Newspapers / The Franklin Times (Louisburg, … / April 11, 1968, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Ten Cents Published Every Tuesday & Thursday " ^ Serving All Of Franklin County Your Award Winning County Newspaper Louisburg, N. C. Thursday, April 11, 1968 (Twelve Pages Today) 99th Year-Number 16 . REGISTER anJ VOTE. . .? Registration Poster Winner Miss Carolyn Chadwlck, winner of the League of Women Voter's registration poster contest at Loulsburg High School, Is shown above displaying the winning entry. The League sponsored the contest In efforts to publicize the new registra tion now going on In the county. Everyone must re-reglster in order to vote and books are now open Wednesday through Saturday In Loulsburg, nightly, Wednesday through Friday and all day Saturday at Frankllnton and for the next two Saturdays In all other precincts. First three places received cash prizes. Other winners Included Bill Taylor, 11th grade, second place and Deborah Holmes, 8th grade, third place. , Honorable mention went to Robin Kerley, 8th grade; Gwen Stalnback, 1th grade and Bennett Steelman, 8th grade. Judges were Mrs. R.A. Kornegay, art Instructor at Loulsburg College and George Champion, Secretary to the Board of Elections. Photo by Clint Fuller. Registration Picks Up As Midway Point Nears As the massive re-reglstratlon pro ject nears the half-way point of the four weeks set for the new registration ordered In the county, the tempo Is picking up somewhat, according to a scattered report from some of the precincts. Loulsburg registrar Lee Bell reports that around 300 persons registered last Saturday to bring the total last week to about 1200. The first Satur day of registration in Loulsburg re sulted In about 1000 persons signing up with 80 percent of those doing so, Negroes. Last Saturday, the race margin was about flfty-flfty, said Bell. Youngsvllle reported 216 persons re gistered there last Saturday with 197 of these being white. Gold Mine had 135 persons to re-reglster and Sandy Creek had 95 bringing the total there to 315 since the books opened. Of these 119 were Negro voters. In Harris precinct, 143 whites re gistered last Saturday and 72 Negroes. At Cedar Rock the count was 313 whites and 45 Negro and at Franklin ton the estimate was that fifty percent of the . 570 registering last Saturday were white. Pearces reports 60 per sons registered there last Saturday. Loulsburg books are open today and Friday as well as all day Saturday. Frankllnton books are open from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and Franklin Road Bids Received Raleigh? Bids totaling $6,645,836.06 were received last week by the State Highway Commission at its regular monthly letting. All apparent low bids were reviewed by the Commission 111 Raleigh, N.C., Friday. There were thirty-four projects in thirty-three counties Involving more than 164 miles of road construction. The list of projects and apparent low bids, Include the following In Franklin County. WAKE- FRANKLIN--0.807 miles of grading, coarse aggregate base course, bituminous concrete binder and sur face on Improvements on city streets in Bunn, Frankllnton, Youngsvllle and Rolesvllle. $68,727.40, T. A. Loving Co., Goldsboro, North Carolina. Post Office Closed Monday An announcement by Loulsburg Post master Edward L. Best discloses that the windows at the local establish ment will be Closed Monday "in ac cord with the local custom of closing Eaater Monday.'; Best explained that city and rural deliveries will, however, be made as usual. all day Saturday. All other precincts are open only on Saturday. However, Sandy Creek ellglbles may register at Jasper Parrlsh's Store at Oswego anytime the registrar Is there and of course, all day Saturday. Board of Elections Secretary George Champion has been kept busy deliver ing needed forms to the various pre cincts and in encouraging citizens to register. Leaflets have been distri buted by local Democrats urging re reglstratlon and the League of Women Voters ln~Loulsburg have had remind ers placed on automobiles each Satur day in addition to sponsoring a poster . contest to draw attention to the re reglstratlon drive. The county chapter of the NAACP has been conducting a drive to get Negro citizens to register during the four week period. Books will be open this Saturday and next Saturday, April 20 will be the final day of registration. April 27 will be Challenge Day and May 4 Is Primary Day. Easter Prediction Twenty-Two To Die On N. C. Highways The tranquillity of Easter will be shattered by nearly a thousand*traf flc accidents on North Carolina's streets and highways that may claim at least 22 lives during the extended weekend, the N.C. State Motor Club said today. The state will count Its traffic deaths for