Newspapers / The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / Jan. 9, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
HALL_ VOL. 49. NO. 13 TUESDAY JANUARY 9.1990 N,C.'s Semi-Weekly DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST .. ' M i ii ■■■■■■...—I.... ... SINGLE COPY Of? IN RALEIGH 4>O0 ELSEWHERE 300 ‘Commit’Aims To Help Kick Smoking Habit Smoking Policies In Public Places From CAROLINIAN Staff .Report* Tough antismoking' policies and striking statistics on at titudes toward smoking restric tions in public places and worksites have helped encourage COMMIT To a Healthier Raleigh to literally pay smokers to stop smoking. Len C. Stanley, field director for COMMIT, said, “We feel these are pretty striking statistics, especially for smokers* attitudes. And, given the referen dum results from the vote in Greensboro, these survey results should be very interesting and en couraging to Raleigh citizens.” This month, the “COMMIT to Quit” campaign will make smokers who quit for one month eligible for a $1,000 cash prize. Stanley said the survey, spon sored by the National Cancer In stitute, which funds the COMMIT To a Healthier Raleigh Project, shows Raleigh may be ready to follow Greensboro’s footsteps during the campaign which is distributing literature to help smokers quit the habit. A national survey released by the Tobacco Institute contends that three of four Americans op pose smoking bans in workplaces and restaurants, and instead favor current arrangements that accommodate both smokers and non-smokers. "While American adults would favor tightening federal regula tions in some areas—notably on (See STOP SMOKING, P. 2) BY DANIEL MAROLEN NNPA News Service Sam Nujoma, president of SWAPO is all smiles these days. After Z years of grueling fight against Soutl Africa’s illegal occupation o: Namibia, SWAPO last Novembei won the United Nations-sponsorec election for that former German col ony’s independence. SWAPO won 41 seats out of the contested 72 seats followed by the South African sponsored Turnhalle group whicl won only 21 seats. The other 10 seat! wore shared by five smaller parties But SWAPO needed seven more seat! to make the required two-thirds t< enable it to dictate Namibia’s nev constitution. However, SWAPO com manded a dominant position which i is now using to bring about Namibia’! final independence. Hence Sam Nu joma’s broad smile. Since the November election, San Nujoma has steered SWAPO towan consolidating its leadership role ii Namibia. Using wise diplomacy, Nu joma has influenced the constitu tional assembly of 72 members ti agree in principle on a Westminster type constitution—a democrat!* one—in contrast to a Marxist one ai (8w INSIDE AFRICA. P.» Property Visitation Rights New Program Looks At Child Custody In this era of high divorce rates, how many Tar Heel children become emotionally and psychologically bat tered “bargaining chips” in court battles over such issues as alimony, child support and a division of marital property? No court expert knows exactly. But bitter fights between divorcing parents over the custody of children and visitation rights are a common occurrence in domestic relations courts across North Carolina. To alleviate damage to children caught in the middle of divorce litiga tion, the 1989 General Assembly authorized the Administrative Office of the Courts to begin implementing a statewide program of mediation in child custody and visitation disputes prior to trial. As a result, Franklin Freeman, Jr., director of the AOC, announced plans recently for putting the new program into effect in Cumberland County, where the need for it is clearly the greatest because of a dispropor tionate number of domestic relations cases on court dockets there. Successful experiments have been conducted by the AOC with child custody mediation in judicial districts 26, which is Mecklenburg County; and 27-A, which is Gaston. In addition to Cumberland, which is District 12, the mediation program will be expanded to another as yet undesignated district in the current biennium with funds approved by the 1989 Legislature. “The greatest value of the program is that at the beginning, it will remove children involved in custody fights from the hammer-and-tong adver sarial process and lessen the likelihood of children being used as pawns in a fight between two adults disputing their marriage breakup,” Freeman said. “It enhances the likelihood that the best interests of children are going to be paramount.” In Fayetteville, Chief District Court Judge Sol G. Cherry welcomed the innovation. “When you have two angry parents fighting each other in court, they’ll use the child as a weapon against each other,” he said. Child custody “is the area where you get the most anger or hostility” between adults in divorce cases, Judge Cherry said, “and this in creases the danger of physical abuse as well as emotional and psychological damage to children in volved.” Under the program, custody and visitation disputes