S.C. governor signs law ousting
Confederate flag from dome
uy Jim Davenport
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Gov. Jim
Hodges signed legislation Tues
day to remove the Confederate
flag from the Statehouse dome
where is has flown for 38 years,
saying it was time the state ended
years of racial divisions the ban
ner has caused.
The flag will come down July 1.
“Today, we bring this debate to
an honorable end,” the Democrat
ic governor said in one of the
most politically important
speeches of his first term. “Today,
the descendants of slaves and the
descendants of Confederate sol
diers join together in the spirit of
mutual respect. Today, the debate
over the Confederate flag above
the Capitol passes into South Car
olina history.
Hodges spoke for about five
minutes, then signed the bill.
“This debate is over,” he said.
“Let us move forward together.”
South Carolina alone flies the
flag above the Statehouse, where
it was raised in 1962 to commem
orate the 100th anniversary of the
Civil War. Critics suggest it also
was to defy civil rights and say
the hag is a symbol of hate. Sup
porters say it represents the state’s
heritage.
“We must strive for reconcilia
tion,” Hodges said. “We must
now work together on the other
challenges that confront our
state.”
A legislative compromise re
moves the flag from the State
house dome and from the House
and Senate chambers as of July 1
and replaces it with a square ver
sion at the Confederate Soldier
Monument on Statehouse
grounds.
That’s not good enough for
some flag opponents. The Nation
al Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People has
promised to continue and expand
the tourism boycott of the state it
began Jan. 1. The civil rights
group says the monument, where
the flag will fly on a 30-foot,
$6,400 bronze pole, is still too
prominent.
House Majority Leader Rick
Quinn, a Republican, said that
while he approved of Hodges’ re
marks, the governor should have
gone further and called on the
NAACP to end the boycott.
“What has occurred is the
NAACP has essentially become
professional agitators and I think
someone needs to stand up to
them,” Quinn said.
NAACP officials were not
available for comment.
The bill went to Hodges’ desk
after Wilkins and Lt. Gov. Bob
Peeler, who presides over the
Senate, met Tuesday morning to
put their signatures on the bill.
“It’s big. It’s historical and it felt
good,” Wilkins said.
Hodges was elected in 1998 to
a four-year-term with the help of
Confederate flag supporters who
said he violated a promise that he
wouldn’t take a leadership role in
the flag debate.
The political importance of the
speech was evident as Hodges
practiced his speech earlier in the
day with television cameras pip
ing the signal into the Statehouse
press room. At one point, Hodges
said to advisers that he wanted to
“distance myself as much from
the debate” as he could. “I know
I can’t do it entirely,” he said.
Spokesman Morton Brilliant
said Hodges was trying to empha
size that he did not want to be
seen as the center of the solution.
Judge orders release of police
tapes from Columbine shootings
By Katherine Vogt
The Associated Press
DENVER — A judge on Tues
day ordered the Jefferson County
Sheriff’s Office to turn over tapes
of police radio communications
from the Columbine High School
shootings to several families who
are suing the agency over its han
dling of the case.
Jefferson County District Judge
R. Brooke Jackson ordered the re
lease of eight tapes, most of which
are 90 minutes long. The tapes
contain radio transmissions, car
to-car communications and com
mand post communications relat
ing to the April 20, 1999,
shootings at Columbine.
Jackson ruled that the tapes
must be edited before they are re
leased to delete references to a
named suspect who was later
cleared, and to remove the ad
dresses of the gunmen’s families.
He said they must be released as
soon as possible.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s
spokesman Steve Davis said au
thorities were still trying to deter
mine how and when the tapes
would be released to the public
and to the families who requested
them.
The families of shooting vic
tims Dan Rohrbough and Kelly
Fleming requested the tapes and
other investigative materials un
der the Open Records Act. The
families of several other victims
joined in the request.
Barry Arrington, an attorney for
the two families, said he was not
sure what to expect in the tapes.
“We’re hoping that something
in there is going to be useful,” Ar
rington said. “But whether it’s
useful or not in the complaint, it
removes some of the shrouds of
secrecy.
“Every bit of information we
get, we’re one step closer to find
ing out what really happened as
opposed to the sheriff’s version of
what happened,” he said.
Arrington said he had heard
brief portions of the tapes.
“The problem with the tapes is
that they’re extremely difficult to
listen to and a lot of the commu
nications are unclear,” he said.
In some audio clips, officers
communicate in codes that are
hard to decipher, Arrington said.
Earlier this month, Jackson or
dered the sheriff’s office to edit
the 911 tapes made during the
shootings and release them to
families of some of the victims
and gunmen.
Arrington said he was still
waiting to receive copies of the
edited 911 tapes. Davis, the sher
iffs spokesman, said he did not
know when those tapes would be
available.
Earlier this month, the sheriffs
office released its investigative re
port on the shootings. Critics said
the report lacked background in
formation on witness statements,
ballistic reports and an exact
timeline.
More than a dozen Columbine
families have filed lawsuits over
the handling of the school shoot
ings in which Columbine seniors
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
killed 12 students and a teacher
and wounded dozens of others
before taking their lives.
1
Campus Interview Proqram
JOB HUNTING
i»—l^i i made easy.
Nationwide employers interview you
on campus.
Offering a variety of jobs and
internships.
Review the positions and schedule
interviews right from your computer!
It's never been this easy.
Recruiters are now scheduling interviews for Fall, Winter and Spring 2000-01. RFFR
To find out more, visit uocareer.uoregon.edu and click on Campus Interview Program.
w//////////////////y//y^
/ Latin American
Studies Minor
Available Fall 2000
► multidisciplinary approach
► only 28 credits
REGISTER
NOW
before
classes
fill up
For more info contact:
A Leonardo Garcia-Pabon (346-4039) \j
jjg lgarcia@oregon.uoregon.edu *
/§ http://babel.uoregon.edu/LAS /
^/////////////////y/////>v
0089971
SWING INTO
SPRING!
SPRING RATES
M-Hl $16 {9 holes] $29118 holes]
Students and Sentm
F*Swi $1819 holes] $34 [18 hoiet]
Students and Seniors
Check out Traditions
Restaurant now open for
Breakfast, Lunch, &c Dinner
m
EMERALD
VALLEY
GO L F@C L U B
83301 Dale Kani Rd.
Creswell, OR 97426
CALL 541.895.2174 FOR TEE TIMES
Requirements to ride
UO student II) card
Rider’s destination must be to their home
Used as an alternative to driving under the influence
Providing students a safe alternative since 1995
rsiseoo1
Springfield
Chase & Ducks Village
746-PAPA (7272)
1402 Mohawk Blvd.
South Eugene
& U of O
484-PAPA (7272)
30 W. 29th Ave.
Carry
Out or
Free
Delivery
#1 in overall customer
satisfaction for four
years running.
“Restaurants & Institutions”
locally owned
& operated
Serving
Papa’s Combo \ Lunch or Late Night
I
I
I
I
I
Large 2-Topping Pizza
and a 2-liter soda...
*9.99
Not valid with any other offer
or special. Exp. 6-15-00.
T
I
I
I
JL
Buy any large pizza
for the price
of a small.
Not valid with any other offer
or special. Exp. 6-15-00.
I
I
I
I
I
I
J