Newspaper Page Text
B
MS.JEANNIE LEDFORD GA NEWSPAP
; PROJ CHIPS DEPT,MAIN LI UGA
ATHENS, GA 30602-1641
Serving Metro Augusta,
South Carolina and The CSRA -
Qctober 14-21, 2004
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L. B
: A "_“i,i
N
Maathai makes history
Environmental
activist, Wangari
Maathai has become
the first African
woman to receive
the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Page 2A
Insurance industry
under fire
A more than cen
tury long practice of
overcharging black
people for life
insurance is catch
ing up with the
insurance industry
in the form of class
action lawsuits.
Page 2A
OPINION
Sweet Dreams?
Rev. Ralph Warkins
blasts media pollsters
who are trying to sway
voters ahead of the
presidential election
in Bush’s favor
Page 8A
ARTBEAT
Fiesta Buena :
Augusta welcomes
the 12th annual His
panic Festival to the
Augusta Common.
Arts, crafts, ‘and
authentic ~ Spanish
food accent the event
with a touch of cul
ture, Latino style.
Page 1B
GOOD NEWS
Rock the vote
A young woman
goes more than the
extra yard to cast her
vote, she crosses the
ocean.
* Page 4A ;
INDEX
ARTbheat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........6A
City/Regi0n......3A
Classifieds ......6B
Good New5......4A
Happenings ....2B
Living cccceconnnnc 14A
Nation/World ..2A
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Vol. 23, No. 1180
Walker forces Perdue’s hand
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Wrriter
Earlier this year, Governor
Sonny Perdue deferred a near
ly $900,000 allocation for
Fort Discovery. Now as the
campaign season is heading
into the home stretch, Perdue
is loosening the purse strings
in an apparent attempt to
swing voter support behind
Republican candidates in
hotly contested senate races.
The governor announced
on Tuesday, October 12, that
he has approved payment of
$222,778 in deferred funds
for the National Science Cen
ter (NSC) which runs Fort
Discovery. The deferred fund
ing has become a heated issue
on the campaign trail, particu
larly in the race for state Senate
District 22 pitting Republican
NAACP conference rips rebel
flag, Bush administration
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
There’'s no love lost
between the NAACP and
President Bush. That
point was made abun
dantly clear when Bush,
in July, refused to
address the National
Convention of the
NAACP meeting in
Philadelphia. The civil
rights organization is one
of the president’s most
ardent critics.
So it didn’t come as a
surprise that the presi
dent would be ripped by
speakers during the
South Carolina NAACP
State Conference held in
Augusta, October 8-10.
Bishop John Hurst
Adams, the fiery keynote
speaker for the NAACP
Faith Summit Luncheon,
wasted no time in bash
ing Bush on his “intellec
tual limitations” as com
pared to his opponent in
the presidential race,
Sen. John Kerry.
“It angers me that a
man with the capacity to
hold more than one
thought in his head is a
flip-flop and the one
who can’t even hold one
thought, much less speak
Augusta mourns the loss of Henry Brigham
Veteran educator and long
time public servant, Henry H.
Brigham, Sr. passed away on
Monday, October 11 follow
ing an extended illness.
Brigham became widely
known during his career as an
educator, serving as principal at
several Richmond County
public schools before retiring
and entering the political
arena.
He served as commissioner
" """X‘ *
Charles Walker
Sen. Don Cheeks against the
Democratic challenger,
Charles Walker.
Wialker has repeatedly called
Cheeks leadership into ques
tion pointing to the failure of
the Republican to save fund
ing of local projects from the
governor’s budget ax. Fort Dis
covery was forced to cut hours
and staff as a result of the halt
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Photo by Theresa Minor
Stanley Lott (left) admits that he attracts alot of attention being a black man supporting the con
federate flag. Lott stands with Carl Miller who along with Lott is a member of the Sons of the Con
federacy. Lott was among the protestors demonstrating against the South Carolina NAACP during
its state conference held in Augusta.
it, is considered strong,”
said the bishop to the
laughter and applause of
nearly 300 NAACP
members attending the
conference. “I don’t want
a man with the intellec
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Henry Brigham
~ Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 225
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Sonny Perdue
ed funds.
