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Vol. XXXV No. 38
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Girls b-ball
league
grows in
popularity
-See Page B7
Service
celebrates
slain
officers
Women
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Photo by Layla Farmer
Jeter Floyd stands outside of the Kopper
Kitchen on Fifth Street.
Smoking
Mad
Cigarette ban has few
fans in Twin City
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Gov. Bev Perdue signed into law this week a
ban on smoking at most places in the state where
food and drinks are served. The law, which will
go into effect January 2, 2010. imposes a smoke
free mandate upon nightclubs, bars and restau
rants, although some
memoers only estaDiisn
ments such as country
clubs and other private
meeting spots are exclud
ed.
After years of discus
sion, the General
Assembly OK'd the bill
before sending it to
Perdue 's desk. According
Anderson to the Associated Press,
North Carolina will
become the 33rd state,
including the District of Columbia, with laws
banning smoking in places such as restaurants,
workplaces, bars or some combination. The N.C.
law does not apply to workplaces or public places.
Any move to ban or limit smoking in this state
is significant, since for decades tobacco was the
backbone of North Carolina's economy. State
Rep. Larry Womble is well aware of tobacco's
storied history in the state an d here in Forsyth
County, where RJ. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has
done so much for so many. But Womble said he
See Smoking on A10
No plans to close Sims Center
New director will be in place by the end of summer
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE - ? : _ _____
f
Inquiring minds are asking about the fate of the William C.
Sims Recreation Center a week after it was revealed that the
longtime director of the center will be departing.
Questions about the fate of the Sims Rec Center were being
asked even before the city's Recreation and Parks Department
decided to transfer Ben Piggott
across town to the Carl Russell I
Recreation Center. The Happy
Hill Community where the Sims
Center is located is no longer
home to the sprawling public '
housing complex that once
flanked the center. The Housing ^
Authority of Winston-Salem p
won a HOPE VI grant from the L
U.S. Department of Housing and E
Urban Development to trans
form Happy Hill Gardens into a
mixed income community of
single-family homes, townhous
es and apartments. Most of the
residents who lived in the public
housing complex moved away
to make way for the change and
did not return when the redevel
Rev. Jones
opment was completed.
Tim Grant, the director Recreation and Parks, says that atten
dance at the Sims Center has waned since the area was
revamped.
"There's definitely been a decline," he stated. "We don't see
as many kids as we used to, month to month, week to week, day j
? See Sims on A9 /
File Photo
k ids line up to receive a gift at the Sims Center's most recent Peace Toys
or War Toys Exchange.
Station employees told to 'KISS' off
Corporation 's downsizing affects local employees
r? v/ i a \/t A ni m trrn i . i i ? ? r t
r> i L./M i-M rftKJviER
THE CHRONICLE
In the tidal wave that is our economic
downturn, the radio industry is
jusi anoiner vessel tnai nas oegun
to take on water. Several staffers
at Greensboro-based 105.7 KISS
FM know this all too well, as
they find themselves up that
proverbial creek without a pad
dle.
Brian Anthony, the station's
former program manager, was
among those let go late last
month by the Clear Channel
Communications, Inc. -owned
ctntinn 7 Ifl.QS whirh nmmic
deliver a unique blend of classic and con
temporary R&B when it launched a few
years ago, has now just a skeleton staff of
locals to man the media outlet.
The layoffs are the latest in a string of
downsizing measures that Clear Channel,
which owns more than 1 200 radio stations,
has undergone since Inauguration Day,
wnen it quietly disposed or nearly nine per
cent of its employee base, according to
mediapost.com.
Anthony, whose time in the industry has
taken him from "turntables to
computers," and other local Clear
Channel personalities were
amortg some 590 employees who
were dismissed during the latest
layoffs, according to an April 29
article on inquisitr.com.
"I don't have any ill will with
the company. I've been with the
(Clear Channel) company for 11
years; they've been good to me
Jeter
tn i/icc
and my family," commented
Anthony, who helped to launch
rvi^o rmjuM uvei iwu ycdis
Anthony said his contract at the station
had come to an end and he knew that with
the company downsizing, renewing the con
tract was not a guarantee.
KISS FM on-air personality KJ in the
Midday and the local Steve Harvey Morning
See KISS on A8
Photo by Layla Fanner
Brian Anthony says he is not looking back with
regret or bitterness.
Singing praises of the unsung
Those working at
the grassroots
thanked for service
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
When neighborhoods bur
dened with crime and poverty
initiate efforts to revitalize
and engage their communi
ties, those effols rarely go
unnoticed.
However, the people
behind those eforts often do
escape public notice, rarely
getting recogfltion for their
work. That?; why the
Winston-SaleJi State
University Center for
Community Safety (CCS)
holds its biemial Community
Safety Awaiis, to recognize
those unsunj heroes.
The mo* recent ceremo
WSSU Photo by Garrett Garrm
Honoree Karen Redding, center, with Judge Todd Burke
and WSSU Provost Jessica Bailey.
ny was held Friday at the new
Family Services Building on
Broad Street. Five awards
were presented.
"It really is to recognize
the people who work to help
our community be safer," said
CCS Interim Director Alvin
Atkinson. "(The public) real
ly doesn't know all the work
that is done."
The CCS has been work
ing with partner agencies to
revitalize high-crime neigh
borhoods since 200 1 . It man
ages local Weed and Seed
programs, which strives to
"weed" out crime and "seed"
communities with innovative
programs. The awards are
presented to those who work
in the neighborhoods where
the CSS has a presence.
The Resident Award went
to Karen Redding, a single
white mother of three bi
racial children who has lived
in Salem Gardens, a mostly
black, low-income communi
ty, for nine years. She's pres
ident of Salem Gardens Adult
Council, which provides vol
vSee Awards on A9
VP @ WFU
WFU Photo by Ken Bennett
Timothy Davis, the John W. & Ruth H. Turnage
Professor of Law at Wake Forest, does the hooding hon
ors for Vice President Joe Biden on Monday as Biden
accepts an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. The vice
president served as the speaker at the school's com
mencement ceremony.
DCN'T
PASS
THE BUCK
BUY LOCAL
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