Newspaper Page Text
LU TSE
Mall Py
. s’ ~
Fashion {® %
Board } .
ST oT4 TaTs I
Page 13
het BTN
Augusta postal workers protest
: ‘ : | R " :m' “‘%
- »“ \gt | ;"‘j M ' ‘;A‘ ! 5 ” P ‘;z?
.', ‘i- h\ (e I .~ ~ . “‘"7‘....” 1
Syl Lo B
N o ercsnl L N
n A 4 MORE ww&w
4 . CHA W Wil
’ -4 Y7l EQUALITY
v e O TREB
Postal workers in Augusta picket at the main branch. The top must go, they say.
B Charges of racism and unfair
- treatment fly. Postal union
- members vow legal action and
- continued picketing.
: By Rhonda Y. Maree
i AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
_ Armed with signs bearing messages such as
“Racism is alive and well in the Augusta post
_ office,” and “Black employees are subjected to
‘Sales-tax talk sparks allegations of misuse
B Grass-roots community
worker presents wish list
to commissioners.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
‘AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
& AUGUSTA
. -As the future of Richmond County’s 1-cent
sales tax comes closer to being decided, more
residents are expressing concern about what
K A SRR PV PSRN B S T s
. g '::"f:.;:' * %fl'?"h’:
» v’ { i o { & wg;
@
See ARTheat page 6
. MNationsl NeWs .........oiciiiniduiin 2
T RO PO . L iiiionsmiiisesiiianes B
i Poople......iuciniidonnisnssnsnisissinssnsenssness 4
DO RN ..o s icorivipisoismissistl DPY
i Editorial ........cccccioiiniiniiniiiiciininnnnn 8
B A Clasal BOOK ..ii.lcvoviciienssisireitrivassis®
';. TURIIEY iiviotivioions odccsiasbontiblissniosonsiins 23
I BIPOTEI oviiivineiva b iflssmenniee 14
B I be 38
‘@ Employment .............cccoocinnerinee 19-20
‘W Claspifieds.......cc.odurvniisusaiorins 31-22
v
R e i
B B R R ; iy
sx§9s7>~’¢ W &N o s ! y
§ ’*‘;@w“éc & e o de G e *"; i :
B R R R R L S > ;
“ }«“fi%‘fi‘w T L ; : G
e e L s Bt % % 775
?f’:@gh’ e de o ; ; : G ‘
-eLoWWI: g : G / : ;
B B 4 g 7. . " .80 .1 { Y 7
) b SEE B g SN | b "4 ;
4"’?/"”&;‘ G 3 . B A SBR A i ; 7 "
b N G eSt LGeBl s b oD b ) e e . oo o . W &y
b W B o V@%M?pfi/?“w«%/p"@,* v e R i 4 7
. z%‘*fl; o vgfi%’%"g/z»?»%g/;'/f?: G Z i G ;
RR S e, : B S B BB B s M L o e A % G / 7 : : ;
"{s.zz@é} s (}?“’? i .¢f§§‘ TG e fizr%fiy fif"fi,‘i%‘}%%y’(”%’fiv o L i i Ji
v e X ‘ B NSNS ) i W iB S i G o s ; 7 ;
S%; i 3~§5%‘ % B ’?_g,;:‘\h ah ~3”6}@; 4 ‘f%é%z%%@%@f%égwfi“’%’%W%'//)%?/"f/’*f" G W L i Z /
Re S B S S s i ee B R R e 7 s P
ok ~z,é'~”,,>/2,;>/f\, R 2/‘*“4»l%"?&‘2’%’@?’3;‘4m,‘%‘é%w" e ; ; i G i % ;
Bl e R R '_,éfv.'gff,;42!;;552,;7-:,.;;-,::';5:;;:;:;’:’«:;:f.;;:;:::.gQ.’:'.gaj-:-fsg;’:-‘f-,;{::».;/:;fi-::-":=v; S 5 % Z 4 ;
March 23 - 29, 1995 VOL. XIV NO. 692
ST E
o
etowut's Finest Weekly Newspaper
cruel and unusual punishment,” about 25 dis
gruntled post office employees picketed in front
of the main office Monday.
