Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / June 25, 1977, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
- Euke University Litrar . . J Durham, N C. 57706 e: " -.. I : Tho Dacfi Press- Words of VJkdczi Look well into thyself; there is a sottrc which will always spring up if thou wilt, always search there., Marcus AerelJas' Oiir Froodom Depend On If.' 1 VOLUME 65 - NUM3ER 25 "READ BY OVER 30.000 DURHAMITES' DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA JUNE 25, 1977 IN MURDER CASES Urban Rcnov;al onm "i ' ' . . ! , ' . ' - ' X f V. .'. ; .i.. . - '.. . ... . -;jr' -- -'I... - . j. . . -i . - '."' 1 . , . y. -. 9 ( '' 1 eS6Smmo66So ilraul And trinm J Oil Tb Spot Death Penalty Mgam SMITHFIELD (CCNS) Civfl rights attorney 'Jeny Paul has been retained in the state's first death penalty q case ' since a revised capital punishment law went into effect June 1st. A previous law was declared unconsti tutional last July by the U. S. Supreme Court. Paul will represent David ; Ezra Stewart, ,25 of Benson, , who is charged along with Henry Smith, 29, also of Benson with the slaying of Dennis Wilbert Allen, a Four Oaks policeman and Lenwood "Big Boy" John son a truck driver, . As he . left ' his first conference with his client, Paul said that he took the case because District Attorney John Twisdale, of the 11th Judicial district is ' seeking the death penalty, and he Paul wants to pre vent Ku Klux Klan influence in the case. "We can't let the Han railroad somebody into jail' or into the gas chamber," Paul said. He continued "we are going to see to it that none of that happens, and that the Klan has no influ ence in this case." . Accompanying Paul as he left the Johnston County Jail was Golden Frinks, Southern Christian Leader-, ship , Conference Program Director. Paul and Frinks laid they were working , to-. v gether on Jhi casej to develop a political defense. The two have not worked together on civil rights cases since they severed relations before the Joan Little murder trial, in which Paul Won an acquital. CD Housing Sfroof Assessment Policy As citizens who have been directly affected by the Community' Development (CD) loan apd grant program, we are here today Friday, June 17 to present the Redevelopment Commission with Its last paycheck and a suitcase to "pack its bags." "We are calling upon the Community Development De partment of the city to support Our demand that the City Council not renew its contract with the Redevelop ment Commission for CD re habilitation work," stated Ruby Jean .Waller. The Commission's performance in administering the housing program has been known for its constant delays and slow ness, its administrative pro blems,, and its frequently un satisfactory rehabilitation work. Moses Richardson stated that "the city's ori-' ginial three year goal pro -mm m ww ietii -i r if- -Vi r4";-v y : ' j; . j v i r iU 1 x ( - " i. Frinks said that he would 1 begin -'establishing a local chapter of the SCLC in ; Benson, where Smith and j Stewart lived. Paul : was retained by -Stewarts mother, Mrs. Annie Mae Steele, of 406 N; Hall St., Benson. He re placed state, appointed attor ney James Narron of cr RALEIGH (CCNS) -Wilmington 10 defense attor-' ney James Ferguson has voiced support' for a march on the state Capitol to pres sure Governor James Hunt to ' pardon the Wilmington 10. The comment was made at a press conference follow ing the presentation of a peti tion for pardon of the Wilmington 10 to the Governor. Ferguson announced support for a march organiz ed by Golden Frinks saying, , "I think that you have to look at the ways the people express their outrage at an unjust conviction. Some wuV express that through - marches, some will express that through private, con ferences with the governor, others will express, that . : through v public statements, -and working with groups and othersi We expect that there" will be people, all segments of the black community express ing their concerns for the Wilmington 10 and the im plications that it has for black CAROLINA ACTION jected 400 - houses to be rehabilitated by June, of 1977. To date, the Re development Commission has closed out only 14 loans and 155 grants!" The group noted Dan Pearson's evalua tion of the Redevelopment Commission's recent work states a "positiveMmprove ment" with an average of 4.8 grant closed out per month and 1 loan closed out since January of 1977. Barbara Harris commented that "this poor performance is robbing low and moderate income people of Durham