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IN OUR OPINION
THE CHRONICLE'S STANCE ON SCHOOL REDISTRICTING
? V Opinion
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BUrrALO SOLDIERS
AFRICAN-AMERICAN MONTHLY AND NIE EDITION
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Winston-Salem Chronicle
The Choice for African-American News and Information
A f
THURSDAY, MARCH 17/1994
l/'ou cr i <>iH C(U'\ nothing w ithout a struggle. ? Frederick Douglass
VOL. XX, No. 29
Disabled Man Still Trying to<Jet His Money
A Claims lawyer bilked him out of $12,000 nine years ago after near-fatal wreck
By MARK R. MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer,
Robert Lane Smith is on a mission. He
wants his money back, and he's not going to let
his paralysis or anything else stand in his way.
SmithSa 4 1 -year-old quadriplegic, alleges
that Larry FN Habegger, a former Winston
Sajem lawyer, bilked turnout of rtiore than a
third of the settlement he received from the car
accident in 1985 that left him paralyzed.
"I want my money," Smith said. "I know
he's (Habegger) glad of one thing ? I'm in a
wheelchair."
Because Habegger ripped him off for
SI 2.000, Smith said, he has had to file for bank
ruptcy. Now. nearly two-thirds of the approxi
mately $700 he gets monthly for disability is set
aside to pay off his debts. Smith said.
Smiih now leaves with his mother on
Bowen Boulevard.
"When you add in the personalities and the
dynamics . . . this is nothing but a sad story all
around.'' said Lisa Menafee. one of the first
attorney s Smith turned to for help.
Habegger. who could not be reached after
repeated calls to his Advance home, has a list of
shady dealings. He became the focus of an
embezzlement investigation in the late 1980s.
According to published reports, Habegger sur
rendered his license to practice law to the N.C.
Bar in December 1988 "in the face of allega
tions that he embezzled almost $180,000 from
three trust funds that he administered." He was
charged with embezzlement in late 1989, and
received a suspended sentence in Tate 1990.
Also, seeking a more lenient sentence, a
drug dealer in 1981 accused Habegger of
extorting money.
? Ironically, Smith turned to Habegger the
same year the former lawyer was forced to sur
render tiis license. It was not, however, the first
see MONEY page A3
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Carver Student
Wins $4 1 ,000 ~
Scholarship to
UNC-Chapel Hill
By MARK R MOSS
Chronicle Staff Wrilcr
Dionne Michelle Piggott,
a senior at Carver High
School senior and daughter of
Ahe school's principal, has
won a 1994 Morehead Award
to at ten d the TJmvers?ty~of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"Yes. 1 was surprised."
Piggott said about the
moment she learned that she
had won the scholarship. "I
didn't think I'd get that faj" in
the competition.
Piggott explained that after her teachers nominated her for
the scholarship, she had to go through interviews with Morehead
committees on the local, regional and state levels.
"I'm just as happy as I can be," said her proud father. Daniel
Piggott. the first-year principal at Carver. "I told some folks it's
like the parents just got a raise. It couldn't have happened to a
better person."
Th^ Morehead Award is worth $41,000 and pays all
expenses for four years of undergraduate study at the university.
It also includes a summer-enrichment session that Dionne Pig
gott said is an Outward Bound program that she is looking for
see CARVER page A3
Dionne Michelle Piggott
Local alumni chapter will host regional meeting in Winston-Salem Friday and Saturday at Hawthorne Inn. Pictured are (front row, left to right): Todd
Burke , Jerry A. Drayton Sr., Gregory T. Burrell, George Simmons, (back row) Monroe J. Falls , Leroy \nderson,J. Fred Acree and Willie L. Clark Jr.
Success Seems to Follow Wherever They Go
By DAVID- L. DfLLARD
Chronicle Staff Writer "
Confidence, integrity and success are just
some of rnany "positive characteristics thatde scribe
a "Morehouse Man." ^ ?
These qualities attributed to the Atlanta school
commonlv referred to as "the black Harvard were
-s *
so enticing to Gregory Burrell of Winston-Salem
that he decided in 1986 ? at the ripe age of 26 ?
that he wanted the coveted "Morehouse Man" title
bestowed upon hin\
Burrell was impressed by the college's reputa
tion of transforming African-American boys into
men. He a] so knew a Morehouse education would
instill confidence in him and send him on his way
to a successful career.
"I constantly heard _that message that you are
expected to do well," said Burrell, a mortician with
see SUCCESS page A3
Togo West Headlines Urban League Three-Day Event
B\ MARK R MOSS
C hron n /c Stat" f W n tcr '
Togo D. West Jr. is coming home.
West, the first African-American Secre
tary of the Army and a Winston-Salem native,
will be the keynote speaker at the Winston
Salem Urban League'sl4th annual Equal
Opportunity Day Dinner next month.
West was recently confirmed by the U.S.
Senate for the Army's top civilian post after
being nominated by President Clinton last fall.
He will be the highlight of the Urban
League's three-day event April 21-23. The
Urban League opted to cancel its annual Equal
Opportunity Day Dinner ? a one-day event ?
last fall in order to expand to a three-day pro
gram this spring. This was done, explained
Delores "Dee" Smith, president and chief exec
utive officer of the local league, to attract more
people to league events and to make more peo
ple aware of the league and its activities.
"This is expanding and building upon the
past traditions of the dinner, " she said.
A conference on "The African-American
Family" will be held on April 21 at the Ander
son Center at Winston-Salem State University.
One of the featured speakers will be Lenore
Boulin-Johnson, co-author of Black Families
at the Crossroads." Also. leading various dis
cussions will be the Rev. John Mendez. pastor
of Emmanuel Baptist Church, vvho will speak
on religion; Chandler Lee. president and CEO
of Classic Cadillac and GMC-Truck. who will
speak on economic development; and Joseph
Johnson, an associate superintendent of the
city/county school system, who will speak on
education.
The dinner featuring Secretary West will
be held at the Benton Convention Center at 7
p.m. It will be preceded by a reception at 6
p.m.
The tftird day of the event will be a com
munity cultural festival held in the park -area
outside of the Anderson Center and will
include food and entertainment. Vendors
interested in participating are asked to contact
the Urban League.
West, whose father, Togo West Sr., was a
well-known and well-respected principal at
see TOGO page A1 5
Togo D. W est Jr.
Summit to Address Needs of Black Community
By DAVID L. DILLARD
Chronicle Staff Writer
African Americans throughout
Forsyth County will have a summit
meeting this weekend to discuss solu
tions to improve the quality of life in
black communities.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County African American Summit will
be held Friday and Saturday at the
Anderson Center at Winston-Salem
State University.
Joycelyn Johnson. East Ward alder
man and a member of the summit's
steering committee, said the summit is a
culmination of several planning sessions
last year to empower blacks. The sum
mit meeting is held in Winston-Salem to
make sure all segments of the black
community are represented.
"Everyone in the community has
something to contribute." Johnson said.
" We want to make sure that everyone
has input in setting an agenda for our
community."
The two-day summit will have
workshops to address four primary
areas: education, economic develop
ment, criminal justice and housing.
There will also be a youth forum at
the summit, and emphasis placed on
health care.
Olivia Allen, owner of Olivia's
Child Care, said that a forum will be
held for the youth and adults to dialogue
with each other.
We're going to have an open dia
logue with the youth." Allen said.
"(Adults) see things physically, but don't
know the details behind it; our youth
do."
see SUMMIT page A3
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