The pickets plan to demonstrate until the
alleged racist and discriminatory practices by
management are addressed.
Members of National Alliance of Postal and
Federal Employees Union (NAPFE), the pickets
are seeking the removal of the postmaster and
plant manager.
“The management here is out and out racist,”
Ernest Smith, a spokesperson for the demon
strators, said.
See PROTEST, page 3
they consider its past misuse and unfair distri
bution.
In Tuesday’s County Commission meeting,
Bernard P. Starceski, who said the series of
public hearings on the tax have failed to put the
issue in perspective, accused the commission of
illegally using the money.
Mr. Starceski said funds such as the $1.5
million given to the National Science Discovery
Center and Port Royal were abuses by the com
mission. Z
In last week’s meeting, Commissioner Todd
RACE MATTERS
Life can be rough for black
workers in white enclaves
LOS ANGELES
(AP) If Hawthorne building
contractor Nathan Whaley has
to be out on a job in a white
neighborhood after sundown, he
makes a point of calling 911 —
before the neighbors do.
“Sometimes the dispatchers
act real crazy, like, ‘Why are
you calling, is this an emergen
cy? ” Whaley said. “And I say,
“Yeah, it’s going to be an emer
gency when the other residents
get home and see my truck still
parked in Suzy Q’s driveway.’”
Like other black tradesmen
who have faced suspicion while
on the job, Whaley takes pre
cautions. If he’s out getting an
estimate in the daytime, he
makes an effort to show exactly
what he’s doing.
“I pull out my briefcase, my
note pad and clipboard —I have
no need for either one — and
look and wave,” he said. “You
have to show that you have a
reason to be there.”
Over the years, police have
asked Whaley to show his con
tractor’s license; private securi
agreed that one of the biggest abuses of the sales
tax was the money given to the National Science
Discovery Center.
These are the kinds of abuses Mr. Todd said he
wants to prevent in the future.
Commissioners votad 5-3 to accept Mr.
Starceski’s presentation as information, much of
which county attorney Jim Wall said was “errone
ous.”
Commissioners J.B. Powell, Freddie Handy and
See 1-CENT SALES TAX, page 3
“To be constantly
looked at with fear
can be devastating
... it hurts you and
makes you angry
and causes frustra
tion, disappointment
and disgust.”
—Richard Maijors, author.
ty services have tailed him; and
once, he was handcuffed and
questioned at a job site after the
owner had left the premises.
“You just feel violated,” he said.
It is that feeling, race relations
experts say, that increases es
trangement on both sides.
“Tobe constantly looked at with
fearcanbedevastating...ithurts
you and makes you angry and
causes frustration, disappoint
ment and disgust,” said psychol
ogist Richard Majors, author of
“Cool Pose: The Dilemmas of
Black Manhood in America” and
a senior researcher at the Urban
fall on city
MLoss of jobs may be not be
out of the question as the city
prepares for its latest round
of belt tightening.
By Rhonda Y. Maree
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Areduction inthe city’s work force is one of the
possible cost-cutting measures generated in a
special Augusta City Council finance subcom
mittee meeting Wednesday .
With cash-flow problems that have landed the
city in financial jeopardy, Council members are
examining the activities of the comptroller’s
office and aiming to generate a surplus in the
city’s budget.
Recurring suggestions to reduce spending in
clude merging departments with similar opera
tions, leaving some vacant positions open and
eliminating some existing ones.
“No one really wants to face the music, but
letting some city employees go is a real possibil
ity,” Councilman C.S. Hamilton said.
Inan earlier meeting, CouncilmandJ.R. Hatney
said the city is paying “some folks who aren’t
doing anything.”
Councilwoman Kathleen Beasley expressed
concern about people being threatened with
losing their jobs.
See CITY CUTS, page 3
Institute in Washington, D.C.
