The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 40

mm i ui fn CHARI OTTF ORSFRVFR I ch lrlottc com FROM PAGE ONF WFDNFSDAY JANUARY 25 2006 13 A Report finds shelter for victims lacldng Violence mm 1A Call for Help For assistance with domestic abuse in Mecklenburg County call the Shelter for Battered Women's 24-hour hot line at (704) 332-2513 or the Mecklenburg County Women's Commission at (704) 336-3210 Elsewhere call the National Domestic Violence hot line: (800) 799-SAFE (7233) can imagine they just finished telling us they were seared to death and want to go back and sitting there there anyone else you can she said Housing shortage The report which was commissioned by the county and written by an independent consultant also found the county needs transitional housing for women who leave the shelter after 30 days Christa Cox Sumwalt an assistant district attorney who coordinates the domestic violence unit said prosecutors are so busy they usually contact victims until the day of the trial Sumwalt said contacting victims in advance would make them more likely to cooperate and less likely that charges will be thrown out of court The report said a coordinator County decisions The county funds part of the budget and Helms said he would make the issue a priority this year begin by drawing attention to it in State of the County address The county spent about $21 million on domestic violence programs in this budget primarily for the Commission and the shelter The amount is a minuscule fraction of the county budget but last year commissioners said the issue is a high priority for them County commissioner Jennifer Roberts said the county should increase funding this year and said the number of shelter beds compared with surrounding counties is think we do need to put more money into she said STAFF WRITER KYTJA WEIR CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY either a person or an agency -could help the different agencies develop a shared vision fill service gaps and better track data when services are provided The report also at the request of the county outlines possibilities for restructuring the Commission If the county keeps the agency the report said it will need a strong leader it had a permanent leader since 2004 Other possibilities include merging it into a new agency that would also oversee veterans af fairs and homeless support services or asking UFS to take over under a contract with the county Carol Morris the consultant who wrote the report said many of the agencies do a good job with scant resources and work together to coordinate efforts on their own But no one helps the different agencies involved with domestic violence services set common goals she said problem is they are all she said other piece of it is there could be better integration of The district domestic violence unit needs more staff to encourage victims to cooperate in the prosecution of attackers There is no one person or agency to coordinate services More education is needed for victims assailants and children Delays and lapses create safety risks said Stacy low ry a former interim head of the Commission women get services in a timely manner they may not be able to have the information and support they need to provide better safety for themselves and their she said Jane Taylor the coordinator of shelter services for United Family Services the agency that runs the shelter said workers there must asking women if they can find a safe place to spend one more night should be able to offer protection to anyone who legitimately needs Taylor said The agency paid for 29 motel rooms last year when the shelter was full Workers also send victims to other counties if space is available said Karen Parker Thompson director of domestic violence services for UFS Anne Michael a Lincoln County resident who received services from the Commission in 2000 said she later volunteered to spend evenings at Carolinas Medical Center as part of a pilot program and Nashville Tenn 572475 Portland Ore 672161 EZZZJsi Savannah Ga 238518 Tampa Fla 1101261 ES1io2 SOURCE Mecklenburg County STAFF CHART would call the shelter when a battered woman came in who needed a bed If the shelter was full she said she called the Salvation Army which equipped to provide domestic violence services Sometimes she said the woman would spend the night at the hospital hoping room would open up at the shelter in the morning 1 This an introductory rate because we want our relationship to last longer than that At SunTrust we see beyond your account number to what you're saving for So always finding new ways to help you achieve your financial goals Our new Premium Money Market Performance Account offers a preferred interest rate to clients who have or open select relationship checking accounts Plus you ll enjoy the security of FDIC insurance Get more from your banking relationship Stop by any branch call 8775153367 or visit suntrustcompremium TV network lacks Charlotte home Premium Money Market Performance Account For balances of $25000 or more 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Moisture Cream SPF 30 Ceramide Advanced Time Complex Capsules Intensive Treatment for Face and Throat 7 day supply Color Palette Compact with 2 Lipsticks 2 Eyeshadows and Cheekcolor Eight hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick Sheer Tint SPF 15 in Plum UPN-WBromM our many publics in this multichannel media CBS President Leslie Moonves said CBS which owns UPN will co-own the new venture with Warner Bros Entertainment which operates The WB In Charlotte UPN programming airs on WJZY (Channel 46) and WB shows are carried by WWWB (Channel 55) Both are owned by Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Will Davis general manager of two Charlotte stations said he intends to seek affiliation with The CW not taking it for granted" he said going after Already WJZY is one of strongest performing carriers landing consistently in the top 10 of affiliates in local ratings for network shows he said Overall it is tied with Atlanta affiliate as the fifth highest-ranked in the nation Monday block of African American-themed comedies for example sometimes draw nearly twice as many viewers in Charlotte than they do across the nation Another home for the new network -in Charlotte could be WAXN (Channel 64) the independent owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises which also owns WSOC (Channel 9) always look at every said Lee Armstrong general manager of WAXN and WSOC have what we consider to be a pretty strong schedule have to think it through and assess it like any other opportunity if it were presented to Davis said if WJZY gets The CW programming WWWB would be no problem The company might be able to increase the number of Charlotte Bobcats games or increase games from the Atlantic Coast Conference college sports schedule it shares with WBTV (Channel 3) Movie packages and syndicated shows are available and Capitol has contracts to add syndicated reruns of the sitcoms to and in Charlotte beginning next fall Davis said Fighting for same audience The merger of The WB and UPN both launched in 1995 marks the first time a commercial broadcast network has disappeared since DuMont went out of business in 1955 The W'B and UPN each targeting the youthful demographic that mainstream broadcasters find increasingly difficult to reach have struggled financially Both faced high production -I- uir costs for original programming but produced few breakout hits They were widely viewed as fringe channels against the big four ABC CBS NBC and Fox During the last sweeps period in November UPN averaged about 37 million viewers nightly and WB about 35 million meaning they were viewed in less than 3 percent of US households both down slightly from a year earlier By comparison No 1 CBS was viewed in more than 9 percent of households reaching 146 million people The CW will copy The prime-time scheduling approach of airing shows weeknights 8-10 pm Sunday 7-10 pm and offering no programming on Saturday nights the weakest viewing night Since 1995 the networks competed vigorously a rivalry that reached a bitter apex in 2001 when UPN lured the teen cult classic the Vampire away from The WB Warner Bros responded by killing Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in the final episode for its network forcing a cemetery resurrection for the UPN debut Mark Washburn (704) 358-5007 mwashburn a charlotteobserver com 67 it If prs NOT AVAILABLE AT EASTLAND MALL.