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May 29 - June 4, 2013 - VOL. 53 NO. 23
LARGEST BLACK OWNED INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED NEWSPAPER IN THE SOUTH
Newsline In this Issue
Off The Press - 2A
BREATH OF LIFE?
THE FIGHT CONTINUES OVER NORTH FOREST ISD
County Attorney Vince Ryan wins court order against Crips, Bloods, and Most Wanted Gang
Demanding More from Ourselves
News - 3A
Black Mayors Rally to Reclaim their Organization
Lifestyle - 1B
Beyonce Threatens Fan
Fashion – 3B
Best Looks of Prom 2013
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By Jeffrey L. Boney Associate Editor
Supporters of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) are holding out hope and continuing their fight, in their quest to save the embattled district. In a letter obtained by the Houston Forward Times, the U.S. Department of Justice has responded to the North Forest ISD issue, giving a temporary reprieve to the district and some hope to its’ supporters. In the letter, dated May 24th, the U.S. Department of Justice indicates they are looking into whether the NFISD closure and annexation violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. 1973c. The U.S. Department of Justice has to sign off on this closure and annexation because the annexation involves voting rights. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) ordered that the district be closed and annexed to Houston Independent School District (HISD) on July 1. An appeal
was filed by NFISD with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), to contest the decisions of the TEA Commissioner. The letter came on the same day that SOAH heard an appeal from NFISD and ruled against them. In their appeal to SOAH, North Forest ISD was asking the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to reverse the TEA Commissioner’s decisions, restore their accreditation and stop the closure and annexation. The basis of their appeal was that NFISD believed the TEA Commissioner acted contrary to applicable law in revoking their accreditation and ordering its closure and annexation. “Although the district was unsuccessful in its appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, we continue to hope for a positive outcome,” said Edna Forté, North Forest ISD Superintendent. Prior to the ruling, Forté indicated that NFISD had filed an appeal with the
U.S. Department of Justice and were optimistic they would receive an affirmative response. This letter serves as indication that the pending NFISD closure and annexation was enough for the U.S. Department of Justice to look into. We have included a copy of the letter for your review. Prior to these happenings, the North Forest school board defied a state order to fire all its teachers for the upcoming year in protest of the TEA’s decision. The North Forest trustees, explaining their defiance over the mass firings, said they considered the TEA’s order “awful” and “immoral.” A TEA appointee, Doris Delaney, ordered the board during a recent public meeting to terminate all teachers’ contracts, but the trustees unanimously refused, voting against the proposed motions or failing to second them. Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the TEA, said Tuesday that agency officials are expecting to
Judge Alexandra SmootsHogan, 164th District Court, issued a permanent injunction ordering 16 gang members to stay out of a 0.734 square mile area dubbed the “Bray’s Oaks Safety Zone” in southwest Houston. The order came after six hours of testimony presented by the Office of Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan that the gang members constitute a public nuisance to the citizens of the Brays Oaks neighborhood in southwest Houston. Those being sued include members of the Crips, the Bloods, and the Most Wanted gangs. One of the defendants has been charged with killing three people and wounding rap artist Trae Tha Truth at a concert. An eyewitness to that crime was killed before he could testify in court. The lawsuit alleges that habitual gang activity in this area, which includes Eleanor Tinsley Elementary and Albury Head Start, has rendered that community a virtual “no man’s land.”
The injunction was based on dozens of reports of criminal activity by the gang members. Any of the 16 gang members found in the Brays Oaks Safety Zone can be arrested for being in that zone and, if found guilty, put in jail for up to one year and fined $4,000. The lawsuit is a result of a coordinated effort between Ryan and the Brays Oaks Management District to use civil injunctions against locations and gang members where there is habitual criminal activity and/or gang activity. The program operates within the Brays Oaks, Sharpstown, Spring Branch, International, East Aldine and Montrose management district boundaries in Harris County. In the nearly two years the program has been in effect: • Three after-hours clubs have shut down. • The 51 owners of a ganginfested condominium complex are under a permanent injunction and receivership.
See NFISD on 4A
See Gangs on 4A
Jack Yates High School Honors FirstEver Maritime Program Graduates
Zimmerman’s Team will Seek to Discredit Trayvon Martin
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Scripture of the Week For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:17 (KJV)
George Zimmerman By George E. Curry neighborhood NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Carl Davis, Jeffrey L. Boney, Port of Houston representative, Principal Marla McNeal-Sheppard, Erica Lee - Carter, and supporters on hand to celebrate Maritime Graduates. By Jeffrey L. Boney Hilliard, Gregory Jacquett, seas” and pursue various Associate Editor
Nearly 100 friends, family, community leaders and faculty were on hand to congratulate and say “bon voyage” to the inaugural graduating class of the Jack Yates Maritime Program. The 2013 Yates Maritime Program graduates are: Christopher Domingue, Trey
Devin Jefferson, Asher Jones, Jose Pablo, Leija Ambriz, Michael McCradic, Russell McKenzie, Jamal Moore, Laura Resendiz, Jesicka Robinson, James Rucker and De’arious Johnson-Foman. Under the direction of Ms. Linda Clary, these students have completed the necessary requirements to “sail the seven
careers as longshoremen and other maritime career opportunities. These students were honored during a Graduation Appreciation Dinner in association with the Port of Houston Authority, Texas Southern University and a host of other community partners. Marla McNeal-
See Yates on 4A
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Whether George Zimmerman goes on trial as scheduled June 10 for killing Trayvon Martin or he gets the 6-week delay requested by his lawyer, it is clear from court filings that part of the defense strategy involves depicting the 17-year-old dead Black youth as a troublemaker and pot head. Martin, unarmed, was shot to death in Feb. 2012 by Zimmerman, a volunteer
watchman, in Sanford, Fla. Martin, a Miami native, was visiting the area in central Florida with his father at the time and was returning to a residence after walking to a nearby convenience store. Zimmerman, 29, has tried to portray Martin as the aggressor, despite ignoring instructions from a police dispatcher that he not follow the youth in the rain. He has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Mark M. O’Mara, coSee Martin on 4A