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I VOLUME 19 NUMBER 838
Immaculate Conception
opens the doors to Christ
See Page 14A
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REMEMBERING MARTIN: The Rev. Bernice King, youngest child of slain civil rights
teader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,, oddresses the crowd at the arnual ebservones
of his birthdoy at Bishop State Community College Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2000, in
Mobile, Ala. AP Photo The Mobile Register Victor Calhou
Education, development top
Walker’s legislative initiatives
BAugusta Senator outlines proposal to
attract millions of dollars to the local economy.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Winiter
AUGUSTA
Senator Charles W Walker held
a press conference with the pur
pose of informing local media of
pressing legislative Issues on the
horizon for the General Assembly,
including educational reform, eco
nomic development and medical
research opportunities
In the confines of the conference
room at The Walker Group head
quarters on Laney Walker Boule
vard, the senator touched on is
sues simultaneously affecting the
state and Augusta, including edu
cation reform, housing develop
ment and proposed plans tobuild a
medical research building, locally.
On the subject of education, Sen.
Walker said it's important to offer
an cquiabic g amount o
school funding, ifschools
Keysville gets jump on King birthday celebration
State Representative Arnold Ragan
challenges celebrants to make a difference.
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
KEYSVILLE, Ga.
“What have you done to give
back to the bank account of jus
‘tice™ asked Stone Mountain,
Georgia Rep. Arnold Ragan.
“This is a question that | am
constantly asking myself ... and
those of you who are like me,
striving for more, should also be
- used these powerful
Mbud}:ywm“:‘m
Luther King Jr. march, held on
Saturday Janvary 8.
About 50 people took to the
streets to pray, sing and pay
Augusta Focus
Serving Métropolimnv - Augusta, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Areo
are in rural or metropolitan areas
of the state
In what he terms as “equity fund
ing,” the senator proposes that all
school districts in the state should
be treated fairly, in terms of local
funding received. Counties with
higher socio-economic demograph
ics receive more state funds, on an
annual basis — per pupil. Con
versely, economically deprived
counties receive less momes, he
said. “Achieving equity funding is
something we'll try to achieve this
year,” said the senator. In addi
tion, another educational related
goal is to decrease teacher-pupil
ratios down to one teacher for each
student. Current ratios show as
many as 30 students being taught
by one teacher. Sen. Walker de
scribed these initiatives as “criti
cal” for continued progress in the
state’s educational system.
When questioned whether
tribute to a man many refer to as
the “father of the civil rights move
ment” - a tradition that has ex
isted in this small Burke County,
town for the past several years.
“Tyrone Brooks called me some
years ago and suggested that we
start this march,” explained
Keysville Mayor Emma Gresham,
we have been able to do it every
year since.”
This year's march, which started
and ended at Mount Taber A M.E.
Church, was part of an all- lay pre
See KEYSVILLE, poge 3A
The Chicago Detenae: |
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Cornetist Nat Adderly dies ~ 1B
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Sen. Charles W. Walker odd >3 the media during a Jon. 7 press
conference at The Walker Group headquarters. Photo by Jmmy Caner
school vouchers are a viable alter- the program. “Under no circum
nativeeducational plan inthe state,
the senator was quick to discount See SENATOR, page 3A
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{foreground) march in Keysvilie to honor Dr. Martin Luther °
King Jr. on Saturday, Jon. 8. Proto by Edesn Rivers
JANUARY 13 - 18, 2000 I
Mayor, Mack spar
over HUD spending
®Federal agency tells Augusta it has
to do better and spend HUD money at
a faster rate. The director of the city's
department of Neighorhood and
Housing Development 1s told to pro
duce a workable plan.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
The federal government is not pleased at the rate
Augusta is spending its allocation of community develop
ment funds and Maygr Bob Young redirected the criti;
cism to the department head responsible and then let the
media in on both issues. That did not sit too well with
Keven Mack, director of the aty's Neighborhood and
Housing Development department -the department
responsible for the HUD dollars in question ‘
“I think I should have been contacted first to see what
this [letter] means, instead of him giving it straight to the
media. It just wasn't appropriate and 1 wouldn't have
done that to him,” Mack said
The Issue revolves around two letters. The first letter
was addressed to Mayor Young from Cardell Cooper,
Assistant Secretary of the U S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development. After informing the mayvor that
the city would be receiving nearly $4.5 million dollars in
HUD grant money for the current fiscal year, it chided
the city for failing to meet the performance standard “for
the timely expenditure of CDBG [Community Develop
ment Block Grant| funds ™ The letter went on to say that
“a high level of unexpended funds dees not reflect favor-
See HUD SPENDING, poge 3A
Mysterious disease
more likely to strike
down black women
Sarcoidosis is a deadly disease with
no known cause or cure. The fact that it s
known as “a black disease”™ has hampered
necessary research, many feel. One local woman
hopes to beat the odds.
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Time may be running out for
Mamie Norman Myers Since July
of '9B, the 42-vear-old. Saluda
County resident has been waiting
for a lung that could improve her
chances of survival by 30 percent,
and enrich her quality of life over
the next five to 190 years
Like thousands of others, Myers
suffers from sarcoidosis, a myste
rious, potentially terminal illness
that affects the African-American
community ten times more fre
quently than any other ethnic
group. The disease, according to
sarcoidosis researchers, has been
virtually ignored by doctors and
clinical scientists in comparison to
other terminal diseases.
“It's considered a ‘black disease,™
commented Sandra Conroy,
founder ofthe National Sarcoido
sis Resource Center (NSRC), and
author of the Sarcoidosis Research
Guide and Directory “When AIDS
first started it was considered a
deiuua and they |doctors|
. 't do anything about it, now
they're doing a lot. When doctors
realize that sarcoidosis affects
‘more than the black population,
’&ly'l choose to do something "
In October of 95, Myers was
diagnosed with the iliness which
can attack any internal organ, and
cause severe scarring and swell
ingofthe lymph nodes. In Myers's
case the disease attacked her
lungs.
“It started with me coughingand
sneezing all the time,” the former
teller at Wachovia bank explained.
e 3R g
N
Momie Normon Myers, 42,
suffers from sarcoidosis and
needs a lung tronsplant. She
is shown at o recant
tundraiser at st. Mary’s Help
of Christion Catholic Church.
Photo by Chares Jones .
“I thought I just had a cold, so 1
blew it off Then during one of
my daily walks | had a hard
time breathing, so hard that |
had to sit down and take break.
That had never happened be
fore, so | thought maybe | was
out of shape, so | ignored it, but
it got worse.”
wal determined that
g g b
y Sev
eral chest x-rays, a cat-scan and,
See LOCAL WOMAN, page 4A