfi under oath about torturing
black suspects into confessions
Last week, one current and one former Chicago police
officer filed the lawsuit against the Fraternal Order of
Police for racial discrimination. ?
Raysurnet Morris and William Whitaker. who both are
African-American, say the union refused to pay their legal
fees, while at the same time funding .Burge's -defense.
Burge is white
The suit also asks the union to pa^ damages and
defense fees. ,
Morris was fired in 2008 for wrongful conduct
Whitaker w as acquitted on unspecified criminal charges in
February but still faces a police board hearing
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H.
Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published even
Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc.. 617
N. Liberty Street. Winston-Salem. N.C. 27101. Periodicals
postage paid at Winston-Salem. N.C. Annual subscription prtce
is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle. PO. Box 1636
Winston-Salem. NC 27102-1636
Maria Pinto: The designer
behind Obama^ victory dress
BY SAMANTHA CRITCHHLL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - Maria
Pinto isn't particularly inter
ested in coattails. consider
ing the Chicago-based
designer hasn't campaigned
to become a household name
despite being a fashion
" favorite of soon-to-be first
lady 'Michelle Obama
Otrama chose a purple
Pinto sheath on the night her
husband secured
the Democratic
nomination and
an oCean-blue
one "the night she
spoke at the
Democratic
National
Convention, She
wore a Pinto coat
tne cnuiy aay in
Springfield. 111.,
when Barack Obama
announced his candidacy for
president, and a periwinkle
dress by Pinto on the cover
of Newsweek.
But the designer herself
has spent the last few months
as she did the ones that came
before Obama-mania, build
ing a business of loyal cus
tomers while approaching
fashion with an artful, not
trendy, eye.
'T don't want to be a dis
posable part of fashion,"
Pinto said in a recent tele
phone interview. She doesn't
like to comment on her
celebrity clients - who
include Oprah Winfrey - but
did describe Michelle
Obama's style as " timeless"
in a statement last summer.
"CnoOsing items that are
always modern and chic.
Mrs Obiima possesses a nat
ural and unpretentious
sophistication, which is
reflected in her clothing,"
she said in the statement
"But what 1 love most is that
at the foundation of this fab
ulous woman is an unbeliev
able brilliance and
eloquence coupled
by the grace -^and
beauty of a dancer."
-WilUshe "design
Oban^a's inaugural
g o w n ?
Eveningwear is a
specialty for Pinto
and she previously
put Obama in a dra
Pinto '
malic white tiered
gown for Winfrey's
The Legends Ball and a col
ored halter gown for the
NAACP Awards.
But Pinto is mum - prob
ably because she's not inter
ested in either being or creat
ing an overnight sensation.
Her clothes are for real
women, she* stresses, not just
ingenues who are here today
and gone tomorrow, or star
lets who have famously fick
le taste.
She has had an almost
lifelong interest in fashion,
saying her career path has
been.clear for as long as she
can remember.
"I've always been inter
See Pinto on A4
MCT PIk*..
Michelle Obama wears a Maria Pinto dress on Election
Night 2008.
rormer
Viking
Carl Eller
sues police
BY STEVE KARNOWSKI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEPOLIS
Former Minnesota Vikings
great Carl Eller, a Wiriston
Salem native, is suing the
Minneapolis Police
Department.
He's alleging officers
-violated his civil rights, used
excessive force and con
cealed videotape evidence
when they subdued him dur
ing an arrest last April;
Eller. a member of the ?
NFL Hall of Fame, allegedly
drove through a stop sign and
narrowly missed hitting a
squad car. Officers followed
him to- his home where they
say he became combative.
He was* charged with two
felonies and two gross mis
demeanors.
The lawsuit, filed in fed
eral court Monday, alleges
that officers assaulted Eller
because he is black.
A Minneapolis police
spokesman did not immedi
ately return a phone call
seeking comment Monday.
Sgt Jesse Garcia told the
Star-Tribune last Friday the
lawsuit was just a defense
tactic to distort facts of the
case. . ? ' ? ' '?.r.
Eller was scheduled to^o
on trial on the criminal
charges this week -in
Hennepin County District
Court.
Have a
Story
Idea?
Let us Know
mhwiiickm
AP Photo
Carl " Eller
says that the
.Minneapolis
Police
Department
violated his
civil rights.
WINSTON-SALEM SYMPHONY ROBERT MOODY, MUSIC DtRECt
THREE BROADWAY DIVAS ~
? r ' s
Three' of Broadway:s eading ladies. Debbie Gravitte, Jan Horvath, and
Anne Runolfsson, light up the stage with the Wmston-Salem Symphony
to deliver show-stopping tunes from your favorite musicals - Cots. A
Chorus Line, Evito, Wicked, and more! Don't miss this one-time opportunity r
to hear the best of Broadway performed by three of its brightest stars!
? . ? -
> .
' ! '? ' . "? j', ' ?%.
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2009, AT 7:30 P.M.
Reynolds Auditorium
TICKETS: $I5 -$S5
For more information, call 336-464-0 1-45 or visit www.wssymphony.orf.
WINSTON-SALEM SYMPHONY
POWERED BY SOUND
' ti
a. -?
_?i ?him?
J?* HMI.
V^ARTS
COUNCIL
rfr
muLLEn 1