VanPac News History

February 20, 1992

SECTION: NATIONAL NEWS; Section A; Page 3

LENGTH: 517 words

HEADLINE: THE SOUTH IN BRIEF Moody in Alabama for murder trial

BYLINE: By Robert Anthony Watts STAFF WRITER

BODY:

ALABAMA: Federal marshals Wednesday transferred Walter Leroy Moody to Alabama in preparation for his capital murder trial in the mail-Bomb death of a federal judge.

Moody, 56, has been imprisoned at Marion, Ill., since his federal conviction in the bombing deaths of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert Vance of Mountain Brook and City Alderman Robert E. Robinson of Savannah, Ga.

Moody, of Rex, Ga., is serving seven life terms plus 400 years in prison with no possibility of parole on the federal convictions. If convicted in Alabama on capital murder charges in Judge Vance's death, he could receive the death penalty.

LOUISIANA: More black judges promised. Louisiana agreed Wednesday to create 25 black judgeships, hoping to end a 6-year-old civil rights suit. Of the state's more than 200 state judges, 13 are black. Eight of those are in majority black New Orleans. The U.S. Justice Department must approve the settlement between the state and black plaintiffs.

ENNESSEE: City fined $ 200,000 for landfill violations. The state has fined Johnson City more than $ 200,000 for 90 violations of landfill regulations in six years.

The violations were discovered at Bowser Ridge landfill during 10 inspections from 1984 to 1990. The Department of Environment and Conservation says solid waste disposal at the facility led to groundwater contamination.

The order says Johnson City is a "chronic violator of the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Act." The violations include failure to cover solid waste daily, control litter and control soil erosion.

FLORIDA: Harassment complaints against teachers. More than a quarter of the 250 complaints filed against Florida school teachers last year involved allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct, a study requested by Education Commissioner Betty Castor shows. It also found that a pervasive classroom bias favors boys and that boys are harassing girls more often at junior and senior high schools.

MISSISSIPPI: EPA continues cleanup of Greenville site. One phase of cleanup at the Washington County site of a former chemical company will be completed this week, but federal officials say more work is needed before the property is safe. The primary thrust of the cleanup has been the removal of containers. Traces of DDT and other pesticides were found this week at the old Valley Chemical Co. Dead birds were found among open and leaking pesticide containers.

NORTH CAROLINA: White supremacist activity rises. White supremacist activity reached an all-time high, and hate crimes increased in 1991 in North Carolina, a watchdog group said Wednesday. North Carolinians Against Racist and Religious Violence counted 71 incidents of hate groups trying to organize more chapters, a 115 percent increase over 1985. "Racism and bigotry are now socially acceptable," said Christina Davis- McCoy, executive director of the watch-dog group. The report documents 58 incidents of harassment, vandalism, cross burnings, killings and assaults. Three national Klan groups, one neo-Nazi group and the Populist Party have their headquarters in the state.