Newspapers / Winston-Salem chronicle. / Feb. 15, 1996, edition 1 / Page 1
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Young Life Snuffed Out ?Mother Calls Son's Killing Senseless By MAURICE CROCKKR Chronicle Staff Wrtter On Nov. 9,1994, Janice Ingram received a call from her son to discuss where she was going to take him on his 24th birthday. She never thought that would be the last time she spoke to him. "He wanted to go to Las Vegas, but his girlfriend wasn't able to go. So we were going to meet her in Philadelphia and drive to Atlantic City," Ingram said. Ingram's son. Barron Ballentine. never took that trip because shortly after their conversation he was murdered by his roommate, ^2-year-old Nicole Kil patrick. On Jan. 22, 1996 at approximately 12:15 p.m. Guilford County Superior Court Judge Melzer Mor gan sentenced Kilpatrick to life in prison without parole. After a six-day trial, Kilpatrick was found guilty for the first degree murder of Ballentine. "I'm glad of the outcome, but it doesn't bring my son back," Ingram said. According to Ingram, the jury also had the choice see LIFE page 12 The late Barron Ballentine with 10-month-old daughter, Bria. - " ? - f Winston-Salem Chronicle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15,1996 Dedicated to the Memory of Clarence E. Nottingham: 1903-1995 vol. xxii, no. 26 LWMM T?wcu? Hubert Crosby, director of the Happy Hills Boys and Girls Club, gathers with Ben Piggott. director of the Sims Recreational Center. Agencies Join Forces to Help Youth B\ MAURICE CROCKHR ( hrtmii le tlCE CROCK Stau\W r iter Directprs^f vation Army Boys and Girls Club and the Sims Recreation Center have decided to join forces to increase their effectiveness in the commu nity. \ "This is the first time we've ever worked together on programs, and so far there hasn't been any trouble and things arc going great," said Hubert Crosby, director of the Boys and Girls Club. Both agencies are located in the Happy Hills Gardens community, which posed a prob lem for the youth that lived in the community. "In the past there were some kids who were trying to participate in activities with both cen ters which caused conflicts in schedules," said Ben Piggott, director of the Sims Recreation Center. The two agencies decided to join together because it did not makes sense to keep two agencies in the same community apart, Piggott said. By working together the centers are now able to reach more youth as well as provide more activities. "The Sims Center did not have any means see AGENCIES page 12 Schools: Hostile Places? ?Summit Speaker attempts to get to the heart of schooling By JOHN HINTON Chronicle Senior Slntt Writer Schools are hostile places that do not reflect the back ground or temperaments of their students, a consultant said recently at Summit School. "When schools get at the intense and serious business of educating students, inevitably there are misunderstandings and anger, fear, fatigue, and just plain bad institutional habits," said Paula Lawrence Wehmiller, former principal of the Lower School at Wilming ton Friends School in Wilming ton, Del. Wehmiller?drew?upon images, dreams, and memories in her presentation, "Wrestling With Angels." She performed in front of about 100 people last week at Summit School. "Even in a school which lives up to its mission of pro viding a challenging curricu lum within a caring environ ment, these distractions compete with knowing who these children are and how they experience the world." Wehmiller said teachers and administrators fail to learn at out the backgrounds of their students. "When we don't know someone's story, we substitute our myth about who that per son is," she said. "When we are operating with only a substitute myth, none of that person's truth will be known to us and we will injure them - mostly without ever meaning to." "If we are to make Sandra Adams, head of Summit School, stands with Paula Ixiwrence WehmitTer who spoke at the school recently: progress in defeating the subtle indignities we perpetrate on each other, we will each have to disclose the full extent of our ignorance about others." Wehmiller wove her themes about education with her personal experiences as a child in upstate New York. She recalled on her bumpy school bus trip to her school, how her class recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, and her lunches were prepared by her father. "As we invite diversity, we must give our children the gift of our stories," she said. "I am curious about memories of school become I'm so anxious for schools to better." A former teacher, Wehmiller asked, "How does it feel to be a child in this school? What is the child actu ally experiencing?" Her memories of school fueled her questions after spending her professional life time listening to stories told by parents, teachers, and administrators. "When life at school pushes us to the limit," Wehmiller said, "when our backs are against the wall, when we are puzzled or frus trated or tired or even broken by the toughest moments with a student or parent or even a colleague, the support, the advice, the wisdom, and the comfort comes - asked for and heard, spoken or sung in the refrains of the ones who are there still to help us carry it on." Wehmiller has written about her experiences as an educator in the books. Face to Face: Lessons Learned on the Teaching Journey. A Gathering of Gifts, and The Miracle of Bread Dough Rising. Lowe's Check Cashing Policy Called Racist By JOHN HINTON Chnmiilc Senior Sliit'l W riter A Winston-Salem man refuses to shop at the Lowe's store on North Liberty Street after a cashier wrote "BM" on the top right corner of his $19.47 check las' week, indicating that he is a black male. "This is a dumb practice," said Evon Crooks, 43, a senior research chemist at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. "It would be better if they put a sign that said 'white only', outside on the door." Crooks visited the store to buy plumbing equipment so he could repair broken pipes at his home. After speaking with an assistant manager at Lowe's about the practice. Crooks said he returned items to the store and his Lowe's charge card with a letter describing: the practice as insulting and racist. The store was following procedures of iden tifying check writers by gender and race as man dated by the Forsyth County Magistrate Office, said Cliff Oxford, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Lowe's headquarters in North 1 don't see this as a racist practice," Oxford said. "We prefer not to do this, but it is required by Forsyth County authorities who are comply ing with North Carolina statutes." Stephen Honaker, a Forsyth County magis trate judge, confirmed that all stores in the county are required to identify the race of cus tomers who pay by check. "Businesses are required to identify a person who may have passed a bad check," he said. "It is a normal procedure here." Crooks questioned the practice . . "How is putting "BM" on checks going to identify anybody," Crooks said. I'm not the only black male in Winston-Salem. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me. I have never bounced a check before." The cashier and the assistant manager could have determined if Crooks' check was bad in the store w ithout noting his race and gender, he said Crooks sent an E-mail message on Friday to R.J. Re\nolds employees asking them to return their Lowe's charge cards. The response to his message has a good, he said. "We should not tolerate this type of behav ior." Crooks said."We don't have to shop here. ,see LOWES page 12 CLASSIFIEDS OPINION 14 ENTERTAINMENT 24 OBITUARIES 25 SPORTS 17 This Week in Black History February 15, 1965 Nat King Cole (45) singer and pianist, died in Santa Monica, California. Community Encouraged to Reach Out to Each Other B> MAURICE CROCKHR Chrtmit If Staff Writer Wc are all family and we need to know the truth about each other so that the truth shall set us free, said Dr. Cecil Murray to a crowd of more than 200 listeners at Winston-Salem State University last week. Murray, who is pastor of First African American Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, was the guest speaker at the university's Religion and Ethics in the 21st Century Amer ica program. This program marked the third of the James A Oiay Endowment Symposium series. "I haven't heard anything like that in years, not since 1 was 18-years old," said Rev. Dr. Cedric S. Rodney. James A. Gray Endowment Professor of Religion at WSSU Rodney said he saw Murray see COMMUNITY page 12 Dr. ( ecil Murray and Rev. Josepn Join s, president of the Wins'u't-Salein Ministers Conference. FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH-FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, CAUL 722*8624
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