The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 31

Signs of turmoil: Activists decry Israeli 1 policies THE NEWS 1 I r71i 1f- A 11 1- rth OEN 0 MCI Prioritizing in Durham: A i forum weighs competing economic goals PAGE 48 PAGE 5B milmo INwwnews-obsenfercomincf SUNDAY MAY 3 1998 o110 No law can make mentally ill take medicine Prison cause set her free i IC I 1 k- i PI' 411 07tt Who's in charge? Edgecombe-Nash director Pat Adams declined to discuss Keith Powell saying patient confidentiality laws prevented her from even acknowledging whether he was a patient Nonetheless a local mental health agency's responsibility to people like Powell and his family are not clear cut Under North Carolina law no one is required to keep tabs on psychiatric patients such as Powell who walk away after receiving voluntary treatment even when they have violent histories "If someone comes out and says After Keith Powell left the home in November his mother says she reminded its staff that her son had gone to his grandparents' house with a gun the year before and shot the family dog strong evidence he had a propensity for violence But Powell says they told her that their hands were tied Keith Powell's stay at the group home was voluntary and they could not force him to either come back or to take his medicine "I could tell he was off his medication I called time and again" said Powell who fives outside Princeton NJ "They knew that he was not taking his medication In fact when he left his group home he left his medication there They knew" his head At least not until after the shootings when he ran a garden hose from the exhaust pipe into the rear window of a parked Honda Civic and killed himself Compounding the tragedy in Louise Powell's view is her conviction that the deaths and the injuries would have been prevented if someone monitored her son's slide into insanity and forced him him take drugs that made him rational She blames laws that limit the power of places such as Edgecombe-Nash Mental Health a community agency that runs the group home where her son stayed for months after his release from a state hospital in September BY Rum SHEEHAN AND CATHERINE CLABBY STAFF WRITERS RED OAK seconds of holy hell" That's the way Louise Powell describes the terrifying moments after her son Keith showed up at her 50th birthday party the day before Easter armed with a shotgun and a rifle He'd finally succumbed to the voices the voice of God telling him to kill Keith Powell's grandfather and and two uncles lay dead A cousin later had to have an arm amputated Bullets will remain forever in another uncle and an aunt All because 26-year-old Keith could not quiet the demons inside Louise Powell says her family tried to get help for her mentally ill son Keith before he shot six relatives in April LENORE DAVIS FOR THE NEWS OBSERVER SEE No LAW PAGE 6B Latinos applaud new post 44- A --------1F--4tt ri i 4 A 4 '40 Ill MB) A Ie I I )11 7 Tilt e'''' -lt AP ik k- ima- :31) or lip I 'li ''k VIA I bcos --ANA 1 Q111 1 71 140 ft r' 1 it-di ow 5- -I 4 I fi i 04 57 (4- 'I: vs'' I Ho r--: ":1 -L --) 4-algukti 4 '4N 4- -4 4 7- 1' 4 i i lb tir4 '1 or1 i i i' flit 1 4 4447 i'J 'thi" I-' 7 7 0 A state official tells a forum that Gov Jim Hunt will create a special liaison and an advocacy council to give Hispanic residents a greater voice in government Trying to get ahead on the inside track Steve Crall and David Foresi try to bribe judges of the hat contest before the Brookhill Steeplechase Below Leon Salmond waits in the stables with Evening Gown for the main event STAFF PHOTOS BY CANDICE CUSIC Nancy Robbins has been out of prison for a couple of months now but the prison is still in her Even as she sits free in her sparse Raleigh apartment Robbins 37 thinks of the friends she left behind at the Raleigh Correctional -----) Center for Women sr "They were 1 i my family for so long" she said "And it oi hurts me to leave them Nicole with people who don't care Brodeur for them" She shows me pictures of pleasant-looking women smiling for the camera against a hard-to-miss cinder block background There were eight in this makeshift family including Kelly Kirk the Garner travel agent who bilked her clients "She has a lot of money to pay back" Robbins said of Kirk before turning to the other faces in the photo "Paula will be out in three years Sheila and Michelle won't be out for quite a while" "What are they in for?" I asked "Murder" Robbins was not in that league A former nurse she became addicted to painkillers and forged prescriptions She served a 212- year term for violation of drug law and it changed her for the better "I'm not scared anymore" she said "I consider myself so lucky that I lived through what I was doing that it wasn't worse than it was And I found out what I really wanted to do in my life" In short she wants to go back to prison She wants to be a nurse again and give inmates the health care and humane treatment she believes they have been denied "We could hear the nurses on the phone calling the doctor and saying 'It's just an inmate'" So Robbins became a squeaky wheel She started surveying prisoners on health care and taking notes on their doctor visits Her nursing and paralegal background were a gift to those who fight for prisoner's rights "A lot of inmates were afraid to tell us what was going on or not able to express themselves or write very well" said Kathy VandenBerg of NC Prisoner Legal Services "Nancy was an accurate and intelligent reporter to us" Robbins' work helped NC Prisoner Legal Services file a class-action suit in June 1997 The suit sought improvements in health care for female inmates Since the suit was filed Dr Cyril Allen the medical director of the NC Correctional Institution for Women resigned and officials have stepped up plans to expand the prison's infirmary and mental-health unit "I think Nancy had a big impact on improving health care for the inmates" VandenBerg said "As much as anyone else or maybe more than any one prisoner did" Joy Barefoot director of the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women had no comment on Robbins After her release in February Robbins felt lonely in her apartment "I guess I wasn't used to the silence" she said All she can do is keep making noise just as she did behind bars "I don't think the public wants to hear what I can tell them" she said "They think prisoners deserve anything that comes to us because we broke the law "But there are victims in prison as well If society wants to rehabilitate people they have to open their hearts" Nicole Brodeur can be reached at 829- 8930 or nbrodevrnandocoa Blue ribbons for horsing around By AMANDA GARRE'rT STAFF WRITER BY JEN GOMEZ STAFF WRITER PITTSBORO An assistant to the governor on Saturday announced changes designed to give the Latino community a stronger voice in the state executive's office 1 1 I The announcement was made at a forum of Latino 111 I leaders generating thun- derous applause from the more than 100 in atten- dance Carolyn Coleman the 4 governor's special assis- tant on minority affairs said Gov Jim Hunt would create an advocacy coun- Carolyn Coleman cll an assistant to the Coleman also governor spoke at announced a new liaison the forum post to the Latino community on the governor's staff The announcements came during the Without Borders: Latino Affairs Forum at the Camp Royall in Moncure The president of the group that arranged the forum El Pueblo Inc a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community and promoting cross-cultural understanding immediately praised the creation of the council "The council will be the connection that will make it easier for Latinos to integrate into the community" said Katie Pomerans who is also Hispanic ombudsman with the state Department of Health and Human Services Last year Pomerans and other Latino leaders met with state officials to discuss creating such a council "We don't have representation at this point" she said "It's very difficult to bring issues to the governor's attention" She said she and other Latino leaders have worked toward changing that "You can't get heard if you don't have a place at the table" Pomerans said Coleman in presenting the group with Hunt's as-yet-unsigned executive order said: "It's impor TT- 7 -1 -47 I I -I 1 -i i 1 2 1 Ai' --compue i Z' i at- 1 1 If 1 'tf 1CAimaibm 1more than 20 mad hatters vying for bragging rights at this year's hat competition Contestants strive to make their hats the most equestrian elegant and creative "It's more fun than just II standing around" Selfridge said with a '''s I self-conscious chuckle i As the heavy odor of 1 1 cigar smoke drifted over 1 the field she and other competitors lined up to strut their unusual haberdashery Onlookers many with beer wine or drinks in hand surrounded to cheer them on "Look it's Cousin It" one delighted woman hooted as she watched 12- year-old Haley Jackson take her turn I 'i I 1 I 1 1 CLAYTON ''''''t Hardly anyone goes to the Brookhill Steeplechase to see the sleek powerful horses The annual charity race which was held Saturday in Clayton is more akin to a Grateful Dead concert the show outside the show is 14 the main attraction f'' Shocking-pink flamingos with matching shocking-pink feathers tarnished silver candelabras and a 30-foot Titanic set the scene for this year's race And in the middle of it all were contests and awards for helping the hoopla live up to its billing as an all-day party One of the most popular competitions was the hat contest WIMP i' 3: '-i- iT''- which is rooted in Kentucky Derby tradition "Horses What horses?" said Stacia Selfridge while small plastic horses revolved around her head powered by a tiny motor hidden in her hat Selfridge 26 of Raleigh was one SEE RACE PAGE 9B SEE COUNCIL PAGE 9B Volunteer known for getting things done BY WENDY HOWER STAFF WRITER i' 4 0 st 4 'w4vt" i 47 4-'-'''-' Education Network's first Josephine Clement Award for "exemplary community leadership in public education" Gardner's friends colleagues and family members describe a man who is dependable focused and persuasive They tell stories of how time and again he has quieted a room full of arguing people and brought them to consensus "We tease him and call him the guru of public education" said Lloydette Hoof executive director of the Durham Public Education Network "But he has just steeped himself in school reform" Gardner latched onto public education back in 1985 when his oldest son Eric Scott Gardner a Duke Power district manager has a reputation for effective volunteer efforts to aid public education He was cochairman of the recent Triangle Regional Volunteer Summit STAFF PHOTO BY HARRY LYNCH Gardner ever since The 43-year-old district manager for Duke Power Co has earned a reputation among educators and civic leaders across the Triangle for working hard following through on commitments and influencing some of the hottest public education debates Last weekend Gardner was co-chairman of the Triangle Regional Volunteer Summit a gathering to persuade business leaders to allow employees time for volunteer work For the past 14 years Gardner has sat on boards and headed committees for chambers of commerce school districts universities and United Way campaigns In 1995 he won the Durham Public DURHAM Scott Gardner was a redheaded pipsqueak of a kid when he real ized that taking out the garbage making his TAR HEEL bed and washing the dishes got a good reacOF THE tion from his mother Mom liked Scott WEEK best his brother and sisters used to say according to his mother Carolyn Gardner "You'd say 'Scott do this' and Scott would do it" she says It's a technique that has worked for SEE TAR HEEL PAGE 8B.