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Pair of
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CIAA tennis
accolades
-See Page BIO
Volunteers 3
tidy-up
around
the city
-See Page B1
The Chronicle
Volume39,Number31 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March 28, 2013
Backyard
pick-up
debate
reignited
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
McLaurin
Turner
The City Council will consider later this
year whether to take measures to reduce the
remaining number of backyard trash collec
tions.
The city moved to do away with backyard
collection in 2005 when it implemented a
voluntary policy that asked residents to place
their trash on curbs; in 2010, that policy
became mandatory for all residents except
for those with medical exemptions or who
live in some mnltifam
ily complexes.
According to
Assistant City
Manager Greg Turner,
who oversees
Sanitation, out of
77,000 households
serviced, 2,700 still
receive backyard col
lection, accounting for
five percent of collec
tinnc Rut th^ riti7f?ns'
Organizational
Efficiency Review
Committee, which was
appointed by the City
Council to find ways
to save the City
money. wants to
reduce backyard col
lections even further. It
is recommending that
residents receive a
doctor's note in order
IU IA. vAVllipi I1VIII IOA
ing their trash to the curb; the existing policy
only requires residents to Vubmit a form stat
ing that no one in the household is able to
bring the trash cart to the curb. The stricter
requirement is already used in cities like
Greensboro, which has only one percent
backyard collection. It would save the city an
estimated $114.000.
Sanitation Workers are all in favor of
reducing backyard collections. They say
hauling trash from backyards is backbreaking
work and can lead to uncomfortable con
frontations with homeowners. Angelia Byrd.
a former sanitation truck driver, said that
going into a person's yard, sometimes before
the sun rises, can lead to confusion and hos
tility from residents.
"If it can be done without (backyard col
lection) it'd be great for the protection of cus
tomers and employees as well," said Byrd.
"Because you got customers who don't want
people fumbling around their house."
Byrd was fired after a conflict with a res
ident who receives backyard collection. Byrd
said her three-person crew was struggling to
collect the woman's garbage because it was
far in excess of what the 96-gallon carts san
itation workers use could hold. Byrd said she
told a co-worker that the resident's trash was
more than they were supposed to collect,
which, according to Byrd. led the woman to
direct racial slurs at her.
Byrd was axed after the Sanitation
Department found faults in her actions. She
maintains she did nothing wrong and recently
brought her wrongful termination claim
before the City Council.
Sec Backyard on A7
Black ministers* group still
divided over gay marriage
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
PHoto by lay la Ganrn
Ministers Conference President Rev. Willard Bass
stands outside Green Street Church.
Marshall
The church of the president of the Ministers Conference of
Winston-Salem and Vicinity made national headlines, announcing that
it would not perform any more heterosexual marriage ceremonies until
same-sex marriages are also honored by the state and federal govern
tnont
IIIVIII.
But the issue of same sex marriage, and
even homosexuality, is still very much a con
tentious one for the mostly black clergy who
make up the Ministers Conference.
"It has been a journey for us," Ministers
Conference President Willard Bass said of
Green Street United Methodist Church's
decision to support same-sex marriage in
such a bold way. "...The question of not
doing marriage at all in the church is a very
controversial issue. It's really profound for a
church to go that far."
Bass is the associate nastnr at Green
Street, a racially integrated church that is home to about 35 same-sex
couples. The church's stance came just days before the U.S. Supreme
Court was slated to hear oral arguments in two highly-publicized gay
rights cases.
The Ministers Conference as an organization has not taken a
stance, one way or the other, on the legal challenges to California's
Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of
Marriage Act. Last year, the Conference urged voters to vote against
Amendment One, which changed the state constitution to define mar
riage as being only between a man and a woman, though many mem
bers, including then-president Rev. Joseph Nance, expressed uneasi
ness about gay marriage and Biblical objections to homosexuality.
See Ministers on A8
Wright condemns usurpers of history
PTKHO r? j*wn nu
Rev. Jeremiah Wright takes a moment
to ponder.
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE :
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright likened
those who alter, edit or redact the lega
cy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the
Pharisees in chapter nine of John who
created their own version of events
rather than accepting a blind man's
claim that he was healed by Jesus.
"We let folks repackage King ...
They want to tell you today what they
think Dr. King stood for," said Wright,
who predicted that such repackaging
would reach a fever-pitch next week as
the nation marks the 45th anniversary
of the Civil Rights icon's assassina
tion.
Pastor emeritus of Trinity United
Church of Christ - a Chicago mega
church that once counted President
Barack Obama and his family among
its nearly 9,000 members - Wright
keynoted The Chronicle's 28th Annual
Community Service Awards Gala
Saturday night at the Benton
Convention Center.
He told a crowd of more than 700
that distorting King's dream and mes
sage is a bi-partisan and mutli-racial
campaign. Black preachers have used
King's words to preach a message
advocating prosperity for the church
and its members. The "prosperity
pimps" have it all wrong, Wright said.
"King was not a prophet of pros
perity ... King was on the side of the
poor."
On the other extreme. Wright con
tends that right-wingers have distorted
King's words to advocate for causes
such as ending affirmative action.
Knocking notions of a "so-called post
racial America," Wright suggested that
those who think this country is at a
place where content of character
trumps skin color are delusional.
"Ask the parents of Trayvon Martin
is racism a thing of the past," Wright
said.
He urged the crowd to tell their
own stories instead of leaving them for
others to retell or distort.
See Wright on A8
Meet tin
New Super
Photo by l-ayl* Garm*
Jane Goins, chair of the Winston
Salem/ Forsyth County Board of
Education, introduces incoming
Superintendent Dr. Beverly Emory to
the local community Tuesday. Emory,
who currently serves as superintendent
of Pitt County Schools, will take the
helm here in July when Dr. Donald
Martin retires. Read more about her
on page A3.
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Rev. Parthenia and
Robert Galloway
Loved ones vow to continue Cuthrell's fight
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
City native Tamla
'Tammie" Cuthrell built her
life on serving others.
Whether it was her family,
friends or her clients at the
department of Social Services
where she worked for 14
years, the UNC Chapel Hill
alumna was known for her
giving nature and willingness
to do whatever she could for
her fellow man.
"She never was a taker,"
said her father, Robert
Galloway. "She never wanted
you to give her anything
unless she really needed it."
Cuthrell passed away
March 9, following a coura
See Cuthrell on A10
Photos by Layla Garms
The late
T a m m i e
C uthrell
speaks at The
Light's Toy
Drive/Breast
Cancer bene
fit in
December.
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