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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
tHE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 4, 1997
VOLUME 22 NO. 51
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Chemical spoils water
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Eliza Williams is 73 years old,
Ibut she'd never faced being with-
;out drinking water. Not for more
than a day.
But due to an accidental release
of a harmful chemical into the
southwest Mecklenburg water
supply, WiUiams and thousands of
other residents were unable to
drink their water Tuesday and
Wednesday.
At press time, ofBcials expected
everything to be back to normal in
the affected area, south of
Freedom Drive and 1-85 and west
of 1-77. The affected area extended
all the way to the S.C. line and the
Catawba River.
“I feel pretty bad about it,” said
Williams, who lives in the Little
Rock Apartments off West
Boulevard.
Her daughter, who lives nearby,
brought her bottles of water either
purchased from stores or picked
up at one of the sites set up for city
officials, vrith the help of the
National Guard.
Some of the most affected by the
ban on drinking, washing and
cooking with water from city pipes
were restaurants.
The chemical can cause diarrhea
or stomach cramps.
And many residents of the area
complained of not learning of the
ban until late Tuesday, some after
watching 11 p.m news broadcasts.
Firefighters had gone door-to-door
to warn residents earlier, but
many weren't home.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
did not close any of its 29 school
buildings in the area, but many
day care centers were closed, cre
ating problems for working par
ents.
The chemical leaked shortly
before noon Tuesday at the
Charlotte/Douglas International
Airport during a firefighter train
ing excerdse. The liquid, a fire
fighting form, backed up into a fire
hydrant as firefighters flushed out
a truck about 10 a.m. As much as
See WATER on page 2A
Farrakhan’s coming
Minister Louis Farrakhan
Nation of Islam leader calling for third Day of
Atonement in appearance at Ovens Auditorium
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan will speak in
Charlotte Wednesday at Ovens
Auditorium, local musHm offi
cials said.
Farrakhan is on a National
Revival Tour leading up to the
Oct. 16 anniversary of the
Million Man March. The tour is
designed to rekindle the spirit of
the March and Day of
Atonement activities planned in
several cities, including
Charlotte.
Farrakhan spoke at the old
Charlotte Convention Center
before the Million Man March.
Farrakhan and Min. Benjamin
Muhammad, formerly Ben
Chavis, are crisscrossing the
country to talk about the upcom
ing anniversaiy.
Muhammad was in Charlotte
three weeks ago.
The theme of this year’s event
is “Young, Gifted and Atoned.”
Robert Muhammad, leader of
the Charlotte area mosque, said
Farrakhan's visit wiU give people
an opportunity to hear first hand
what the muslim leader has to
say.
“I think this visit will be signif
icant for so much...in that once
again Charlotte will have a
chance to listen to what Louis
Farrakhan has to say and be able
to listen to what he has to offer,”
Robert Muhammad said. “There
will be no media sound
bites...nobody saying for him
what he wants to say for himself
“They vriH know his words are
not narrow or turmeled in scope,
but rather are words that are
universal,” Muhammad said.
“He is best able to outline what
we desire to have take place on
the anniversary of the Million
Man March and leading up to
the year 2000 and the Million
Family March.”
When he was in Charlotte, Ben
Muhammad said the next two
anniversaries in 1998 and 1999
win focus on the elderly and
women, before the family-
focused march in 2000.
Robert Muhammad said mem
bers of the Nation of Islam will
provide security for Farrakhan,
but there has been no opposition
to the his visit from city ofBcials.
“Those I talked to, white and
black and from different reli
gions, have expressed a desire to
come and hear what he has to
See FARRAKHAN on page 3A
PHOTO/DIANNE CURTAIN
Eliza Williams, 73, suffers through two-day ban on drinking
water caused by a firefighting chemicals.
Services set for
Chester mayor
Christopher King was
business, community leader
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
CHESTER - Businessman and
community leader Christopher C.
King, who became Chester's first
black mayor, wiU be buried
Saturday.
Mr. K'.i r 61, died Monday of
cancer.
Services will be at 3 p.m.
