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Fla. Court Rules Tally Must Include Manual Recount
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida’s
Supreme Court
ruled unani
mously Tuesday
night that state
election officials
d|S§§
must accept amended presidential
returns as late as Sunday or Monday.
The court ruling means Secretary of
State Katherine Harris may not certify
the result of the contested election
between A1 Gore and George W. Bush
CHHS to Be
Heard at
N.Y. Parade
The Chapel Hill High School
chorus received an invitation
to participate in the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade.
By James Miller
Staff Writer
A group of local high school students
spent their lunch periods learning to
sing with their mouths full.
But they didn’t seem to mind.
That’s because the students, taking
part in the almost 100-member Chapel
Hill High School choral group, left
Tuesday for New York to perform for an
audience of millions at this year’s
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
And last Friday afternoon’s rehearsal
was just one of many that took a bite out
of lunch break for both the students and
choral director Ann Huff. “The kids are
quick learners, and they’ll get it right,”
she said. “But they’re not ready yet.”
The students were preparing to join
about 700 members of high school cho
ruses from across the United States at
the parade, which will be broadcast
nationally on NBC, Huff said.
The student choir will perform three
numbers choreographed by renowned
show choir choreographer John
Jacobson, president of America Sings!,
the nonprofit service organization that
scheduled the performance.
“America Sings! sent us a videotape
of John Jacobson doing the choreogra
phy so we could begin to teach the stu
dents beforehand,” Huff said.
“It started out as only two lunches
per week, but now it’s every day,”
junior Hallie Zook said at Friday’s
rehearsal. “We have to be ready or they
won’t put us on the air.”
The performance was not the only
thing students prepared for Friday.
As part of the America Sings!
Thanksgiving program, students also
will support community service projects
in New York by donating and preparing
See CHORUS, Page 2
Gov. Hunt Commutes Carter's Sentence; Committee Calls for Moratorium
By Peter Johnston
Staff Writer
In the final days of his administration,
Gov. Jim Hunt did something that he
has only done once before during his 16
years in office - halted an execution.
Hunt took Marcus Carterjr. off death
row Tuesday and commuted his sen
tence to life in prison without parole.
Convicted in 1992 of the 1989 murder
and attempted rape of Amelia Lewis of
Goldsboro, Carter was scheduled to be
executed by lethal injection at 2 a.m. this
morning.
A press release from the governor’s
office stated that Hunt still believes
Carter is guilty of the crimes he com
mitted, but that there were questions
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.
' Lydia Maria Child
until that time. A statement read by
court spokesman Craig Waters did not
specify whether - or under what guide
lines - manual recounts might continue
until the new deadline.
Bush holds a 930-vote lead in the offi
cial, but uncertified, vote tallies from
Election Day, with overseas absentee
ballots included. Gore has slowly been
eating into that lead in recent days as
recounts have proceeded at his urging in
three Democratic counties.
Gore was in Washington, Bush in
Texas, as the court issued a ruling that
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DTH FILE PHOTO
Former head coach Carl Torbush runs onto the field with the 1999 football team. After Monday's firing ofTorbush,
the UNC athletics program must now turn its attention to finding his replacement.
Donnan, Walker Take Names Out of Hat
Georgia coach Jim Donnan and
Northwestern coach Randy Walker
said they are not interested in
leaving their current positions.
By Bret Strelow
Assistant Sports Editor
North Carolina Director of Athletics Dick
Baddour is convinced he has an attractive foot
ball program to sell.
But Baddour’s task of finding anew coach
about the fairness
of the trial.
“I am confident
that Marcus Carter
is guilty of the
crime for which he
was sentenced, and
I also believe that
he was mentally
competent when
he -committed the
crime and when
he stood trial,”
Hunt stated in the
press release.
“But in cases
Capital punishment
opponent
Patrick Frye
said Carter did not
receive a fair trial.
where capital punishment could be
imposed, we must go the extra mile to
assure there is a fair trial. In the case of
Happy Turkey Day
We're going to give thanks for a
few days off, among other things.
See ya Monday.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
could determine
which one wins the
White House.
In a brief state
ment read on the
courthouse steps,
Waters said the deci
sion was based on
the court’s long
standing view that
“the right of the peo
ple to cast their
votes is the para
mount concern
Democratic candidate Al Gore and
Republican candidate George W. Bush
await the results of the recount.
might just be a little
tougher than planned.
One day after Carl
Torbush was fired as
UNC’s coach,
Northwestern coach
Randy Walker and
Georgia coach Jim
Donnan said they weren’t
interested in the job.
Walker, who was an
assistant coach at UNC
from 1978-87, released a
statement that said he
Marcus Carter, I am convinced that the
overall circumstances of this case put
that in question.”
The governor’s office refused to com
ment any further on the nature of the
circumstances that made Carter’s death
sentence questionable.
Sen. Frank Ballance, D-Bertie, said
Hunt made his decision based on the
evidence alone. Ballance said the fact
that Hunt’s term as governor is nearing
its close did not affect his decision.
But he added that a current social
atmosphere promoting death row fair
ness and the efforts of anti-death penal
ty groups caused Hunt to be extra care
ful when reviewing the evidence.
A legislative commission co-chaired
by Ballance recommended Tuesday that
overriding all oth
ers.”
In recent days,
Democrats have
pushed three coun
ty canvassing
boards to count
hundreds of punch
card ballots with no
holes poked out for
the presidential
race, giving Gore or
Bush a vote when
an indentation is
would remain the Wildcats’ coach.
“I am not interested in the coaching job at
North Carolina or any other coaching posi
tion,” Walker said in the statement. “It is my
intention to finish my coaching career at
Northwestern.”
