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VOLUME 21 NUMBER 1047
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Members of the Paine College Concert Choir
raise their voices in song at the dedication of
the r.ew Springfield Village Park on Sunday,
February 10. Photo by Jimmy Carter
By Shun Norris
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
One would think that
adding a small piece of
history tothe oldest inde
pendent black church in
the nation would be a
rather difficult task. Ob
viously sculptor Richard
Hunt was up for the chal
lenge.
During a program held
on Sunday, February 10,
peoplegatheredat 12*and
Reynolds Streets to help
dedicate Mr. Hunt’s sculp
ture entitled “Towers of
Pullman Porters:
Ambassadors of Hospitality
During the heyday of railroad travel, the Pull
man Porters were the workers aboard the trains.
They provided service to and attended to the needs
of the passengers. In the beginning, the Pullman
Company hired only African-American men for the
job of porter. The Pullman Porfers and the excel
lent service they provided were integral and indis
pensable to the rise and success of the passenger
railroad industry.
Serving Metropolitan gll\ulgustu, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
Aspirations” to Spring
field Baptist Church.
The sculpture, which
stands 45 feet tall, is a
reflection ofadmiration for
the vision and tenacity
represented by the
founders of Springfield
Village and Springfield
Baptist Church.
“Towers of Aspira
tions” is one of two sculp
tures that will grace
Springfield Village Park.
A basin of water will pro
vide the setting for the
fountain entitled “and
See SPRINGFIELD, 2A
Cice[\z
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Joins Paine College
Celebration ~ 3A
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dignitaries on hand to greet sculptor Richard
Hunt (L). Photo by Jimmy Carter
Rich history of black porters on trains recalled in Maine
C. KALIMAH
Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND, Maine
Charles “Eddie”
Cummings was a stickler
for time. To him, 6:04
meant something. If you
were late for your shift at
Portland’s Union Station,
you were sent home.
Leslie “Tate” Cummings
was a people person. He
used his gregarious per
sonality to run a business
selling coffee, muffins and
doughnuts to workers at
the railroad offices.
Eugene Cummings was
the politician. He some
times aided Portland po
lice, serving as the eyes
and ears for the station.
FEBRUARY 14 - 20, 2002
Memoriesofthesebroth
ers, now deceased, swirled
in the mind of Leonard
Cummings, Eugene’s son,
the morning of Dec. 14
when heboarded theinau
gural run. of the
Downeaster, the first pas
senger railroad service to
travel between Portland
and Boston in 37 years.
Allthreemen, whowere
African American, were
employed by the Maine
Central Railroad at Union
Station in the early 1900 s
as luggage handlers or
“red caps.” Cummings, 67,
worried that the rich his
toryofthesemenandother
blacks who gave much of
See RAILWAY, page 13A
Kolb, Williams hutt
heads over policy
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTAFOCUS Staff Writer
v AUGUSTA
The fire chief situa
tion came to a head dur
ing the Feb. 11 Public
Services Committee
meeting when county
administrator George
Kolband District2com
missioner Marion Will
iams had words over
whether Kolb had fol
lowed proper procedure
during the courting of
Yakima, Wash., firechief
Al Gillespie for the posi
tion.
Evenin December, the
second timethe Commis
sion failed tosupport the
Budget impasse
Six weeks into the new year and
Augusta still has no 2002 budget;
commissioners respond to crisis
By Rhonda Jones
AUGUSTAFOCUSStaff Writer
AUGUSTA
During the Feb. 11
special-called meetingof
the Augusta-Richmond
County Commission,
District 3 Commis
sioner Steve Shepard
did somethingherarely
does. He spoke at
length.
The Commission had
gathered to pick a city
budget, and they had
two before them — one
that had actually been
passed on Dec. 27, and
included major cuts to
departmental pro
grams, which would
result in the loss both
of servicesandjobs. The
other, introduced Jan.
10,000 Men Named George
10,000 Men Named
George premieres Feb.
24 on Showtime.
The film traces the
challenges faced by Asa
Philip Randolph (played
by Andre Braugher), an
early champion of the
Civil Rights movement.
Also starring Charles
S. Dutton and Mario
Van Peebles, the film
shows how Randolph
was able to take on one
of the most powerful
corporations in the
country and organize
the Brotherhood of
vy
SRR L Detalls
hiring of Gillespie,
Williams said the
chief’s qualifications
werenot whatguided
his vote.
“We did not make
theselection because
of whether we did or
did not like the fire
chief,” Williams told
Kolb. “That has nothing
to do with it. The process
was, you were supposed to
bring us three people, and
you failed todo that.... You
madeaselection fromthose
three, and then you
brought one. And that’s
why we don’t have a fire
chief today.”
Kolbmaintained that, by
making a selection from
17, utilized $965,000 that
had been overlooked to
replace someofthosecuts,
and even included salary
increases.
Shepard’s comments
suggested that the Jan.
17budget, though kinder
in some respects, is far
less realistic than the
original spending plan.
“Themain problemlsee
in the administration’s
Jan. 17* proposal is, it
does not address the con
tingency account. ...And
the major thing I think
we should do is fund the
contingency account,”
Shepard said.
Asfor the Dec. 27" bud
get, hehad aproblem with
spendingthefundbalance,
cutting too deeply into
departmental spending,
% "\\ L N ¥o :k ‘l . ; »‘;\,‘: v o
b I I
(L-R) Harold Dutton, Andre Braugher and
Mario'Van Peebles
Sleeping Car Porters. George is directed by
10,000 Men Named Robert Townsend
50 CENTS l
PRSAT STD
US POSTAGE PAID
AUGUSTA GA
PERMIT NO 302
Williams Kolb
those three and bringing
that one man before the
Commission with his rec
ommendation to hire, he
had followed proper proce
dure. An argument was
born.
That’s when county at
torney Jim Wall found it
necessary to intervene.
See FEUD, page 3A
and the tax increase that
would become necessary
to carry it out.
Shepard said that it was
not a good time to ask for
more taxes than they had
alreadyplanned toask for,
citing as proof an adver
tisement for bankruptcy
belonging to a legal col
league of his. “He would
not be advertising for
bankruptcies if the com
munity were not suffer
ing both at the business
level and at the personal
level from financial stress,
and one of the ways out of
our budget problems this
year was to raise taxes ...
but I don’t think we can
raise them any more.”
These concerns mir-
See BUDGET, page 3A