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THE CHARLOTTE POST
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THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday, November 22, 1979
Price 30 Cents
Λ i.
BABETTE SUMMERS
...Ranson 9th Grader
Babette Summers
Is Beauty Of Week
by Teresa Burns
Post Staff Writer
With tne economy the way it is
today, our 9th grade beauty of the
week, Babette Summers, would
like to see the cost of merchandise
go down.
One way in which people may
stop inflation, according to
Summers, is to "...stop spending so
Jftfl much money on unnecessary
things."
If this solution seems too difficult
to achieve Summers philosophy
(not only about money matters, but
atsraracr file m-gefwra; vis 'Once
ytou don't succeed, try again!"
"If you don't succeed, I think
you should try harder the next
time," Summers said.
And whatever Summers partici
pates in she tries to do her best
She's athletic but still possesses
the charm of a young lady.
Playing basketball, volleyball and
running track are just a few of
Summers favorite past-times.
She is also a member of the
McCrorey BranchYMCA drill
team, a varsity cheerleader at
Ranson Junior High School and
recently was elected Ranson's 1979
Homecoming Queen.
Summers stays busy..
Currently she is involved in John
sons C. Smith's Upward. Bound
Program and is a member of
Mount Carmel Baptist Church
where she sings on the choir and is
a junior usher.
Being active and dealing with
people, Summers has a feel about
the best qualities in a person, "I
admire a person if they know how
ty trpat you. .fairly çnd aren't
phony," she explained.
Her favorite person is her
mother, Mrs. Louise Stinson.
"I most admire my mother
because of the things she does for
our family by hereself," Summers
said.
Summers lives with her brother,
two sisters and her mother at 1715
Dedmon Drive.
Despite her youth, our beauty
seems to be very aware of the
world around her. And this is a
sure sign of maturity.
USDA Tightens Fraud Controls
In Food Stamp Program
WASHINGTON -- People who get
food stamps fraudulently will have
to pay them back under a rule
proposed today by officials of the
Department of Agriculture.
Currently, people convicted of
fraud are dropped from the food
stamp program for 3 to 27 months.
The new proposal would require
them to either repay the value of
the stamps in cash or agree to have
their food stamp allotment reduced
until the amount is recovered
before they can join the program
again.
The proposed rule would imple
ment legislation (Public Law
96-58) passed by Congress in Aug
ust. The final regulation is sched
uled to go into effect in May 1980
f In addition to the repayment
provision, the rule will allow states
to keep SO percent of all money
they recover from fraud claims to
help defray recovery costs. He
covered funds presently are re
turned to the federal government.
"We expect this change will be a
1 significant incentive to states to
prosecute fraud more vigorously,"
Hid Carol Tucker Foreman,
assistant secretary of agriculture
for food and consumer services.
The rule also require· food
•tamp applicants to obtain and
furnish social security numbers for
all household members. Foreman
said this will deter fraud by enab
ling states to use social security
numbers to crosscheck food stamp
applications with other wage and
benefit records.
The department put other legis
lative reforms into effect earlier
this year to tighten eligibility
standards and reduce abuse
The rule was published in the
Federal Register on Wednesday,
Oct. 31 and Friday, Nov. 2. There
will be a 45-day comment period
ending Dec. 14.
■ *s?r
HUD Rebates
Low-Income Τenants
Τ ο Get 60 Million Dollars
Local Ministers: We Have Lots
For Which To Be Thankful
By Teresa Burns
Host suit Writer
Maybe you've looked at the
world's situation - rising gas
prices, American hostages in Iran
and the Greensboro killings - and
thought "What is there to be thank
ful for?"
But if you take an optimistic look
like several Charlottean pastors
have, the conclusion may be start
ling.
"We can be thankful for the truth
that we really have in the word of
God to the point that we will be able
to live by it," according to Elder
Ralph Franklin of Brean Seventh
Day Adventiat Church. ,
"We can be thankful to witness
for the Lord in these troubled
days," he continued.
