The Weekly Press Week of 02/11/10

baton

THURSDAY, February 11, 2010

rouge,

louisiana

Vol. 34 • No. 42

a people’s publication

WHO DAT?! NOT DEM COLTS!!!

Saints Return Home to Heroes’ Welcome

Saints Win 1st NFL title by Beating Colts 31-17

NEW ORLEANS - Jubilant fans greeted the Super Bowl-winning Saints Monday, showering them with “Who Dat!” chants as they returned to their home city as champions.

At a suburban airport, thousands of fans decked in black-and-gold lined the road to cheer their team after its 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

“The Saints kept hope alive in this city that better days were coming,” said Shannon Sims, a 45-year-old criminal court administrator, as she waited for the team. She said the Saints “were the force that kept us moving forward.”

The city woke up hoarse, hungover and happy, wondering if that Super Bowl thing really happened.

In the French Quarter, stragglers - decked out in Saints jerseys and team colors-

The New Orleans Saints overcame an early 10-point deficit, pulled off a risky onside kick and won their first NFL title by beating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 on Sunday New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees(notes) equaled a Super Bowl record for completions and was voted the game’s most valuable player, while the Saints held his Indianapolis counterpart Peyton Manning(notes) to a single score in the final three quarters, intercepting him for a touchdown that sealed the victory.

From the trophy podium on the field, Brees blew kisses and caught confetti raining down as New Orleans musicians Dr. John and Professor Longhair blared from the stadium speakers. Coach Sean Payton hung over the railing clapping and shouting down to the crowd as if he were rolling on a Mardi Gras float, then waved a newspaper with the banner headline “WORLD CHAMPS.” New Orleans knows how to celebrate, but for the beleaguered city and its longbedraggled NFL franchise, the championship touched off a new kind of joy.

“Four years ago, who ever thought this would be happening when 85 percent of the city was under water?”

Brees said. “Most people left not knowing if New Orleans would ever come back, or if the organization would ever come back. We just all looked at one another and said, `We are going See Saints, on page 2

remaining from the all-night party turned to coffee and beignets as dawn broke.

Richard Bourland said he came from nearby Gulfport, Miss., hoping to see history made and wasn’t disappointed. The 57-year-old said he pulled his first all-nighter in at least 15 years celebrating.

“I came because it is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Bourland said as he sipped strong black coffee. “I wanted to experience a miracle and I did.

I’m still trying to believe it.”

Fans had trouble believing the Saints’ Super Bowl victory, the first in their 43-year history - it was, after all, just their ninth winning season.

Disbelief did not prevent them from throwing a huge “Lombardi Party,” however.

The team’s big season See heroes, on page 2

Mitch Landrieu Elected Mayor of New Orleans

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees hold the Vince Lombardi championship trophy after the Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.

NATIONAL/state & Community watch

STATE & LOCAL NEWS

Business NEWS

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans in a landslide Saturday. He will replace termlimited Ray Nagin and become the majority-black city’s first white mayor since 1979.

Landrieu, a 49-year-old moderate Democrat, defeated 10 opponents in a campaign that focused on the city’s slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina, violent crime and slumping city finances. The city’s last white mayor was Landrieu’s father, Moon Landrieu.

Voting came amid Carnival celebrations and preparations for the New Orleans Saints’ appearance today in the Super Bowl.

As returns came in, jubilation spread through the Landrieu headquarters in a hotel ballroom – festooned with black and gold balloons in a nod to the football team.

A brass band played Mardi Gras music.

Among the other candidates were businessman John Georges, also white, who spent $3.4 million of his own money on his campaign, and Troy Henry, a black business

religion news

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu

consultant who made his first political run.

Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne projected turnout as high as 45 percent in a city where registered voters number more than 273,000.

Nagin, who was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, made few comments during the campaign. Little known outside New Orleans before Katrina, he became a central figure in the city’s struggle to recover. Polls, however, showed his popularity fell as rebuilding dragged on.

Health news

Southern University jump started its Capital Area Heart Walk campus campaign with a kick-off meeting recently in the Dean’s Conference Room of Fisher Hall on the Baton Rouge campus....See Page 7

INDEX

State Farm Rate Hike Rejected An East Baton Rouge Parish school is drawing some national attention. Sherwood Middle Magnet is being used as the blueprint for how schools around the nation should be operating. t...Page 2

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said Wednesday that the increase “was determined to be unreasonable.” State Farm had wanted an additional $67.6 million in annual premiums. ...See Page 3

Top 10 Good Tax Time Tips for 2010

While the tax filing deadline is more than three months away, it always seems to be here before you know it. Here are the Internal Revenue Service’s top 10 tips that will help your tax filing process run smoother than ever this year...See Page 5

Pre Valentines Musical

The Greater St. James Baptist Church located at 1919 Arizona Street pastored by Reverend Willie J. Finister invites all ladies to attend their 5th Annual Pre Valentines Musical Male Chorus Round Up...See Page 6

Local & State............................2 More News...............................4 Business....................................5 Religion....................................6 Health.......................................7 Other News..............................8

Classified Buying or selling a service, looking for for a good job or a good used car? Check out the classifeds .

THEWEEKLYPRESS.COM Celebrating 34 Years Of Service To The Baton Rouge Community 225.775.2002 Educate, Engage & Inspire Our Readers by Sharing Your Diversity FEBRUARY: Celebrating The Achievements of Great African-Americans or Community Initiatives

Page 2 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, February 11, 2010

Local&State marge's

READER INFORMATION How to Reach Us General Information . . 225-775-2002 Fax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225-775-4216 Email Address . . . . . . theweeklypress@yahoo.com . . . . . . . . . . thewpres@bellsouth.net

The office is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday - Friday and located at 1283 Rosenwald Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Correction Policy

The Baton Rouge Weekly Press strives to be fair and accurate. The newspaper corrects any significant errors of fact brought to the attention of the editor.

If you think an error has been made, call 225-775-2002

The Weekly Press Newspaper is a published weekly in Baton Rouge and distributed every Thursday with a circulation of 7,500. Subscription rates are $38.00 per year for Louisiana residents; $42.00 for one year for out-of-state residents; half price for six months subscription: and $1.00 per single copy.

All money orders or checks should be made payable to The Weekly Press, P.O. Box 74485, Baton Rouge, La. 70874

1283 Rosenwald Road Baton Rouge, La. 70807-41 Phone: (225) 775-2002

Fax: (225) 775-4216 E-Mail theweeklypress@yahoo.com thewpres@bellsouth.net Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Closed Saturday, Sunday

and all Major Holidays

EBR School Attracting National Attention

BATON ROUGE, LA - An East Baton Rouge Parish school is drawing some national attention. Sherwood Middle Magnet is being used as the blueprint for how schools around the nation should be operating.

The U.S. Department of Education picked more than 300 schools to receive the Blue Ribbon Award. Of those, only six are being looked at as a guide for other schools around the nation.

For about three days, a research team from New Hampshire is spending time interviewing staff and students, and watching them work.

“Sherwood has excelled in their test scores, even with a challenging population. More than 50% of students are high poverty,” said Cynthia Harvell, with RMC Research Cooperation.

“We’re in the business of

helping children to do better, keep up, make their grade point average. Raise the bar, have them meet the bar and not just let them flounder,” said principal Phyllis Crawford.

The research team says what they are most impressed with is the way teachers help each other. Teachers who teach the same subject often meet for a working lunch, to discuss how to help students better grasp certain concepts. They say they are also impressed with the amount of hands-on support for the students, during and after school hours. Crawford says students are given three opportunities for tutoring throughout the day.

She also says they’ve started a program called “Zero’s Aren’t Acceptable”. The research team says those practices are the reason this school is among the top ten percent in the state.

The Housing Authority of East Baton Rouge Parish will begin accepting applications for its Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Program Waiting List.

The application period will start 9:00 AM (CT), February 17, 2010, through September 17, 2010.

Applications will only be accepted during the period the Waiting List is open.

Applications will NOT be accepted in person, via mail or fax.

Do not call the local Housing Authority to apply!

Apply Online at www.ebrpha.org/s8apply.

