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\ AUGUSTA GA
MSJEANNIE LEDFORD GA NEWSEAP)? PERMIT NO 302
PROJ CHIPS DEPT,MAIN LIUGA ——
ATHENS, GA 30602-1641
Serving Metro Augusta,
South Carolina and The CSRA R e -
February 3-10, 2005 Vol. 24, No. 1196
,‘” . s ?
% : 1
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‘ d A
NAACP doesnt budge.
The civil rights
organization refuses to
cooperate with the IRS
in an investigation,
aimed at determining
the organization’s tax
exempt status.
Page 2A
Bush unfamiliar teritory
President Bush says
that he is unfamiliar
with the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, 40 years
after it was passed.
Page 2A
The Iragqi election?
Now that the elec
tion in Iraq is over
what will happen with
this war torn nation?
Page 8A
Tales from the Delta.
USC Aiken will
present an autobio
graphical account and
the folklore of Dr.
Endesha Ida Mae
Holland starting on
Feb. 9.
Page 1B
The Risk Taker.
Velshonya Jackson, a
student at Laney-
Walker has been cho
sen to be mentored by
a technical recruiter
from the Web search
engine, Google.
Page 4A
INDEX
ARTbeat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........6A
City/Regi0n......3A
Classifieds ......6B
Happenings ....2B
Living ............14A
w--u-m»uu
Substitute teacher cleared
of threatening to kill students
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Augusta-Richmond County
investigators have cleared 46-
year old Frederick Jones of
charges that he threatened w 0
kill students when he substitut
ed at Murphey Middle School
on Jan 26.
District Attorney Danny
Craig put the issue to rest in a
statement released two days
after the alleged incident. Craig
says that Jones was never under
arrest, contrary to a news release
prepared by the board of edu
cation public information
office which stated “....deputies
picked up a substitute teacher
for allegedly threatening 22 stu
dents in his sixth gr.ni class.”
Craig says Jones, who suffers
from severe physical handicaps,
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Leon Goodrum, CCBT Board halrman; James Brown (at podlum; Kirktina Banks, Vice President
& Branch Manager of the Augusta Branch of CCBT; William Thomas, CCBT Board member; Jan
ice Andrews (Mrs. George Andrews) , George Andrews, President of CCBT
Blck baak opensfor business in August
Atlanta based Capitol City
Bank & Trust Company
[CCBT] continues to move
beyond the boundaries of its
home town, opening its sev
enth office in downtown
Augusta on Friday, Jan. 28.
CCBT officially opened its
doors to meet the banking
needs of the small business and
minonty communities in Rich
mond and Columbia Counties
as well as in the communities of
Hephzibah, Grovetown,
Harlem, Appling, Martinez
and Evans.
One of Augustas interna
tional personalities, James
Brown, led the ribbon cutting
ceremony. Others on hand for
Wealth does not protect young millionaire from racism
%PI‘MZEL TRICE EDNEY
A_Correspondent
LAS VEGAS (NNPA) -
When millionaire author and
young businessman Farrah
Gray sits in the first class section
of an airplane, flight attendants
sometimes question whether
he should be in coach. And,
like other black males, police
have stopped him for no justifi
able reason.
Gray is not surprised.
“Number one, I'm young.
Number two, I'm black,” says
the 20-year-old author of Real
lionaire, a book that tells the
story of the principles that
enabled him to become a mil-
was brought t the sheniff’s
department by a caregiver.
“A search of his room in the
personal care home revealed no
weapons and an extremely
mcxj)c:t lifestyle,” Craig notes.
The district attorney went on
to state that students turned in
written statements o police
investigators that we. - “[:m:ly
comprehensible.”
“Interviews of the students
produced statements so contra
dictory as 1 be unreliable, ar
best,” he stated.
Craig was extremely critical
of the “complete bedlam” Jones
cncnumcmi the day in ques
ton with students allegedly
refusing to sit down, :flgkiug
loudly and ignoring Jones
instructions. Craig called it a
“disturbing absence of any sem
blance of grade level education
e S —
TREST COMEAN T
"~ AUGUSTA BRANCH IR
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A new, black owned bank, Capitol City Bank, which is based out of
Atianta, has made a home in Augusta. The new branch is located on the
comer of Broad and 13th Street. The bank was made to fit the banking
and financial needs of biacks in the inner cities of Georgia.
the occasion included County
Commissioners Richard Col
dough, Betty Beard and Willie
Mays who promised to support
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Farrah Gray
Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 225
or educational environment.”