Rev. Joe M Beck of the First
Pentecostal Holiness Church had
this to say, "What did the pilgrims
have to be thankful for? What did
the European* have to be thankful
for in the 30 year war? God is with
us, in us, and working through us in
all circumstances of life."
Evangelist Letha Pratt
...Thankful that she's saved >
And Evangelist Letha Pratt of
the Church of Open House of
Deliverance Through Jesus Christ
is thankful that she Is saved and
knows the Lord.
"We are still free - even If death
should come we can be free to go
back to Mm," she said.
Rev. Coleman Kerry of Friend
ship Baptist Church said that
maybe the crisis will teach us
something. "We need to appreciate
Rev. Coleman Kerry
Appreciate what we have
what we have and not be extrava
gant This is a wasteful nation -
others can live off our garbage We
can thank the Lord for making us
think about that."
And what about people who
suffer? According to Rev. Wilson
Mitchell of Chappell Memorial
Baptist Church. " - you'll find a
lot of people suffering they can be
thankful just being here and liv
ing." ' '
Food Stamp
Participation
Increases
RALEIGH- Major changes in the
food stamp program that took
effect in January and March of
this year have resulted in a 1
percent increase in the number of
low-income people in Mecklenburg
County participating in the pro
gram.
In July 1979, there were 33,014
residents of the county participat
ing, compared to only 32,607 in July
1978. The total value of the stamps
issued in July 1979 was $1,107,047.
Even with this increase in partic
ipation, there are still 43,449 people
in the county who are eligible for
the program who are not partic
pating based on estimates from the
Divison of Social Services of the
N.C. Department of Human
Resources.
Many cnanges nave uucen place
in the program this yearas a result
of food stamp reform'legislation
enacted by Congress in 1977.
John Kerr, chief of the Food
Assistance Section of the Division,
cited-two changes, however, as the
most significant in determining the
number of participants. "The
elimination of the requirement that
people have to pay a certain
amount of their money in order to
get a larger amount of food stamps
became effective on January 1.
Participants now receive a smaller
amount of stamps at no charge
Lowering the eligibility level to the
federal poverty level on March 1
had little effect on the number of
recipients in North Carolina be
cause the vast majority participat
ing already had very low
incomes," he indicated.
Kerr said that statewide there
wee 510,375 people participating in
the program in July 1979, com
pared to only 375,011 a year earlier.
This was a 36 percent increase.
"We still have 490,725 people
across the state with incomes low
enough to qualify for food stampe,
based on estimates by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, who
are not participating," Kerr said.
The total cash value of food
stamps issued statewide in July
1979 was $16.5 million. He esti
mates that over $200 million in food
stamps will be issued during the
current state fiscal year, which
ends June 30. 1980.
.. .Retired educator
Omegas Name Byers
"Man Of The Year"
By Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
The Pi Phi Chapter of the Omega
Psi Phi Fraternity last week chose
educator Walter Byers as its "Man
of the Year."
Byers, whose fraternity
membership has spanned 53 years,
has served in every office of the
Charlotte branch
He was pricipal of the Fairview
School in Charlotte for the 25 years
prior to his retirement in 1970
Byers also served as principal at
O.R. Pope Elementary School in
Rocky Mount, N.C. for eight
years; he was principal for two
years at Tarboro Elemetary
School, taught and was principal for
for one year in Battleboro. N.C.
and was assistant principal and
teacher for five years at the
Highland School in Gastonia, N.C.
A graduate of Shaw University,
Byers also received an MA
degree from Columbia
University's Teacher College and
later studied at the University of
Wisconsin.
Byers was president of the
Charlotte's Teacher's Association
before integration.
Among his community
involvements, Byers is a member
of the board of trustees and
superintendent of Sunday School at
First Baptist Church.
He is a former member and
chairman of Housing of the
Mecklenburg County Council on
Aging.
Byers has been associated with
Model Cities as an education
planner and coordinator He
supervised the Helping Hand
Scholarship Program For the past
five years he has directed the
career conferences for Junior High
Schools at Johnson C. Smith
University.
