Augusta focus. ([Augusta, Ga.) 198?-current, March 02, 1995, Image 1

Augusta focus., March 02, 1995, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextY Dance .v & ' (AN LT N \ ‘ | | National dance troupe N B AR R L e T ] 1 Artßeat, page 6. CITY FINANCES check’ claim B Mayor points finger at city comptroller and bank and complains of sloppy book keeping. Epperson cites ‘special treatment’ from bank. By Rhonda Y. Maree AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA According to Augusta Mayor Charles DeVaney, it was “sloppy bookkeeping” that led him to falsely state that the city has never had overdrafts or in sufficient-fund " checks. Mr. DeVaney de clared the city’s finan cial stability at an impromptu press con ference called to deny rumors of a $158,000 bad check writtentoa construction compa ny. Just days later, however, Mr. DeVa ney retracted the statement and point- ed his finger at city Comptroller Aurelia Epperson and officials at First Union Bank for having misinformed him. “We (the city) have been a victim of very sloppy bookkeeping and a much more non chalant attitude than what should have been there,” he said. Mrs. Epperson disagrees with the mayor’s claims. “I feel very strongly that we haven’t done anything improper,” she said. Although the city has paid nearly $3,000 in overdraft charges in the past two years and has a general fund checking account that is See MAYOR, page 3 Franklin remmembered ] o | .‘ See ARTbheat page 7 W Natiot WaWD ..o i B B LA NI ...t e IR i b AR iiciiicoiinnninwibisias BT B EGIRRL ... iianidinb it intaninl B A CHr Lotk i cnivipisiniii WRIVIR gbt 018 WUPOMIE ...ooovii it .38 BN .. iiniohniini i ail B Employment......ccico.oiumienciniions 17418 B Classifleds ..........ioniv et 19520 L Qk?’ i DeVaney: Sloppy booking is the culprit. Your local newspaper sponsored by your local grocer March 2 -8, 1995 VOL. XIV NO. 689 Metro Augusta's inest Weekly Nespaper Culture Clash: " - - Are cultural differences hindering the teaching process? T TR ¢ i - R o o : 4 k. s ‘\v',’ "‘ B % ’ 4 ” W T " Educators contend that cunual differences do not affect teaching. Photo: Jimmy Carter By Rhonda Jones AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer In Richmond County, there are 35,812 students in grades pre-K through 12. Native Americans, multi-racial stu dents, and Hispanics combined equal 1,139. There are 12,005 Caucasians and 22,666 Afri- Mayor, some commissioners lobby for ‘strong mayor’ in consolidated gov’t By Rhonda Y. Maree AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA Augusta Mayor Charles DeVaney held a press confer ence Tuesday in which he and three Richmond County com missioners lobbied for a consol idation bill with a strong may or-chairman at the head. “We thought it was time we talk about consolidation,” Mr. DeVaney said. “We're in the Thomson coach snipes at Augusta daily paper By Frederick Benjamin AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA The hype that surrounded the ¢recent hoops matchup between Augusta’s Westside High and Thomson’s Bulldogs left some folks in Thomson less than pleased. The marquee matchup be tween Westside’s Ricky Moore and Thomson’s Vonteego Cummings was featured in a spread in The Augusta Chroni cle on game day last Friday in an article entitled “Westside’s Joker meets Thomson’s Riddler” by Mike Berardino. The game was a classic shoot out that ended in a double-over time victory by Westside, but Thomson Coach Michael Tho mas fired a few shots of his own at the Augusta daily. The subhead of the article can-Americans. Kingsley Riley, District 9 school board trustee, often voices her concern that the system’s non-white stu dents, which are in the major ity, suffer discrimination at the hands of white teachers who are ignorant of their students’ cultural backgrounds. She described a classroom trenches everyday. There needs to be local input.” Commission Chairman Larry Sconyers and commissioners Jerry Brigham and J.B. Powell supported Mr. DeVaney’s state ments. Commissioner Lee Neel later arrived at the conference. In pushing for a powerful may or-chairman, Mr. DeVaney and his supporters are in direct op position to state Sen. Charles Walker, D-Augusta, whose pro posed bill calls for a weak may ; . .. i § Vonteego Cummings: Thomson star cast in ‘bad boy’ mold. about Mr. Cummings asks, ‘ls Bulldogs’ Cummings a mischie vous teenager or atrouble-prone star? The article goes on to point out, at great length, the trouble situation in which two stu dents compete for the teach er’s attention. One, a white child, sits quietly and raises his hand while another, black, child becomes excited and loud. “Ooh! Call on me! Call on me!” So the teacher picks the white child, and the black child feels See Culture, page 5 or-chairman. “We're not saying that we en dorse anything that comes out of