Saturday at Calvary Baptist
Chiuch. A wake and fiimify visita
tion will be Friday, 7-8 p.m. at the
King family funeral home in
Chester.
Mr. King, a 1959 Johnson C.
Smith University graduate, was a
hardworking civil rights and com
munity worker who had run for
the Chester County school board
and for the S.C. senate.
When Mr. King was elected
Chester's mayor in 1995 a legal
battle began challenging the elec
tion returns.
He was installed into office just
four months before his death after
■winning the legal battle.
His oldest son, William, said he
feels his father's tireless efforts on
behalf of his commimity will con
tinue through his children and
others he inspired.
“I feel as though Daddy, reached
one of his goals, he got sworn in as
mayor and a minority got to hold
office here in Chester,” his son
said.
The younger King said his father
got involved in politics in the 60s.
“I can remember when he first ran
for the school board,” he said. “He
was always out on the battle lines.
I'm very proud of my father. He
was my hero. He was an inspira
tion not only to his children, but
the entire community.”
In addition to his political work.
King was a businessman who
owned funeral homes in Chester
and and other communities,
including Charlotte.
He also owned numerous rental
properties in Chester County.
Mr. King was among the
fomders of the 5th Congressional
Black Caucus, a member of
Chester Ward IV and was often a
Democratic delegate to state con
ventions.
He as member of the Friendship
Junior College Board, Selective
Service Board, Community Action
Board, Small Business
Administration Board, the
Chester Sewer District Board, the
S.C. Mortician Association,
Masonic Lodge #32, Hill City
Elks, Christian Burial Aid Society
and the AP&B Society.
He is a charter member of the
Chester Optimists.
He was also among blacks who
fought all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court to bring single
member voting districts to
Chester Cormty.
Mr. King graduated from Finley
High School in Chester and he
graduated from the Atlanta
College of Mortuary Science in
Atlanta.
Mr. King saw education as the
key to fieedom and progress and
seven of his eight children
obtained college degrees. One,
Christopher C. King H, died before
him.
Survivors include: wife, Margie;
sons, William Robert King II,
Nelson Maurice King, Marty
Elazer King and John Richard
King; daughters, Robbie Patricia
lone King, Pansy EUen Louise
King and Margie Alice Buckson
Cochran may join N.Y. brutality victim’s legal team
By Larry McShane
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - Johnnie Cochran
Jr., head of the O.J. Simpson
“Dream Team,” may take up the
case of a Haitian immigrant
assaulted by New York City police
officers last month.
Abner Louima, 30, could seek as
much as a half billion dollars from
the cily in a lawsuit.
Cochran, the glib host of his
own “Court TV” show,
“expressed an interest” in the
explosive case during a weekend
meeting -with Louima, Brian
Figeroux, one of his attorneys,
said.
Another one of Louima’s
la-wyers, Carl Thomas, told the
cable news station New York 1
that Cochran would be joining the
team.
Prosecutors say police officers
beat Louima and sodomized him
■with a wooden stick inside a bath
room at the 70th Precinct station-
□ □□
house.
Authorities
have said the
Aug. 9 attack
was racially
motivated, and
Louima said the
officers involved
used racial epi
thets.
The Cochran-
Louima session
took place at Brooklyn Hospital,
where Louima is still recovering
Cochran
from a ruptured colon and bladder
allegedly caused when police put
the stick in his rectum and then
used it to knock out Ws teeth.
Cochran “said he has a team of
professionals that could be of enor- ■
mous assistance in this matter,”
Figeroux said Wednesday.
The arrival of the charismatic,
high-profile Cochran could mark
the end of participation by civil
attorney Sanford Rubenstein, a
veteran Brooklyn lawyer vrith ties
to the Haitian community.
Rubenstein declined comment on
the Cochran report.
Whoever represents Louima ■will
be seeking a fortune from the city;
Rubenstein said the $55 million
suit will be amended to seek $465
million in punitive damages.
Meanwhile, police sources told
The Association Press today that
the stick cops allegedly used in the
attack may not have been the han-
See COCHRAN on page 2A
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Religion 9A '
Zawadi 11A t 4 *
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