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WILS 08/20/95 **CHILL
WILSON LIBRARY
N C COLLECTION - UNC-CH
VOLUME 95 - NUMBER 12 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MARCH 26,2016 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Republican Snyder blames
Bureaucrats, EPA faults state
In Flint water crisis
By Matthew Daly
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on
March 17 blamed career bureau
crats in Washington and his own
state for the Flint water-contam
ination crisis, while the head of
the federal Environmental Pro
tection Agency faulted him and
other state officials.
At a contentious congres
sional hearing, the Republican
governor repeatedly apologized
for his role in the crisis, which
occurred when state officials
switched Flint’s water supply
to the Flint River two years ago
to save money in the predomi
nantly African-American city of
100,000 north of Detroit.
“Not a day or night goes by
that this tragedy doesn’t weigh
on my mind - the questions I
should have asked, the answers I
should have demanded,” Snyder
said.
EPA Administrator Gina Mc
Carthy, for her part, faulted state
officials, noting that the im
poverished city was under state
management when the city’s wa
ter supply was switched in April
2014.
State officials did not require
that the river water be treated
for corrosion, and lead from ag
ing pipes and fixtures leached
into Flint homes and businesses.
About 8,000 children under the
age of 6 were potentially ex
posed to lead, and elevated lead
levels have been found in at least
221 children and 104 adults in
Flint. Lead contamination has
been linked to learning disabili
ties and other problems.
“The crisis we’re seeing was
directors would throw him out,
and the shareholders would re
volt.”
Snyder told lawmakers that
officials at the Michigan Depart
ment of Environmental Quality
repeatedly assured him that wa
ter being piped in from the Flint
River was safe, when in reality
it had dangerous levels of lead.
But Cummings said the gov
ernor should have pushed back
against state experts. The com
mittee has obtained documents
“showing that people all around
•the governor were sounding the
alarms, but he either ignored
them or didn’t hear them,” Cum
mings said.
Censure vote against North
Carolina GOP’s 1st black chairman
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - Less than
a year after the North Carolina
Republican Party’s first black
chairman was elected over an
establishment candidate, a pow
erful committee has reprimanded
him, restricted his duties and ac
cused him of overstepping his
authority.
The state GOP’s Central
Committee censured Hasan
Harnett on March 20 with a “no
confidence” resolution related to
the party’s upcoming convention
and its computer system.
Harnett was elected chairman
last June.
The resolution alleged that
Harnett also wrongly acted on
personnel decisions and on han
dling attempts to remove party
leaders.
Harnett declined to comment.
Central Committee member
Hasan Harnett
Daniel Rufty on March 21 called
the resolution part of a “witch
hunt” to destroy Harnett because
the party establishment doesn’t
like his reforms.
But another committee mem
ber, Rep. David Lewis, says
Harnett hasn’t shown leadership
capacity.
Spaulding says new PAC will
focus on black voter issues
Historic Stagville Foundation hosted a Women’s History Month Lecture on
Sat., March 19 with a lecture by Ms. Michelle Lanier, director of the N.C. Afri
can American Heritage Commission and the Traditions and Heritage Program of
the N.C. Arts Council. Her talk focused on African American women who made a
impact on the state and nation in the areas of arts, history, civic engagement and
business. The program was at Historic Stagville, 5828 Old Oxford Hwy. From left
to right ae Ms. Beverly McNeill, Historic Stagville Foundation President; Ms. Mi
chelle Lanier, speaker; and Ms. Stephanie Cobert, Historic Stagville Site Manager.
the result of a state-appointed
emergency manager deciding
that the city would stop purchas
ing treated drinking water and
instead switch to an untreated
source to save money,” McCar
thy said. “The state of Michigan
approved that decision.”
McCarthy acknowledged that
the EPA should have been more
aggressive in testing Flint’s wa
ter and requiring changes, but
she said the agency “couldn’t get
a straight answer” from state en
vironmental officials about what
was being done in Flint. McCar
thy refused several requests by
Republican lawmakers to apolo
gize.
“It was not the EPA at the
helm when this happened,” she
said.
The nearly four-hour hearing
produced no major revelations,
although Snyder for the first time
acknowledged that a state law,
which allows state-appointed of
ficials to take control of troubled
municipalities, failed in the case
of Flint.
Several Democrats on the
House Oversight and Govern
ment Reform Committee called
for Snyder to resign, while Utah
Rep. Jason Chaifetz, the over
sight panel’s chairman, and other
Republicans said McCarthy
should step down.
White House spokesman
Josh Earnest said McCarthy
understands how serious Flint’s
problems are, adding: “There’s
a strong case to make that the
United States of America has
never had a better administrator
of the Environmental Protection
Agency than Gina McCarthy.”
Rep. Elijah Cummings of
Maryland, the panel’s senior
Democrat, said Snyder would
likely face criminal charges if
he were running a business - a
dig at venture capitalist Snyder’s
oft-repeated claim to run state
government like a business.
