The News and Observer du lieu suivant : Raleigh, North Carolina • 13

TUESDAY OCTOBER 16 2001 I 1 i TUESDAY OCTOBER 16 2001 0 1 i I FINAL EDITION an A 111 IP On ma THE NEWS IT I) rk TRAFFIC ALERT What: Alston rle Avenue overpass Where: At Durham Alston 2 overpass At Durham OM nik IP AO al SO IMP I 4 1 0 GrA '0 i rrn a rec 1 CIAA Tournament: Raleigh and Charlotte are on the short list of potential host cities Page 38 1' 1 i 1 1 i 1 4 dosed Freeway A 4' When: Closed today until Department of Transportation declares it is safe Story page 5B ay Closed isportation Overpass dosed i A i'? 1 today until Departme declares it is safe Sto Raleigh's runoffs: An at-large City Council hopeful wants to join any mayoral debate Page 3B wwwnewsobservercomtriangle Detective says old cold slayings need special police squad luad Another brick in the wall New chief will evaluate twice-rejected proposal see these guys dedicated 100 percent on cold cases and have another investigative team work on new cases" said Vinson who lives in Grantham in Wayne County "We have a big interest in it" With seven homicides in Raleigh this year major crimes investigators have had more time than usual to take a fresh look at cases such as Vinson's But they still must shift their attention to new unexplained deaths said Sgt Jeff Fluck of the major crimes task force "The problem is you can work a month on a cold case trying to track down a wit 100 percent on investigative lid Vinson who le County "We aleigh this year have had more sh look at cases still must shift Dlained deaths Or crimes task work a month tck down a Eleven of those killings have occurred since January 1998 Maj Ralph Strickland who leads the police department's Investigative Division is pushing for a new squad a sergeant and two detectives that would be devoted to solving such "cold cases" The proposal which would cost about $170000 is tucked among stacks of documents presented to new Police Chief Jane Perlov who to4 office a month ago It was submitted twice in the past two years but didn't win approval from formei Chief Mitch Brown or Interim Chief John Knox If approved it would be the Triangle's first such squad Though Per lov said she'll consider the request she said she's not sure 16 unsolved homicides justify the expense "It's not like we're not working on them" she said noting that the department already has "an incredible clearance rate on homicides" of 95 percent But Strickland said the squad is needed because Raleigh homicides have changed "In the last two or three years we've seen more cases where the victim doesn't know the person that did it" he said Penny Vinson Beth-Ellen's mother also would like to see such a squad created "I know we're talking about money but for our personal thinking we would like to BY OREN DORELL STAFF WRITER RALEIGH Police Sgt Chris Morgan has a recreation room behind his house where he sits for hours watching a video of Beth-Ellen Vinson dancing On his office wall hang a picture of the aspiring modern dancer and a huge diagram of the crime scene where her body was found seven years ago Vinson's is one of 16 unsolved homicides in Raleigh slayings that go back 20 years SEE HOMICIDES PAGE 4B 3E 4 STATE FAIR I JUST ROLLING WITH IT Wake OKs money for 911 ke cs ley )11 On I 4 6 3 0 3 --4 tA 4- 2 -2 09 4 2 4 tiai 1 :111 :0000000001116 A 45' -1-AbeirtlN 4: 4 4 9 41- 7 trinTb 2 -0 12 a 34 'A 4 yet4 A t0! 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'11" --ti- -q 'AV' ''1' "-A -f 4 rAt- ai34 0 i '-r7'Ss' 441- 1 ''i'''''1: 1 '''i 'YI --i 7 -1- -t: -s---' r- L'7 -11' v- 1': 11 i'7-''-P 4 V-- is 7fn7 iim 6 4--re--: 74-4-t kA'! r4- 4 12--'-4o ''4 kio 4 i-: o4t 1 r47-' i-11: 4''- ktT7-' 1 A y- 4 m---- 't: rt3' 'Tp 1 uie -4 q' 1: i ii rs- r'i t- i1 04" 3 4- 1- 1- 7 ti Commissioners allow about $27 million for emergency response equipment that could speed help to victims allow about emergency nent that to victims It By BONNIE ROCHMAN STAFF WRITER RALEIGH Wake County commissioners laid the groundwork Monday for faster better coordinated responses to emergencies agreeing to spend nearly $27 million for a new computer dispatch system and radio communications system Commissioners unanimously approved spending $23 million for an 800 megahertz emergency radio system that should be working by April 2004 plus $38 million for a computer-aided dispatch system that is to be ready