Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 19 NUMBER 957
Welcome Southeastern Fire Chiefs -
Vegetarians: Diet has health y upsidé
Chief Few
offered top
job in D.C.
By Petula Dvorak .
WASHINGTON POST Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The fire chief in Augusta, Ga., has been offered
the top post in the D.C. fire department, Augusta’s
mayor said last night, although salary negotiations
have prevented any handshakes or official an
nouncements.
Chiefßonnie Few, Augusta’s first black fire chief,
received the offer last week, said Augusta Mayor
Bob Young.
But Erik Christian, the District’s deputy mayor
for public safety and justice, said last night that “no
agreement and no decision has been made. That’s
the bottom line, but an announcement is immi
nent.”
However, another source in Mayor Anthony A.
Williams’s administration did not dispute that Few
had been offered the job, at a salary of $130,000.
The fire department has been without a perma-
See CHIEF FEW, page 2A
Lawman victimized by rampant violence
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Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks is shown in Los
Angeles at an emergency session of the Los Angeles Police
Commission in this March 17, 2000, file photo. Parks’ grand
daughter Lori Gonzalez, was shot to death Sunday night in a
restaurant parking lot by a gunman who was apparently
aiming for her friend, authorities said Tuesday, May 30,
2000, adding they have no information about a possible
motive for the attack. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
Fire chiefs in town
for 72nd conference
The Augusta-Richmond County
Fire Rescue will be hosting the 72
Annual Southeastern Association of
Fire Chiefs Conference scheduled
for May 31 through June 4, 2000.
Thisis a history-making moment for
Augusta because conferences of this
caliberonlytraveltoacityonceevery
10to 15 years. In addition to the fire
chiefs, vendors and exhibitors from
all over the country will be at the
Radisson Riverfront Hotel and the
parking lot with demonstrations of
thelatest technology and equipment
in the field of public safety. Vendors
will be traveling from as far away as
Canada and California with their
products and equipment.
Serving Metropolitan g Augusta, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
e “ws.
£
é
Augusta Fire
Chief Ronnie
Few may
leave town
to lead the
1800-man
D.C. Fire
Department.
Photo by Timothy
Cox
Lori Gonzalez,
20, was the
grand-daughter
of Chief Parks.
AP Photo/ LA
Police Dept.
The Southeastern Association of
Fire Chiefsis aregion ofthe Interna
tional Association of Fire Chiefs con
sisting of 10 states, the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Puerto Rico. During the
opening ceremonies,amemorial ser
vice will be held for firefighters who
have died in the past year.
Approximately 300 fire chiefs and
public safety professionals from
across the Southeast are expected to
attend. As weenter the 21* century,
the mission of public safety is con
stantlybeingredefined. Firefighters
strivetoward ahigher standard, with
community service and cross train-
See FIRE CHIEFS, page 3A
JUNE 1 -7, 2000
...asecond chance
Alternative School
honors academic
achievers who have
beaten the odds.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
A packed auditorium at the Richmond County
Alternative School was the setting for what was
dubbed “A Great Place for a New Beginning.”
The objective of the program was to acknowl
edge students from the Alternative Schovl who
have achieved academic excellence throughout
the 1999-2000 school year — while facing seem
ingly insurmountable odds. “Celebration 2000:
Excellence in Character and Scholarship” was
initiated throughthe efforts of the school’s prin
cipal Winnette Bradley in conjunction with her
staff including assistant principal Donald Will
iams.
Guest speaker, Sen. Charles W. Walker (D-
Ga.), relayed a poignant message to students
placed in the optional educational program after
being removed from their various county schools
such as Glenn Hills, Academy of Richmond
County, T.W. Josey and Lucy C. Laney. Sen.
Walker told about 400 students, faculty and
parents that education was the “equalizer” that
can transform individuals from a sad existence
to social, economic and moral achievement. “In
America, although there are obstacles like dis
crimination and class structure, there is hope.
And opportunity,” said the son of a Burke County
sharecropper who raised 14 children. Today, as
senate majority leader, Sen. Walker has become
one of the most powerful legislators in Georgia.
The program, which featured WJBF
NewsCHANNEL 6 reporter Dana Lynn Mclntyre
as emcee, offered students a chance for positive
recognition, said the principal. “We’re acknowl
edging students for correcting their poor behav
ior and to sustain academic improvement,” said
Bradley who will enter a new position next fall
with the county’s evening school program. Of 13
students who entered the Alternative School’s
“2nd Chance” program this year, 10 will graduate
with their respective high school classes, she
said. The seniors are: Alexandria Blount, Laney;
Antoinette Castleberry, Laney; David Holt,
Glenn Hills; Deborah McFall, Hephzibah; Davis
Peeples, Butler; Charles Tyler, Butler; Katrina
Holcomb, Laney; Jennifer Powell, Westside; Ilbo
Yi, Butler; and Randolph Ward, Richmond Acad
emy. An inspirational message was offered by
Richmond Academy student Rhonda Murray,
whom Bradley said made “great strides” while
the sophomore was enrolled at the Alternative
School this past year.
Arrested or not, county official entitled to benefits
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
‘ AUGUSTA
Even if a former Richmond
County department head had
been charged with a crime prior
to retiring from his job with the
county, his retirement benefits
would haveremained intact, ac
cording to the office of attorney
general for the state of Georgia.
Daryl Robinson, deputy coun
sel to state attorney general
Thurbert Baker, said retirement
benefits are considered a “con
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Reseoe Williams of Paine €ol e
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duaite with & cerlificate of excellence. Pholos by Timethy Gox
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tractual” agreement between the
employee and the employer.
Therefore, said Robinson, retire
ment benefits are considéered
“earned investments.”
The issue concerning benefits
arose in the case of Jack F.
Murphy, the former Richmond
County employee currently
charged with sexual battery,
based on allegations by an area
teen-age girl. According to records
obtained from the Richmond
County human resources depart
ment, Murphy retired from his
MR. 0B HENNEBERGER
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
UNIVERSITY OF GA
ATHENS GA 30602 5/3/01
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Senate Majerity teader Eharies W Walker
\ate Majerity teq |
delivers an inspivatienal message.
job effective March 10 and turned
himself in to Richmond County
Sheriff's Department authorities
April 12. While on the county pay
roll, Murphy was earning an an
nual salar{lof $72,086 as director
of the public works department.
He’s set to receive a monthly re
tirement pension of $587.45 ac
cording to county records. If he
had been arrested while a county
employee, Murphy would have
been entitled to his retirement
benefits, according to Robinson.
For persons investing in IRAs,
Certificates of Deposit or other
50 CENTS
BULKRATE
U.S. POSTAGE PAID |
* ND. 302 AUGUSTA, GA
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the Alleraative Scheol.
independent funds, those monieé
still remain property of theinves:
tor, Robinson said. i
'
City, county and state person:t
nel policies are similar but cony
sidered separate. “Generally
county employees are difl'ereni
from state employees and gov}
erned by a different (set) of rule;
and policies,” explained Robinson.
An attempt to obtain legal clafifi
cation from Richmond Couhtz
attorney Jim Wall was unsucces
ful when he failed to return §
phone call to the Augusta Focus,