Online applications are accepted 24-hours a day/7-days per week beginning 9:00 AM (CT) February 17, 2010, through September 17, 2010.

If you already have a current application with the HAEBRP, do not apply again. Only one application is needed. Reapplying will not change your position on the Waiting List.

Applications are processed in date/time order received and by preference. Individuals can claim one or more preferences on the application.

Greatest preference will be given to eligible families who recently left or will be leaving FEMA temporary housing units (THUs) or FEMA funded Alternative Housing Programs such as “Katrina Cottages.” “Recently left” means that the family vacated their unit on or after June 24, 2009.

“There’s no wasted time in this building. There’s a lot of collaboration between the teachers,” Harvell said.

The principal says being recognized as one of the best should reinforce the importance of public education in this state.

The director of Blue Ribbon Schools says by sharing Sherwood’s success, they hope to push other schools to provide the same standard of education.

Saints from page 1 to rebuild together. We are going to lean on each other.’ This is the culmination in all that belief.”

Nearly an hour after the game, Saints fans kept chanting their rally cry, “Who Dat?” One player climbed into the stands, others tossed their sweaty padding to souvenir seekers, and Payton held up the Lombardi Trophy so fans along the railing could touch it.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Anything is possible if we believe. Who Dat Nation THE WHO DAT NATION has been shouting in the streets and rightly so because of the Super Bowl XLIV victory. Not only are the residents of New Orleans are ecstatic, but the entire state and nation. With the former residents throughout the USA, many were cheering the team to victory. It has been a great help to the morale of the city. Thanks, Saints-players and coaches!

The Louisiana Federation of Music Club Junior Festival congratulate the following students of music for their recent superior performances: Christen Williams, Josef Bell, Daisha Miles, Ashley Robinson, Tevin Williams, Christen Williams, and Trey Williams.

Talented Tiger Sensation Dance Team was in performance with other artists recently in what was dubbed, “Winter Fine Arts.” Those participating in this night of great success included O’Neil Robinson who directed, Quiana Green, Jeanette Davids, Carolyn Ward, Lakeisha Daigle and Belle Christey.

Much Success to the area Air Force Junior ROTC. These students went through the training and, after six weeks, earned their certificates. The group included Patty Southall, Genevie Kirkendall, Loria Schram and Melvin Ward.

The Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center was one of the 2009 award winners during the annual competition sponsored by McGraw-Hill South Central Construction and design excellence. The Center’s winning entry was a “Best in the Category Award for Best Small Project at the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Gonzales.

Congratulations, Center.

My Sensational Seniors are invited to their local centers around town. It is

Heroes from page 1 came four years after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and destroyed thousands of homes and small businesses.

“After Katrina everyone was hurting,” said Derek Stevens, 27, who was still on Bourbon Street at dawn. “The Saints was the one thing we had that was positive, that made us hopeful.”

Long-suffering fans throughout the city shot off fireworks, danced in the streets and secondlined down the St. Charles Avenue streetcar tracks.

On Monday morning, Bourbon Street crews worked at dawn to clean up the remnants of the street party that began before the game ended and stretched into the new day.

“It was crazy the whole day,” said Earl Wheeler, 21, a bartender at one of the Bourbon Street clubs.

“It was one really good time. Lots

of love going around. But I was too busy to watch the game. I’m going home to do that today.”

The victory came a day after New Orleans elected a new mayor and several other city officials.

But in the area newspapers there was little besides the Saints.

The New Orleans paper, The Times-Picayune, ran a 5-inch headline that said “AMEN.” The subhead read, “After 43 years, our prayers are answered.”

At Lakeside News, which usually sells about 100 copies a day, owner Michael Marcello said he had sold 6,000 to 7,000 by 9:15 a.m.

“I wish I had some,” he said.

“I’m out again. This is the fourth time I’ve run out.”

At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly called Angola, the game was on television in all the dormitories, and even

For answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding the HCV Waiting List, preferences and eligibility, please visit our website at www.ebrpha.org/s8apply. If you are in need of a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Housing Authority.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is administered in compliance with the HAEBRP’s Administrative Plan and HUD’s rules and regulations.

Love, Marge

some of the cell blocks where problem prisoners are kept, said prison spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot.

“Normally they wouldn’t have television privileges, but we thought it was such an important game we let them watch this one,” Fontenot said.

Prisoners decorated their dorms with Saints and Who Dat signs, Fontenot said.

“It was really exciting,” Fontenot said. “We had prisoners second-lining through the dormitories and down the walkways outside.”

Traffic was light coming into town Monday, and many businesses expected people to stay home. The public schools had scheduled a full day Monday, but planned to let students out early Tuesday to attend a parade planned for the Saints.

If this happens to you call Attorney McManus

Preference will also be given to: o elderly (62 years of age or older) head-of-household and/or disabled families o applicants who live within East Baton Rouge Parish at the time of application and initial eligibility.

Do not call the local Housing Authority to apply!

always a travesty when you stay home alone, when you can be group gospel singing, playing bridge, learning CPR, engaging in chess, and many other activities that are relevant just for you.

Your neighbors and friends are all at the center. Won’t you join them?

The Alzheimer’s Services are very dear to my heart! (No, I have sometimers, not Alzheimers.) It is sponsored by the Capital Area group and Ms. Scarlett Cartwright can give you more information concerning speaker forums.

The Classy Ladies Social Club has as one of their goals to help those who are in crisis. With that in mind, they presented gifts to families with hardships during the holidays.

It is said that they gave toys and family dinners to the needy and are always on the lookout to help others during seasons.

Sounds like a winner!

Are You Fighting the Flu? The seasonal flu time is here and the best protection against it is the flu shot.

While many have reservations concerning this it may help you have a milder form of the flu than otherwise. The best time to get this shot is now from your primary care physician and, if you are at risk, get your H1N1 shot, too.

Get Well Wishes are extended to Churchill Paul, Cherrie Seales, Gloria Woodlief, Jereice Snowden, Blanche Felder, and Mildred Marcelle.

Happy Birthday William OQuinn, Jr., Mary Francois and Ivory D. Payne, Jr. H app y Belated Birthday to Joseph Dixon, Aaron O’Quinn, and Bethel Captville Jr. With Love and Sympathy to the Cloud Family, the Ehrman family and the Pitre family.

Have a very blessed weekend. Go Jags, and go Tigers.

INJURED IN A CAR WRECK?

Next highest preference will be given to eligible families who were living within a county or parish determined as a Presidential Declared Disaster area (individual assistance) during either Hurricane Katrina and/or Rita and were displaced as a result of either storm.

As an alternative to the online application, individuals can apply by calling toll-free at 800-863-1141 during the hours of 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM (CT), Monday – Friday, beginning 9:00 AM (CT), February 17, 2010. Up to 4000 applications will be accepted via the toll-free phone number.

Chit Chat

“Not an authentic wreck site.

Call the McManus law office and get all you deserve

Charles C. McManus A T T O R N E Y

A T

L A W

8520 Scotland Ave, Suite C • Baton Rouge, La. 225-774-5771

charlesmcmanus@mcmanuslawoffice.brcoxmail.com

Thursday, February 11, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 3

The Friends of Magnolia Mound Present a Dramatic Presentation of Sojourner Truth is My Name year that demonstrates and interprets a view into the other side of plantation life. The event is free and open to the public.

Oneal Isaac is an awardwinning actor, storyteller and playwright. He has been the recipient of an Artist Fellowship in Theatre from the Louisiana Division of the Arts. He was also Arts Ambassador for the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and was honored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities with a Special Humanities Award. He has worked in motion pictures, professional and community theater, improvisational comedy and public radio. He worked extensively as the Assistant Director with PRIME TIME Family Reading Time, the LEH Family Literacy

Oneal Isaac

The Friends of Magnolia Mound Plantation in association with BREC will present the 5th annual Black History Month event, a dramatic presentation of the play Sojourner Truth Is My Name, by Pat Sternberg and Dolly Beechman. The play will be directed by local playwright/actor Oneal Isaac.

