HEAD FOR
MOUNTAIN
GETAWAY
Asheville is
eclectic in its
charms and
luxuries/1 E
SJViES B. DUl'I ■ -
i;rdl»0TrE,N0R-r
make the Super
Bowl/1 C
A
Comedian
keeps
southern
roots close
to heart
A&E ID
$1.00
lariQtte
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Caba
Church
response to
‘down low’
Charlotte minister
authors book on
what people of faith
should do. Page 4B
Tenants
looking
for city
answers
Mecklenburg
Mills residents say
official response
to needs too slow
By Cheris F. Hodges
crieos.fioc/ges®)hechaffc)fteposf.com
Nearly three months have
passed since Mecklenburg
Mills apartment comply was
evacuated.
In those three months,
some residents are still living
in hotels and say the city isn't
assisting them as promised.
WoUy Vmjd, a local artist
and former resident of the
complex said that he can’t
even get city officials to
return his phone calls much
less offer the help that was
promised to him and other
residents.
“It’s hard to get anyone
from the city on the phone,”
he said.
In May residents were told
that termites were the reason
that they’d been evicted from
the bunding- They were also
told by housing officials that
there would be help tn£nding
permanent housing and they
would be refunded their rent
and security deposits. 'Wiyl
See MECKLENBURG/3A
Green
light for
change
CMS’s No. 2 lacks
daily exprience, adds
fresh perspective
By Herbert L. White
herb.wh(le®fhechoftofleposl.com
It didn’t take long for Qiarlotte-
Mecklenbuig Schools Superintendent
Peter Gorman to make a creative hire.
Maurice Green, Ihe district’s legal
counsel and a neophyte at sdiool
administration, was offered a new job;
chief operating offico-.
Green was stunned.
“It is in some ways a siuprising
hire,” he said “It was a surprising
request of me. When we had our first
one on one conversation, I thought I
was meeting with him as tiie lawyer
for the board of education. When he
made the i^uest of me, I was aston
ished.”
Gorman said promoting Green isn’t
a stretch considering his knowledge of
CMS policies, politics and personali
ties. As much as Gorman admfred
Green for what he is, he also hked him
for what he isn’t: an education lifer.
‘1 think it’s inaccurate to character
ize Mo’s hire as out on a limb,”
Gorman said in an e-mailed response.
“Mo is well positioned to learn quickly
He already knows aQ of the key staff
members in charge of the depart
ments, he supervises. Perhaps just as
important is the fact that they know
Please see GREEN/3A
TnmtnnttS-DIGIT 28216 58
Jaities B. Dub Library
100 Beatties Ford fid
Charlotte NC 28216-5302
Results
show
progpess,
problems
Less than half of CMS
schools meet AYP standard,
but numbers improved
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
How is your child doing in school and will
schook be ready on the first day? These
were some of the questions answered on
Wednesday dming a press conference at the
Education Center, to release preliminary
data on Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools
Adequate Yearly Progress Report.
A summary of the data
released shows of 142 CMS
schools, 63 met goals, while 79
did not. Of the 79 schools that
did not meet AYP Target
goals, 26 missed by one target
goal. Of the schools that did
meet requirements 54 were
elementary schools, five mid- Gorman
dies schools, three .high
schools, and Metro, was the only special .
school to met AYP goals.
Despite fewer than half the schools meet
ing requirements, this year’s numbers are
an improvement on last year, fixim 58 to 63
sdiools, however as the bar is raised each
year on target goals, said Superintendent
Peter Gorman, so should performance.
“This kind of performance by our schools .
doesn’t meet the standard we ejqject and the
public demands,” said Goiman, “Urgent
improvement is necessary, expected, and
required.”
As a tool to keep large numbers of hi^-
performing students fixim masking the poor
performance of others, AYP was designed to
represent an absolute standard. Each school
is divided into subgroups to make individual
performance more evident. The more
diverse a school is, the more subgroups it
has, and each subgroup has to meet specific
growth targets in order for a school to makfi
it’s AYP goals. This year’s results show that
Please see SCHOOL/3A
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
New coffeehouse gives revitalization a touch of Magic
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Magic Johnson signs a photo for Angie Smith at
the Starbucks Coffee shop on Wilkinson
Boulevard as sons Stephon, 9, and Devante, 14
wait in fine.
By Cheris F. Hodges
cherishodgesaitiechorlotteposl com
Starbucks Coffee House
on Wilkirisnn Boulevard is
unremarkable compared to
some of the other coffee
shops in Charlotte, but for
an area that was once
known as a prostitution
zone and a crime m^net,
this is a welcomed change.
Basketball legend Earvin
‘Magic” Johnson and city
leaders celebrated the open
ing of the first Magic
Johnson-owned Starbucks
in North Carolina. Officially
the store is called an Urban
Coffee Opportunity It’s the
99th UCO store in the U.S.
and represents a 10-year
campaign to get Johnson to
invest in Charlotte.
Mecklenburg County
Commissioner Norman
Mitchell said openii^ a
Starbucks on Wilkinson
Boulevard shows Johnson’s
commitment to Charlotte
and will bring other people
to the neighborhood.
“This is not only for the
neighborhood. It’s for people
that shop in this area and
ti-avel back and forth. Some
people are really into
Starbucks and they type it
into thdr GPS system and
now the closest one will be
on WTOdnson Boulevard,”
Mitchell said at the grand
opening ceremony
Johnson, who had a cere
monial coffee toast with
Mayor Pat McCorey and
other city and coimty offi
cials, said that with the
$800 biUion of spending
power, Afidcan Americans
Please see MAGIC/6A
box
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Campaign to
bring men into
kids’ education
Charlotte is joining an effort to get a
million fathers involved with the edu
cation of their children.
The Charlotte Organizing
Committee of the Million Father
March launched a campaign 'Ihesday
to encourage men to take their stu
dents to sdiool on openir^ day You
don’t have to be a father to participate
- baby daddies, foster fathers and
male relatives can join.
For information, call Blanche Penn
at (704) 890-4101, Dwayne Collins at
(704) 777-4313 or Harold Dixon,
Charlotte-Meddenbui^ Schools fami
ly involvement coordinator at (980)
343-7499.
Herbert L. White
Mm’tm
Dermatologist Dr. Peggy
Freeman prefers one-to-
one relationships^C
INSIDE
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Religion 4B
Sports 1C
Business 6C
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To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.© 2006 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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