^'^^ S^K ^V 938 URHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2014 a ewes OLUME 93 - NUMBER 43 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 A Voteless People is a Hopeless People Voting advocates fear impact of Va. voter ID law ly Frederic J. Frommer WASHINGTON (AP) Voting rights groups are orried that Virginia’s new voter ID law, which will require people to show a photo ID to vote, will dis enfranchise some in next month’s midterm elections. “There are so many cases where voters who havevery right to vote Action NC, Durham Association of Educators, Durham People’s Alliance, Durham PTA Council, and Greenpeace Plan the DURHAM VOTES EARLY! March On October 25th, the members of a coalition of educators’ and concerned citizens’ roups reproduced Durham for Obama’s 2012 March to the Polls in the downtown lurham. The event providesdan opportunity for educators and students to make their 'oices heard while marching voters directly to the brand new Board of Elections site 11201 N. Roxboro Rd. This building was formally the Old Durham County Judicial inn ex Bldg, on the corner of Roxboro and Parrish Streets. As of October 23 rd , it will >e a new Early Voting site. After listening to inspiring words from students and educators alike, attendees rill enjoy marching through downtown along with Southern Durham High’s marching land, A.K.A The Spartan Legion. They performed “Happy” the mash hit tune of Pharrell Williams’ first 24 hour music video from the soundtrack of the smash motion picture lit, DESPICABLE ME 2. Smithsonian aims to raise $1.5B to improve museums By Brett Zongker WASHINGTON (AP) - The Smithsonian Institution has embarked on a major campaign to raise $1.5 million and increase private support for the world’s largest museum and research complex to fund pro grams in history, science, art and culture. The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents announced the goal Monday and revealed more than $1 billion already has been raised in a quiet phase since October 2011. This is the first institution-wide fundrais ing effort and the largest campaign in history for any cultural institution, Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Plough said. The campaign will continue through 2017. Several large gifts were previously announced for large projects. David H. Koch donated $35 million for a major renovation of the Smithsonian’s dinosaur hall. Boeing is giving $30 million to overhaul the central exhibition showing the milestones of flight at the National Air and Space Museum. Oprah Winfrey donated $13 million to build a new National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Our campaign is about creating a larger base of support for the Smithsonian from people across the nation,” Clough said, adding that 60,000 people have already made contributions to the campaign, gifts both large and small. Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush and former President Bill Clinton and former Sec retary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are honorary co-chairs of the campaign. Additional supporters include Ralph Lauren, George Lucas, actress Eva Longoria, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Smithsonian historically received federal taxpayer funding for about 70 percent of its annual budget for staff salaries and building maintenance, but that amount has declined to about 60 percent. The complex still needs about $100 million a year for maintenance, officials said, though federal appropria tions have fallen below that mark. Most exhibits and programs are privately funded. The public-private funding model dates to the Smithsonian’s founding in 1846, when a British scien tist’s bequest established the institution. Now the Smithsonian includes 19 museums in Washington and New York City, the National Zoo and nine research facilities around the world. Washington philanthropist David Rubenstein is co-chairman of the fundraising effort. He serves on the Smithsonian board and has made major gifts to the Kennedy Center, numerous historic sites and to restore the Washington Monument. potentially can be turned away,” said Anne Sterling, president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia. She said rural, poor and elderly voters could face a harder burden. It’s an issue in states across the U.S., with the Supreme Court last week- end allowing Texas to use its strict voter ID law, over the vehement objection of three justices. The Texas law, unlike Virginia’s, doesn’t allow college stu dent IDs as a form of iden tification. Defenders of Virginia’s law say it provides ample opportunities for people who don’t have photo IDs to get them in time to vote. And opponents such as the League of Women Voters are working to help people obtain IDs ahead of the election. Just how many voters lack an acceptable ID is difficult to say. The State Board of Elections last month said that just un der 200,000 active voters in the state lack a Depart ment of Motor Vehicles- issued photo ID, the most common form of ID that voters are expected to use at the ballot box. But the elections board stressed that there are several other types of IDs that voters can use, such as U.S. passports. Stephen J. Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericks burg, said the law will have a disproportionate impact on lower-income and Afri can-American voters. The law “is likely to mean tens of thousands of people are no longer going to possess the documentation to be able to vote.” “Those people who will find it most difficult to participate are more likely to vote Democratic,” he said. But he didn’t expect any of Virginia’s races to be close enough for the new law to make a difference in the outcome. Virginia State Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, a Harrisonburg Republican who sponsored the state’s voter ID law, said he didn’t expect a drop-off in any group of voters, except perhaps fraudulent votes. Obenshain cited a 2005 bi partisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by for mer President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, which called for states to require voters to present photo IDs and offer free photo IDs to those who don’t have driver’s licenses. “The most compelling argu ment for a voter ID law in Vir ginia is it buttresses voter confi dence,” he said. The winner of the Hayti Heritage Center Amateur Night Auditions announced its winner. Ms. Nedra Kay is the winner for season 1 of Amateur Night at the Hayti. She will be going up to world famous Apollo and appearing at the iconic show on February 18th of 2015. (Photo Courtesy of Hayti Heritage Center) Obama pitches for votes on black radio By Nedra Pickler WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is turning to black radio listeners to plead for midterm votes, a targeted approach to drum up Democratic support at a time when many candidates don’t want him around in person. African-American turnout will be vital to Democrats’ hopes in states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and North Carolina that will help determine control of the Senate. And Obama remains be loved among black voters even if Democratic candidates in those races are running away from him amid the president’s low overall approval ratings. “This isn’t about my feelings being hurt,” Obama told the Rev. Al Sharpton in one of seven nationally syndicated interviews he’s conducted the past week. “These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me. I tell them, I said, You do what you need to do to win. I will be responsible for making sure that our voters turn out.’ “ That’s a big responsibility to take on in a midterm. Census figures show that in recent congressional election years, around 4 in 10 black adults turn out to vote. In recent presidential election years, a major ity of black adults reported voting, including more than 6 in 10 in 2008 and 2012. White voters traditionally voted in larger percentages than blacks in both midterm and presidential elections, but in the past two presidential elections black turnout was higher - which Obama pointed out was what helped put him in office. “We do not vote unfortunately in midterm elections as high a rate as we do during presidential elections,” Obama explained on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, hosted by a comedian known for his prank phone calls. “I’ll bet there are whole bunch of folks listening to your show who may not even know that there’s an election going on. I need everybody to go vote.” An Associated Press-GfK poll out Tuesday found Obama has an 85 percent approval rating among black voters, versus 34 percent of whites. The White House said the president and first lady Michelle Obama plan to do more radio interviews aimed at black listeners in the final two weeks of the campaign. Obama also has been doing web videos, mailings and recorded calls targeted at black voters in key races, although the White House declined to reveal which candidates are requesting them. The efforts indicate that even if Democratic candidates think Obama would do more harm than good by appearing at a rally, they are eager to have his help reaching black voters. The Democratic National Committee is using Obama’s popular ity among blacks in a seven-figure advertising campaign targeted at minorities and young voters. An ad targeted for black newspapers reads “GET HIS BACK” in large letters over a picture of Obama and urges readers to stand with the president by voting for Democrats. In a DNC commercial airing on radio stations popular among black listeners, an Obama speech touting his economic agenda is set to jazz and ends with a voiceover urging listeners “to stand up for our com munity and vote Nov. 4.” Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said a challenge for Demo crats this election is that many of the most hard-fought races are in Republican-leaning states where Obama didn't compete in 2008 or 2012, so his campaign did not engage core voters.

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