Transit retirees schedule holiday party, MLK service
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WILLIAM REED: It’s time to reflect on the real ‘first Black president’ Page 4
A ROUNDUP OF LOCAL SPORTS See page 7
East Central Florida’s Black Voice
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www.daytonatimes.com www.daytonatimes.com
DECEMBER 20 - DECEMBER 26, 2012
YEAR 37 NO. 51
PEOPLE SPEAK
School Board race now down to Wright, Williams BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
Ida Duncan Wright, a Bethune-Cookman University instructor, is hoping that with the return of college students in January and the end of the holiday season, she will be able to defeat Kathy Williams, retired educator and widow of incumbent School Board member Al Williams for his school board seat. The runoff election is Jan. 15. Wright garnered the
most votes during the Dec. 18 primary but not enough to win race against Williams and three other candidates. Wright received 1,538 votes (39 percent) to Williams’ 1,023 votes (26 percent). Wright had to win 50 percent plus 1 vote to avoid a runoff. The B-CU instructor said that among the reasons she is better qualified for the seat is because she was born and raised in Daytona Beach. “I’m also a parent with a child that is currently in the system. I’m a current edu-
cator and a small business owner. I am really the total package. I am more in touch with current issues Volusia County is facing,” Wright said.
Election turns to Newtown Wright told the Daytona Times on Wednesday about her thoughts on the massacre that took place last Friday at an elementary school in Newtown Conn., where a 20-year-old lone gunman killed 26 children and staff. “People want to blame
Ida Duncan Wright
Kathy Williams
it on guns. You don’t have to have a gun to do what he did. Mental health is an issue we are going to have to address,” Wright remarked. Williams, a Chicago educator, disagreed with Wright’s conclusion that
she was the best candidate. “You work so you can win. I was thankful to place,” said Williams, who is hoping to replace her husband who died Oct. 1 before he could be sworn for another term. He had won that election in an Aug. 16 race against Wright. “I have a full life. With his passing, I have an opportunity to take my experience to serve the community. Boards I have been on centered around children – a natural outgrowth of what I’ve done in this community,” Williams related.
“Everyone has their own expertise. I have been a teacher, principal of a high school, and an administrator. I bring an experience base that will get me right up to speed,” Williams added. Williams also commented on the Newtown massacre, suggesting more school resource officers are needed. “School resource officers prevent a lot of trouble. They understand the children and know the homes they come from. ChilPlease see RACE, Page 2
‘Kids got in my heart’ Fred Morrell retiring from city but will keep on coaching BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
CLOE POISSON/HARTFORD COURANT/MCT
Zulma Capestany cries on Saturday at the sight of an arrangement of teddy bears at a makeshift memorial near Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Not enough money to secure all schools Budget woes cited by Volusia sheriff’s office; elementary principal says officers would ease kids’ anxiety BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
There are no school resource officers at any of Volusia County’s elementary schools due to budgetary constraints. At least one area elementary school
principal is calling for beefing up security at all schools in the wake of the massacre that took place last Friday in Newtown, Conn. Turie T. Small Elementary Principal Earl Johnson told the Daytona Times this week that children need to feel safe in their schools. School resource deputies from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office currently are placed at high schools with some of the officers splitting their time at some. There are no full-time officers at the middle schools, said Gary Davidson, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. And there have never been officers at the elementary school level.
Budget restraints Davidson said Sheriff Ben Johnson wishes he could increase the number of officers at area schools but money isn’t in the budget. Because of budget cuts, the sheriff’s office had to scale back the number of officers at the schools. Davidson said cutting school resource offices was the only option because the department had to maintain a certain number of officers for core services, patrol, investigation and security at court facilities. He also said the sheriff’s office receives funds from the Volusia County
Fred Morrell has been coaching others ever since he was a teenager. Thirty-five years ago, he came upon a job that would allow him to be paid for what he enjoyed doing the most – working with and coaching children. Last week, Morrell retired as an employee with the Daytona Beach Leisure Services Department where he had the opportunity to touch the lives of thousands of youth through his work at the former Cypress Street Recreation Center and now at the Midtown Cultural and Education Center and the John H. Dickerson Center. Morrell, 59, said though he is retiring as a city recreation specialist, he will not be retiring from working with and coaching children. “I may now not be getting paid. I’ll get my rewards other ways,” said Morrell, who was honored and recognized recently by friends, coworkers and several of the young men whose lives he has touched over the years.
Father figure Keith Willis, recreation coordinator for the Midtown Cultural and Education Center, spoke at a Dec. 13 dinner held at the center in Morrell’s honor. Willis credited Morrell with helping him make it through college in Atlanta back in the early 1980s. “Fred took me under his wings and said he would work with me every day. He was my only father figure,” Willis remarked. “He gave me his telephone number when I went away to college and told Please see MORRELL, Page 2
Please see MONEY, Page 2
Carter’s annual holiday feast in 14th year SPECIAL TO THE DAYTONA TIMES
The Vince Carter’s Embassy of Hope Foundation will distribute bunches of greens, boxes of food and warm Christmas wishes for 90 families this week. The foundation will hold its 14th annual holiday food basket distribution for previously identified families Friday at 9 a.m., Dec. 21, in front of the Vince Carter Athletic Center at Mainland High School, 1255 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach. “People have been calling the office for the past several weeks just to make sure we’re continuing this tradition,” said NBA
Dallas Mavericks basketball star Vince Carter. “It’s tough for people to provide a big Christmas meal for their families right now. This basket will lift a little bit of that burden.”
‘Believing in Christmas’ Employees from Publix Supermarkets and Embassy of Hope board members will help Carter’s foundation assemble the food packages and load them into cars, vans and trucks. Carter’s foundation began distributing boxes of food in 1999. Dubbed “Believing in Christmas,” the event strives to provide
a holiday dinner basket for economically disadvantaged families. Founded in 1998, Vince Carter’s Embassy of Hope Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation with a primary focus on children. The foundation raises funds to assist organizations and individuals in improving the quality of Vince life for children. Carter For more information on the event, contact Embassy of Hope at 386-239-8215. For details on the foundation, visit www.vincecarter15.com.
COURTESY OF CITY OF DAYTONA BEACH
Fred Morrell, right, is shown with Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry during a retirement celebration on Dec. 13 for the longtime city employee.