from benefits due them under the Community Development program and the Cty Coun cil cannot ignore the Commission's record by renewing the contract." . Following the action at the Redevelopment Commi ssion the group moved on to the Citv Hall and Dan mmmmmmmm Pardon Lavy Scipp Rehab THE BEANS Benson. Another man, Henry Smith, 29,- also charged with the murjderi,' is represented by state appointed attorney Donald Parker of Smithfield. Bond ; was " denied both men on June 15, by Judge Elton C. Pridgon of Smith field. The attorneys made no arguments for bond.1 District attorney John .v.Nv.;.v.v.v.wv;vKwJ; for 10 RoqrjGsfod; orfs people in th$ state of North Carolina. For . those who choose to march, that's their way of expressing ihat con cern, others; have their ways o f ; expressing" it and I t hink they are all important in bringing to light the real concerns of the black community in this matter.". Ferguson's petition for pardon summarized how Rev. Ben Chavis. Connie Tindall, Marvin Patrick, William Earl Vereen, Jerry Jacobs, Reginald Epps, James Mc Coy, Joe Wright, Wayne Moore and Anne Shephard Turner were ; framed m a racially motivated trial through perjured testimony of state's witnesses. Judge George Fountain refused to grant a new trial fofthe Wilmington '40 at the , conclusion, of a post comic1 tloW hearing last1 May. The state's witnesses against . the Wilmington 10 admitted that their testimony was false, induced by promises from Continued on Page 2 Challenged Pearson's office to demand a recommendation from his Office to the City Council to stop the policy of assess ing for street improvements under the CD program. Molly Lewis stated that "those of us Who rent our homes are facing rent' hikes because landlords pass on assessment costs on their tenants and for those of us that own our homes we can't afford to pay the assessments!" She added, "who is being helped by this CD money, the low-income citizens of Durham or the city's ad ministration?" Mrs. Delores Freeman and Mrs. Joyce Bass delivered some dust and beans to Mr. Pearson's office stating "this is what we had to eat before our streets were improved and this is what we will have to eat now because we can't afford to buy any thing but beans! Dared Program And Twisdale has refused to, dis cuss the case. ; with- th$ ! jpeSs since the indictments, ' ex cept to say that he will seek the death penalty; i. So far t he press has not reported any eyewitnesses to the murders. Clues to the ' case have been equally slim. ' Dennis Allen, a rookie police man, radioed to his dispatch er, arqund Jl:17 a.ro-.on; une 'i3. thatt he C was stopping?;; "suspicious" automobile on interstate 95 north of Four Oaks. When he did not respond to radio calls the Four Oaks dispatcher sent, a Johnston County de puty to check on him. He was found face down, one quarter mile north of Ben son, shot several times in the chest region. A short time later, a 1964 Chevrolet owned by Lenwood "Big Boy" Johnson was found in flames a few miles from the. policeman's body on High way 210. Except for one digit, the,'? license tag on Johnson's ear matched the tag number called in by Allen before he indicated he was going to stop the car. To add to the sus pense, Johnson could not be found for questioning by law enforcement in vestigators. Interrogation of people at the 8 Days Inn Motel where Johnson' resided : turned. uj .'that he: had left the motel around 12:30 a.m. on June 3 with three young black men. The manager, who said that she was watering flowers at the time, said she got a good look at one of the men but not the other two. : Another man, questioned several times by the police, was not arrested. Parents and neighbors Continued On Page 11 :;ww)iV'. iijiMiwwMiwMaii.juui Winn wim niMnMniyy y . p r '' bGw!' flinuywr:, . ; ' iff '. Hi CIV",!' .VrV' 1 :-. . f L ) ' -if I'ACK i I! ft - rjzr '. 