Besides facing charges, Cum
mings said of a corporate CEO
in Snyder’s shoes, “the board of
(AP) - Roy Cooper’s unsuc
cessful rival in the Democratic
primary for North Carolina gov
ernor wants to create a political
action committee focusing on
statewide and General Assembly
candidates who promote issues
important to black voters.
Ken Spaulding of Durham
announced March 16 the PAC
will endorse candidates from “a
statewide perspective” and at
tempt to coordinate with African
American newspapers and local
nonpartisan black organizations.
He says in a release the PAC’
also will attempt to work with
Bernie Sanders supporters and
communicate with other minor
ity groups.
Spaulding got 31 percent of
the vote while losing the nomi
nation to Cooper, who will now
take on Republican incumbent
Pat McCrory in November.
SPAULDING
Spaulding began running for
governor in summer 2013.
Study: Racial
disparities in Durham
police traffic stops
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, (AP) - A study of six
years’ worth of traffic stops by the Durham Police De
partment shows a driver was 12 percent more likely to be
black when stopped during daylight hours.
The analysis of nearly 152,000 traffic stops was re
quested by the department and performed by RTI Interna
tional. It also showed that among male drivers only, the
odds that a driver was black were 20 percent higher when
stopped during daylight than when stopped at night.
A statement from RTI said the study showed the dif
ference in the numbers declined over the six-year analy
sis period. Black males were most over-represented from
2010 through 2013, but by 2014, the differences in the
odds of the motorist being a black male in the daylight
compared to darkness were indistinguishable.
Republicans Split Congressional Districts
On Campus of North Carolina A&T
Students complain about districts
GREENSBORO (AP) - Students at North Carolina A&T University are not happy
with the new congressional districts.
The districts redrawn last month split the campus of the historically black school
in Greensboro.
The old plan had the school in the 12th District represented by U.S. Rep. Alma
Adams, a retired college professor and North Carolina A&T graduate.
The new plan drawn in an attempt to comply with a federal court order splits the
campus between the 6th District and the 13th District.
The 6th District is represented by Greensboro Republican Mark Walker. The 13th
District is currently represented by Raleigh Republican George Holding.
Nine dorms are in the 6th District, six dorms are in the 13th District.
Students tell the News & Record of Greensboro the new plan dilutes their voting
impact.
Black women feel jilted by
Obama with Supreme Court pick
By Jesse J. Holland
WASHINGTON (AP) - Black women’s groups said March 16 they feel President Barack Obama jiltec
them by choosing someone other than a black woman as his newest nominee for the Supreme Court.
Obama chose federal appeals court Chief Judge Merrick Garland, a white man, to replace deceased Su
preme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland is the third Supreme Court nominee of Obama’s presidency
“The fact that he would once again look over black women for this specific appointment is an absolute
slap in the face to his top supporters,” said Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, founder of the Exceptional Leader
ship -Institute for Women.
Minority voters have been the most devoted supporters of Obama’s two presidential campaigns. Blacl
women, in particular, had the highest turnout among all racial and ethnic groups in the 2008 and 2011
presidential elections, and they had hoped Obama would nominate a black woman to the high court.
Besides Garland, Obama’s short list included federal appeals court judges Paul Watford, who is black
and Sri Srinivasan, who would have been the court’s first Asian-American and the first Hindu.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama selected Garland “for one reason and one reasor
only, and that is simply that he believes that Chief Judge Garland is the best person in America to do tha
job.”
But many may be disappointed Obama did not choose a “judge who can add to diversity on a cour
that still fails to represent the richness we see in our communities,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive
director of the National Immigration Law Center.
“Having racial diversity, in particular, has always led to better outcomes that are more representative oi
our communities, especially given the demographics in this country,” said Lakshmi Sridaran, director o:
national policy and advocacy for South Asian Americans Leading Together, an advocacy group.
Over his two terms in office, Obama has chosen black women for high-ranking positions in his admin
istration: Attorney General Loretta Lynch and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.
The eight-member Supreme Court has three women - Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Obama’s previous
nominees, Sonia Sotomayor, who is Latina, and Elena Kagan, who is white. Justice Clarence Thomas
nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, is the court’s only African-American.
Black women may feel especially rejected, considering their large turnout in 2008 (68 percent) anc
2012 (70 percent). The vast majority of them, 96 percent, voted for Obama in 2012, according to exit pol
data.
By selecting Garland, Obama “does not give the respect to his most ardent supporters,” said Barban
Arnwine, executive director at the Transformative Justice Coalition. “The passion you saw around Soto
mayor you will not see around this pick,” Arnwine said.
Jones-DeWeever said black women might have been inspired to lobby the Senate daily to get a blacl
female nominee confirmed, as they did during Lynch’s confirmation process. But now, Jones-DeWeevei
said, “I’m not motivated to lift one finger to get his nomination through.”