VOLUME 97 - NUMBER 49
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913
PRICE: 50 CENTS
Republican Voter Fraud?
Ballot worries cloud outcome of
North Carolina Congress race
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - Although
a mere 900 votes separated two
North Carolina congressional
candidates, the trailing Demo
crat conceded the race weeks
ago. But as the Republican pre
pared to go to Capitol Hill, elec
tion investigators are worried
something fishy went on with
absentee ballots.
Now, North Carolina
election officials have agreed to
hold a public hearing into al
leged “numerous irregularities”
and “concerted fraudulent activi
ties” involving traditional mail-
in absentee ballots in the
HP BUSINESS-COMPETITION - From left to right are: Hollan Strepay, Za
kiya Smith, and Danzel Whitted,
NCCU Students Capture Second-Place Title
At HP HBCU Business Competition
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Business students took second place in the
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Business Challenge de
signed to inspire and encourage future business leaders.
HP partners with the National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable for the annual contest that asks stu
dents from 22 colleges and universities to devise a product concept to solve a specified business issue fac
ing the international technology company. This year’s problem involved a vertical workflow challenge.
The NCCU team that won second place in this year’s contest was made up of Zakiya Smith, a senior
marketing and entrepreneurship major; Hollan Strepay, a sophomore business management major; and
Danzel Whitted, a senior computer science and business major. The students will travel to HP headquar
ters in Boise, Idaho, and Palo Alto, Calif., in 2019 to present their ideas to senior executives and also
participate in live interviews for HP internships during their visit.
“We are so thankful to organizations, like HP, who demonstrate their commitment to diversity and in
clusion through opportunities like this to engage students with senior level executives and presenting case
studies that broaden their scope and capabilities,” said Anthony Nelson, Ph.D., Dean of NCCU School of
Business, “We are very proud of our team and their hard work during the competition.”
For its entry, the NCCU team chose to research the healthcare industry and develop a method to
strengthen patient and nurse interactions. Their proposal, called HP Vitalwatch, would allow patients to
have access to vital records in any setting. The proposal would significantly assist nurses in capturing data
and ensure continuous access to information needed to track patient health.
“Participating in the HP Business Challenge was a wonderful learning experience,” Strepay said. “The
ability to work so closely with HP executives will empower me to become more well versed on business
practices and product innovation.”
1 child dead, 45 people hurt in
Arkansas charter bus crash
By Jill Bleed
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - One child was killed and at least 45 people were injured when a charter
bus carrying youth football players from Tennessee rolled off an interstate and overturned before sunrise
Dec. 3 in central Arkansas, authorities said.
Arkansas State Police said the bus crashed along Interstate 30 near Benton, about 25 miles (40 kilo
meters) southwest of Little Rock, while traveling to Memphis, Tennessee. Police said most of the injured
were children who were taken to hospitals in Little Rock and Benton.
The elementary-school age players from Orange Mound Youth Association in southeast Memphis had
played in a tournament in the Dallas area over the weekend, according to Memphis TV station WMC.
Orange Mound is a historically black neighborhood that unites around its youth football teams, where
kids train to be part of the highly competitive Melrose High School squad.
Damous Hailey was one of about a half-dozen adults on the bus. He told The Commercial Appeal
newspaper that he was sitting directly behind the driver when the bus swerved then flipped “about 15 or
20 times,” before stopping at the foot of a hill.
“When the bus started flipping, the kids were hollering, and we were trying to calm them down,” he
said in an interview from Saline Memorial Hospital, where he was taken to be treated for injuries to his
right side and leg. “I was holding on, trying to make sure I didn’t get thrown out.”
Hailey said the bus was carrying players from about 10 Orange Mound Youth Association football
teams who played in all-star squads that competed in Texas.
Sports teams and coaches believed affiliated with the organization have not returned phone calls and
emails from The Associated Press Monday morning.
No information has been released about the severity of the injuries, and authorities haven’t talked
about what caused the crash that happened under the cloak of darkness. Live video from the scene showed
the heavily damaged bus on its side on an embankment near some dense woodland, just at the crook of
a sharp bend in the road. The bus was hoisted upright and pulled from the scene late Monday morning.
Police said the bus driver was being questioned by troopers.
It is unclear if seat belts were provided for the bus passengers. Lawmakers in Tennessee tried but failed
to introduce regulations in 2017 requiring seat belts in new school buses. The bus in Monday’s crash was
a charter bus.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock said it received 24 patients following the morning crash.
■Die hospital said all the patients were in stable condition, though no additional information about the
injuries has been released. The hospital said it has set up a family center so parents can reunite with their
children. No information about the status of injured passengers being treated at hospitals elsewhere has
been released.
TOSOH
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9th Congressional District, ap
parently in two rural counties.
The state elections board vot
ed 7-2 on Nov. 30 to hear evi
dence by Dec. 21 before decid
ing whether to certify the result.
Republican Mark Harris leads
Democrat Dan McCready by
905 votes from nearly 283,000
cast in eight south-central coun
ties reaching from Charlotte to
near Fayetteville.
The hearing will ensure “the
election is determined without
taint of fraud or corruption and
without irregularities that may
have changed the result of an
election,” board member Joshua
Malcolm, a Democratic mem
ber, said in his motion.
If board members find
enough problems that could
have altered the outcome or cast
doubts on the election’s fairness,
they could order a new election,
which could not take place until
after the new session of Con
gress convenes Jan. 3, creating a
temporary vacancy.
