Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Aug. 30, 2012, edition 1 / Page 9
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The Chronicle August 30, 2012 A9 OP/ED Ernest H. Pitt Publisher/Co-Founder 3 if Elaine Pitt Business Manager T. Kevin "VValker Managing Editor Reynolds Deserves a Stadium It is difficult to find a sound reason for not supporting the proposed football stadium for R,J. Reynolds High School at Hanes Park. There is plenty of room for a stadium on land that the school system owns and the bulk of the money for the project is being raised privately by supporters of the project. Case closed. We can understand the feelings of those who live around the area. No one wants to be crowded and have green space compromised, and Hanes Park is arguably our city’s most lovely public facility. However, there are other communities that have to deal with such intrusions all the time. It comes with the territory when you’re trying to make accommodations for growth and progress. Bowman Gray Stadium is in a residential area, as are the stadi ums for Carver, Atkins and many other high schools. Unfortunately, not all of us can have a nice green park to look at every day. Some folks have to look at long-closed factories, broken down and dilapidated houses, old garages, fire stations and the like. Also, it is not like Hanes Park is an area for a serene solitude. With the White (formerly Centralj YMCA branch, Wiley Middle School, Brunson Elementary School and Reynolds’ gymnasium already adjacent to the park, it is not like the stadium will be out of place. If residents near Hanes Park are fretting about safety, they should not be. Having a sta dium there would pose no more danger than having the Y and the schools nearby. Proper lighting and policing should keep disturbances to a minimum. Reynolds is a first-class high school and deserves to play its home games in a stadium of its own. Other high schools have stadiums. Why shouldn’t Reynolds? We hope the City Council and School Board work with all those involved to clear a way to make the stadium a reality. Elected officials should not base their decisions on how many emails and phone calls they receive from both sides. They should think of the kids and all that Reynolds High has meant for this city. Carver students don SMOD apparel in the lunchroom Monday. Carver from page Al Photos by Layla Gaims Council called to do justice in Marker case To the Editor: On Oct. 22, 2007, The Winston-Salem City Council established a comprehensive fact find ing review committee for the police depart ment’s investigation into the Jill Marker Silk Plant Forest Case to make appropriate recom mendations. After all the information we reviewed, there was no credible evidence that Kalvin Michael Smith was at the location of the Silk Plant Forest store on December 9, 1995 at or about the time that the crime for which he was charged was committed. After reviewing the Silk Plant investigation at length, the committee concluded at critical stages in the investiga tion, the investigators failed to follow proce dures which, if fol lowed, would have enhanced the reliability and completeness of information that was provided to prosecutors and ultimately, to the court. For this reason, the committee does not have confidence in the investigation. In some instances, the investigators violated expressly stated departmental policy. In other instances they engaged in conduct that departmental pol icy simply did not address adequately. The question before the Winston-Salem City Council is what are you going to do about the report from the committee that you estab lished which indicated Kalvin Michael Smith was wrongly convicted because of withheld evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel and other violations of his rights under North Carolina law and the Constitution of the United States? Please note that one of the most important functions of the government of the City of Winston-Salem is to protect public safety. If Kalvin Smith was not involved in the brutal beating of Jill Marker, then the person who did is still out there in the community and that indeed concerns all of us. Because there were questions concerning whether police proce dures were properly followed, it was in the interest of the city and its citizens to seek reso lution to these questions by establishing an independent fact finding citizens committee for the Jill Marker - Silk Plant Forest Case police investigation. As a member of the committee, it is dis couraging to hear the City Council say it did not want to “overstep its boundary’’ by support ing Kalvin Smith’s petition for a new trial. It seems to me that the City Council has an obli gation to .seek the truth and do justice. Even the jurors who convicted Smith said that they are still haunted by the responsibility of deciding a case that rested on such uncertain evidence. It is indeed disturbing to hear the chairper son of the City Council Public Safety Committee say that the review committee report was not enough for the city to take an official stand on the issue. As the City Council, you may not be in the court’s business, but you are called to do