Newspaper Page Text
8A
April 5, 2007
Police: Black mayor-elect of Louisiana town, who
committed suicide, had gambling, marital trouble
By DOUG SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer
BATON ROUGE,
Louisiana (AP) =The
black mayor-elect of a
Lnuisiana town who dlcd
()f a gun.shnt wound in
December had gambled
away more than
$200,000, owed thou
sands of dollars in back
taxes and had several
extra-marital affairs,
according to a state police
rt‘p()rt.
Gerald Washington was
found dead, a gunshot
wound to his chest, on
Dec. 30, 2006, just days
before he was to rtake
office as the first black to
be elected mayor of West
lake, a small, mainly
white town in southwest
ern Louisiana, about 130
miles (209 kilometers).
His death-spurred specu
lation that he had been
murdered _ a theory put
Continued from page 5A
that bascball team in DC,
we are settling for 1 percent.
It is ime to turn the heat up
and we all must chant our
displeasure and utilize the
power of our vote to address
this matter.
As of March 15, Black
owned firms account for
112 companies participating
as prime contractors in the
Gulf Rebuilding for an
amount that just exceeds
S3OB million. That amounts
to about 1 percent of the
total. Again, do we settle for
this? If you want to see just
which companies are partic
ipating and exactly what
states they actually reside in
just go to the Natonal Black
Chamber of Commerce
website and review and/or
download the information.
It took months to gt‘t this
data and it came lump with
all other data (585 pages).
After a couple of days we
were able to sift out the
Black business participation.
Go to www.nationalbec.org
and view the data on the
homepage. '
If you know any of the
business owners, please call
and congratulate them.
What they are doing is his
torical but don't forget that
right now it should be con
sidered remedial. We must
quickly build from there and
get into double digit per
centages as soon as possible.
Only then we can say that
the rebuilding is taking
form. It must include us and
1 percent is certainly not
cnougn.
Al%rl:lis Co-Founder, Presi
dent/CEO { the National
Black Chamber of Commence.
Bill: Fostering competition
Continued from page 2A
Commission; Mike Martin,
executive director, MN
Cable Communications
Association; Tim Finnerty,
Ramsey/Washington Cable
Commission; and Bill
Jensen, regional vice presi
dent of Mediacom Commu
nications Corp.
Jensen, whose organiza
tion, according to him, pro
vides video, Internet and
voice production to 200
communities, mostly in rural
forward by his wife and
children _ but also
rumors that he had gam
bling troubles.
Louisiana State Police
and the local coroner
have ruled Washington's
death a suicide, but
Washington's family
rejected the findings of
the two official autopsies.
The family paid to have
the body exhumed and
sent to Pennsylvania for a
third, independent autop
sY.
)Thc state police report,
released on ‘lEhursday. said
Washington had told his
wife “just prior to his
death” that “he let her
and the kids down by los
ing $200,000 to
$300,000" gambling at
casinos.
Washington, 57, had
affairs with women rang
ing in age from 39 to 53,
the report said. His wife
had been told about one
Justice: Mothers for the advancement of social systems
Continued from page 1A
they can just write you up.
They say its a place [prison] for
real rehabilitanon, but its not
really, it only makes you mad
der”
Brown said he was forced to
join a gang inside the prison to
keep him from being harmed
or killed. “Youve got to find
out quick who you‘rc g()ing to
get ale ng with and who ynu‘rt
not going to get along with,”
Brown said. That action would
then be put on his record.
Waller, who had been
accused for the rape of a
woman in 1982, felt that the
courts knew he was innocent,
but was nevertheless sentenced
to 30 years in prison. Waller
said he served, “10 years, 11
months and three days” of the
sentence and was labeled a sex
offender after he got out. He
recently received a full pardon
after DNA testing proved his
innocence.
Key West, what an adventure!
It is impossible to trav
¢l any further south in
the continental United
States than to Key West,
Florida. Believe me; it is
well worth the extended
drive, a paradise-like set
ting where locals and vis
itors alike pause to cele
brate the spectacular
sunset, everyday.
