BATON
THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014
ROUGE,
LOUISIANA
VOL. 38 • NO. 22 • FREE
A PEOPLE’S PUBLICATION
Obama to Announce Program to Create Jobs Baton Rouge Mayor
Kip Holden Slams St. George Effort in ‘State of the City’ Address
Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden gives his 2014 “State of the City” address to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
President Barack Obama speaks to the media before meeting his Cabinet meeting, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. From left are, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
WASHINGTON — President Obama, seeking to fulfill a pledge from his last State of the Union address before his next one in two weeks, will travel to
North Carolina on Wednesday to announce the establishment of a manufacturing institute to help create well-paying jobs. A consortium, led by North
Carolina State University and comprising 18 companies and six universities, will use advanced semiconductor technology to develop a new generation of
energy-efficient devices for automobiles, consumer electronics and industrial motors.
Retirement Celebration for Gregory R. Handy. Sr.
Sluggish Employment, Economic Woes Plagued Blacks in 2013
See OBAMA, on page 2
Gregory Handy Mr. Gregory Handy gave 36.4 faithful years of service to Exxon Mobil Refinery where he worked as an instrument tech and he is now retiring from this company that he has given many years of faithful and committed service. On December 27, 2013, Mr. Handy was celebrated by a host of family, co0workers and friends. The occasion was held See HANDY, on page 2
ODUMS, SOUTHERN AGREETO 3-YEAR EXTENSION
started when people in the southern portion of the parish wanted an independent school district, but couldn’t get it passed through the legislature. Holden compared supporters of the proposal to the characters in the story of the “Little Red Hen.” After the hen grows wheat, harvests it and bakes bread, all of the other animals want to eat it. Likewise, the city-parish invested in the St. George area of the parish, creating major retail centers -- and now, supporters of the initiative want to keep that for themselves, Holden said. He said forming an additional city will duplicate services already being provided See HOLDEN, on page 3
SU Alum, Wife Donate $50,000 To Chancellor’s Scholarship Fund
By Starla Muhammad Special to NNPA from The Final Call Stagnation is how economist Dr. Algernon Austin summed up what Black Americans faced in the 2013 economy, with high jobless rates still the main culprit. The final U.S. jobs report released before the end of the year by the U.S. Department of Labor showed overall unemployment rates dropped to 7 percent for November. For Blacks there was also a decline from 13.1 percent in October. But, despite the drop, the unemployment rate for Blacks was still 12.5 percent. However, the figures do not include those that have stopped looking for work due to frustration and long-term unemployment, meaning the figures are much higher. This dynamic continued to plague Black America throughout 2013. “Many African Americans know if they’ve been actively looking for work for six months,
Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden slammed the proposal to incorporate the city of St. George during his “State of the City” address Wednesday afternoon, calling its supporters a “small group” seeking to divide the parish in a move that will ultimately “bankrupt our future.” Holden had previously been reluctant to comment on the proposal to create the new city in the southern part of East Baton Rouge Parish, but devoted several minutes of his speech at the Crowne Plaza hotel on Wednesday to the topic. He had harsh words for the St. George proposal, saying the city-parish is being “held hostage in a disagreement over schools.” The St. George effort
a year and they know that there’s no work out there so they stop looking, they’re then not counted as unemployed,” said Dr. Austin, director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program at the Economic Policy Institute. In 2013 the overall unemployment rate for the country averaged 7.4 percent from January through November, but for Black America, it was close to 13.2 percent. This year also marked an historic milestone in U.S. history. While 50 years have passed since the 1963 March on Washing-
ton for Jobs and Justice, the economic situation for Black America in many cases remained unchanged or in some cases, became worse. “Fifty years later, African Americans still lack full access to decent, wholesome, and safe housing, in large part because Black poverty remains high and is very concentrated,” Dr. Austin wrote in his June report, “The Unfinished March.” In areas of wealth, income and housing several reports and See SLUGGISH, on page 2
BATON ROUGE, LA Southern University alum Irving Matthews and his wife Darlene have donated $50,000 to the Chancellor’s Centennial Scholarship Fund to endow 4-year tuition scholarships to two AfricanAmerican males entering SU in the fall of 2014. Matthews is a 1970 engineering graduate and a native of Lake Charles. He is the owner of Ford dealerships in Mount Dora and Stuart, Fla. “The commitment by Mr. and Mrs. Matthews strikes at the core of the mission of Southern University – access to higher education and academic support for success,” Chancellor Dr. James L. Llorens said. “Their commitment – they already provide two endowed
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LOCAL & STATE
BUSINESS
HEALTH
scholarships in business and engineering – to Southern University epitomizes the role of alumni in giving back to the institution that prepared them for success,” Llorens said. The chancellor and his wife, Glenda, recently donated $10,000 to fund. The Matthews scholarship will provide full tuition scholarships for eight consecutive semesters beginning in the fall 2014 semester. Qualified applicants must meet Southern’s admission criteria, be Pell Grant eligible, and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.50 at the end of each academic year. The Matthews scholars will receive mentoring and academic guidance over the course of their matriculation.
RELIGION I was once forwarded this beautiful e-mail. I highly recommend other pastors use this “forwarded” message from an unknown author to use as a tool for counseling married couples and singles alike...See Page 6
INDEX
DIFFERENCES IN ARBITRATION A federal judge will not reopen a Seattle Seahawks fans have rattled countless opponents, set world records and, as of Sunday, generated multiple earthquakes with their deafening noise. ...See Page 8
case involving a Louisiana-based minority contractor and two of the nation’s largest construction firms, encouraging all parties to resolve their legal wranglings, through courtmandated arbitration. ..See Page 3
ESSENCE KICKS OFF GRAMMY WEEK
ESSENCE, the preeminent media brand for African-American women, today announces its fifth annual GRAMMY® Awards Week celebration with the return of ESSENCE Black Women in Music. ..See Page 5
FDA OKAYS FLU ASSAY, SHARES UP TRU FLU is a rapid, qualitative, lateral-flow immunoassay that is used to detect both influenza A and influenza B viruses. ...See Page 7
Local & State............................2 Commentary.............................4 Business....................................5 Religion....................................6 Health.......................................7 Sports.......................................8
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