RALEIGH, N.C.,
THURSDAY,
SEPTEMBER 19,1991
VOL. 50, NO. 86
N.C. f8 Semi-Weekly
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPY AP
IN RALEIGH CmOQ
ELSEWHERE 300
___
in
Church Leaden Urge
Senators To Vote For Civil Rights Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Natlonal
leaders of the United Church of Christ
ar* encouraging the demomination’s
members to Join an ecumenical
lobbying campaign and write to key
senator* in support of the proposed
Civil Rights Act of IMl.
The Mil, expected to come before
the U.S. Senate in late September,
would restore rights lost in a series of
recent Supreme Court decisions
limiting employees’ ability to sue for
discrimination.
The 1.6 million-member United
Church is among several mainline
denominations whose Washington
offices are encouraging members to
go to the nation’s capital on
Thursday, Sept. 19, for a civil rights
lobbying day sponsored by two
ecumenical organizations-the
National Council of Churches and
Interfaith Impact. Among the day’s
activites will be visits to senators
from 2 to 5 p.m.
Lobbyists will target four
lawmakers who could be leaning
toward support of the bill: Sen. Arlen
Specter, R-Pa., Sen. John W. Warner,
R-Va., Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R
N.Y., an Sen. Warren Rudman, R
N.H.
United Church of Christ leaders
also mailed materials to 17,500
members of the denomination’s
Peace and Justice Network, urging
them to write their congressional
representative in support of the
legislation.
Among the materials was a letter
from the Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry of
Cleveland, president of the church,
saying that President Bush is
“providing a profound disservice in
misleading the public by labeling this
a quota bill” and commending Sen.
John C. Danforth, R-Mo., for offering
a compromise versin of the Civil
Rights Act.
Sherry wrote his letter, dated Sept.
1, in behalf of a Civil Rights Act task
force of United Church national staff
members. The task force was
authorized this summer by the
denomination’s central deliberative
body, the General Synod, which
passed a resolution supporting the
Civil Rights Act of 1991.
“With the Supreme Court an the
President trying to cut back on civil
rights, we are depending on Congress
to keep this nation moving forward
toward racial justice,’’ the Rev. Jay
Lintner, a task force member, said.
(See LOBBY, P. 2)
BY ALLIE M. PEEBLES
Cwtrteatfe* Writer
When members of the Raleigh
Apex Branch of the NAACP held their
Sept, meeting at Martin Street
Baptist Church, they were inspired
by House Speaker Dan Blue.
Following devotions led by this
writer, remarks by the president, and
several committee reports, Blue was
introduced by board member, Collins
Hinton
Speaker Blue was born in
Lumbertoo and received his early
education in the public schools of
Robeson County. He received his
bachelor’s degree in Math from
The bullet-ridden body of a
New Vork woman was found
Sunday afternoon lying in a ditch
near downtown Durham. Police
said a »-year-old boy on his way
to a store stumbled over the body
of Deborah Johnson, about 3S
yeara-oid, off Morven Place.
Investigators said they had no
suspects in the killing, the city’s
fourth in six days and 22nd this
year. Police Capt. E.E. Sarvis
said that it was unknown when
the shooting occurred, but the
woman had been at a party late
Saturday night on Angler
Avenue, near where the body was
found. He said Ms. Johnson,
whose mother lives in the area, !
had keen staying with friends at '
Few Gardens, a public housing
development in East Durham.
Grocery Manager
Stabbed
Aa assistant Winn-Dixie 8tore
Manager was stabbed 1»-times
early Sunday by two naggera as
be changed a flat tire on hie truck
outside the grocery store,
Raleigh police said. Leroy
Johnson, 53, of211 Benson Road
hi Garner, was admitted to Wake
Medical Center for treatment. He
was Mashed once across his
stomach and stabbed nine times
la his legs, police said. One man
has been arrested and charged in
the robbery. > .
Men Held On
Charges
A Raleigh man eras arrested
Saturday and charged with two
counts of second-degree rape.
DevM Lonale Burnette, 34, of UN
Clanton Street, was being held in
Uee of 92S.000 bond in the Wake
County Jail tor rapes Involving
two women, one of them an
acquaintance of Mr. Burnette's,
said Dan Nagle of the Wake
County Sheriff’s Deportment.
The rapes occurred Friday and
Saturday.
