2A
NEWS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, February 13,1997
Watkins’ job is help city to grow
Continued from page 1A
Charlotte.
There are more than 70 neigh
borhoods in the City Within a
City which form the city’s urban
core. Some of them are the city’s
poorest and most fragile.
City programs include
Community Empowerment,
which provides matching grants
to neighborhood-based organiza
tions for improvement projects;
Community Relations, which
seeks to end discrimination and
settle disputes; Economic
Development, which helps resi
dents and businesses with loans
and technical support; Human
Development, which addresses
employment needs and Physical
Development, which oversees
housing codes and creation of
home ownership.
“Neighborhood are very com
plex systems,” Watkins said,
explaining the organization of
his department.
Watkins said Charlotte has an
opportunity to avoid the mis
take made in other urban areas,
such as northern cities,
Washington, D.C. and Atlanta.
“In each of the northern cities,
the inner city is dying. Jobs are
leaving. People are leaving,” he
said.
“Charlotte is trying very hard
not to let the center city go the
way of other urban areas. The
city, along vrith private sectors,
has made a concerted effort to
save our neighborhoods.
Charlotte has an unique oppor
tunity to do something other
cities haven’t been able to do.”
The solutions are simple,
Watkins said. “Most of it is com
mon sense.
“For a community to work, the
people have got to have a job,
they need shelter over their
heads and they need access to
services. And they need institu
tions to tie it together. It is kind
of simple.”
Others must be involved to
make it happen and his role,
according to Watkins, “is to
make sure everybody is success
ful.”
A lot of what the city does is to
make people believe a neighbor
hood has a future and is a good
place to invest money or raise
families, Watkins said.
“Neighborhoods are the budd
ing blocks of the community.
The future of Charlotte depends
on the success of its neighbor
hoods,” he said.
How successful has the city’s
effort been so far and what’s
needed in the future?
“Resources are always an
issue,’^ Watkins said. “The ques
tion is whether money is well
spent. Are we getting a good
return on our investment?
“I’ve got to be optimistic. I
have seen good things done.
More and more neighborhoods
NAACP investigates jail
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LEXINGTON, N.C. - Local
NAACP officials said after their
second visit to the Davidson
County Jail that conditions for
inmates have worsened since
their first visit less than a year
ago.
Three members of the county
chapter toured the jad last week,
prompted by a complaint from an
inmate.
“I know they have to serve the
time for their crime, but this is
not about the crime,” said Lois
Hargrave, president of the
NAACP chapter.
Hargrave said that during her
earlier tour, she found most con
ditions satisfactory, although the
cellblock that housed the
youngest inmates needed clean
ing.
During the latest visit,
Hargrave said inmates told her
that their mattresses were taken
away in the mornings. Some had
swollen marks on their backs
from lying on bunks without mat
tresses, she said, and other
inmates were lying on the floor.
Hargrave said some inmates told
her they share mattresses with
inmates who have contagious dis
eases.
Hege said that the mattresses
are used by jaders as leverage for
good behavior. If the mattresses
were left in the ceds all the time,
he said, the inmates would throw
them on the floor or urinate on
them.
The mattresses are sanitized,
but inmates sleep on one anoth-
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MAGNET SCHOOL
OPEN HOUSES FEBRUARY 1997
Amay James Montessori Elementary 343-5550
2414 Lester Street • Wed nesday, February 19,1997 ♦ 9:30-11:00 A.M.
Ashley Park Math/Science and Technology Elementary 343-6018
2401 Belfast Drive ♦ Friday, February 14,1997 10:00 A.M.
Barringer Learning Immersion and Academically Gifted Elementary • 343-5533
1500 Walton Road • Wednesday, february 19, 1997 9:00 A.M.
Billingsville Montessori Elementary • 343-5525
124 Skyland Avenue * Wednesday, February 19, 1997 • 9;300A.M. -11:30 A.M.
Bruns Avenue German Immersion and Year-Round Elementary • 343-5488
501 South Bruns Avenue • Monday, February 17, 1997 • 9:30-11:00 A.M.
Cochrane Communication Arts and Academic Studies Middle • 343-6460
6200 Starhaven Drive • Monday, Feb. 17, 6:00-7:00 P.M. & Wednesday, Feb. 19,1997 • 9:00-10:30 A.M.
Collinswood Spanish Immersion Elementary • 343-5820
4000 i^plegate Rd. • Friday, Feb. 14,1997 • 9:30-11:00 AM. & Wednesday Feb. 19,1997 • 9:00-10:30 AM.
