Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 August 1974 — Page 1

Leaving Lockefield causes needless hassles

BY CHARMAINE R. BESSELL Lockefield residents knew they had to leave their homes for the construction of a new Lockefield Gardens three years ago. At the same time, the Housing Authority of the City of Indianapolis (HACI) explained its responsibilities to the tenants. During the summer of ’74, the residents began the exodus from “The Gardens.*' But they are not leaving without a few : complaints directed towards their landlord. Mrs. Dorothy Ellis who lives in the 900 block of Indiana Avenue compared the move into Lockefield to the move out of the prbj ;cts. “When I first moved into apartment a month before Tactually moved into the place.-1 was given a key two weeks before I moved if I wanted to

hang curtains or put something inside the apartment. “Now they (HACI) tells me the place I want is ready and for me to be ready to more in a month. And I haven’t been taken to see the apartment yet!" Mrs. Ellis was told an apartment in her first projcet choice was ready, but she wants to check the apartment for closeness to schools, shopping facilities, and bus lines because she has a heart condition which. limits her activities. She also has too small grand-children to raise. Although HACI says transportation to take people, especially the old and disabled, to inspect housing is available, Mrs. Ellis has received no offers as yet. Short moving notices are also a problem for the elderly and disabled people like Mrs. Ellis. “Many people have been told

to be ready to move in three days," Mrs. Ellis said. “Ithiidc people should have more time than that." In talking to C a r 1 Beck, executive director of HACI, he explained people have short notices because of the sudden availability of apartments. For some the waiting period is a few days; others, 30-60 days. “If there is a vacancy in the project a Lockefield tenant has requested, he is notified immediately to see if he wants the apartment. If the tenant wants the apartment, he is asked to move as soon as possible; vandalism might occur if the apartment remains vacant fora long period of time. “Vandalized homes cost the HACI extra to prepare for a tenant’s use. Mrs. Ellis also told The Recorder manytimesH AC Ididn't have room in requested pro-

jects, and the people took whatever HACI offered. She said most of them were “scared to be in a big building all by themselves." According to Beck and other housing officials, HACI was giving first priority to all empty apartments to the Lockefield tenants. Each tenant had two choices of housing locations, and was allowed to refuse two apartments. After two refusals, the tenant had to pay his own moving costs. If there were no vacancies in a tenant's designated choices, the tenant

had to take an apartment in some city housing project, or pay the moving costs to the home of his choice. During the first visit to Lockes field on July 26th the residents were complaining HACI was making them pay the cost of transporting their telephones to their homes. Visiting with Larry Paul, housing co-ordina-tor for HACI, he said the current telephone policy was undecided. On August 9th, Mr. Beck said the HACI paid connecting telephone service to the tenant's new homes.

Visiting with Larry Paul,' housing co-ordinator for HACI, he said the current telephone policy was undecided. On August 9th, Mr. Beck said the HACI paid connecting telephone service to the tenant's new homes. Mrs. Dorothy Whitfield, president of the Lockefield Tenants Union, expressed concern about the older residents leaving Lockefield. “Most of the senior citizens are scared of subsidized housing; they don’t understand it. All they have known is public housing. Most of them are mov-

ing into the Lionel Artis Center or Barton Apartments. Others are waiting to get into the senior citizen housing on Fort Wayne Avenue because of the advantage of a bedroom," she said. The apartments located on Fort Wayne have not been accepted by the HACI because of faulty construction. Beck said the elderly have been instructed in the hows and whys of subsidized housing and sees no reason for fears of it. Some Lockefield residents are too old or not able to pack

their belongings. HACI is concerned about the problem, but claim to have no funds to pay people to pack for senior citizens, even though it has prepared residents for moving out of Lockefield for three years. Money for the moving process is coming from the city building fund and federal funds. There is not enough to pay for packers, even through Mayor Richard Lugar used 4 million dollars in revenue-sharing funds for the overcost of the Market Square TURN TO PAGE 7

Lockefield reconstruction begins

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BY CHARMAINE R. BISSELL “If the plans for beautifying the canal are developed, along with th§ Lockefield Reconstruction Program and the IUPUI development, hopefully, it will put more people and businesses in the downtown area. “There is a need for more housing and redevelopment of the midtown area. I hope Lockefield is the nucleus for that development and helps to stimulate the community as a whole."-Larry Paul, housing co-ordinator for the Housing Authority of the city of Indiana-

polis. “The high price of gasoline will lead to the diminishing use of the automobile. There will be a return to mass transit, and more people will move closer to the downtown area to be near their jobs. A need will arise to develop a place to put many people in a small amount of space. In the future, there will be a need to revitalize the downtown cities."-Kirk Schroeder, major architect for the Lockefield Redevelopment Project. *** For 37 years, Lockefield has

provided subsidized housing for 784 families, all of them black. The federal government began Lockefield as an experiment in low cost public housing. The city became the managers of Lockefield in 1964. In 1974, Lockefield is establishing another first for housing projects. It will aid in the development of many life styles, and it will be redesigned to use the concept of “defensible space" at a cost of $10.6 million dollars. The new Lockefield will have 300 families living within its TURN TO PAGE 7

79th YEAR

INDIANAPOLIS. INDIANA SATURDAY. AUGUST 17. 1974

*•

NO. 33

Civic leaders to be approached for help in welfare funding

Woman, 24, killed by shot meant for her boyfriend

Civic leaders, civil rights spokesmen and other interested parties will be approached in the near future to voice condemnment of the 25 percent ratable welfare reduction implemented locally. Scores of struggling mothers (and gome fathers) have responded to The Recorder’s survey decrying added hardships brought on by the slash in ADC aid. As pointedly explained by one mother of four, “Wewere going through hell before trying to live on public aid, but this is something else. Sure, I do domestic work twice a week to earn a few pennies but this new thing has my back against the wall." Such were the sentiments of other letter writers complaining of receiving greatly reduced welfare checks because they receive miserly support payments, social security checks or disability compensation. The distress apparently has fostered plans to see “recourse from higher up." A near-Northside woman, 52, complained of being forced to quit work because of an operation. Her problems were complicated when welfare administrators lowered her public aid from $172 to $148. This is supposed to support her, two teenage daughters and

an infant granddaughter. “I have to move because I can’t even keep my house now and with winter coming I know I can’t. I hope something can be done. With food and clothing so high and I don’t

have a washer and there is no laundry mat close around us it’s pretty hard sometimes because I don’t own a car. I don’t see how other mothers make it with more than 2 chll-

TURN TO PAGE 7

Evers charged in tax fraud indictment

WASHINGTON— Charles Evers, the outspoken black mayor of Fayette, Miss., found himself at odds this week with the federal government after being named in an income tax evasion indictment. According to an indictment unsealed Tuesday, the nationally prominent city head filed fraudulent tax returns in 1968, 1969 and 1970. The federal grand jury also named Evers* former wife, Nannie Laura, in a bill charging tax evasion in 1968 and 1969. Figures cited were as follows: 1968 -- income reported was $6,88 while it was actually $50,455. 1969 — income reported was TURN TO PAGE 7

CHARLES EVERS

Dramatic turn of events puts Nixon out, Ford in

WASHINGTON— The Watergate scandle reached a dramatic high point the night of August 8 when President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation as cries for him to do so grew louder on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation. The President announced his resignation shortly after 9 p.m. on national television. By noon the next day the nation had a new President in, former VicePresident Gerald R. Ford of Michigan. The end of Nixon's rise to power came after he revealed on August 5 that he tried two years ago to thwart the FBI’s Watergate investigation within a week after the historic break in by ordering {hat the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) be used to blunt the investigation which threatened to expose the fact his campaign aids channeled money to the bur-

PRESIDENT FORD

glars. Nixon, like former Vice-Pre-sident Spiro Agnew, has steadfastly denied he would resign under pressure, but in the final days of his downfall, pressure became so great that Nixon realized the end was near and, in a dramatic speech — free from any admission of guilt in the actual coverup, he announced he was quitting. Nixon shocked Republicans across the nation when he admitted his part in the coverup several days after the Supreme Court ruled he must surender tapes he previously withheld in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the Watergate affair. The tapes were supenaed by Special Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworskl and were ordered turned over to Judge John Sirica. Those tapes implicated the former TURN TO PAGE 7