th* holiday which traditionally opens the spring travel season from 6 p.m. Friday, April 12, through midnight Monday, April 15. North Carolina's Easter holiday toll last year reached 20 fatalities, same as the previous year, and another 557 persons Injured In 897 accidents. Ten of the 20 traffic deaths occurred on Easter Sunday. Leading driver violations reported were: speeding, 178; driving left of center of the road, 121; failure to yield right of way, 118; following too closely, 67; and driving under the Influence of alcohol, 56. . Pair Charged With Kidnapping In Hijacking Of Franklinton Bus A 19-year-old Frankllnton Negro man and a 35-year-old Negro woman are feee on $2500 bond today awaiting trial on charges of kidnapping In the Tuesday morning hijacking of a Frankllnton High School bus. Franklin Sheriff William T. Dement Identified the couple as Eddie Parker, Jr. and Queen Ester Perry. According to reports the couple boarded the bus Just outside the Frank llnton city limits when the vehicle stopped to pick up two of the woman's children and ordered nine Negro child ren off the bus, saying that they were not showing the proper respect for Dr. Martin Luther King by attending school that day. One child was reportedly forcibly removed from the vehicle while the others fearfully did as ordered. An attempt by the white bus monitor to get out of the bus to call school of ficials was halted by the woman and the man reportedly removed the key from the switch. The nine "Negro children were taken Inside the Perry home, where Frank llnton Superintendent R. B. Gordon found them sometime later and re turned them to their parents. The pair were charged with kid naping by detaining ^nd seizure. In addition to the Sheriffs department, Frankllnton police chief Leo Edwards and SBI agents Billy Crocker and R. M. White investigated the incident. FBI agents were on the scene but accord ing to reports did not participate In the Investigation. The students told officials that the two adult Negroes told them: "You have no business going to school today. You are not showing the proper respec' fpr Dr. Martin Luther King." "* ~~~* Agent Crocker said the combined Franklinton High School and Grammar School bus, driven by Gordan Wilder, 17, was making Its normal morning stops on Loop Circle outside of town In a section called North End when the Incident occurred. The bus had stopped to pick up two children. The driver saw them play ing In a yard and asked if they were going to school. The children said no; Wilder started to drive away when See KIDNAPPERS Page 6 Seeks Total Integration This Fall HEW Says Franklinton School Plan Unacceptable Board Has Not Agreed To Demands The U.S. Office of Education has de clared the Frankllnton City Schools plan of further desegregation for thie coming year unacceptable. In a letter to Superintendent R.B. Gordon, Lloyd R. Henderson, Education Branch Chief said, "You are aware we are requiring school districts to submit comprehen sive plans which will eliminate the dual school structure by September 1968. Your plan extends far beyond that time and we can see no administrative reason why your system cannot be completely desegrated student-wise and faculty wise by this date." W.P. Pearce, Jr., attorney for the Frankllnton Board said Wednesday that the Board "has not agreed with this" and that "we will be going to Wash ington In a few days" to confer with HEW officials. He said the plan submitted by the Frankllrrton Board has called for fur ther progress In desegregation but total lntegregatlon was mapped out over a five year period. Washington officials contend that, this Is too long a time. Henderson's letter continued, "As can be shown by the progress that your district has made until npw freedom of choice Is not serving to desegre gate your schools. Your Board should be considering some other alternative so that you can complete the Job by September 1968". Then the Washington official Issued See PLAN Page 6 After Trip Over N. C. 56 Scott Calls For Shake-Up Of Highway Department X It probably had nothing to do wlth: It, but Lt. Gov. Bob Scott took a ride Over N. C. 56 In FrankllnCounty Tues day and 24 hours later Issued a state ment calling for a shake-up In the state highway department. Businesses To ^ Close Monday tars. Juanlta Pleasants, Executive Secretary of the Loulsburg Business Association announced today that down town jjjerchants will be closed all day Easter Monday, April 15. No announce ment has been made of businesses In other sections of town, but most places usually observe the traditional holiday. Scott sent Times Editor Clint Fuller a hote following his trip In the county which said, "1 rode over several miles of N. C. 56 and I sure agree It needs Improving. It's so rough I can