Chronicle Jan 28 09

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THE

C HRONICLE VOLUME XXXVII NUMBER 22

President

Obama:

From Charleston Porches, Burke High and Claflin......... Fotos by Bobby Crawford

•1111 King St. •Charleston, SC 29403• January 28, 2009 •

Councilman Lewis: City’s Minority Business Dept. “A Joke!”

Councilman James Lewis By Barney Blakeney Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley’s announcement two weeks ago that Jonathan R. Oakman has been hired to fill the newly established position of Director of Business Services working with the city’s minority business program and supporting existing businesses throughout the city prompts renewed scrutiny of the city’s Minority Business Development Office. Oakman takes the position after the reorganization of the former economic development office. Riley recently reorganized the department into two divisions creating a Division of Business Development to be headed by former city annexation See pg 2

Targeting Minority, Failing Schools “Troubling” Says Jon Butzon By Barney Blakeney Though Charleston County School District’s administration has parred down an initial proposal to close some 12 predominantly Black schools across the county in an effort to save money, it’s latest proposal to close only five of those schools still smacks of inequity, some are saying. “Whenever we talk about closing schools, we don’t talk about closing predominantly white schools,” said Charleston Education Network Director Jon Butzon. “The five schools proposed for closure are

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The Passing of Benny and the Legend of the Brooks Brothers By Barney Blakeney On Jan. 20 as the nation gained one great leader, the Charleston community lost another. Charleston businessman Benjamin ‘Benny’ Brooks died Tuesday at age 91 after a long illness. Over six decades Brooks along with several of his brothers became iconic figures in Charleston’s Black business community. Directly impacting the lives of hundreds through his various business ventures Brooks, the son of a janitor, grew to become one of Charleston’s preeminent Black businessmen. The sixth of nine children born to John and Louisa Jenkins Brooks Dec. 21, 1917, Benny Brooks grew up in Cow Alley off State Street in downtown Charleston. He and elder brother Henry Brooks started in business as very young men. Former State Senator and Charleston funeral home owner Herbert Fielding recalls as a boy riding his bicycle to the restaurant at Cumberland and State streets owned by Henry and Benny Brooks to fetch lunch for his father’s employees. “Benny is one of the last of the downtown boys who owned businesses in this neighborhood when it was majority Black,” said Fielding whose family owned business still is located on Logan Street. “In those days there were quite a few Black business concerns in this community as most Blacks lived below Calhoun Street. We didn’t know what it was to go above Calhoun Street,” Fielding recalled. Among those businesses were a masonry contractor on Franklin Street which performed much of the downtown masonry appreciated today, a wood yard on Wilson Street, Rose Tailor Shop and Honey Boy’s Restaurant. St. Luke AME Church now located on Gordon Street originally was located on Wilson Street, Fielding said. The Brooks brothers established themselves as business and social leaders, “Right from the gitgo,” said Fielding. Starting out in the restaurant business in 1939, the brothers eventually operated establishments on Calhoun Street and later at Morris and Felix streets. They operated pool rooms on Coming Street, Aiken Street, King Street and Morris Street. Several of their siblings worked in the businesses. Older brother William owned a grocery

The Legendary Albert and Benny Brooks

BENNY & ALBERT WERE RARE HUMAN BEINGS

This week, a man named Benjamin Brooks slipped quietly away from us. To the non-informed, Benny was simply one of those community elders who offered good advice and a kind word. But to hundreds of others, he was among the trailblazers who opened doors for others and made it possible for some of the young men and women of today to have a chance at their elusive dreams of success. Benny Brooks was both a gentle man a gentleman. He wore his success lightly and he was never impressed with himself. A mild-mannered, soft-spoken man, he was See pg 2

Benny Brooks

See pg 2

See pg 2

Vulgarity To Some Could Be Music To Others, Court Says

(Note: Photographer Bobby Crawford has created a portfolio of excellent pictures during President Obama’s visit to Charleston and Orangeburg and then turned them into colorful calendars. Please call Bobby at (843) 8753277).

SAN DIEGO(AP)- What’s vulgar to some is music to other peoples’ ears, an appellate court has decided in reversing the conviction of a man found guilty of uttering offensive word’s in public. “A land as diverse as ours must expect and tolerate an infinite variety of expressions. What is vulgar to one may be lyrical to another,” justices of the 4th District Court of Appeals said Wednesday in a written opinion on the case of Gerald Callahan, arrested See pg 2

Brooks Restaurant, Motel and Real Estate office dominated Morris St. during the struggle for civil rights in the Charleston area. It was here where plans were made during the ‘69 Hospital Strike that closed the city down with a curfew and the calling out of the National Guard.

The Chronicle

2- January 28, 2009 Councilman Lewis-------------------------------------cont. from pg 1 co-ordinator Ernest Andrade and the division of business services. In a press statement Riley said Oakman would work with minority businesses. Charleston’s controversial Minority Business Development Office is the only one of its kind operated by a local municipality and has encountered continued scrutiny since its inception. Oakman’s hiring raises questions about the office’s past and future accomplishments. Councilman James Lewis, starting his 14th year representing District 3 said the city’s Minority Business Development Office has accomplished nothing during his three terms in office and calls the reorganization of the department and Oakman’s hiring “just another high paying job for a white person with the city.” He said the Minority Business Development Office is “a joke.” Dist. 4 Representative Robert Mitchell, like other council members is unfamiliar with the reorganization of the economic development department, Oakman or his responsibilities. “I know he (Riley) brought Andrade back, but I don’t know the mayor’s agenda,” said Mitchell who has served on council since 1997. The minority business development office has had minimal success over the years, Mitchell said. But since council members have had no input in the department’s reorganization or Oakman’s hiring, he can’t say if Riley’s actions will result in improvements to the minority business development office. Councilman Larry Shirley said council is being told the city is meeting its minority business participation goals and he feels the minority business development office has done a moderate job of reaching out to the minority business community. But ultimately it will be minority business leaders who will determine how successful the office can become, Shirley said. The nation is entering a new era led by President Barack Obama and the president’s proposed stimulus package to cities offers local minorities an excellent opportunity for inclusion, Shirley added. Councilman Timothy Mallard, like his colleagues, is unfamiliar with Riley’s reorganization or Oakman. “We have not done a good job with economic development in the past, business development or job creation,” Mallard said. With regard to the city’s minority business development office specifically Mallard said, “In this city if Joe Riley doesn’t want it, it doesn’t get done. “I think the minority business development office can be more successful, but Riley has to put more money into it for marketing purposes. The minority business development office hasn’t been promoted,” he said.

Vulgarity to -----------------------------------------------cont. from pg 1 after he delivered a verbal lashing to a California Highway Patrol officer. The eight-page ruling included examples of language the court said had once shocked people but now is generally accepted throughout society. “Who in that earlier generation, can forget the shock waves generated by Clark Gable when, as Rhett Butler, he said to Scarlett, ‘ Frankly my dear. I don’t give a damn,” the justices said, quoting from the move classic, “Gone With The Wind.” Callahan was convicted by a jury of a misdemeanor charge of uttering offensive words in public that could provoke violent reactions. According to court records, Callahan cursed a CHP during a heated

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(843) 723-2785 Fax: (843) 577-6099 Email: [email protected] J. JOHN FRENCH, SR. President - Editor//Publisher VALENTINA SMALLS Operations-Business Mgr./ Comptroller-Advertising SIMONA A. FRENCH ReceptionistTraffic/Photographer Marketing Tolbert Smalls, Jr. Contributing WritersHakim Abdul-Ali Beverly Birch Bob Small DEADLINE: PUBLIC SERVICES FRIDAY PRIOR TO PUBlICATION DATE Member: National Newspaper Publishers, Assoc. South Carolina Press Assoc. Amalgamated Publishers S.C. Chamber of Commerce NO REFUNDS ON SUBSCRIPTIONS Published Wednesday TRI State PrintingNorth Charleston Credo of The Black Press The Black Press believes that America can best lead the world from racial and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, creed or color, his or her human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all persons are hurt as long as anyone is held back

exchange at an accident scene. The appellate court referred to the unmentionable name as “The Callahan Epithet” throughout its opinion.

Nursing Industry Desperate to Find New Recruits By: Dinesh Ramde, AP Business Writer

many key nursing positions.

MILWAUKEE - Please, please accept a high-paying job with us. In fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes. Sounds too good to be true, especially in an economy riddled with job cuts in nearly every industry. But applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive. One Michigan company literally rolled out a red carpet at a recent hiring event. Residential Home Health, which provides in-home nursing for seniors on Medicare, lavished registered nurses and other health care workers with free champagne and a trivia contest hosted by gameshow veteran Chuck Woolery. Prizes included a one-year lease for a 2009 SUV, hotel stays and dinners. "We're committed to finding ways to creatively engage with passive job seekers," said David Curtis, president of the Madison Heights-based company. Recruiters like Curtis may have little choice. The long-standing U.S. nurse shortage has led to chronic understaffing that can threaten patient care and nurses' job satisfaction, and the problem is expected to worsen. The shortage has been operating since World War II on an eight- to 10-year cycle, industry experts say. Each time the number of nurses reaches a critical low, the government adds

The Passing -----------cont. from pg 1 store, still in business, at Line and Percy streets. Henry Brooks died in 1952 and Benny went into business with younger brother Albert. During the mid-1950s the brothers closed the Cumberland Street restaurant and opened a grill on Morris Street. Several years later they bought three houses on Washington Street for use as rooming houses. They expanded their businesses on Morris Street to include a motel built in 1963 at Felix and Morris streets, a new restaurant on Morris Street built in 1963, a real estate office housed in the old grill and a pool room on Morris Street. Like most Black owned businesses the coming of integration ushered in an era of declining business for the brothers. Albert’s death in 1993 and Benny’s failing health hastened further decline. But Jean Brooks Murphy said during their years of prosperity her father and uncles created a legacy that touched hundreds of employees, their families and countless other Black entrepreneurs. “They took care of everyone who worked for them, helping some get homes and sending others’ children to college. If an employee was sick they’d give the family money and in some cases they paid for burials. They gave a foot up to many young men going into business,” Mrs. Murphy said. Fielding added, “A lot of young people probably don’t know it, but Benny and his brothers were an inspiration to a lot of us coming up in that era.”

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Cheryl Peterson, the director of nursing practice and policy for the American Nurses Association in Silver Spring, Md., said employers must raise salaries and improve working conditions.

funding and hospitals upgrade working conditions. But as the deficit eases, those retention efforts fade and eventually the old conditions return, often driving nurses into other professions. "We recently had a hiring event where, for experienced nurses to interview just to interview - we gave them $50 gas cards," said Tom Zinda, the director of recruitment at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare in the Milwaukee-area city of Glendale. "We really try to get as creative as we can. It's a tough position to fill." Recruiters across the country have tried similar techniques, offering chair massages, lavish catering and contests for flat-screen TVs, GPS devices and shopping sprees worth as much as $1,000. Even strong salaries aren't doing the trick. Registered

nurses made an average of $62,480 in 2007, ranging from a mean of $78,550 in California to $49,140 in Iowa, according to government statistics. Including overtime, usually abundantly available, the most experienced nurses can earn more than $100,000. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts about 233,000 additional jobs will open for registered nurses each year through 2016, on top of about 2.5 million existing positions. But only about 200,000 candidates passed the Registered Nurse licensing exam last year, and thousands of nurses leave the profession each year. Several factors are in play: a lack of qualified instructors to staff training programs, lack of funding for training programs, difficult working conditions and the need for expertise in

Benny and -----------------------------------------------cont. from pg 1 always ready to listen to the problem of others. It was during the era of strict segregation in this city that he, along with his late brother, Albert, owned and operated Brooks Restaurant and Motel, which was the gathering mecca of African-Americans where many of the strategies designed to counter the racism so prevalent at the time. He gave of himself because that was his way. On a personal note it was Albert and Benny Brooks who invited, on my Navy Retirement, me and my young family to stay in the motel and dine in the restaurant, and when I decided to start this newspaper with big dreams and no money, they arranged for the bank to access the funds I needed. That will stay with me forever. It was at the motel where local and national leaders, denied accommodations in area high-end hotels, found comfort and soul food, including Coretta Scott-King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Daddy King, Walter Reuter, Herbert Fielding, Gussie Humes, Big John Chisolm, Arthur Christopher and many others, all legends made welcomedby Albert and Benny Brooks. What makes this particular breed of man tick? Is it the hope that he may gain something? Or, is it the hope that he may gain something? Or, is it in hope that he will become the knight in shining armor for someone? We think none of these is so. We also thing that the Benny Brooks of the world are placed here by the Creator to give hope in a hopeless world. While most folks will not know Benny Brooks or his brother, Albert, per se, there have been few to measure up to their monumental contributions to a community both loved so much, and they deserve whatever tribute that can be paid. They have earned it, with love and compassion for others. So long, Brother Benny. Jim French

Targeting Minority --------------------------------------cont. from pg 1 high minority, high poverty schools. That’s always so.” He noted no schools in the predominantly white constituent districts of Mt. Pleasant, James Island or West Ashley ever were targeted for closure. That high minority/poverty schools are the target for the administration is troubling, said Butzon, but more troubling is his belief the current low performing and enrollment conditions existing at the schools being used to justify their closure have been created by the administration. The administration developed criteria to identify schools that could be closed such as low student performance and enrollment. Those criteria are a history of the administration’s failure to educate all children, “But their acting like that’s not their responsibility,” Butzon said. “The responsibility for all that sits at 75 Calhoun St. The way to avoid low performance is to provide schools first rate resources. When that doesn’t happen you get low performance and of course you’re going to lose enrollment when schools don’t perform well,” he said. “Somehow we did it again. Maybe we didn’t mean to do it, but we didn’t mean not to do it either. By not doing the things it takes to avoid problems, we did it again.” Darrin Griffin who chaired the committee appointed to develop restructuring alternatives to the initial administration proposal for Constituent Dist. 23 said he doesn’t believe the administration’s proposals have anything to do with economics. Low performing schools and students make the administration look bad, “I don’t believe this has anything to do with money,” he said. The administration has said employees displaced by the closures would be absorbed in other positions with the county. Closing the buildings but continuing to employ the staff results in only minimal savings, Griffin said. Like Butzon, Griffin who has three children which attended schools outside Dist. 23 said past policies created problems for the district’s schools. Linda Gadson, Director of Rural Missions, Inc. on Johns Island lives in Hollywood echoed Butzon and Griffin saying, “The proposed closing of Schroeder Middle School saddens me, but it all reverts back to money and who gets it. It’s hard to say what those folks have planned down the road, but they definitely have a plan. “It’s hard for anybody in the minority community to hold onto anything now because the justification will be that there’s no money. This gives families the chance to rise up, stay diligent and attend all the meetings,” she said.

"The wages haven't kept up with the level of responsibility and accountability nurses have," said Peterson, whose organization represents nurses' interests. Chronic understaffing means nurses are overworked, she said, and as burned-out nurses leave the situation spirals for the colleagues they leave behind. Some hospital departments where experience is vital, such as the emergency room or intensivecare unit, simply cannot hire newly minted nurses. So managers in those areas have even fewer staffing choices. Nurses qualified to teach aspiring nurses are scarce chiefly because they can make at least 20 percent more working at a hospital, experts said. "It can be hard to turn down that extra money," said Robert Rosseter, the associate executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in Washington, D.C. Many recruiters have looked for employees overseas, and about one-fourth of the nurses who earned their licenses in 2007 were educated internationally, most in the Philippines and India. Some health organizations go out of their way to recruit as many nurses as possible even when they're overstaffed. Residential Home Health, the home-nursing company in Michigan, is always looking to hire, Curtis said. Even with 375 clinical professionals on staff, his recruiters are eager to sign up as many as 50 more nurses and therapists, hence the Chuck Woolery event. Zinda, the Milwaukee-area recruiter, said creative recruiting helps to introduce nurses to his hospital. Besides offering interviewees $50 gas cards, he has provided $100 gift cards to the local mall, and created a Facebook page to target younger nurses. Attracting good candidates is about offering good working conditions, he said, but creative recruiting goes a long way in generating a buzz. "Bottom line, you need to get people excited about what you're offering," he said. "If you don't, they can easily go elsewhere."

The Chronicle

January 28, 2009- 3

100 Years Later, Still An Unfinished Journey By. Ben Jealous NNPA Commentary

Special

The election of President Barack Obama reflects a seminal transformation within the American psyche. Overcoming the limitations of our history fraught with the wrenching divisions of race, a majority of voters embraced our country’s promise crossing racial, cultural and generational boundaries to set a remarkable example for the world. The inauguration today is the culmination of a long march for justice. One hundred years ago in 1909 the NAACP was born, launching a three-decade long struggle to finally end the lynch mobs that killed thousands of AfricanAmericans. In 1932, the organization took up the mantle to reverse Jim Crow and two decades later, segregation was made illegal. In 1960, a sustained effort for political inclusion was initiated that triumphed this year in the election of an AfricanAmerican president and the Black elected officials since reconstruction. Yet there is a dichotomy between the symbol of hope and racial progress of President Obama’s election and the entrenched realties of our painful racial legacy. While the country has allowed individuals to permeate the barriers of discrimination, entire groups of people are still locked out of the American dream because of race. An unknown Barack dressed in jeans and a Tshirt might find it difficult to get a cab. As a Black man, he would be much more likely to be subjected to threats or use of force than a White man were he stopped by police according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. African-

Americans are still unfairly profiled and subjected to a justice system that uses mass incarceration to address too many of our nation’s social problems. We have the second highest incarceration rate in the world with more than two million adults in prison. With an estimated one in nine African- American men and one in 35 AfricanAmerican women likely to be incarcerated, the nation’s racial disparities in the criminal justice system are indisputable. AfricanAmericans, who represent 13.4 percent of the U.S. population, are 30.5 percent of all people arrested. Our corporate board rooms are quietly segregated. A report released last week by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles reveals that Black and Hispanics are more isolated from White students than at any time since the civil rights movement and many of the schools they attend are of dismal quality. The report attributed the trends to a “systematic neglect of civil rights policies.” The crushing burden of poverty still reigns over far too many communities of color robbing children of opportunity. The African-American middle class is stagnant at best. Studies reveal the entrenched realities of discrimination. In one study in Milwaukee, Wis. pairs of Black and White college students, using similar resumes, applied for 350 low-skill jobs advertised in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Some of the participants were assigned false prison records. The study concluded that employers preferred Whites with criminal records to AfricanAmericans with no criminal background. Overall, employers were three times more likely to hire Whites.

W A S H I N G T O N (NNPA) President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not happy with new dolls that resemble images of their two young daughters. Ty Inc., makers of the popular beanie baby dolls, has created two 12-inch dolls named ''Sweet Sasha'' and ''Marvelous Malia.'' The Westmont, Ill.,-based company said, through spokeswoman Tania Lundeen, that the dolls' names were chosen because they were ''beautiful names.'' ''There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls,'' Lundeen told the Associated Press. ''It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not.'' The Obamas, through a spokesman, said it would be ''inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes.'' Also in the news, Mattel Inc. announced it will launch its first complete line of African-American Barbie dolls. The line, which features three adult dolls, was previewed one day after America’s first AfricanAmerican president, Barack Obama, took office. The “So in Style” dolls, expected to be released in fall 2009, come with little sisters as part of a mentorship theme.

“America doesn’t respect anything but money. What our people need is a few millionaires.” Madame C.J. Walker

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson The unchallenged article of faith is that the election of President Barack Obama fulfills Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that the content of character should trump skin color. King uttered the words in his March on Washington speech in 1963. We’ll hear that said time and again in the march up to the King national holiday January 19 and Obama’s inauguration the next day.

Ben Jealous This is the unfinished business of our journey. The bold dream of an America where opportunity exists for all and where every American is given a chance to reach their potential remains elusive. This year we need to see a bailout of backstreet not just Main Street and the wealthy elite of Wall Street. We need to move quickly to the day when all children go to a good school. We need to stop using prisons to solve social problems that can be better addressed through strategies like drug rehabilitation and treatment for mental illness. The centennial of the NAACP reflects a turning point in our nation from lynch mobs to electing our first Black president. We know there are many challenges ahead yet we have proven time and time again that together, in unity, marching forward we can create a better world. The remarkable election of President Barack Obama inspired millions and it is in that collective and impassioned longing for change, we shall find the political will to complete the journey and realize our country’s noble promise. Ben Jealous is president of the NAACP.

Obamas Upset over Beanie Babies Named After Their Childern By. James Wright Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers

Obama Does and Doesn't Fulfill King's Dream

Obama’s election did show that millions of whites could strap racial blinders around their eyes and punch the ticket for an African-American for the world’s most powerful political post. King would almost certainly glow with approval at that. But there are a couple of troubling caveats that mar America’s great racial leap forward. Obama won in large part because he did what no other Democratic presidential candidate did, and that includes Bill Clinton. He turned his presidential campaign into a virtual holy crusade by AfricanAmericans voters to get him in the White House. The staggering 96 percent of the black vote he got made the crucial difference in the key Democratic primaries and later in nailing down the victory over Republican rival John McCain in the must win states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. A mid-September 2008 survey also found that a significant percentage of whites who said they’d vote for Obama also said that blacks were more crime prone and less industrious than whites. There were several ways to look at this seeming racial paradox. One is that these Obama backers were so fed up with Bush policies and a battered economy that Obama offered a change and a lifeline. Another was that he presented a race neutral soothing departure from the perceived race baiting antics of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. And yet another was that he simply was sufficiently racially ambiguous enough not to pose any real racial threat. The reports that Obama has received more taunts and physical threats than any other president-elect is another troubling indication that an untold number of Americans still can’t stomach the thought of an African-American in the White House. The hoisting of Obama to a rarified political or non racial pedestal is the exact opposite of what King had in mind. Nearly a half century after King’s I Have a Dream words the black poor are still just as tightly trapped in the grip of poverty and discrimination that King warned about. On the eve of the King national holiday and

and poverty are still major barriers for millions. And it’s not just the black poor that bear the brunt of discrimination. President Bush even wondered out loud recently why there were so few black reporters covering his press conferences.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson Obama’s inauguration, the Boston based research and economic justice advocacy group, United for a Fair Economy, released its sixth annual King Day report. It found that the gaping disparities in income, wealth, employment, quality and availability of housing, decent schools, and health care between blacks, minorities and whites has grown even wider. Countless government reports and studies, and the National Urban League’s 2007 State of Black America report also found that discrimination

Obama has publicly bristled at the notion that the civil rights movement is outdated, or worse that he somehow supplants the ongoing work of civil rights leaders. He has repeatedly praised past civil rights leaders for their heroic battle against racial injustice. King's dream of justice and equality a reality. Obama faced that challenge as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, during his stints in the Illinois legislature and in the Senate. He faces that same challenge in the White House. There’s still much to overcome.

The Chronicle

4-January 28, 2009

The Morning After By. James Clingman NNPA Columnist

Blackonomics On Wednesday, January 21, 2009, after the Inauguration, the festivities, the parties, the formals, the “pomp and circumstance,” the tears of joy, the line dances, and the speeches, I wonder what our next action items will be. I wonder if we will even have an action item. I wonder if Black folks especially will immediately get back to work on the things that negatively affect us, and continue to move forward on the issues by which we are positively affected. On that morning after, I wonder if we will muster up the same kind of energy we displayed during the run-up to Barack Obama’s election. I wonder if we will remain excited and enthusiastic about working to “change” our economic condition, improve the education of our children, reduce crime in our neighborhoods, and strengthen our overall social condition. I wonder. After the party, will we remain focused on these and other important issues, or will we awaken on the morning after with a terrible hangover? A hangover so bad that we say, “I am glad that’s over; at least I don’t have to worry about it for another four years.” Will we then sit back and relax in our easy chairs, thinking we have it made now, and retire to a life of complacency? When it comes to economic empowerment, especially, we cannot afford to stop fighting because we have a “Black” President. The education of our children will not improve through some hocus-pocus sleight of hand. The crime in our local communities will not subside as a result of someone doing something in Washington, D.C. The discrimination against and mistreatment of Black people in social, economic, and political circles, on a local level, will not magically go away because Obama is in the White House. But you already knew that, right? So, what now? That question has been asked thousands of times in the past few months. What are we to do now that we have the “First Black President”? The first thing we had better do, and continue to do, is pray for the brother and his family; they surely need it. Then we must realize that with his election, the work has only just begun. Whether you supported his candidacy or not, you should make every effort to bring to fruition the victories for which we have been fighting long before Obama even thought about running for President. Locally, of course, we must continue to fight for inclusion and equity in development projects, i.e., contracting, construction management, and ownership. We must continue to fight for justice in our courtrooms from our judges and prosecutors. We must fight for real representation from our politicians in return for our votes. We must show up at school board meetings and fight for our children’s education – and be participants in their education rather than mere observers. Wouldn’t you like to see Black people expend the same energy on the essential tasks necessary for our full liberation as we have seen over the past 18 months or so? Imagine the possibilities, as the saying goes. Picture Black people putting our money together for a common cause, the same way we did for Barack Obama’s campaign. We had enough money to send to the campaign; let’s do something similar with our money when it comes to contributing to an equity or investment fund. Let’s use some of our money to support our organizations, our institutions, and our Black owned businesses. Let’s start a “safety net” fund in our neighborhoods to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters in their time of need. Let’s start a Collective Banking Group in every city and use the collective leverage that exists in our churches to gain more benefits and equitable treatment for our church members. Let’s support Compro Tax this tax season, or any other Black owned tax preparation service in our local areas. C’mon, brothers and sisters, it’s tax preparation! Stop buying in to the “colder ice” myth. As I reflect on all of the money that was raised during Obama’s campaign, some $650 million or so, and yes I know the vast majority of it did not come from Black folks, it is amazing that we never even blinked at such a sum. But when it comes to our putting a little money together to help one another, you can’t find some Black people with a search warrant. That’s sad. So let’s consider what took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, and then let’s think about the morning after. Let’s think about the year after, the decade after. Let’s understand that there is much work to do, work that started before Obama, and work that did not end with his ascension to the highest political throne in the land. After the party, think about all the money we spent to throw the party and to celebrate the occasion. Then, figure out what your particular niche is and get back to work; that is, if you took a respite from the essential work of liberation and building a future for our children. Some of us did not take a few months off; some of us continued to work right through the euphoria and excitement of Obama’s election. We won’t have a hangover on the morning after. We will get up and get right back to the work at hand. The work of Economic empowerment, political representation, the proper education of our youth, criminal justice rather than injustice, and social equity for Black people, is absolutely essential for our survival and growth in this country. On the morning after, and on subsequent mornings, make a commitment with yourself and your own consciousness to make a difference. Get busy and stay busy; we have to do the work ourselves.

We Still Have a Long Way to Go By. U. S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) NNPA Special Commentary Slightly more than 45 years after the historic March on Washington, the inauguration of President Barack Obama is a major down payment on the fulfillment of the dream King spoke about that day. It is as though God is saying, you may kill a few men, you may kill a few women and children, but the dream they dreamt, the truth that they stood for was too real, too right, too necessary, too noble to ever die. So we need to take a moment to thank all those who came before us who survived some of the greatest perils human beings have ever faced to emerge victorious. We have to stop and take a moment to celebrate the wonders that hands that picked cotton have manifested. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. Rosa Parks and Coretta King, Martin and Medgar may be gone, but we still have a work to do. Freedom is not free. Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is a series of actions that we must all continue to take to guarantee freedom, justice, and equal opportunity in our future. Our forerunners have done their part; now it is time for each of us to honor the great heritage of our community. We must do what they did. We must prepare ourselves and then do what we can to help build the Beloved Community, an all inclusive society based on simple justice that values the dignity and the worth of every human being. With the election of Barack Obama, African-Americans have a reason to be proud. Too often we, as a community, focus on how we have failed. But the presidency of Barack Obama is a time for us to celebrate what we have accomplished as a people. “You who protest courageously,” said Martin Luther King Jr., “and yet with dignity and….love – when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will Rep.John Lewis have to pause and say, ‘There lies a great people, a B lack people, who injected new meaning and dignity into the very veins of civilization.’” It was our heritage of struggle and a lineage that pressed toward freedom that helped save America from itself and delivered us to this day. It was a people, Black people, who acted on their faith and deep spiritual conviction that helped transform an entire nation. In the Civil Rights Movement, we were lucky. We were fortunate to be led by some of the greatest minds to ever set foot on American soil—A. Phillip Randolph, the dean of the Movement; Whitney Young, the negotiator and diplomat; Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, masters of the legal battleground, and of course, Martin Luther King Jr., the embodiment of the non-violent call for social change. But the Civil Rights Movement was not a movement of leaders. It was the maids and porters, wash women and butlers, farmers and sharecroppers, students and their parents--it was ordinary people with extraordinary vision, they were the marching feet who transformed this nation forever. First they prepared themselves. They studied the discipline and philosophy of non-violence. They attended trainings and mass meetings where they gained information and inspiration from leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and others. They planned their method of protest, and then they were ready to answer the call of their conscience. Some of us were beaten. Some of us went to jail. And some of us paid the ultimate price trying to register people to vote. We lost Jimmie Lee Jackson, and four little girls one Sunday morning in Birmingham, Ala. We lost Medgar Evers and Lemuel Penn. We lost young Virgil Ware and Vernon Dahmer. And we lost our most inspired leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Nobody knew when we were sitting down on lunch counter stools in Birmingham and Nashville. Nobody knew when lighted cigarettes were put out in our hair or down our backs. Nobody knew when we were arrested on trumped up charges and taken to jail. Nobody knew then that today our children and grandchildren would be able to eat where they want to eat, sleep in any hotel where they want to sleep, and ride on a bus freely without fearing for their lives. And nobody knew on March 7, 1965, when a small group of non-violent protestors made a sacred vow to walk from Selma to Montgomery. Nobody knew when some of us were left beaten and bloody on the Edmund Pettus bridge, that today the hands that picked cotton would have picked the next President of the United States.

Job-Killing Recession Racks Up More Layoff Victims By JEANNINE AVERSA AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -The recession is killing jobs at an alarming pace, with tens of thousands of new layoffs announced Monday by some of the biggest names in American business - Pfizer, Caterpillar and Home Depot. More pink slips, pay freezes and other hits are expected to slam workers in the months ahead as companies desperately look for ways to survive. "We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg - the big firms," said Rebecca Braeu, economist at John Hancock Financial Services. "There's certainly other firms beneath them that will lay off workers as quickly or even quicker." Looking ahead, economists predicted a net loss of at least 2 million jobs - possibly more this year even if President Barack Obama's $825 billion package of increased government spending and tax cuts is enacted. Last year, the economy lost a net 2.6 million jobs, the most since 1945, though the labor force has grown significantly since then. The unemployment rate, now at a 16-year high of 7.2 percent, could hit 10 percent or higher later this year or early next

year, under some analysts' projections. Obama called on Congress Monday to speedily enact his recovery plan, warning that the nation can't afford "distractions" or "delays." With the recession expected to drag on through much of this year, more damage will be inflicted on both companies and workers. The mounting toll was visible Monday as roughly 40,000 more U.S. workers got the grim news. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., which is buying rival drugmaker Wyeth in a $68 billion deal, and Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's thirdlargest wireless provider, said they each will slash 8,000 jobs. Home Depot Inc., the biggest home improvement retailer in the U.S., will get rid of 7,000 jobs, and General Motors Corp. said it will cut 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio because of slow sales. "We are seeing no improvement in labor market conditions," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets Economics. "This year could be as bad as last year in terms of layoffs." -

Who Asked Me? by Beverly Gadson-Birch

It’s Praying Time As we move away from the inaugural activities our attention is immediately drawn to the recession that we find ourselves in. I don’t know much about the recession during President Hoover’s time, but I do know I have never seen anything like what is taking place with the economy. We realize that changes must be made but may not be made overnight. Our 44th President certainly has his work cut out for him. Because of the state of the economy, folks are going to want the President to wave a magic wand and undue the past eight years. It just ain’t going to happen. After carefully assessing my finances, I am about to lose my shirt just like the rest of you but patience is going to be key. As black folks we must do what we do best, take a little and turn it into a lot. We have got to hunker down and slow walk this recession out. Don’t y’all go climbing up on no bridge talking about things are so bad I am going to end it cause there just might not be anyone to get your butt down. Let’s not get dramatic. No one can doubt that as a people we are strong; and, we are survivors. We are resilient and we will bounce back. So y’all just work together within your family and friend’s circle and help each other out. And be sure to support black businesses. Y’all hear me!! If we are going to help ourselves, we must spend our money with some of our black businesses. During the election, there was much ado about the readiness of President Obama. It looks like he has gotten off to a good start and he is not afraid to make the tough decisions. I truly believe this country is in good hands. I had the opportunity to travel to the inauguration and it was a very humbling experience to see so many folks from all walks of life so determined to leave behind footprints in the sands of time. After dedicating most of my life fighting for principles and basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution of these United States, I was overwhelmed and found myself wiping away tears that streamed down my face. The day’s event finally brought closure to the many years of folks telling us what we couldn’t do or couldn’t be. Instead I thought about the possibilities. A new day had arrived. I thought about the article that I read in the DeSable Museum in Chicago about the slave lady who was raffled off for ten cents a chance. I never got that imagine out of my head. I thought about the slaves whose lives were torn apart when their children or spouse were sold and they never got to see them again—not ever. I thought about how white folks gathered at the end of town under a big shade tree and selected a black, any black, to hang for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon. In my mind, I kept seeing their white, smiling faces as they danced around with their children by their sides. How could they have dragged children into such immoral, gut wrenching activities? As awful as all of this may seem, there was a redeeming value to the election. After years of second class citizenship, drinking out of separate water fountains, sitting on the back of the bus, walking on separate sides of the street and going to the back door of stores to get served, our time has come. Freedom is no longer a word to me; it’s a feeling. I am not naïve to think that all is well in America because it is not. I wouldn’t throw out my dashiki and love beads yet. The January 27 issue of the Huffington Post reported that the number of racial and violent incidents has soared since President Obama took office. Is anyone surprised by that revelation? President Obama has received more threats and racial remarks than any other President in memory. The following are just a few twisted incidents cited by the Editor and Publisher’s site of threats and activities against President Obama: * In a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner." * In Idaho, the Secret Service is investigating a "public hanging" sign erected by a man upset with the election outcome, the Bonner County Daily Bee reported Thursday. A handmade sign posted on a tree reads "FREE PUBLIC HANGING" written in large letters beneath a noose fashioned from nylon rope. The most prominent name on the sign is "OBAMA," according to the Bee. "That's a political statement. They can call it whatever they want, a threat or whatever," the creator of the sign, Ken Germana, told the Bee. * A popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line on Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received. One poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest." * From the Orange County (Ca.) Register: "Two gang members pleaded not guilty Thursday to hate crime and attempted robbery charges in connection with the beating of a black man who was trying to buy cigarettes at a Fullerton liquor store." The two men shouted racial and anti-Obama epithets in the attack. * From today's New York Times: "Two white Staten Island men face hate crimes charges after they were arrested on Friday in the beating of a black teenager on the night that Barack Obama was elected president, the police said on Saturday. The teenager, Alie Kamara, 17, was walking home on Pine Place in the Staten Island neighborhood of Stapleton when several men hit him on the head with a baseball bat and yelled 'Obama,' said Aliya Latif, the civil rights director of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations, who was in contact with Alie's family since the attack and spoke to his mother on Saturday after the arrests were announced." * In Mississippi alone, the American Civil Liberties Union has received more than 10 calls since the staff first reported anti-Obama incidents last Friday, according to the Jackson (Miss.) Free Press. * Parents in Rexburg, Idaho, contacted school officials this week after they learned that 2nd and 3rd graders on a school bus were chanting, "Assasssinate Obama!" Our children will always have to prove that they are just as good for the job; and that is alright just as long as the playing field is level. Although I would not go as far as to say the election is a vindication of past discriminations, it can never be; but, it has set the wheels in motion for new relationships, new opportunities and a new America. An American colonies that once sought to break away from Great Britain never understood that we wanted to break away from her. Jefferson sums it up in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights and among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We have worked hard to get to this present moment. We are on the mountaintop with the new president but down in the valley due to the recession. Things are going to get better; so hang in there. It’s praying time.

The Chronicle

January 28, 2009-5

As I See It

Hakim Abdul-Ali

A Love For All Seasons Greetings of love to you on this memorable day. I can’t help but say that to you because you’re very fortunate to be here to read what I just wrote, and I’m blessed to be here and to have written it. It’s truly a powerfully loving, but ever so humbling, reality to testify to the Creator Alone of life that this is a special moment in time that He (Alone) has given me and you to acknowledge that we are only here except by His permission. That’s love to the maximum of understanding and recognition if you ask me. In fact, that sentiment should resonate within everyone in God Alone’s creation, and it should be “A Love For All Seasons.” Listen, that’s how I feel, in more ways than one, because the love of God Alone is forever in my schemes of thinking. I’m very sensitive about loving and respecting the knowledge of God Alone’s awesomeness. It’s pristine and more. It’s a solemn and unique testimony that I now give because I seem to always be in a mood to experience and discuss my passion about God Alone’s love and mercy to those who want to hear about it. I didn’t always feel that way for one nefarious reason or the other in some of my past recollections of spiritual denials, truth and reflections. It seems as though I had to be taught that there’s no one or nothing else who or that is worthy of divine worship and respect except the Creator Alone of everything. Some lessons come the hard way for me, but that thought concept of God Alone’s Oneness occurs so often in my heart and soul until I find myself literally in love with the pure sweetness of God Alone’s majestic aura. Somehow, in the winding trials of my life’s sorted learning episodes I find myself getting closer to the understandings of God Alone’s prophets’ (May Peace and Blessings forever be upon them) messages about only worshipping one God and no other. As I said before, I’m a work in progress. Being the student that I am, and since God Alone is the Creator Alone, and nothing or no one is likened unto Him, it makes sense to worship only Him, and no created being or thing. God Alone is the Creator Alone, and that’s a spiritual axiom, with no denial for a sane student of spiritual reality. Knowing this, as all the prophets and messengers of God Alone (PBUT) knew and taught in their authentic teachings, gives validity to the reason why declaring the Oneness of God Alone is the standard oath of a true believer in the Creator Alone of everything. I have. Do you? All prophets and messengers of the Most High testified that the Creator Alone was, is and forever will be the only source of bearing witness to and no other. They did this in and under every circumstances and situations imaginable in life’s struggles, and they did so knowing that to do so was, is and forever will be “A Love For All Seasons.” Some folks in living in their own states of misunderstanding worship everything under the sun it seems as I view the “his-stories” of many nations and people past and present. You may politely agree, or decidedly disagree, with my take on the worship of God Alone, but make sure that in any case you know that I’m always talking about the Creator Alone and not a created thing or being. That’s crucial as you catch the flow of why I must generally always give homage to God Alone when I write or tell a story. He’s the Revealer and Knower. I can give credit to no other source for allowing me to handle, deal with and experience all of the many tests that have come my way thus far. I have to stay focused on God Alone, and not a “hue-man,” or something else that my random thoughts may conjure up, when I respectfully address “the” Oneness of God Alone. Knowing Who God Alone is, and Who He is not, can be a very puzzling scenario for most free-minded thinkers of spiritual liberality to endorse without the stigma of colonial mis-education tainting their interpretations.. I offer that posture with no malice towards anyone and without any negative offense of wanton disrespect of opposing belief intended. My love is for truth in defending the correct worship of the prophets and messengers of God Alone(PBUT). That’s why I say that universal love that they had in worshipping only One God Alone is what they believed in deeply, taught outrightly and practiced wholeheartedly each and every second of their miraculous existences. They knew what “real” love of God’s Alone’s Oneness was about. And that “real” love was definitely “A Love For All Seasons” as I understand the wisdom that flowed from their illustrious characters. They knew that anytime of the day or year was “the” time to give “All the Praises (and Glory) to God Alone, Who is the Creator Alone, and not to any created “hue-man,” or thing. (Do You?) That makes pure sense because nothing from nothing leaves nothing, but before there was anything in created existence there had to be the Creator Alone. That divine entity is the “only” One Who I’m respectfully referring to as my mind thinks of spiritual love to and in the highest form of significant recognition. Again, for me, even in my chaotic and uncertain worlds of existences, I know that my amore is “A Love For All Seasons,” and absolutely nothing comes close to it. The love of God Alone is the stuff that makes life’s trials of the present and the unexpected dilemmas of the future seem like welcomed challenges, because with the love of God Alone in all seasons, those tests are mere stepping stones to purify a true believer’s faith in the Creator Alone. Just having that knowledge alone is enough to keep a lonely heart satisfied and a troubled soul at ease in the heat of any of life’s unpredictable battles. Many others who kept the faith the Most High Alone overcame their personal struggles when all hell was breaking out around them, and so can you and I. We mustn’t forget that the Creator Alone told all of created “hue-manity” that He would not have any god before Him. I caution you, as I caution myself and others, “Don’t play with the aura of God Alone. He is but One, having no partner.” With all the created things and “hue-mans” in the world, please, respectfully, focus on Who God Alone is and Who He isn’t? That may mean that you have to step back for just a few mental “quickies” in order to process Who creates life and death. I have, and I do, and that’s why I have “A Love For All Seasons,” and it’s only for God Alone, Who is the Creator Alone of everything and everyone, including me and you. We all need to know God Alone’s love with reference and kindness towards each other. In God Alone’s cause I wish you eternal peace and respectful happiness, and I also wish you, from the bottom of my heart, “A Love For All Seasons.” I really mean that, and may God Alone be with you always. From January to December, always cultivate “A Love For All Seasons” in your soul. Until the next occasion, by the Most High’s permission, remember the world needs love, and that’s, “As I See It.”

A Bailout for Our Students By. Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist Why do banks and businesses get breaks when college students do not? While some are getting multi-billion dollar bailouts, the students who so enthusiastically supported Barack Obama are being offered scant relief from the effects of our broken economy. Much attention has been focused on keeping people in the middle class. What about those who are attempting to claw their way into the middle class through education? We need a broad-based stimulus package, and college students need special help. Thanks to a federal government bailout, General Motors will be offering cars to the public with zero percent interest loans. Banks, too, are getting

We Must Treat Obama Like He’s OurPresident, Not Our Savior By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, A week ago, more than 1,000 people showed up in Harlem to hear a discussion that had previously been kept within the rambunctious, fractious family that is black America. The debate was about whether the election of Barack Obama was indeed a good thing for us. On one side were people like Charles Barron, a New York City councilman and former Black Panther who, like Obama, cut his political teeth in the world of community organizing. He said that Obama’s candidacy had already been paying off; that he saw it bring momentum to blacks in politics and helped propel many of them into office. On the other side were people like Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report and a fervent Obama critic. He skewered Obama for choosing former Clintonites for his Cabinet, and for his support of the Wall Street bailout. Ford also took black people on for their refusal to question Obama, saying, among other things, that we are going to be in deep trouble once we start imagining an Obama that doesn’t exist. Here’s what I say. I say Ford is dead on when it comes to that last point. We will be in trouble if we treat Obama like our Holy Savior and not our president. We’ll indeed be in deep doo-doo if we actually believe that the only effort we needed to make toward defining our collective destinies was to cast a vote for Obama. I don’t believe black people are that naive. To many, the Harlem debate may have been too little too late. For months, Ford and others, including a colleague of mine, rightfully questioned whether black people were giving Obama too much of a pass during the campaign season. We seemed to be the only group, they argued, that believed we had no right to demand anything of Obama because forcing him to acknowledge us would scare off white voters; that we should accept a sly wink while other groups got an enthusiastic nod. Me, I didn’t believe it was a matter of rights as much as it was a matter of choice. Unfortunately in America, since a reluctant Abraham Lincoln tried to maintain favor with slaveholders in border states by signing an E m a n c i p a t i o n Proclamation that freed all slaves except theirs, we’ve been forced to accept progress in little doses; to always dwell in a place between the lesser of the two. On top of that, our history of always having to battle those who would steal back that progress – people like John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin – often forces us to think and politic defensively. It shouldn’t be that way. But it is.

subsidized loans. Through federal programs, students pay between 5 and 9 percent for government loans. When their parents cannot qualify for federal programs, they go to private lenders, and pay as much as 15 percent for loans to cover college education. Some pay for college on their credit cards, paying between 18 and 24 percent for their children to go to college. If we can offer cars at zero percent, and give banks subsidized loans, why not offer students college loans at one percent. Rev. Jesse Jackson calls it the one percent solution, and he is right on time. One percent money for students helps them with better repayment terms, and helps their parents as well. And it helps colleges maintain enrollment, because there are students who are dropping out of school because they can’t afford to pay. When college students have federally subsidized loans, they are required to begin paying them back within six months of graduation. In this economy? We need a reality check. As long as the unemployment rate exceeds six percent, students should have eighteen months to begin paying back their loans. Otherwise, students are pressured to pay their loans back by whatever means necessary. Some use credit cards, at 18 percent, to pay loans back. Others struggle and find that if they do not pay their credit scores, or their lifetime of opportunities, are affected. Student credit rating is not the only thing affected by failure to repay. Colleges are judged on the loan repayment rates of their students, and accrediting agencies penalize colleges who have repayment rates over 25 percent. But in a rotten economy, it is understandable that some students have difficulty repaying their loans.

Julianne Malveaux An economic stimulus package that helps students and colleges might suspend sanctions for those colleges with high loan repayment rates until the economy is more stable. Thirty years ago, students were more likely to get grants than loans for college. Indeed the equation was that students paid for college with one-third loans and two-thirds grants. Now the equation has been reversed. The Pell grant, our need-based grant program, provides students with $4750 a year toward their costs. Bennett College costs $22,000 for tuition room and board, so where does the other $17,500 come from. Further, the Pell grant is granted fully to students with the lowest incomes, phasing out when parent income is about $55,000 a year. President Obama proposes raising the Pell Grant to $5350 a year. That’s help, but it isn’t enough. The Pell grant ought to be $10,000 per year. It helps us train the next generation, it helps maintain college enrollment, and while it is high enough to make a difference, it does not fully cover the cost of education, forcing students, too, to invest in their futures. Already Republicans are carping that they don’t

want the Pell Grant to go up. But young people need help with their tuitions. The average student graduates the $20,000 in student loans, and the average African American student graduates with $26,000 in loans. Our young people are shackled before they begin their lives, their loan status dictating some career decisions. The Obama Administration has also offered a $4,000 tuition grant for students who do community service. That grant program is also a step in the right direction. I do hope that as the regulations for this program are developed, the Obama Administration seeks input from college presidents, and also from students, about ways the requirements for service will be measured. At Bennett College, far too many of our students are struggling with the effects of this economy. When parents lose jobs, students struggle to stay in school. When parent credit scores change, the ability to qualify for some loans changes, and again students struggle to stay in school. Good students, dean’s list students, students with stellar GPAs are beginning the spring semester worried sick about whether they can graduate with the balances they carry. The data is compelling, but the challenges that some of our young women face are all the more challenging. Students need a bailout! They need one percent money for loans, more time to begin to repay their loans, and higher Pell Grants. If we can find $138 billion for Bank of America, and offer car loans at zero percent, can’t we provide a bailout for college students? Julianne Malveaux is president of Bennett College for Women. She can be reached at [email protected].

The Chronicle

6- January 28, 2009

CHURCH NEWS/SOCIAL WALLINGFORD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Invites You To COME, SHARE and FELLOWSHIP with The Seniors Activities Bible Study, Physical Fitness, Arts & Craft Projects, Health Education, Enrichment Programs, Speakers, Community Resources, Trips, Recreation, Nutritional Lunch and lots more fun . . .When: Every Thursday, Where: 705 King Street, Time: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Cost: NO CHARGE~~FREE, (843) 723-9929 FRIENDSHIP MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCHSunday School - 10:00 AMSunday Service -11:00 AM Thursday Night Bible Study and Prayer Service- 6:00 PMThe church is located at 75 America Street, Charleston, South Carolina

CANAAN BIBLE COLLEGE will observe its Founder’s Day January 30, 2009 at Canaan Missionary Baptist Church beginning at 7 p.m.

We are the church where Christians are at work!

THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT OF THE DEACONS UNION of Charleston and Its Auxiliaries will host “Joy Night” on Jan. 30, 2009 at 7:00 pm at Memorial Baptist Church, located at 153 Alexander St., Charleston, SC 29403 where Rev. Arthur Prioleau is the host pastor. The purpose of this program is to sponsor the Youth Department of the Deacons Union of Charleston to attend the National Convention in July 2009, which will take place in Washington, D.C. Minister Charlie Murray of Royal Baptist Church will be the speaker. Devotions will be lead by the Spiritual Warriors Prayer Band. Please come out and support our Youth as they lift up the name of Jesus.

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"DHEC will partner with community-based organizations to sponsor activities such as free HIV testing and HIV educational forums on the ninth annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day," Hicks said. "Sites include housing communities, church-

HOLY ROCK MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL - 9:45 AM SUNDAY SERVICE - 11:00 AM WED. NITE PRAYER - 7:00 PM WED. NITE BIBLE STUDY - 7:00 PM

The Honorable L.B. Fyall- Publicity Committee Reverend Leroy Fyall – Pastor

COLUMBIA – Events will be held in South Carolina around Feb. 7 to highlight the impact of HIV/AIDS on African-American communities, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced today. "South Carolina continues to have a disproportionate number of HIV/AIDS cases among African-Americans," said André Rawls, Psy.D., who is director of DHEC’s STD/HIV Division. "In conjunction with our community partners, we must continue to increase the effectiveness of our culturally-competent prevention programs, both in our health departments and communities." Lewis Hicks, DHEC's STD/HIV Division, People of Color Initiatives Consultant, leads DHEC's efforts in response to the disproportionate impact among African-Americans. Hicks' activities in communities of color include identifying effective strategies to improve STD/HIV prevention services, and providing technical assistance to community organizations and special targeted high-risk communities in South Carolina.

REV. CHARLES GREEN

Week of 01/28/09 thru 02/03/09

es and community centers." Various tests will be offered at locations throughout the state, including the traditional blood draw method and the rapid test, which provides preliminary results in less than an hour. "The theme, 'Black Life Is Worth Saving,' emphasizes the power in actions that African-Americans can take. Those actions include learning the facts about HIV, getting tested, knowing your HIV status and taking steps to make a difference in your community," Hicks said. "People can protect their health and the health of their loved ones by knowing their own HIV status." According to DHEC statistics: · African-Americans for represent 30 percent of the state's population, yet account for 73 percent of the recently diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in South Carolina. · African-Americans have been hardest hit by the epidemic. Seven of every 10 men and nearly eight of every 10 women recently diagnosed are African-American. · Eighty percent of 15- to 24 year-olds who are newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in South Carolina are AfricanAmerican. For information on events and HIV testing sites in local communities, contact DHEC's South Carolina AIDS/STD toll-free hotline at 1-800-322AIDS (2437).

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10.5-13 Ounce Select Varieties

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Ball Park Meat or Beef Franks

Frito Lay’s Chips Limit 2 Free 48 Ounce Select Varieties

Without MVP Card $3.51 - $3.94 Each

Breyers Ice Cream

Available In Most Stores 8 Count

Without MVP Card $5.29 Each

7.6-11 Ounce Select Varieties

T.G.I. Friday's Frozen Appetizers

5/

10

$

Without MVP Card $3.99 Each

Without MVP Card $3.99 Each

34.5-39 Ounce Cans (Decaf Not Included)

Maxwell House Coffee

4

$

Without MVP Card $10.45

99

Food Lion Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns

20-32 Ounce Select Varieties

Tyson Family Pack Chicken

99

¢

Without MVP Card Regular Retail

5

$

99

Without MVP Card $9.49

We reserve the right to limit quantities and correct typographical and photographic errors. Rainchecks unavailable on alcohol and tobacco products.

All Stores Accept

Good neighbors. Great prices.

Over $15.00

All Deli Platters

500

$

Off

Without MVP Card Regular Retail

12 Inch Select Varieties

DiGiorno Pizza

2/

10

$

Without MVP Card $6.79 Each

The Chronicle

January 28, 2009-7

Requests Flood in for Franklin's Custom Hat

Woman, 68, Escapes Oncoming Subway Train in D.C.

By: Corey Williams, Associated Press

By: Ben Greene, Associated Press

DETROIT - The calls began to flood Luke Song's hat shop not long after Aretha Franklin finished belting out "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

WASHINGTON - A 68-year-old woman who fell onto subway tracks in Washington on Tuesday narrowly escaped an oncoming train by squeezing into a small space underneath a platform, authorities said. As a train was fast approaching, the woman was trying to get a lift onto the platform, but there wasn't enough time. So Houston police officer Eliot Swainson, who was in town to help out with the record crowds during the inauguration, told the woman to squeeze into the space under the Metrorail platform. "The train was coming through, it was loud, windy and cold," said Swainson, a 15-year veteran of the Houston Transit Authority Police. "I was just trying to get the situation resolved as quick as possible." After the train whizzed by the Gallery Place Metro Station, Swainson safely pulled the woman up onto the platform. The woman, who was not identified by authorities, was traveling with a group of people when she turned to look for a friend and took a slight step backward. She lost her balance and fell onto the tracks, Swainson said. The woman dislocated her shoulder, Swainson said, but he wasn't sure whether she did so during the fall or when she was trying to get on the platform. Paula Faria, a spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Center, said the woman was treated and released. Faria said the woman was part of a group from Tennessee. Metro closed the Gallery Place and another station for nearly an hour while authorities investigated. Other trains had to turn around and the closure forced people to walk farther to reach the National Mall. The transit agency said as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, more than 930,000 passengers had used Metrorail, breaking Monday's record of nearly 887,000.

Franklin, who wore a gray felt custom-designed hat from Mr. Song Millinery, has inadvertently caused an economic boom for the South Korean immigrant's store.

Aretha Franklin Song said he wasn't prepared for the hundreds of calls requesting the hat with a Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow. "We even have a lot of men calling to get it for their wives, mothers and grandmothers," Song said. The hat worn by the "Queen of Soul" was hand-molded and would cost upward of $500 - if it were for sale, the 36year-old designer said. Customers instead were offered a satin ribbon version for $179. "They want the same hat, but they understand it's for the 'Queen' only," he said. "Ninety-nine percent said, 'That's fine. I'll get the next best thing.'" The family millinery has been in Detroit for about 25 years, and Franklin has been a customer for about 20 of those years. The store also sells to about 500 boutiques across the country. "We always make hats for her for high-profile events, so for us, the inauguration really was no big deal," Song told The Associated Press on Thursday. The design for Franklin's hat came from two different hats at the store. "She walked through the shop and said 'I want that bow (put) on that hat,'" he said. "She had the coat already, but she needed the hat to set it off."

New Service Helps Black Entrepreneurs Obtain Business Credit Columbus, OH - There are a record number of new Black-owned businesses being formed every year. Unfortunately, very few of them have access to business credit. Many of them run on low cash flows, and as a result - most are expected to fail within the first 5 years. Choice Credit Group, a Black-owned firm in the Detroit area, has recently launched a service specifically designed to help African Americans obtain what is needed to get business loans, business credit cards, and a business line of credit. The service is available to existing small business owners including CEOs, home business owners, network marketers, and more. The service is not available to individuals who are running a non-profit organization, or who have not started a business yet. For more details, existing business owners should visit: www.BlackBusinessCredi t.com

HEYWARD'S DEVELOPERS LLC 3166 SANDERS RD. CHARLESTON, SC. 29414 WELCOME TO CHARLESTON NEWEST HIDDEN COVE SUBDIVISION , KNOWN AS JOEVA COVE LOCATED OFF BEES FERRY RD. AT REV JOSEPH HEYWARD RD.. A 14 LOT SUBDIVISION WITH NO HIDDEN FEES, PURCHASE YOU LOT BUILD YOU OWN HOUSE OR HAVE IT BUILD, WE ARE LOCATED NEAR THE SUPER WAlMART FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL SAM HEYWARD AT 843-209-1846, CURRENTLY THEiR IS A 4 BED ROOM 2 BATH FAMILY ROOM AND KITCHEN UNDER CONSTRUCTION, PRICE AT $189,900 . CALL TODAY TO RECEIVE YOU QUOTE ON THE HOME OF YOUR DREAM, CONTRACTORS WELCOME. CLAIM IT KNOW SAM HEYWARD BUILDER DEVELOPER

For detailed information, visit www.tridenttech.edu/ttcjobs.htm or call 843.574.6201.

Full-time Faculty

Electrical Line Worker Program Coordinator Engineering Technology Department Head Nursing

Part-time Faculty

Aircraft Maintenance Technology Animation Anthropology Biological Sciences

CNC Machining Cosmetology Criminal Justice Economics Electrical Facility Maintenance English Esthetics Graphic Design Industrial Mechanics Information Systems Marketing Multimedia and Web Site Design

Music Nail Technology Nursing Paralegal Photography Physics Plumbing Sociology Spanish Theater Welding

Full-time Staff

Information Resources Consultant I Law Enforcement Officer II Student Services Program Coordinator II

Temporary Staff

St. Paul’s Parish Site Student Services Coordinator

EOE/AA

The Chronicle

8-January 28, 2009

Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders will be received from qualified b--__idders,properly licensed under will be received from qualified licensed under the wil will be received from qualified bidders Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under- from qualified bidders, will be received from Advanced Medicine licensed under the properly under the will be be received from qualified bidders,properly licensed under will be received from qualified licensed under the wil will be received from eceived from qualified bidders, dvanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders will qualified biddersackage for licensed

Classifieds

468-5964. AUCTIONS/SHOWS ANNOUNCE YOUR AUCTION IN 107 S.C. newspapers for only $375. Your 25-word classified ad will reach more than 2.9 million readers. Call Jimmie Haynes at the S.C. Newspaper Network at 1888-727-7377. COASTAL Waterfront Property Auction, Selling by Court Ordered Divorce Settlement, House-Ocean Isle Beach, 2 Oceanfront Condo-Myrtle Beach, January 31st. Iron Horse Auction, NCAL3936, SCAL1684, 800-997-2248, www.ironhorseauction.com ANNOUNCEMENTS Tuesday, February 3, 2009 is the last day to redeem winning tickets in the following South Carolina Education Lottery Instant Game: Match for Cash (SC#253). APARTMENTS/UNFURNISHED A HUD Home 5 bd. 2 ba! Only $200/mo. Or $21,470! 5% dn, 15 yrs @ 8.5%. This Home Won’t Last! For Listings 800-391-5228 ext. s154. AUTO DONATIONS Donate Your Vehicle, receive $1000 grocery coupon. United Breast Cancer Foundation. Free Mammograms, breast cancer info www.ubcf.info. Free towing, tax deductible, nonrunners accepted, 1-888-

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 100% RECESSION PROOF. Do you earn $800 in a day? Your own local candy route. Includes 25 Machines and Candy. All for $9,995. 1-888-771-3501. S.S. REG#664 COMPUTERS GET A NEW COMPUTER!!! Brand name laptops & desktops. Bad or NO creditNo Problem. Smallest weekly payments avail. Call NOW - 1-800-805-1525. EMPLOYMENT SERVICES $600 Weekly Potential$$$ Processing HUD Refunds, PT. No Experience. No Selling. Call: 1-888-2135225 Ad Code: M18 EARN UP TO $500 Weekly! Assembling various products at home. No exp! Easy work! Part time or Full Time. Call: 1-888-335-9661 Ad Code: X-19 HELP WANTED CABLE LINE INSTALLERJob in growth industry. Paid training, great benefits, vacation. No exp needed.

HS grads ages 17-34. Call Mon-Fri 800-662-7231 for local interview. HELP WANTED CONSTRUCTION Learn to Operate a Crane or Bulldozer. Heavy Equipment Training. Prepare for National Certification. Financial & Placement Assistance. Georgia School of C o n s t r u c t i o n . www.Heavy5.com 1-888-381-2437. HELP WANTED – DRIVERS DRIVER - $5K SIGN-ON BONUS for experienced teams with HazMat: Dry Van & temp control available. O/Os welcome. Call Covenant (866) 684-2519. EOE. Driver- Join PTL today! Company drivers earn up to 38 cpm. 1/2cpm increase every 60K miles. Average 2,800 miles/week. CDL-A required. www.ptl-inc.com Call 877-740-6262. 13 DRIVERS NEEDED Sign-On Bonus. 35-41 cpm. Earn over $1000 weekly. Excellent Benefits. Need

CP0805D2 – Rotary Fountain Sculpture at Marion Square City of Charleston Invitation for Sculpture Proposals Project: CP0805D2 – Rotary Fountain Sculpture at Marion Square Proposed Form of Contract: Design-Build Contract Description of Project:

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO: 2008-CP-10-7395 Michael R. Nelson, Christopher Nelson, Trantor Corporation, and John Doe or Mary Doe, fictitious names to designate minors, infants, persons of unsound mind, under disability or incompetent, persons imprisoned, or persons in the Military Service within the meaning of the Title 50, United States Code, commonly referred to as The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Service Act of 1940, if any, and Richard Roe and Sarah Roe, fictitious names to designate the unknown heirs, devisees, distributees, issue, executors, administrators, successors or assigns of Michael R. Nelson and Christopher Nelson, also all other unknown persons claiming any, title, estate or lien upon the real estate which is the subject of this action, Defendants. SUMMONS YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONDED and required to answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer upon the subscribers at their office located at 575 King Street, Suite B, Charleston, South Carolina 29403 within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgement by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. Derfner, Altman & Wilborn, LLC Samuel H. Altman 575 King Street, Suite B Post Office Box 600 Charleston, SC 29402 (843) - 723 - 9804 Fax (843) - 723 - 7446 Attorney for Plaintiff

The City of Charleston, Washington Light Infantry and Sumter Guards Board of Officers, and the Rotary Club of Charleston are seeking artist’s proposals for a sculpture to be placed in historic Marion Square. The sculpture location will be within the top tier of the Rotary Fountain that is located at the corner of King and Calhoun Streets. The selection team is looking for a symbolic sculpture proposal that successfully interprets the theme of ‘service above self’. This service theme should reflect the proud 200 year heritage of the Charleston Militia in times of war, civil emergency and peace. It should also interpret or compliment the Rotary four-way test that is represented on the existing fountain: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Anticipated Design and Construction Cost Range: The current budget for this sculpture is $40,000. Proposals will be accepted for sculptures costing between $40,000 and $75,000 for design and construction. Description of Services Anticipated for Project: Artist will be responsible for the design, fabrication and installation of the sculpture within the project budget. Structural engineering services are also anticipated. Resumes & Submittal Requirements: Artist resumes should not exceed three 8 1/2”x 11” pages. Resume should include Education, solo & group exhibits, public/private commissions, public/private collections and gallery representation. Artist depictions of the sculpture proposal should be submitted on 8 1/2”x 11” paper not to exceed five sheets; including a two page statement and three pages of illustrations.

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Homeless Ministry Tends to Their Feet, Dignity By: Dionne Walker, Associated Press ATLANTA Bryan Flournoy sits in a downtown church, sipping coffee and taking inventory of his life: He's 33 and homeless. He's a stranger in Atlanta, where a bus dropped him off from California last month. He needs a place to live, and

STEAL MY LAND! Owner must sell, one wooded acre w/river access. Community pool, walking trails and gorgeous river! NO time limit to build. First $29,900 takes it. Call now 877-289-2045 LAND/ACREAGE GOLF ACCESS Land Bargain! Now$39,900 (was $139,900) Rare opportunity to own beautiful view homesite in area’s finest golf community- NOW for fraction of it’s value. Paved roads, water, sewer, all infrastructure complete! Don’t spend $300,000 for comparable lot at the Cliffs! Get much more for less. Low rate financing. Call now 1-866-334-3253 x 2151

1-888-789-0198. STEEL BUILDINGS “BUILDING SALE!”... “ROCK BOTTOM PRICES” Beat Next Increase. 25x40 $5,190. 30x50 $6,390. 35x60 $8,990. 40x60 $12,700. 60x100 $33,600. MANY OTHERS! Pioneer Steel. 1-800-668-5422. Since 1980.

MISCELLANEOUS AIRLINES ARE HIRINGTrain for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified- Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (888) 3495387. ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from Home. *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Computers, *Criminal justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. Call 866-8582 1 2 1 www.CenturaOnline.com ; MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE A NEW COMPUTER NOW!!! Brand name laptops & desktops. Bad or NO creditNo Problem. Smallest weekly payments avail. It’s yours NOW - Call 1-800-816-2375. NOTICES/ ANNOUNCEMENTS DIVORCE without children $95.00, DIVORCE with children $95.00. With FREE name change documents (wife only) and marital settlement agreement. Fast, easy and professional. Call

STEEL ARCH Buildings: 2008 Repos and cancelled orders! Many sizes. Will sell for balance owed. Call for huge savings! 866-3520716 STEEL BUILDING Year’s End CLEARANCE: Save up to 31% on 24x30, 30x40, 50x80. All sizes available. Free delivery/installation most counties. New 130MPH wind load. 888513-7737. VACATION RENTAL NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC- Oceanfront! Up to 20% off your next vacation week. Private homes/condos. Spring/Summer Get-AWays! Free brochure. Call 1-866-276-6156, or www.northmyrtlebeachtravel.com ; VACATION/TRAVEL NEED RENTERS? ADVERTISE your vacation home to more than 2.9 million South Carolina newspaper readers. Your 25word classified ad will appear in 107 S.C. newspapers for only $375. Call Jimmie Haynes at the South Carolina Newspaper Network at 1-888-7277377.

Solicitation Number: 09-P001B

Selection Criteria: A Selection Committee will evaluate the information submitted and will select three finalists for interviews. The following criteria will be used to evaluate each artist: Past performance Ability of artist Related experience on similar projects Creativity and insight related to project Demonstrated ability to meet time and budget Location of artist Finalists will be selected and provided with an allowance of $500 each to be used to further develop the sculpture proposal. Interviews with each finalist and a review of the developed proposal are anticipated to occur in February 2009. Resume and Submittal Deadline Date: Resume and submittals are due at the address shown below by 2:00pm on February 27, 2009. Electronic submittals are accepted. Number of Copies: 7 copies To request an information packet detailing the site constraints for the sculpture, please contact: Project

* We follow SC Office of State Engineer fee guidelines*

he needs it yesterday. In a few minutes, he'll be hoofing across the city, looking for work. For now, his feet soak in hot water as a preacher buffs them with a pumice stone. Every Monday afternoon for the last year, the Rev. Bob Book and his wife, Holly, have transformed the Church of the

LAND FOR SALE

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Multiple submittals are allowed.

Dustin Clemens, Senior Construction Manager City of Charleston, Dept. of Parks 823 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29403 Phone (843) 724-7322 Email: [email protected]

CDL-A & 3 mos recent OTR. 877-258-8782 www.meltontruck.com

The City of Charleston is accepting Request for Proposals for the Janitorial Services. The City will receive proposals until February 25, 2009 @ 11:00 a.m. at 288 Meeting Street, Suite 310 Charleston, SC 29401. The solicitation will be available upon request and may be obtained by submitting a written request to: Robin D. Barrett, CPPB by fax (843-720-3872) or mailing to the above address. You may also obtain a copy of the solicitation by going to our website: www.charlestoncity.info and then enter the Bidline page.

CHARLESTON COUNTY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS PUBLIC HEARINGS The following cases will be heard by the Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals at their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, February 2, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, Room B249, Lonnie Hamilton III, Public Services Building, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston, SC. This hearing is open to the public. Inquiries should be directed to the Planning Department (843-2027200) referencing the case number. CASE#: 2066-V (BZAV-12-08-2033) Variance request for the reduction of the required 35’ OCRM Critical Line setback by approximately 5’-6” to 29’-6” for a deck addition and an additional 4’ for stairs on property located at 829 Colony Dr, St. Andrews (TMS# 418-15-00-012) CASE#: BZAV-12-08-2316 Special Exception request for the establishment of a secondary school in a Single Family Residential 4 District (R-4) Zoning District on property located at 1389 Brownswood Road, Johns Island (TMS# 27900-00-069 & 279-00-00-070)

Common Ground into a spa for the homeless. They scrub the feet of the city's forgotten, mirroring the act of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. The service, repeated at clinics and churches elsewhere, isn't simply symbolic - it helps stave off foot infections, which affect the homeless disproportionately and can lead to more serious health problems. Men and women also leave with polished dogs and a shot of self-esteem that volunteers hope can help them turn their lives around. Book says the ritual is patterned after services practiced by many Christian congregations leading up to Easter. He takes it further with about 35 homeless men and women each week: Five at a time, they get a soak, pumice, nail trim, massage and a fresh pair of socks. Volunteers wearing gloves provide apricot scrub, ointments, air freshener for shoes, nail polish and even insoles. The church doesn't tackle medical issues; Book tells people with serious foot conditions to come back when there's a doctor volunteering time at the church. "The worst ongoing thing is the fungus that goes on with people's feet. It eats away and destroys the toenails and just makes it very hard for people to walk," says Book, who once saw a black man whose feet were white from days in soggy shoes. That was almost certainly trench foot, a common homeless condition that can lead to bacterial infection, says Dr. Jessie Gaeta, who practices internal medicine with Boston Health Care for the Homeless, which has operated a foot clinic for 25 years. Similar clinics run by religious groups and medical practices have popped up in Nashville, Tenn., and Orlando, Fla., among other cities. The American Podiatric Medical Association estimates more than 75 percent of Americans have foot pain, with infections four times more frequent in homeless people. "It's much more than cosmetic. These are really functional problems," said Gaeta, who has seen everything from fungal infections to maggot infestation. Foot problems often exacerbate other health issues in the homeless. "Even a simple callus or blister in a diabetic patient is likely to become infected and can result in necrosis, and result in the need for amputation," she says. Burly but gentle, Book massages Pamela Parks' feet on a recent Monday. He doesn't push religion. If visitors take an interest commenting on a painting of Jesus washing feet, for instance - he may talk about his faith. And he always says a silent prayer over the feet, for their owners. "Usually, the last thing I include is that they find their way to Christ," he says.

The Chronicle

January 28, 2009- 9

Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders will be received from qualified b--__idders,properly licensed under will be received from qualified licensed under the wil will be received from qualified bidders Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under- from qualified bidders, will be received from Advanced Medicine licensed under the properly under the will be be received from qualified bidders,properly licensed under will be received from qualified licensed under the wil will be received from eceived from qualified bidders, dvanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the properly licensed under the Package for the MUSC Center for Advanced Medicine will be received from qualified bidders, properly licensed under the will be received from qualified bidders will qualified biddersackage for licensed

Classifieds

Gout Will Make You Shout! By Gerald W. Deas, M.D.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND INTENT TO SELL COUNTY OF CHARLESTON

TO: BRIAN L. LYONS AND REBECCA L. LYONS – POST OFFICE BOX 683 ISLE OF PALMS, SOUTH CAROLINA 29451 The undersigned as Trustee for the Non-Judicial Lien Foreclosure of timeshare estates in Sea Cabin on the Ocean, III and the Counsel of Time Sharing Interest Owners of apartments of Sea Cabin on the Ocean, III, have previously filed a Notice of Lien for unpaid assessments on use period 13, Apartment 234, of Sea Cabin on the Ocean, III. This lien was dated February 15, 2008, and recorded in the Charleston County Register of Deeds Office in Book L-653 at Page 658.

You'll do more than shout when you experience the pain from gout, in other words, you will "go-out" of your mind. I don't know how many times I have gone on a house call when I have found a patient looking like death warmed over due to

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371PC with Irv Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred. Estate of:

KING DAVID GRAHAM 2008-ES-10-1456 DOD: 08/30/08 Pers. Rep: EDNA K. GRAHAM 2144 MIDLAND PARK RD., NORTH CHARLESTON, SC 29406 Atty: EDUARDO K. CURRY, ESQ. PO BOX 42270, NORTH CHARLESTON, SC 29423 ************************************************************************** Estate of: MARY LEE SMALLS 2008-ES-10-1806 DOD: 11/14/08 Pers. Rep: MAE FRANCES MIDDLETON 2946 LIMESTONE BLVD., CHARLESTON, SC 29414 Atty: GEORGE E. COUNTS, ESQ. 27 GAMECOCK AVE., STE. 200, CHARLESTON, SC 29407

ADVERTISEMENT FOR A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

You are currently in default of the provisions of the original timeshare instrument and all amendments thereto, by failing to pay the assessments due on your timeshare interest. The amount needed to cure your default is $330.00 plus all interest, attorney fees and costs incurred by the Regime.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR A NEW PORTABLE CONCESSION TRAILER RFP#09-01-OPS, BY THE CHARLEStON COUNTY PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION 861 RIVERLAND DRIVE CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 29412

South Carolina Code of Laws §27-32-325, as amended.

January 2009

“If you fail to cure the default or take other appropriate action with regard to this matter within thirty calendar days after the date of this notice, you will risk losing your interest in this timeshare estate through a non-judicial foreclosure procedure. However, under the non-judicial procedure, you will not be subject to a deficiency judgment or personal liability for the lien being foreclosed even if the sale of your timeshare estate resulting from the nonjudicial foreclosure is insufficient to satisfy the amount of the lien being foreclosed. You may object to the sale of your timeshare estate through the non-judicial foreclosure procedure and require foreclosure of your timeshare interest to proceed through the judicial process. An objection must be made in writing and received by the trustee before the end of the thirty-day time period. You must state the reason for your objection and include your address on the written objection. In a judicial foreclosure proceeding that results from your objection, you may be subject to a deficiency judgment and personal liability for the lien being foreclosed if the sale of your timeshare state resulting from the judicial foreclosure is insufficient to satisfy the amount of the lien being foreclosed. Furthermore, you also may be subject to a personal money judgment for the costs and attorney’s fees incurred by the lien holder in the judicial foreclosure proceeding if the court finds that there is a complete absence of a justifiable issue of either law or fact raised by your objections or defenses. You have the right to cure your default at any time before the sale of your timeshare estate by payment of all past due loan payments or assessments, accrued interest, late fees, taxes, and all fees and costs incurred by the lien holder and trustee, including attorney’s fees and costs, in connection with the default”.

Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (PRC) requesting proposals from qualified Vendors for the purchase and delivery of a New Portable Concession Trailer for use by CCPRC at the James Island County Park, 871 Riverland Drive, Charleston, SC

CHRIS J. LOUDEN as Trustee for Sea Cabin on the Ocean, III, A Horizontal Property Regime October 8, 2008 Moncks Corner, South Carolina

To receive a copy of the Request for Proposal, contact Mr. Justin Leyh, Operations Project Coordinator, 843-7628025, Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, 861 Riverland Drive, Charleston, SC 29412. Proposals should be submitted no later than 2:00PM on Thursday, March 5, 2009 as outlined in the Request for Proposal.

By: Mr. Tom O’Rourke, Executive Director CHARLESTON COUNTY PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION

IDC 0900 City of Charleston Invitation for Professional Services

Public Notice of Meeting will be posted at: Front lobby, 823 Meeting Street, Charleston SC Proposed Form of Contract: City of Charleston’s Indefinite Delivery Contract - Large Description of Project: Provide engineering design services for the City of Charleston Capital Projects Division on an as-needed basis. Projects may include new construction, repairs & systems replacement. The contract period shall not exceed two years. The maximum fee for the IDC shall be $300,000, with a maximum fee of $100,000 for each delivery order. Anticipated Construction Cost Range: $5,000 - $1,000,000 per project. Description of Professional Services Anticipated for Project: Civil Engineering, landscape architecture, surveying, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Firms must offer a minimum of civil, surveying and landscape architecture services in-house, but may utilize sub-consultants for others. M/WBE firms are encouraged to apply. Resumes: Current Federal Standard Forms 254 and 255 are to be submitted. If consultants are to be used, they must be included in a single Form 255 for the proposed team. Selection Criteria: A Selection Committee will evaluate the information submitted and will select three finalists for interviews. The following criteria will be used to evaluate each firm: Past performance Ability of professional personnel Related experience on similar projects Demonstrated ability to meet time and budget Location of firm

Number of Copies: Seven

--Ida B. Wells, The Red Recoord , 1895

To me, when I see this painful joint that has not responded to any therapy, most likely, the diagnosis is gouty arthritis. I am further convinced when the

patient has a history of diabetes, hypertension., or has a history of chronic kidney disease. Who also may be taking a water pill such as a thiazide diuretic. The diagnosis of gout becomes more evident. Certainly a family history of gout also is a red light of suspicion. A heavy diet of red meat and other organ meats is another signal of this diagnosis. A history of excessive alcohol use may also be the cause of gout and lead to an acute attack. Gout is caused by an increase of uric acid which finds its way into joints causing inflammation, swelling and oh lord, the pain. It appears that men suffer more from this condition than women. Examination of the patient

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371PC with Irv Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad St., 3rd Floor, Charleston, SC 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred. Estate of:

ANDREW GATES CREAMER 2009-ES-10-0003 DOD: 11/08/08 Pers. Rep: JAMES A. GRIMSLEY, III PO BOX 2055, BEAUFORT, SC 29901-2055 ************************************************************************** Estate of: ALFRED H. WILLIAMS 2009-ES-10-0014 DOD: 05/02/07 Pers. Rep: GLORIA W. HAUGHTON 1582 WESTWOOD DR., CHARLESTON, SC 29412 ************************************************************************** ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371PC with Irv Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred. CELIA FORD GADSDEN 2008-ES-10-1731 DOD: 07/13/08 Pers. Rep. RUEBEN M. GADSDEN, JR. 759 BEAR SWAMP RD., JOHNS ISLAND, SC 29455 Atty: THOMAS P. MORRISON, ESQ. PO BOX 1056, CHARLESTON, SC 29402 **************************************************************************

Name of Project Manager: Dustin Clemens, ASLA City of Charleston Department of Parks 823 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29403 Tel: (843) 724-7322 Fax: (843) 724-7300 E-mail: [email protected] * We follow SC Office of State Engineer fee guidelines*

often reveals deposits of uric acid crystals along the border of the ears. This deposit also causes disfiguration of hands, toes, ankles, wrists and knees. If a blood sample is taken during the acute stage of the gouty attack, it may be found to be normal. This should not rule out gout. The optimal time for taking a uric acid level is "two weeks after a flare up is resolved." There are several drugs that can be prescribed to prevent the buildup of uric acid. However, a diet low in red and organ meats such as liver, kidney, etc. may prevent symptoms. Upon viewing the large, painful joint and the mask of pain on a patients face, I know that they need relief immediately. I usually will prescribe the following: A drug that I find most useful is colchicine. This drug is derived from a plant and has been used for years. I usually recommend that the patient take one tablet every hour for five doses. If nausea or diarrhea occurs, stop the medication. This allows the level of this drug to reach therapeutic relief. The patient is then advised to take this medication twice daily until symptoms have subsided. Often, during an acute attack, a steroid such as prednisone may be prescribed in order to reduce the inflammation. The shout from gout can become a lullaby if treated aggressively. By all means, consult with your physician if you are experiencing this type of joint pain and over the counter medications will not give relief.

Estate of:

CHARLESTON COUNTY GRANTS ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIVISION STATEMENT OF FINDING AND PUBLIC EXPLANATION Evidence of Compliance with Executive Orders 11988 and 11990 Floodplain Management and Wetland Protection 8-Step Process

Project: IDC 0900, Multidiscipline engineering services

Resume Deadline Date: 4:00 PM, January 30, 2009.

Out of their own mouthes shall the murderers be condemned

pain in a swollen, large red toe resting outside of the covers. Often, the patient will tell me that they have tried everything to get rid of the pain to no avail. They have taken aspirin and other pain killing drugs and have only experienced upset stomachs without relief. Oh. By the way, a lot of these over the counter pain killing drugs can cause ulceration of the stomach leading to bleeding. If, by chance, you notice your stools becoming black, this is evidence of internal bleeding in the stomach.

Charleston County Grants Administration Department has analyzed the project identified below as required by Presidential Directive EO 11988 and determined that assistance should be granted therein: PROPOSED PROJECT Construction of freestanding Bathroom Facility PROPOSED LOCATION Ravenel Railroad Depot Museum Corner Highway 165 and Martin Street, Ravenel, SC 29470 TMS# 187-00-00-100 Since a portion of Ravenel Railroad Depot Museum is located in wetlands as established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the County of Charleston is required by EO 11988 to deny assistance to this project unless there are no practicable alternatives. An analysis by Charleston County Grants Administration Community Development Division revealed that there are no practical alternatives. The basis for this determination is as follows: 1. It is not possible to carry out the objectives of the CDBG and HOME Investment Partnership Act Programs to develop affordable housings and participate in the growth plan of the community without participating in projects in the base Floodplain; 2. The projects meet local planning and zoning requirements; 3. The proposed construction will not displace or redirect waters to seriously affect other areas; 4. Construction will meet the Wetland Resource Management Plan prepared by the community as a condition of their participation in the National Flood Insurance Program; Any comments received as a result of the Early Public Notice for this project on December 12, 2008 were considered in the analysis which can be reviewed at the Charleston County Community Development Office, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston, South Carolina 29405. Public comments on this statement will be received and considered for a period of 15 days from today’s publication of January 21, 2009. Comments will be received at the address above. The proposed projects will not be imple-

REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS FOR LAWN AND GROUNDS MAINTENANCE 2009 The Housing Authority of the City of Charleston 550 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29403 The Housing Authority of the City of Charleston (CHA) will receive Proposals for Lawn and Grounds Maintenance for three separate divisions consisting of multiple locations in each division. Each division contract will be awarded separately. Proposals will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. local time on February 12, 2009 at The Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, 550 Meeting Street, Room 114, Charleston South Carolina 29406. Proposal packages may be obtained after 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 2009 at the CHA Purchasing Office, 550 Meeting Street Room 114, Charleston, SC 29403. Contact W. Keith Brown at (843) 720-5345. This contract is federally assisted; therefore, contracts for work under this bid will obligate the contractor and subcontractors not to discriminate in employment practices as mandated by the Davis-Bacon Act and Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. Minority and women owned business are encouraged to respond. The Housing Authority reserves the right to wave irregularities and to reject any and all proposals.

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warrings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." -- W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)

10-January 28, 2009

New Website Tracks Middle Passage Routes Slave ships that carried ancestors from Africa can now be traced A newly-launched free Internet database gives AfricanAmericans the opportunity for the first time to explore their African heritage the way whites have long been able to chart their migration from Europe. Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database is the result of 40 years of research by hundreds of scholars. It allows African-Americans to trace the routes of slave ships that transported 12.5 million of their ancestors from Africa as early as the 16th Century. Two years ago, Emory University researchers, funded

by the National Endowment for the Humanities, began compiling maps, images and other records of about 35,000 slave-trade voyages from Africa to North America, Brazil, the Caribbean and Europe, according to the Chicago Tribune. It is the first time such a large amount of data on the subject has been available to the public. "Everybody wants to know where they came from, and for people from Europe, it has been possible for several centuries now to trace migrant communities," said David Eltis, a history professor at Emory and a director of the project. "Now it is possible to do the same for people of African descent." "The records for people of Africa and the Americas are better than the records of connections between Europe and the Americas for the simple reason that slaves were property," he said. "No one cared what happened to free migrants. They did care what happened to slaves, because they were making money from them." While the database can establish the regions slave ships launched from in Africa and where they arrived in the United States, it generally is impossible to determine which ancestors were on board, researchers said, because the records have African names that were changed when the slaves arrived in North America. "The data certainly is not going to be helpful in tracing individual ancestors. You can't say your ancestor came on this vessel, except in a tiny handful of cases," Eltis said. "What it can do is provide context. The big advantage is that it establishes connections between parts of Africa and parts of the Americas." Since 2003, a Washington, D.C., company called African Ancestry Inc. has offered mail-order DNA tests for $349. In recent years, other DNA research projects have been developed, attracting such celebrity clients as Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and civil rights icon Andrew Young. The problem with DNA testing, according to researchers, is that insufficient samples of DNA have been collected from Africa, making it difficult to provide matches from many parts of the continent. The Voyages database will help reinforce DNA data, researchers said. "People may not be able to trace their particular ancestor, but it is the most complete accounting of individual lives, individual ships, individual journeys to date," said Leslie Harris, an Emory genealogist and author of "In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863." The database, which is expected to become a classroom tool, contains the records of 10.5 million slaves, more than 85 percent of the slave trade. It identifies more than 67,000 of them by their African name, age, sex, origin and place of embarkation. Though many Americans view slavery as a U.S. phenomenon, the United States represented only 4 percent of the slave trade, far behind Brazil, the leader, which imported about 45 percent of the slaves, Eltis said.

Six-Year-Old Takes Family Car After Missing Bus By: Associated Press WICOMICO CHURCH, Va. - A six-year-old Virginia boy who missed his bus tried to drive to school in his family's sedan - and crashed. His parents were charged with child endangerment. State police said the boy suffered only minor injuries and authorities drove him to school after he was evaluated at a local hospital for a bump on his head. He arrived shortly after lunch, Sgt. Tom Cunningham said. It happened around 7:40 a.m. Monday on Route 360, about 61 miles east of Richmond. The boy, whose name wasn't released, missed the bus, took the keys to his family's 2005 Ford Taurus and drove nearly six miles toward school while his mother was asleep, police said. He made at least two 90-degree turns, passed several cars and ran off the rural two-lane road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school. The boy told police he learned to drive playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam video games. "He was very intent on getting to school," said Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins. "When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE." His parents, Jacqulyn Deana Waltman, 26, and David Eugene Dodson, 40, are each charged with child endangerment, Wilkins said. Waltman is being held without bond. Dodson was released on a $5,000 bond. It was not clear if they had attorneys. The boy and his four-year-old brother were placed in protective custody. "This really is a story of miracles," Wilkins said. "The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway."

The Chronicle

Minority Students Earning Eegrees from Online School in Record Numbers By Gleen Townes, Amsterdam News A study released last month shows that African American and Hispanic students are earning more undergraduate degrees from the online school the University of Phoenix than any other college or university in the country.

The comprehensive study was released in December by the Virginia-based publication Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Among other things, the magazine tracks various trends in education and how some of those trends affect AfricanAmerican students.

CIS Program Seeks to Resolve the Digital Divide Between AfricanAmerican Women with New Grant

“The University of Phoenix has made higher education accessible to all walks of live, including minority, first generation, underrepresented, rural and other at-risk students,” said John Arnold, chairman of the League of United Latin American Citizen’s Education Commission, a strategic partner of the University of Phoenix.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Computer Information Sciences (CIS) Program, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant valued at $552,000 dedicated to recruiting minority women to computer science and information technology disciplines.

According to a press release on the University of Phoenix website, AfricanAmerican, Hispanic and Native-American students earned more undergraduate degrees in business and finance, management, marketing sciences and healthcare, and various other related support services than any other college in the country. Results for Asian-American students were the same.

“The numbers are staggering,” said Jason T. Black, Ph. D., assistant professor in CIS. “The latest data shows that out of all U.S. entering freshmen declaring a major in computer science, African-American women made up only 3.3 percent. The fact is that women are not choosing technology, and this is a dangerous predicament. When you couple that with the fact that it is estimated that 75 percent of all jobs by the year 2020 will require a technology background, it becomes a crisis call.” The program, entitled African-American Women in Computer Science, (AAWCS), is a four-year program that provides scholarships and other assistance to women who express a financial need and an interest in computer science or information technology. AAWCS, created by Black, also the principal investigator for the program, and Edward L. Jones, Ph. D., chair of the CIS program, will directly address the dismal number of minority women, particularly African-American women that pursue degrees in computer science or information technology. Women who apply to AAWCS will be accepted based on financial need, and will be awarded a scholarship of between $3,000 and $5,000 per semester. In addition to the funding, the women will participate in CIS departmental clubs and organizations, such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Club, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the CIS Mentoring Organization (CISMO). AAWCS scholars will also be involved in other STEM programs, such as the Florida/Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP) scholarship program, and the Students and Technology in Academia, Research and Service (STARS) Alliance, both NSF-funded programs. An added benefit to the students is the conference participation, where selected AAWCS scholars will be chosen to attend two national conferences, paid for by the grant, each year, such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and the National Conference of Women in Information Technology (NCWIT). The AAWCS program begins operation on July 1 and will run until June 30, 2012. Applications for the program can be requested by contacting Black at [email protected] or (850) 412-7354.

“These rankings are particularly important, given the current economic downturn,” said Bill Pepicello, president of the University of Phoenix. “They demonstrate [that the] University of Phoenix is structured to confront market forces nimbly [and is] attuned to the current job market with our focus on fastgrowing occupational areas.” In a related issue, less than two weeks before the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th president, a national educational think tank has launched a web based marketing campaign advocating change in public education.

A group calling itself the Forum for Education and Democracy, in Washington, D.C., is using one of the many mantras of the Obama campaign of “Yes We Can,” in sparking much needed change in public schools across the country. “Our goal is to build on the hopefulness of the Obama campaign [and] address the shared anxiety about our uncertain future,” said Sam Chaltain, national director of the organization. “[We must] channel both sets of feelings into actions that will help support our nation’s schools.” A short film on the popular

internet video website You Tube entitled “Yes We Can” has been viewed more than 15 million times and encourages viewers to sign a petition to work with President-elect Obama to honor commitments to improve public education. To view the complete results of the Diverse Issues in Higher Education report, about the record number of minorities earning undergraduate degrees from the University of Phoenix, log onto http:// www.newscome/cgibin/prnh or visit the University of Phoenix website at http://www.upxnewsroom.com.

CHARLESTON A WINNER, AGAIN! The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today published Grant Awards for its Family Self Sufficiency program. The Charleston Housing Authority was awarded $87,729.00. This award will permit the Authority to continue to provide valuable case management services to the sixty-four families currently enrolled. Each of these families has voluntarily agreed to a workout plan whereby they will improve their education, job skills, etc. and move toward an ultimate goal of living independent of any government assistance. Our FSS Program currently has 64 participating families who have voluntarily enrolled and who have established individual goals ranging from working towards earning a GED, all the way to becoming a homeowner. Each family is afforded 5 years to complete their designated goal(s), with the possibility of a 2 year extension being granted upon request. The Homeownership Program, as an alternative to the conventional Housing Choice Voucher Program which provides rental assistance, instead provides assistance to participating families interested in purchasing their home. Our Homeownership Program currently has 8 participants. In additional to providing the ongoing financial assistance, we also provide post-homeownership counseling to each of them. Our homeownership participants are actively involved in helping the FSS participants accomplish their goals. They enthusiastically attend FSS meetings and encourage participants to work on such things as credit repair and debt management so that they can improve their chances for homeownership.

The Chronicle

12- January 28, 2009A-66818 (G_LG) 01/29/09

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