Byers is married to the former
Selma Barnes, they have one
daughter and two grandchildren
Food Production,
Marketing (xmt To
Continue Rising
Washington - Rising costs for
producing as well as processing
and marketing food in 1900 are
likely to keep upward pressure on
retail food prices to consumers At
the same time such pressures will
put many agricultural producers in
a difficult cost-price squeeze, ac
cording to the U S Department of
Agriculture
The AgriculturalOutlook, to be re
leased by USDA's Economics, Sta
tistics. and Cooperatives Service,
points out that the rising costs will
mean further increase« in con
sumer food prices Retail food
prices in 1900 should rise 7 to 11 per
cent Most of the rises will be cau
sed by increases of about lOpercent
for labor and packaging and conti
nued sharp increases for energy
used in processing and marketing
Transportation costs also will be
significantly higher
Gross farm income should in
crease slightly from 1079 record lev
els Continued strong
-especially for exports-is expect
ed to increase cash receipts fro·)
crops.
Refunds To
Average $500
Per Tenant
Washington, D7C- Three quart
ers of a million low-income tenants
overpaid their rents in "Section
236" government-subsidized hous
ing between Feb. 1, 1975 and Sept.
30, 1977
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development will
reimburse these tenants $60 mil
lion in rent overcharges.
Refunds of up to $500 per eligible
tenant will result from a settle
ment in 11 class action suits filed
on behalf of "Section 236" tenants
against H.U.D.
Nationwide 4,500 individual hous
ing projects are affected, accord
ing to Ms. Vicki Williams, settle
ment information coordinator for
the Western Center of Law and
Poverty.
In North Carolina, 76 low-income
housing areas are "Section 236"
housing projects.
Charlotte residents living in the
Booth Gardens, Greenhaven Town
' Houses, Charlotte Little Rock No
2. Orchard Apartments, and the
Village Town Houses are eligible
for the rent refunds
Ms. Williams said claim forms
and instructions were sent to "Sec
tion 236" housing managers nation
wide beginning the week of Oct. 22,
and by the end of November all
current residents in those housing
projects should have been notified.
Claim forms will also be mailed
to former tenants who have moved
if the project owner or former
tenant supplied a forwarding ad
Hrpec
To receive refunds, eligible ten
ants must return the completed
forms no later than Jan 31,1980. to
the Glerk of the U.S. District Court,
P.Ο Box 60864, Los Angeles, Cali
fornia. 90060 Former tenants who
have lived in "Section 236"
housing and wish to obtain a claim
form can call the claim processing
center's toll free number (800;
824-7980; the number is <800)852
7532 if calling from California, and
1916)929-6285 if calling from Alas
ka. Hawaii, Puerto Rico or the
Virgin Islands
All claims will be processed and
evaluated, and all checks will be
sent at one time, in June of 1980,
according to Ms Williams, eligible
tenants, on the average, will re
ceive approximately $15 a month,
for 32 months.
The nationwide class action suit
was brought in 1976 against HUD,
which had refused to follow a
congressional mandate to distri
bute funds to "Section 236" project
owners to subsidize increased tax
and utility costs being borne by the
low-income tenants A tenant in
Carson, California was the first
named plaintiff in the nationwide
case The Western Center is a
grantee of the l>egal Services
Corporation, a private nonprofit
υικαιιΐϋΐιιυιι esujoiisnea Dy I on·
Rress to provide free legal assist
ance to the poor in civil matters
At least Mother lawsuits - many
of them filed by LSC funded legal
services programs - were brought
before the nationwide class action
suite was filed to compel HUD to
pay the rent subsidies. In April
1975, the Legal Aid Bureau of
Baltimore, on behalf of eligible
clients, brought the first suite The
next suit was filed by Connecti
cut legal services attorneys on
behalf of a statewide tenant class.
Suits were also filod by other legal
services attorneys including the
LSC funded National Housing Pro
ject in Berkeley and the Legal Aid
Foundation of long Beach. Cali
fornia.
The 1 Wt settlement, which was
agreed to by former HUD secret
ary Patrician Harris, directs the
distribution of the rent refunds.