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Photo by Courtney Gaillard
This Main Street statue depicts Richard Joshua
Reynolds looking for a location for his tobac
co plant in the 1870s.
Election is kind to
blacks, but not Blue
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Earline Parmon jumped for joy Tues
day night, literally, after all 28 precincts in
the 72nd State House District had reported
their election results. Parmon leaped into
the air outside of her East Fourth Street
headquarters as more than a dozen grass
roots supporters - people who had spent
the day shuttling low income and elderly
voters to the polls and passing out literature
at polling sites - rhythmically shouted
"Parmon. Parmon, Parmon."
Parmotf, who gave up an opportunity
to hold onto her seat on the Forsyth Coun
ty Board of Commissioners to run for the
open seat that ts being vacated by retiring '
House member Pete Oldham, won the
Democratic primary easily, picking up
nearly 40 percent of the vote, according to
unofficial, but complete, results.
Parmon said she knew she would be
strong in the race, which pitted her against
three political novices, but even she was
surprised by the results.
"I thought it would really be close
because we had four good candidates."
Parmon said.
Parmon's seemingly easy victory came
Set Election on A4
Photo by Kevin Walker
Dan Blue waits to speak at Rupert Bell park Saturday. Behind
him are his two sons, Daniel lib far left, and Dhamian.
Slaves' son
sues RJR,
jpthers for
reparations
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THB CHRONICLE ' .
The hits keep on coming for Winston-Salem
based R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Two days before the cigarette maker won a vic
tory in a Miami courtroom (a judge ruled against a
flight attendant who claimed that her sinus condition
was caused by exposure to secondhand smoke), a
119-year-old black man named RJR as one of the
defendants in a lawsuit that seeks reparations for the
descendants of slaves.
Attorneys for Eddlee Bankhead, whose deceased
parents were slaves and who is believed to be the old
est living American, tiled the class-action suit Sept. 3
in District Court in New York. A similar suit was
filed in San Ffoncisco the same day by Chester and
Timothy Hurdle, whose father was a slave. The suits,
which do not specify exact damages sought, seek to
not only compensate the main plaintiffs but all
descendants of slaves.
The suits name several companies as defendants
and allege that each of them profited from slavery or
became successful as the result of the institution of
slavery. The allegations against RJR fall into the lat
ter category. ?
According to the complaint, RJR is the "benefi
ciary of assets acquired through the forced uncom
pensated labors of enslaved African Americans."
The suit alleges that Hardin Reynolds, the father
of RJR founder Richard Joshua Reynolds, owned up
to 88 slaves, some of whom were used to produce
See RJR on A10
r
Up to
the
Challenge
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Ken Kennedy of the Winston-Salem
Fire Department's Engine 9 com
petes in the Rescue Drag Saturday
during the Firefighter Combat Chal
lenge at Smith Reynolds Airport.
Looking on is Scott Gauldin of
Engine 1. The challenge pitted WSFD
firefighters against firefighters from
other departments in several com
petitions. The local team did well
enough during the competition to
qualify for the world finals, which
will be held at the end of the year in
Deerfield, Fla.
The Fourth Dimension
City plans block party to show off improvements
to downtown's main thoroughfare
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
City officials are gearing up for
the Fourth Street Reopening Cele
bration scheduled for Friday. Sept.
20. The first-ever "Rock the Block"
street festival will celebrate Fourth
Street's makeover, which is part of
the downtown Winston-Salem revi
talization project.
The street has been buzzing with
construction activity for the last sev
eral months. Now that sidewalks
have been widened, street trees have
been planted, bike ramps have been
installed, city leaders plan to try to
attract several new restaurants with
the premise of sidewalk dining.
Officials also say the new Fourth
Street will be a more pedestrian
friendly section of downtown.
Fourth Street, like its neighbor
Fifth Street, also will become a two
lane stretch of road through the
heart of downtown. '
The city of Winston-Salem and
the Downtown Partnership are col
laborating on the Rock the Block
event, which will take place on
Fourth Street, between Spruce and
Marshall streets. Each block will
pay tribute to a decade in history
from the 1940s. 1960s, 1970s and
the millennium.
Live music." performances by
extreme skaters, shag dancers, vin
tage cars and movie posters, cos
tumed actors, karaoke and more are
planned for the celebration.
See Fourth en A9
Photo by Kevin Walker
Fourth Street, which will have two-lane traffic next week, has been outfitted with new
benches, trees and chic street lamps. An opening for the renovated street is planned.
Officials
look to
groups
for ideas
Agencies are asked to
develop strategies for
economic development
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
County Commissioner
Chairman Peter Brunstetter
and Mayor Allen Joines have
announced a process for
implementing the results of an
economic summit. ?
A
news
release
says that
since the
conclu
sion of
the sum
mit in
May,
work has
.been
under
McCarlar
way to
analyze information gained
from the SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and
threats) analysis, the presenta
tions by economic experts,
and the reports of the small
group discussions.
As a result of this work,
six critical objectives have
? been identified and a lead
agency assigned to oversee
implementation of each
objective. These objectives
and the responsible agencies
are:
I. Enhance collaboration,
including improved commu
nication to all constituents,
and establish accountability to
ensure there is sufficient sup
port for and follow-through
on economic development
activities. The oversight com
mittee will include represen
tatives of the Chamber of
Commerce. Black Chamber of
Commerce. Winston-Salem
Business Inc.. Idealliance.
Downtown Winston-Salem
Partnership. Hispanic Busi
ness League. Winston-Salem
Alliance, Northwest Piedmont
Workforce Development, as
well as the chairman of the
county commissioners and the
mayor of Winston-Salem.
Miriam McCarter, presi
dent of the Black Chamber of
Sec Summit on A10