North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 09/27/1996

The It's Friday September 27. Tonight what do voters think about the way the government spends their money. In North Carolina No. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening I'm Christina Copeland. Marie to me Trey has the evening off. We end the week with a show filled with praise politics and poetry. We'll show you what happened last night as the Billy Graham Crusade

get under way in Charlotte. John basin continues are your voice your vote series on election issues with a look at how voters and candidates feel about government spending. And we have an interview with Poet Maya Angelo as her inaugural poem on the pulse of the morning is about to debut as a musical piece. But let's begin tonight in Charlotte. Crowds are gathering again tonight at Ericsson stadium for the second evening of the Billy Graham Carolinas crusade. Last night 65000 people came to hear the evangelist preach in his hometown as producers Michael McGuinness and David Haynes report the service is a unique event designed to entertain as well as move people spiritually with us. The buses rolled from Hickory Grove Baptist Church late Thursday afternoon. Even though the church is only a 20 minute drive from the stadium the faithful gathered two hours early to make the trip to the Billy Graham Crusade. They weren't alone in planning an early arrival. This was a church service that no one wanted to be late for

as they streamed into Erikson stadium. Many look forward to the spiritual uplift that a crusade is designed to give. But since this is Graham's hometown some crusaders like John and Marie King were going to see an old friend Billy Frank Graham. I knew him before he was an evangelist. I knew his father before that. So that goes back to I guess thirty three or four. We were working in an 18th Street Mission and shot down 18 straight in North Charlotte. He came out to preach a sermon and that's it. As for some of the I remember in Bridgend. Of course you know we had Youth for Christ. We had street meetings. We still go out ever Saturday with the youth of Christ and have street meetings in place at tracks. And Billy was with us because he's wanted to organize Youth for Christ. Organizers like to say they converted the stadium into a sanctuary and they did a lot of what you hear here is what you would hear in church. What kind of a church has really Graham as a

preacher or the Charlie Daniels Band providing the music testimony from former football coach Joe Gibbs. If you ask the. If you and I are the players in the game of life as we think about the game of life and I think life is a game is the biggest game of all and none of us wants to lose this game. If you and I are the players then we need to have a kid who is that big only guy. He made the playing field. I think the Gospel message is so simple that sometimes it kind of goes over people's heads. People step back and say well I can't do that I'm not good enough I've been too bad I have too many habits I'm on drugs I got an alcohol problem. You bring that with you when you come down here bring all your baggage to you just think you know.

The main attraction of course is Graham who would 77 has been slowed by Parkinson's disease. His gait is unsteady but his words are firm. When he spoke the crowd fell silent riveted by his every word. But I've always wanted to come back and want that. Dog would never allow us to live long enough to have another crusade here because this part of the country is on my heart. I love it. If you ever think back then it has become to a place like this to hear Billy who you'd seen out on the street corners. Yes because we we felt like he was converted. He just went right into the work of the Lord and his men were there for saints. Is this Does it surprise you know I'm just very grateful that he said he's here. There we can see him one more time. His health is bad but the Lord is blessing him. Right now the time has come for us to listen to the voice of God

and to see what God has to say. And if we did that and obeyed God our problems could be solved overnight. And I'm praying that that's going to happen here in the city. The service ended with the traditional altar call where thousands came forward at Graham's urging to rededicate themselves spiritually. It's one of God's great happenings. There's probably without reservation a mental reservation or any hesitation at all that this is God's work through Billy Graham for four decades and there's been multiply that. It was in hundreds of thousands that made professions of faith. And it goes on and it will go on after Billy and I and my family and oh and there's Jesus comes first you know bless you God bless you God bless you. While the stadium was not filled to capacity last night organizers expect the numbers to

grow through the weekend. So many people are expected on Sunday for Graham's final sermon. That large television screens are being placed outside the stadium to accommodate those who can't get in. Well in a few minutes. How do you feel about what lawmakers do with your money. We'll have a your voice your vote report on that issue. But first let's turn to Mitchell Lewis at the now news desk to find out what else has been going on around the state. Hi Mitch. Hello Chris. Good evening everyone. Topping our news North Carolina's coastal property owners will soon know whether or not they can rebuild their hurricane damaged homes. At a meeting today in Sunset Beach the coastal resources commission passed a rule for determining what is called the first line of vegetation from that point officials will begin to mark off the acceptable distance between buildings and water and some areas the beach has receded between five and 50 feet. As a result of Hurricane Fran a coastal management spokesperson says that means as many as 800 homes may not be rebuilt from Carteret County south to Curie beach. Meanwhile the commission also