by fall 2002 The dispatch system which will use geographic information system or GIS technology to pinpoint the location of incoming 911 calls is designed to send the closest available emergency unit to a scene regardless of where the incident occurs The radio system will make it possible for various emergency personnel firefighters emergency medical technicians and law enforcement to communicate using the same group of channels After both systems are in place RocHMAN WEIR Thunty commis-groundwork better coordio emergencies nearly $27 miliputer dispatch ommunications unanimously $23 million for mergency radio I be working by 11 million for a ispatch system by fall 2002 em will rmation system to pinpoint the 911 calls is le closest avail-nit to a scene re the incident ystem will make ous emergency tters emergency ians and law communicate up of channels ns are in place ntil a couple of Weeks ago the most dangerous thing Zeyad Hindi had ever held in his hands was a fishing pole That was before a loudmouthed but well-intentioned and extremely good-looking columnist wrote about an incident that occurred in Hindi's sandwich shop 'P You may of recall that I 8k recently 1 wrote about my visit to the Barry shop and how when I asked Saunders a dude to put some more fixin's on my sandwich he snapped "Shut up I know what I am doing" Far from being condemnatory the column was a reasoned defense of Arab-Americans' right to be as some members of every other ethnic group are jerks It's a constitutionally protected birthright of every American hyphenated or not Alas that is not how some retromingent moron took it One day after the column ran a dirty lowdown skunk tossed a brick through the window of Hindi's shop A day after that Hindi found himself in a pawnshop trying to decide what kind of gun to buy "I was afraid for my crew" he said when I talked with him Monday "I asked the man in the pawn shop 'What does this and 'What is this There were so many guns I didn't know what I was doing and he figured that out He asked me 'Have you ever even held a gun He hadn't and his wife and myriad friends on the Raleigh Police Department dissuaded him from arming himself Since some people like the cowardly brick-thrower are likely to use the attacks of Sept 11 as an excuse to vent their latent anti-ArabAmerican sentiments police have increased their patrols not only around Hindi's shop but also around other Arab-Americanowned businesses Hindi who arrived in this country 21 years ago from Kuwait and graduated from Shaw University represents the kind of success story we should be proud of not resentful toward The personable 37-year-old was not the person who told me to shut up during my earlier visit to his shop and he seemed genuinely aghast and hurt that such an incident could have occurred there "I wish you had called me when it happened" he said "That person would have been fired" Hindi has two American flags in his shop and a sign noting that 10 percent of his profits will be donated to a fund for survivors and victims of the Sept 11 attacks Although Hindi's insurance paid the $600 cost of replacing his broken window it'll take more than that to repair his broken heart and to let him know that the actions of one brick-chunking punk do not represent the feelings of most Americans There was a great but easy to overlook scene in the movie "Rocky" in which the slick promoter asked the title character who was about to be given a shot at the heavyweight boxing title "Rocky do you believe America is the land of opportunity? Apollo Creed does" So too does Hindi I hope he still does after the brick went through his window That's one reason I went by Hindi's shop: to assure him that the brick-thrower represents the worst of America not the best Brian Bartow of Oregon outlasts Bruce Ber longer of Michigan in the log-rolling contest that is a part of their Great Lakes timber show They and their third partner Dale Bockrath of Ohio also chop wood climb trees and crack jokes STAFF PHOTO BY ALEXIS RICHARDSON on bright side the lines are short BY ANNE BLYTHE STAFF WRITER SEE 911 PAGE 48 AGE 48 it STATE FAIR 2 0 0 1 walks around the midway The shrieks and squeals from riders suspended in midair are muted enough to hear carneys guessing weights and birthdays The gastronomically brave can step right up to food vendors' windows for elephant ears funnel cakes footlong