Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 18 NUMBER 915
Karlyn Lothery ~ Section C
Yet another fallen Kennedy
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Sarah Khan, 6, of Queens, looks at flowers left at the entrance to
theresidence of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette
Kennedyin New York Tuesday, July 20, 1999. Relatives of Kennedy,
his wife and sister-in-law acknowledged their deaths with words
of anguish as investigators revealed their plane had plunged
toward the sea at a much faster speed than first believed.
INSET: John and wife Carolyn (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Louisiana Democrats endorse
black candidate for governor
Recentlyin Louisianathe Demo
cratic State Central Committee
voted unanimously toendorse U.S.
Congressman William Jefferson’s
candidacy for Governor of Louisi
ana. “I am grateful from the bot
tom of my heart that the
grassroots’leadership of my party
believes that I am the best quali
fied candidate to present a demo
craticagendathat offers the work
ing families of Louisianaimproved
education for our children, stron
ger economic development with
diversified and good education for
our children, stronger economic
development with diversified and
good paying jobs, a cleaner envi
ronment, greater progress on
crime and drug abatement, true
fiscal responsibility and expanded
opportunity for all our people,”
said Congressman Jefferson.
This is the first time the state
;}:arty, which is two thirds white
as elected to endorse an African
American candidate for governor.
“Our party is convinced that Con
gressman Jefferson is the right
candidate to unite the Democratic
coalition that has twice carried
Louisiana for the President,”
?emocratic Party chairman Ben
effers said immediately follow
*ng the vote.
| Some critics suggest that
Jefferson is in for a serious chal
MCG black enrollment
edges up slightly,
dental school lagging
b e s
AUGUSTA
The number of African Americans filling the
classrooms of the Medical College of Georgia may
increase with the arrival of the new fall class.
}{’lhough relatively small, the change should be
noticeable and, hopefully, still more noticeable with
each coming year.
- The consistent decline in acceptance of African-
American studentsin MCG’s school of Medicine has
been a topic of serious discussion over the past few
years. The number of African-American students
has been grossly disproportionate with regard to
total class size.
This year, however, though the acceptance pro
cess at MCG is still ongoing, the 19 African-Ameri
can students that have been accepted as of July 20th
show a marked improvement over the 24 that
comprised all four classes enrolled in the school of
medicine during the spring of this year. -
. It is not certain whether students were simply
c¢hoosing not to apply to MCG, were not being
accepted or chose not to enroll in the school. Still,
such an increase denotes that MCG has made a
more conscious effort to aecelfik African Americans
and/or has improved their ability to encourage them
see MCG ENROLLMENT, Page 3A Bl
Welcogl@ Games
Augusta Focus
Serving Metropolitan gAug!u, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
lenge, but the New Orleans Con
gressman who has already raised
more than $1 million believesthat
a well-funded campaign that fo
cuses on the issues will be victori
ous. “Louisiana is ready for a gov
ernor who will bring our state
together-white and black-laborand
business-rural and urban. And
there is a sufficient number of
white voters who will make a
judgement based on merit and not
on race. I have spent my whole
career reaching across the divid--
ing lines of party and race, of
region and religion,” said Con
gressman Jefferson.
Prior towinning his U.S. House
seat in 1990, Congressman
Jefferson served 11 years in the
Louisiana State Senate where he
sponsored legislation that created
the Revenue Estimating Confer
ence, which has been considered
one of the most effective reforms
ever achieved in state govern
ment. Also during his tenure,
Jefferson took the lead in the
Senate Finance Committee and
composed a compromisethat pre
vented a billion dollar budget defi
cit. “I know the state budget. I
know' the state processes. I've
worked through them all. And I
know the federal side of it as well,”
See DEMOCRATS, Page 2A
Did Aiken County cops
lie after stopping teens?
BCouple ‘feared for
life’ prior to arrest
and mistreatment of
three North Augusta
youths; father of 11-
year-old handcuff
victim to file suit.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AIKEN
Rev. Milton Williams is a God
fearing man. He also feared for his
life when a group of police recently
converged on his usually quiet
Beech Island home.
His wife, Laura Williams, is also
unhappy with authorities and
claims that Aiken County Sheriff’s
Officedeputiesarelyingwhenthey
said shedirected themtoagetaway
car which supposedly, her son was
ridingin.
“They asked me if Elroy (Will
iams)wasinthatcar.lsaid, Tdon’t
know. Then, I said No.’ Bub.they
got me all confused. I saw ali those
guns and three or four car loads of
them (police) running all around.
Butlnevertold them togorunning
after those teenagers.”
Mrs. Williams said she told au
thorities her son was headed to
ward Jackson, S.C., but the Acura
was en route to Aiken, she said.
That’s where sheriff's deputies
eventually stopped and detained
Brandon Green, 11; Derrick Boyd,
18 and Leroy Walker Jr., 19, on
Highway 302 (Silver Bluff Road)
near Petticoat Junction and High
way 278. The three cousins were
on their way to Aiken Mall, on a
Sunday afternoon, July 11.
