Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, January 19, 1995, Image 1

Augusta focus., January 19, 1995, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextOLYMPIC-SIZED SPENDING BUSINESS Employee sues Handy for back pay B Former WKIM employee headed for Small Claims Court to force county commissioner to make good on $320 in wages due. By Rhonda Y. Maree e AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA A former employee of Richmond County Commissioner Freddie Handy’s radio sta tion, WKIM, recently filed a $320-claim ; against the station for back pay he allegedly never re - ceived. W‘ According to Stephen L B Murdock, who quit his an > nouncing job at the station Dec. 28, 1994, he was sup \l W posed to be paid Dec. 23 for 4 the Oct. 24 - Nov. 11 pay HANDY: period, but hasn’t gotten a Denies check. knowledge of «Once]putmytimein, he employee is responsible for my mon claim. ey,” Mr. Murdock said. “He and I have been at each other’s throats for over a month now simply because he loves to play with your money that you've earned. I am not a public servant.” Mr. Murdock said after he confronted Mr. Handy and demanded his pay, Mr. Handy told him another employee had stolen a sheet of checks from the station’s payroll check book. According to Mr. Murdock, Mr. Handy told him the alleged thief had nearly wiped out the account, leaving only $56. “I don’t believe any of what Handy said,” Mr. Murdock said. “I think Handy had a real good Christmas.” Mr. Murdock said he delivered a copy of the claim, which was filed in Richmond County Magistrate Court Jan. 13, for Mr. Handy at the station. Mr. Handy, however, See HANDY, page 2 See ARTheat page 6 M International/National News ............ 2 BIOCRILNEWE ...l it 8 BRAOBIE s R B HABOHAL .. .o iiaiinnibhaisiauii B BARTBERE i aiminkaniaa Bl B Around Town (Ca1endar)................. 10 BEFRBBION ia T Rit TR BB o iibniavuiinivies O WAVING a 1 BB . icoisin cisisesinsranpsiovsisconpi it B B Employment ...........c..cocvniiiiiiinenn. 19-20 BOIasBIBaE, it g 2000 FOR GQDDNESS SAKE Plot to kill FARRAKHAN M Credibility questions mount 1n case against Malcolm X’s daughter. By Robert Dvorchak Associated Press Writer MINNEAPOLIS The government’s accusation that Malcolm X’s daughter con spired to kill Louis Farrakhan is based on the word of a “vio lent racist” and “set-up artist” with his own criminal troubles, former associates say. Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam joined the chorus of disbeliev ers Friday after it was revealed that the person Qubilah Shabazz allegedly hired as a hit man is a government infor mant with a shady past. “Heis a set-up artist who goes from group togroup setting peo ple up,” said Steve Dennel, a former member of Jewish De fense League who attended United Nations International School with the accused and the accuser. A nine-count indictment Thursday accuses Ms. Shabazz of plotting the murder of Farrakhan, her father’s one time rival. Prosecutors refused to iden tify the key witness, but sever alnewsaccounts named him as Michael Fitzpatrick, a child hood friend of Ms. Shabazz now living as Michael Kevin Sum mers in the witness protection program in Minnesota. Court records show that See MALCOLM X, page 2 THE KING CONTROVERSY Family vows to guard King memory from government B Amidst family feud over control of Martin Luther King legacy, a nation honors slain. civil-rights leader. By Janis L. Magin Associated Press Writer ATLANTA A day after what would have been his 66th birthday, Martin Luther King Jr. was remem bered at the church where he preached and throughout the United States. At Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was pastor, Dexter Scott King vowed Monday to con tinue his father’s work, calling for a $lO billion investment in the black community. “My father had a dream, I too have a dream,” the 33-year-old said. “My father delivered to his gen eration political freedom. I would like to deliver to my generation economic freedom.” More than 400 people packed the church, next door to the Martin Luther King Center for Nonvi olent Social Change and the crypt that holds King’s body. The site has become the center of a dispute Your local newspaper sponsored by your local grocer January 19-25, 1995 VOL. XIV NO. 683 Metro Augusta's Finest Weekly Newspaper DEVELOPMENTS UNFOLD QUICKLY IN . .. I ..llwbi:' I‘ e A "’ll M ii:iln it ‘;:“ui"lg'h "l;‘u i e ,ii{‘,'tl!l‘g‘»"‘ A Wl"i‘H”ﬂ;‘jz ‘% "‘ e M '*!‘M i | ~ | AT L (1R y b S‘p“ 'iu‘i?«“" n}“‘i‘«_ Yy ; ‘”?'?‘l,." ,l 1 e i | o L e ) L i '”M”‘ A 1 - .h‘l """t"”"”““‘-' “ﬂ W iR i b 1y lh'f!fi"" i l"" e "\:"%' i i Mn' " " oL Hogh | il “:HM[I ";i|'lh:“ I ‘I"‘“ 2 | “:ﬂiw’:h w;‘!i?l o K g Bl fl "'l!lﬂ'= ) | | e T .| L g .”'i i T »‘W b . R— 1 i -i‘s‘ﬁ;;i*nt!ff L i e A w" R “.{.m,.‘lﬂu‘ i . R 1 it I Hﬂi.i:"t:[‘._ I ‘iiﬁ"““!h“'l “\l{ | I i | il L Ll . S e e i -:1’“‘1'-1;“”‘»1‘,“3‘Mu" l “ﬂuk‘lm i t“rMhli"tw,lwmu!*(:l';";t’{iil.)""