| Blog and Media Roundup - Wednesday, June 4, 2008; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 4 2008, 03:27 AM (269 Views) | |
| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:27 AM Post #1 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-956066.cfm? Bonfield is new city manager Tom Bonfield By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun gronberg@heraldsun.com Jun 4, 2008 DURHAM -- The search for Durham's next city manager concluded Tuesday with a unanimous City Council vote in favor of hiring Floridian Tom Bonfield, who will take over no later than Sept. 1. Bonfield is coming to Durham after nearly a 10-year stint as city manager in Pensacola, Fla. By all accounts he retains so much support from his current employers that he was under no pressure to change jobs. But the allure of an offer from one of the Triangle's cornerstone cities was too great to resist, Bonfield said Tuesday during a news conference at City Hall. In the city management profession, "The cities in the Research Triangle area are always prize, plum slots," he said. "This is a really cool area and has been for 30 years. It was pretty cool before anybody even heard of the [phrase] 'creative class.' " City Council members in turn voiced confidence that they'd found the right person to replace City Manager Patrick Baker. Baker earns $165,686 a year and will become city attorney at that same salary after Bonfield becomes manager. It was obvious from the start of the council's interview with him that Bonfield had done his homework, by among other things combing through Baker's fiscal 2008-09 budget proposal and the city's capital-construction plan, members said. "He asked good questions. I would expect that to continue during his tenure with us," City Councilman Mike Woodard said. "To some extent, he was interviewing us. He really looked under the hood before he bought this model." Bonfield has yet to sign a formal employment contract, but he and the council have hammered out the terms of the deal. He will receive a $178,000 annual salary, an additional 15 percent in deferred compensation toward retirement, four weeks of vacation a year with an added 10 days offered up front, and relocation assistance, Mayor Bill Bell said. He also will receive sick leave and a place in the state retirement system on the same terms as other city employees. Bell said the five-year contract would also include a severance provision calling for the city to pay Bonfield six months' salary in the event the council forces him out before its expiration. Council members agreed to the contract's five-year duration because they "think stability is very important," and because, "It shows a commitment on [Bonfield's] part and the part of the city to bring someone in here to get the job done," Bell said. Bell said council members were looking for someone who had "proven, demonstrated integrity," considerable experience and stability as a city manager and good communication skills. Bonfield worked for 13 years as city manager in Temple Terrace, Fla., before taking over in Pensacola in 1998. His present employers offered him a strong endorsement Tuesday, a day after they first learned he was about to take Durham's offer. "What you'll find out in working with this guy is that he's about as ethical or full of integrity as anybody you'll come across," Pensacola City Councilman P.C. Wu said. "And that is refreshing for somebody in politics." Wu said Bonfield gives his employees room "to do their jobs," but also "holds folks accountable for what needs to be done." He also doesn't allow council interference in administrative hiring and firing decisions. In Pensacola as in Durham, the hiring of most employees other than the manager is legally the manager's prerogative. But, "I know personally of several of my colleagues that have pushed to get people in to certain positions, and Tom would really show his independence" and resist, Wu said. The most notable such case centered on the hiring of a fire chief, where Bonfield bypassed a popular local candidate who didn't meet the specified qualifications for the job, Wu said. Two other Pensacola councilmen, Ronald Townsend and Mike Wiggins, said Bonfield deserves credit for orchestrating Pensacola's recovery from Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The storm ranks as the fifth costliest in U.S. history and made landfall about 26 miles west of Pensacola. Bonfield on Tuesday said he'll likely need three to four months to assess the skills and leadership of Durham's existing staff. He singled out capital-project management, the city's budget and neighborhood issues as matters likely to require early attention. He also said he'd spoken to council members and would talk to Baker today about the director's vacancies in three of the city's major operating departments, Finance, General Services and Water Management. There, "I believe we're going to try to have only interim appointments happen until I get on board," Bonfield said. But Bonfield stressed that Baker remains in charge for now. "Patrick Baker is the city manager for the next two months," he said. "I'm not. I'm managing Pensacola. That's only fair to him -- that's only fair to this organization -- that there's clear direction as to who's in charge." Bonfield's wife, Karen, is a schoolteacher who has already compiled a list of 10 Durham schools she intends to volunteer in for a week each to learn about the community. The couple has two sons