Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Hodges to propose moving flag to Wade Hampton monument by Jim Davenport Associated Press Gov. Jim Hodges wants to take the Confeder ate flag from the Statehouse dome and allow it to fly next to Confederate Gen. Wide Hampton’s memo rial. On Monday, Hodges will stand near the monu ment on the Southeast side of the Statehouse along with lawmakers and business leaders to announce his proposal. Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster, plans to be there. Gregory said Hodges’ plan involves a single flag pole at the statue of \khde Hampton on horse back. The plan includes elements of the 1994 Her itage Act, which protects Confederate names on roads and buildings and Confederate monuments. Hodges won’t talk about the plan before Mon day, spokeswoman Nina Brook said. “He feels of fering a solution is the right thing to do at this time,” Brook said. The plan appears to have enough support to pass the Senate, but even without that, Gregory said, law makers have to move forward on the issue. That Confederate flag has flown above the South Carolina Statehouse since 1962. The National As sociation for the Advancement of Colored People started a boycott of the state on Jan. 1 to force its removal from the dome. Only the Legislature has the power to take the flag down. Hodges’ proposal is not likely to win the sup port of the NAACP, state official Lonnie Randolph said Friday night. Randolph said the civil rights organization will not participate in Monday’s news conference and will “stick by our guns” that the flag should be moved to the Confederate Relic Room on Sumter Street across from the Statehouse, or be displayed under glass inside the Statehouse. The Assembly of African American Leaders, meeting at Benedict College in Columbia on Sat urday, agreed that the new proposal won’t fly. “I personally believe that if the flag is relocat ed to the monument, it becomes an in-your-face in sult that could possibly contribute to civil unrest, as opposed to the flag at its current position, which can only be seen by lifting your head,” said J.T. McLawhom, president of the Columbia Urban League. The assembly said it would continue to sup port the NAACP’s economic sanctions of the state and would oiganize a campaign complete with ad vertising and grass-roots support to get the flag re moved from the Statehouse grounds. Gregory said the glare of national media focus ing on the issue'without understanding the intimate relationship of the flag to the state’s heritage was a factor in his decision to support the plan. “We come out looking terrible,” Gregory said. “How we want the state presented is being washed asunder by this flag issue.” The announcement will come as the national media is focusing on the state in advance of tho Republican Party’® Feb. 19 presidential primary. The three remaining candidates in that race have all said the Confederate flag is a South Carolina is sue that the state has to resolve on its own. Hodges’ announcement also comes as Sen. Glenn McConnell, a Charleston Republican who is the flag’s staunchest defender, and Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Columbia Democrat who has said the flag should n’t fly anywhere on the Statehouse grounds, are said to be close to brokering a compromise. McConnell calls that part of the Statehouse grounds “the gully” and said he will fight efforts to put the flag there. “I’ve got nobody that’s in fa vor of that,” McConnell said. He said he wants a Confederate flag and a Union army flag from the period to fly by the Confederate Soldiers monument near the Statehouse’s north side. Wade Hampton was a South Carolina governor from 1876 to 1879 and was the state’s first post-Re construction chief executive. He commanded the Hampton Legion in nearly a dozen battles, includ ing First Mnnnssas and Gettysburg. A year after he took office, lawmakers approved .. I ---- new election laws that made it more difficult for the state’s blacks to win elected office, according to Whi ter Edgar’s “South Carolina: A History.” McConnell said the Hampton monument hon ors a governor. The battle flag needs to be a monu ment that honors soldiers, he said. Hodges previously has said he would not back a plan unless it has the votes needed for passage. Sen. John Land, D-Manning, will lead Senate efforts in supporting the plan. He says the bill that outlines the plan will be introduced on Tuesday. “I live in the world of the vote. We can get enough votes to pass this. I believe we can enough votes to stop filibuster,” Land said. McConnell says he doesn’t see how Hodges can muster the 29 votes needed to stop a filibuster on the plan, even if he does piece together a 24-vote majority. Even if Hodges has both, flag supporters are prepared to prevent the flag bill from passing, said McConnell, who many