ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
2nd man is sentenced in Jordan killing
LUMBERTON, N.C. - A man who helped send a friend to prison for life for killing Michael Jordan's father received the same sentence Monday.
Jurors deliberated about two hours before deciding that Larry Martin Demery, 20, should not be executed for his role in the 1993 murder of James Jordan.
Demery had pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder in the death of Jordan, 57, and testified against his lifelong friend Daniel Andre Green, 21.
Jury foreman Franklin Chavis said Demery's testimony was ``admirable.'' ``It helped sway us toward life,'' he said.
Green, whom Demery said shot Jordan in his car as he awoke from a nap along a North Carolina highway, was sentenced to life in March.
- Associated Press
Clinton renews help for AIDS patients
WASHINGTON - Wishing aloud that a cure for AIDS will be found soon, President Clinton renewed federal assistance for AIDS patients Monday and pledged $52 million toward providing better drugs.
Before a roomful of AIDS activists, Clinton signed a five-year extension of the Ryan White CARE Act, which was created to help communities cope with the AIDS epidemic.
The law helps pay for home care, transportation, counseling, hospice care and other support for people with AIDS or HIV. More than 300,000 people have received care under the law since it was passed six years ago.
``AIDS has taken too many friends and relatives and loved ones from every one of us,'' Clinton said. ``It has shaken the faith of many. Even as we celebrate our progress, we shouldn't forget that the fight is not over.''
The law devotes $738 million toward AIDS support services for fiscal 1996, up from $632 million last year.
- Associated Press
Justices to consider Ga. redistricting
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to judge the validity of Georgia's new congressional district map, one that features a single majority-black district.
The court said it will study arguments by the Clinton administration and minority-rights activists that the reapportionment plan imposed by a three-judge federal court panel in Georgia is unconstitutional.
The lower court's plan was imposed for this year's elections after a congressional redistricting plan that featured three majority-black districts was struck down as the product of unlawful racial gerrymandering.
It does not appear, however, that the high court's action will have any effect on the November elections. The justices are not expected to issue a decision in the case until sometime in 1997.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB