http://nnpa.org/insurance-exchanges-will-extend-coverage-to-millions-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/black-media-slighted-as-spending-power-exceeds-1trillion-by-george-e-curry/
http://nnpa.org/obama-reignites-push-for-gun-legislation-by-george-e-curry/
****[PLEASE NOTE - IN "CASH IN THE APPLE" AND THE ITEM ABOUT REV. WRIGHT AND THE WILMINGTON TEN DOCUMENTARY, I MISTAKENLY WROTE THAT THE FILM WOULD PREMIERE IN MARCH 2014. THE FILM IS ACTUALLY SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED IN FEBRUARY, 2014. THAT WAS AN ERROR, PLEASE CORRECT ON YOUR PAGES, AND THANK YOU MARY ALICE FOR POINTING THAT OUT.]****
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****[NO STATEWIDE STORIES THIS WEEK, JUST LOCAL TO RALEIGH]
****[NO PICTURES]
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MAYOR MCFARLANE SAYS
SE RALEIGH SHOULD
SHARE IN
RALEIGH’S BENEFITS
By Cash Michaels
Editor
The
city of Raleigh needs to look at progressing in a more “holistic way,” says
Mayor Nancy McFarlane, and that means predominately-black Southeast Raleigh
must better share in the growth and benefits that are making the Capital City a
success story.
“
I think we need to make sure that when we are sending out economic development
recruiters, we need to make sure that we’re looking at the whole city,”
McFarlane told The Carolinian in
phone interview Saturday.
For
instance, noting the closing of Kroger Supermarket over a year ago, Mayor
McFarlane suggested attracting kid-friendly businesses or activities to
struggling shopping centers in Southeast Raleigh that would attract families,
and thus, “increase foot traffic” to area stores.
That’s
what it’s about, increasing foot traffic,” she maintained.
With municipal elections Oct. 8th,
and early voting starting this week, McFarlane is seeking her second term in
office after succeeding Charles Meeker, who spent five terms leading the city
towards tremendous growth with major renovations in downtown, and improvements
to the park system.
“The city is in great shape,”
McFarlane said. “We continue to have people [moving here; we continue to
attract business; we have a Triple A bond rating; we’re growing…all in all when
you compare us to cities across the country, we’re doing well.”
“But of course we can do better,”
McFarlane quickly added, especially since Raleigh is expected to double in size
in the next 25 years.
The closing of Kroger’s is but one
of several challenges that have cropped up during Mayor McFarlane’s first term
in office. The recent controversy about the Raleigh police stopping charitable
groups from feeding the homeless in Moore Square made national headlines.
Mayor McFarlane moved quickly to
have the City Council suspend the city regulations authorizing that police
action, and vowed to have a new, more flexible policy in place by November.
And allegations of corruption have
now closed the once heralded Raleigh Business and Technology Center, the over
decade-old business incubator that featured the successful Pacesetters program
for new entrepreneurs, that allegedly was mismanaged.
As Raleigh police detectives
continue their forensic investigation of the RBTC’s financial records, the
center’s officials have filed suit against the city.
Because of that litigation, Mayor
McFarlane couldn’t say much more than that “it was a shame” that an
“invaluable” program like Pacesetters “got wrapped up in all of this other
stuff,” and that the “pieces that were working well” need to be somehow
preserved so that the efforts of creating new businesses continues in some form
apart from the RBTC.
But that can’t happened, McFarlane
maintained, until “everything shakes out in court and the District Attorney’s
office.”
The quality of life in Raleigh is
good these days, says Mayor Farlane, and the tremendous growth has played a key
role in that. But with growth comes challenges, and the need to meet them head
on.
She points to the need for an
improved public transportation system, saying that it’s essential to get people
to their jobs more efficiently, and cutting down on the traffic congestion currently
on the road. A really good public transportation system also helps “guide how
we grow,’ Farlane said.
Protecting the city’s water supply
and providing affordable housing amid rising housing prices are also two key
challenges the next mayor and City Council must continue to wrestle with.
“You have to really work hard to
plan to keep ahead of those things,” Mayor McFarlane says.
The key towards moving Raleigh
effectively forward, Mayor McFarlane said, is securing an experienced and
visionary new city manager.
“We really want someone who
understands that the city is here to serve the citizens, and we really want
someone who can look at the city holistically,” McFarlane said.
Though it is apparent that former
Raleigh City Manager J. Russell Allen did not leave on the best of term, when
his contract was not renewed after 12 years, McFarlane nonetheless expresses admiration
and regard for how far and how fast Raleigh grew under his leadership.
“Russell was a very good manager
for the 12-year-period that he was manager he was very detail-oriented, his
work ethic was legendary…but Raleigh has changed, and it’s at the point where
it needs to change systemically,” McFarlane said.
“It really was time for a new set
of eyes for the city,” she maintained.
Mayor McFarlane’s chief critic is
her primary challenger to re-election, Venita Peyton, who has run for mayor
before.
In a recent forum, Peyton blasted
McFarlane for both the termination of city manager J. Russell Allen, and some
of the decisions made by the City Council.
