Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 17 No. 829
o
| - g ‘l‘
for mayor?
MChannel 6 newscaster says, “It’s
;f:)ot completely out of the question.”
it
By Miranda Gastiaburo :
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
“It’s not completely out of the question,” said Bob
Young, of NewsCHANNEL 6, in response to Au
-Busta Focus’ questions about rumors that he will
run for mayor next year.
“It is true that there are rumors that I will be
running for mayor, but I have made no decision to
run for political office at this time,” he said. “I have
a contract with Channel 6 and my intentions are to
fulfill that contract.”
Young did confirm, however, that he had been
encouraged to run. “I've had several people ap
proach me and say that they would support me —
morally and financially — if I decided to run. But I
haven’t made any commitment to a career in poli
tics.”
Young jokingly added that he has enjoyed watch
ing previous elections from the sidelines but isn’t
sure if he’s ready to “stick his neck into a political
race” just yet. “Besides,” he said, “The election is
still a year away, it’s still too early to pin the race on
anyone.”
With all the others rumored to be considering
running in the mayoral election, it is too early to tell
who will come out on top, according to Ralph Walker,
ASU political science professor.
“There are so many names being thrown around
out thereright now, but since the election is not until
hext year, people are just playing with names,” he
id.
‘*%mWalker did comment, however, that those out
there who already have name recognition already
have an advantage if they decide to run. “Media
personalities and public figures already have a head
start over the other candidates because name recog
nition is the name of the game,” he said. “Other
candidates spend a lot of time and money trying to
buy the name recognition that they already have.”
INSIDE
»
Alvin Franklin
@ National/International ............c.cccovueninenns 28
B Local/Regional News............cccorvivnnresenses SA
I RNODIE i i ii s svio e ipasaens S
< MSPOTS ..ottt 6A-TA
- @ Editorial/Opinion ............ccccrvivveinenenr. BA-9A
M LIVING ...Cidunsommiiinivis oo TOASLIA
. B Church News.......c.ccocvrnvnnnnnnrenen. 12A-13A
LI MMM &io oi b Sinabiobsscsnss sinsiastbrsanhssssnnsiy 018
"' ® Classifieds/Employment ................... 58-7 B
. Johnny g
o
' Rivers - W
; and o &
BenE. i
kg | .
, at the l2y
Civic Center RIS B
T see 18 Rl
Ving
Rhames
creates
Don King
Page 1B
Franklin
headlines
music/
dance
Kaleidoscope
See 1B
LR o
i B TR avenr (M:n . %&
; A ) e 13
The Nation: NAACP calis for Lyons’ resignation - raye ..:"“gm%l
Commentary: Jackson on The Promise Keepers .. - Page 124
gServing Metropolitan Augusta, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
sf‘fi J
B
R i
Tawana Brawley is flanked by left, and the Rev. Al
it anelied abourer g idnapping nd sope. 165 millen deemation
:'u:i;.fl‘l;f!(;y m mmd in the cos:‘ - begins in New York’s Dutchess County
The Brawley case hits
court after ten years
BAttorneys for black woman
who cried rape are now on
trial for their accusations.
By Larry McShane
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
NEW YORK
A decade ago, the teen-age girl stood
before cheering congregations, sported
Mike Tyson’s Rolex on her wrist, rubbed
shoulders with Don King and Bill Cosby.
She was Tawana Brawley — a cause, a
poster child for racism, a black high school
student who swore she had been abducted
and raped by a gang of white law enforcers.
Then, in 1988, a grand jury declared her
story a hoax. Attention quickly dwindled.
And Tawana Brawley faded into rumor:
Did she convert to Islam? Take a nursing
job? Move to Virginia?
Next week, the Brawley case comes out
of the shadows. A $165 million defamation
suit, filed by aman cleared in the case, goes
to trial. The case had been scheduled to
start in Poughkeepsie this week, but a
court clerk said today that it has been
postponed until Nov. 18.
NAACP seeks
@ B
resignation
of Rev. Lyons
WASHINGTON
(AP) Seeking to erase a blemish
on the leadership of the nation’s
largest civil rights group, the
NAACP will seek the ouster of
embattled Rev. Henry Lyons and
three other national board mem
bers who have either admitted or
been accused of financial
misdealings. f
NAACP Chairwoman Myrlie
Evers-Williams said Monday: “We
want them to resign because the
reputation of the NAACP is at
stake.”
In recent years, fighting to ad
vance the nation’s civil rights
agenda has taken a back seat to
internal bickering and questions
over finances at the national
NAACP.
Evers-Williams in 1995 won a
hotly contested election for the
chairmanship of the organization’s
64-member board after then-
Chairman William Gibson was
See NAACP, page 2A
Brawley has alreadylost. Her refusal to
answer repeated subpoenas led to a 1991
default judgment for Steven Pagones, the
former assistant district attorney who
was implicated by the girl and her three
advisers. :
Those counselors are now the accused;
the Rev. Al Sharpton, C. Vernon Mason
and Alton Maddox will be reunited at the
defense table. The trio, on 33 separate
occasions before a potential audience of
millions, identified Pagones as a Brawley
rapist.