The performance will be at 1:00 PM at the Slave Cabin on the grounds of Magnolia Mound on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 1:00 PM. Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree about 1797, was an ex-slave, fiery abolitionist and spell-binding preacher and singer. She became a national symbol for strong black women. A complex woman, she transformed herself from a slave to an itinerant preacher and feminist, whose words of empowerment have inspired people all over the world. This annual event seeks to provide historical programming each

State Farm Homeowners Rate Hike Rejected BATON ROUGE- State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.’s request for a major rate increase in homeowners coverage has been rejected.

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said Wednesday that the increase “was determined to be unreasonable.” State Farm had wanted an additional $67.6 million in annual premiums.

Although the average increase would have been 19.1 percent, rates in different areas of the state would have fallen as much as 5 percent to increases of as much as 44 percent - with residents in coastal areas taking the brunt.

State Farm is Louisiana’s largest home insurer with about 27 percent of the market share.

Program, now used throughout the U.S. Oneal is currently working with the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless as a Case Manager helping survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Friends of Magnolia Mound Plantation is a member organization of the Community Fund for the Arts. Magnolia Mound Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and accredited by the American Association of Museums. This programming is partially funded by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.

For more information, please call Jenny Poulter, Education Curator, 225-343-4955 or visit friendsofmagnoliamound. org.

New Look Neighborhood Grocery

Hot Breakfast $3.09 Daily Home Made Lunch $4.99 Hot and Fresh 15 wings $9.99 • 30 wings $19.99 Mobile Kitchen available for your Catering needs serving for 1 to 1000 On sale: Phone cards and postage stamps Store Hours: Monday through Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. • Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

1376 North 39th Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802

Sojourner Truth

(225) 388-0055

SULC Journal Symposium Set BATON ROUGE - The Southern University Law Center’s Journal of Race, Gender, and Poverty will host a one-day symposium, “State of the Union: The Progress Report,” from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday, February 19, 2010, in 120 and 130 A.A. Lenoir Hall.

The free event will feature noted legal scholars and other academicians discussing current civil rights topics, with the goal of assisting in identifying remedies to community problems.

The luncheon keynote speaker will be Dr. Peniel E. Joseph, author and professor of history at Tufts University.

Eligible participants may earn up to 5.5 hours of continuing legal education credits.

Featured panelists include: L. Darnell Weeden, Associate Dean, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern

University; Dr. Albert Samuels, Associate Professor of Political Science, Southern University; Deleso Alford Washington, Professor, Florida A&M University College; Andre Douglass Pond Cummings, Professor, West Virginia University College of Law; Angela Kupenda, Professor, Mississippi College School of Law; Dr. Donald Tibbs, Associate Professor of Law, Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel University; and Todd J. Clark, Professor, North Carolina Central University School of Law. For more information or to register for the symposium, contact journal editor Kimberly Spruill, HYPERLINK “mailto:Kspruill@sulc.edu” Kspruill@sulc.edu. For CLE registration, contact Cynthia N. Reed, SULC director of CLE and alumni affairs, Creed@sulc. edu, (225) 771-2155.

Dr. cHArles ricHArD Drew AfricAn AmericAn PhysiciAn

AfricAn AmericAn HeritAge montH

D

octor Charles Richard Drew developed a means of preserving blood plasma for transfusions. During World War II, Dr. Drew headed the program that sent blood to Great Britain for wounded soldiers. He later became the director of the first American Red Cross Blood Bank. As an African American pioneer, he dedicated his career to research and medical science.

African American Heritage…continue the legacy through Health and Wellness.

For more information on Health and Wellness or Louisiana2Step, log on to www.bcbsla.com

15HR1082 01/10

Page 4 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, February 11, 2010

Black History

The Origin of the First Bus Boycott Happen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Events commemorating the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott 50th Anniversary take place Thursday, June 19, through Sunday, June 21, in Baton Rouge at Southern University, Louisiana State University and the Old State Capitol, among other locations. United States Ambassador to South Africa James Joseph is the event’s keynote speaker; other speakers include Moon Landrieu and historians Anthony Badger, Douglas Brinkley, Adam Fairclough and Charles Vincent. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete listing of events, visit www.brbusboycott.org or call (225) 387-6126. The landscaped serenity of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church stands in stark contrast to the thick traffic that rumbles on Government Street toward downtown Baton Rouge. Behind a tall, ornate wooden door, a narrow sanctuary leads to a grand belltower at the church’s rear; a long, two-story expanse houses a public

elementary school. But hidden in history is Mt. Zion’s role as a building block for the Southern struggle for civil rights.

In 1948, the Rev. T.J. Jemison arrived at this church from his hometown of Selma, Ala. Jemison’s father, the Rev. David

V. Jemison, served as pastor of Selma’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, a launching point for the famed Selma-to-Montgomery march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When the younger Jemison assumed his role at Mt. Zion, the church was a decaying wooden

structure. The young, vigorous reverend took on the project of rebuilding it -- and in doing so, the web of segregation began to tear apart.

“This ground right here is the base for the integration of buses in the South,” recalls Jemison, during a recent tour of the church. He speaks calmly and precisely, with the soothing tone that earned him a reputation as one of the South’s greatest orators. (Just last week, at age 89 and amid rumors of declining health, he gave a sermon fittingly titled “A Victorious Faith.”) He is steady and calm in his recollections, only interrupting himself once to shout, “Take your cap off!” to a young man entering the building sporting a Philadelphia 76ers cap. The youngster quickly obliges. “We began building the church in 1953, and I would stand out front and watch the people lay bricks and so forth,” Jemison continues. “I didn’t think

The Reese Team • • • • • • •

Commercial Investment 100% Purchase on Rural Property Refinance, Construction Loan Fast Approval & Funding VA, FHA, My Community Programs Rates as Low as 5.25 Take Advantage of $8,000.00 Tax Credit

We Can have You In YouR home 5700 Florida Blvd., Suite 312 Baton Rouge, La. 70806 Office: (225) 341-3551 Fax: (225) 923-8227 Cell: (225) 806-6030

DaRlene h. Reese Professional Mortgage Lender

about building anything except the church at first. But we saw the buses heading into south Baton Rouge, filled with people standing behind rows of empty seats. These people had been out all day working in other parts of the city. They were cleaning up for our white neighbors, doing their cooking, and were on their way home. I just thought it was terrible they couldn’t sit down.”

Fifty years later, Jemison’s determination is being celebrated as a pivotal moment in the struggle against segregation. The successful Baton Rouge bus boycott predated Brown v. Board of Education by one year and the widely recognized Montgomery bus boycott by two years. In his book Stride Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that Jemison’s “painstaking description of the Baton Rouge experience proved invaluable.” This weekend, scholars, activists and Civil Rights veterans converge on Baton Rouge to honor the bus boycott’s 50th anniversary. In addition to the weekend’s many events, Louisiana State University’s T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History has established a new Web site (www.brbusboycott.org), which includes an oral history of the boycott. The conference’s organizing committee has founded the Rev. T.J. Jemison & Rev. James L. Stovall Oral History Teacher Fellowship Program to recruit teachers to study the boycott’s history and raise awareness in the community. Organizers say the need to honor and document the boycott is more acute then ever.

Facts blur in the aging minds of those few key players still living.

More documentation is needed.

Plus, the event provides the opportunity to examine conflicting stories and lingering questions: Did King actually visit or just call Baton Rouge immediately after the boycott? Who deserves credit for organizing the boycott?

Among some veterans, this last question is especially contentious.

