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PRO:; (3 PS D} Pr, MAN L GA
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FON 4 vMR
February 2 - February 8, 20006
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Isiah Thomas defends
himself against charges
in lawsuit
Alleged victim’s boss
think lawsuit the
against Isiah Thomas
may be financially
motivated.
Page 2A
DNA evidence frees
man
How many more are
out rthere serving
lengthy sentences for
capital offenses they
did not commit?
Page 2A
African-American
health hifi::fighm
Rod Lambert
Page 9A
B—
T (T
F—
M and CRSA
mm filed a @: i
suit a@m Commus
sioner Williams. WHO
IS BEHIND THIS?
Page SA
The other mother of
the Givil Rights move
ment
See why Corretta Scort
King deserves the tide,
Mgfi'ieiw of the Civil
ts Movement
DA
House of Prayer adds
breakfast to menu
The United House of
Prayer is now oien in the
mornings to kick-start
your day with a home
made breakfast.
Page 1B
T‘Bnc half of the famous
tp dancing Nicholas
Brothers, Fayard, died
Tuesday, Jan. 26 ar age
91.
Page 1B
aya G Home-
Wqflwdlgm 2
ColleEz
A Louisiana narive
and 2003 Butdler High
School graduare has
been selected as Paine
College’s 2006 home
coming queen.
Page 6%\
INDEX
ARTbeat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........TA
City/Regi0n......3A
Ciassifieds ......5B
Good New5......6A
Happenings ....4B
Spirit....cocoeenneens2B
Yol 25. No. 1227
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King’s widow leaves legacy of her own
By ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -
Coretta Scott King, who
turned a life shattered by
her husband’s assassination
into one devoted to
enshrining his legacy of
human rights and equality,
has died. She was 78.
Markel Hutchins, a close
ASUwill |
Wlll l
host two |
career expos
In February, Augusta
State University’s Career
Center will host two
career expos. The frst,
an Employer Expo, is
scheduled for Thursday,
Feb, 9, from 10 a.m.-}
p.m. It will feature more
than 50 employers, rang
ing from local television
stations and medical cen
ters to the Internal Rev
enue Service. The expo is
open to ASU students
and alumni.
The second, an Educa
tor Expo, will be from 10
a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday,
Feb. 10. It is designed for
those who wish to pursue
a career in education and
will feature local school
systems, as well as repre
sentatives from school
systems across Georgia
and South Carolina. The
expo is open to the pub
lic.
Both events will be
held at the Christenberry
Fieldhouse on Wrights
boro Road. Attendees for
both expos are encour
aged to dress profession
ally and bring copies of
their resumes. For a cur
rent list of employers
planning to participate,
check the Career Center’s
website at
www.aug.edu/career_cen
ter.
For more information
about the upcoming
expos, call ASU’s Career
Center at 737-1604.
Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 210
family friend ot the Kings,
told The Associated Press
he spoke early this morn
ing with Bernice King,
who confirmed her moth
ers passing.
Former Mayor Andrew
Young said on The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s
Website that Bernice King
found her mother at about
Mayor Pro Tem gets sued by watchdog group
By JESSICA BAPTISTE
T{m Augusta Focus
With the current situation of
Mayor Pro Tem, Marion
Williams is standing strong in
the midst of a lawsuit brought
about by Woody Merry of iilc
avic watchdog group, CSRA
HELP In a petition by the
atorneys of CSRAHELP it is
stated that at a January com
mission meeting Williams was
nominated for the mayor pro
tem post, but abstained his vote
when the rest of the body voted
in a tie. By abstaining, Williams
prevented ~ Mayor Deke
Cophenhaver from breaking
the te.
“Shortly thereafter, at the
same meeting, Commissioner
Andy Cheek was nominated
for the office of Mayor Pro
Augusta is too beautiful for anyone to be trashing it, anyone!
a THE AUGUSTA FOCUS STAFF
Big Brother Media is at
it again, ranting and rav
ing about the structure
and operation of the
Richmond County Gov
ernment, the Commis
sion. You would think
by now that the tune
would have changed, but
it has not. The obsession
with Commissioner Mar
ion Williams and a
flawed characterization
of the racial situation in
Augusta still takes center
stage. The drama sur
rounding the lawsuit last
week was like a pitiful
reach for straws.