“He was one of the attackers, yes,”
Maddox said flatly on March 13, 1988. “If
I didn’t have direct evidence, I wouldn’t
be here saying that.”
The trio never provided any evidence,
direct or otherwise. That didn’t stopthe
bombastic Sharpton — recently rein
vented as a Democratic mayoral candi
date — from inviting Pagones’ lawsuit.
“If we’re lying, sue us,” the
pompadoured preacher challenged nine
years ago. “Sue us right now.”
Pagones did just that on Halloween
See BRAWLEY TRIAL, page 15A
Clinton’s civil rights nominee unshaken,
hut realistic about confirmation chances
By Sonya Ross :
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
" An o « WASHINGTON
Defending hisrecordva'gxgmaasaflab, ilable by anyone,”
Bill IATLee said Tuebday he is unshaken in the
face of bitter Senate opposition and still hopes to
serve #s the nation’s % vil rights enforcer.
However, Lee alsosaid he is realistic about the
odds against his becomiiig assistant attorney gen
eral for civil rights and the first Asian:American to
hold the job.
“I’m the son of a Chinese
laundryman. My father,
who is now deceased, would
have been very proud to
know I have gotten as far as
I've gotten,” Lee said in an
interview. “No matter how
it turns out, I’m grateful to
be considered.”
President Clinton’s nomi
nation of Lee, Western re
gional counsel for the
NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, has
drawn a chorus of opposi-
See CIVIL RIGHTS, page 14A
- *Vm the son
- of a Chinese'
laundryman.
' My father,
who is now
deceased, would
have been very
proud to know |
have gotten as
far as I've
gotten.”
—- Bill Lann Lee
Walker rises to top
of nat’l Democratic
campaign committee
WAugusta state senator
will serve on the board
of directors of the
Democratic Legislative
Campaign Committee.
)
ATLANTA
Georgia Senate Majority leader
Charles W. Walker (D-Augusta)
hasbeen appointed to the National
Board of Directors of the Demo
cratic Legislative Campaign Com
mittee (DLCC). The appointment
was announced Thursday at the
groups meeting in Washington
D.C. The DLCC promotesthe elec
tion of Democrats to state legisla
tive bodies throughout the coun
try.
“Senator Walker is one of
America’s great legislative lead
ers,” DLCC executive director
Kevin Mack said from his Wash
ington, D.C. office. “He and his
fellow Democratic leaders in Geor
gia have done an excellent job in
putting together an effective Sen
atecaucusoperationin theirstate.
In avery short period of time, they
have put together a campaign or
ganization that ensures that
Democratic bfi’alative candidates
in Georgia will have an excellent
Tarver named MCG minority
student affairs director
By Miranda Gastiaburo
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Beverly Y.M. Tarver, a counse
lor in the Medical College of Geor
gia Office of Student Financial Aid
has been named MCG director of
minority student affairs, fillingthe
void left by Mr. Jimmy Carter when
he retired from the position this
summer.
Tarver will be responsible for
recruitment and retention of stu
dentsfromunder-represented eth
nic, racial and socioeconomic
groups for MCG’s five schools.
She came to MCG in 1991, when
? ; Eh ¢ ',' ;
oy ¥ b ’ |
| | 4O ‘
p
. . /
Bill Lann Lee, President Clinton’s civil rights nominee (R), and
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. applaud during the White
House Conference on Hate Crimes, Monday Nov. 10, 1997 at
George Washington University in Washington. Saying Lee
unfairly has become a political pawn, President Clinton ap
pealed Monday to the full Senate to “stand up and be counted”
and vote on Lee’s nomination. (AP Photo/J.Scott Applewhite)
b 3
‘ ".
Bl .
Senator Charles W. Walker
chance to be successful in Novem
ber, 1998. Senator Walker’s input
will be a big asset for the DLCC as
we work to put together successful
Democratic House and Senate
Caucus efforts throughout the na
tion.”
“We are very proud of Senator
Walker,” Georgia Senate pro tem
pore Sonny Perdue said shortly
after the appointment. “Charles
Walker fights hard for Georgia citi
zens. He also understands that
before we, as Democrats, can con
tinue to move this state forward
into the next century, we must be
See WALKER, page 3A
she served as
assistant
directer of un
dergraduate ad
missions until
1993. Since
1993, Tarver
hasbeen a coun
selor in the Of
fice of Student
Financial Aid.
Tarver was selected from appli
cants across the state of Georgia
and throughout the southeast and
approved Wednesday by the Board
of Regents to be Director of Minor-
See TARVER page 3A