Rocky Mount Telegram from Rocky Mount, North Carolina • 2

Carolina Page 2A Rocky Mount Telegram Sunday December 24, 1995 State officials re-examining handling of sex offenders a 7-year-old girl in Gastonia. He was sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in January and was charged with kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old Wilkes County girl nine months later. Lewandowski said it's sometimes better to let prisoners out on parole than to keep them until the end of their sentences, so the board can impose stricter, longer-term supervision and help with readjustment into society. The Associated Press North Carolina paroles an average of at least one sex offender every day and the state has struggled to find the best way to protect the public.

But crimes that landed a paroled sex offender on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list this week have sent officials scrambling to do more. "The answer is real simple," Protest march J73 State 4L "Jft briefs From staff, wire reports rSS. zoning or longer. About 500 inmates have been through the program. "There aren't enough places in programs for all the offenders," Harrop said.

"And many aren't interested." The state also has tried to do a better job notifying victims when their attackers are up for parole. For years, the board sent letters to victims about parole deliberations only if they requested notification in writing. Group sets activities for King From staff reports The following is a list of planned activities scheduled in Rocky Mount to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King birthday: Saturday, Jan. 6, 1996 Martin Luther King Youth Choir On the Rise Concert, under the direction of Brother Luther Barnes, 7 p.m.

at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church; Friday, Jan. 12 Cultural Diversity Food Tasting Extravaganza, 7 p.m. at the YWCA, Hunter Hill Road; Friday, Jan. 12 MLK Banquet, 7 p.m. Civic Center in Raleigh; tickets $20; Saturday, Jan.

13 Oratorical contest, 1 p.m. The Playhouse Community Theater; Sunday, Jan. 14 Candlelight service, 5 p.m. at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church; Monday, Jan. 15 Prayer Breakfast with the theme "Building a New 7 a.m.

at the Dunn Center on N.C. Wesleyan College campus; Julius L. Chambers, chancellor of N.C. Central University, will be attending; Monday, Jan. 15 MLK memorial service, 11 a.m.

Leon Russell Chapel, N.C. Wesleyan College; Monday, Jan. 15 MLK 7th annual forum on "Race Relations: From King to Farrak-han: Is Integration Still North Carolina Wesleyan College; and Jan. 16-31 Everett Mayo's, an African American artist, work will be on display at the Dunn Center, N.C Wesleyan College. Denis Lewandowski, the N.C.

Parole Commission's psychologist, told The Charlotte Observer. "Keep the bad guys locked up. Let the good guys go. How to do that is a difficult and complex question." But it's a question that is being re-examined after Rickey Allen Bright joined the most-wanted list. In 1979, Bright was convicted of kidnapping and trying to rape WESQ off air until '96 From staff reports Come Dec.

25, it really will be a silent night for WESQ. Midnight on Christmas, 90.2-FM will sign off the air until sometime in 1996. Friends of Down East Public Radio, Inc. took control of operating the station Aug. 1, after N.C.

Wesleyan College decided it could no longer run the station. The Federal Communication Commission recently granted the Friends group the station's license, but the actual transfer will take place in February 1996. While the station is off the air, it will relocate to the old Coastal Plains Insurance Co. building on Falls Road, and lease the site from the City of Rocky Mount The future home of WESQ will house new studios and offices, as well as a 180 foot transmitter tower. The city of Tarboro donated the tower to the Friends group.

A program advisory board is currently planning the station's music and news format for the WESQ's return on the air. The New Year will bring new station call letters, new air talent and new marketing strategies, as part of a plan to continue to serve the needs of eastern North Carolina. The station is also currently seeking a development director, who would lead the station in marketing ideas, fund-raising events and communication with area listeners. Interested candidates should call the general manager at 919-446-9090. through either program.

In a program started in 1991, about 40 inmates undergo six months of counseling, six hours a day, five days a week. The sessions include group counseling to discourage recidivism, including confronting inmates with victims' suffering. In another, started in the late 1980s, prisoners undergo more traditional counseling, meeting up to two hours a week for a year TelegramChuck Beckley to march against IBP in Tarboro ers could vote to rezone more than 500 acres near Kingsboro, which would allow IBP to move in. Joyner said the hog-processing plant's inability to coexist with the citizens living in Edgecombe is the group's main argument against IBP locating in the area. "We feel like IBP would put a burden on our community," he added.

"It could negatively effect our environment, health services, schools, law enforcement and social services. "We just shouldn't have to take those kinds of risks, and there's no reason why we can't get any better industry to come in here." lnig About 40 people gathered Saturday in Tarboro Group rallies against IBP StiH, he said, "You can't be 100 percent certain. There are no guarantees." The prison system now has two formal programs for the treatment of sex offenders. But they are available to few inmates and only if they volunteer. Richard Harrop, mental health director for N.C.

prisons, said it's too early to tell if the programs, which cost $110,000 a year, are effective. Bright didn't go rp- 1 he organizers have scheduled another rally at noon next Saturday at the same location. would be traveling and doing last-minute Christmas shopping, yet we still had a pretty good turnout," he said. the organizers have scheduled another rally at noon next Saturday at the same location. "We wanted to try and get another one in' before the commissioners meet on Jan.

