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Juggling family and job? Looks like a job for Superwomen/Page 11A
■ Che Charlotte Bost ■
VOLUME 21 NO. 47
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF AUGUST 8,1996
75 CENTS
SERVING CABARRUS, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Bank account heart of NAAGP audit
Reconciliation of N.C. books could be finished by September
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The NAACP’s audit of N.C.
Conference of Branches finan
cial records may center on a
checking account maintained by
Kelly Alexander Jr. in the name
of the civU rights organization.
Alexander is suspended as
president of the N.C. conference
pending the outcome of an audit
by Price Waterhouse, which
audited the national organiza
tion’s books after William
Gibson of Columbia was ousted
as chairman in 1995.
Acting N.C. president Melvin
“Skip” Alston of Greensboro said
auditors have nearly completed
the collection of financial
records and are planning to
begin a reconciliation of the
books on Aug. 19. That reconcil
iation should be complete in
about two weeks, Alston said.
At least some portions of the
audit will be released to the
public. All N.C. conference
branch presidents, board mem
bers and other officials will be
given audit results.
Alston said the auditors
appear to be focusing on trans
actions involving a Merrill
Lynch account, which opened in
Going for Paralympic gold
m
lllwl
PHOTO/PAUL-WILLIAMS I
Kater Cornwell of Charlotte will compete for a gold medal in heavyweight poweriifting in the Paralympic Games in Atianta.
Cornweii finished fifth in the same event in Barceiona, Spain four years ago.
Charlotte athlete going to Atlanta games
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Kater Cornwell carried the
Olympic torch on its journey
through Charlotte last
month.
Next week, he’ll compete for
a gold medal.
Cornwell, A powerlifter,
leaves Monday for Atlanta
and the Paralympic Games,
the second largest sporting
event in the world.
'There’s nothing second class
about the more than 3,500
athletes with physical disabil
ities from 127 countries who
will compete.
Cornwell qualified with a
bench press of440 pounds.
“It is important to compete
in sports and recreation,”
Cornwell said. “It is the best
prescription my doctor could
prescribe for me. It has led
me to a new direction in my
community. Competition is
important for the fellowship
and lets me know people with
disabilities can be successful
in everyday life.”
'The Paral3mipic games have
been held twice, always after
the regular Ol3rmpics and in
the same venue. 'The first was
in 1988 in Seoul, South
Korea. The second was in
1992 in Barcelona, Spain.
Cornwell, competing in the
heavyweight category, placed
fifth overall in Barcelona, and
was first among U.S. ath
letes.
He’s not even expecting to
win the gold this year, since
another American holds the
world record of 518 pounds.
Some 160 power lifters wiU
compete, including a Nigerian
team which is finishing their
See ATHLETE on page 3A
Texas redraws majority-minority districts
By Terri Langford
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON - A judicial
panel has redrawn the bound
aries for 13 congressional dis
tricts in Texas, ordering new
elections this year in nearly
half the state’s House races.
The districts include three
majority-minority districts -
the 18th, 29th and 30th -
deemed unconstitutional by
the U.S. Supreme Court
because they unlawfully
depended on race for their
boundaries. In the same rul
ing, the court struck down
North Carolina’s mostly-black
12th District, which is repre
sented by Melvin Watt of
Charlotte.
The affected Texas districts
include seven in the Houston
area and six in the Dallas
area. In June, the Supreme
Court upheld the three-judge
panel’s decision two years ago
that the 18th in Houston held
by Democrat Sheila Jackson
Lee, the 29th in Houston held
by Democrat Gene Green and
the 30th in Dallas held by
Democrat Eddie Bernice
Johnson were unconstitution
al.The judges could have
accepted one of the many
plans submitted to them by
the plaintiffs or other interest
ed parties. The panel decided,
however, to draw its own lines
and to order new elections.The
1989, and an account at
Mechanics & Farmers Bank
into which checks meant for the
NAACP’s scholarship program
were deposited.
“The problem centers on the
Merrill Lynch account and the
scholarship...in terms of who got
it and how much and how it was
dispersed,” Alston said.
“National and state by-laws
state any money transferred
from any account has to be done
so by check signed by two offi
cers, the president and the trea
surer. No check shall be written
for any expenditure, if not
signed off by voucher by the sec
retary. Kelly has a check cash
ing card on that (Merrill L3mch)
account which he has been
See NAACP on page 6A
Battle gets
reassigned to
Eastern N.C
AME Zion Church Bishop made
controversial gift to parishioner
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
AME Zion Bishop George Battle has been re-assigned from the
South Carolina and Georgia district to an east
ern N.C. district that also includes the Virgin
Islands.