rejected a sandbag wall to protect the show Island Resort in Wrightsville Beach. It's the third time the Commission has denied a request to protect the resort from beach erosion. Triangle residents are getting some help replacing the trees destroyed by Hurricane Fran. A charitable nonprofit organization called Arbor Day is distributing up to 1 million trees free of charge. The bare roots seedlings will be given to register triangle residents each homeowner can get up to 25 seedlings or saplings. If you would like a tree call 1 800 9 2 9 7 5 7 7 from 9 to 5 Monday through Saturday. By October 26 all the trees are first quality bare root nursery stock and have been USDA inspected. The annual economic report by the U.S. Census Bureau shows the Tarheel State kept pace with a nationwide growth in household income according to the federal report. Real income encrease than one thousand ninety five for the first time in six years in North Carolina median household

income increased from thirty thousand nine hundred sixty seven dollars in 1994 to thirty one thousand nine hundred seventy nine dollars in 1995. In spite of the statewide increase North Carolina still places below the national median income which increased to thirty four thousand seventy six dollars. The report also indicated the number of the nation's poor dropped by 1.6 million people to just over 36 million Americans. A religious organization is pushing for a religion free and more polite campaign season. The Interfaith Alliance a group to set up to counter the political influence of the Christian Coalition has asked six state wide candidates to sign pledges vowing to campaign in a civil manner and refuse to use religion as a political weapon. Democratic candidate for senator Harvey Gantt and fourth congressional district candidate David Price have signed the group's pledge of civility. Democratic Governor Jim Hunt and Republican Senator Jesse Helms didn't sign the pledge but did send letters expressing

their intent to run a positive campaign. Republican gubernatorial candidate Robin Hayes hasn't responded. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather Saturday's temperatures will range between the mid 70s and low 80s for most of the Tar Heel State. It will be generally cooler in the West and warmer in the eastern portion. Afternoon showers are forecast for all sections of the state. There exists a 90 percent chance of rain in Asheville. Fifty percent in the triangle and 30 percent in Wilmington. And today's business news officials warned that a telephone calling card scheme is under way called emergency collect telephone call this week asking for her calling card number and BellSouth reported last month some customers received calls and which they were asked to verify their card numbers. Telephone Company officials say customers should never give out their calling card information. Now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Like all Americans North Carolinians are interested in how much money the government takes

from them and then what it does with it. That was clear when North Carolinians were polled by the your voice your vote newsmedia coalition they raided taxes and government spending in the top 5 on their list of important issues. But that's where the clarity ends. Because there is no consensus on how to address these issues either among the voters or the candidates. John based on reports. The poll showed that cutting the number of government employees is the most popular way to cut government spending. And Republican gubernatorial candidate Robin Hay says he knows how to do it. Talk with the department heads talk with those people that are intimately involved and familiar with what is being done in each specific location in been eliminated. Those jobs that are not necessary to provide basic government services in a haze is proposing to cut thousands of state jobs. His opponent Democrat Jim Hunt says he's already done that two years ago I recommended that we cut

2000 employees out of state government this past year I recommend it we cut out a thousand positions when it comes to government spending Hunt says Smart starts his early childhood program pays big dividends in the long run. Let me tell you how we save money the most. It is about a smart start. Getting kids a good start having good schools having them learn the basics develop good job skills so they graduate they can go to working make a good living be good family members stay out of crime stay off welfare rolls. That is the best single thing we do to save money. Hey says there are over 70 thousand state employees who are not involved in the critical areas of education and public safety and many of those jobs can be cut. We can put those aside and say they're protected. We're not going to touch them. We're going to go over here. Outside of those two critical and necessary areas in there more than enough to make the cuts to fund the elimination of the food

tax. His proposal to eliminate the state's portion of the sales tax on food is a central element of his campaign. Cutting taxes is popular but it's not seen as the solution. Some citizens want more from government than lower taxes. I don't really care how much my taxes are I don't care if they increase my taxes. What I want is I want to countability. I want to accountability for how they're spending the money. And Peggy Schaefer is a small business owner in Raleigh in her dry cleaning operations. She says it's not just how many items are handled It's how well the job is done. It's just like me in my business. You know it's important to me how many shirts the girls get done in a day's time. How many pounds of dry cleaning they do. But if they meet my roles I'm very happy. But then when I find out that having met my rolls that the shirts you know didn't come out as I wanted to tell them to come out then I've really gained nothing.

Shaver says government programs don't put enough emphasis on results. I do not believe that. Giving anyone a check is the answer. As a small business owner I have seen it firsthand. What we really need is a hands on caring treatment of those people that aren't getting the check. Schaffer says she helps her employees who are all part of the system as she calls it to spend their money wisely. Spending money wisely is also important to cary resident Tommy Williamson. So important that like Shaffer he took part in a budget cutting exercise called Debt Busters earlier this year. Participants made the hard choices and balance the federal budget. One of the choices they made was to eliminate the tax deduction for home mortgage interest that would directly affect me and a lot of friends my age and family. But. There's got to be some some sacrifice. Williamson who works as a sales engineer for General Electric says government is taking in more than

enough money already. I don't think we have a revenue problem. In general I think we've got a spending problem. That's also the opinion of Hayes who would cut taxes to reduce the amount of money the state takes in. Government is spending money in all areas that they don't need to spend. That's why cutting taxes is so important. If you dry up government revenue and cut government spending then you're going to put the whole process back on track. Jim Hunt says he has also supported tax cuts over the last four years. I have recommended cutting 21 taxes and a billion dollars. And most of its been done. We could afford to do that we ran up some big revenue figures back about 90 94. And we had some extra money and it was the right thing to do to cut taxes for families and for businesses. We got to focus now on education and on making the schools work.