2," he said. At that meeting, commission dream to life ership," she added. "I tell them about the extra responsibility that goes with owning versus renting. 1 "They're used, to calling the landlord when something needs fixing, so we discuss these problems and I try to bring them to reality." Another of Wiggins' primary concerns is helping clients learn how to make a budget and stick with it something that will make a home mortgage payment easier to deal with. Often, Wiggins ends up being a sounding-board for other problems, as well.

deal with a lot of other things going on in their lives that are barriers to home ownership," she said. Wiggins' current project is finding buyers for Heritage Park, a low- to moderate-income housing development in the DunnWashington Street area. Two units are finished, with nine more slated to begin con- Odds slim in N.C. for Christinas snow For those North Carolinians fantasizing about a white Christmas, the National Weather Service has one suggestion keep dreaming. there's little chance of seeing anything other than dirt and leaves on the ground Monday.

It will feel like Christmas because it will be cold, but the air will be dry. in essence, it just like Christmases past The forecast calls for variably ciouay sKies and cold temperatures on Christmas Dav with a chance of flurries in the northern mountains. Everybody else is out OI MICK. "There's just no snow in the forecast other than the northern mountains." National Weather Service forecaster Jan Price says. Census Bureau plan erases farms on paper WASHINGTON America could lose nearly half its farms before the year 2000 on paper at least Because Congress cut its budget, the Census Bureau has made plans to survey far fewer farms when it draws its next detailed profile of American agriculture in 1997.

Manv small farms in North Carolina would be among those that disappear. The Dlan would have the bureau count only farms that sell or more worth or crops or livestock a year, up from $1,000 now. The number of farms would plunge from 1.9 million to 1 million as a result Counties criticize new health care law WINSTON-SALEM County agencies which provide in-home health care to the chronically ill could be driven out of business under a new state law, county officials say. The law, which takes effect Feb. 1, will do away with the boundary lines governing where home health-care agencies can do business.

Gayle Brown, director of the Yadkin County Health Department, said the law gives private home-health agencies an unfair advantage over the state's 42 county-run agencies. Teachers, principals responsible: Robinson WILMINGTON The state must be allowed to fire principals and teachers at low-achieving schools if the public school sys tern is to survive, the chairman of I the State Board of Education says. Jay Robinson says radical reform is needed before North Carolina's schools fall victim to a growing movement to allow parents to choose tax-subsidized private education. As chairman of the State Board of Education, Robinson, 66, is overseeing an effort he believes will save public education from critics who are giving up on it. Wiggins brings American By Traci Davis Staff writer More than 40 people turned out Saturday to march against EBP, a Nebraska-based meat processing plant that has its eyes on Edgecombe County.

Organized by the Kingsboro Property Owners Association, opponents paraded downtown Tarboro with signs, asking commissioners and citizens to say no to the hog slaughterhouse. Clark Joyner, a member of the Kingsboro Property Owners Association, said turnout was good, considering the holiday weekend. "We knew a lot of people munity Development Corporation in downtown's Harambee Square. The RMECDC and the city of Rocky Mount are partners in a unique, long-term community development and investment plan that seeks to rebuild the city's decaying urban area. City and RMECDC officials say they feel one way to do that is to encourage homeownership, which in turn, they say, will promote pride, growth and investment in communities.

That's where Wiggins comes in. She educates people about the mortgagelending process through a weekly hornebuyers class, then follows them through the steps of finding, financing and hopefully, buying their own home. But she is quick to point out' that not everyone who attends her classes and counseling sessions ends up buying a home. "We talk about the advantages and disadvantages of home own Mls your paper? Miss your paper? We hope not But Occupation: Housing counselor for the City of Rocky Mount. Family: Divorced, mother of two daughters; Zenira, 22, Kenisha, 20.

Education: B.S. from Winston-Salem State University, 1971, health and physical education. Quote: "It's so rewarding to be able to provide decent housing for fami lies." sanction. Though the attractive two and three bedroom homes aren't selling as quickly as expected, Wiggins said it's not because the interest isn't there, but rather because it takes more time for lower-income people to get approval from the banks. For inspiration, Wiggins said she thinks back to a young man By C.

Michelle Taylor Staff writer Loretta Braswell Wiggins' job is to help make the American dream come true: Owning a home. As the city of Rocky Mount's housing counselor, Wiggins assists low- to moderate-income families in finding comfortable, affordable housing. After spending 21 years with the city's Human Relations Department, Wiggins was appointed to her current position by former City Manager Bill Batchelor. "In the human relations field, I saw the need for home ownership and housing, and I had already dealt with tenant problems and knew that end of (the job), so I said I would love to do it," Wiggins said. Two years later, Wiggins has an office at the city administration building as well as at the Rocky MountEdgecombe Com rVHWoci n( Courtesy of CLEAN CLEAN Dry Cleaners Laundry nf vniir nowcninpr who has contacted her in recent months about buying a home for his family.

After finally getting off drugs and turning his life around, the man told Wiggins he saw owning his own home as a second chance. "That really stuck with me, and I think of him often," Wiggins said. Keith Abbott Production director Paula Johnson Classified manager tf you haven! received The Rocky Mount Telearam bv 6 Dm Monday tnrouoti Frl lay, or by 7 am Saturday or Rocky Mount Telegram Den Dickerson, Publisher Jeff Herrin Dave Roe Managing editor -Circulation director Mark Fortune Advertising director Nancy Duncan Accountant Sunday, call us at 446-5161. Telegram offices are open from 8 am to 5 pm weekdays. Circulation phones are open until 7 p.m.

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