dun ~
DIFFICULT ROAD
Inconsistent Sting look
for answers during
western swing/1 C
Tammy Sutton-
^ Brown , 2-2 Sting
^ tries to rebound from
Volume 29 No. 37
LIKE FATHER,
LIKE SON
Mario Van Peebles
retraces dad Melvin’s
steps in seminal film that
spawned blaxploitation
genre /I D
www.thecharlottepost.com
HEAD FOR
BORDER
Paramount’s
Carowinds
introduces
newest rides,
attractions/1 B
Cliarlotte
$1.00
;ipuzi«.
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
WEEK OF JUNE 3-9. 2004
Judge
lobbies
for N.C.
high court
Wynn
By Herbert L. White
herh.white@the'harlottep)St.com
A former nominee to
America’s second-highest
court is lobbying for an
appointment
on North
Carolina’s
highest
court.
Judge
James A.
Wynn, the
second most
senior judge
on the North
Carolina
Court of Appeals, has writ
ten Gov. Mike Easley to be
appointed to the state
Supreme Court when
Justice Robert Orr retires
this summer. Wynn, who has
spent 14 years on the Court
of Appeals, would be the first
black jurist on the Supreme
Court since Henry Frye lost
a reelection bid in 2000.
“Asking for this appoint
ment means I will give up
my seat on the Court of
Appeals and run in this
November’s election to
retain the seat on the
Supreme Court,” Wynn said.
“I believe I am the best qual
ified to assume and retain
the position.”
In 1999 and 2000, Wynn
was nominated by former
president Bill Clinton for the
4th Circuit U. S. Court of
Appeals; but then-U.S. Sen.
Jesse Helms prevented the
Senate from ever granting
him a hearing.
. “It is important that the
Court reflect the values of all
North Carolinians,” Wynn
wrote. “I look forward to
bringing my unique experi
ences to the Court and to the
fall election.”
Wynn has run in four
statewide elections with
three wins. He lost a
Supreme Court election in
1998 by less than 4,000
votes. In contrast, Judge Jim
Martin lost the other 1998
race for the Supreme Court
by over 330,000 votes. In the
2000 election, Wynn led the
judicial ticket in winning his
seat on the Court of Appeals.
See JURIST/3A
West Charlotte
High School is in
academic dechne.
But can millions
in proposed extra
funding turn the
school around?
1,
IBt ■ wnm
PHOTOPUBLIC LIBRARY OF CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG
Into the
Lions’ den
PHOTO/WADE.NASH
In the 1940s, West Charlotte High School and its band was the pride of African Americans in a
segregated society (top). Today, the student body is overwheimingly biack after a federai judge
deciared Chariotte-Meckienburg Schoois had erased the vestiges of raciai discrimination.
By Herbert L. White
herb, white @ thecharlotteiwst.com
Mecklenburg County com
missioners Chairman Tbm
Cox’s proposal to improve
test scores at West Charlotte
High School has come with
its share of speculation.
Rumors swirled that the
school would be turned into a
charter campus, freeing it
from some bureaucracy. And
then there’s speculation that
the school’s name would be
changed to Clinton Blake
High, after the longtime for
mer principal.
Not true, Cox insists.
“I’m not proposing West
Charlotte’s name be
changed,” he said. “I have no
idea how that got started.
I’m, not proposing West
Charlotte be turned into a
CMS-run charter school.”
What Cox, a Republican
who chairs the commission
ers, proposes is pumping $9
million over three years to
double West Charlotte’s per
formance on standardized
test scores, which at 25 per
cent of grade-level is the low
est among the county’s 16
public high schools.
“That to me is not accept
able,” he said. “What I’m ask
ing is what would it take to
double the number of chil
dren on grade level.”
The initial $3 milKon would
likely come out of the $11
million increase County
Please see COX/2A
Past beefs aside, S.C. Bikefest weekend hums along
PHOTOWADE NASH
Bikers and onlookers lined the streets of Myrtle Beach, S.C., for Atlantic
Beach Bikefest. More than 300,000 people were on hand for the rally.
By Cheris F. Hodges
cheris.hodges@thechariotteposf.com
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -
Cars, not cops, seemed to
be the issue for bikers at
the Atlantic Beach Bikefest
Memorial weekend.
Several bikers opted to
head to Miami and bypass
Atlantic Beach, however
more than 300,000 people
showed up in South
Carolina. But much to the
dismay of serious bikers.
EasUand
beefs un
exiends
hanAtoe
Security, outreach top
mall’s summer agenda
By Cheri.s F. Hodges
cheris.hodges@thecharloitepost.com
Eastland Mall plans to increase security during
the summer as well invoke some creative solu
tions to make the mall safer for teens and other
shoppers.
Earlier this year Charlotte-area teens made
news for fights at local mails, including Eastland.
In January, a fight erupted at Concord Mills dur
ing the premiere of urban film ‘Tou Got Served.”
Then on March 20, a group of teens were
involved in a fracas that involved about 100 peo
ple, prompting mall security and Charlotte
Mecklenburg Police to increase security at the
mall.
Since then, things have been quiet and Eastland
set up a web site and hotline for shoppers and peo
ple in the community to call in with suggestions to
make the mall a better shopping environment.
On Friday and Saturday nights, teens head to
Eastland to hang out and meet up with their
friends. Eastland’s general manager, Kevin
McCluskey, said in the near future the mall plans
to announce some changes-which may include a
parental escort on the weekend.
Please see EASTLAND/3A
NAACP: Easley
turns back on
black concerns
By Cash Michaels
THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL
WILMINGTON - The chasm between Gov.
Mike Easley and North Carolina’s
black leadership has gotten a little
wider, thanks to a scurrilous
admonition from the president
the NC NAACP charging that
Easley has ignored previous invi
tations to meet with them.
“During our annual NAACP
Legislative Day we will invite the
members of the North Carolina
Council of State, along with the
lieutenant governor, to make pre
sentations to our members,”
Please see N.C. BLACK LEADERSHIP/3A
Easley
many of them were in jeeps
and luxury cars.
“This is not what I expect
ed it to be,” said first time
festival-goer Adrian Hence.
“They pretty much said
there would be bikes every
where.”
Miami’s Urban Beach
Week, now in its fifth year,
has become competition for
Myrtle Beach. According to
Blackbikeweek.com, atten
dees at the Miami rally
Please see BIKEFEST/6A
the box
NEWS, NOTES
& TRENDS
The Dell Curry Foundation-Support Our
Students is sponsoring summer camps in
northwest Charlotte.
The non-profit is partnering with Jackson
Park Ministries and Thomasboro Church of
Christ with summer camps at 5415 Airport
Drive and 216 Bradford Drive. Camps are for
children 8-15 years old and start June 14 and
end Aug. 13.
Registration is $60. There is no weekly fee
for kids in the service area; $40 for children
living outside. For information, call Hazel
Richardson at (704) 392-4165.
Inside
Editorials 4A
Life 4B
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E ID
Happenings 4D
Classifieds 5D
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 2004 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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