who've graduated college and a daughter who's a college junior in Alabama. |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:29 AM Post #2 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-956038.cfm Officials come together for area BY MATTHEW E. MILLIKEN : The Herald-Sun mmilliken@heraldsun.com Jun 4, 2008 DURHAM -- In a safe environment, community organizer Melvin Whitley figures, the residents of North-East Central Durham can tackle just about any problem they choose. That's why the Rev. Whitley and the North Carolina wing of ACORN, or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, brought together a few dozen area residents, the county sheriff, the chief of police and the mayor at Angier Avenue Baptist Church on Tuesday to talk about plans to improve the neighborhood. Whitley got police Chief Jose Lopez and Sheriff Worth Hill to agree publicly to work with each other this summer, when deputies normally serving as school resource officers are available to patrol the neighborhood. Hill said he had collaborated for years with the Police Department, where he worked for years, and Lopez, who moved to Durham to become chief in September, said he shared Hill's spirit of cooperation. But Whitley said after the meeting that the coordination of past summer patrols hadn't been satisfactory. Whitley and ACORN intend to form neighborhood associations throughout the area. "If we can organize them around crime, we can organize them around streetlights, we can organize them around abandoned houses," Whitley said. "You follow me?" The meeting also drummed up interest in forming community crime watches throughout the area and in having a parade on Liberty Street on June 13 at 6 p.m. During the meeting, one woman and her daughter, who did not want their names printed because of safety concerns, angrily confronted Lopez about what they said was a lack of response by police to reports of gunfire in their area. The chief promised to look into a Mother's Day incident they described in which three bullets were fired into a home and officers allegedly did not come to the scene. "You might care, but your police officers don't," the younger woman muttered angrily as Lopez spoke. Samuel Jenkins, who will soon open up three businesses across the street from the church, asked if Lopez would send police on bike and foot patrols through East Durham business districts during daylight hours. The chief said he would speak to the police District 1 commander about that. "It would be irresponsible for me to give you a yes or no answer right now," Lopez said, citing scarce resources. Diane Jones of Parents of Murdered Children asked about the security cameras that the city has installed in some public locations. Mayor Bill Bell said that he had been told that as of Tuesday evening the cameras, which initially didn't work, were functioning properly. Whitley was skeptical that the cameras are being used, however, because of what he's seen at the intersection of Briggs and Angier avenues. "They're selling drugs like it's legal right in front of the camera [there]," Whitley said. "Now if the camera's working, somebody ought to be arrested!" Another speaker complained about her vain quest to have someone remove a gang symbol: three pairs of tennis shoes hanging from a power line near her home. Lopez said Duke Power is responsible for removing them but said he would contact a police supervisor about it. Two speakers said that the city needed a curfew. Bell said that residents tell the City Council if they wanted a change. Whitley was disappointed that Bell wouldn't promise to fund a coordinator and analyst/planner for Operation Bull's-Eye, which targets North-East Central Durham. Whitley said that City Manager Patrick Baker, who is expected to make millions of dollars in cuts to his initial 2008-09 budget proposal, is only willing to fund a secretary for the project. "What the manager put in the budget -- it's like going into battle with a pencil," Whitley said. Whitley also repeatedly criticized Lopez for unilaterally canceling an expected presentation on community crime watches. The chief said that there could be a separate presentation on the watches and noted that he and several high-ranking officers were present to hear residents' views. |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:31 AM Post #3 |
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http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-956032.cfm Male found shot in yard DURHAM -- Police are investigating a shooting that occurred Monday night in the back yard at 2809 Crest St. Officers responded to a shooting call at 10:11 p.m. there on Monday and found a male victim in the yard. The male had been shot in the stomach, back and buttocks. The male, whose name is not being released at this time, was being treated at Duke University Hospital for life-threatening injuries. A small burgundy vehicle -- possibly a Toyota Corolla -- was seen leaving the shooting scene. Anyone with information is asked to call the District 3 substation Investigation Unit at (919) 560-4583 or CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:37 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1095655.html Published: Jun 04, 2008 12:30 AM Modified: Jun 04, 2008 02:46 AM N.C. murder rate up 8.5 percent in 2007 Thomasi McDonald, Staff Writer RALEIGH - The overall crime rate in North Carolina inched up slightly last year, and the murder rate rose 8.5 percent from the previous year, state Attorney General Roy Cooper said Tuesday. Cooper blames gangs. Speaking from his offices at the N.C. Department of Justice, he noted that the number of juveniles arrested for murder had risen 52 percent. The attorney general said he supported legislation before the General Assembly that seeks tougher penalties for gang activity and bolsters efforts to help steer young people away from gangs. "We are in a battle with gangs for the hearts and minds of our children, and we must win," Cooper said. It's not clear that gangs have had much effect on homicide rates in the Triangle. In Durham, for example, only two of the more than two dozen homicides reported last year were gang-related, said Police Chief Jose Lopez Sr. Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said the overwhelming majority of the 12 homicide cases his office has investigated over the past two years were not gang-related but instead were the result of domestic arguments or drugs. "We had possibly one that could be gang-related, or it could be a drug deal that went south," Harrison said. Still, Harrison said, Cooper may be right about the trend statewide. He and Lopez were hesitant to speak about the influence of gangs because they do not want to glorify gang behavior. "They have a warped sense of self-esteem," Lopez said. "They take great pride in their news clippings and think, 'Wow, I'm somebody.' " Cooper noted Tuesday that rates for other violent crimes decreased in 2007, a trend reflected across the Triangle. Durham, Wake, Johnston and Orange counties all saw a drop in violent crime. Raleigh's overall crime rate dropped 3.9 percent from 2006 to 2007, while violent crime dropped in the city by 9.1 percent. Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue credited the drop to the Police Department's efforts to work with the community. "It's not something any police department can do by itself," Sughrue said. thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver. com or (919) 829-4533 |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:37 AM Post #5 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1095653.html Sheehan: Published: Jun 04, 2008 12:30 AM Modified: Jun 04, 2008 02:46 AM D.J. was just a good kid Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer Denise Mangum Coates and her fiance were cooking dinner when they heard a gunshot outside. She didn't think much of it. She and her sons had been renting a duplex at the edge of a neighborhood known for gang activity. But this was Holly Springs, Coates' hometown. Then her youngest son, Sharrod, started screaming, "D.J.'s shot, Mom! D.J.'s shot!" Moments later, Coates' 18-year-old son staggered into the room and collapsed in a chair. "At first, I thought the boys were messing with me," Coates said. "Then I saw the blood bubbling out of his mouth." Coates' son Hakeem, then 15, knelt in front of D.J., pleading with him to hang on. "I said, 'Talk to me, D.J., talk to me,' " Hakeem said. "All he said was, 'Oh God, oh God.' " D.J. died on an operating table at Wake Med Raleigh. That was two years ago today. D.J. Mangum, a star basketball player at Middle Creek High School, had been shot in the stomach while standing on his front porch. The reason: He was wearing a red hooded sweat shirt. The two men convicted in his death testified at trial that they'd mistaken D.J. for a member of a rival gang. Because he was wearing red. One of the men received eight to 10 years in prison. The other is already free. "I don't think any kind of justice got served," Coates said. That outcome still eats at Coates. What hurts more is that some people still assume her son was a gang member -- and got what he deserved. "D.J. wasn't in any gang," Hakeem said. "He was trying to keep himself out of trouble so he could play ball." On the night of the shooting, D.J. pulled on the red hoodie after returning from a swim with his girlfriend and Sharrod. He was a victim -- yet somehow tainted by the violence -- a fact D.J.'s friends stress time and again. Alex Javidi, 17, a junior at Holly Springs High School, got to be friends with D.J. during pickup games of basketball when they both attended Middle Creek. He noted the difference in the public's reaction in 2006, when a 7-year-old boy in Holly Springs' affluent Sunset Ridge subdivision was run over and killed in his driveway. "That was a tragic accident," said Alex, who lives in Sunset Ridge. "People put up white flags and balloons. But here goes my friend D.J., shot in the stomach, murdered in cold blood, and there's nothing." The town of Holly Springs set aside a day to honor the memory of the child killed in his driveway. But there was never a day to honor D.J. His mother, brother and friends believe that is because D.J. was black. "It's because he was black that he was mistaken for a gang member in the first place," Alex said, staring me down as he made his point. "Your kid could wear a red hoodie anywhere, and he wouldn't get shot, because he's white." Coates had returned to Holly Springs in part to get away from the insanity of gangs. "It was safe," she said. "It was home." But sudden violence can shatter notions of safety and security, leaving a mother grieving two years after her son's death. Coates wishes her hometown would remember that D.J. was more than the town's first murder victim in a decade, that he wasn't a gang-banger caught in a crossfire over colors. She wants him remembered as a good kid who died too