The Baton Rouge bus boycott officially lasted only eight days -- but was months in the making. In early 1953, the Baton Rouge city-parish council voted to raise bus fares. The move angered African Americans who

ACCURATE TAX SERVICES Over 20 Years Of IncOme Tax experIence

Noland Turner, EA

2622 NORTH STREET

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA. 70802-3161

Web page: WTAAENGINEERS.COM 225-383-0822 office

Toll free 1-866-324-9822

Email: WT@WTAAENGINEERS.COM 225-346-4023 fax 1-866-821-9822 Toll free fax

ALEXANDRIA, BATON ROUGE, MONROE, NEW ORLEANS & SHREVEPORT Streets, Box culverts, Light rails, Structures, Airports, Sewer & Water, Drainage, Management, Evaluations, Planning and Surveys

“Civil Engineers wanted” DBE AND HUBZONE CERTIFIED

INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING & PLANNING CONSULTANTS CONSTRUCTION SUPPORT SERVICES INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING

• • • • •

Let Us Tell You About The Following: New Earn Income Tax Credit Changes New Elementary & Secondary School Deduction Now First Time Buyers Credit New Child Care Expense Credit IrS representation/ Late Filing/ IrS Indebtness

Open Year Round Not Just Tax Season

4904 Winbourne Ave. Baton rouge, LA 70806 Telephone: 225-356-2111

comprised 80 percent of bus ridership and paid full fare, but were forced to sit or stand behind the first 10 seats -- whether they were filled or not. On Feb. 11, 1953, Jemison spoke before the council to denounce the fare increase and ask for the end of the practice of reserving seats for whites. The council voted unanimously on Feb. 25 to create Ordinance 222, which upheld segregation but allowed blacks to board the bus starting at the back, and whites to board starting at the front. Ordinance 222 was initially applauded in the black community as it allowed more room for sitting when the bus was majority black, which was typically the case. However, Ordinance 222 went unenforced.

In early June 1953, Jemison tested the new law by sitting in the white section. The driver asked him to move. He refused, and the driver steered the bus directly to the police station. An officer boarded the bus but sided with Jemison.

This incident and others like it provoked the all-white drivers to strike in protest of Ordinance 222 on June 15. Four days later, state Attorney General Fred LeBlanc declared 222 unconstitutional, ruling it violated the state’s segregation laws, and the drivers returned to work. After the attorney general’s ruling, black leaders formed the United Defense League (UDL) and sued the City of Baton Rouge in state court to desegregate the buses. On July 19, during the legal maneuverings, Rev. Jemison announced on radio station WLCS that a boycott would begin the next morning, with a “free ride” system to be established to transport people as needed. Horatio Thompson, the African-American owner of several Esso gas stations, donated gas at-cost to drivers who gave free rides in their own cars, and the first day of the boycott enjoyed an 85 percent drop in bus ridership. By the third day of the boycott, the buses were 99 percent empty. During the boycott, the UDL held nightly meetings at churches and other locations.

The organization was negotiating a deal with the council to preserve the essence of 222, but still keep the buses segregated, with the first two seats reserved for whites, and the back bench reserved for blacks. On June 24, a huge crowd gathered at Memorial Stadium.

Jemison declared the boycott was over. Although many protesters wanted to push the boycott further and end the segregationist policy, the majority approved of the compromise. “People still want to know why I didn’t push further, and take King’s path toward ending all segregation,” Jemison says. “That wasn’t my interest. I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps, and become president of the National Baptist Convention, which I did in 1982.

King accomplished so much for people; as his good friend, I supported and backed him the whole way. But I chose to stay focused on the church, not the whole country.” Willis Reed tells a different boycott story. “People often attempt to position themselves as leaders in the black community, but they’re not real leaders,” says Reed, during an interview in his office at the Baton Rouge Post, a free weekly African-American newspaper where Reed, at 89, still serves as editor, owner and sole reporter.

Reed’s office is cluttered with piles of loose papers and multiple pictures of both Bill ClinSee boycott, on page 5

Leroy Turner SHOE SHOP

932 Progress Street • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802

(225) 343-6896

“We Also Sell Men & Women Shoes”

RENA HESTER

Attorney At LAw • PersonAL Injury & bAnkruPtcy

Located in Scotlandville 8152 Scenic Hwy. Baton Rouge, La. 70807

225-774-2637

Thursday, February 11, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 5

business

Cox Offers Black History Month Programs On Demand BATON ROUGE, LA – This February, in celebration of Black History Month, Cox will offer a special category in the On Demand menu that profiles the contributions of African Americans in American History, film, music and television. The special collection of programming is available to Cox Digital Cable customers On Demand through February 28.

From music, to documentaries, movies, comedies and more – Cox Digital Cable customers can access this special category of programs by tuning to Cox channel one. From there, choose Movies, then the Black Cinema category for a lineup of hit movies, or choose FreeZ-

one and then Black Experience for programming from some of the most popular networks including E!, BET, CNN, Food Network, Fuel TV, HBO, HGTV, History Channel, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Logo, MTV, National Geographic Channel, Nick, Showtime, Spike, Starz, Sundance Channel, TCM, Travel Channel and VH1.

“Cox’s On Demand library allows our digital cable customers a chance to explore many genres of programming related to the Black Experience at their own convenience, with most titles available for free,” said Colleen Levy, vice president of Marketing. “We’re happy to offer our customers easy access

to culturally relevant content, all with the power of On Demand.”

In addition, The Black Cinema category is premiering during Black History Month and will remain a category on a monthly basis. The category features some of the most acclaimed, award-winning and influential films created by or featuring the most celebrated black directors, actors and themes.

Prices for the films range from $1.99 to $5.99. Examples of movies available include: • Spike Lee’s brutally honest “Do the Right Thing,” (1989) and the powerful Malcolm X (1992) • Steven Spielberg’s heart

wrenching “The Color Purple” (1985) and historical “Amistad” (1997) • Ed Zwick’s harrowing “Blood Diamond” (2006) • Denzel Washington’s multi-award-winning “Antwone Fisher” (2002) • Taylor Hackford’s musical homage to Ray Charles, “Ray” (2004) • Tyler Perry’s comical “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” (2007) Additional information and programming details can be found at www.cox.com/louisiana.

Please contact Ann Ruble at 225.237.5141 (office) or 225.317.1807 (cell) ann.ruble@ cox.com for more information

Top 10 Good Tax Time Tips for 2010

By D. H. Stepter While the tax filing deadline is more than three months away, it always seems to be here before you know it. Here are the Internal Revenue Service’s top 10 tips that will help your tax filing process run smoother than ever this year.

Start gathering your records Round up any documents or forms you’ll need when filing your taxes: receipts, canceled checks and other documents that support an item of income or a deduction you’re taking on your return.

Be on the lookout W-2s and 1099s will be coming soon from your employer; you’ll need these to file your tax return.

Try e-file When you file

electronically, the software will handle the math calculations for you. If you use direct deposit, you will get your refund in about half the time it takes when you file a paper return. E-file is now the way the majority of returns are filed. In fact, last year, 2 out of 3 taxpayers used e-file.

Check out Free File If your income is $57,000 or less you may be eligible for free tax preparation software and free electronic filing. The IRS partners with 20 tax software companies to create this free service. Free File is for the cost conscious taxpayer who wants reliable question-and-answer software to help them prepare a return. Visit IRS.gov to learn more.

Consider other filing op-

Boycott from page 4 ton and Edwin Edwards -- “two favorites of mine,” Reed says. The paper, with a 5,000 circulation, is an endeavor that Reed says “leaves me a poor, tired man.”

In 1994, the Louisiana Press Association recognized his efforts by inducting him into the “50Year Club.”

Reed, who is among the participants at the anniversary celebration, contends he is the primary force behind organizing for the boycott, having founded in late 1952 the First Ward Voters League, a group that he says predates Jemison’s UDL by “months and months.” It was the First Ward Voters League, Reed says, that held the first organizational meeting to protest the segregated bus system. He recalls the illegal gathering at the all-black Capital High School was not allowed by the school’s principal. The group got in the school by elevating a small boy through an open window in the back. “It was in that auditorium, on that night, that I introduced Rev. Jemison to Baton Rouge,” Reed says.

The First Ward Voters League has several events planned to mark the 50th anniversary outside of the conference events, and Reed has printed hand-outs bearing the motto “Set the Record Straight.” In addition to his work at the newspaper, Reed also worked for the federal Civil Rights Commission, including a stint

examining the racial policies of public schools in Bogalusa.

He says the Civil Rights-era struggles are relevant, though often misunderstood: “There’s no way in the world to make you feel how we felt back then.

We worked against a system created against us. We had police officers looking for any excuse to smack a stick across our heads. You can not talk about this enough. People can’t be reminded enough.”

