Buffalo Criterion, 1984-04-18

              wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation the buffalo criterion niagara region rochester vol 59 - no 17 uulnlsllv april 18 l st out-of-t»wn se mortgage program to benefit buyers legislature urges congress to extend t.e bonds a resolution sponsored by county legislator roger lllackwell anil ap proved by the legislature at its april sth session has been forwarded to the li s congress urging its extension of the federal statute authorizing issu ance of tax exempt mort gage bond the statute makes avail able low cost mortgages under the state of new york mortgage agency sonyma program in 1983 the state of new york mortgage agency issued 171 mil lion in special low cost mortgages to eligible home buyers many of them families with very moderate incomes pur i-basing a first home the state was able to provide these low-cost mortgages which carried 9 9 and 9.75 percent interest rates because of a federal pragma authoriz ing tax-exempt mortgage bonds blackwell ex plained since holders of these bonds are not required to pay taxes tin their bond interest they accept lower returns thereby generat ing low-cost housing funds for the sonyma mort gage program at year's end congress failed to renew this federal statute which exempts these bonds from taxation before the statute lapsed under its sunset provision tins socially beneficial mortgage program has assisted many first-time home buyers and has injected needed life into the depressed housing industry in short blackwell warned the son ma program will lie termina ted if this federal statute is not renewed ' to be honored the senior choir of lincoln memorial united methodist church is spon soring a testimonial din ner in honor of the rev william h homer pastor emeritus sunday may 27th a p.m at the hearthstone manor on dick road rev william h homer nat'l victim rights week set erie county to participate the erie county victim witness assistance pro gram announces its parti cipation in national victim rights week april 15th to 21st national victim rights week recognizes society's obligation to alleviate the problems faced by victims and witnesses it was observed last year by the president of the united states and 45 states as well as the national organization for victim assistance and other na tional groups at the request of the erie county victim/wit ness assistance program buffalo mayor james d griffin and erie county executive edward j rut kowski are issuing proclamations observing national victim rights week on behalf of their respective jurisdictions this year the national campaign for victim rights focuses on family violence victims child victims friends and fami lies and victims — often forgotten special victims groups the erie county victim/witness assis tance program joins in recognizing the concerns of these special victim groups the erie county victim witness assistance pro gram serving all erie county provides infor mation on the criminal justice system case infor mation courtroom escort service employer inter vention referral to social service agencies property return assistance and if necessary transportation to court the erie county victim witness assistance pro gram located at 134 w eagle st may be contact ed at 846-6237 for further information contact minnie gillette co-ordinator or phillip e triggs assistant coordin ator erie county victim witness assistant pro gram gov cuomo receives first cellular phone call from buffalo telephone co pictured from left are andrew 1 ciolek state deputy commissioner for the mess york liquor authority from western new york and new york state governor mario m cuomo making the first cellular phone rail monday from a ear in front of the buffalo city hall the call made in a buffalo telephone company car launches this service for erie unci niagara counties for reasonably prices mobile cur telephone service the buffalo telephone company now has cellular mobile car telephones available for further information caff 854-5071 two blacks helped make today's easter by mark hyman simon the cyrenian a black farmer living outside of ancient jeru salem and victor the first black african pope helped set the stage for easter sunday celebration today 2,000 years later simon was orginally from cyrenia in present day libya in north africa on the day of the crucifixion he helped jesus carry the cross this was four days before the resurrection in doing this simon left his name on the minds of men forever the bible gives an account of this historical event and as they led him away they laid hold upon one simon a cyrenian coming out of the country and on him they laid the cross that he might bare it after jesus luke 23:26 the bible however does not touch on the deadly political aspects of simon's act rome was violently against the jesus movement it was so violent that simon had to run for his life he was later tracked down on the island of chios and killed to further illustrate the vicious political overtones simon's two sons alexan der and rufus were also murdered victor the pope victor a black man from africa was the last pope in the second century jesus had been dead 189 years when victor came to the throne he reigned for ten years out of the many reli gious and political con flicts which faced him was the controversial date for easter the asiastic churches were bold and defiant they celebrated easter on the 14th day after the vernal equinox no matter on which day it fell pope victor put an end task force to oversee construction of correctional facility county executive ed ward j rutkowski has named a community task force for construction of a new erie county correc tional facility in alden and announced that ground was broken at 9:30 a.m on monday april 16th the task force includes county town village and union officials as well as citizen members it will help keep the public informed about innovative designs and procedures which will be incorporated in the new facility erie county sold its correctional facility to the state and is in the process of building replacement structures the switch over is expected to be completed late next year the new 382-bed facility will house sentenced mis demeanor inmates and be located on county-owned land near the present institution it is expected to cost 28 million which will come from the 48 million paid by the state for the old correctional facility the new structure will embody a new approach which groups prisoners in living units designed to ease tension and reduce costs the system has resulted in fewer assaults on both inmates and guards the groundbreaking site will be on the south aide of w alden avenue opposite home road landscaping for the low-profile building will include construction of a pond serving on the task tore will be allien town super visor john c scherlein alden mayor joseph p staebell gertrude deck carol faulhaber karl si monsen county legislatot ralph m mohr the rev lawrence e herfurth president john p kiss of local 815 civil service employees assoc presi dent duanc t liebler of the correctional facility csea unit superinten dent frank j festa of the county correctional faci lity environment and planning commissioner joan e boring public works commissioner philip f frandina county attorney eugene f pi gott jr and county executive rutkowski ground was broken apr 2 for the 220-bed addition to the downtown county holding center expected to cost about 20 million crime victims & witnesses must be protected by elizabeth holt/man witness intimidation