regard as the master of the Senate’s intricate debate rules. ‘I personally believe that if the flag is relocated to the monu ment, it becomes an in-your-face insult that could possibly con tribute to civil unrest... .' J. T. McLawhom president of the Columbia Urban League Ketorm rarty meeting dissolves into chaos BY LAURIE NELL M A N Associated Press Nashville; Tenn. — Ross Perot’s Reform Party ousted party chairman Jack Gaigan, an ally of dissident Jesse Ventu ra, during a Saturday showdown that ex ploded almost immediately with raw hos tility and scuffling. At one point, local police threatened to shut down the pro ceedings, organizers said. The committee, by a 109-31 vote, ousted Gaigan on a motion that said “he has failed to faithfully perform and exe cute the duties of his office.” One per son abstained. They picked Pat Choate, who was Perot’s running mate in 1996, to be the new chairman, by a 101-29 mar gin. The motion said Gaigan’s failures and violations of the party’s constitution “have resulted in substantial harm to the pub lic image of the party, and in a breakdown of the proper administration, operation and governance of the party.” The name of Ventura, the governor of Minnesota who quit the national party Friday, did not come up (hiring the meeting. Of the action in Nashville, Venujra said Saturday: “It saddens me, but it does n’t surprise me. That’s why I made the decision I made yesterday.” Ventura noted that Gaigan had won the chairmanship “fair and square” in Ju ly at the national convention in Dear born, Mich. Gaigan said after the meet ing in Nashville that “the cards were stacked” against him. “This was not the Reform Party that I know,” he said. “This is not the party of honesty and integrity. This was a sham. ” The subsequent votes were also taken to remove Gcny Moan, who s the vice chairman and a Perot ally. He over whelming survived a challenge, but trea surer Ronn Young, an ally of Gaigan, was voted out. They also affirmed by a voice vote that Long Beach, Calif, would be site of their convention this summer. Gaigan vowed to fight back. Earlier Gaigan had cried out “it’s an illegal meet ing! ” as the audience chanted that he be turned “out, out out!” from his post. At one point, a Perot ally who iden tified herself only as Melanie of San Diego rushed the front of the room and tried to unplug Gaigan’s microphone because he wouldn’t call the meeting to order. Gargan supporter Sue Harris de Bauche of Viiginia slapped and pushed Melanie to the floor, and two police of ficers separated the two. One escorted Harris de Bauche from the room, as it rang with members telling each other to “shut up” and begin the meeting. “Democracy can be messy, can’t it?” said Donna Donovan, spokeswoman for the Perot faction. That’s one way of describing months of infighting so fierce that members of the party founded by Ross Perot openly speculated about whether it would sur vive to participate credibly in this year’s presidential race. Over the Internet, in court and in the press, the factions have battled over every thing from the location of the party’s nominating convention, its philosophi cal direction, its procedures and even whether certain national committee mem bers were qualified to be present on Sat urday. For months, a move has been afoot to oust Gargan, Ventura’s hand-picked chairman who took ha, post in January. Certain that enough votes existed to oust Gaigan, Ventura fired a preemp tive strike at the national party Friday by quitting, branding the oiganization “dys functional” and urging the Minnesota state party to break away. The same day, treasurer Young filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Viiginia seeking the party’s financial records, which he says were never turned over to him by his pre decessors, who are loyal to Perot. On Saturday, Minnesota Refomi Par ty leaders approved a special state con vention March 4 to consider the split from the national party. Scott Goihl KRT Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura signals that he has got ten zero help from the national Reform Party at a news confer ence in St Paul, Minn. Friday. On eve of last strip, Charles Schulz dies by Mary Ann Ljckteig Associated Press Santa Rosa, Calir — “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz died at home following a battle with cancer, just as the List original cartoon of his half-cen tury career was beirg published in news papers worldwide. The 77-year-old Schulz was diag nosed with colon cancer in November, and his spirits recently sagged as he bat tled the disease and pondered retire ment, said Monte Schulz, his eldest son. “I think maybe he decided that his true passion was in the strip, and when that was gone, it was over,” Monte Schulz said Sunday. “He had done what he had wanted to do, and that was it for him...” The son said that