From the moment you
complete crossing the
forty-two bridges and
infiltrate the eclectic
world of the Florida
Keys, you know that it is
not an ordinary tourist
destination. Where else
in 1982 would citizens
Minnesota, insisted that the
legislation is useless if the
intent is, as stated, to pro
mote competition in the
industry. He maintains that
there is plenty of competi
tion throughout the state.
Jensen stated that his com
pany not only has competi
tion from other satellite com
panies, but from nearly 40
telephone companies. He
concluded by asking, “If it
aint broke, why fix it?”
The committee did not vote
on the bill. Instead it decided
to hold the bill over for fur
AUGUSTA FOCUS
i -;% "‘:
D
.
Gerald Washington
affair and City Hall had
received anonymous
phone calls about the
infidelities, the report
said. One mistress, after
catching him with anoth
er woman, told Washing
ton that she planned to
tell a television news
reporter about his affairs,
according to the report.
All the forensic evi
dence points to suicide,
“Everybody told me | had a
hanging judge,” Waller said. “1
couldnt believe that you could
get dme for something you
haven't done.” Waller, a tall and
slender man, found out that
the original suspect in his case
was seven inches shorter than
he was.
“Theres no way you could
mistake a man 5-foot-9 for a
man whos 6-4,” Waller stated.
“They knew | was innocent
from day one.” Curts Wilbert,
wh() has dcvntcd his llfi to
helping the incarcerated, after
wrongfully serving three and
half years for aggravated assaul,
called for a different direction
on how all formerly incarcerat
ed should be treated by society.
“For those who are wrongly
incarcerated, or for even those
who have done the crime, once
they're released, they need to be
exonerated,” Wilbert said. “We
need to wipe their slate clean
and need to try and educate
those people. As they enter into
form a group, have
numerous meetings, and
then collectively decide
to secede from the Unit
ed States? The Conch
Republic is what they
designated their king
dom, and to this day,
that is what they remain.
Another offbeat cir
cumstance is the seem
ingly peaceful co-exis
tence of undomesticated
felines and poultry. Yes,
to the amazement of the
tourist and the abhor
rence of hometown folks,
cats and chickens freely
roam the streets and
boulevards of Key West.
ther discussion and hear fur
ther testimony on April 13.
That leaves a very small win
dow for the possibility of it
becoming law during this
session o% the legislature.
From what this reporter
understands, the bill would
do more than foster competi
tion in certain jurisdictions;
it also would permit some
larger providers to be selec
tive in choosing jurisdictions
of coverage, which could
have a harmful effect on less
affluent communities.
the report said. Washing
ton’s gun was near his
body when it was found,
next to his pickup truck,
in the parking lot of the
building where he attend
ed high school. The
wound and splattering of
blood indicated he had
shot himself, investigators
said.
“There 1s no available
information supporting a
finding of anything other
than suicide,” the report
said.
Washington’s son,
Geroski, said he would
not comment on the
report until he has read
all 800 pages. However,
when asked if he thought
gambling troubles and
exposure of extra-marital
affgirs would drive his
father to kill himself,
Geroski Washington said:
“Knowing my father, |
would say no.”
Geroski Washington
sodety, we need to put our
arms around these people.”
Wilbert, an officer with the
Texas Association for the For
merly Incarcerated, cam
paigned for “Block the Box,” a
law that would allow parolees
not to chcck the box on a j()b
application that ask if they
committed a felony. He called
f()r more programs to suppnrt
€X-CONVICtS. "Anybndy who
spends one day in a cage is not
the same once youre released,”
Wilbert said. “You're locked up
lll\L a mqu d( g, {« )ld whcn you
can sleep, wake up, urinate, talk
on the phone. Mentally, its a
drain on you. These people are
our next-door neighbors, they
go to our churches, go to our
grocery stores. They cat at the
same places you do. They're like
new born babies.” Wilbert
commended Nora Brown for
continuing to support her son,
who was just released five days
carlier through a conditonal
pard()n by Governor Rick
Brenda Brown
[ am not sure where the
kitty-cats sleep at night
but numerous chickens
roost in the trees adja
cent to Mallory Square,
and when a pullet mis
takenly crawls into the
i HAVE YOU BEEN
. TURNED DOWN FOR A
¥ | MORTGAGE BECAUSE OF
.| YOURCREDIT!