“If we don’t get beyond this vast
racial divide, it will ultimately
destroy our society,” added John
Mack, director of the Los Angeles
Urban League.
Some workers blame the rise in
Neighborhood Watch groups for
increased suspicion, a charge
Neighborhood Watch advocates
say is unfair.
“It’s not just a black person.
Anyone new and strange in the
neighborhood causes suspicion
—white, black or Hispanic,” said
Terri Tippit, a white woman who
'heads a group on the west side of
Los Angeles.
Dudley Thomas, a 53-year-old
electrician who lives in South
Central Los Angeles, remembers
well the day he was late for an
other job as he left a house in
Rancho Park, where he had in
stalled light fixtures.
He made the mistake of run
ning to his van as a police patrol
car passed by.
The cruiser made a U-turn and
See TRADESMEN, page 3
MR. 808 HENNEBERGER
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
UNIVERSITY OF GA
ATHENS GA 30602 12/31/99
- 5
e x \
R
’ A
‘ G
\i
\ #
W—
Mok o i
(e
A 57 ‘%’ e
o ki
o -
& ‘V“ 2 s 4 .‘(.
}
F ‘:‘a,'- v ‘7’ o— o = ; . i;} §‘
€ o 9 ‘ -
Executive Chef Alene Overstreet:
Consistency and creativity will be mark of BL's fare.
BL’s chef up
By Frederick Benjamin
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Alene Overstreet is hap
piest when she’s cooking.
The Augusta native will be
very happy on March 31st
when she assumes the ex
ecutive chef assignment at
BL’s Fine Food and Enter
tainment on Laney-Walk
er Boulevard.
Cooking runs in
Overstreet’s family. Her
grandmother was an excel
lent cook, and two sisters
and a brother went into the
culinary services on a pro
fessional basis. Alene, too,
was a natural.
“I knew I wanted to be a
cook ever since I was in
school. It was all I wanted
to do in my spare time. I'd
cook for all of my sisters
and brothers.”
And with nine children
inthefamily, Alene’s moth
er was overjoyed.
After twenty yearsinthe
cooking industry, Chef
Overstreet has a unique op
portunity to define the cu
linary character of a brand
new enterprise. Under
Overstreet’s direction, BL's
specializes in fine African-
American cuisine, but a
glance at the menu guar
antees that diversity is very
much in evidence.
Chef Overstreet has
spent a great deal of her
career, thus far, training
others to be good cooks. As
executive chef she will be
responsible for the procure
ment of the food, hiringand
training of the staff, deter
mining the food budget —
but will she cook?
“Certainly, I'd hate to
think that my cooking days
are over. But, itis my job to
instruct the employees on
how I want the food to taste
as well as look.”
Any experienced restau-
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
NO. 302
AUGUSTA, GA |
Science
Center
prepares to
move
downtown.
See story, page 4
rant connoisseur knows
that it is as important for
a meal to not only taste
good, but be presented
well.
s YOO & antNTnm_—,,l”r
- /f‘%
k.
AN
The Grand Opening
for BL's is set for
March 31. There will
be free food and
drinks for the public.
BL's is located at 1117
Laney-Walker Blvd.
“People tend to eat with
their eyes,” Chef
Overstreet said.
Patrons at BL’s can ex
pect Chef Overstreet’s
best.
“There are two things
customers can expect.
Consistency and creativi
ty,” she said. “I love com
ing up with new tastes,
but once a person has had
a dish they enjoy, it is
going to taste the same
way the next time they
come in.”
ChefOverstreet has her
specialties, but when
quizzed about the most
important ingredient in
any food service opera
tion, she didn’t hesitate to
answer,
“The most important
thing is sanitation,” she
said. Nothing can ruin a
meal faster than adulter
ated produce or spoiled
meat, Chef Overstreet
says.
Chef Overstreet’s spe
cialty is baking, but her
signature dish is “Shrimp
Cancun.”
“I prepare it by mari
nating the shrimp with
tequila, fresh lime juices,
basil and then sautee. The
secret is in getting the
See Chef, page 3