“Sonny Perdue did exactly
what he should have done.
We forced his hand,” said
Walker.
With the release of these
funds, NSC will receive sl.l
million in state funds for fiscal
year 2005 according to the
governor’s prepared statement.
Both Cheeks and Sen. Randy
tual capacity of George
Bush setting my priori
ties.”
Bishop Adams went on
to say that the blame for
what the U.S. is experi
encing now in Iraq must
for District 5 and continued to
embrace the community even
after he left public office
through a number of public
service organizations, including
Project Success, an after-school
and mentoring program.
The southside district that he
represented returned their
respects in naming a commu
nity center after Brigham two
years ago in the Belle-Terrace
neighborhood. The H. H.
www.augustafocus.com
Hall (R-23) eagerly took cred
it for the wrnabout during a
news conference the same day
as the governor's announce
ment. The Augusta Focus was
not invited to attend to inquire
about a $50,000 approptiation
for the Augusta Mini Theatre,
which was also deferred by the
governor. The Augusta Mini
Theatre is the city’s first per
forming arts school and serves
a mostly black clientele. It too
has struggled to keep its doors
open.
“Its funny how he (Perdue)
can find money for Fort Dis
covery and not the Mini The
atre. We're going to keep the
pressure on until he comes
through for the Mini Theatre
and reinstates YDC workers,”
said Walker.
However, Tyrone Butler,
Founder and Executive Direc-
be shared by the black
church who he criticized
for remaining silent.
“I have been disap
pointed in the silence of
the church about issues.
See NAACP , page 12A
Brigham Community Center
houses a full range of senior
and youth services.
Funeral services are being
held on Friday, October 15, 2
p.m. at the Gilbert Lambuth
Chapel, Paine College.
Brigham is survived by his
wife, Lunette Miller Brigham;
one son, Henry H. Brigham II;
daughter, Deborrah (Davis)
Wilcox and three grandchil
dren.
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
AUGUSTA GA
PERMIT NO 302
FIFTY CENTS
tor for the Augusta Mini The
atre, is less than optimistic that
the governor will reconsider
the veto of his organization’s
funds.
“When he (Perdue) vetoed
the Augusta Mini Theatre he
sent a signal that he did not feel
it was important enough. And
it's a sad thing because so many
kids have come through here.
Some of our leadership just
accepted the veto and it died.
African- Americans need to get
off the sideline because obvi
ously we (Mini Theatre) are
not going to get the support
from the state. If this commu
nity wants the Mini Theatre to
survive, we are going to have to
protest the veto,” said Butler.
“We're on the out list and I
dont think that’s going to
change with the present leader
ship.”
Protest gets
| b ;
backing from
“black confederate’
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Waving mammoth size
rebel flags, dressed in
confederate uniforms
and antebellum South
hoop skirts and eliciting
shouts of “white power”
from passing motorists, a
group known as the
League of the South was
not likely to go unno
‘ticed as they protested
the three-day South Car
olina NAACP state con
ference in Augusta.
But what had many
doing a double take was
| not- the . cincus :-like
'atmosphere created by
protesters, but rather the
| solo presence of an
' African-American man
also waving the contest
' ed emblem. Stanley Lott
describes himself as a
' son of the Confederacy.
. “Sometimes 1 get
i strange. looks and
' shocked looks when peo
' ple see a black man car
‘\ rying the confederate
flag,” he said.
| While Lott shares the
' sentiments of the organ
ized protest, he does not
' share the same sidewalk
'as his white counter
' parts, strangely segregat
' ed from the group a half
block away. He insists
that it was purely coinci
dental, that he wanted to
stay near his car and that
} it was not an overt act by
' white protesters to dis
' tance themselves from
l See Confederate, page 12A