“I have lived in Raleigh almost
thirty years, and I am so disappointed in the leadership that we have now, “
Peyton told a forum audience at Martin Street Baptist Church two weeks ago.
Peyton said she wants to determine
what the city’s plans are for vacant properties in Southeast Raleigh; work to
get more jobs for local residents with local businesses and large projects; and
if she could get five votes on council if elected, would “fire” any new hires
until she got answers about what happened with Allen.
Besides McFarlane and Peyton, the
third candidate in the race is Robert Lewis Weltzin. Weltzin, A US Army Reserve
officer who moved to Raleigh in 2010, is a chiropractor who is throwing his hat
into the political ring for the first time.
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RWCA Endorses School Bond
Referendum, Candidates
Special to The Carolinian Newspaper
The Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, M-PAC recently
voted to support the 2013 School Bond Referendum in the upcoming election, calling
it "vital to the Wake County
community."
In October, voters will decide whether the
referendum will provide funds totaling $983.754 million for capital projects in
Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS), the largest in North Carolina. The amount
is made up of $43.8 million of funds currently available and $939.9 million of
new funds financed by a combination of general obligation bonds and cash
funding to be appropriated.
Under the School Bond Referendum, WCPSS has
plans to build 16 new schools by 2018 and add additional seats in six major
school renovations.
"While the RWCA is deeply concerned
about the increase in property taxes for those who may be experiencing a tough
time, we also believe that passage of the upcoming bond is vital to the Wake County Community," according
to RWCA President Dr. Earl C. Johnson.
"It is projected that 8,158 new
elementary students will arrive by 2017 and another 11,700 middle and high
school students will arrive by 2018. The proposed building program will address
this continual growth. It is an opportunity that our citizens cannot afford to
ignore."
RWCA also announced its candidate endorsements
for various races, including Raleigh's Incumbent Mayor Nancy McFarlane.
"The RWCA is delighted to endorse the
following candidates for mayor, school board and city council seats," said
Dr. Johnson, who is Pastor of Martin Street Baptist Church in Southeast
Raleigh. "The residents of Wake County have very specific concerns that
are vital to improving their respected communities. We believe that each of
these candidates will represent the needs of all citizens in Wake County."
Other endorsements include:
CITY COUNCIL-AT-LARGE: Mary Baldwin
and Russ Stephenson
CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT SEATS:
District
A: Randy
Stagner
District
C: Eugene
Weeks
District
D: Thomas
Crowder
District
E: Bonner
Gaylord
SCHOOL BOARD
District
1: Tom
Benton
District
2: Monika
Johnson Hostler
District
9: Bill
Fletcher
District 7: Zora Felton
WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL BOND: Yes
TRANSPORTATION BOND: Yes
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CASH IN THE APPLE -09-26-13
By Cash Michaels
REV.
WRIGHT – Last weekend on the statewide TV show, “NC Spin” hosted by Tom Campbell, Tom asked his “panel of
experts” – one of which, by chance, was me – to tell him something he didn’t
know.
So
when it was my turn, I shared something he and the rest of the panelists found
interesting, indeed.
In
1977, a group of ministers from the
United Church of Christ came to Raleigh to meet with then-Gov Jim Hunt, to ask him to grant
pardons of innocence to the Wilmington
Ten.
The
UCC had put up over $500,000 to help pay for the legal defense for the
Wilmington Ten during their trials in 1972.
One
of those UCC ministers was the Rev. Dr.
Jeremiah Wright Jr., pastor of Trinity
United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill., and church, under his leadership,
that taught “Black Liberation” theology.
And
yes, it would be that same Rev. Wright who would be made infamous by the big
media in this nation when a prominent member of his congregation, Sen. Barack
Obama, announced he was running for president in 2007.
So
what does all of this have to do with what Tom Campbell asked me on his
program?
About
a month ago, Rev. Wright back came to Durham for a two-day session at the Apex School of Theology. The school
placed an ad announcing Rev. Wright’s appearance there in The Carolinian, and the
rest is history. I did everything I could to contact Rev. Wright through AST to
ask him for an on-camera interview for our Wilmington Ten documentary.
And
he very graciously granted it. Thank you, Rev. Wright.
That
interview is just one of the many powerful moments we’re producing for “Pardons
of Innocence: The Wilmington Ten,” the first documentary ever to document the
entire Wilmington Ten story. Watch for it when it makes its premiere in Wilmington
the first week of February 2014.
The
film is presented by the National
Newspaper Publishers Association, and produced by CashWorks HD Productions.
OBAMA
AND THE REPUBLICANS – If you’ve been watching the news (and I know it’s been
mighty painful to do so in recent weeks), then you know that once again, the
extremists in the Republican Party are about to, attempt to get their way by
black mailing the country.
All
because they want to show up President
Barack Obama. Actually, that’s not accurate.
The
Republicans want to DESTROY President Obama, and they way they want to do it is
to force him and the Democrats to stop the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known
as “Obamacare.”
So
last week, the House Republicans passed a law that would forestall a government
shutdown until December (the federal budget is supposed to be renewed by
September 30th), but also defunded Obamacare.
