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MSJEANNIE LI DFORD GA N PAP PAIL
PROJ CHIPS ;u PE.M \‘|\ ;‘:.\:?: . AUGUSTA GA
VITHENS, GA 30602611 PERMIT NO 302
Serving Metro Augusta,
South Carolina and The CSRA T
April 14- 20, 2005 Vol. 24, No. 1204
s |
4
Clergy no confidence
Black clergy try to
regain confidence of
faithful following
F‘residemial election.
age 2A
First African Pope
Talk heats up about
the possibility of a
black Pope.
Page 2A
OPINION
Empty nest
Dr. Ralph Wartkins
shares empty nest syn
drome as daughter
gocs off to college.
age 8A
Between friends and -
lovers
Friends and Lovers
tells the age old tale of
love, hate and passion
involved friendships
and relationships.
Page 1B
Elder teams up with
Paine
The golf legend, Lee
Elder and Paine Col
lege will sponsor a
school golf team.
Page 4./%
INDEX
ARTbeat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........6A
City/Regi0n......3A
c'.‘.mm 11.."..
Good New5......4A
Happenings ....28
L.'l“' !lll.'l“.il‘“
Nation/World ..2A
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w.11ni111'.1..1fl."
Woods wows up and coming golfers
By JESSICA BAPTISTE
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Tiger Woods™ win at the
2005 Masters has left a lega
¢y among young, black
golfers.
Like other sports figures
such as Michael Jordan and
Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods
has made it to the “great
ones” list for young black
athletes.
Children at First Tee
believe they can follow in his
footsteps with hard work
and tesacity Conan
Sanders, assistant golf pro
tessional at First Tee of
Augusta, worked with Tiger
Woods for five years and has
been playing golt for 40.
Sanders says that he is
thrilled Woods won his
fourth green jacket.
“l am elated that he won.
I'm glad that he won his
fourth green jacket betore
the age of 30.” he said.
By being around young
people, Sanders believes that
Woods will be the pertect
role model for them.
“l think he relates very
well with his foundation,
the things he does tor kids
with the ditferent communi
ties he goes tO.” he said.
On the green, teaching
children the strokes and
Laney-Walker leaders
and fiED clash again
By JESSICA BAPTISTE
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
The bad blood between the
aty's Housing and Economic
Development Department and
the Laney-Walker Develop
ment Corporation is still
raising a few eyebrows
among officials. HED and
Laney-Walker have been at
odds with each other since
HED directed an audit on
Laney-Walker Develop
ment. Now Mayor Pro Tem
Marion Williams wants to
make sure all is well
between the two entities.
“All I want to know is if
everything is good, I got
enough ducks to shoot.” he
said, “I'm just asking this
question because of all the
stuff that has happened, all
the things that was said,
from HUD coming back
saying that they never
requested this that and the
other. There are a lot of
problems in that depart
ment.”
Last month, HED and
Laney-Walker Develop
ment ironed out some
problems when the audit
came back clean. Warren
Smith, who serves as the
director of HED ordered
the audit when the U.S
Housing and Urban Devel
opment Department per
formed a financial review of
the agency. A miscalcula
tion was found and Laney-
Walker’s funds were frozen
until an audit was sched
uled.
Walter Hornsby, Laney-
Walker board chairman says
that the agency is slowly
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rounds, Sanders does not
tocus on them as the “next
Great Tiger” but he looks at
them infiividually and their
potential.
“I don't look at a kid to be
the next Tiger Woods, but to
be the best person they can
be. Tiger Woods is one in a
million, a one tme shot.
You never put that type of
pressure on a child.” Sanders
explains.
getting back to normal after
being the audit.
“We're sull struggling.
There are some technicali
ties we're still working on.”
he said.
Hornsby says that the
agency has received access
to some funds, but there is
still a stigma in the air after
being accused of mishan
dling money.
“We've gotten access, but
it is extremely difficult to
get pass some of those tech
nicalities.”
Whatever technicalities
there are, Hornsby claims
that things will be better
once an audit on HED is
performed. The commis
sion requested the audit on
Mar. 7 to see exactly how its
funds are being spent after
discovering that Laney-
Walker’s funds had been
frozen for two years.
