75
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5. 1992 ?
FAIR GRAND OPENING CONTINUES , PAGE
Exclusive Interview
Actress Helen Martin discusses
life and show biz with Chronicle.
PAGE A10
A
-Salem Chronicle
"The Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly" VOL. XIX, No. 10
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Pop Warner Football
Game results and standings
inside. And other area sports.
Clinton Swept In; Black Vote Heavy
t * ' . . '
NC Sends First
.. ? I
U.S. Congress
\IGH, N.C. (AP) _ The first black woman in North
t's history is going to Congress, and the state's
voters^ made new State Auditor Ralph Campbell the first
black fever to win a state wide office.
"How sweet it is," Campbell said Tuesday as he
claimed victory. "How sweet it is to be standing with
my fellow North Carolinians on the edge of tomorrow.
... We have chosen hope over fear."
President Bush and Bill Clinton had made the
state a {battleground, with each visiting the state four
times between July 1 and Election Day. The Republi
cans prevailed.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Bush had
1,065, #16 votes, or 44 percent, while Clinton had
1 ,046, Ojl 1 votes, or 43 percent. Independent Rr>ss P<rni
had 334,073 votes, or 14 percent.
In congressional races, Eva Clayton became the
first black woman elected in state history.
i
I \ Please see page A3
ON THf
AVANT GARDE
it had been/rumored that there was
[ lIlMnf rotten in the cjfttoa. SooffdungilB#^
give. Somebody had to go. Word was, Baptist
'T#|rtHN& USA WIS looking for a new preacher, itt|^
come the annual fall annual meeting, the old
preacher would be given his walking papers.
Things had gotten to the point where it was either
them or him, and they weren't going anywhere. ^
Sure enough, this past Tuesday, they fired the
preacher, telling him in so many words that his ser
vices would no longer be needed come December
! ?
V So much for the golden rule. So much for the
13th chapter of Corinthians. Business is business
and so is church poUtfe^'
The chief complaint seems to have been that
the preacher had somehow lost touch with the con
gregation. He didn't seem to know the names of
the members like he ought to. He had forgotten
about the important things ? things that church
members never forget: birthdays, anniversaries,
deaths, baptisms, weddings, etc.
The goodteverend had started to forget to call
? the nj&nes of the "sick and the shut-in" when he
would offer the morning prayer. He forgot to say
the blessing before he ate. He even forgot to men
tion that sister Wilemina Jones had died during a
terrible house fire just last week. And when he
services, he didn*t even
ognize the woman's family who was sitting right
in front of Jrim.
People said that the prcachcr was tOO distant,
/ ^ that it wat getting woes*
Wf- Used to be that people wooldkKik foffWSfd to
SlpiWng the good Reverend deliver his wonderful
J Messages about light mu) how there were thou
i?ndsofpoints everywhere in Ciod's universe.
People would leave the services feelthjjp
pumped up, ready to do good deeds for everybody.
Folks couldn't wait, to hear what he would say next
Indeed |hey marveled at his wonderful
jl'tfUcet tones expounding the theories of spiritual
^Mwwth and how.ir all started with a tiny mustard
pbd, and somehow , it just trickled on Up inter a
rMirvelous plan feeding thousands just as the scrip
ones said that it ^outd, Ndw people were com
plaining that the semions were too long on symbol
iim and tM shortoti substance, r \ ? \
Virginia Newell, Leon Kay, LUUe Gauze, Walter Marshall, Mary Hargrove, and Geneva Brown. Sitting tt
Dorothy, cheering when Clinton reaches the 370 electoral vote count.
Officer, Victim May Have Dated
Biggs Defeats
Roemer in Racist
Judicial Battle
? ... 1 ' '
By TRAVIS MITCHELL
Chronicle Staff Writer
African-Americans turned out
heavily on Election Day. And they
have more black representation to
show for it.
Mel Watt, 12th Congressional
District, and Eva Clayton, 1st Con- Judge Biggs
gressional District, will be the first
African-Americans to represent North Carolina in the
U.S. House of Representatives since the Reconstruction
Era, more than 100 years ago.
Ralph Campbell Jr., of Raleigh, made another his
toric first. Campbell becomes the first African-Ameri
can state auditor.
In local elections, incumbent Judge Loretta C.
Biggs narrowly defeated Tori Roemer in District 21's
Please see page A3
Blair Awaiting Trial In Sex Case
By TRAVIS MITCHELL
Chronicle Staff Writer
New allegations that a black police
officer, indicted on sexual assault
charges, may have had a 31/2 month
affair with the white woman who
charged him, has set the black commu
nity abuzz.
Earlier this month, officials charged
Officer Leroy Blair Jr., 26, with second
degree rape and second-degree sexual
offense.
According to Captain Linda Fetree,
Patti Melinda Mills went down to the
Public Safety Center on Oct. 21 and
filed a sexual assault complaint indicat
ing that she was assaulted by a neighbor.
