Buffalo Criterion, 1988-01-28

              rochester the buffalo criterion price only 25 per copy serving working leading in wny inner cities since 1923 wny's oldest and largest afro-american weekly for over 60 years — featuring paid legitimate circulation established in 1925 thursday january 28-february 3 1988 vol 64 — no 5 niagara region organization releases report on stanley gates shooting urban league sunday set for feb 7th day to focus on increasing awareness of u l services the buffalo urban league mc , will cele brate urban league sun day february 7th at s p.m at st john baptist church 804 michigan aye the rev dr bennett w smith sr , is host pastor the theme for urban league sunday will be education — the com munity the family and church our strength rev dr wyatt t walker senior minister of canaan baptist church of christ and director of freedom national bank of new york will be the guest speaker rev walker is presently the special assistant to presidential candidate rev jesse jackson and was former chief of staff to the late martin luther king jr an accomplished author with such books as j somebody's calling my name and the soul of ! black worship he is i also a renowned essayist i and lecturer he received his ph.d in afro-ameri can studies with distinc tion from colgate roches ter urban league sunday | will increase awareness of ' the buffalo urban league services and enhance the concept of partnership between the religious com munity and the urban league further it will provide expanded support of the buffalo urban league's roles and com munity service through individual and institutional involvement finally it will create an expanded opportunity for the religious community to be a part of the planning and coordination of buf falo urban league ser vices to the disadvantaged and families of our com munity the way group of emmanuel temple church along with st john baptist church mass choir will render a spirit ual uplifting song service the public is invited drwyatt tee walker friends of herb bellamy committee named general chairman ben nett w smith has an nounced the friends of herb bellamy committee they are daniel r acker bishop leroy an derson robert d ander son leslie g arries jr hon george k arthur marvin austin barbara banks florence e baugh hon roger i black well rev will brown willie brown rose mary burns leroy coles sherril col ston anthony colucci esq hon alfred t coppola rev james m demske sj joan dipas quale hon arthur o eve sid freeman hon dennis t gorski thelma h.ar.timan m.m thorrta higgins ctemmon hod ges and klenban hodges others are albert jarrett jessica johnson dr bruce johnstone stanley keebert donald lee frank lorenz mari ano a lucca hon an thony m masiello john nie mayo rev eugene mcashan hon henry j nowak i man abdel j nurriddin mary e ran dolph thomas c ran dolph eugene t reville erma d robinson rev maurice robinson raul russi and willie warren these persons have joined hands to assist in the planning and organi zing of our tribute of herb said rev smith they represent a wide cross section of the buffalo community and cut across political ethnic and re ligious lines which is symbolic of the way herb has served buffalo he continued the friends of herb bellamy has scheduled a testimonal dinner to be held on thursday feb 4th at the buffalo conven ' tion center starting with a reception at 6 p.m and dinner at 7 p.m for ticket information call 884-6632 we urge everyone who is interested in participating to pur chase tickets at once for what we know will be a gala affair rev smith concluded victory temple to host revival victory temple church of god in christ 186 box avenue at kehr st will conduct a holy ghost soul-saving revival be ginning jan 24th through feb sth at 8 p.m nightly the revival will be conducted by missionary thomasena colvin elder earl smith missionary christine clark mission ary beverly williams and missionary margaret green special prayers will be offered nightly if you are having problems they advise you to come and pray together the rev o hollie is host pastor patton receives promotion to technical sergeant erie county sheriff thomas f higgins left congratulates james patton right on his recent promotion to technical sergeant-in-charge of fleet services for the erie county sheriff's department erie county sheriff thomas f higgins announced the promotion of senior investigator james patton to the rank of technical sergeant who was also given the title of fleet supervisor ment tare program promoted to senior investigator in 1980 patton worked on several large cases in the county including the 22-caliber-killer in 1985 he was trans ferred to the narcotics squad patton a fleet supervisor will be responsible for supervising all motor vehicle fleet operations lor the sheriff department his duties include purchasing all motor vehicle fleet operations for the sheriffs dept his duties include purchasing vendor repairs and rates record-keeping pre ventive maintenance and servicing and cost control for the last year he has worked in the fleet office under the supervision of chief wayne howard and sergeant donald pfeiffer i have had a love for autos said patton a graduate of burgard vocational high school four-year mechanic course patton attended buffalo state and studied industrial arts married to barbara his wife for 28 years patton has two daughters caralyn and kelley and a grandson his buddy brandon james living on the east side of buffalo for 38 years patton was a founding member of agape methodist church and is a three-year member of the prince hall masons patton worked for a major chevrolet dealership before joining the city of buffalo police department as a motor equipment repairman he attended the erie county sheriff's department academy in march of 1971 and after graduation worked in patrol services in 1978 he was assigned to the state finance traffic accident reduction through education or enforce patton has also served as a member of the united states coast guard for 12 years and with the buffalo marine corps reserve for seven years jim's promotion is effective immediately said sheriff higgins the department's fleet is in good hands debate between physicians pharmacists scheduled pharmacists and physi cians will have the oppor nity to attend what prom ises to be a hotly debated town meeting of the professsions march 3 on the subject of whether or not physicians should be allowed to dispense medi cations to their patients for profit sponsored by the state university of new york at