“I think that once that
audit they are doing over in
that department comes
back, I think a little more
light will be shed on the
whole subject.” Hornsby
said.
He also wishes that
Laney-Walker can get back
to its goal of providing
housing to those who have
been disenfranchised from
other sources of housing.
“There was a mission
that this organization had
since the first CHDO
(community housing
development organiza
tion) arrived here. They
had a mission and I think
it was a noble mission, to
try to do something good
for the community.”
AP Photo byAmy Sancetta
Opportunity and the
chance to have fun are the
things that Sanders and First
Tee try to give their st
dents, so they may be one
day can become a “great”
role model for future gener
ations. One such student,
J.P. Jones is thinking of the
big picture. The l()tfi grader
from Richmond Academy
wants to go into the profes
sional leagues.
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New report details black inequality,
persistent wealth and health care gaps
By ERIN TEXEIRA
A}" National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -
Though income and educa
tion gaps between black and
white Americans have nar
rowed significantly, black
households still have barely
one-tenth the net worth of
white households, accord
ing to a new National
Urban League report.
Middle class blacks’ tenu
ous hold on prosperity
reflects racial discrimination
in housing and other
wealth-building arenas -
both historically and now —
and suggests that today’s
civil rights battles are largely
economic, said Marc H.
Morial, Urban League pres
ident.
“Since the 19605, one of
the success stories is the
www.augustafocus.com
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-~ . -
Pictured left, Tiger Woods
reacts to winning the 2005
Masters in a playoff with Chris
DiMarco on the 18th hole dur
ing final round play of the tour
nament at the Augusta Nation
al Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.,
Sunday, April 10, 2005. Pic
tured right, J.P. Jones prac
tices on the green at First Tee
of Augusta. He is a fan of Tiger
Woods and had the opportunity
to meet him last week at the
Masters.
“It’s a great sport because 1
can learn from my father.”
he said.
His father works as a
caddy at the Masters and is a
golt player. Jones also got
some helpful advice from
Woods when he met him at
the Masters.
“Tiger told me to keep my
head in the game and focus on
what I need to 0.”
growth of the African-
American middle class -
those who are college-edu
cated, participating
throughout the American
economy and growing in
stature and influence,”
Morial said. “But what we
face is that these successes of
40 years are being eroded.
The danger is the great
backslide that can occur.”
“The State of black Amer
ica 2005,” released Wednes
day, April 6, at a Washing
ton news conference, comes
as the Urban League also
calls on Congress to assem
ble a bipartisan commission
on economic equality and
advancement.
Analyzing a broad range
of government statistics, the
report compares life quality
for blacks and whites in
FIFTY CENTS
Senate Democtat
redfirm public
education suppor
’ll3{ ROBERT BROWN and
M GOLDEN
Special to Augusta Focus
During the 2005 ses
sion, Senate Democrats -
rural and urban, black
and white, newly elected
freshmen and seasoned
veterans - consistently
stuck together on a num
ber of critical issues fac
ing our state. Our resolve
was greatest when it came
to our top priority—pro
tecting public school
children and teachers.
Democrats won perhaps
our biggest victory for
public school children
and teachers by killing
Senate Resolution 49, the
Governor’s thinly veiled
attempt to allow publicly
funded vouchers for pri
vate schools under the
uise of funding for faith-
Eascd organizations. In
fact, the Georgia PTA,
Professional Association
of Georgia Educators,
Sce Senate, page 11A
dozens of categories related
to economics, health, edu
cation, civic participation
and social justice. Taking
the whole picture into
account, the report pro
duced a measure of blacks
overall well-being, which it
described as barely three
fourths that of whites — a
ratio that was unchanged
from last year to this year.
“Last year, I said I looked
forward to seeing these
numbers improve. Our
update, however, does not
represent an improvement,”
said James Diffley of Global
Insight, the Philadelphia
based economic research
firm that compiled the data.
“There is a gap between
black America and white
America.”
Sec Gaps, page 16A