Buteven before authorities found
themselves-in an awkward posi
tion trying to explain the near
mistaken arrest of the young fam
ily trio, the 72-year-old Rev. Will
iams and his spouse were also in
what theydescribe as a“dangerous
position.”
The couple said they’re still in
shock after the ambushing of their
property by deputies from the
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Mrs. Laura Williams and her husband, Rev. Milton Williams, demonstrate how Aiken County Sheriff's
Office deputies wielded guns throughout the air, endangering them and their family. Photoby Charles Jones.
Young black-males:
Policecan’tbetrusted
Seepage 3A -
sheriff’s office and State Law En
forcement Division (SLED), the
state patrol for South Carolina.
“I thought they were going to kill
us, or at least try to kill my son,”
claimed Mrs. Williams, inrecount
ing a scene where deputies carried
“long guns” and scurried around
the outside of her house looking for
her son, Elroy, a fugitive wanted by
local authorities on several charges,
includingaggravated assault, point
ing and presenting a firearm and
assault and battery of a high and
aggravated nature, according to
the sheriff’s office.
Although police failed to capture
the younger Williams, they even
tually left the suspect’s parent’s
home — still in pursuit — and
stopped a blue-green, late-model
Acuraand ordered thethree young
men out of the car. According to
See DID POLICE?, page 2A
Florida DOT turns deaf ear
to homeowner’s pleas
®DOT attorney com
pares pending loss of
homes to the loss of
beloved pets
PANAMA CITY, Fla.
On June 11, Panama City resi
dent Mable Stanley, her son and
daughter, and a neighbor, met
with representatives of the Florida
Department of Transportation
(DOT) and the state’s Residential
Replacement Program to negoti
atethe amount of money the state
has offered Mrs. Stanley for the
home in which she has lived for 58
years. ‘
The state has offered Mrs.
Stanley $39,500 for her property,
athree-bedroom refurbished brick
home located at 711 Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard in Panama
City, a tourist beach town located
on the Florida panhandle. Mrs.
Stanley has refused the offer, say
ing it does not provide enough
money for her to find a replace
ment house with a physical condi
Aiken lawmaker critical
of county’s top law officer
B s S
z;’: P Biak o e
Willar Hightower, Aiken County
Councilman, commenting on
Sheriff Howard Sellers: "He’sa
sheriff of the privileged — not
of the people.” Photo by Timothy Cox:
tion comparable to that of her
current home — unless she ac
quires a mortgage. At 85 years of
age and living on a fixed income,
Mrs. Stanley says she simply can’t
afford the state’s offer.
During the June 11 meeting,
DOT attorney Britt Brittle told
Mrs. Stanley and her neighbor,
Minnie Hudspeth, that they should
accept the state’s decision with
the same fortitude of someone
who loses a beloved pet. Ms.
Brittle said that she owned cats
that she loved very much but that
if she were forced to give them up,
she would do so graciously.
. .The comparison visibly angered
Mrs. Stanley’s son and daughter,
‘who had traveled from Georgia
and Virginia, respectively, to at
tend the meeting. Despite the
family’s displeasure, Ms. Brittle
did not make a retraction. In
stead, she explained that she was
present at'the meetingin order to
state the law and discourage Mrs.
Stanley from taking the case to
court. Ms. Brittle said that a jury
could not help Mrs. Stanley even
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LNO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Willar Hightower is a native of
Aiken county. He’s also the lone
African Americanon Aiken County
Council. He’s also not surprised
about what he feels is the mishan
dling of a recent situation concern
ing three black youths and the
county police force.
“It'sunfortunateithappened, but
I'm notsurprised,” said Hightower,
a 13-year councilman. “People on
the lower economic rung seem to
get this type of treatment from the
sheriff. He’s a sheriff of the privi
leged — not of the people,” said
Hightower in reference to Aiken
County Sheriff Howard Sellers.
Upon elaborating, Hightower
See COUNCILMAN, page 2A
if she did go to court because the
state was absolutely not going to
increase the amount of money it
had offered her.
Thestate provided Mrs. Stanley
and other residents of MLK Jr.
Blvd. with a list of houses from
which they could select replace
ment homes. -Upon checking out
the properties, Mrs. Stanley found
the houses to be in appalling con
ditions and/or located in swampy,
low-lying flood areas. When Mrs.
Stanley questioned Ms. Brittle
about the run down conditions of
the properties the state had de
clared to be of “equal value,” the
attorneysaid she had “ridden past”
the properties and that they
seemed to be in better condition
than the residénces on MLK. The
DOT has scheduled July 31 as the
day for razing the MLK houses. -
Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Hudspeth
have lived next door to each other
for nearly 60 years. They have
bolstered each other through the
triumphs and hardships of mar-