The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 29

OUTHLAND Classified ads 4C THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER AND ALABAMA JOURNAL, SUNDAY. MAY 28. 1989 Section Cmltmral barriers discussed Vietnamese refugees vulnerable to crime, exploitation, officials say ALVIN BENN Crime and gang activity, a discussion of organized gangs and why young Asian refugees are particularly susceptible to gang recruitment because many grew up in an environment where basic survival was the only concern. Ernie Jones, a mediator with the Community Relations Services of the U.S. Department of Justice, said the police-refugee conferences began out of a need perceived by his agency and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement "to start a dialogue between law enforcement and the Asian community." The first conference was held three years ago in New Orleans, Mr.

Jones said. Others have been held in Georgia, Washington, Oregon, California and Massachusetts. The conferences are designed to share ply suffer the consequences or take matters into their own hands. The two-day conference, which ended Friday, was attended by about 50 police officers and 30 social service representatives from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida. Workshops for small groups were conducted on such topics as: Community involvement, which focused on the development of positive interaction between refugees and the communities that surround them.

Crime prevention and police response, which concentrated on crime prevention as well reporting crime and dealing with the criminal justice system. Cultural awareness, which provided a definition of culture and explored the impact of cultural differences on law enforcement in the refugee community. Associated Press Report BILOXI, Miss. Cultural and language barriers which make Vietnamese refugees unusually vulnerable to crime were discussed at a conference attended by officials from Alabama and three other states. "We're here to develop a unified response on how to handle and communicate with Asian communities in our towns," said Lt.

William Lundy of the Mobile police department. "They don't understand our justice system and are reluctant to report crimes. "Take bail, for instance. They can't understand why someone accused of a crime is right back on the street. It's a communication problem.

We're trying to bridge that gap." Lt. Lundy said Vietnamese victims of crime are often so reluctant to deal with police that they sim Dallas assistant DA goes to civilized9 law SELMA After eight years of putting murderers, rapists, robbers and drug dealers behind bars, Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Jim Sullivan is leaving to tackle the "civilized" side of the law as a federal prosecutor in Birmingham. It's unlikely he'll come close to the kinds of cases he's dealt with daily in Alabama's largest geographic judicial region. In a way, it'll be a relief. Since 1981, he's seen more than his share of dismembered bodies, heartless killers who laugh on the witness stand, grieving relatives and slick defense attorneys who often find a way to beat the system.

His tenure as District Attorney Roy Johnson's senior staff member has been rewarding in many ways, particularly in the area of courtroom experience. That's something he lacked when he left a practice in Haleyville to return home to Selma when Mr. Johnson took over. His only criminal trial experience involved defense of a man initially i 5 it 73 charged with statutory rape who wound up killing two vig- Vi ilanfoG ufhon thov hrnVo intr his house in an apparent bid to mete out their own brand of "justice." Both trials ended in hung 1 i lt mr Jm if V- juries, he recalled, and the cases eventually were dismissed against his client. It didn't take him long to gain courtroom experience as 1 -iff i -z t- AP wirephoto Wayne Tidwell next to one of the vintage vehicles he sells to classic-car lovers for restoration Cahawba project begins By ALVIN BENN Advertiser Staff Writer CAHAWBA When Johnny Jones was 5 years old, he heard people talk about trying to restore Alabama's first capital at Cahawba.

Standing on a stage Saturday morning as Dallas County's probate judge, 47 years later, he took part in a ceremony intended to do just that. U.S. Rep. Claude Harris, D-Tusca-loosa, led state and local leaders in a program to commemorate a $1 million project that will breathe new life into the one-time Indian village that later became Alabama's birthplace. "We've come a long way," Judge Jones said.

"Cahawba consumes me when I'm out here. It's special. You can feel it." The groundbreaking, which took place during the 10th annual Cahawba Day Festival, capped a decade-long struggle to fund the project. About $700,000 in federal money from the U.S. Department of Conservation, augmented by state funds, helped buy land and prepare for a $150,000 welcome center which is expected to be completed by fall.

State Sen. Earl Goodwin, D-Selma, and state Reps. W.F. "Noopie" Cosby, D-Selma, and Jenkins Bryant, D-Newbern, took part in the program along with Selma and Dallas County officials. Ted Henry, a Selma industrialist who is president of the Alabama Historical Commission, said Cahawba has had an impact on "many people for hundreds of years" and mentioned significant dates in the history of the site.

