Moving Targets
See the Opinion / *
Forum pages A6&7
Spring football I
The Chronicle
Volume41,Number31 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, April 16, 2015
VIGIL FOR WALTER SCOTT
A^P Photo/David Goldman
Angela Caraway, of Raleigh, N.C., looks up during a moment of prayer during a vigil at the scene where
Walter Scott was fatally shot by a white police officer after he fled a traffic stop, Sunday, April 12, in North
Charleston, S.C. The officer, Michael Thomas Slager, has been fired and charged with murder.
Sharpton praises response
to fatal SC police shooting
BY PHILLIP LUCAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS .
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC.
? Demonstrators in the North
Charleston area say they will press
local officials for broader civilian
oversight of the city's police force
after the shooting death of Walter
Scott.
The Rev. A1 Sharpton called for
unity Sunday, April 12, at a vigil on
the grassy vacant lot where Scott, 50,
was killed. Other speakers invited
people to the state Capitol this week
for discussions on proposed legisla
tion on body cameras for officers in
the state.
Black Lives Matter leaders said in
an open letter that they want people to
begin recording police officers as part
of a project titled
#We Are Watching You.
A 73-year-old Oklahoma volun
teer Sheriff's deputy who authorities
said fatally shot a suspect after con
fusing his stun gun and handgun was
booked into the county jail Tuesday.
See page A2
During a sermon at a North
Charleston church Sunday morning,
Sharpton said swift action taken by a
white mayor and police chief in the
South could set the tone for handling
future questions of police misconduct
across the country.
"It's not about black and white.
It's about right and wrong," Sharpton
said. "What this mayor did is what
we've been asking mayors to do all
over the country: Not do us a favor,
just enforce the law.'"
The tone of the local community's
response has been different than other
instances Hf unarmed black men
being fatally shot by white police
officers, including the violent demon
strations from people in Ferguson,
Missouri, after Michael Brown's
death.
Sharpton preached at the Charity
Missionary Baptist Church and com
mended Mayor Keith Summey and
Police Chief Eddie Driggers ? both
of whom were in the congregation
and at the vigil.
The shooting was captured on
video that was taken by a witness.
Scott was shot after fleeing a traffic
stop by then-officer Michael Slager.
The officer initially said Scott was
shot after a tussle over his Taser, but
the witness video that later surfaced
See SC Shooting on A2
Ellison voted
chalrmon ol
Forsyth Go.
Democrats
*
by donna rogers
the Chronicle
Eric S. Ellison, an attorney in Winston-Salem, has
been elected chairman of the Forsyth County Democratic
Party. He replaces Susan Campbell.
Ellison, who said he has worked with elections for 22
years, expects to lead the party in preparing citizens for
the 2016 North Carolina Voter ID law, especially African
Americans, who will most likely be adversely affected by
the law.
He has started working already.
rnree aays aner oeing eiecieu cnair
man on Saturday, April 11.
This week he spoke to The
Chronicle outside the county
Democratic headquarters, where a
phone bank has been set up to contact
voters who possibly could be affected
by the new law.
"This election cycle is critically
important to the African-American
community," Ellison said. "The Ellison
African-American community could
potentially be particularly harmed by this voter ID law."
Ellison said his experience working with elections has
prepared him for the challenge.
"For me, I stepped up because I thought it was an
opportunity to make sure our community is able to address
this problem," he said. "I think this is historical."
Ellison mentioned the movie "Selma," which por
trayed the efforts of civil rights workers to get the 1965
Voting Rights Act passed in Congress because so many
African-Americans had been denied their right to vote.
Their efforts were successful.
"Now, 50 years later, we're going back to Selma," he
said, because of the North Carolina Voter ID law, which
forces people to provide govemment-issued identification
in order to vote.
Ellison has been involved with the Forsyth County
Democratic Party since 2002. He has served as party attor
ney, party third vice chair, chair of Forsyth County Young
Democrats, campaign managed for Hartsfield for District
Court Judge Campaign, Triad attorney for Obama for
America and executive committee member for Valene
Franco for Judge Campaign.
Other officers elected at the party's convention on
Saturday, April 11 are:
?First Vice Chair, Marilynn Baker, who has extensive
experience in marketing and business strategy, and corn
See Democrats on A4
School Board member maintains that Hanes and Lowrance schools were safe
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School Board
Member Elisabeth
Motsinger said that she was
concerned about the school
system moving Hanes and
Lowrance Middle Schools
in the middle of the school
year for what she amounts
to fear-mongering.
"Obviously the safety
of our children is the
utmost importance to me,
but to close the school
when we have data that
clearly says the school is i
safe for students and to i
spend those kind of <
resources when we have t
real needs in our district i
that are going unmet, does- i
n't make any sense," she t
said. "This will end up '
costing the district millions <
of dollars. The data i
absolutely says that the |
room air was safe and 1
always have been safe." i
At the March 24 meet- i
ing, the Winston- i
Salem/Forsyth County i
School Board heard the i
final report on the vapor
ntrusion testing from Will documents, sub-slab soil
Service, an vapor samples were
snvironmental
oxicologist
with Mid
Atlantic
Associates.
rhe company
: o 11 e c t e d
indoor air sam
ples from 45
locations with
in the schools.
iiiu iiu cuiuain- iu fiHiv iui^wj *\/i
inates exceeded residential health risks, with only one
screening levels in .any of of the 14 exceeding the tar
the locations. get.
According to WS/FCS In February, the
collected trom Ji
locations to test for
containments that
maybe under the
building. The
chemical PCE was
detected at levels
exceeding screen
ing levels in 14
samples. Those lev
els were compared
ctofp faropfc fr?r
Motsinger
Winston-Salem/ Forsyth
County School Board
voted to move the students
from the school because of
a vapor intrusion from
chemicals in the soil,
although a consultant
determined that those
vapors were not at signifi
cant levels.
The board voted 7-2,
with Motsinger and David
Singletary dissenting, on
Feb. 11 to move Hanes and
Lowrance Middle Schools
off their current site in
response to concerns about
safety at the site.
That move took place
on March 2.
Hanes Magnet school
was moved to two different
places.
The sixth-graders were
moved to Smith Farm
Elementary, while the sev
enth- and eighth-graders
moved to the former Hill
Middle School, which had
n't been used since the
school merged with Philo
Middle in 2012-2013.
Splitting Hanes up is a
temporary move, according
See Safe on A10
'Maya Angelou chose to love me,' Tavis Smiley said of his friend
*
* I
| i
>
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Author, broadcaster and publisher Tavis
Smiley encouraged residents to find their path by
walking it themselves as he spoke to more than
100 people Thursday night who packed the audi
torium of the Southeastern Center for'
Contemporary Art (SECCA) to talk about his per
sonal journey with the late Dr. Maya Angelou,
chronicled in his book "My Journey with Maya."
"I remember when she died. I remember look
ing out of the hotel window
in New York and just want
ing everything to just
stop," he told the crowd of
the woman he thought of as
a mother figure. "We are
who we are because some
body loved us. I am who I
am in part because Maya
Angelou chose to love
me."
Smiley is the author of 1
books, the host of Tavis Smiley on PBS, The
Tavis Smiley Show and Smiley & West from
Public Radio International, and the daily radio
show, Tavis Talks, on the Tavis Smiley
Network.
He is the founder of the Tavis Smiley
Foundation that focuses on promoting young
leaders through workshops and conferences.
The event was designed to celebrate
Angelou, who died on May 28, 2014. She
See T?rfa on A2
6 Smiley
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