soon. ruth.sheehan@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4828 |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:38 AM Post #6 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1095667.html Published: Jun 04, 2008 12:30 AM Modified: Jun 04, 2008 02:46 AM New Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield, left, holds that smile as Mayor Bill Bell attaches a lapel pin in front of council member Mike Woodard. Staff Photo by Harry Lynch Durham gets a 'proven' manager Bonfield's draws were experience, desire Matt Dees, Staff Writer DURHAM - Tom Bonfield boasts the years of battle-tested leadership that City Council members said all along they wanted in a Durham city manager. And he said Tuesday, during a news conference officially naming him as Patrick Baker's successor, that he was eager to bring that to bear in Durham. "I am anxious to get here to begin working for this passionate City Council, to work with the active citizens groups and see what can be done to accelerate progress in Durham and truly make good things happen," he said, already spouting the city's tag line. But it's unclear what, exactly, made him stand out above the three finalists trotted out in April, all of whom had lengthy resumes to rival Bonfield's. Bonfield, 53, the current city manager of Pensacola, Fla., will receive a five-year contract worth $178,000 a year and will start work no later than Sept. 1. Mayor Bill Bell laid out a list of qualifications: * "We were looking for someone with a record of proven, demonstrated integrity, a person that was a great city manager, had great city manager experience and stability in that position." * "We were looking for someone who had leadership, personal and interpersonal communication skills -- and, most importantly, a person who had a desire to become the next city manager of Durham." But Bell wouldn't go into which of those traits the passed-over finalists -- George Kolb, Randy Oliver or Pat Salerno -- lacked, even when asked twice. "We were unanimous in what we were looking for, and we saw that in Mr. Bonfield," Bell said both times. What is clear is that anyone the city hired would have had more experience than Baker, who is leaving after a rocky tenure hampered by allegations of mismanagement. "Patrick was a solid manager, but we've got a seasoned manager who's going to take us to the next level," council member Mike Woodard said Tuesday. Baker oversaw the police department's botched investigation of rape allegations against Duke lacrosse players. The charges were dropped, and the city now faces several big lawsuits for its role in pressing the false charges. Baker also was criticized for not being forthright about lead that leached into some drinking water and for allowing the city's yard-waste dump, which caught fire and burned for two weeks, to operate without a state permit for two years. The $110 million bond package pushed by Baker and approved by voters in 2005 was supposed to be a feather in his cap. But rapid cost escalations and an inefficient system for administering the capital projects has kept most of them from completion. Bonfield said his knowledge of Durham issues was "only a thimbleful" at the moment, and he would need some time to learn the issues in depth. But he said completing capital projects and rehabilitating neighborhoods would be among his main priorities. Baker will become the city attorney when Bonfield takes office. Town differences Durham and Pensacola, on paper at least, are quite different. The Florida city has about 54,000 people, compared with more than 200,000 in Durham, though Pensacola is the center of a metropolitan area with a population of 300,000. Pensacola is a military town that leans conservative. Durham, anchored by two major universities, has a knowledge-based economy and tilts left. Bonfield acknowledged the differences but said Pensacola is a larger organization than its population suggests. The city runs an airport, a deep-sea port and a natural gas utility. "There are things that are done that are not just a population factor in terms of management and responsibilities," he said. "Every community's different. "I'm very comfortable I will be able to adapt those skill sets to the larger picture in Durham." Woodard said the council was assured -- that word again -- by Bonfield's experience. "I'm convinced Tom has the skills and will be able to adapt to the larger organization he will be leading now and the different community," Woodard said. Pensacola council member Ronald Townsend called Bonfield "very innovative," saying he planted seeds of economic development projects that have yet to bloom. A shoreline park anchored by a maritime museum and a tech-oriented business park are both in the works. Bonfield often met resistance from citizens wary of the public investment required, Townsend said. "I suspect he will probably do well, probably better than he's done here, because of folks who have good vision and want to go forth and see the city prosper and do well," Townsend said. Townsend and other Pensacola City Council members praised his responsiveness to the street-level concerns of neighborhoods. It's a disposition that should be useful in Durham, where dozens of organized and vocal neighborhood groups make frequent demands of city leaders. "They will have an ally in that regard," Townsend said. "He was very instrumental in terms of making sure the staff allocated their time identifying [neighborhood] needs and trying to get things done." Bonfield showed his budgeting prowess after a recently enacted Florida law forced cities to cut property tax rates, said Pensacola council member Mike Wiggins. It cost Pensacola about $5 million out of a $50 million general fund. "We came out on the other side with an organization that is a little leaner and meaner," Wiggins said. Rick Outzen, publisher of the Pensacola Independent News, an alternative weekly, said Bonfield had a reputation for keeping things on an even keel. Many pointed to his leadership after Hurricane Ivan severely damaged City Hall in 2004, displacing many city departments. "All in all, I think it's been a very steady ship," Outzen said. matt.dees@newsobserver.com or (919) 956-2433 |