are separated from other issues tried in contested divorce cases 'and referred by the courts to professionally trained mediators with post-graduate degrees in a human relations discipline. Agreements reached dur ing mediation typically become orders of the court before other issues are contested before a judge. Judge Cherry and other district court judges across the state agree with Chief Judge Larry Langston of Gaston County that “Getting families out of the courtroom, where the focus is on winning, and into mediation, where the focus is on the child, is (See CHIU) CUSTODY. P. 2) a imk rights Burglaries, Auto Thefts Money talks—it also helps break up theft rings. The insurance industry has given a confidential informant 12,000 for in formation that led to the conviction of six persons and cleared more than 60 burglary cases in three Southeastern counties. “This is the first money to be paid through the industry’s STAR Reward program and we believe this is only the beginning of a very effective pro gram to assist North Carolina law en forcement agencies in fighting burglary rings,” said William L. Pollard, chairman of the reward — ■ - ~ « - ||- ' Hie target for STAR is the thief or theft ring that commits 10 or more ourgutnes or steals 10 or more vehicles, or high l volume thieves. committee. The $2,000 was turned over to Brunswick County Sheriff John C. Davis for delivery to the person whose information helped put six per sons behind bars. Detective Lindsay Walton, who made the nomination, said 103 charges were brought against the six. STAR, acronym for Stop Thefts, > Assist Recoveries, was created by the property and casualty insurance in dustry to target exactly the kind fo theft ring broken up by the Brunswick County investigators. The North Carolina Rate Bureau, which in cludes all property and casualty in surers in the state, will provide up to l $20,000 each year for rewards. The i program is co-sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Police Chiefs and the North Carolina Sheriffs i Association and each group has a representative of the committee that acts on reward nominations. “Our target for STAR is the thief or (See STARR, P.2) NEW ACTIVISM—Dwtag Um lata 1910s Mack actMsin wit met with vodonco by And soinctiinfs unothicil mpum from iacaI end fodoril ijnndni- This photo snows duck rininor riny Minors rioo nimpron addressing a crawd, and Mark Clark, Sha wars ^atk kMad hi ■ pit-dawn raM by poles acting on Information aapplod by an FBI informant In Chicago. See related recounts In The CAROUNUMTs Special Martin Luther King. Jr. EdNIou Thursday. Jan. 11th. Drug Daaimra Facing New Tactic* .Ton 1 hrnnoht tho rlou/nincr nf a naw tav efamne hnlv nrmro that on mricp Innind on QVni C tav nn ilTpoa] day for drug dealers in North Carolina. From now on, crime is go ing to cost them... plenty. In addition to four new laws in creasing the penalties for trafficking in cocaine and other street drugs, the General Assembly has put an excise tax on all illegal drugs. Drug dealers will now be required to pay an excise tax on any illegal drug they wish to peddle in North Carolina. Similar to the cigarette tax, the new drug tax will be paid through the purchase of, tax stamps which must be affixed to the drug in some way to show that the tax has been paid. The new law is intended to provide additional deterrence and punish ment for illegal drug dealers, as well as an economic disincentive to traf ficking in drugs. Purchasing the tax stamps does not, however, give dealers any kind of immunity from drug possession. The mmmammmmmmrnmmmmmmmtmm 61st Anniversary la fomnimintal— throughout the Hate from Wilmington to Asheville, the Martin Luther King holiday will be obeerved this Monday, Jan. II, marks the list anniversary of Dr. King’s birth and also the first time since the enactment of the holiday that the birthday and the holiday will coincide. Marches, flays, sfoeches, a songfest at Davidson College, oratorical contests at libraries In Fayetteville and Durham and many other events aro planned to honor the memory of the 1M4 Nobel Peace Prise winner. In Asheville, achievement awards will be given to deserving students daring a Youth Celebration scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. It. The following morning, 1.IM people are expected to attend the annual Living the Dream Breakfast at the Asheville Civic In Wilmington, a commemorative march Is planned for Jan. IS, beginning at S p.m., fallowed by a program at the Martin Luther King. Jr. Csntor. In RaMgh a statue of Dr. |U<{g will be-in veiled during noon ceremonies at the Raleigh Civic and Convention Center on Jan. IS. Latah the statue will be placed in the N.C. Martin Luther King Memorial Cardona, located at the corner of Rock Quarry Road and Martin Lather King, Jr. Blvd. The N.C. Martin Lather King. Jr. Holiday Commission, establish ed by eaecnth* order of Gov. Jim Martin, works to promote awareness and appreciation of Dr. King’s life and work, provides ad vice and