buffalo's school of phar macy/division of continu ing education and the pharmacists association of western new york the program will be held at 7.30 p.m at the sheraton airport inn the debate which will feature physicians and volker to lead kemp slate an outstanding slate of delegates have been un animously endorsed by the erie county republican committee as delegates and alternates to represent the 33rd congressional district at the national republican convention in new orleans state senator dale m volker new york state vice-chairman for the kemp for president campaign heads the 33rd district slate senator volker is a 16-year mem ber of the new york state legislature currently he is chairman of the presti gious senate codes com mittee other delegates are gwen e gulley buffalo and laree hulshoff also of buffalo alternates are flor ence e pantano dorothy wojcik of lackawanna and robert j blaney 11 chief of staff in buffalo for congressman kemp senator volker said western new york should be very proud of congressman kemps rec ord of accomplishments for our area we should unite and offer total support for congressman kemp's presidential bid the 33rd congressional district consists of over 90 of the city of buffalo all of the city of lacka wanna the towns of cheektowaga grand is land and lancaster dale m volker state senator african-americans for progress issues findings on police shooting by theodore kirkland monday jan 25th the african-americans for progress released its re port on the police shooting of 16-year-old stanley gates which occurred on december 15 1987 gates a member of the african-american commu nity was shot according to police after running from the scene of a stolen vehicle police claim that while chasing gates on foot that gates suddenly stopped stooped and fac ing officer james miller reached under his jacket for what police believed to be a weapon officer james miller who hap pens to be white is assigned to the 12th precinct following the shooting the african-americans for co-chairperson african-americans for progress of wny progress initiated their own investigation because of the circumstances of the shooting were very suspi cious throughout the united states unarmed african-americans are be ing killed or injured by police officers who say i thought he or she had a weapon no gun was seen or found on gates nor were the police officers lives in danger nor any other citizen's litp r jif-ger from the fleeing youth to us deadly physical force was not legal in this case during the course of the investigation we have interviewed the victim stanley gates members of last rites held for mrs annalee m james funeral services for annalee m james were held wednesday jan 20 at the heritage united church of christ 3106 liberty heights avenue in baltimore maryland the rev wendell h phillips is pastor mrs james was the cousin of mrs mary harris mrs connell bry ant theodore charner d patterson hazel clarence patterson mrs shirley willie lanier and mrs evelyn frank merriweather all of buf falo mrs james was born in lancaster south carolina on may 8 1912 she was the oldest of five children born to henry and anna belle mckenney the family moved to balti more when she was a young girl she was educated in the baltimore city public schools she was a keen bright woman a deep thinker and an avid reader mrs james enjoyed life and was fun loving and radiated a presence of eloquence and dignity mrs james was con vinced that her life should be lived for and with her family she was a deeply devoted daughter to her parents and a loving friend to her sisters and brothers she was the soul of inspiration to her nieces and nephews as long as she lived it was her desire and privilege to guide and love the children in her family the greater her effort the more it enriched her life she worked with pride and dedication as a waitress for mrs dolores myers at the blackstone dining room and briefly as a clerk for hochschild's from where she retired in 1979 similar to the fragrance of the gardenia annalee was also a strong and powerful woman coupled with the qualities of tenacity and great tenderness following a long illness which she endured with quiet strength and enor mous courage through the grace of our lord she was given eternal peace mrs james passed away saturday jan 16 1988 her survivors are nieces cynthia askew katie connor adler betty williamson tanya mid dleton and lorre askew nephews nelson a johnson jr james c askew buffalo relatives along with others and friends the nutter funeral homes inc 2501 gwynns falls parkway in balti more were in charge of the arrangements interment was in arbu tus memorial park thurs day jan 21 at 10 a.m annaleem james in historical move legislature selects blackwell chairman the erie county legis lature began 1988 by making history the 17-member body voted legislator roger i black well d-buffalo its first african-american chair man blackwell is a close political ally of assembly man o eve d-buffalo who is deputy speaker of the new york state assembly during the recent election for erie county executive black well and eve were early and strong supporters of former assemblyman dennis t gorski who was victorious in the election on november 3 1987 gorski was elected the first democratic county executive in the 27-year history of the office gorski's election partially aided blackwell in his rise to chairman after gorski took office on january ist he nomi nated richard a slisz for commissioner of person nel for erie county which cleared the way for black well to assume the chair manship the support provided by blackwell and eve en abled gorski to receive a much higher number of african-american votes than was expected gorski's strong showing in the african rican community during -.■•%. primary contributed sig nificantly to his landslide victory over the republi can incumbent in the general election blackwell who has serv ed in the county legisla ture for 17 years made history previously in 1982 when he was elected the legislature's first african american majority lead er blackwell is known for his knowledge of the working of county govern ment and its needs he is also credited for his ability to negotiate and get around obstacles to deliver services to his constitu ents the election of black well and gorski to these powerful positions is ex pected to enhance the political strength and in fluence of deputy speaker eve the state's highest ranking legislator hon roger i blackwell stanley gates shooting continued on page 3 see page 7