hot dogs or one of the newer fair delicacies Fried Oreos for $3 Fair organizers say they hope the crowds will pick up through the week Although they have only just begun to calculate the financial impact of the low turnout they say they think they will take in enough money to keep the varied programs going at the fairgrounds "I think we'll be fine from a revenue perspective" Blanton said INSIDE department "We're still pretty optimistic Attendance is not the only measure of success" Attendance for opening day this year was 47940 5391 fewer people than the year before On Saturday when NC State University had a home game against Clemson and Carolina and Duke had home games as well 77747 people passed through the gates a drop of 30224 from the year before Sunday's crowd of 46540 people was not even half the size of the year before when a record 94959 people pushed through the turnstiles "It was beautiful weather last year" said Susan Yeaman a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service There is good news though Lines for the rides are bearable this year Blanton said he hears as he RALEIGH The NC State Fair was billed as an escape from all the bad news But with the economy on a downswing and people in a powder panic fearing much more than the scariest of rides crowd numbers are way down a nearly 33 percent drop from last year's banner attendance By the end of opening weekend Sunday a day when an inch-and-a half of rain pelted the midway 172227 fairgoers had passed through the gates 84034 fewer people than on opening weekend the year before "We have to recognize that last year was an all-time record-breaking year" said Mike Blanton spokesman for the state agriculture Duke case defendant freed case dant 1 GOINGS-ON: A sculptor pats together a work of art that could melt in your mouth to 36 By VICKI STAFF WRITER DURHAM David Patrick Ma Ion CHENG RiTER Patrick Malon Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythenewsobserveLcom is a free man Some find speed limit gospel others a mere wish '4- tr After deliberating about threew hours Monday a Durham Superio Court jury found the for- mer Duke employee guilty :0 of three counts of false impris- 1 onment for using a gun to hold three of 4- Duke President 1 Nan Keohane's David Patrick assistants Malone put against their on probation will Prosecutors had sought a conviction of first-degree kidnapping which carries a maximum of about 20 years in prison on each count The jury also found Malone guilty of possessing a weapon on educational property a felony that carries 1 ng about three urham Superior I 4 2 i )In ilty READER FORUM Would you be more likely to ride the bus if it were free? Respond to Richard Strad ling at 829-4739 or rstradlinewsobservercom or go to twntnewsobservercomiroodworrier The online site has other traffic news and current images from state traffic cameras Carolina last year resulting in 458 deaths Nationwide speed-related crashes killed 12350 people according to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis Speeders aren't as safe as they think according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety a private research organization funded by auto insurers Speeding reduces a driver's reaction time to avoid accidents and increases the severity of crashes according to the institute BY RICHARD STAFF WRITER Drive almost anywhere in the Triangle and it's clear that many drivers treat speed limits as suggestions rather than hard-and-fast rules Dwight Motley thinks he knows why Motley who lives in Durham drives 50000 miles a year as a salesman for an auto parts company and gets one speeding ticket every other year He thinks most people would agree with him that speed limits are arbitrarily set and enforced to generate money for the govern ment rather than to keep ROAD people safe WORRIER "I think the public feels safe at a given speed and they feel confident that they can make an informed decision" Motley said "Sometimes the reasonable speed is much slower than the speed limit Other times a higher speed is completely safe" But what's a safe speed? The I 2000 crash statistics recently released by the state Department of Transportation show that exceeding the speed limit contributed to a quarter of the 1412 fatal crashes in North Call Bony at 836-2811 or send him e-mail 4 at banysnewsobserveccom SEE WORRIER PAGE 4B SEE DUKE PAGE 5B.