V
2- SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016 - THE CAROLINA TIMES
Michigan s lament: As
Congress bickers, Flint suffers
By Matthew Daly
WASHINGTON (AP) - It’s been two years since problems began with the drinking
water in Flint, Michigan, and nearly six months since officials declared a public health
emergency there.
Yet a bipartisan congressional effort to aid the predominantly African-American city
north of Detroit is idling in the Senate - stalled by the objections of a Republican sena
tor from Utah.
Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat who represents Flint, says his hometown is
struggling while Congress bickers.
“This is not an abstraction. This is 100,000 kids and adults all suffering every single
day and it’s pretty frustrating,” Kildee said in an interview.
“We will not give up, that’s for sure,” Kildee said, vowing that congressional Repub
licans “are not going to run out the clock on Flint, Michigan.”
In fact, support for Flint is bipartisan. Michigan’s congressional delegation has unan
imously pushed for Flint aid, and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder urged Congress to
pass the bipartisan Senate bill “immediately” at an otherwise contentious congressional
hearing last week.
Michigan Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters reached agreement
with key Republicans last month on a $220 million package to fix and replace lead-
contaminated pipes in Flint and other cities. '
But the bill remains on hold after Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah objected in late
February. Michigan has a budget surplus and does not need federal money to fix the
problem, Lee said.
Stabenow’s frustration has been evident. In an imp
assioned speech on the Senate floor, she said that as a mother and grandmother, she
“can’t imagine the fear and horror” Flint families feel as they are forced - month after
month - to use bottled water to drink and bathe.
Like other Americans, Flint residents “assumed that when you get up in the morning
and turn on the faucet, when you take a shower or you feed your children, clean water is
going to come out of the pipes,” Stabenow said in a March 17 speech. “We all assume
that. That is pretty much a basic human right.”
But not in Flint, where the water is tainted with lead.
Flint’s drinking water became tainted when the city switched from the Detroit water
system and began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014 to save
money. The impoverished city was under state control at the time.
Regulators failed to ensure the water was treated properly and lead from aging pipes
leached into the water supply.
DURHAM
1869
B!*® «8»CiH£
City of Durham Announces Community Forums
Meet the Finalists for
Durham’s Next Police Chief
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Durham City Hall
101 City Hall Plaza, Durham
This will be a moderated forum for candidates to answer
as many questions as possible. Submit your question by
k 5 p.m. on April 4 in one of the following ways:
• publicaffairs@durhamnc.gov
• Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC
• Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC
« Durham One Call (919) 560-1200
Questions also may be submitted during the forum
and will be asked by the moderator as time permits.
Not able to attend? Watch the forum live
on any of the outlets listed below!
• Durham Television Network on Time Warner Cable
Channel 8 and AT&T U-verse Channel 99
• Durham Television Network livestream @ DurhamNC.gov
• Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC
Durham History HUB Seeking Donations For
History Grove in Honor of Louis E. Austin
The Durham History HUB is seeking donations to bring a plaque and historic site in Southern
Durham Tentatively set for Southern Durham.
The HUB is seeking $1,000 for the project and at present $500 has been donated by THE CARO
LINA TIMES.
Elevated lead levels have been found in at least 325 people, including 221 children.
Lead contamination has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems.
Stabenow, in her Senate speech, said she and other lawmakers have been pushing
since January to pass a bill to help Flint, “yet the children of Flint are still waiting. The
children of Flint need our help. We have a bipartisan bill, and we need a vote.”
Lee said he, too, wants a vote - but only if the bill is paid for in what he considers an
honest manner. Not only that, legislation labeled as helping Flint actually allows cities
across the country to replace aging infrastructure where lead lurks as potential health
hazard, he said.
“What’s really happening here is that Washington politicians are using the crisis in
Flint as an excuse to funnel taxpayer money to their own home states, and trying to
sneak it through the Senate without proper debate and amendment. I respectfully ob
ject,” Lee said in a statement.
Peters and other supporters say the inclusion of cities only makes the bill more im
portant as lead-tainted water is found in Newark, N.J., Sebring, Ohio and other munici
palities.
“This is an issue every community in our country may potentially face,” Peters said.
The Senate bill would be paid for by redirecting up to $250 million in unspent money
from an Energy Department loan program for high-tech cars. Lee, a freshman who was
elected with the help of the tea party, does not object to redirecting money to Flint, but
he wants to ensure that money committed to Flint does not add to the federal deficit,
said spokesman Conn Carroll.
Stabenow and Peters, whose state is the hub of U.S. auto manufacturing, want to
protect that Energy Department program, which involves loans issued through the Ad
vanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, a remnant of the 2009 economic
stimulus law.