Commenting on the criti
cism, Superintendent Dr.
Chardes Larke said, “We are
aware of the problem at Mur
phey. The school did not meet
adequate yearly progress for six
consecutive years and will now
become a charter school, specif
ically for that reason. We
intend to improve the «duca
tional process at ... Murphey,
ensuring that th students
attending ... ger the instruc
tion that they not only need,
but also deserve!”
Among the things being con
sidered for Murphey once it
becomes a charrer school in the
2005-2006 school year are sin
gle gender dlassrooms, extend
«d lay, extended year and par
.ll contracts.
Capitol City and to lead the
cause for placing deposits in the
new Augusta bank.
Sec Black Bank, page 12A
www.augustafocus.com
Cheek’s suspicious
land grab under
Investigation
AUGUSTA, Ga. (ADP)
_ A former state sena
tor’s daughter is at the
center of a state attorney
general’s investigation
into a land deal that net
ted her and her husband
about $240,000.
Former Sen. Don
Cheeks, who once sat on
the Senate transporta
tion committee, said he
had no knowledge of the
property and has never
spoken about it with the
state Department of
Transportation, which
bought the land in
Thurmond’s biracial
daughter may try to
claim part of estate
CHARIBESTON, « S.C
(AP) - A lawyer representing
the biracial gal@zr of ri:%
late Strom Thurmond <aid a
challenge could be filed to
claim part his estate.
When Thurmend, the
longest-servine L rofthe
L:.:a.' Senate, \.‘l‘c& in ZUu) at
100, his will lett nothing to
Essiec Mae = Washington
Williams, his daughter from a
relationship with a black maid
who wor‘l:ui at his familys
Edgefield home.
Her lawyer, Frank
Wheaton, said a challenge
could follow if documents
emerge that show Thurmond
intended to leave the 79-year
old Los Angelcs woman with
a portion of his estate.
“If in fact the late senator
decided not to include her,
then so be it,” Wheaton told
The Post and Courier of
Charleston. But if he did wish
to incude her, “we would
want whatever the senator’s
intent was ... to be carried out
accordingly.”
Thurmond’s three other
surviving children are in a will
that disposes of an estate val
ued at $1.48 million. Thats
just under the level where fed
eral estate taxes are im 3
Wheaton said. e
In the past, Washington
Williams has said her decision
to come forward was not relat
ed o making a claim on
Thurmond’s estate.
Thurmond, who became
lionaire by the age of 14. The
book is already a Bamnes &
Noble and Amazon best seller.
His recent acclaim hasn't
shielded him the everyday
indignities that African-Ameri
cans face.
He settded out of court last
year with a national drug store
chain, which he prefers not to
idennfy for legal reasons.
According to Gray, an employ
ee grabbed him and tumed
him over to a security officer.
The employee accused Gray of
stealing cookies that had been
given to him by the general
manager of a radio station who
was a business partner.
FIFTY CENTS
’
-
Don Cheeks
August for $265,850.
['he attorney general’s
investigation was
prompted by informa
tion uncovered by The
See Cheeks, ;\h't 12A
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Essie Mae Washington
one of the naton’s most visible
scgrtgltiunms. raid for the
Washington Williams’ college
education and made numer
ous loans and financial gifts
that spanned several decades.
But he never publicly
acknowledged he was her
father.
“Without question, the sen
ator )mvidui for (W’;Lshing—
ton &filliams) for at least 62
vears,” Wheaton said. “He
loved his daughter, and his
daughter I(Md{:i\im."
fi;c two infrequently met,
but Washington Williams
often wrote her father and he
would help her monetarily or
in other ways.
In her recent book, “Dear
Senator,” Washington
Williams says she was frustrat
ed by the distance between
them that was never bridged.
“Yes, he had changed, and
s 0 had the world, bufiw and |
had never so much as sat
down together for a meal,” she
wrote, c?;scribing her feelings
when he died.
“They kept me for a litde
while, asked some questions
and then realized they were
Girl Scout cookies,” he recalls.
“What 1 try o explain to
people is that you're stll black.
You always have to remember
that. You're still black in Amer
ica,” Gray says in an interview.
“But you want to go in with a
success consciousness, not get
ting caught up in who doesnt
like you and who does.”
TKZ! was essentially the mes
sage he conveyed here at
National Newspaper Publish
ers Associations mid-winter
convention.
“The black newspapers serve
Sec Racism, page 10A