Developments across the Triad and beyond, compiled by Amy Kingsley and Jordan Green
Donnan wins Democratic labor commissioner runoff
Winston-Salem resident Mary Fant Donnan, a program officer at Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, trounced John C. Brooks in a run-off election for the Democratic primary race for labor commissioner on June 24, securing 62.9 percent of the vote. Donnan took 90.9 percent of the vote in her native Forsyth County. She will face incumbent Republican Commission Cherie Berry in the November general election. Donnan served as a policy analyst under popular Democratic Commissioner Harry Payne in the 1990s, while rival Brooks headed the Labor Commission from 1977 to 1993.— JG
A federal grand jury in Charlotte returned an indictment against 26 members of the El Salvador-based gang La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, on June 23. One of those indicted, Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, is alleged to have carried out a double murder at Las Marisqueria Jaroschitas restaurant on High Point Road in Greensboro last December. The 55-count indictment charges the gang members with murder, selling cocaine and marijuana, robbery, possessing illegal firearms and extortion, among other offenses. The gang reportedly operates in urban areas of North Carolina, including the Triangle and Charlotte. The charges stem from an investigation by the FBI “Safe Streets” Gang Task Force, according to an announcement by the US Justice Department, with assistance from federal and local law enforcement organizations, along with the El Salvador National Civilian Police. According to the announcement, one of the gang’s leaders allegedly directed gang members in the United States from prison in El Salvador and received money wired from US members. - JG
Truth activists meets with city of Greensboro
Members of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Project have recently met with Greensboro Human Relations Director Anthony Wade
and members of the city’s human relations commission to discuss recommendations to be presented to the city council, according to minutes from the project’s June 24 meeting. The Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Commission released a report in May 2006 on the 1979 Klan-Nazi killings, including the recommendation that the city and police department issue public apologies, and then disbanded. Weeks later, then-Mayor Keith Holliday informally requested that the human relations commission address the report. The vague and unofficial directive went nowhere. Since then, the separate truth project has hosted a number of community forums to discuss various aspects of the 1979 killings.— JG
The Business Travel Coalition, an organization advocating for air travel consumers, released a study on June 25 identifying the Triad as one of 50 large markets most likely to lose air service as high fuel prices force airlines to go out of business, merge or shrink. While Raleigh- Durham International Airport and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport did not warrant mention in the report, airports in Asheville, Greenville, New Bern and Wilmington joined Piedmont Triad International Airport on theat risk list. The study concluded “that if oil prices stay anywhere near $130/barrel, all major legacy airlines will be in default on various debt covenants by the end of 2008 or early 2009. The implication is that several large and small airlines will
