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THE ENVIRONMENT
Church,
neighbors
sue utility
W Plaintiffs charge that
utility ignored health
hazards posed by chemical
contamination near old gas
manufacturing plant.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Trinity C.M.E. Church and neighboring
property owners filed a class action lawsuit
Feb. 10 in the Superior Court of Richmond
County against Atlanta Gas Light Company.
The utility company serves the Augusta
area using the trade name Georgia Natural
Gas Company (AGLC).
From 1852 to 1955, the Eighth Street prop
erty owned by the company was the site of a
manufactured gas plant ).
The plaintiffs allege that hazardous resi
dues of the gas manufacturing process re
main on site and have seeped onto neighbor
ing properties, including the church ground
which is across the street from the site.
The Rev. J. Ronzell Maness, pastor of Trin
ity C.M.E., said he became aware of the
situation in December of last year when a
representative of AGLC contacted him about
drilling on the church grounds because of.
possible contamination.
“I wanted more details, but he was very
vague in sharing information,” Rev. Maness
said. “This said to me that he was trying to
hide some things.”
Bryan Batson, Augusta Manager for AGLC,
made the initial contact with Rev. Maness.
Mr. Batson said he told Rev. Maness the
drilling would be part of an overall test for
the area.
According to a statement released in re
sponse to the lawsuit, AGLC has been inves
tigating the soil and ground water in the area
for several years under the supervision of the
See LAWSUIT, page 3
Arsenic and Old Lace
Presented by the Augusta Players
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FROM FIELD TO. . . Jacob Lawrence ® Created For “The Promised Land” TV Special
A Photo Record: Thurgood Marshall in Augusta
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The PHOTOGRAPHY OF ALBERT CARTER
See Page 21
|AFRICAN HISTORY: Two Little Remembered Accounts
Haile Selassie resists fascism
B The tiny African nation of Ethiopia assisted the
world in bringing a halt to Mussolini’s colonialist
ambitions through mountain guerilla warfare.
«» tis an indisputable fact that World
~ War Il played a central role in the
" molding ofthe contemporary world.
The defeat of Nazi Germany, Fascist
Italy, and Japan, altered the geo-polit
ical balance of Europe, fostered in the
Cold War, and was!
the spark that ignit
ed the dry embers of
various wars of lib
eration around the
globe.
What is too often deleted from dis
cussion of this tragic conflict is the
pivotal role rendered by Africans in the
defeat of the Axis powers. Adding an
additional chapter to a long list of in
digenous peoples who have fought for
self-determination, such as Native
Americans, the Vietnamese, and the
Mau-Mau, the “primitive” Ethiopian
army fought bravely against the mod
ern military machine of Benito
Mussolini’s Italy. The Ethiopians il
lustrated vividly that the Fascist pow
ers could be challenged, and even de
feated, by so-called inferior races.
Mussolini, like other megalomania
cal leaders on the European continent,
desired to create a global empire that
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Metro Augusta's Finest Weekly Newspaper
by Walter Cole
would rival that of Italy’s Roman an
cestors. Having gained control of
Eritrea on the Red Sea and what is
present day Somalia on the Horn of
Africa, Mussolini wished to complete
his conquest of this region by seizing
cient land of Ethiopia. Also, like all
failed demagogues, Mussolini wanted
todirect the Italian people’s attention
away from grave economic difficulties
and the unfulfilled promises of his
fascist regime by instigating a “glori
ous conflict.”
Under the pretenses of a border
conflict, Italian troops invaded Em
peror Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia on Oc
tober 3, 1995. Trappingthe Ethiopian
army into fighting a two front war,
Italy advanced into the northern Tigry
region from Eritrea and into the south
er Ogaden region from Somalia.
111 prepared for war in the modern
era, the nation’s people fought as best
they could against the Italian on
slaught. Unable to counter the large
See ETHIOPIAN-ITALION WAR, page §
Civil rights activism in
Augusta in the 'sos was
eommon among the
business and professional
‘classes. The photo at right
depicts a meeting be
&on the late Supreme
“Court Justice Thurgood
rshall prior to-Brown vs.
Board of Education.
& tured (L-R) are the Rev.
J@mes Hinton, Sr.,
Marshall, Walter S.
Homsby, A.M. Carter, and
Willie Wilburn. The photo
was taken by Albert
Carter in the headquar
ters of the Pilgrim Health
and Life Insurance head
quarters on Laney-Walker
Bivd. All present were |
local members of the ‘
NAACP with the excep
tion of Marshall. \
the last remaining
independent na
tion on the African
continent; the jew
el that is the an-
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The Asante pire resisted British imperialism for decades. /
Communication by Gunpowder
B Except for the machine guns,
the Asante and British were much alike.
. 1d village men in the West
_ African country of Togo,
""" where I once lived, waited
for death under trees, drinking palm
wine and telling ancient war stories
that resounded mostly totheir tribe’s
glory. But when the subject of the
Asante, from neighboring Ghana,
came up, voices dropped to a mur
mur and the old men could only say,
“We fought bravely and left many
Asante women without husbands”
— meaning, “We lost.”
During the apparently endless
wars in West Africa that preceded
MR. 808 HENNEBERGER
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
UNIVERSITY OF GA
ATHENS GA 30602 12/31/99
MV Y 4 AR A
SERIE W B
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WORTHY
Pictorial tribute to the faces of jazz.
Artßeat, page 11.
AUGUSTA SENATOR WALKER: .
‘Consolidation
at any cost,’
Is not an option
B Key provisions that guarantee
fairness to minorities in proposed
merger of Augusta and Richmond
County are not negotiable, says
consolidation bill author.
By Frederick J. Benjamin, Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
ATLANTA
Senator Charles W. Walker is not in a compromising
mood when it comes to full minority participation in the
proposed consolidated government of Augusta and Rich
mond County. One day after filing his much-discussed
consolidation bill on Tuesday, Mr. Walker stressed that
he would not brook much tampering with his proposed
legislation.
“There are certain issues that are noncompromisable.
Minorities must participate in any consolidated
government. [ will not support any legislation that
maintains the status quo,” Mr. Walker said.
Mr. Walker met strong opposition from Mayor Charles
DeVaney on the extent of the new mayor-chairman’s,
power. ,
“I do not favor giving the mayor-chairman absolute.
power,” Mr. Walker said. “He should not have thepower
to veto budgets or ordinances, appoint all panels and
commissions, use line-item veto, or hire and fire.”
Mr. Walker said his proposed 40 percent plurality to win
elections is fair, and he cited North Carolina for success
fully using it.
A plurality vote would give black political candidates a
fair opportunity to win in areas with majority white
voters.
Richmond County has a majority of white voters, which
puts black candidates at a disadvantage without a plural
ity if the electorate voted along racial lines.
“The business climate must be favorable to minorities,”
Mr. Walker said. “I will not support any legislation that
maintains business as usual.”
Despite these points of disagreement, many Richmond
County delegates are confident an agreement will be
reached before the General Assembly adjourns in March.
Mr. Walker continued, “My genuine desire is to achieve
consolidation, but not at any cost.”
colonial rule, the Asante built an em
pire of more than 3 million people, by
far the region’s most powerful, through
sophisticated social organization, mil
the Asante Empire
itary discipline, fabulous wealth in
gold and a vast population of con
quered slaves. In the 19th century,
the Asante encountered Europeans
and finally met their match in the
See ASANTE, page 5
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