while the cause of death Saturday wasn’t known, “it appears he died in his sleep, almost be tween breaths. ” His wife, Jeannie, was with him when he died. On news of his passing, fans and colleagues acioss the country hailed Schulz as an irreplaceable artist whose work over the years had become in fused in American popular culture. “I think ’Peanuts’ has been for most of its existence the best comic strip in history, and nothing’s ever approached it,” said Mell Lazarus, who draws the “Momma” and “Miss Peach” strips, and knew Schulz for 42 years. “He’s going to be missed and will clearly nev er be replaced.” The famous strip — with its gen tle humor spiked with a child’s-eye view of human foibles—had one par ticularly endearing trait: constancy. Year after year, the long-suffering Charlie Brown faced misfortune with a mild, “Good grief! ” Tart-tongued Lucy handed out advice at a nickel a pop. And Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s wise-but-weird beagle, still took the occasional flight of fancy back to the skies of World War I and liis rivalry with the Red Baron. The strip was an intensely per sona] effort for Schulz. He had had a clause in his contract dictating the strip had to end with his death — no one could imitate it. While battling cancer, he opted to retire it, saying he wanted to focus on his health and family without the wor ry of a daily deadline. His last daily comic ran in early Jan uary, and the final farewell strip ap peared in newspapers on Sunday. Old versions of the strip will continue to be published. The last strip showed Snoopy at his typewriter and other Peanuts regulars along with a “Dear Friends” letter thanking iris readers for their support. “I have been grateful over the years for the loyalty of our editors and the wonderful support and love expressed to me by fans of the conic strip,” Schulz wrote. “Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Li nus, Lucy... how can I ever forget them It ended with his signature. Fans of all ages mourned his pass ing. In Santa Rosa, 8-year-old Trevor fones offered a bouquet of flowers dec orated with a drawing of the city’s ice ikating rink, which Schulz built. The Irawing, delivered to the rink, read in i child’s scrawl, “I lik you.” Bush concerned Democrats might be mobilizing to help McCain ^ V_- A l\ I fc, K Associated Press Washington—Gov. George W. Bush expressed concern Sunday that Democ rats are mobilizing to support Sen. John McCain in South Carolina’s open Re publican presidential primary. But McCain said Bush’s allegation that some Democrats believe McCain would be the easier candidate to defeat in the genera] election in November “flies in the face of the facts,” “The facts are that independents are also flocking in large numbers to my candidacy as well as Republicans,” Mc Cain said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Everybody knows that if you’re going to win a general election, you have to have those independents and some De mocrats. He said it was his message that was attracting non-Republicans. “I’m very proud that Libertarians or vegetarians or anybody would consider supporting me because I have a vision of reform for America that I think is tak ing hold, not only in South Carolina but all over the country,” McCain said. Still, Bush and his surrogates claimed — without offering proof — that De mocrats were trying to skew the results of Saturday’s GOP primary, in wltich non Republicans may vote. “The only thing I’m concerned about is that Democrats flock into the Repub lican primary to decide who the Repub lican nominee is, and then head back for the Democrats in th» general elec tion,” Bush said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Pat Robertson, founder of the Chris tian Coalition and a Bush supporter, al leged on CBS that “people who are al lied with (Vice President) A1 Gore are indeed making telephone calls to try to encourage Democrats to vote in the Re publican primary... I think that they con sider him a weaker candidate than Gov ernor Bush.” Gore campaign spokesman Chris Lehane dismissed the claims, saying the Texas governor was “increasingly sound ing like a rattled candidate.” “I would suggest that he focus on earning the support of Republicans in his own primary rather than worrying about what Democrats are doing,” Lehane said Bush’s concern, ho we ver, has been expressed about other states with open primaries. Voting is open to non-Republicans in several upcoming GOP contests, includ ing South Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, North Dakota, Missouri and Georgia. States with so-called closed primaries have reported a flood of inquiries from people hoping to switch their registra tion to Republican. McCain defeated Bush by 18 per centage points in the New Hampshire pri mary by securing a majority of GOP vot ers and a virtual