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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
THE VOiCE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF MAY 1 1997
VOLUME 22 NO. 33
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Martin hot topic at home
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
If you want to know what’s
on folks minds about
Mecklenburg county commis
sioner Hoyle Martin, hang out
in a beauty shop.
Martin has been a hot topic
since he spearheaded the con
troversial vote taking county
arts funding - $2.5 million -
out of the hands of the Arts &
Science Council.
Martin, the District 2 com
missioner, is decidedly anti
homosexual and based his
vote on a desire not to fund
plays and art with homosexu
al content.
The vote, putting the black
Democrat on the side of con
servative Republicans, has
caused an uproar among arts
patrons, homosexuals and lib
erals.
But west of Tryon Street, the
former city council member is
far from a lame duck.
“I think he was right,” said
beautician Carolyn Tarrant,
who operates Tyler’s Hair
Care Center at 2502 Beatties
Ford Road. “I don’t think they
should fund (the arts) with
homosexuality in it. They
could take that money and
feed the hungry and the
homeless.
“That money could be used
for something more useful
than putting on a homosexual
play,” Tarrant said.
Tarrant said the split among
her customers who have
talked about Martin’s propos
al has been slightly in
Martin’s favor. That takes on
added meaning considering
that African American women
out-vote African American
men 2-to-l. Tarrant also
thinks Martin should and will
be reelected.
“He has got to be a little
stronger with what he is say
ing,” she said. “He’s got to get
more personable.”
Of course, Martin has not
committed to making another
run for the seat he won last
year.
His vote angered many in
the black community, includ
ing fellow commissioner
Darrell Williams, and the man
he succeeded, Jim Richardson.
Richardson, whose son died of
AIDS, said Martin was wrong
on the arts funding vote.
“I don’t plan to get in a
debating contest,” Richardson
said. “I try to be as kind as I
can. But the people I have
talked to can’t believe some
body who claims to be
Christian wants to punish
See MARTIN on page 2A
New plans for an old building
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Community leader Eleanor Washington wants to convert the old public iibrary into a poiice substation.
Westsiders press for
a police substation
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The former public library
building on LaSalle Street
would be reborn as a police
substation if some residents of
the area have their way.
The building closed two
months ago and the library
was relocated to a new build
ing nearby on Beatties Ford
Road. The old library was
built two decades ago, but its
small size - only 3,000 square
feet - was not enough to serve
the northwest corridor.
Library bonds were used to
build the new facility, a 14,000
square feet state-of-the-art,
computer-filled library and
learning resources center.
Westside leader Eleanor
Washington, who led the fight
for a new library, favors a
police substation and space for
agencies such as the
Mecklenburg Department of
Social Services to maintain
community-based services.
“That’s what 12 to 13 neigh
borhoods around here want,”
Washington said Tuesday.
“Hopefully, it would be a police
station and community devel
opment and community ser
vices center.”
Washington said police are
using temporary space donat
ed for one year in an outbuild
ing of the adjacent shopping
center.
“They got free rent for one
year by the man who owns the
shopping center,” Washington
said. “In June, they would
have to move out.”
Two other possible uses for
the vacant building have been
proposed.
Some West Charlotte High
School alumni have proposed
using it as a museum of west-
side history, focusing on the
high school and its influence
on the African American com
munity.
And, since Central Piedmont
Community College’s adult
See LIBRARY on page 2A
Fannie Mae accomplishments applauded
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A federal housing program cel
ebrated the first year of its part
nership with the city of
Charlotte Saturday,
Fannie Mae, the nation’s
largest source of home mortgage
funds, celebrated
HouseCharlotte’s first anniver
sary and the establishment of
HomePath Center, a city-wide
home buying and counseling
effort.
Standing in front of
Jacqueline Lampkins’ two-story
home in the Reid Park commu
nity, Fannie Mae executive vice
president Robert Zoellick
praised the cooperation between
federal and local governments.
“This new home symbolizes
the tremendous progress
HouseCharlotte has made in
helping families who have previ
ously been underserved by the
mortgage finance industry,” he
said. “By helping families, we
strengthen neighborhoods too.”
HouseCharlotte is a five-year,
$850 million comprehensive
investment strategy between
Fannie Mae and the city of
Charlotte to provide affordable
housing for 13,000 low- to mid
dle-income families. Zoellick
said 36 percent of families
assisted last year earn less than
the area median income of
$47,300 and more than 34 per
cent were first-time home buy
ers.
“I commend Fannie Mae and
its partners in the community
for their understanding that if
we fail to properly prepare peo
ple for the enormous responsi
bility of home ownership, our
efforts to put famffies in homes
will fail,” U.S. Sen. Lauch
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Charlotte hairstylist and District 2 voter Caroiyn Tarrant said she
supports commissioner Hoyle Martin.
Los Angeles still in a
state of recovery five
years after uprising
By Michael White
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - From the black and Hispanic neighborhoods of
South Central, north through Koreatown to Hollywood, the skyline
along Vermont Avenue resembles a gap-toothed smile.
Block after block, rows of buildings are punctuated by vacant lots
where stores and other businesses once stood. Even so, it’s a busy
street, often jammed tight with commuters hurrying to and from mid-
cityjobs. ,
Five years ago, Vermont Avenue was a thoroughfare for traffic of a
different sort — gunmen, arsonists and looters who torched its build
ings and terrorized residents.
The worst riots in modem U.S. history began a few blocks west,
when outnumbered police were faced down by a crowd angered by the
acquittals of four white policemen accused in the beating of black
motorist Rodney King.
Shown over and over on television, the videotaped beating had over
heated race relations in the city. The acquittals pushed them to the
flash point.
When police withdrew from the intersection of Florence and
Normandie, the crowd turned into a mob, dragging motorists from
their cars and beating them in the streets.
Similar scenes erupted across Los Angeles almost simultaneously
See LOS ANGELES on page 3A
DNA can’t place
Spann at crime scene
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
DNA tests last month on blood found at the scene of a York
County rape and murder found no evidence linking a man facing
a death sentence for crimes.
John Blume, the attorney for Sterling Spann, said York County
Judge John D. Hays has had the test results for about two weeks
and could rule any day on Spann’s request for a new trial.
“The results of it were helpful,” said Blume, of Columbia. “The
theory was he (the murderer) had come into the house bleeding
so we said test the blanket (on which the rape occurred) to see if
any of his blood was on it.”
Spann, 35, denies killing Melva Neill, an elderly white woman,
15 years ago and presented evidence in a November hearing indi
cating another S.C. inmate committed the crimes in serial fash
ion.
See DNA on page 3A
Faircloth (D-N.C.) said. “The
private sector is not waiting on
the government to fund this
effort, they have stepped for
ward with their own dollars to
ensure its success.”
Fannie Mae also made a
$100,000 Community
Development Financial
Institution investment in
Mechanics & Farmers Bank to
fight housing discrimination
regarding access to loans, capi
tal and housing finance. Putting
money in underserved commu
nities helps more people get
See FANNIE MAE on page 6A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 8A
Lifestyles 10A
Healthy Body/
Healthy Mind 12A
Religion 13A
Sports 1B
A&E 5B
Regional News 10B
Classified 12B
Auto Showcase 14B
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© 1997 The Charlotte Post
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on WBAV-AM. Story on
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