Of course he says he still wants to cut more taxes and everyone wants better schools. But there is no easy answer on how to make it happen. And Tommy Williamson says more money may not be the answer. The amount of money that we've spent per student has increased greatly. But the return we're getting on that SAT scores and other achievement measurements they're not there. So I'm not one for automatically spending more money just because when we have a problem Dan girl OC runs a Raleigh based think tank that studies tax issues he says promises of tax cuts are popular with voters but that's not the whole story. People want lower taxes of course but they don't want reduced services. The problem with the public debate about taxes is that too often we ignore the connection to government services when the money is not disappearing as I said earlier. But the money is going to pay for teachers it's going to pay for prison guards it's going to pay for paving roads for a lot of things in North Carolinians like. Next week we'll look at the issue of health care. If you'd like more

information on government spending be sure to look for in-depth reports and use your voice your vote coalition newspapers this Sunday. Nearly four years ago Poet Maya Angelo stepped up to a microphone at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton and captured the imagination of the country. She wrote a poem called on the pulse of the morning that she had written for the occasion upon the presented a new vision of what it means to be an American. Now down walk we are composer in residence at Wake Forest University has put that poem to music. Robin many had a talk to my Angelo and asked her what new elements the music contributes to her words. Good question and I'm still asking as music is very American and I don't know how to describe that save that it's a basic thing you need to try on a unity

that isn't wouldn't be the same say with that. If one was listening to them outside Beethoven even the popular popular and contemporary composers and you know. MR. Not There is not there's poetry his music. His is grand and inclusive and even heroic but not heroic like a Bach and heroic more like the Grand Canyon. The Mississippi River its hero wake. Do you see what I mean when I wrote the poem. I wanted to talk about the many which make us one that's very important. One of the

Latin phrases which we learned early on and then seem to forget or maybe it goes into our bodies and we forget that it's there is a pure buzz unum out of the M.E. one. That's what I wanted to say in the poem and that's what Mr. LaPierre seems to say in his music. Many politicians have used the theme of Morning in America and you as well in your poem say good morning what how is your vision of Morning in America different than the politicians. I can't say the politicians versions may include everything I intend to say and more. I don't know but rather I wanted to remind that is that it's more each moment we have a chance to start anew.

Each moment. So I say good morning. But I also mean that at midnight and I mean that it 8:00 o'clock in the evening and 4:00 in the afternoon that each moment we have a chance to say I know I can wake up from this ignorance. I can I can shout at this night man and look at dawn. There are a number of themes that you develop in the poem that you speak about as well one of those is courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. And it's not it's not an element a condition in one's psyche that one does minds and finds you know it's not just there. You have to develop it. It's developing muscle. Great triceps and biceps

and abs and start slowly to build it to build it to build it. And so one is courageous and small things and then develops the courage to surprise big arrays is there not it's there and what happens is it is it is the courageous person not only likes other people. But begins to ally himself herself. Another point that you develop is the idea that your passage has been paid. What does that mean. Well everyone has already been paid for by one's ancestors whether the people came from Amman in the 1850s trying to escape the potato blight or from Germany at the same time trying to escape the potato blight which attacked that area or whether the people came from Asia and 1850s to build this country. They're building

railroads I think came from Eastern Europe trying to escape the program the little and lives of murderers. Or if they came from Italy or Greece some Mt.. South America that Mexico trying to find a place of that old all of the people are if they came from Africa that I'm winning lay back time lines boom fashion in the field they hatches their slave ships they have paid for each of us already. Staying alive and trying to create over where we could be born 150 years later are more of that now. We can't imagine it today. So we get satisfied with some Hollywood interpretation. What privilege do you think that that that has bought for us. Now we have the

marvelous exciting pair relates to prepare so that we can pay for someone else. That's yet to come. That is a privilege that we can actually create a world where every human being has a right to to say good morning to expect better. And even the best we do have the privilege to create a world where every man and woman and child can be free of sanctimonious piety you know and the right way waving and shouting and saluting kind of patriotism that's only skim the we have it. It's time. Each moment we have a chance to refute the ignorance. Second

we can say about unfairness with that ignorance. I think I'm trying a new way. Down Walker's musical composition narrated by Maya Angelo and performed by the Winston-Salem Piedmont triad Symphony will premiere tomorrow night at Wake Forest University. That's all we have time for tonight. Merida will be back on Monday and we hope you will too for another great week of North Carolina now. Goodnight everyone.