7 numbers ‘kingpins’ convicted Seven so-called “biggies" in the local numbers racket are facing sentences of 5-year prison terms and $29,000 fines each after conviction here of illicit gambling activity. Federal Judge William E. Steckler Tuesday ordered a pre-sentencing investigatlon for Van Wert Mullin, 62, 1160 Fox Hill Drive; William Herring, 44, 3241 N. Alton; Jesse S. Canady, 62,2617 Harding; Mrs. Jessie Bryant, 63, 962 Traub; Claude Blgsbee, 28, 1253 W. 26th, and Sterling Pas-'' ley, Indianapolis. They were all arrested during massive raids conducted here April 15. Bowles convicted in theft The sometimes explosive trial of a 38-year-old real estate broker, fought with charges and countercharges hurled by him and his former girlfriend, ended Tuesday in conviction. Howard L. Bowles was found guilty of theft but acquitted of stealing furniture from a former girlfriend, Mrs. Nola Allen Griffin former Uth District Republican Party chair-

man.

This concluded hearings during which Mrs. Griffin, was accused of filing the original complaint after being jilted by Bowles. The charges swirl around furniture admittedly sold by Bowles October 4 to TURN TO PAGE 7

NAREB CITE CONVENTION CHAIRMAN: James A. Buchanan III (second from left), chairman of the 27th Annual Convention of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers Inc., is cited for “service above and beyond the call of duty" for services rendered for the 1074 national convention, by the group’s president, Daniel W. Spaulding (second from right) of Baltimore. The

ceremony took place at Methodist Hospital, where Buchanan is hospitalized. Looking on are John Thompson (left) of Washington, D.C. first-vice-president and president-elect of NAREB, and Don Butler, president of the Indianapolis Association of Real Estate Brokers, host for the week-long convention. (Recorder photo by Houston Rogers)

Atlanta mayor calls for continued investigation into Watergate affair

The investigation into the Watergate affair should continue so that the American public knows all the - facts of the fiasco, Atlanta, Ga., Mayor Maynard Jackson said here just hours after former President Nixon announced his resigna-

tion.

The 36-year-old Democrat was in Indianapolis to address

‘Watergate’-it all started when black guard discovered burglary

Country’s blacks hope Ford will make ‘improvements’ on civil rights record

President Gerald Ford will carry out a lot of former President Nixon’s programs, but the area of Civil Rights is where the nation’s black are looking for Improvement. His voting record on civil rights is far less than impressive, and he has voted consistently against increasing funds for low-income housing, hospital construction, daycare

centers, job-training centers in urban areas, the food stamp program, unemployment conpensatlon for farm workers, and scholarships for minority students. He has been on the conservative side ever since entering Congress in 1949. But he was a congressman then; now he’s President of the United States and blacks are hoping the same change

lews tip ? Many significant events occur daily in Indianapolis and Indiana which are not reported, especially in the black community. If you see or hear of any such events, give us a call at 634-1545, or drop us a note to NEWS TIP, THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER, 518-20 INDIANA AVENUE, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 46202. .

which came about when former President Lyndon Johnson took charge (his civil rights record was considered less than desirable also.) And this may happen. ImmedTURN TO PAGE 7 Apostolics condemn Wateigate, back President Ford LOUEVILLE — The Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith ended its 17th annual convention here August 10 by recording exposition to the Watergate scandal and expressing support for President Ford. The predoralnatly black denomination, with a membership of 30,000, passed a resolution TURN TO PAGE 7

the annual Installation banquet of the 27th Annual Convention of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc. He predicted that Republican candidates will suffer from the Watergate scandle in November, and that the resignation of Nixon “an awesome segment of our day-to-day reality." The first black mayor of a major Southern city, Mayor Jackson said those who supported Nixon after his admission of guilt in the Watergate coverup would have an especially hard time come election time. He mentioned the “gentleman from Valparaiso 0*ep. Earl Land grebe, R.-Ind.)",who supported Nixon after the admission. On the new President, he

said Ford’s record in Congress “is sorely lacking regarding black people in the country, but he should be given a chance to show what he can do." TURN TO PAGE 7

Police baffled in shooting death of youth

Police this week blamed the “unintentional" shooting of a pretty 24-year-old mother on an aged fued involving two men over an alleged narcotics debt. Investigators also admitted being baffled by the seemingly clueless death of a 19>year-old youth described as “extremely quiet and likeable." Dead are Marcia G. Level, 2748 N. Carrollton, and Willie C. Kinrid, 1719 E. 37th. Being detained in the first unrelated murder is Aaron Holt Jr., 24, 2224 W. 10th, accused of mortally wounding Miss Level during pre-dawn hours Wednesday morning. As described by Sgt. Harry Dunn of the IPD, Miss Level apparently was the innocent target of a bullet Intended for the man with whom she was riding, identified as Richard Taylor, 27, 1415 N. Tremont. Ironically, according to Dunn, the confrontation might have been avoided if not for the “intrusion" of 34-year-old Curtis Reed, currently under indictment for the first-degree murder of a noted city narcotics figure, Willis C. Johnson, 31. According to Dunn’s usually effective investigative manuevers it was Reed (alias Bates) who first flagged down the TURN TO PAGE 7

Known drug figure arrested in execution-style murder

An oft-arrested underworld narcotics figure was arrested Tuesday in connection with the May 18 gangland-styled murder of another known drug figure. Curtis Reed, alias Curtis Bates, was arrested following a warrant issued on a secret indictment returned by the M arlon

New units to fight housing bias sought

FRANK WILLS

History will record that the Watergate scandle began when a young black security guard discovered a door unlocked when It shouldn’t have been, a nd reached Its startling climax with the resignation of the President of the United States. It was on June 17, 1972, that

Frank Wills, making his rounds oi ' ? Watergate Building, discovered that the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee had been broken Into. Washington police were called and inside they found Bernard L. Barker, James M. McCord, Frank A. Sturgis, EuTURN TO PAGE 7

WASHINGTON— The United States Civil Rights Commission this week called for creation within a year of new metropolitan housing and community development agencies to break a national pattern of housing discrimination that has led to Increasingly black ^cities surrounded by overwhelmingly white suburbs. The agencies would have the power to override local and state zoning laws and building codes that Impede racial integration in housing. The commission said the federal government should require each state to set up the agencies as a precondition to receiving federal housing and community grants. In a study released with the report, the civil rights unit sharply criticized federal enforcement of fair housing regulations, charging the past poHcies openly encouraged segregation. ^“Present programs often are administered so as to continue rather than reduce racial segregation," the commission

said. Gloria E. A. Toote, assistant secretary for equal opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said this has not been the case with the department in the past year. A backlog of 1,700 housing TURN TO PAGE 7

County Grand Jury Tuesday. Bates is charged with the death of Willis Charles Johnson, shot five times in the head as he talked with two men in his apartment in the 200 blockofE. 12th. At the time of the slaying . police therorized Johnson was the victim of an ordered execution by drug figures. Police found a large amount of heroin in his home. Johnson had a long record of narcotics violations and was arrested three years ago in connection with the slaying of a man police said was a well-known pusher. Reed, once the No. 1 lieutenant to Robert Tillman (Meathead) Jones, multi-million dollar dope dealer whose empire crumbled when he and his lieutenants were arrested in 1972. Reed turned state’s evidence against Jones and was given a suspended sentence. He was reTURN TO PAGE 7

WELFARE SURVEY Name — (held in strict confidence) Address....... telephone Number Number of Children Former Welfare Income....... Present Welfare Income ; Outside Income ** Source Net Income Lost (** Job, Social Security, chUd support payments, etc.) Mail to The Recorder, 518 Indiana Ave, Indianapolis, Ind., 46202

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