Also on Nov. 30, The Asso
ciated Press retracted its call of
a winner in the 9th District. The
AP, which had called the race
for Harris on Nov. 9, said it is
treating the board’s action as if
the race has proceeded to a re-
count. AP does not call winners
in any election that is subject to
a recount.
Democrats already won
enough House seats nationwide
in November to take back the
chamber. But a Democratic vic
tory in the 9th District would flip
a seat that has been held con
tinuously by Republicans since
1963.
The board’s public vote came
after a three-hour closed door
meeting, with two Republican
members joining all Democrats
and the lone unaffiliated mem
ber in voting to hold the hearing.
The state Republican Party had
vowed to go to court if the board
didn’t certify Harris’ victory
Nov. 30. The board finalized
nearly all other Nov. 6 election
results earlier this week.
McCready conceded the race
the day after Election Day, when
Harris led by less than 1,900
votes. McCready reaffirmed his
decision a week later when more
counted ballots cut the margin
by half. But just ahead of Fri
day’s (Nov. 30) hearing, Mc
Cready said it’s critical to deter
mine now whether wrongdoing
occurred.
“We must do everything we
can to protect the integrity of our
ballots and the sanctity of our
elections because our democ
racy depends on it,” McCready
said in a statement.
Board members have said
little publicly about what they’re
examining. But the focus ap
pears to be on Bladen County,
located partially in the district,
and adjoining Robeson County,
which is entirely in the district.
The board confirmed it seized
some Bladen absentee ballot ap
plications and ballot envelopes
the day after the election.
In separate sworn affidavits
released Nov. 29 by the state
Democratic Party, two county
residents said an unidentified
woman came to their homes,
telling each ofthem she was sup
posed to collect absentee ballots
in the area. The residents said
the woman took their ballots,
which weren’t sealed in their en
velopes as required by law.
“Because of the way she pre
sented herself, I thought she was
legitimate,” Emma Shipman,
one of the residents, wrote in an
(Continued On Page 14)
REP. H.M. “MICKEY” MICHAUX JR.
N.C. Rep. H.M. “Mickey”
Michaux Jr. to Address
NCCU Graduates at Fall
Commencement Exercises
North Carolina House Rep. H.M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr. will de
liver the keynote address for the 132nd Commencement Exercises at
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) on Dec. 8. The ceremony
will take place at 9 a.m. in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
The university will award approximately 680 graduates of the uni
versity’s doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and professional programs.
The number of graduates makes this class among the largest for a
December graduation ceremony at the university.
NCCU will recognize Timothy Adekoya as the sixth graduate of
its Ph.D. program in Integrated Biosciences. After earning bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in pharmacology at the University of Lagos in
Nigeria, Adekoya relocated to the United States to pursue a Master
of Science in biology at Middle Tennessee State University and his
doctorate at NCCU. His dissertation is entitled “Effect of activator of
G-protein signaling 3 (AGS3) on prostate tumorigenesis.”
Michaux was first elected to serve in the N.C. House of Repre
sentatives from 1972 to 1977 and was re-elected in 1984, serving
until his retirement at the end of the 2018 session. He was the longest
serving member in the N.C House of Representatives of the N.C.
General Assembly.
Among his many notable achievements as a lawmaker were advo
cacy and support of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and
protection of voting rights.
In 1977, he was named by former President Jimmy Carter as the
United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, the
first African-American to serve in that position in the South.
Born in Durham, N.C., Michaux attended NCCU (then North
Carolina College), receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1952 and aju-
ris doctorate with honors in 1964. He completed further graduate
work was in business administration and economics at NCCU and in
psychology and biochemistry at Rutgers University.
Michaux is a former member of the NCCU Board of Trustees,
NCCU Foundation Inc. Board of Directors and served for three terms
as the national president of the NCCU Alumni Association.
For more information on the 132nd Commencement Exercises,
please visit www.nccu.edu/commencement.
Navy ship named after Medal
of Honor recipient in Boston
BOSTON (AP) - A U.S. Navy destroyer that will be named for
a Navy pilot from Massachusetts who received the Medal of Honor
for his actions during the Korean War arrived in Boston on Monday,
Nov. 26, ahead of an official commissioning ceremony.
The future USS Thomas Hudner cruised past Castle Island before
docking at the Flynn Cruise Port Terminal.
The commissioning ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 1 at the ter
minal.
The Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named
in honor of Lt. j.g. Thomas Hudner, a Fall River native and longtime
Concord resident who was awarded the Medal of Honor for crash-
landing his plane to try and save the life of Ensign Jesse Brown dur
ing the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in December 1950.
Hudner and Brown - a Mississippi native and the Navy’s first
black combat pilot - were on patrol when Brown’s Corsair was struck
by ground fire from Chinese troops and crashed.
Brown was trapped in his burning plane and Hudner intention
ally crash-landed in freezing temperatures and tried unsuccessfully
to pull Brown free. Hudner was evacuated by a helicopter and Brown
died in his plane.
Hudner died last November at age 93.
The 9,200-ton (9,348-metric ton) destroyer was built by General
Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. It is 510 feet long (155
meters) and has a beam of 66 feet (20 meters).
It is commanded by Missouri native Cmdr. Nathan Scherry and
has a crew of 310 sailors.