Built shortly after Alabama became a state in 1819, the capital lasted only a few years at Cahawba before politics and flooding from the nearby Alabama River, forced it to move to Tuscaloosa in 1826, before finding a permanent home in Montgomery. Cahawba continued to thrive until the Civil War, but quickly became a ghost town and, for more than a century, has been favored by fishermen. At the turn of the 20th century, several in the county began talking about restoring Cahawba, but nothing was done despite efforts through the years. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and, during the early 1980s, the state took an active interest in the project. When the Soil Conservation Service became involved in the program about eight years ago, it signaled the official start of a life-long dream of many, including Selma City Council President Carl Morgan, who served as emcee of Saturday's program.

Mr. Morgan has been actively involved in the Cahawba project for 40 years and he said Saturday's groundbreaking for the welcome station "means an awful lot to many, many people." State conservationist Ernest Todd, who said Saturday's program is the result of "tenacity" on the part of local leaders, predicted more ground-breakings in the future when the project is expanded. He mentioned the use of radar a few years ago to map original foundations and added special care will be taken not to disturb anything of historical significance. Rep. Harris had a prepared speech to make, but he discarded it because of the broiling temperatures and, instead, applauded those who helped bring the project to fruition.

"This is what happens when people work together," he said. "This is, indeed, a very important day for the people of Dallas County and the rest of Alabama." Turning lemons into peaches: Dealer culls classics from clunkers By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer BAY MINETTE The overhead at Wayne Tidwell's car lot on U.S. 31 is very low. He's the owner and sole salesman of vehicles that really show their age. Mr.

Tidwell sells them for restoration, even though folks in this part of coastal Alabama don't spend much on restoring old cars. They spend on groceries and gasoline. "I barely make a living," Mr. Tidwell said with his foot on the running board of a 1950 Chevrolet pickup. His main customers are just passing through, headed for the Gulf of Mexico beaches down the highway.

"Ten thousand cars a day pass by here," he said. He opened in January, but "really got started in March." Mr. Tidwell has about 20 vehicles at his Old Cars Etc. Shop. The "et cetera" are old bottles, hubcaps, record albums and other collectibles that he and his wife, Becky, have for sale inside.

"I work on these old cars and get them runable, then let people restore them," Mr. Tidwell said. He said he got into the business after he broke his neck in a furniture manufacturing plant years ago. He sells the vehicles "as is, where is," but he said he advises buyers of known defects. He also sells bicycles and motorcycles, but his main interest is cars.

Among his most expensive cars were a 1954 Cadillac for $2,100 and a 1969 GT Ford Torino convertible for $2,250. He buys some through ads in newspapers and parks Please see CLASSICS, 2C Sullivan a prosecutor in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Dallas, Wilcox, Bibb, Hale and Perry counties. Some were truly bizarre, such as the one involving a Wilcox County man who killed a friend with a machete and then used it to cut open his chest. "He took the guy's heart out, put it on his chest and then cut it into small pieces," the prosecutor said. "You have to ask yourself why anybody would do such a thing, but, in this line of work, you eventually see everything." Such was the case when another Wilcox County man stabbed his father to death because his dad refused to give him bus fare.

"He stabbed him 43 times," he said. Then, there was Carl Rupert Smith, who murdered his ex-wife and her new husband in front of 200 workers outside a Selma plant early one morning. That trial was moved to Dothan because of all the publicity, but Mr. Sullivan just followed him south and got a conviction as he's done in most of his major cases. Once a Selma man in need of drug money walked across the street, entered a neighbor's house and drowned a 5-year-old boy after strangling his young aunt.

That got to him more than any case he had before or since. "I looked at the bodies and thought about my son, who was about the same age as the boy, and my wife, who was about the same age as his aunt," he said. In Perry County, a respected elderly woman opened her front door and was greeted by a young man who savagely beat her to death. That trial's coming up in a few weeks and could be the 37-year-old prosecutor's last major trial before he heads north to Birmingham. In a few months, he'll be dealing with more cerebral criminals, those who use fountain pens and printing presses instead of guns and machetes: His boss will be U.S.