Former Detective
Accused Of Murder
’ A retired New York City police
, detective shot and killed his
wife's grandsen Sunday
afternoon after an argument at a
backyard picnic, authorities Said.
Gregory Allan Vaughan, 20. of
*404, Firelight Road la Raleigh,
died from a single shotgun wound
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P. 2)
North Carolina Central University in
Durham. He received a full academic
scholarship to . attend Duke
University Law School.
In 1973, Blue received his law
degree and worked as an associate in
the law firm of Sanford, Adams,
McCullough & Beard.
Blue began his speech by stating
that his purpose for appearing on
program was two-fold. First, he
wanted to stay in touch with the
members. Second he wanted our
input. “It is very important that your
representatives know what the
concerns and needs are.” Blue state
early in his message that this would
be an informal talk.
He stated that the session of the
General Assembly that had just
ended was the shortest one in forty
years. He reminded the audience that
the state’s budget was in bad shape at
the beginning of the session, January
30, 1991. There were stacks of bills,
enough to fill a football field.
He emphasized the fact that the
direction that the state nanhMrtar
was set ten years ago.
“There are concerns about the SAT
scores across the state,” stated Blue.
While Wake County’s scores were
above the average, Warren County’s
semes were far below. Something
must be done.
The underlying theme throughout
the talk was that resources must be
made available to all. This includes
education, health care, housing and
Jobs. There must be equal concern.
He talked about poverty and the
homeless. The income of the rich has
more than doubled in the past ten
years. The average income of the rich
has jumped from $240,000 to more
than 1500,000 in ten years.
In contrast, the average income of
others has remained the same at
$31,000.
Affirmative action is being
challenged. He cited the pending
hearing for Supreme Court Justice
(See CHALLENGE, P. 2)
Raleigh Bus Station Scene
Cocaine Cooki
$46,000
Of Crack
Cocaine
Inside
Local authorities seized $46,000
worth of crack cocaine suffed in a
vanilla wafer cookie box at the
Raleigh bus station Tuesday.
Charged in the incident was,
Alberto Rodriguez, 25, of 1162
Washington Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
Rodriguez was charged with drug
trafficking, along with trafficking
crack cocaine by possession and
transportation. Authorities seized 310
grains of the drug in a box inside of
Rodriguez luggage in the Greyhound
Trailways bus station, records show.
Hwfws was said tottopart of a
perodic sweep made by the city,
state, and county drug interdiction
unit.
Rodriguez was enroute from New
York to Winston-Salem when he was
picked up, according to records. He is
being held in the Wake County Jail on
a $200,000 bond.
In other news: An inmate serving a
15-year sentence for second degree
murder was captured 22 hours after
he escaped from a minimum custody
prison in Tillery, a state correction
spokesman recently announced.
Mingo Gregg, 23 of Raleigh, was
arrested by a Halifax County sheriffs
deputy near the county courthouse at
1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Gregg was taken to Halifax
Memorial Hospital for treatment of
cuts he sustained in scaling a prison
fence at3:30a.m. Monday.
Gregg was convicted in Wake
Superior Court and began serving his
prison term on April 27,1990.
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION-Various organizational
ropresantatlvas and concemad citizens recently mot at the
Women’s Center to encourage Positive Parent Involvement
In the public schools. Pictured left to right: Deborah Eiot,
Dorothy Whitaker, Soanne Winters, Loroy Mitchlner,
MarHynn MWor and guest panelists Jeanne WHetMCRE,
Dorothy S. Thompson, Prefect Endghtment. (Photo by
James 6Hes)
Two Receive Honorary Degrees
At Shaw Divinity Fall Convocation
Virginia Businessman Emmit J.
McHenry and the Honorable Ralph
Campbell, Jr., will receive honorary
degrees at the Shaw Divinity School
Fall Convocation to be held at 11
State and Federal government
have ignored the safety of workers
by engaging in a “conspiracy" of lax
. regulations at work sites, says the
Rev. Jesse Jackson.
A week after a Are at the Imperial
Food Products plant in Hamlet killed
2S people and injured 86, Jackson
visited with victims and their
families Tuesday. While at Carolinas
Medical Center before leaving for a
prayer vigil in Hamlet, Jackson, a
former presidential candidate, said
N.C. is to blame for the fire. The
state failed to meet its responsibility
to inspect plants, Jackson said, and
people died as a result. Last week,
N.C. Gov. Jim Martin said the state
should take responsibility for having
a skeleton crew of safety inspectors.