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| abb | Jun 4 2008, 03:41 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1095587.html Published: Jun 04, 2008 12:30 AM Modified: Jun 04, 2008 02:45 AM Neighbors waiting to exhale A year after a Durham area became a crime-reduction target, residents still on edge Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff Writer DURHAM - Shootings, drug activity, gangs and a lack of response to incidents were on the minds of residents who attended a community crime meeting Wednesday evening at Angier Avenue Baptist Church. More than 50 people attended the meeting, sponsored by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), to hear what Mayor Bill Bell, Police Chief Jose Lopez and Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill had to say about neighborhood and crime issues. Mamie Ramsey feels like a prisoner in her home. Ramsey, 60, lives on Taylor Street inside a two-square-mile area dubbed "Operation Bulls Eye." A yearlong plan, begun in August, was to saturate the area with police and social services in an effort to reduce crime. Last year, she felt unsafe because her home had been broken into. Her vehicles have been broken into. She's seen people shoot at one another from moving vehicles. Recently, 30 shots were fired blocks from her home. "I'm scared to go out in the yard," said Ramsey, who believes more patrol officers are needed. "I'm afraid to go out at night. We don't let my granddaughter go outside because we don't know who's going to come by shooting." Durham police started the initiative after crime data showed the area, mostly in East Durham, accounted for a disproportionate number of aggravated assaults, robberies, validated gang member addresses and prostitution offenses between May 2006 and April 2007. There has been a 19 percent decline in violent crimes involving firearms, but shots-fired calls decreased less than 1 percent from August 2007 to January 2008, according to a police progress report. There was a 4 percent drop in drug calls, and prostitution calls fell 23 percent. Offenses immediately outside the target area increased 14.4 percent. "Crime numbers may be down, but when you hear gunfire in our community, especially on weekends, the question comes, 'Where will the next round land?' " said community activist Melvin Whitley, who presided over the meeting. "All of a sudden the statistics really don't mean much, especially when you're diving for the floor thinking that someone's going to shoot in your house." Ann Sumner said she has called several times about shots being fired near her home. She said only one officer has responded. Lopez assured her that he would look into it. "I got three bullet holes in my house that were put there Mother's Day," she said. Samuel Jenkins, who owns an Angier Avenue barbershop, wants foot and bike patrols in the area. Lopez said he'd have to review department resources and crime numbers. Hill, the sheriff, said deputies already walk the streets during his department's summer initiative, which he said will continue this summer. Diane Jones of Parents of Murdered Children wanted to know whether all of the crime cameras along Angier Avenue are working. Bell assured her that they were. "They told me they can read the names off individuals' shirts," he said. "We need more support from our police department. We need more officers," said Nancy Davis, 53. "Mayor, I think the council needs to delegate more officers to [police] District One." stan.chambers@newsobserver.com or (919) 956-2426 |
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| Quasimodo | Jun 4 2008, 07:37 AM Post #8 |
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Officials come together for area BY MATTHEW E. MILLIKEN : The Herald-Sun mmilliken@heraldsun.com Jun 4, 2008
[If this had been in Trinity Park, the officers would have responded within minutes with 20 police cars. Maybe the DPD needs to reassess its priorities?]
[And there are a reported 500 houses in Durham from which drugs are sold openly. But maybe the officers are busy raiding Trinity Park for noise violations. ] Edited by Quasimodo, Jun 4 2008, 07:38 AM.
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| LTC8K6 | Jun 4 2008, 07:45 AM Post #9 |
Assistant to The Devil Himself
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Didn't they rush right over because a caller said someone used the n word? Someone refresh my memory... I wonder what would happen if I called 911 and said some black frat house members called me and my friend "honky" as we walked by? |
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| Quasimodo | Jun 4 2008, 07:49 AM Post #10 |
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I agree.