is a serious problem in the criminal justice system that deserves immediate attention the experience of two men whose lives were threatened when they tes tified at a brooklyn murder trial reveals its disturbing nature i thought 1 was doing the right thing if i testified putting someone away that should have been away and now 1 am the victim of a crime i didn't even commit now 1 am afraid to walk in the street in my own neighbor hood ..... word was out on the street that there were guys looking for me that if we ever catch up with you your life is not worth much as these statements show clearly when intimi dation occurs it can alter a person's life perhaps per manently the safety of one's home the comfort of one's neighborhood can vanish in an instant with one threatening phone call there is legislation propose by my office now pending in albany that would help relieve this problem by creating a comprehensive witness relocation and protection wrap program the governor supports this concept and if the legisla tion is enacted new york would become the first state in the nation with a comprehensive program affording protection to witnesses in criminal prosecutions clearly intimidation has a terrifying impact on witnesses who step for ward to cooperate but intimidation is also more than an attack on a single witness or victim — it is an attack on the entire crimin al justice system the problem is wide spread a 1982 report by new york city's victim services agency vsa revealed just how serious is 15"c of witnesses in criminal court cases had teen threatened a 1976 4udy by he vera institute t justice found 26 if witnesses were threaten ed and 39 feared the defendant would seek re venge the level grew to an alarming 48 i in cases of more serious crime which were referred to the grand jury for indictment yet these statistics tell only part of the story law enforcement agencies never learn of cases in which intimidation suc ceeds where victims or witnesses are list frighten ed to come forward be cause of threats the cooperation of wit nesses and victims in the prosecution of cases is the key element in our ability to convict people who commit crimes no one knows how many crimes go unreported how many investigations are cut off r cases dropped with criminals going unpunish ed because people were too afraid to cooperate with police and prosecu tors law enforcement agen cies have the responsibili ty to protect people who take the courageous step of testifying despite a threat unfortunately local law enforcement agencies in this state need additional resources to extend an umbrella of protection to all threaten ed witnesses the proposed witness relocation and protection wrap program has been designed to service a significantly broader range of witnesses than the federal government's buffalo judi-gate explodes will the judge barbara sims issue become one ol the major civil rights test uses of the i'lso's the ouster of buffalo city court judge barbara sims by the new york slat court of appleals continues to provoke shock ami consternation plan are reportedly underway to challenge the decision of the state's highest curl the impartial citizen has enlisted civil rights attorney william ktinstler of the center for constitu tional rights the national conference of black law yers to join in a letral consortium with the legal department of the naacp to undertake further legal lion on the case background the state commission on judicial conduct initi ated an investigation of judge sims shortly after her election to a tan-year term as buffalo's first black woman judge and the only black city court from the impartial citizen syracuse newspaper judge in new york state it is al lodged that judge sims h.i,l used her luetic nil office to lieni-fit her husband's law practice william sims esq has prat o.i law in buffalo tor thirty-two years and imb it-presented an esti mated 5.000 clients he has never appeared in court before his wife the slate commission on judicial conduct recommended that judge sims be censured pro testing her innocence judge sims appealed the decision of the state court tif appeals george lluirton assis tant general counsel of the national association for the advancement of colored people charged thut judge sims had been made a target of a gen eral inquest and a diabolical methodology designed in show a pattern of an appearance of impropriety thai did not exist countering the american bigot establishment the impartial citizen's initialises in boating formation of ■• legal consortium in defend judge sun.-i sera prompt i*il by what it publisher anil staff stale is the need to combat ongoing attempts by the american bigot eslabb linent to des troy the mist - mi.x black leadership lite decision to remove judge suns is part of a generalized pattern of unwarranted official har assment of black elected and civic leaders the pattern is racist-inspired affording to the publisher of the impartial citizen among the past victims rich james released from ecmc fast rising band leader rick james 36 has been released from the erie county medical center where he was taken after collapsing in one of his homes in the town of east aurora sunday night by volunteers of the west falls fire co after he was found in bed unconscious police learned from em ployees of james that he had been involved in a recording session in his basement studio for 3 or 4 days but were not sure if the long sessions were the cause of the collapse police chief james wil son said they related that it was not unsual for james to disappear into the recording studio for 3 or 4 days apparently this happened over the weekend — a hospital spokesman said that james was resting comfortably and doctors were still evaluat ing his condition but didn't know why he was hospitalized born and raised in buffalo the nationally known musician has gone into the production of records and the latest artist he had been working with was eddie murphy comic on saturday night live rick james hunt to receive daemen college president's award c stuart hunt presi dent and chief executive officer for the hunt real estate corp will receive the tenth annual presi dent's award from dr robert s marshall presi dent of daemen college this will take place at the daemen college scholar ship dinner announced the hon mary lou rath and hon john r shearer awards committee chair man the presentation to mr hunt is ill lake place following the dinner on wed may 9th in the chart j wick campus center of daemen col lege 1388 main st in amherst cocktails will be served at 6:30 pm . followed by dinner at 7:15 p.m mr hunt a graduate of colgate university is a member of the executive board of the boy scouts of america a member of the board of directors for child and family service a member of the thousand plus club for the united way central park men's club kiwanis club of buffalo and the advisory boards for the salvation army and sister's hospi tal mr hunt received the prestigious 1984 silver bear award from the boy scouts of america in addition to being president of the 73-year old hunt real estate frim mr hunt is also vke president of the hunt mustard agency inc and general partner for the chili associates shopping center chatham associ ates apartment complex and airport plaza associ ates for further information regarding the daemen college dinner call dr thomas jambro at 839 3600 ext 212 easter see page 7 wrap see pa ?} jidi cate explodes see page 3 f sening working leadingih wny inner cities i since 1923 1 r price only 20 per copy