Bishop Joseph Johnson, formerly of the district
including the Mississippi Delta and other south
ern states, will replace Battle, said Morgan
Tann, editor of the AME Zion newspaper, I'he
Star of Zion.
Tann said Battle’s reassignment came duripg
the church’s general conference in Washingtonv
D.C., last week. Appointments are first made by
a committee of the 12 bishops, which then must Battle
be approved by the conference.
The death of one bishop and the retirement of Presiding Prelate
Bishop Reuben Speaks of Salisbury meant two new bishops had
to be appointed and some reassignments made, Tann said.
Battle’s reassignment wasn’t officially tied to complaints from
some S.C. Zionites about the $100,000 Battle took from two S.C.
conferences to help get a former member of his congregation out
of prison.
“It was not discussed at the conference,” Tann said. “It never
came up.”
Battle’s $100,000 contribution from mission funds to convicted
embezzler Delores Hairston was criticized by some church mem
bers who said they would try to get Battle to pay the money back.
They also promised to circulate petitions to have him removed
See BATTLE on page 6A
Civil suit in Concord
death will continue
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
judges’ map goes beyond the
nine to 10 districts many
observers, both Democrat and
Republican, had expected
would be redrawn. But they
didn't change some districts
that had been considered like
ly to be changed, including the
12th District in Fort
Worth.Voters in the 13 dis
tricts will participate in a spe
cial election conducted along
See TEXAS on page 6A
Concord police officers
involved in the death of
Angelo Robinson will not face
criminal charges in the 1993
incident.
Robinson, 24, was repeatedly
sprayed with pepper gas, out
side a Waffle House on U.S.
29 on July 11. His death
sparked a riot and an autopsy
revealed Robinson died of
bronchial spasm triggered by
inhaling the pepper spray.
The death caused Concord
police chief Robert Cansler to
suspend the use of pepper
spray for nearly two years. Its
use has been continued, but
with canisters limited to just
four short burst.
His family is continuing a
civil lawsuit in the case, which
is being handled by attorney
James Ferguson of Charlotte.
The attorney said the civil
suit alleges that the police
wrongfully causing Robinson’s
death, using excessive force,
failing to provide pi'ompt med
ical care and inflicting emo
tional distress on the
Robinson family.
I
Genesis Park saying no to crime
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
PHOTO/SUEANN JOHNSON
Genesis Park residents got together Tuesday for Nationai Night
Out, an anti-crime program. Genesis Park, once one of
Charlotte’s most dangerous communities, has undergone a
major overhaui in recent years.
Genesis Park residents held a
parade and cook out Tuesday as
part of the National Night Out
celebration, an anti-crime pro
gram.
'The annual event encourages
neighborhoods to get people out
of their homes and into the
streets.
“This day was set aside to
show that we are against vio
lence and bloodshed of our
young people and our brothers
and sisters,” said Angelia
Hailey, president of the Genesis
Park neighborhood group.
Genesis Park is the resm-gent
community once centered on
Wayt Street off Oaklawn
Avenue. Streets in the area
have been renamed and dozens
of homes have been renovated.
Some are being sold under a
program run by the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Housing
Partnership.
'The cornerstone of the renew
al has been the intense police
presence to reduce crime in the
area, once one of the most drug-
infested and violence-ridden
communities in the city.
For Genesis Park residents,
many of them of now homeown
ers and some new to the area,
National Night Out was a cele
bration of the community’s turn
around.
They joined neighborhoods
across the country, where
marches, fairs, cookouts or sim
ple walks sent a message to
criminals that neighbors are
determined to get them out of
their communities and keep
them out.
The Housing Partnership is to
be recognized today for its
achievements in Genesis Park
by assistant Housing and Urban
Development secretary Michael
Stegman.
Stegman was to discuss
Charlotte’s participation in the
National Homeownership
Partnership, which seeks to cre
ate 8 million new homeowners
nationwide by the end of the
year 2000 and boost the home-
ownership rate to 67.5 percent.
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 7A
Lifestyles 11A
Religion 13A
A&E IB
Regional News 6B
Sports SB
Classified 13B
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