hardly write as I ride along." Fuller has spearheaded efforts to gain road Im provements in the county. The Lt. Gov. began his campaign whirl In Franklinton Tuesday morning after a breakfast meeting in Hender son. He made the rounds of downtown, shaking hands and seeking support for his gubernatorial candidacy. "It's a bad day for politicing," he told Fuller, when he stopped by The Times office. His reference was to the people's preoccupation with the viol See SCOTT Page 6 Guard Returns As Things Quiet First Sft. Paul Mullen Is shown abore calling tlx roll of local national guardsmen as the Loulsburg unit returned late Wednesday from their six-day mission In Raleigh. The unit, with other*, was called out last Friday by Governor Dan K. Moor* to put down riots In tlx capital city. Scattered acts ol vandalism and disorder In Franklin County subsided over the past two nights and tilings are getting back to normal here and elsewhere In the state. Lions Aid Rescue Service Bill Johnson, President of the Frankllnton Lions Club, Is shown above presenting a check from his organization to the Frankllnton Rescue Squad. The check, (or $200, Is being accepted by A. J. Perklnsoo, right, Chief of the Service. Photo by Mrs. Bert Whitfield. Court Chides School Board For Not Offering Protection The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 'In Its seven-page ruling which upheld the District Court In knocking down Franklin County's freedom of choice school desegregation plan, hit at the Board of Education for not offering protection to Negroes. . The ruling, which arrived here late Tuesday, reveals that the Appeals Court placed emphasis on Ku Klux Klan activities In the county and what the court termed Inaction on the part of the Board. Referring to alleged acts of violence, the opinion states, "The School Board did nothing to counter or alleviate these conditions. It took the position that It was not responsible for the threats and acts of violence . . The ruling called the Board's res ponse to the court order to encourage teachers to transfer to across racial lines "wooden and little calculated to procure the result the Court en visioned." , "The School Board took no steps to alleviate the threatening conditions," the ruling states, "It offered no special protection. It gave no assurances. It did nothing," the Court adds. Local schools officials, withholding comment until the legal aspects can be studied, are saying privately that the Board complied in every Instance to the exact letter of the law and the court orders. Officials are also say ing that it is not the function of a school board to afford protection, but that of other agencies. The petition presented by Henderson attorney Llnwood Peoples on behalf of a group of Negro parents seeking to Intervene with the Board to preserve freedom of choice was not allowed by the Fourth Circuit. In summation of the ruling, the do cument says, "Indeed, It would have been very derelict In Its duty had It permitted the School Board to proceed on- In Its indifferent way after Its less than half-hearted compliance with Its faculty desegregation order and the abundant evidence that the inti midating activity had indeed had a ? chilling effect on the Negro residents of the district. Judge Albert V. Bryan, concurring j specially In the decision states, "I do not want my assent to be construed as approving these portions of the I District Court's decree: (1) The trans fer of pupils with an eye to a racial balancing of students In any school . . . (2) The restriction upon the newspaper publication of the names of the trans ferring pupils, for It violates the First Amendment. This Is official public Information, and no matter the motive of the publisher, It cannot be suppress ed." -Judge Byran also states that "The task of the District Judge was not j enviable and he acted conscientiously ! to meet the outrageous and cowardly acts of the criminal element." The ruling places the matter back Into the hands of District Judge Al- ' gernon Butler, who now has the court ordered plan of the Board under con sideration. He may approve the plan which calls for an Increase In lnte gregatlon this fall and total lntegre gatlon and consolidation within two years, under a $3.5 million bond pro gram, subject to the approval of the people. He may also refuse to approve the plan and order whatever amount of desegregation he wishes for the coming fall opening. The Board of Education is expected to meet with Its attorneys In a tew days to discuss the ruling and to aat what future actions that may be indicat ed.
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.)
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April 11, 1968, edition 1
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