Davidson International Baccalaureate Middle • 343-5185
25100 South St. • Tuesday, Februaiy 18, 1997 *7:00 P.M.
Devonshire Communication Arts and Academic Studies Elementary * 343-6445
6500 Barrington Drive • Monday, February 17, 1997 ♦ 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Druid Hills International Baccalaureate Elementary • 343-5515
2801 Lucena Street • Thursday, February 20, 1997 • 9:30-11:00 A.M.
Elizabeth Traditional/Classical Elementary • 343-5475
1601 Park Drive • Thursday, February 20,1997 • 9:15 A.M.
First Ward Accelerated Learning Academy • 343-5427
401 E. Ninth Street • Tuesday, Feb, 18, 1997 • 9:15 A.M. & Thursday, February 20, 1997 • 9:15 AM.
Garinger Academies of Finance, Medical Sciences and Communication Arts High • 343-6450
1100 Eastway Drive • Thursday, February 20, 1997 • 8:00-9:0030 A.M.
Raiding Math/Science & Technology and International Baccalaureate High • 343-6007
2001 Alleghany Street • Thursday, February 20,1997 • 8:00-10:00 AM.
Hawthorne Traditional/Classical Middle • 343-5490
1411 Hawthorne Lane • Mon., Feb. 17, 7-9 P.M. & Thurs., Feb. 20, 1997 • 11:30 A.M.-1:30 P.M.
329 N. Irwin Avenue ♦
Irwin Avenue Open Elementary* 343-5480
Thursday, Feb. 13,1997 5:30 P.M. & Wednesday, Feb. 19,1997 *
9:30 A.M.
Lincoln Heights International/Giobal Studies and Learning
Immersion/Academically Gifted Elementary • 343-6067
1900 Newcastle Street • Tuesday, February 18,1997 • 12:00-1:00 P.M.
Marie G. Davis International Baccalaureate and Communication Arts
& Academic Studies Middle • 343-5832
3343 W. Griffith Street • Wednesday, February 19,1997 • 9:15 A.M.
Myers Park International Baccalaureate High • 343-5800
2400 Colony Road ♦ Thursday, Feb. 13,1997* 7:00 P.M. & Thursday, Feb. 20, 1997 • 7:00 P.M.
Myers Park Traditional/Classical Elementary • 343-5522
2132 Radcliffe Avenue • Wednesday, February 19, 1997 • 10:00-11:15 A.M.
Nations Ford Classical Latin Academy Elementary • 343-5838
8300 Nations Fd. Rd. • Tuesday, February 18,1997 • 6:00-7:30 P.M.
Northwest Visual and Performing Arts Middle and High *343-5500
1415 Beatties Ford Road • Wednesday, February 19,1997 * 9:15 AM.
Oakhurst Paideia Academy Elementary • 343-6482
4511 Monroe Road •Saturday, Feb. 15,1887 • 10-12 P.M. 1] Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1997 • 8:30 A.M.
Oaklawn Math/Science and Technology Elementary * 343-5495
1810 Oaklawn Avenue * Thursday, February 20, 1997 • 9:30-11:00 AM.
Piedmont Open Middle * 343-5435
1241 East 10th Street * Tuesday, February 18, 1997 • 6:30-7:30 P.M.
Reid Park French Immersion and International Baccalaureate Elementary • 343-5035
4108 West Tyvola Road • Wednesday, February 19,1997 * 9:00 A.M.
SedgeReld Japanese Immersion Elementary * 343-5826
700 Marsh Road • Tuesday, Feb.18 7-8 P.M. & Thursday, February 19, 1997 • 9:00-11:00 AM.
Smith Language Immersion Middle * 343-5815
1600 Tyvola Road • Thursday, February 20,1997 • 10:00-11:30 A.M. ^
University Park Visual and Performing Arts Elementary *343-5178
2400 Hildebrand Street •Thursday. February 20.1997 ♦10:00-11:00 A.M.