Atlanta,” Mr. DeVaney said. “We want to endorse a good bill that people can live with and that represents the best interest of the community.” Mr. Sconyers added that “we don’t need a symbolic head” of government. Mr. Brigham said they want a See MERGER, page 3 Mr. Cummings had a few months ago where he and a fellow player werearrested. At one pointinthe article, the writer says, “For years, Cummings terrorized greater Thomson with his geo logical prowess,” a reference to his alleged penchant for throw ing rocks. “We are all very upset and dis appointed that you have chosen to twist our words,” Mr. Thomas wrote in a letter to The Augusta Chronicle dated March 1. “We believe this was a blatant and intentional attempt to assassi nate the character of Vonteego Cummings.” Mr. Thomas accuses the news paper of using quotes out of con text and attempting to cast Mr. Cummings in a negative light. For example, Mr. Thomas took issue with how a rock-throwing See THOMSON, page 13 MR. 808 HENNEBERGER GEORGIA NEWSPAPER UNIVERSITY OF GA ATHENS GA 30602 12/31/99 g ( 9 \ e >y } Y © %‘* a ) ’ ; % p ES CENSUS BUREAU STUDY: Report shows L gains, problems for blacks B A disturbingly high proportion of black children —45% — continue to live in poverty in the United States. By Randolph E. Schmid Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Black Americans are increasingly finishing school and moving into good jobs, yet they continue to earn less than their white counterparts, new Census Bureau studies show. And while childbearing seems to have stabilized among unmarried black teens, little more than a third of black children live in two-parent households, the reports found. The studies “The Black Populationinthe United States: March 1994 and 1993” and “Characteristics of the Black Population: 1990” were released today by the bureau. Between 1970 and 1990 the share of un married black teens thathad babies climbed slightly, from 78 per thousand to 81 per thousand. Among white teens the rate jumped from 8 per thousand to 20 per thousand in the same period. By 1993 just 36 percent of black children lived in two parent households, compared with 79 percent of white youngsters. “As a result of these developments a disturbingly high proportion of black children, 46 percent, continues to live in poverty. This situation constitutes a grave threat to the future of African-Americans and society at large,” reported theJoint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a public policy research institution that focuses on black Americans. In 1993 an estimated 17 percent of white children lived in poverty. The studies found a 5 percent annual high-school dropout rate for blacks, virtually identical to the4 percent for whites. Between 1980 and 1994 the percentage of blacks aged 25 and older who had completed high school rose from 51 percent to 73 percent; and 13 percent had bachelor’s de grees, up from 8 percent. Among college-educated, full-time workers, about 28 per cent of black men held executive, administrative or mana- See CENSUS, page 2 Jackson weighs White House bid By Rita Beamish Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON President Clinton’s plan to evaluate affirmative action policigs_ is thg la_test in a string of decisions that could help propel Jesse Jacksonintothe 1996 presidential race. . The civil rights leader has been sounding out longtime friends and advisers about his prospects for a third try at the White House. For now, his decision appears tobe some time off even as he voices increasing dissent with the direction the White House has taken, not only on affir mative action but on budget deci sions and crime legislation. In addition to deciding whether to enter the race, he is exploring whether to launch a third party candidacy or challenge Clinton in the Democratic primaries. With his high name recognition, large network of grassroots backers, and lists of hundreds of thousands of names from his previous campaigns, Jackson can afford to sit out the weeks of early organizing that typically are needed for a presidential bid, his supporters say. “He will never raise a lot of money. He has the luxury, in awaythatothersdon’t, to waitlonger. He has the base,” said Bob Borosage who helped shape Jackson’s strategy in his 1988 campaign. But Jackson’s base is not necessarily static, and he also is taking time to assess the mood of his supporters and his See JACKSON, page 2 BULK RATE US. POSTAGE PAID NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA Addys Awarded Best of Show three years running. Alken's KC Productions is playing for keeps. S'Ofy, poq. 7' The 1993 median in come of black families was $21,550, not statis fically different, in con stant dollars, from 1969. Whites’ median in come was $39,310, up 9 percent over the same period. Jesse Jackson: Ready to run?