And three Duke students were charged with rape because they were white. (Over 100 claims of rape were made in Durham in 2006, but only one got any attention--and with the full support of the AA community. That's an example of racism worthy of Alabama in 1931.) Blaming everything--including the failure to mourn the life of a kid killed by gangs--on racism, is just another bit of escapism--another attempt to vent frustrations by focusing anger on "the others", in this case, the whites (but doing nothing to address the real problems). |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Jun 4 2008, 11:48 AM Post #11 |
~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.wral.com/sports/story/2989453/ N.C.State's Yow back on chemotherapy N.C. State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow is receiving chemotherapy again, she said Wednesday. Yow told WRAL she resumed chemotherapy six weeks ago. She said she is likely to be on chemotherapy for three to four months and then, if all progresses well, will return to hormonal treatments. Asked about side effects of chemotherapy, she said, “You always have some, but I certainly have a head start on dealing with some of them.” Overall, she said, “I’m doing well.” Yow has been the head coach at N.C. State since 1975 but has battled breast cancer in recent years. Four games into the 2006-07 season, Yow had to take a leave of absence because of progression in her breast cancer, originally diagnosis in 1987. She missed 16 games before returning to the bench in a Wolfpack win over Virginia on Jan. 26. Last year, she had a remarkable season and coached throughout the year. N.C. State did not make the NCAA field, but made a run through the Women’s NIT to finish 21-13. |
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| Kerri P. | Jun 4 2008, 02:13 PM Post #12 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/2989588/ Durham duo wanted on fraud charges Posted: Today at 12:43 p.m. Durham, N.C. — Durham police investigators are trying to find Brian Lee Hanson Jr. and Yashaundra Latiece Gee, who are both wanted on fraud charges. Hanson, 26, of Northcreek Drive, is wanted for two counts of identity theft and two counts of obtaining property by false pretense. He is charged with using stolen credit card information to pay for limousine services and hotels. The loss to date is estimated at approximately $4,000. Gee, 29, of Lafayette Street, is charged with identity theft, forgery of an instrument, uttering a forged instrument and obtaining property by false pretense. She is charged with cashing a stolen and forged check at a local financial institution. She is also wanted on four charges of failing to appear in court on 2007 fraud charges. Anyone with information about Hanson or Gee is asked to call Investigator B.E. Bradley at 560-4440, ext. 273 or Crime Stoppers at 683-1200. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves. |
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| Kerri P. | Jun 4 2008, 03:29 PM Post #13 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/2991368/ Bill would require undergrads to mentor Posted: 47 minutes ago Updated: 9 minutes ago RALEIGH, N.C. — The sole sponsor of a bill to require students enrolled at the state’s private and public colleges to mentor school-age children in order to receive a bachelor’s degree describes the program as a “domestic peace corps for education.” Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, named the proposed community service program in memory of two college students who were shot to death earlier this year – Eve Carson, the student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University graduate student. “Society invests a huge amount of money in our young people in our universities. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say you ought to give a little back,” Rand said Wednesday. The bill, filed last week, would require any student seeking a bachelor's degree to spend 20 hours per semester mentoring and tutoring a public school-age child. The bill doesn't specify for how many semesters the mentoring would be required. The requirement would apply to private schools because it would be linked to grants that these colleges already receive from the state to help teach students who live in North Carolina. “It would be a greater tragedy if something doesn’t come out of this and focus attention on what we can do to help our young people,” Rand said. Laurence Lovette, who is charged with murder in both the slayings of Carson and Mahato, and Demario Atwater, who is accused in Carson's death, were both high school dropouts. Rep. Paul Stam, D-Wake County, thinks the bill is unfeasible. “We cannot inflict a 19-year-old with problems as a tutor for a 13-year-old,” Stam said. snip... |
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| Kerri P. | Jun 4 2008, 07:57 PM Post #14 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/2991908/ La. lawmaker's siblings, niece charged with fraud Posted: Today at 4:31 p.m. Updated: 53 minutes ago NEW ORLEANS — A brother, sister and niece of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson were charged Wednesday with pocketing more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money intended for charitable and educational projects. A federal grand jury indicted New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson, her brother, Mose Jefferson, and her daughter, Angela Coleman, on charges that include federal program fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the family members used several nonprofit and for-profit companies to obtain grants designed to help pregnant teens, at-risk youths and others in need of assistance. They allegedly deposited some of the grant money into personal checking accounts and used it for personal expenses. "It's fair to say that the allegations in the indictment are very instructive on how such nonprofits can be exploited," Letten said. A message seeking comment was left with an attorney who has represented Mose Jefferson; it was not immediately clear who was representing Betty Jefferson and Coleman. With Wednesday's 31-count indictment, four members of the politically prominent Jefferson family now face federal criminal charges. snip... |
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| Texas Mom | Jun 4 2008, 09:10 PM Post #15 |
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abb, oh abb, your state's winning the corruption race again! However, I'm sure that North Carolina and Illinois are not far behind in new revelations! 
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6:51 AM Nov 30
