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THE CHRONICLE
North Carolina Room ~
Forsyth County Public Library
Volume 39, Number ^O Vitest F^^WtNSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, July 25, 2013
1
Rk Photo
Vivian Burke is looking to extend her stay.
Challengers
take aim
at Council
incumbents i
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
The turnout of candi
dates for Winston-Salem
City Council positions has
created a crowded Held
this year.
Following the July 19
filing deadline, no mem
oer or tne
Council has
escaped without
opposition.
North Ward
Council
Member Denise
"DD" Adams
will face no
Primary chal
lenger, but
Republican
Patricia
K 1 e i n m a i e r
awaits her in
November's
general election.
Southwest Ward
Council
Member Dan
Besse also
won't face a pri
mary chal
lenger. but
Republicans
Donald Shaw
and Robert Hultman are
vying to see which one of
them will run against him
in the general.
Five members of the
Council, including Mayor
Allen Joines. face opposi
tion in the Sept. 10 pri
mary. The Northwest
Ward seat held by Council
Member Wanda Merschel
is up for grabs after the
veteran decided not to
seek reelection.
Northeast Ward
incumbent Vivian Burke
*? * ? seek anoth
er term. She had initially
told The Chronicle she
was "thinking and pray
ing" about whether she
would run for re-election,
but when she was con
fronted on the eve of the
filing deadline with a
roomful of supporters
imploring her to run again.
Burke, who has
served on the
Council for 35
years, said she
took their pleas
to heart.
"I said I
have to go and
pray over it and
pray about it
and so 1 decid
ed that I would
go on and run,"
she related.
"There's still
some things
that need to be
done."
During her
more than three
decades of the
Council, Burke
said she has
introduced a
variety of city
initiatives to
serve minorities, women
and youth, including the
Minority/Women
Business Enterprise
Program and the Youth
Advisory Council, and
established valuable rela
tionships with stakehold
ers all over the city. If the
voters re-elect her. Burke
said she will continue to
fight for women, minori
ties and vulnerable popu
lations such as the city's
homeless community.
"I have been able to
See Election on A9
Bowtll
Tatum
I Where History Was Made |
City of W SPhmo
Locals pose around the city's newest historic marker. Commemorating Pythian Hall, the marker was
unveiled Sunday at the corner of Chestnut and Seventh streets. Built in 1902, Pythian Hall housed two
important African-American fraternal organizations, the Knights of Pythias and the Prince Hall Masons,
that helped city newcomers find housing and jobs. The building also housed the Fraternal Funeral Home,
which was started in 1928 by the Prince Hall Masons and was later acquired by Clark S. Brown, whose
grandchildren Maurice Brown and Carla Brown Rumph took part in the unveiling.
New Super continues systemwide meetings
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Dr. Beverly Emory, the new superintendent of
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, is wasting no
time in getting to know the community she now serves.
Emory, who took office July 1, is
in the midst of a series of meetings
with school system employees, par
ents and other stakeholders to learn
about the system's strengths and
weaknesses and their expectations of
her as its new leader. School system
officials initially announced 10 meet
ings with small groups at area high
schools, but the community's over
whelming response prompted them to
add 10 more meeting times. Emory
explained. Though open to the general
public, attendees were required to pre-register to attend, in
part to make Emory's conversations with stakeholders
more intimate. The former superintendent of Pitt County
Schools is expected to interface with 300 people by the
conclusion of the last meeting on Aug. 22.
"My purpose in having these meetings with small
groups was first to listen and learn." she explained "The
other part is sort of research gathering ... I want to have
Set Emory on AS
Emory
Pho??> h> I J>U Ganm
Alicia and Harold Cone at the meeting.
For the Love of Nusic
Thomas finally embracing his God-given talent
BY TODD LUCK
THt CHRONICLE
As a child, Russell Thomas
watched a live band perform and
was instantly drawn to the guitar.
So when he was 13, he and a
friend saw an electric guitar in a
store window, and he just had to
have it.
"I was baptized in the guitar at
that point," he said. "Actually, the
clerk let me layaway the guitar with
all the money I had. and it was a
penny back in 1971, but he was a
smart salesman cause he knew I had
a mother who would give him some
money for it."
Thomas, one of seven children,
said his family didn't have a lot of
money, but his mother, Margie
I
See Thomas on A2
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Russell Thomas plays his guitar.
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WSSU early voting point of contention for new BOE
Photo* by Layla Garim
Fleming El
Amin is read
the oath by
District Court
Judge Victoria
Roemer.
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Three men - two Republicans and one Democrat -
took oaths last week to serve as members of the Forsyth
County Board of Electidta.
Fleming El-Amin. Kenl^aymond and Stuart Russell
each signed on to serve two yfcartenmAvftPthe Board,
which is responsible for conductingfaTl elections held in
Forsyth County and ensuring that state election laws are
See BOE on A8
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