First of all, Commis
sioner Marion Williams
is only the problem to
the extent that he refuses
to play fool hardy poli
tics. He indeed is wed
ded to the idea of calling
out wrong and holding
steadfastly to what he
] am
Young, who was a former
civil rights activist and was
close to the King family,
told NBC's Today show:
“I understand that she was
asleep last night and her
daughter went in to wake
her up and she was not
able to and so she quiedy
slipped away. Her spirit
Tempore,” it is stated in the
online petition, “and the
Defendant refused and
absained from voting, result
ing in a 4-5-1 vote, again single
handedly and maliciously
emasculating the Mayor's statu
tory vote to make or break a tie,
Frcvcnting the Commission
rom electing a new Mayor Pro
Tempore, preventing the Com
mission from organizing itself
in forming committees i:or the
condua of the peoples busi
ness, and effectively grid-lock
ing the govenment.”
l*fiowevcr‘ Williams has
received the legal representa
ton of city attorney Steve
Shepherd.
a)\eek. who aggrcxsivelv
spearheaded the “Gentlemen's
r{’;iecmem" that upheld the
understanding if there was a
Article of analysis and interpretation
thinks is right. What
other position is there
for him to take? There is
none. Should he go
against his best wisdom
and judgment just to sat
isfy an absentee entity
who is determined to run
Augusta from high places
and behind closed doors?
First of all, he'd be going
against his own con
science, an untenable
position for most reason
ably ethical/moral folks.
Secondly, he'd be going
against the people who
elected him and the peo
ple who are for the right.
There is no one who can,
with good conscience,
accuse Commissioner
Williams of a bad voting
record. What they can
accuse him of is exposing
the good old boy poli
tics, the kind that has
been around far too
long, by exposing dirty
tactics. More specifical
www.augustafocus.com
will remain with us just as
her husband’s has.”
Efforts by The Associat
ed Press to reach the fami
ly were unsuccessful. They
did not immediately
return phone calls, but
flags at the King Center
were lowered to half-staft
Tucsda’f morning.
King? suffered a serious
e e
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Commissioner Marion Willlams
white mayor, there must be a
black mayor pro tem and vice
versa, last vear. It was abolished
ly, there is an insatiable
desire from the undis
closed to craftily nullify
the new demographics.
Big Brother Media, in
its unending quest for a
presence on the Com
mission and an un
earned place in Augusta
politics, has demonized
Mr. Williams, in the
minds of the uninitiated,
as being the problem
with local government
and the sole obstruction
to “good race relations”.
First of all, Big Brother
Media’s characterization
of the racial situation in
Augusta is about as
warped and skewed as
anything can be. At the
same time, it is integrity
challenged.
If you want to flush
out Big Brother Media’s
real feelings about race,
all youd have to do is
start exposing some of the
real structural and policy
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
AUGUSTA GA
PERMIT NO 302
Serving Metro Augusta,
South Carolina and The CSRA
FIFTY CENTS
stroke and heart attack in
2005.
She was a supportive
lieutenant to her husband,
the. Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr., during the most
tumultuous days of the
American civil rights
movement. She had mar
ried him in 1953.
Sce Coretta, pagc 9A
by the commission.
The case will be heard by
Judge Carlisle Overstreet.
issues/problems that
impede good race rela
tions. Point out the
racially entrenched ones
that impede fair hiring
and propose plans to rec
tify them. You would get
a reaction from Big
Brother Media and all
that it controls that
would be quite revealing;
they would squeal like a
stuck animal.
Why? Because such
equity is at severe odds
with their real/personal
values.
Big Brother Media
would have you believe
that the racial problem
among the over 200,000
people in Augusta is the
Commission.
To be more insulting,
it would have you believe
that “all would be well”
after we fix the vorting.
Guess what? All would
See Augusta, page 9A