That
law was then sent to the Democrat-led US Senate, which is expected to strip the
Obamacare provision out, vote up the temporary funding mechanism, and send it
back to a GOP House which will most likely not to ratify the Senate version
unless the “end Obamacare” provision is put back in.
This
is fiddling while Rome burns, and the president knows it.
He’s
been traveling the nation, telling everyone what the Republicans are up to, and
why it’s all about trying to cripple his legacy.
The
president is doing all he can do. He can’t stop the Republicans from acting
like idiots (especially the rabid Tea Party members who have clearly taken over
the Republican Party), so all he can do is leverage the American people to pay
attention to what is going on, and brace themselves in the event of a
government shutdown.
But
the calamity doesn’t stop there.
The
Republicans are holding the nation’s ability to pay its bills hostage by
demanding that Obama kill Obamacare if he really wants the country’s debt
ceiling raised. We are told that if that happens, our struggling economy will
be enormously harmed, and the negative economic ripple worldwide will be substantial.
The
president needs this mess like a hole in the head. He’s got the economy, and
Syria and gun control…and so many other issues that are filling his already
overflowing plate of problems.
So
as much as it may bother you, as much as it may pain you, pay attention to what
happens next in the political drama. It does matter, and it does affect you and
your family.
If
the government is shutdown, or the debt ceiling is not raised, or Obamacare is
somehow stopped, ALL of us will feel something one way or another.
The
question is, how long will we tolerate it?
Make sure you tune in
every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk radio show, ''Make It Happen''
on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online at www.myWAUG.com.
And read more about my thoughts and opinions exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash
Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
I promise it will be interesting.
Cash in the Apple - honored as the Best
Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story
Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s
President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until next week, keep a smile on your face,
GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in your life. Bye, bye.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS
09-26-13
BANK OF AMERICA
ORDERED TO COMPENSATE DENIED BLACK JOB SEEKERS
[CHARLOTTE]
The ruling can be appealed, but for now, a federal judge has ordered Bank of
America to compensate over a thousand qualified black Charlotte job applicants
$2.2 million who were unfairly denied employment at BofA banks because of the
color of their skin. The US Labor Dept. made the announcement this week.
Qualified blacks were denied teller, entry-level clerical and administrative
positions in 1993, and again between 2002 and 2005. BofA insists that the
company values diversity, but hasn’t said whether it will appeal the federal
court ruling.
TRIAL FOR MURDERED
FIVE-YEAR-OLD’S MOTHER POSTPONED
[FAYETTEVILLE]
Add two weeks to when the first-degree murder trial of Antoinette Davis, mother
of slain five-year-old Shaniya Davis, will begin. The Davis trial was originally
scheduled to begin Oct. 14th, but now has been pushed back to Oct.
28th. Davis is charged with selling her young daughter to drug
dealer Mario McNeil to satisfy a drug debt. McNeill, 32, was convicted last May
raping the child, and then killing her, leaving her body in the woods. The
delay is to provide more time in getting the transcripts of the McNeil trial
for the Davis trial.
AUGUST JOBLESS RATE
DROPS IN NC
[GREENSBORO]
The good news is that the statewide unemployment rate dropped in August to 8.7
from July’s 8.9, according to the state Dept. of Commerce. The bad news is
North Carolina is losing more jobs than it’s gaining, signaling that economic
recovery is slow indeed. The jobless numbers shrank simply because more people
stopped looking for work, a bad sign of lackluster growth, state economists
say. Nationally the jobless figure
is 7.3 percent.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
09-26-13
SHAW UNIVERSITY
BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEW PRESIDENT
Once
again, Shaw University President Dorothy Cowser Yancy has made it clear that
her second tenure as interim president is coming to a close, so a 22-member
search committee, led by Rev. Dr. David Forbes, is now looking for who will
take over the reins permanently. Dr. Yancy took over after Dr. Irma McClaurin resigned
in 2011, the second time Yancy filled breach, having served as interim for 15
months before McClaurin arrived.
Though no date has been given for Dr. Yancy’s departure, she issued a
statement saying that she was “proud” of her accomplishments while leading “this
great university.”
DURHAM POLICE KILL
EMOTIONALLY DISTRAUGHT MAN
Durham
police fatally shot an emotionally distraught man who friends say “snapped” under the pressure of a child
custody battle. Derek Derandre Walker, 26, held a handgun as he stood in
Durham’s CCB Plaza downtown Sept. 17th. Walker pointed the gun to
his head at times. A police negotiator tried to talk Walker out of harming
himself, but when he pointed the weapon at police, he was killed by a
sharpshooter. Friends say Walker was a good man and father who had given up
fighting for his son’s custody, and wanted to die.
SEARCH FIRM HIRED FOR
NEW WAKE COUNTY MANAGER
A
Tallahassee, Fla. search firm has been hired to find Wake County’s next county
manager in the aftermath of David Cooke’s announced retirement in July. Cooke,
who ha been at the helm of managing the county for over a decade, will step
down in November. The firm, Bob Murray and Associates, will be paid $24,000
plus expenses for a comprehensive executive search. The Murray firm was chosen
from among three finalists. Officials hope to name a permanent replacement for
Cooke in early 2014.
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