65!! wf J . , . l. mm "; J THE CHECK t THE 1 ASHEVILLE (CCNS) -City officials and executives of. the Community Develop ment component of Ashevule city government were roundly castigated by about forty citizens of Asheville's East End at Tuesday night's community meeting. " The citizens were pre sent attempting to find out more about the urban , renewal that has been ear marked for the East End and what 'would be the fate of their homes. ' , f Many of the people at. fcthef meeting wereUhome East' End all ' of their lives. Most had all their savings in their,' homes and could not easily move out and into another area. Bob Smith, a community worker; and a resident of the East End,-. demanded; that Logan 'i Delaney Executive Director of Community Development for the city of. Ashevjlle, "stop your double talk and tell us why you are so anxious to get us to sign that piece of paper." The paper referred to is an agree ment between the city and the residents to allow the city to take over the neighborhood under the guise of improving ,the situation. To this, Deianey . "1 don't know why . you're doing this to me. I haven't done anything to 1 you". . Smith then' made re ference to the, ten year urban renewal plan that had . been adopted by the city and jremarked that, even though . tl-l 1 k..J".n- ine pianrwas jpT lis iniro year of existence, they were scarcely1 beginning the first year Of Improvements. "Mr. Deianey, we know that we (Continued On Page 10) Otis Sir oud, Amalgamated Iransf Union Heod Fired 1 z, -,... M DUST , - 4 -jJ til Si VWi ' ii M jfi fit - mt ' i" " ' immiimmmmmmmmuimmmitiKMm' iKHiiniiii" n la I7 ' CROWD AT LYON PARK f g IM'IIII1U,IMIWIMIWIWI'IUWIIMIUM 3 FIRST CALVARY GOSPEL CHOIR THE DURHAM RECREATION DEPARTMENT spbnsbrtxf fli first Sun day Gospel Concert of this year's Concert In tht Park Series Sunday even ing, June 1 9 at Lyon Park Cornell and Halley Street. SS5SS CHAPEL HILL (CCNS) - Otis Stroud, a black man in his middle '40's, has driven city buses' in. jhree North Carolina cities for nearly eleven years. Three yfears ago. he was hired by the Town of Chapel; Hill and called upon to train new drivers for, the institution . of public transportation in that town. Stroud," prosident of Local 1565 of the Amalga mated Transit Union which represents employees In both the Transportation and Sani tation Departments of Chapel Hill, has been active organiz ing the union and in his driv ing. "I noted changes were needed on routes and talked with management to get changes made and routes ex tended to better serve our city." In three years of driv ing the G-route in Chapel Hill, management agreed that there had been no compliants from passengers about ser vice on that route. On June 7, 1977, Otis Stroud was fired by the Town of Chapel ".Hill. '.-lJ,-: A city f hearing to con-, sider the June. 7 firing by the management of the Chapel ; Hill Transportation Department lasted seven hours. Held on June 14, the five person Personnel Appeals '-f Committee heard testimony from both manage- v jnent, and Stroud raid his supporters. : From , this, they ' ' will decide to either recom mend Stroud's teinstatement, or uphold his termination. The advisory board's recom-. "mendation will go to Chapel . Hill City Manager Kurt Jenne rwho; has final say in . the matter. .. - , Management c t ;t e d'V Kev. jerry noopet, Stroud with three violations ;' leader , of - the Concerned and thus "failure to .comply with departmental policy. . In a "three-month period x which, they hold, 'warrants -his termination. Bill - CiDa-, han, John Bartazowitz and; Continued On Page S q ; rrs On 1 THE JOR.DANAIRES a Lovott, Hov; Domo Party BY ELVA DEJARMON Willie Lovett. an IBM employee, was , elected Durham County Democratic Party Chairman at the con vention held June 18 at Rogers-Hen Junior . High School. , .With 345.8 votes, Lovett outdistanced John Niblock . who received 137.2 votes. Lovett was the choice of the Durham Committee on the i k Affairs of Black People. Nib ' lock . represented the white liberal Durham Voters v Allianc. - thnsuans tor vooo uovem ment - was elected second vice president of the party. Other party winners included Mrs. Virginia ChlradeUL first vice 1 president; Mrs.. Dells Miehaux, third vice chairman; : and Mrs. Paulette Robinson. Dordad Chairman secretary. William Sheffield, a lawyer, was elected trea surer of the party, w I ' j The coalition of blacks, concerned Christians and other unattached whites and blacks swept . the elective posts after agreement for certain resolutions which were indicated as ; support for the anti-liquor and - aiiti-pornography - bills now being debated.. . State Democratic Execu tive Committee , members elected were Lovett (ex officio). Mrs. Chris Green, Mrs. Euls Miller. W. Gerry Hancock, A. J. H. Clement, Ul, the outgoing party chair man; Dr. Livonia Allison, i former party chairman; Larry : 1 Hinton and John Wheeler, Chairman of r the ; Durham ' Committee on the Affairs of Black People. , Continued on Page 3) ..A,,.i,, r !? ,. -S v J? ..
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 25, 1977, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75