Mills said the assault took place at 3
a.m. on Oct. in the 5000 block of
Eltha Drive.
Petree said the complaint was filed
at 8:30 a.m. Blair was indicted Monday
and his trial date will be set next week.
However, neighbors and sources
close to the case said that Blair and Mills
were dating at the time of the alleged
rape. They also said that Mills was dat
ing another black male at the time of the
arrest.
Prosecutors said that Mills' children
were present when the assault took
place.
"We felt strongly enough to push
for the indictment," said District Attor
ney Vince Rabil. "In my view she
reported the incident immediately, "he
said in response to skeptics who have
questioned why she waited five hours to
report the incident.
Rabil refused to disclose if evidence
showed that forced entry into the home
was involved or what forensics evidence
may have linked Blair to the crime.
Blair is the second officer accused
of sexual assault and the third with a
felony during the past few months.
"Based on the history of our depart
ment this is an unusual occurrence,"
Petree said. "We have not had officers
charged during my career. It is an
embarrassment for all of us, and it hurts
both personally and professionally."
Richard Reynolds Bowman, 28,
Leroy Bfyr, Jr.
was charged on August 20, with second
degree rape and first-degree burglary.
Danah Marchell Shaw, 21 , reported that
Bowman broke into her home and raped
her on August 16. Bowman, who is
white, has not been indicted.
Joy M. Barber, 26, was charged
Sept. 17 with assisting her boyfriend to
sell crack cocaine. Barber was indicted
on Monday and will be arraigned next
week.
Suspect Eludes Authorities In Happy Hill Blaze
By TRAVIS MITCHELL
Chronicle Staff Writer
A unidentified woman of Happy Hill Gardens sur
prised fire department officials as she confessed to
starting the blaze that killed three children.
"We worked on it for two days," said Fire Depart
ment Investigator Dave Brooks. "We picked her up for
questioning, but she passed a polygraph test and came
out smelling like roses. We are still not ruling out the
possibility of arson."
Brooks said that the woman, who lives two houses
down, apparently had been in a feud with members of
the Westmoreland family, who lived in the house. After
the fire eyewitnesses said that she confessed. Brooks
said that she was released, but that they have other sus
pects.
"We have eliminated all accidental causes to the
best of our abilities," he said. "Those things including
electrical, mechanical and any failure of appliances
have been ruled out." ^
Officials said that the State Bureau of Investigation
arrived this week with dogs specially trained to detect
combustible and flammable liquids. Brooks said that
they did not find anything. He is hoping to find some
explanation in tests done at the SBI laboratory in
Raleigh which analyzed physical samples from the fire
scene.
"We are asking that they expedite the process due
to the nature of the case involving three fatalities," he
said.
Shedrika Jamell Byers, 15; Sheconda Denise
Byers, 13; and Delmar Greg Byers, 11, died in the fire
at *1239 Alder St. Their mother Vickie Byers West
moreland, 36, ancfher husband 35-year-old Edward
Westmoreland escaped. Records indicate that Mrs.
Westmoreland has been a victim of fire before. In 1989
her Short St. home caught fire and earlier this year her
home on Manly St. caught fire.
Are Blacks Being Left Out Of The CIAA Planning Loop?
By MARK MOSS
Special To The Chronicle
Although the CIAA tournament won't be held in
Winston-Salem until 1994, city officials and business
leaders are already gearing up for the long-anticipated
event. Unfortunately, it appears that those involved in
the early preparations are mostly white.
The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
(CIAA) tournament, which the city won the rights to
host in September for three years, is expected to gener
ate about $8 million each year from the approximately
20,000 fans who will visit the city.
CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry and the associa
tion's treasurer, Martha Marcolini, arrived in the city
Nov. 4, and according to an agenda from the Winston
Salem Convention and Visitors Bureau, the two had a
full day of meetings with officials connectcd with the
upcoming event.
To some of the city's African- Americans, it
appears that the black community is being kept out of
the loop in the early stages of these meetings.
Ernest H. Pitt, the Winston-Salem Chronicle's
publisher and co-chair of the host committee responsi
ble for convincing community leaders that bringing
the tournament here would be good business, said that
if black business leaders are not involved in the early
stages of the planning process, it will be difficult for
the community to reap the benefits.
"My concern is' to make certain that blacks get in
on the ground floor, when things really start happen
ing, so that the black community won't be left with
empty pockets. The event should be an economic
windfall for all of Winston-Salem, including the black
community," Pitt said.
Pitt explained that he had no input in creating the
agenda for the visiting CIAA officials, and that he was
the only African- American invited to attend the lun
cheon meeting scheduled at the Piedmont Club yester
day.
The three -day agenda outlined meetings-involving
Kerry and Marcolini and officials from the Lawrence
Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Benton Con
P lease see page A9
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