justice and to do what is called morally right. After more than 50 years as a minister in the United Methodist Church, let me say to all of the people in Winston-Salem, “In every thing, do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the law of the prophets.” Rev. Dr. James W. Ferree Sr. Council did not fulfill its role To the Editor: I am alarmed as a citizen of Winston Salem that our City Council chose not to tell the fed eral court the truth it now possesses about the Silk Plant Forest investigation. The issue is not the council’s view about Kalvin Michael Smith’s guilt or innocence. It is how our any government handles factual information. Today, this case tests the core values and beliefs that guide our government, and the trust we citizens place in that government. What future do we seek for ourselves and our chil dren here in Winston Salem? A culture is a col lection of shared stories like the air we breathe. These stories often go unnoticed and unsci-uti- nized. Yet, their impact can be enormous. For thousands of yeai's it was unquestion ably permissible to own slaves, particularly if they were of a different race or tribe. And women were subservient to men. But eventu ally facts, not myths, inform the culture if the society is to survive. That principle is the foun dation of all popular government and all democracies. It dates to the due process clause of the Magna Carta and was incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. The reality that our City Council cares so Uttle about facts and due process should shock every citizen. It is always government’s role, the City Council in this case, to provide protection for all its citizens, especially when truth the gov ernment possesses can correct an injustice of that government’s own making. Rev. Willard Bass McDonald, who plans to try out for the soccer team this year, said the restrictive nature of the policy is cramp ing her personal style. T feel kind of like I don’t have my own style ... because I’m just dressing like every body else.” she declared. “It took away my individuality.” Assistant Principal Michael Mack was among those who pushed for the dress policy, which school administrators say received the thumbs-up of 92 percent of Carver parents last year. The father of two said the benefits of the policy - which the school implemented in part to cut down on discipli nary issues — were obvious Monday morning. “I just feel the demeanor change immediately with these kids coming in in uni forms,” he stated. “The atti tude is completely different today.” Third-year teacher Julie Phillips said she had heard some students complain Monday that the dress code was hampering their self- expression, but that she was pleasantly surprised by how well most students have taken to the new regulations. “I really like it.,” she remarked. “So far, so good.” "Varsity Cheerleader Keesha Poe, said she believes the policy will cut down on bullying. “Nobody can bully any body because they all look the same,” said Poe, a junior. ‘You can focus more and teachers don’t have to worry about taking kids to the office (for dress code violations).” While school administra tors argued that the dress pol icy would drastically cut fam ilies’ back-to-school shop ping bills, Alexus Westberry, Grant 16, said that was not the ease for her family. Westberry said it was an added expense for her mother to purchase essentially pur chase three new wai'drobes for her, her twin bother and their younger sis ter, a Carver fresh man. Westberry, who plays on the school’s volleyball squad, called the new guidelines too restrictive. “I feel like we’re being punished,” she commented. Despite the reluctance of some students to adapt to the changes. Mack, who has spent the past 11 years in education, is expecting good things all year long as a result of the new policy. “This has been the quietest first Phillips jjgy qj- school I’ve ever been a part of - you can hear a pin drop,” he declared. “Kids don’t want to admit it, but they are conduct ing themselves very appropri ately.” EricJ. 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The Chronicle apologizes for the error and the confusion that it may have caused. from page AH and were received with great interest by the local arts com munity, elected officials and civic and business leaders.” The students were given multiple site and program options. Then they chose locations and developed indi vidual designs they believe would enhance the area around t h e Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts by adding entertain ment, cul tural and arts-based venues. The local Arts Council will now assess the potential for a theater district to contribute to overall down town development. It will set goals and ana lyze elements, including the potential for more retail and entertainment venues, afford able housing and residential development, job space and corporate relocation opportu nities and the preservation of historic resources. The cities of Burnsville,Durham, Greensboro and Wilson also received grants. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Aug. 30, 2012, edition 1
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