‘ " M'd“. it Wi T e g TR Minister Louis Farrakhan MINNEAPOLIS (AP) When Qubilah Shabazz returns to federal court this week on charges of plotting to kill Lou is Farrakhan, William Kunstler will be at her side. The civil rights lawyer said Sunday from New York that he was joining the team defending a Dr. M. L. King, Jr. King’s birthplace. The service now shepherds tours past the home and presents a slide show at its own facility about a block away. The sides are to meet Saturday and discuss the disagreement. Dignitaries from around the world, including House minority leader Richard Gephardt of Mis souri and South African Ambassador Franklyn Sonn, attended the three-hour church service hon oring King, winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. Earlier, the family placed a wreath in front of the tomb as the youngest child, the Rev. Bernice King, offered a prayer. See KING, page 2 Malcolm X’s daughter from the allegation that she conspired to kill the Nation of Islam leader. Kunstler said he will appear on her behalf in federal court in St. Paul Wednesday. A nine-count indictment un sealed Thursday accuses Shabazz of plotting Farrakhan’s assassi- See RIGHTS LAWYER, page 2 between King’s family and the National Park Service over who will preserve King’s memo ry and how. The park service wants to build a muse um and visitors center near the King Center. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, and children want tocreate theirown interactive museum. The dispute prompt ed the family to halt park service tours of MS.BOB MEWNEBERGER @ JRGIA NEWSPAPER smvora ] Vhortae cae GA 30802 12319 | NO. 302 S : AUGUSTA, GA . n np . Georgia | El' . representative : ’ attempts to i repeal new . way so register @ to vote. —p. 16 l on race, sex By Paul M. Barrett and G. Pascal Zachary The Wall Street Journal Racial and gender set-aside programs, one of the civil rights movement’s most concrete — and controversial — achievements, may prove to be a casualty of the nation’s lurch to the political right. And should that assault succeed, some predict it Some GOP activists will be only a matter of time before the larger Q@ pushing for issue of workplace affir- |egi3|oﬂon that mative action is en gulfedinasimilarback- Would eliminate lash. P Introduced more than pO-"CieS fGVOﬂng 20 years ago with the MlNOrity companies support of Republican : President Nixon, racial Seeklng federal preferences now perme- CONtrQcCts. ate federal spending on everything from highways and military uniforms to computer and janitorial services. As a practical matter, federal agencies acting under racial mandates disburse more than sl3 billion a year to thou sands of mostly small minority-owned businesses em ploying hundreds of thousands of people. But disdain for such preferences also permeates the political subconscious of a conservative Congress elected toalarge extent on the votes of angry white men. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some GOP activists in Washington are pushing for legislation that would eliminate policies fa voring minority companies seeking federal contracts, while Republican legislators are mulling a plan to attach riders to individual bills to ban racial preferences. A Broad Front At the same time, many of the forces that propelled California’s Proposition 187 to a November victory are at play in an effort by two obscure California academics to put on the 1996 state ballot an initiative to bar the state and its contractors from parceling out jobs, promotions or contracts based on race or sex. Beyond that, the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing a reverse-discrimi nation case that some legal experts believe will result in a ruling sharply limiting federal set-asides for minority businesses. Suddenly, policies that liberals and many members of minority groups view as symbols of a national commit ment to remedying past racism are under assault. See GOP, page 2 McKinney hits Gingrich over fired historian M Clouded judgement led to initial decision to hire Jeffrey, she says. WASHINGTON In a speech on the floor of the House last week, 11th District Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney questioned House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s judgement in hiring Christina Jeffrey to be House Historian. Jeffrey was recently fired when it was revealed she caused a firestorm in 1988 at the Department of Education because she felt funding for certain history courses should be withheld since they did not adequately portray the Nazi and KKK points of view. Below is the text of McKinney’s speech: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern over the judgement displayed by my colleague from the 6th District of Geor gia. His need to fire long-time friend and associate, Christina Jeffrey, from the office of House Historian, only demonstrates his folly in trying to politicize every aspect of the administration of this House. “My colleague first fired our bipartisan historian in order for one of his political cronies to be personal biogra pher for him. I wonder, had Ms. Jeffrey been retained, how she would have recorded the Ethics Committee of GOPAC? Well it turns out Ms. Jeffrey feels that the Nazis and KKK do not get to tell their so-called side of the story in our children’s history classes. I shudder tothink she could have been our House historian, Mr. Speaker, such are the fruits of extreme partisanship.”