While lawmakers continue to negotiate - and point fingers over who’s to blame for
the Flint crisis - Kildee said the time to act is now.
“The people in Flint are American citizens and they are in crisis,” he said. “When
there is a disaster and Americans face a crisis, we all pitch in, and the people of Flint
deserve that.”
Police Chief Finalists
(Continued From Front)
(CMPD), Smathers currently oversees the Field Services Group consisting of three divi
sions and approximately 315 police officers. Since 1994, Smathers has served in almost
every section and division in the CMPD including uniform patrol, criminal investi
gations, SWAT, police training, supervision of patrol officers, and supervision of the
armed robbery/sexual assault unit, support services including purchasing, evidence and
property control, and accreditation.
While serving as captain of the Charlotte Eastway Patrol Division, one of the most
ethnically diverse assignments in the city, Smathers received a Chief’s Community
Policing award for his leadership and the division’s achievement of reducing crime,
including closing a crime-plagued hotel, while successfully managing two federal
crime-fighting grants. During this time, he also served as the commander of the Crisis
Negotiation Team and commanded a Mobile Field Force Platoon during the Democratic
National Convention in 2012.
Smathers has extensive experience in Investigations from commanding the Robbery/
Sexual Assault Units where he achieved significant case clearance increases along with
advancing cold case investigations while being a Chief’s Unit Citation recipient. As
major, Smathers led the entire Criminal Investigations Bureau commanding the inves
tigation of all violent felonies. Under his leadership the homicide clearance rate was 81
percent, far exceeding the national average.
Since 2008, Smathers has been active with the National Innocence Project, provid
ing technical assistance to law enforcement agencies across the country in developing
policies and procedures for the handling of DNA evidence and witness identification.
He also is an active member of the Police Executives Research Forum, the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Tactical Officers Association. To view
his resume, visit the City’s website.
According to Bonfield, each candidate has had extensive and successful law enforce
ment careers, demonstrating not only great leadership, but also perseverance ofjustice
during challenging moments in their careers. “While each candidate was vetted through
a thorough background investigation, I can assure the public that throughout the as
sessment process, they consistently demonstrated a commitment to police professional
ism, transparency, accountability, and a positive relationship with the communities they
serve,” he said.
Deputy Chief Davis was exonerated after being discharged in 2008 when she was
falsely accused of a cover up during a scandal in the City of Atlanta Police Depart
ment, and Major Smathers withstood significant pressure in 2013 as he investigated the
circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of Jonathan Farrell and recommended a
fellow officer be charged.
The Durham community will have an opportunity to meet Davis and Smathers when they participate
in a moderated community forum on Wednesday, April 6 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in City Hall Council
Chambers, 101 City Hall Plaza. Residents are urged to submit questions to be asked during the forum
beginning Tuesday, March 29 until 5 p.m. on Monday, April 4 in one of the following ways:
North Carolina community stands up to
stop a Central American teen’s deportation
Continued From Front)
immigration raids. Besides Dur
ham, those raids took place in
Charlotte, Greenville, Raleigh
and Thomasville.
“This is a terrible situation, but there is a large community fight
ing for Wildin,” Benitez said, “and fighting for the community in
general.”
Donations can be mailed directly to Patrick Mucklow, Museum of Durham History, P.O. Box
362, Durham, NC 27702, INDICATING THE GIFT IS IN SUPPORT OF THE LOUIS E. AUSTIN
HISTORY GROVE.
For more information go to www.modh.org or call 919- 244-4043
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“What’s really tragic about it
is that these kids are left defense
less and have to navigate the
system by themselves,” Benitez
said.
Organizers’ efforts have ral
lied support for the teens and put
pressure on congressional lead
ership and ICE to release them.
Besides getting support from
Rep. Butterfield, they helped se
cure the assistance of U.S. Rep.
Alma Adams, a Democrat whose
district includes Charlotte, for
two teens from that city who
were detained and faced depor
tation. This week ICE granted
them temporary stays of depor
tation as well.
The temporary halt in the
teens’ deportations will allow
them to appeal their cases to
stay in the U.S. Advocates say
that all of them are fleeing direct
threats from gangs in their home
countries, and that they have not
yet been able to fully make their
cases due to problems including
inadequate legal counsel.
In the meantime, with the
teens remaining in ICE deten
tion, organizers say they will
keep the pressure on federal of
ficials to release Acosta and the
others and let them return to their
families in North Carolina.
THE CAROLINA TIMES
L.E. AUSTIN
Editor-Publisher 1927-1971
***********************************************
(USPS 091-380)
***
(Mrs.) Vivian Austin Edmonds
Editor-Publisher -1971-2002
Kenneth W. Edmonds
Editor-Publisher - 2002-
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