When asked about Reed’s charges, Jemison demurs. “I’m not going to comment on what he said about me and the bus boycott,” he says. “It’s too late in my life now to be contradictory. Willis Reed was a member of my church. He’s a good man, and did a lot of good for the people, and I won’t say anything to take all that away from him now.”

tions There are many different options for filing your tax return.

You can prepare it yourself or go to a tax preparer. You may be eligible for free face-to-face help at an IRS office or volunteer site. Give yourself time to weigh all the different options and find the one that best suits your needs.

Consider Direct Deposit If you elect to have your refund directly deposited into your bank account, you’ll receive it faster than waiting for a paper check.

Visit IRS.gov again and again The official IRS Web site is a great place to find everything you’ll need to file your tax return: forms, tips, answers to frequently asked questions and updates on tax law changes.

Remember this number: 17 Check out Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax on IRS.gov.

It’s a comprehensive collection of information for taxpayers highlighting everything you’ll need to know when filing your return.

Review! Review! Review!

Don’t rush. We all make mistakes when we rush. Mistakes will slow down the processing of your return. Be sure to double-check all the Social Security Numbers and math calculations on your return as these are the most common errors made by taxpayers.

Don’t panic! If you run into a problem, remember the IRS is here to help. Try IRS.gov or call our customer service number at 800-829-1040.

Motorola Revamping Plans to Break Up WASHINGTON -- Motorola Inc. reportedly has revised its plan to break itself up and may combine its cable set-top business with its wireless-phone unit before spinning them off into a separately traded company.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Schaumburg, Ill.based Motorola /quotes/ comstock/13*!mot/quotes/ nls/mot (MOT 6.62, -0.01, -0.15%) is close to unveiling its new strategy after an extensive review of its existing plan. Previously, the company had been expected to sell its networking division, which includes the set-top business, and spin off the wireless unit.

Attaching the set-top business to the wirelessphone unit could make it easier to spin off the mobile division, a proposal Motorola

first announced in 2008. Yet the company was forced to delay the move after wireless sales and profit tanked and the economy entered a deep recession.

With the economy slowly recovering and Motorola’s handset unit apparently on the mend, a spin-off seems more realistic. Motorola co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said last month that the wireless business would turn profitable again by the fourth quarter.

In the past few months, the company has released a slew of new phones based on Google’s Android software, including the brisk-selling Droid, and it’s sharply cut costs in preparation for a spinoff. Jha, a former Qualcomm Inc. executive, is slated to run the handset business once it See Motorola, on page 7

Business Directory

Blue Runner Foods using Facebook to help Haiti with “Cans for Fans” NEW ORLEANS- Blue Runner Foods started its new “Cans for Fans” effort in order to raise its younger customers’ social consciousness and help them find a way to get involved in supporting Haiti in its time of need.

Richard Thomas, President of Blue Runner Foods, wanted to find a simple way for his customers to help the people of Haiti.

“After what we have been through with our own natural disasters, we knew the people of Louisiana would want to find a way to make their own contribution. We thought this would be a simple way for anyone to

make his or her own individual effort,” he said Jan. 26, the day the project began.

Blue Runner beans and rice are an ideal food for disaster relief because of their durable packaging and shelf-stability in harsh conditions.

For more information on the “Cans for Fans” effort, please become a fan of “Blue Runner Foods” on Facebook or visit the company’s Web site, www.bluerunnerfoods.com.

Visit Us Online @

www.theweeklypress.com

J & J Breaux Construction Specializing in Commercial & Residential Renovations No job too big or too small Contact Jamie at 268-7079 or James at 236-7692.

Give me a call if you have any questions at 236-7692.

Physician

First Care Physicians

The Baton Rouge General, a multicampus, acute-care, has an opening for a Board-Certified or Board-Eligible Neurologist to join First Care Physicians at our Mid City campus in Baton Rouge, LA. Must hold a current LA Medical License or have the ability to obtain one.

Interested candidates should apply online at HYPERLINK “http://www.brgeneral.org” www.brgeneral.org or in person at our Mid City campus located at 3600 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA

PERSONAL CARE ATTENDANTS NEEDED!!

Proven Service & Dependability 25 Years Serving Baton Rouge & Surrounding Communities

Full Service Agency • Licensed Agents Professional Courteous Staff

Auto • Life • Homeowners & Renters • Flood Ira/Retirement, Investment Counseling Convenient Hours: Monday-Friday: 8am-6pm • Saturday: 9am-12 Noon

Fast growing PCA company, needs experienced personal Care attendants.

Must be a high school graduate.

Background check required.

CNA is a plus, but not Required, with experience.

(225) 775-9023

1717 River Road North • 225.709.7777 • 1.800.447.6843 • www.hollywoodbr.com

GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1.877.770.STOP

Page 6 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, February 11, 2010

Religion

Voices of Zion Gospel Chorus, Arlington, Texas Pastor’s Message About Sowing Seeds Inc. to Host Their 22nd Annual Aimed at Preparing Congregation for Great Blessings Post-New Years Musical

By Donald Lee

BATON ROUGE - The Voices of Zion Gospel Chorus would like to invite the public to their 22nd Annual Post-New Years musical. This year the musical will be honoring Mr. Donald Ray (FATS) Johnson with the Richard Sterling, Jr. Award for Excellence in Directorship.

Mr. Johnson is one of the leading guitarist in the state of Louisiana. He is a member of the LightHouse Gospel Singers of Baton Rouge and serves as guitarist for several local churches. He is currently in the hospital and they want to show their love and appreciation for his service to

the Lord.

They are inviting local groups, choirs, and dance ministries to come out and be a part of this worthwhile event to honor one of their very own, while celebrating the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This year’s musical will take place on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at the Greater Saint James Baptist Church located at 1919 Arizona Street and it pastored by Willie M. Finister at 7:00 p.m.

If you require additional information, please contact Dorothy Perkins at (225) 7537375 or Curtis Morris at (225) 927-7883.

The 5th Annual Pre Valentines Musical BATON ROUGE - The Greater St. James Baptist Church located at 1919 Arizona Street pastored by Reverend Willie J. Finister invites all ladies to attend their 5th Annual Pre Valentines Musical Male Chorus Round Up. Featuring

some of Baton Rouge’s finest male chorus that will be taking place on Friday, February 12, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information, please contact Brother Arthur Ray Thomas at (225) 344-3228 or 938-7424.

Reverand H Martin PRAYER SERVICE

WEDNESDAY 12:00 5013 WINDFALL COURT BATON ROUGE, LA. 70812 FOR DIRECTION CALL 225-358-8100 We are seeking Prayer Warriors and Singers Remember Acts: 16,25-26

When the Rev. Michael Horne, senior pastor at Believer’s International Church in Arlington, Texas, stepped into the pulpit Sunday morning (Jan. 31) to deliver an in-season Word from God to the 100-plus members and guests gathered, there was one thing in particular that he wanted everyone to understand.

God only blesses faith in action.

“What inspired me to seek God concerning the Word on Sunday morning is the fact that during the time when there is a famine in the land, people hold back on their seed, but at the same time they are believing God for a visitation,” said Horne, or “Pastor Mike,” as his flock affectionately calls him.

“And God is coming to perform what He said he would, but if there is no seed in the ground in your obedience toward Him, then where is the increase going to come from?” said Horne, who, using the 13th chapter of Matthew as his guide, preached from the subject “What Is Your Seed?

Where Is Your Seed?”.

“Because we know that, biblically, God works through seed time and harvest,” Horne, 39, said, adding that “seed” is represented by the people of God paying their tithes, giving offerings and helping others in need.

“And because of the pressures of trying to maintain, we have allowed the enemy to rob us of our season.”

“God is going to send the former and the latter rains to your season, but if you don’t have any seed in the ground, what’s going to get watered? If there is no seed, there is no increase,” said Horne, whose storefront

pastors at the 3-yearchurch he co-pastors old church. with his wife, Proph“I am a big beetess Wanda Horne, is liever in giving service located at 2001 E. Divitime and Word as well sion St., Suite 123. as financial seeds,” LaThe Rev. Michael bron Mason said. “As Horne wanted everyhe said, I believe the one within the sound rain is now and I’m acof his voice to clearly tually seeing my seed understand that it’s being watered and it not enough to just sow Donald is really wonderful to a seed.

Lee see the favor that God “In order for you has placed on my life to sow seeds, they have to be sown in faith. Sometimes as a result.”

Pastors Michael and Wanda there’s a faith and trust issue,” the Rev. Michael Horne said. “And Horne’s vision for Believer’s Inwe have allowed our situations ternational Church centers on to rob us of our faith because positioning the ministry and the gifts and callings within the we’re in survival mode.

“And since we’re in survival people to operate at a kingdom mode, we’re holding on to what level and to think outside of the we have and the end result is box. Their goal is always to reach that’s all we’re going to have, the lost souls and disciple them and nurture them in God and and not increase,” he said.

The Rev. Michael Horne’s nurture the gifts that God has message hit home with many placed on the inside of them and sitting in the pews of the multi- to help them to reach their full potential in God. ethnic church.

“We’re tired of the normal “The message today gave me encouragement,” said routine of church and our goal 57-year-old Dottie Anderson, in this up and coming season is who is white and one of a good to take the church outside of the mix of members at Believer’s box,” the Rev. Michael Horne International who is of a non- said. “We’re believing God for revival within our youths in African-American ethnicity.

“Pastor Mike’s an excel- our community as well as the lent minister. I’ve been to a lot of kingdom. We’re more interested churches, but when I walk into in healthy growth rather than Believer ’s International, the numbers.”

Prophetess Wanda Horne Lord is always there,” Anderson said, noting that the message said God is causing blessings reinforced an age-old practice to rain down on those who are of hers. “I’ve been a seed sower making kingdom principles apfor years and years, and, yes, plicable to their lives.

“When you think about God has answered many of my the kingdom of God, we think prayers (because of it).”

Labron Mason, 35, and his about how last season will be wife, Valerie Mason, 48, are al- more like the former. In that forways expecting a powerful move mer season (in 2009), we had a of God when they fellowship few people come to Christ, but with other members and their it wasn’t what we were looking

for,” Prophetess Wanda Horne said, noting that the church is believing God for an increase in souls to whom they can witness. “We had just enough to get us over. I believe in this new season, 2010, that God is going to bring the outpouring of His Spirit, which is going to bring an explosion of souls into the body of Christ.

“Remember, as Pastor Mike talked about, seeds from his harvest in relation to the souls.

Think about seeds in the ground that fail to germinate. Who can get the latter rain? It would be wasteless on seeds that fail to germinate,” Prophetess Wanda Horne said. “We must first understand that a seed needs water to germinate. And the water is a representation of the Holy Spirit and once the seed germinates, it grows. And just before harvest time, a healthy rain, a dose of the Holy Spirit makes all the difference between a lukewarm, mediocre crop and a vibrant, healthy and mature crop sealed with goodness.”

Believer ’s International Church holds service at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. Bible study and family night are at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. For more information about Believer’s International, please call (817) 548-0022 or visit the church Web site at http://www.believerschurchint. com.

For churches, businesses and other organizations looking to promote your vision and would like to inquire about the Rev. Donald Lee’s public relations/promotional writing services, please call the Rev. Lee, a pastor and free-lance columnist-reporter, at (225) 773-2248 or e-mail him at pastordonjlee@ yahoo.com.

Church Directory Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25

St. Mary Baptist Church “The Church that Love Built” 1252 N. Acadian Thruway East • Baton Rouge, LA. 70802 Telephone (225) 387-2926 Rev. Conway L Knighton, Pastor Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service - 11:00 a.m.

Lord’s Supper - 1st Sunday 11:00 a.m.

Prayer Meeting - Wednesday 6:00 p.m.

Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.

Thursday 10:00 a.m.

Good Shepherd Full Gospel B.C. The People’s Church 2865 Mission Drive • Baton Rouge, 70805 • Telephone (225)356-5873 Bishop H. Hayes, Pastor Hour of Power 12 Noon Each Wednesday Sunday School 8:00 AM Church Service 9:00 AM Lord’s Supper 2nd Sunday 6:00 PM Bible Study Wednesday 7:00 PM Sister/ Brotherhood 6:00 PM You Will Be Blessed Under The Anointed Man Of God

Shekinah Shalom Covenant Tabernacle Full Gospel Ministry 8141 Greenwell Springs Roads Building C-1 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70814 Ph: (225) 927-2269

Sunday Service 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Midweek 7:00 P.M. Intercessory Saturday 10:00 A.M. Dr. Audrey Briggs, Pastor

Jesus Name Apostolic Temple, Inc. 2548 Weller Avenue Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70805 Telephone: (225) 356-1160 Communion 1st Sunday......................... 1:00 p.m.

Sunday School.................. 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Bible Class Tuesday................................7:30 p.m.

Mission Night Thursday ..........................7:30 p.m.

Deliverance Night Friday ........................7:30 p.m.

Bishop Jimmie & Rose Lee Wade

Greater Central People Baptist Church 9012 Scenic Highway • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70807 (225) 241-9946

Sunday School............................................................... 7:30 a.m.- 9:00 a.m.

Church Service................................................................................ 9:00 a.m.

Lord’s Supper............................................................. 4th Sunday, 9:00 a.m.

Prayer Meeting.......................................................... 6:00 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study.............................................. 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Pastor, Bishop John Thomas Co-Pastor Evangelist Barbara Thomas

thewpres@bellsouth.net

New Birth

Full Gospel Ministries 1283 Rosenwald Road • Baton Rouge, La. 70807 Phone: (225) 775-6713 • Fax: (225) 775-4216

Ivory J. Payne, Pastor

Order Of Service

Sunday Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:00 A.M. Holy Communion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3rd Sunday1:00 P.M. Sunday School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 A.M. Bible Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thursday 7:00 P.M.

“The New Life”Therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all thing are become new. —I Corinthians 5:17

Radio Broadcast 1st & 3rd Sunday WXOK at 8:00 am

NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH 5856 Greenwell Springs Road • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806

Telephone: (225) 926-0246 • Facsimile: (225) 927-8500 • Toll Free # Sunday Morning Worship - 10:45 AM Sunday School - 9:30 AM 1-888-700-6174 Lord’s ESupper -3rd Sundays Prayer Service - Wed. @ 6:00 PM Mail Address # nhbc@nhbc.brcoxmail.com - Wed- @ 7:00 PM Pastor Bible Leo Study D. Cyrus Sr., Pastor

Schedule Mission Statement: NewChurch Hope Baptist Church is a family of baptized believers who worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth, teachSchool the saved Sunday Morning Worship - 10:45 AM Sunday - 9:30to AMreach the lost and minister to the needs of others, while encouraging one another through s Supper -3rd Sundays Prayer Service - Wed. @ 6:00 PM acts ofLord’ love and living in obedience to Gods Word Bible Study - Wed- @ 7:00 PM

Mission Statement: New Hope Baptist Church is a family of baptized believers who worship the Lord our God in spirit and in truth, teach the saved to reach the lost and minister to the needs of others, while encouraging one another through acts of love and living in obedience to Gods Word

If you would like your church to be included on the Church Directory. Please Call The Baton Rouge Weekly Press for details at 225-775-2002 or, e-mail us with your billing address to thewpres@bellsouth.net

fied bureaucracy, and a national eligibility plan for families up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. We thank the 62 house cosponsors for their support. however, we regret that neither a single house republican nor any other Senator joined them to push for coverage for all children. the CDF Action Council strongly supports long overdue health coverage for everyone in America as soon as possible—because children cannot wait. As SChiP comes up again for reauthorization in early 2009, we hope every Member of Congress will insist on covering every child and pregnant mother now by enacting and adequately funding the provisions of the All healthy Children Act. Specious claims that we could not find the money—$70 billion over five years—to cover all children is belied by that amount spent in eleven months for tax cuts for the top one percent of richest Americans and in seven months for the iraq War. We do not have a money problem in America: We have a priorities and political will deficit. it is time for all adults to protect the health of our children.

school days.

Whether Members of Congress are liberal, conservative or moderate; Democrat, republican or independent, children need all of them to vote, lobby, speak for and protect them. Adults need to listen carefully to what candidates say they will do for children and families and, once they are in office, we need to hold them accountable.

Please thank your Members of Congress with scores of 80 percent or above and let those with scores of 60 percent or below know you are dissatisfied with their performance.

And please convey that same message to each presidential candidate.

We must demand that our leaders commit to children as a condition of our vote.

Could You Be At Risk?

Thursday, February 11, 2010 • The Weekly Press • Page 7

New Research Gives New Health Meaning To The Phrase Southern Holds Capital Area Heart Walk Kick-off Meeting “Listen To Your Heart” With Heart Health Comes Hearing Health (ROCKVILLE, MD – New research published in a recent edition of the American Journal of Audiology, a journal published by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), reported that cardiovascular health positively impacts hearing over time, particularly among older adults.

Growing older can contribute to decreased hearing acuity; however, age is only one of many factors that contribute to the decline. The study, conducted by ASHA member Kathleen Hutchinson, Rachael Baiduc, and Helaine Alessio, reports evidence that cardiovascular fitness has a protective role in hearing loss prevention.

Other health and fitness determinants, body composition,

blood pressure, and blood lipids displayed no significant relation to hearing sensitivity, whereas muscle strength was inversely related.

A common explanation of how cardiovascular fitness may influence hearing is through the effect on blood circulation, especially to the organs and muscles on the inner ear, in particular, the stria vascularis in the cochlea. Metabolism and blood flow are directly related to the vascular pattern of the cochlea.

The research findings appeared in the January 19, 2010 edition of ASHA’s American Journal of Audiology. The entire article can be read at http://aja.asha.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1059-0889_2009_09-0009.

Government to Pay for More Than Half of U.S. Health Care Costs As jobless Americans lost private health insurance coverage and joined the Medicaid rolls during the recession, U.S. health spending jumped 5.7 percent to $2.5 trillion in 2009, government projections show.

That means that American taxpayers will foot the bill for more than half of U.S. health care expenditure by 2012, the report’s authors said.

Overall, health care’s share of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- a measure of the value of goods and services produced in the United States -- climbed 1.1 percentage points to 17.3 percent in 2009.

That’s the largest one-year increase since 1960, when officials began tracking total U.S. health care spending, analysts noted in a report published online Feb. 4 by the journal Health Affairs.

“This is certainly a very steep rate of growth for health share of GDP,” said Christopher J. Truffer, an actuary in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Office of the Actuary and one of the authors of the report.

Health care’s rate of growth eclipsed the rate of overall economic activity in the nation, with GDP tumbling 1.1 percentage points to $14.3 trillion in 2009.

Spending by public payers outpaced private health care spending in 2009, driven by sharp increases in Medicaid enrollment, up 6.5 percent, and spending, up 9.9 percent, the report found.

Overall, the numbers reflect both faster public health spending growth, tied to Medicaid, and slightly faster private health spending growth, but at fairly low levels compared to history, Truffer explained. “So the impact of the recession is being seen in the private health spend-

ing growth,” he said.

Health spending by private payers in 2009 grew just 3 percent to $1.3 trillion, restrained by a 1.2 percent decline in private health insurance enrollment. That decline occurred despite an increase in federal subsidies to support “COBRA,” the continuing health coverage that workers who were enrolled in their employer’s health plan may purchase after they’re laid off.

Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, which represents Fortune 500 companies and large public-sector employers that provide health coverage for more than 50 million workers, retirees and family members, said the impact of the recession on the number of unemployed who lost their health coverage “is especially disturbing.”

She said there is a pressing need to control health care costs and grow the economy.

“It is a great concern that health care spending continued to rise so sharply when the GDP declined,” Darling said. “The nation cannot afford the very expensive health care system we have.”

Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s Defense Fund and its Action Council whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

talk Radio from page 4

(NAPSi)-here’s an alert worth paying attention to: According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), learning your risk for type 2 diabetes could save your life.

Diabetes is a serious disease that strikes nearly 21 million children and adults in the U.S. it is named the “silent killer” because one-third of those with the disease--more than 6 million--do not know they have it.

For many, diagnosis may come seven to 10 years after the onset of type 2 diabetes. early diagnosis is critical for successful treatment and can delay or prevent some of the complications such as heart diseases, blindness, kidney disease, stroke and amputation. that’s one reason the ADA holds the American Diabetes Alert® Day, a one-day wake-up call to inform the American public about the serious-

ness of diabetes, particularly when it is left undiagnosed and untreated. the day is held on the fourth tuesday of every March. on that day, people are encouraged to take the Diabetes risk test, either with paper and pencil or online. the risk test requires users to answer seven simple questions about age, weight, lifestyle and family history-all potential risk factors for diabetes.

People scoring 10 points or more are at a high risk for type 2 diabetes and are encouraged to talk with a health care professional.

An estimated 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes. those with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. early intervention via lifestyle changes such as weight loss and

Visit Us Online @ www.theweeklypress.com

all funny or remotely appropri- we forget o’reilly’s less-thanate about the use of a lynching informed comments regarding a Land Line (225) 356-0703 reference about Michelle obama,’’ dinner he shared last year with Cell Phone (225) 235-6955 he said. ‘’it’s - i’m speechless.’’ Sharpton at Sylvia’s in harlem?

GSRASAC As President Bush pointed out o’reilly expressed surprise over E-mail: Goodshepherdbapt@bellsouth.

From left, LaKeeshia D. Giddens, SU Heart Walk Campus Campaign Paula Dawson, Regional Vice President of the American Heart Association’s Heart so eloquently during the Black how similarSylvia’s was Coordinator, to other net Hours: Mon-Thurs 8am – 8 pm Walk, Abigail Lacy,event, Heart Walk Director ofrestaurants the American history Month the noose in Heart NewAssociation’s York restau-Greater Southeast Affiliate, Juanita Horton and Christina Crump pose for a photo after Southern’s Area Heart Walkofkick-off meeting on Jan. 21. Southern is planning several events to raise funds for the Capital Area Heart Walk, set for March representsCapital ‘’more than a tool rants.

Good Shepherd Substance Abuse Center 27, at LSU’s Front Nine. Photo courtesy‘’there of SU Office of Media Relations. murder butOld a tool of intimidation’’ wasn’t one person in Intensive Outpatient / Inpatient Therapy to generations of African-Ameri- Sylvia’s who was screaming, For Drugs, Alcohol, Anger Management BATON ROUGE Southtion.

Abigail Lacy, Heart Walk were LaKeeshia D. Giddens, Lewis, Christina Crump, Pacans. Nooses not only robbed some ‘M-Fer, i want more iced tea,’’’ ern University jump started its he Director of their lives but many of their said. of the American Heart SU Capital Area Heart Walk mela Lee, Juanita Horton, Tony 2873 Mission Drive Donald Britton, LAC peace ofArea mind.Heart Walk cam- Association’s As the Washington Post’s robCapital Greater Southeast Campus Campaign Coordina-Rev.Moudgil, Robbie MA, Robinson, Baton Rouge, LA 70805 Clinical Director a civil society, must inson sadly observed on MSNBC pus‘’As campaign with a we kick-off Affiliate, made a presentation tor, Earl Lee, Rhonda Robinson, Patricia Coleman and Dedria (225) 315-0740 Harris Hayes, Overseer understand that noose youwalkers can go by meeting recently in thedisplays Dean’s inonFebruary, how to ‘’All recruit and Graylin Hammond, Jocelyn B.Bishop London. and lynching jokes are deeply is his words and his actions.

And Conference Room of Fisher Hall raise funds for the campaign. offensive. they are wrong.

And he keeps saying these things that on the Baton Rouge campus.

The group also discussed they have no place in America sound pretty darn racist to me.’’

Paula Dawson, Regional fundraising ideas such as a today,’’ he said. has talk radio learned anything Vice President of the lunch anddecline a t-shirt Neither o’reilly norAmerican ingraham from imus’ andsale. fall? of Heart Association’s Walk, funds raised by the unihas been reprimandedHeart by their re- courseAll not, because it didn’t take spoke to the group about the versity will be donated to spective employers even though imus too terribly long to get athe importance raising funds for new American Heart Association. the Fox Newsofpersonality did offer gig. the Americanapology.

Heart Associathe outlets meeting a half-hearted ourAttending nation’s media At least ingraham didn’t drop should not provide a platform for the l-word but her suggestion that racialhostility and hateful speech Sharpton, a former presidential now or in the future. What kind of Indications For Treatment: candidate and respected member of messageare we sending to our chilthe African-American community dren, our nation and our world?

• Low Back Pain and beyond, is a petty thief reeks in such an historic election year, • Pinched Nerves of race-baiting and negative ste- we cannot stand aside and allow • Pain in Legs reotyping of African-Americans individuals to use the airwaves • Numbness and black men in particular. as an outlet for insensitive and • Burning Sensation But it’s hardly the first time ei- misguidedcommentary. if you ther has ventured into questionable hear something that offends you, • Muscle Spasms and offensive territory. how can speak up.

• Nervousness • Arthritis Pains • Scoliosis Dr Paul Matthews yStem from page 4 • Sleepiness • Disc Syndrome cally pointed out that changes concerned with the conditions which occur in a human being is at Jetson. it is happening there. office hours: 9:00 a.m. — 12:00 noon redirected to pull from the core What i do know is that most of 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday – Friday of his own humanity to reaffirm these youth can be changed, from Diane Andrews self worth and purpose. he will contrition in a prepatory school 6233 harry Drive, Suite C • Baton rouge, Louisiana 70806 then by nature acquire the will to for Angola to rehabilitation for 3875 Florida Boulevard do for himself and others. a positive life that may lead to a BatonisRouge, Louisianato70806 Space not available cover life of meritorious glory. That is concerns of so many people the Way I See It!

WooDDALe

S

HOME HEALTH

ChiroPrACtiC CLiNiC Health Care For The Entire Family

becomes independent.

In 2009, the mobile division generated $7.1 billion in sales, down from $12.1 billion in 2008.

The profitable set-top business totaled about $4 billion in sales last year.

Removing the set-top business from the networking division could also make it easier to sell it. Aside from cable boxes, the networking division also makes equipment for wireless cell towers, among other things. The two product lines aren’t particularly compatible.

If Motorola proceeds with its latest plan, the main company would keep the brand name and sell specialized radios and related equipment to governments and public-safety organizations.

In 2009, the so-called Enterprise Mobility business posted net income of $1.1 billion on sales of $7 billion.

Shares of Motorola rose 9 cents Wednesday to close at $6.63. The stock fell slightly in after-hours trading.

B

Fre

No

If you scree scree

Presen

of Our made

Breast

Tuesday 10am –

LSUHSC 1401 N. Baton R

Breast

Friday, M 10am –

Leo S. B Center 950 E. W Baton R

Breast

Tuesday 5pm – 7

Woman 9050 Ai Baton R

SOLUTIONS LLC

Phone: (225) 344-6044 Fax: (225) 344-6565 1-(800)-838-1804

E-Mail: HSihhCare@aol.com Web Site: http://www.homehealthsolutions.net

(225) 201-0210

Have You Been Screened?

Free Cancer Screenings (225) 215-1234 • (888) 616-4687 If you have not been screened in the last 12 months, this cancer screening is available to you for free.

Insurance will be billed for mammograms. For those with no insurance, there will be no charge.

Screenings made possible by donor gifts.

Motorola from page 5

increased p delay or pr diabetes.

Among for type 2 weight, sed 45 and hav diabetes. Af Native Ame islanders a are women more than the Dia

*Breast Cancer Screening Tuesday, February 9 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. & 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

LSU Mid City Clinic 1401 North Foster Drive Baton Rouge

Prostate Cancer Screening Friday, February 12 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Hilton Garden Inn 3330 Harding Blvd Baton Rouge

*Breast Cancer Screening Tuesday, February 23 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Appointment required Womans Hospital Breast Center 9050 Airline Highway Baton Rouge

In Partnership With: Woman’s Hospital LSU Hospital’s Health Care Services Division YWCA Encore Plus

*Tobacco education available to screening participants

www.marybird.org

L

Page 8 • The

Weekly Press • Thursday, February 11, 2010

Other News The Louisiana Native Guards’ Story

School for black soldiers and freedmen at Port Hudson, Louisiana Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.

Work hard, stay out of trouble, and you will succeed. These words reflect the up-by-the- bootstraps philosophy of American society. It is a noble creed, but one that is followed inconsistently.

In many instances, hard work is viewed with suspicion; success is perceived as a threat.

That scenerio applies to Louisiana’s celebrated regiment of black men during the

The Oaks

Civil War: the Native Guards.

The story of the Native Guards began with their enrollment as part of the Louisiana militia and ended with their participation in the civil rights movement during Reconstruction. As a militia unit, the Native Guards paraded with Confederate troops and sought to contribute to the Southern cause in other ways. After the fall of New Orleans, many of the officers and some of the men embraced the Old Flag by forming the first officially-sanctioned black regi-

Mid City

N U R S I N G & R E H A B I L I TAT I O N C E N T E R

CHICKEN SHACK CHICKEN, FRESH FISH, SHRIMP, OYSTER,PO-BOYS, SALADS...

It’s “Knuckle Sucking” Good

Care as Solid as an Oak

D&W Health Services, Inc. dba The Oaks of Mid City 4100 North Boulevard Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 (225) 387-6704 (225) 387-3403 Nursing Fax Line (225) 383-8111 Administrative Fax Line

413 ADADIAN THRUWAY BATON ROUGE, LA. 70806 PHONE: 225-383-0940 (COMPANY OWNED)

3939 PAWTUCKET STREET BATON ROUGE, LA. 70805 PHONE: 225-357-6889 (COMPANY OWNED)

CHICKEN SHACK SYSTEMS, INC. FRANCHISE HEADQUARTERS

JOE DELPIT. PRES., HENRY BAPTISTE, VICE-PRES., PRECIOUS DELPIT, SECT. TREAS. 725 LETTSWORTH ST./BATON ROUGE, LA 70802/ (225) 343-1687/ 357-6889

You think you know East Baton Rouge Parish Schools?

B

The Native Guards began with their enrollment as part of the Louisiana militia and ended with their participation in the civil rights movement during Reconstruction.

ment in the Union Army. During the war, the Native Guards fought at Port Hudson, Mansura, and Mobile. They also guarded prisoners, built fortifications, and contributed to the Union war effort in numerous other ways.

Their service in the Union Army was as honorable as it was controversial. When the war ended, veterans of the Native Guards entered a third phase of their unusual career when they took up the struggle for black civil rights.

The war and its aftermath provided the men of Louisiana’s Native Guards with the opportunity to earn the right to be treated as equals in a free society. How-

ever, at every turn their attempt to achieve equality was rebuffed.

The Confederate authorities used them to counter northern propaganda, but never intended to let them fight. The Union Army let them fight, but made them dig ditches when their capacity for fighting became evident. During reconstruction, whites accepted them for their labor, but repudiated their quest for equal rights.

Pawns of three governments, the men of the Native Guards worked hard and did their duty, but as one of their officers wrote to his mother from Port Hudson in April 1864, “Nobody really desires our success[,] and it’s uphill work.”

Visit Us Online @

www.theweeklypress.com

THINK AGAIN! Every EBR Parish high school offers Honors or Advanced Placement courses.

In 2009, our District Performance Score increased by 5.7 points.

East Baton Rouge Parish public schools led the state in National Merit Semifinalists in 2009.

For the fourth consecutive year, the EBR Parish School System has been recognized for a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

EAST BATON ROUGE SCHOOLS

E A S T B AT O N R O U G E S C H O O L S

East Baton Rouge Schools

EAST BATON ROUGE SCHOOLS

WE’LL MAKE YOU THINK

THINK EBR SCHOOLS.COM

East Baton Ro