sweep of the suite’s large independent bloc. “We are very concerned about any attempts by liberal Democrats to come into our party for the purpose of creat ing mischief as opposed to an enduring philosophy,” said Bush campaign spokesman Ari Fleischer said. “We wel come all voters who will enter the Re publican primary who intend to vote Re publican now and in November.” A Newsweek poll Saturday showed Bush and McCain in a dead heat in South Carolina, and both candidates are inten sifying their efforts as the primary nears. Some 200,000 people that McCain’s campaign has identified as having vot ing histories that cross back and forth be tween party primaries are being inun dated with telephone calls and mailings. For his part, Bush has bought the $45,000 in air time that became available after Steve Forbes quit the Republican contest, boosting the governor’s radio and television expenses in South Carolina-to $2.8 million, according to Fleischer. News Briefs ■ Fifteen apply for Russian elections ' Moscow (AP) — Fifteen people have applied to run next month for Russia’s presidency, including acting Pres ident Vladinrir Putin and Communist Par ty chief Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the election commission said Sunday, the final day for applying. Putin is the clear favorite for the March 26 ballot, according to recent opin ion polls that show more than 50 percent of respondents supporting him. His near est challenger, Zyuganov, has about 20 percent of respondents’ support. Others who applied for the race — submitting property and income decla rations and the signatures of at least 500,000 supporters — were Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the reformist Yabloko party, and nationalist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The applications of Zyuganov and Alexei Podberyozkin, of the small left ist Spiritual Heritage group, have already been approved. The rest are to be exam ined over the next eight days. Election commission head Alexan der Veshnyakov said on NTV television that he did not expect all the applications to be approved, but did not elaborate. Putin’s strong performance in opin ion polls appears to reflect wide approval of his tough stance on the war in Chech nya and his law-and-order image. But his position on many of the issues troubling Russia remains unclear. With just six weeks to go before the election, he still has not released an economic platform. ■ Commuter train hits barrier at airport Linthicum, Md. (AP) — A light rail commuter train arriving at Baltimore W&shington International Airport hit a safety barrier at the end of the line and derailed Sunday, injuripg the train’s con ductor and most of its 30 passengers, a transit official said. Maryland Mass Transit Authority spokesman Frank Fulton said the injured were transported to several area hospi tals. Their conditions were not immedi ately available. The one-car train originated at Bal timore’s Penn Station and normally would have been traveling about 13 miles per hour as it neared the end of its trip about 2:45 p.m„ Fulton said. Investigators were trying to determine how fast it was mov ing when it hit the barrier. Witnesses said they heard the train’s brakes screeching just before the crash. ■ After long flirtation, Trump decides not to run for president Washington (AP) — New York ty coon Donald Trump has decided against running for president, ending a lengthy flirtation with the notion that he could tap his political fortune to capture the White House as a third-party candidate, The Associated Press has learned. Sources connected with New York’s Independence party movement, speak ing on condition of anonymity, said Trump has told associates he will announce Mon day that he is not mounting a presiden tial bid. After months of speculation about a possible Reform Party campaign, Trump decided recently that the party is too frac tured to support a credible presidential candidate, the officials said. The Re form Party operates in New York under the Independence Party banner. He met over the weekend with ad visers to consider a second option, run- £ ning as an Independence Party candidate, but determined there is not enough time to get on state ballots. Trump considered that option out of respect for Minneso ta Gov. Jesse Ventura, who had been the Reform Party’s highest elected offi cial before leaving the “dysfunctional” party last week to reinvigorate his state’s Independence Party. ■ State’s largest papers endorse Bush Republican presidential candidate Geoige W. Bush has been endorsed by South Carolina’s two largest newspapers. The (Columbia) State and The Greenville News both endorsed the Texas ^ governor in Sunday’s editions. The state’s presidential primary is Saturday. The headline on The State’s en dorsement said “Between two good men, we choose Gov. Bush.”