A
and other family mem
bers have insisted the two
investigations into the
death were botched and
that Ggrald Washington
was murdered. His
widow, Mary, has depict
ed her husband as content
before his death and look
ing forward to becoming
maynr.
But she told state police
a different version. She
told investigators that her
husband had been
depressed before his
death, concerned about
his gambling losses, and
had not caten or slept for
days. Investigators said
Washington had received
“hate mail” and angry
phone calls in the weeks
leading up to his swearing
in.
Mary Washington did
not immediately return a
call for comment on Fri
day.
“I have nothing to live
Perry.
“I' couldn’t believe it,” Nora
responded to Tyrones life sen
tence. “It was hard on me and
my other kids. [ told him, |
dont know when and how, but
youre not going to serve life.
One of theses days, youre
going to come out of there.”
“When you go to prison, not
only do you suffer, your chil
dren suffer, your mother suf
fers, everybody suffers around
)'(')U,
Wilbert said. Joyce Ann
Brown, unrelated to Tyrone
Brown, spoke about dealing
with her anger toward the
judge. Ms. Brown said such
feclings should go further.
“Why be angry at the judge?
We should be angry at the sys
tem. The system allowed that
to happen,” said Ms. Brown,
who channeled her anger into
constructive energy and is now
founder and executive director
of MASS, Mothers (Fathers)
for the Advancement of Sodal
wrong nest, a noisy fight
ensues, and instantly
draws an audience.
The favorite and most
cconomical form of
transportation is an elec
trical-mobile so while
Melba and [ observed the
six-toed cats and listened
to the tales at the Hem
ingway House, and wan
dered across the street to
the world famous light
house, Otto and Charles
cruised around the terri
tory in battery-powered
style. The curios looking
vehicle transported us
from a photo opportuni
ty at the zero-mile high
for,” Washington told one
of his mistresses two
months before his death,
the woman told investiga
tois. .
Washington worked for
ConocoPhillips for 33
years and accepted a
retirement package in
2002 worth $726,582.
The money had dwindled
to $372,083 by the time
nf his death f()ur years
later, the report said.
He lost heavily while on
a gambling trip to Reno,
Nevada, in the weeks
before his death, several
people told investigators.
Patrick Richard,
described as a close friend,
told investigators that
Washington had told him
he needed to find
$50,000 (eur037,545) to
pay back taxes.
Systems, Inc.
“A lot of them come out and
go back in, not because they
have to, but because they want
three hots [meals] and a cot,
because society has blocked
them out,” Brown said. “We
say that they paid their debt to
society and all is well. But they
come home and cant find a
job, housing or anything to put
food on the table. What do you
think theyre going to do?
They'e going to get back into a
life of crime.” Another answer
is at the polks, said Watkins.
“After all these exonerations
came out that we have on these
fc )"\’s who didn‘t commit these
crimes on DNA, we nccd to
get up and go vote,” he said.
“Make sure we elect folks
that don't sit on that bench and
make deastons that will tarnish
a person for the rest of their
livc.s‘. We nu-d to gct nff our
butt, go vote and make a dif
ference.”
way marker, to recess at
Jimmy Buffet's Margari
taville Café¢, and treasure
seeking on Duvall Street.
What memories we cre
ated!
We highly recommend
staying in one of the
quaint bed and breakfast
places and exploring the
numerous cating estab
lishments made famous
by legends and yarns.
As you wander the streets
and enjoy the offerings
at the rtaverns, beware,
that oddly dressed char
acter sitting in the shad
ows might be one of the
prominent poltergeist.