Attorney Frank Donaldson, his former professor at Cumberland Law School, and his targets will be counterfeiters, racketeers and embezzlers white collar criminals who use more subtle ways to steal and kill. He says he doesn't believe he'll find his new job boring, just different, and he's looking forward to it. The long faces around the Dallas County Courthouse in recent days indicate many are not looking forward to his departure. Above everything else, Jim Sullivan is a gentleman in and out of the courtroom. He can grill a witness with the best of them, but he usually can be heard saying "please, ma'am," or "please, sir" even to those he'd like to see sent away for a long stretch.

Outside the courtroom, he has been an officer with a Selma PTO, helped the Cub Scouts, played on and coached his church basketball team, supported a charity softball program and has been saluted for his work with the Special Olympics. Last year, he was named Boss of the Year by the Dallas County Legal Secretaries Association and the glowing nomination spelled out what a lot of people think of him. "He gets along well with people and takes note of those who work hard and praises them for a job well done," wrote Chief Circuit Court Clerk Harriet Piper. "And, if a mistake is made, he points it out in such a way that you feel, not reprimanded, but better informed." Mrs. Piper ended her nomination with words that are echoed by many in the five counties.

"He is special to all of us because he is the kind of person who epitomizes the best of our legal profession," she wrote. If Jim Sullivan has one passion in life next to his wife and three children it's rooting for Auburn University whenever and wherever he gets the chance. There are those who say his blood has an orange and blue tint and that he'll be on hand regardless of the season or reason to support his alma mater. His move to Birmingham will mean a slight increase in distance, but he doesn't see it as much of a problem. "I'll be 18 miles farther away, but I'll get he said.

my luck, though. After all this time, I'm going to Birmingham and they'll be moving the game to Auburn." iii iiiii.mn V' i Ik Residents begin project cleanup The residents and volunteers cut lawns and shrubbery and removed trash from the area. At 1 p.m. there was an inspection and a most-improved area was selected. The area was presented with a Montgomery Clean City Commission award at 2 p.m.

Public Housing Manger Wiley Thomas Jr. described the day as a success. Sponsors of "A Day of Community Unity" were the Tenants Council, the Rosa Parks Compendium, the Montgomery Housing Authority, the Clean City Commision, the YMCA, the Montgomery Police Department Community Relations Bureau, local merchants and local radio stations. Staff Report Early Saturday morning residents and volunteers began to clean up Cleveland Court, a Montgomery housing project known for problems caused by a heavy drug trade. As part of the residents' push to reclaim their housing project, the group participated in "A Day of Community Unity." The Cleveland Court housing project has been at the center of attention recently because of the arrests of crack cocaine dealers in the area.

Beginning at 8 a.m., block leaders, residents and volunteers met at the Cleveland Court community center and began "Operation Clean Sweep." Staff photo by Jay Sailors Roberto Jackson sweeps basketball court 9 Hunt toots Alabama Reunion train horn "I don't think Alabama will ever be the same again. We have taken out our pride and dusted it off and held it up for the world to see," he said. While Gov. Hunt is closely associated with the Reunion and was the only politician aboard the train for the length of its trip, he noted the Reunion idea "came from a resolution from the Legislature just before I took office." "I took a look at the idea and believed that it would work," he said. Legislative critics, particularly state Sen.

Danny Corbett, D-Phenix City, contend the Reunion is a thinly veiled tool to kick off Gov. Hunt's 1990 reelection campaign. The rail tour, which began a week ago in Shef- Associated Press Report MOBILE As the Alabama Reunion Special chugged toward the end of its campaign-style tour of the state on Saturday, Gov. Guy Hunt praised its success and estimated some 100,000 had greeted the train statewide. Gov.

Hunt said the whistle-stop tour had more than met its goal of generating "public excitement" about the Alabama Reunion, a yearlong promotion organizers say is aimed at increasing tourism and pride in Alabama. "I do not think any of us will ever be able to determine the magnitude of the impact of the Alabama Reunion," Gov. Hunt said in his weekly radio address, made from a car on the Alabama Reunion Special. field, drew to a close Saturday as the 15-car train pulled into Mobile, the last of 17 cities it visited. Gov.

Hunt estimated some 100,000 had greeted the train. In addition to the Republican Hunt, officeholders riding at least part of the way included Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Albert McDonald, U.S. Rep. Ronnie Flippo, D-Florence, and state legislators. Celebrities on board included Alabama natives Fannie Flagg, George Lindsey and Polly Hol-liday.

Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads donated engines to pull the train, and First Alabama Bank underwrote the promotional costs. Volunteers from railroad clubs and civic groups helped keep the tour moving. The writer covers West Alabama for The.