“Those who do not enforce the laws
must bear the burden and the blame,’
Jackson said. “Those who did not
inspect the plant, those who turn back
health and safety money to the feds
rather than hire inspectors in some
sense, it’s a kind of conspiracy.”
With the lack of unions in the South
to protect workers, business and
government in the region are unfairly
taking advantage of them, Jackson
said. N.C. isn’t alone in leaving
workers exposed to dangerous
conditions.
“Other workers across the state
are Just as vunerable as these
workers were. Workers who do not
have the protection of occupational
safety and health laws are as
expend. This is our time to draw a
line in the sand and say “Never
again”
esse Jackson
‘‘Those who
do not
enforce the
laws must
bear the
burden and
blame...”
Jesse Jackson
Jackson, who has not decided
whether he’ll seek another try at the
presidency, said victims of the fire
were recovering at the medical
center despite the lack of health care
insurance some had. Jackson praised
the hospital staff for “giving care
first and asking financial questions
later.
“They have been so caring and they
have offered the patients’ being here
emphasizes the need for some kind of
national health care plan
As victims and Hamlet iry
the tragedy behind them, Jackson
urged government and all concerned
to work at preventing industrial
tragedies in the future.
“Our concern is now we must pray
especially for the bereaved, those
who lost loved ones. But we on our
feet must make certain that it’s
within our power
most factories once a year to make
sure they are free of fire hazards.
But in most other parts of Wake
County, fire inspectors might show up
at factories once every 10 years—if
that often.
The chicken-processing plant in
Hamlet had not been visited by a fire
inspector during its 11 years of
operation. Workers at the plant have
charged that fire doors and other
exits were locked and blocked off.
Abbie Covington, mayor of the
Sandhills town of 6,200, said medical
examiners had determined that all of
the 25 had died of carbon monoxide
poisoning caused by inhaling the
thick, sooty smoke.
Eighteen of the dead were women
and seven were men. Officials said
most of the dead were single mothers.
Twenty-four victims were plant
workers and one was a vending
machine operator.
In addition to those killed, at least
55 were injured. Company officials
acknowledged that some dam's were
locked at certain times but said most
were not locked when the fire began
just after 8 a.m.
The blaze erupted when a hydraulic
line powering a conveyor belt
ruptured.
The vaporized, 30-weight motor oil
ignited when it encountered flames
from the deep-fat fryer.
Surviors described a screaming
rush for the doors and said many
pounded on them for help when they
couldn’t get them open.
a.m., Saturday, Sept. 21st in the
Divinity School Chapel. The public is
invited.
McHenry is Preisdent and CEO of
Network Solutions, a Herndon,
Virginia based Computer Service
Company specializing in network
profesional services and systems
integrate.
Network Solutions is one of the
fastest growing minority owned firms
in the nation with annual revenue
jumping from $12,800.00 in 1969 to
$50,000.00 in 1989. And just last year,
his firm received a $12,000,000
contract from AT&T, the largest
contract ever granted to a minority
firm by AT&T.
McHenry has a Bacehlor’s degree
in Communications and Psychology
from the University of Denver and a
Master of Science degree in
Communications at Northwestern
University, where he later completed
additional graduate work in
Communications and Organizational
Behavior.
McHenry was an Assistant Dean at
Northwestern University before
founding Network Solutions, where
he has been Chairman since its
inception in 1979 and president and
Chief Executive since 1906.
Prior to 1966 he held management
positions with IBM, Connecticut
General, Unionmutual and Allstate
Insurance Company, where he
served as regional vice president
before rejoining Network Solutions as
President.
He currently is a member of a
number of business associations and
civic organizations which include:
Virginia Regional Minority Supplier
Development Council, Fairfax
County Chamber of Commerce
Executive Committee, Fairfax
County Economic Development
Authority, Advisory Board of
Northwestern University’s graduate
program in communications, Agency
for International Development
Business Advisory Council, Black
President’s Roundtable Association,
and the National Association of
Minority Business of which he is a
member and past Chairman of the
Board of Directors.
(See CONVOCATION, P. 2)
RAI.I’II t'AMPBKI.I.