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Activist protests segregated memorial

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 13, 2006

BUTLER, GA.

A display in a central Georgia community divides the names of 800 local veterans into two lists, marked in large type: "Whites" and "Colored." The display honoring WWII service members has been in the lobby of the Taylor County courthouse since 1944. John Cole Vodicka, an activist from Americus, is organizing a rally today to persuade the county commission to take it down. In January, the Taylor County Commission unanimously decided to create an "integrated" list. But the commission also decided to leave up the "Whites" and "Colored" lists. "If we erase everything we find offensive or don't like, then it may happen again," said Sybil Willingham, chairwoman of the county's Historic Preservation Commission. "The two existing lists are not to be taken down because it's against the law and it's historic," she said, citing a law that makes it unlawful for people to "mutilate, deface, defile, or abuse" public monuments honoring service members. Cole Vodicka said the county could ask for an exemption and move the segregated display to a museum.

RURAL GEORGIA

Truck strikes carriage, killing three relatives

A family riding in a mule-drawn carriage alongside a rural highway had pulled closer to the road to get around a stop sign when a tractor-trailer plowed into it, killing three and injuring three others, a relative of the victims said Sunday. The truck driver apparently never saw the covered carriage before the collision Saturday outside of Alapaha, near the Florida state line, said Patricia Davis, the niece of 76-year-old John Joyce, who was killed. Also killed was Joyce's son, Franklin Joyce, 45, and Franklin's great-nephew, Andrew Joyce, 5, authorities said. The two mules pulling the wagon were also killed, Davis said. Andrew Joyce's mother and sister were injured, as well as John Joyce's daughter. Davis said the family built the wagon and has ridden it to area festivals for more than a decade. On Saturday, the carriage was leaving Alapaha's annual festival. Berrien County Sheriff Jerry Brogdon said he did not know if any charges would be filed against the unidentified driver.

Elsewhere ...

WASHINGTON: A federal judge has refused to throw out the guilty plea of a convicted al-Qaida supporter who argued that he was illegally spied on through President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program. Iyman Faris pleaded guilty in 2003 to plotting to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and a simultaneous attack in Washington. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's ruling last week remains sealed.

CHARLESTON, W.VA.: State and federal regulators failed to find safety violations that contributed to the deaths of two miners in a conveyor belt fire at an underground coal mine Jan. 19, according to an independent report. But J. Davitt McAteer, who was asked by Gov. Joe Manchin to conduct the investigation, said Friday that Massey Energy Co. was ultimately to blame for the deaths.

[Last modified November 13, 2006, 01:16:44]