City of Winston-Salem to petition for release of Silk Plant Forest report
The city of Winston- Salem will file a petition in Superior Court by Oct. 16 to have all documents associated with the Silk Plant Forest Citizens Review Committee’s final report publicly released, Mayor Allen Joines said. Joines met on Monday with a number of Winston- Salem community leaders who expressed concern that the full report had not been released publicly. The citizen committee’s final report was presented to the Winston-Salem City Council’s public safety committee on Aug. 10. The city attorney’s office released a redacted version of the committee’s final report later that month, but excluded thousands of pages of appendices.
Winston- Salem Police Chief Scott Cunningham announced in September he had formed a departmental review committee to study the findings and recommendations made and to decide if the 1995 Jill Marker assault case should be reopened. The city council has yet to accept the final report. Jet Hollander, one those who met with Joines on Monday, said the group expressed its collective frustration with the city for not filing a court motion sooner. Hollander said the citizen group called for the full release of all 46 tape recordings of interviews conducted by citizen committee investigators Lt. Joseph Ferelli
and Sgt. Chuck Byrum — both members of the police department — all documents, correspondence, investigative notes and minutes, including minutes from closed session meetings of the committee. — KTBGreensboro residents honored for work on commission
The Association for Conflict Resolution will present the Rev. Nelson Johnson and Joyce Johnson with the Marvin E. Johnson Diversity and Equity Award during its 9 th Annual Conference in Atlanta on Wednesday through Saturday. The Johnsons received the award based on their work for the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission was based on similar models around the world, and represented its first application in the United States. The purpose of the commission was to study the divisive events of Nov. 3, 1979, when Nazi/Klan members clashed with members of the Communist Workers Party. The Marvin E. Johnson Award recognizes “a sustained, outstanding contribution or a specific extraordinary achievement that has enhanced diversity and equity within an area of society,” according to a press release from the Association for Conflict Resolution. The honor recognizes “dedicated leadership, compassion and passionate advocacy of individuals who have successfully contributed to removing barriers or obstacles to full and equal participation at various aspects of society, bridging divides and expanding diversity.” The Johnsons were commended for “creating positive change and restorative justice for the homeless, street gangs, immigrants, youth, low wage workers, seniors and many others in need of social justice.” — KTB