Donnan, who grew up in Burlington, said he
will stay at Georgia as long as he can.
“I’m very happy at Georgia,” Donnan said.
“I have no interest in going anywhere else.”
The athletics directors at Virginia Tech and
Southern Mississippi said Tuesday they were
See FOOTBALL, Page 2
T >■****>: • Up
Northwestern coach,
former UNC assistant
Randy Walker
North Carolina join 13 other states in
banning the execution of the mentally ill
and putting a temporary halt to the
death penalty. The action came just
hours before Hunt commuted Carter’s
death sentence.
Although the commission will not
approve a final report until next month,
it voted unanimously to include a pro
posal banning the execution of anyone
with an IQ of 70 or below - the accept
ed standard for mental retardation.
The group also agreed that a morato
rium on the death penalty should be
included in its final recommendations to
the N.C. General Assembly, along with
a proposal that would discourage pros
ecutors in capital cases from selecting or
dismissing potential jurors based on
found next to their name. With the Texas
Republican clinging to the lead, the vice
president’s advisers said they almost cer
tainly can’t win Florida and the White
House unless county officials discern the
intent of voters whose ballots were not
properly punched.
Gore had picked up 278 votes in
recounts by late Tuesday, which because
of the court’s ruling, will now shave
Bush’s lead to 652 votes out of 6 million
cast. Bush has held his own in at least
one of the counties, raising fears among
Democrats that they will not overtake
Police to Check
For Seat Belt Use,
Drunken Drivers
Across the state and the nation, police will
be out at checkpoints this Thanksgiving
Break aiming to protect children.
By Jennifer Hagin
Staff Writer
As thousands of people hit the roads this Thanksgiving holi
day, law enforcement officials nationwide are beefing up traffic
checkpoints to catch drunken drivers and enforce seat belt laws.
In North Carolina, the Booze It & Lose It program, which
aims to catch drunken drivers, will extend its efforts to include
unbelted children as well.
Local law enforcement agencies plan to set up hundreds of
checkpoints throughout the weekend along many major state
roadways.
Jill Lucas, public information officer for the Governor’s
Highway Safety program, said the effort is aimed at keeping
children safe on state roadways this weekend.
Three children under the age of 16 have died already this
year in alcohol-related accidents, and 29 people died in acci
dents last Thanksgiving on the state’s roads, Lucas said.
“The Thanksgiving holiday has, unfortunately, the tradition
as the bloodiest holiday in North Carolina,” she said.
The new nationwide efforts resulted in part from a joint
campaign between Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the
Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign.
Laurie Fink, a spokeswoman for the seat belt campaign,
said two of every three children who die in automobile acci
dents are riding with a drunken driver -a fact that encouraged
the group to join forces with MADD to increase the law
enforcement presence on roads during holidays. “The main
risk kids face are the people in the car with them,” Fink said.
Fink said the seat belt campaign’s programs, which started
in 1997, have had a nationwide effect. “It’s been hugely suc
cessful,” she said. “Child fatalities have dropped 17 percent
and restraint use among children jumped dramatically.”
Fink said it takes the threat of fines to change some driver’s
actions. “If they see on the news that law enforcement will be
out in their neighborhood, they’ll use seat belts,” she said.
“There is a certain stubborn group of drivers that refuse to
buckle up their kids - we call them dead-beat drivers.”
Anew state law taking effect Dec. 1 will give drivers of
unbelted children two points on their licenses, an increase
from the current fine of sll6.
Shannon Roberts, N.C. executive director for MADD, said the
group’s local chapters encourage law enforcement agencies to
increase their presence during the holidays. Roberts said 10,000
agencies around the nation have agreed to cooperate over
Thanksgiving. “Checkpoints in general have been very effective,”
she said. “At least one person removed from the road each night
See TRAFFIC, Page 2
their race.
Faye Booker, Carter's cousin and a
distant relative of Amelia Lewis, said she
was thankful Hunt stopped the execution.
“We really wanted a retrial or clemency,
but I am still thankful,” she said.
Patrick Frye, UNC student body trea
surer and member of People of Faith
Against the Death Penalty, said that in
addition to being opposed to the death
penalty in general, he specifically
opposed it in Carter’s case because he
believed Carter did not receive a fair trial.
Carter’s first trial, in 1991, ended with
a hung jury. He represented himself in
his second trial and was convicted of
first-degree murder and attempted sec
ond-degree rape and sentenced to death.
Carter’s supporters claim that he was
Holiday Fun
Today: Sunny, 41
Turkey Day: Sunny, 42
Friday: Stormy, 53
Wednesday, November 22, 2000
the Texas governor unless every possible
ballot is counted.
Gore’s lawyers asked the state
Supreme Court to set a standard for vote
counting in all three counties.
Bush’s legal team replied Tuesday,
telling the court it “is without power” to
determine which ballots should and
should not be tallied in the hand recount
The Gore attorneys, firing back at Bush
Tuesday, accused die Republicans of rais
ing a “parade” of objections to keep the
court from addressing the matter prior to
the court’s ruling Tuesday night
forced to fire his negligent lawyers short
ly before the second trial.
Hunt commuted a death sentence for
Wendell Flowers last December - the
only other time he has taken an inmate
off death row during his historic four
terms in office.
Tuesday night a planned vigil to pray
for Marcus Carter in Carroll Hall turned
into a celebratory gathering. Prayers of
various faiths were said, and several
speakers voiced their opposition to the
death penalty. Nearly 50 people attend
ed the event
The Associated Press contributed
to this story.
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.