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The Chronicle
Volume41,Number42 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, July 2, 2015
Stadium neighbors express their issues
Initial check for gas near Bowman Gray complete
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
City oificials held their first meeting
since testing was done in the vicinity of
Bowman Gray Stadium to determine if the
levels of methane gas found in the area
were hazardous.
During the open meeting held at
Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church,
1400 Fitch St., members and residents of
the community expressed their displeasure
with how city officials are handling the
process.
On Wednesday, June 3, the city of
Winston-Salem announced it found
methane gas levels as high as 50 percent in
the soil around the stadium and in the
parking lot. The next day, officials
announced they would be doing testing in
the neighborhoods surrounding the stadi
um.
According to the residents in those
neighborhoods, the city has not done a
good job of letting them know what having
methane gas in the soil means for their
property and, most importantly, their
health.
Jacob Hughes said that most of the res
idents in the area are senior citizens who
can't physically get out to community
meetings and that the city should do a bet
ter job of letting those people know what's
going on.
"A lot of the people who are most
effected by this aren't able to get out to
meetings so they don't really know what's
going on or what methane gas is," Hughes
said. "The city should have people going
door to door telling these people what was
found and what're the next steps."
See Neighbors on A2
Photo by Erin Mizelle for the Winston-Salem Chronicle
Greg Turner, left, assistant city manager, and council member Derwin
Montgomery listen as members of the community address their concerns about
the methane gas that has been recently discovered in the vicinity of Bowman
Gray Stadium on Thursday, June 25.
Veteran
wounded in
Korean War
needs help
VA has denied Dock Dodd money
despite shrapnel in his body
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Ret. Sgt. Dock C. Dodd fought in the Korean War 65
years ago. For the last 16 years, he's been fighting for
compensation from the U.S. Department of Veteran
Affairs.
It can take years for some veterans to get their benefits
because of the sometimes serpentine way they have to
prove their current ailments stem from their time in com
bat. But Greensboro NAB Vets (National Association of
Black Veterans) Commander Jamaal Muhammad said this
case is unusually difficult.
Dodd, a local veteran, has paperwork placing him at
Fort Lewis in Washington where soldiers were sent to be
deployed to Korea. Doctors have documented not only his
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but also the shrapnel still
in his body from the mortar round that struck him during
the war.
However, because no one can find documentation -
including the Purple Heart for his war injuries - that says
he was in Korea, he has been denied his benefits.
"I've never seen one like this," said Muhammad.
Dodd who was bom and raised in Spartanburg, SC,
was drafted into the Army and served from 1950-1952 in
Company D of the 24th Infantry Division. Back then the
Army was segregated, so he served with black soldiers in
combat. He said during his basic training at Fort Jackson,
South Carolina, white trainees would taunt him with racial
epithets and start fights with him.
He was shipped off to Korea, and when he arrived his
sergeant made it clear some of the soldiers who stepped
off the boat wouldn't live to get back on it. He said the
thought of dying over there brought him to tears. He still
volunteered to do battle on the front line so he could get
See Veteran on A2
' Any skirp
color can
burn'
Doctors warn that African-Americans
need caution in the sun, too
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE AND
TERIANA JONES
FOR THE CHRONICLE
It's summertime and the Fourth of July weekend
awaits. Dreams of fun in the sun abound in the minds of
fun-loving Winston-Salem residents.
But doctors warn, don't have too much fun in the sun,
even those with dark skin.
"Any skin color can bum," said Sarah Taylor, M.D.,
M.P.H., assistant professor of dermatology at Wake Forest
Baptist Medical Center.
"All human skin is affected by ultraviolet (UV) light,
and every day we're bombarded by it. Even when it's
cloudy outside, there's ultraviolet light coming through,"
she said, and that goes for African-American skin, too.
"A lot of the time people don't think African
American skin does burn or tan, but it can do both," she
said.
John Barrymore, an expert on the website
www.healthiiowstuffworks.com, says having dark skin in
the sun and heat can be an advantage and disadvantage for
some people. Dark complexion people are less likely to
get sunburn skin cancer. The disadvantage is, since dark
See Burn on A8
r s Locals applaud recent Supreme Court rulings
J^cisions on Obamacare,
^ay marriage, fair housing
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states,
subsidies that allow millions to afford health insur
ance through the Affordable Care Act will contin
ue, and unintentional housing discrimination is
still illegal.
Those were the US Supreme Court rulings last
week that had activists both locally and nation
wide celebrating. The court's historic 5-4 ruling
legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide and
requiring all states to recognize same-sex unions
was the decision that got the most attention.
The White House was lit in rainbbw colors the
night of Jane 26, and millions of Facebook users
put a "Celebrate Pride" rainbow filter over their
profile photos to show support for the ruling. The
Rev. Roger Hjfyes, pastor of Church of the Holy
v
Spirit Fellowship, took to Facebook declaring vic
tory after hearing the news.
For the last 14 years, Hayes, an openly gay
black pastor, has led a small non-denominational
congregation open to those who are lesbian, gay,
transgender and bisexual (LGBT). He said he's
officiated over same-sex weddings years before
they were recognized by the state-same-sex mar
riage became legal in North Carolina on October
10, 2014, when a federal judge struck down the
state's same-sex marriage ban. That weekend.
See Locals on A2
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