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Cljarlotte JPosft
http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF AUGUST 28, 1997
VOLUME 22 NO. 50
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Death-row appeal headed to S.C. court
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
S.C. death row inmate Sterling
Spann’s case is going back to the
state Supreme Court after a York
County judge refused his request
for a new trial.
Sparm, 35, has heen on death
row 15 years. He was sentenced
to die for the slaying of Melva
Neill, an elderly Clover, S.C.,
woman.
Spann’s attorney, John Blume of
Colmnbia, S.C., presented evi
dence in a November hearing
indicating another S.C. inmate
probably committed the murder,
which was one in a series of three
similar crimes. All the victims
were elderly white women, Uved
in the same area and were slain
in a similar manner, Blume
argues. Spann was already in jail
charged with the second of the
three murders when the third
crime occiured, Blume said.
However, Judge John Hays, in a
43-page ruhng dated Aug. 14, said
that while the evidence showed
some indication of Spann’s possi
ble innocence, that evidence was
available to his attorneys in the
initial trial. Hays noted that York
law officers had known of the
three murders and were quoted in
news articles at the time saying
they did not believe they were
related.
Therefore, Hays said, Sparm
could not win a new trial based on
after-discovered evidence.
Blume questioned Hays’reason
ing.
“We have already filed an
appeal to state Supreme Court,”
Blume said Wednesday. ‘We have
asked them to look at this. It will
probably be heard in the next cou
ple of months.
“My position is if you read the
judges order, what is striking is
there is a lot of talk about techni
calities in the criminal justice sysr
tern. We lost on a technicality.
“The judge said there is a lot of
evidence Sterhng didn’t do it, but
his lawyers did not do a good job,”
See SPANN on page 2A
John
McDonald,
shown during
the naming of a
Charlotte street
in his honor in
1994, built a
popular cafete
ria, hotel and
amusement
complex on
city’s westside.
Today, those
facilities are
closed and on
the verge of
foreclosure.
PHOTO/FRANK WILLIAMS
Recipe
for
survival
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
McDonald’s looks for investors
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The future of McDonald’s
Cafeteria, McDonald’s Iim and
Fim City is murkier than ever
as owners scramble to arrange a
sale before a foreclosure auction
set for Sept. 15.
Foreclosure was delayed from
Aug. 18, but the restaurant on
Beatties Ford Road has been
closed since that time.
“We continue to be in discus
sion with
A m r e s c o
(New
England II)
to get some
thing worked
out,” said
Frank
Emory, attor
ney for the
family of the
late John
McDonald,
who formded the restaurant in
Eunice
McDonald
1971.
Amresco is a limited partner
ship which bought the mortgage
on the McDonald complex,
which includes the hotel and
amusement center.
NationsBank was a major
lender during the expansion
which added the hotel and
amusement center in the late
‘80s. Another lender was the
City of Charlotte.
Tbtal debt is about $3 million.
‘We are seeking a reasonable
resolution of the whole thing,”
Emory said.
McDonald had considered sell
ing the restaurant and hotel
complex prior to his death.
Several groups have tried to
buy the business. One group
includes architect and former
Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt,
though he refuses comment.
If Gantt’s bid succeeds,
sources say FDY Catering
would take over operation of
See MCDONALD’S on page 2A
Ex-agriculture
secretary faces
federal counts'
By James Rowley
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - A federal grand
jury Wednesday charged former
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy
with 39 counts of illegally sohciting
and accepting gifts from large food
producers and trying to cover up his
actions.
The grand jury charged that Espy
“solicited, received and accepted”
more than $35,000 in gifts, trips,
sports tickets, and other favors from
large agribusinesses that dealt with
USDA when he headed the agency
between 1993 and 1994.
Espy was also charged with wit
ness tampering and lying to investi
gators about his receipt of gifts,
including tickets to a pro basketball
game.
Among other things, Espy was
charged with ordering a USDA
employee to alter a document
requested by investigators to con
ceal that a Tyson Eoods Inc. lobbyist
paid for him and his girlfriend to
See 39 on page 3A
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Former U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Mike Espy has
been charged with 39 counts
of illegally soliciting and
accepting gifts from large
food producers and trying to',
cover up his actions. Espy,i)
who denies the allegations,
was also charged with wit
ness tampering and lying to
investigators.
S.C. funeral home
sued over racial bias
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANCASTER, S.C. - A
Lancaster funeral home has been
sued by a woman who says the
home’s owner refused to handle
her mother’s remains when he
foimd out the daughter was of
mixed race.
Silvia Thomas Contacted Jerry
Hartley at Hartley Funeral Home
on Jan. 21, 1996, about taking
care of arrangements for her
mother, Gertrude Warren Smith,
who was near death.
“Mr. Hartley got on the phone,”
Thomas said. “He was very pleas
ant.”
Hartley refused to comment on
the suit. He also would not dis
cuss having his license suspended
for six months by the state
Funeral Service Board, which
found he “failed to provide timely
and proper service” in the case.
Gap in SAT scores widens between blacks and whites
Hartley’s lawyer, Mitchell
Norrell, said the lawsuit
unfounded.
Thomas said Hartley told her
they could finish discussing costs
and make final decisions when
she arrived in person.
After her mother died, a nurse
told Thomas there was a problem) •
“She told me Mr. Hartley could •
See FUNERAL on page 2A ;)
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 8A
Style 14A
Healthy Body/
Healthy Mind t2A
Religion 10A
Sports IB Lg
A&E 4B . '■
Regional New^iSS | ^
Classified,.12|; I J,;
, Auto Shd#»gse
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
N.C. students overall are doing
better on the Scholastic
Achievement Tfest, but in
Mecklenburg County, the gap
between scores of black and
white students increased.
Overall, average N.C. scores
improved 2 points on the math
portion, to 488, while the verbal
score stayed the same at 490.
The difference between the N.C.
scores, up for the eighth consecu
tive year, and the national aver
age is the smallest in 25 years.
Nationally, math scores went up
three points to 511 and verb^
scores stayed at 505. The highest
possible combined score is 1600.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s aver
age SAT score remained
unchanged at 991, while African
American scores dropped seven
points.
School board member Arthur
Griffin found that troubling.
though not surprising.
“The good news is a large num
ber of black kids scored over 1,000
points on the SAT,” Griffin said.
‘We want to continue to support
those kids with respect to that
achievement.
“But again there is stiU an rmac-
ceptable number of kids who we
have in a coUege-bormd curricu
lum who are not scoring where
they need to score in order to be
successful. That’s where our work
is cut out for us.”
Grifiin, citing the state’s ABC
rating of schools, said many poor
African American students are
not getting enough instruction
and are being passed along even
when they fail state tests. Two
Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools,
Allenbrook and Shamrock
Gardens elementary schools,
failed N.C.’s grading system and
their principals were removed.
“Everything, including the SAT
scores, are moving in the wrong
direction with respect to the acad
emic achievement of black stu
dents,” Griffin said. “We have not
focused on strong basic skills in
reading math and communica
tion.”
“I wasn’t surprised about the
fact that the gap was probably
getting wider. I was surprised by
how wide the gap was getting.
Seven points for aU of our kids is
too big of a gap.
“There is an excuse, but I don’t
See SAT on page 6A
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