assistance and encourages appropriate ceremonies and ac (See KINU ACTIVITIES, P. I) tax on the drug has been paid. The new excise tax is payable within 48 hours after a dealer ac quires the illegal drugs. Dealers who fail to pay the tax commit a felony punishable by up to five years and/or a fine, as well as a penalty of 100 per cent of the tax owed. Dealers would then still owe the tax, as well as any interest that might accrue. drugs authorizes the Secretary of Revenue to go after a drug dealer’s profits, as well as his real or personal property, in an effort to collect taxes owed to the state. The state Depart ment of. Revenue can obtain any taxes due but not paid, as well as penalties and interest, by certificate of tax liability, tax warrants on real (See DRUG LAW. P 2) BITAC Incubator Names Chairman, Board Members Designed To Help Manage Business Tom Darden, president of Cherokee Sanford Group, Inc., the largest brick company in North Carolina, has been named the first chairman of the board for Business Innovation and Technology Advancement Center, a business incubator jointly operated by North Carolina State University and the Raleigh Chamber of Com merce. BITAC provides services such as legal, marketing and operations sup port for new, innovative, high-growth and technology-oriented businesses in the Raleigh/Research Triangle area. BITAC Executive Director Ken Adams said the innovation center does more than the normal incubator, which often only provides shared of fice space and equipment for a i number of new business tenants. L BITAC actually anh.«n mwu ■ I entrepreneur I create ana manage this businesses through networking and applying technology and expertise from near by higher education. “We’re excited about the direction of BITAC and to have Darden as our first chairman,” said former NCSU Chancellor Bruce Poulton. “He is a well-respected business leader, both here in the community and throughout the state, who can provide the direction we need.” William E. Graham, Jr., chairman of the board for the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, echoed Dr. Poulton’s enthusiasm. “Darden’s success in the brick industry and other endeavors speaks highly of his leadership and expertise in entrepreneurial develop ment,” he said. “We feel confident that the BITAC project will con tribute significantly to the economic growth of Raleigh, Wake County, and (See BITAC BOARD, P. 2) Old Problem Enters New Year, Overcrowding Triggers Prison Cep North Carolian starts the 1990s dealing with one of the most persis tent problems it faced in the 1960s: prison overcrowding. State Correction Secretary Aaron Johnson last week informed Gov. Jim Martin and State Parole Commission Chairman Lou Colombo that special provisions of the Emergency Prison Population Stabilisation Act, the so called Prison Cap, were triggered during the New Year’s holiday weekend. As a result, the Parole Commission will have until March 28 to reduce the total population of the state’s 90 prisons to no more than 17,460. The population, as of 12:01 the mor ning of Dec. 30,1988, when the special provisions were triggered, was ,17,681. That marked “the 15th con secutive day the state prison popula tion had been above the legislatively mandated cap of 17,640. Those figures were not tabulated until Jan. 2, when state government, offices reopened after the holiday weekend. This is the ninth time those special provisions have been triggered since the law was first ratified March n, 1987, and the fourth time since the General Assembly amended the legislation on Jan. 31, 1969. This is also the fourth time these provisions have been triggered during 1989. These retulations operate in dependently of a separate cap of 200 on safekeepers, persons awaiting trial who are sent to the state prison system under court order for health or security reasons. Under the prison cap, the Parole Commission can release only those inmates who are eligible for parole. Certain offenders, such as mlsde meanants and some Fair-Sentencing Act felons, have their parole eligibili ty advanced. However, drug kingpins, drug traffickers, sexual of fenders, those convicted of kidnapp ing/abduction, and those convicted of driving while impaired or other DWI relate^offenses are excludejHrom these early release provisions. With last week’s declaration of a population emergency, the state’s prisons have stopped accepting short term misdemeanants, those with sentences of 30-180 days, from local confinement facilities. WTVD DOES ITS SHARE—AaMo from pUjRj ON Anneal SaekA-CMM Campaign MavWan promatHmai, Ilia. Jmlct I* Cnnnp» CumuRtty IMiliM Manager of WTVD, makoa a financial prasaotaDan aa bafeaR af tha department haadi of tho aroa talavlilon Italian to Mrs. Ragland, choir of the Bath-A-CMM Campaign. Soan hara aro Mr*. HHda Planlx-Raglaad (MQ aeaopllag Dm presentation from Ms. Janlca E. Cramp.
The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 9, 1990, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75