ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
Hair braiders frayed over licensing
WASHINGTON - A license to braid?
About 20 members of the American Hairbraiders and Natural Haircare Association picketed outside a downtown hotel Friday, protesting industry regulations that say they need cosmetology licenses to open braiding-only salons.
``I went to cosmetology school and I can tell you it's not necessary if all you want to do is braid hair,'' said Pam Ferrell, a member from Washington.
Ferrell and members from as far away as North Carolina stood outside the hotel where the National Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology was holding its annual conference.
The protesters said that because all they do is braid hair, including cornrows, they do not need to go to school to learn techniques such as perming or cutting hair or giving manicures or pedicures.
But Janet Johnson, president of the National Cosmetology Association, said the association believes in licensing to ensure the health and safety of the public. ``Any time anyone touches the hair of a human being, they should be regulated,'' she said.
- Associated Press
Navy gets first Muslim chaplain
WASHINGTON - The Navy has its first Muslim chaplain: Lt.j.g. Monje Malak Abd al-Muta' Ali Noel Jr.
Noel, from Salem, N.J., is the U.S. military's second Islamic chaplain. Army chaplain Capt. Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad is based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The new chaplain recently completed a Master of Divinity program at the Lutheran School of Theology and the American Islamic College in Chicago., Ill., the Navy said Friday.
In a 1995 survey, 2,400 Navy officers and enlisted personnel reported they were members of the Islamic faith, a Navy spokesman said.
- Associated Press
Church-related bank receives fake bomb
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A box rigged to look like a bomb was discovered Friday outside a football star's community investment bank that is an offshoot of a church that was firebombed earlier this year.
Mayor Victor Ashe said authorities will treat the investigation as if the bomb were the real thing, and the city offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
An employee at the Knoxville Community Investment Corp. found a cardboard box at the back door and called police at 7:41 a.m.
``Nobody knew what it was. Nobody was expecting any deliveries. So they contacted us,'' police spokesman Don Jones said. Authorities said the box was found to contain parts and shrapnel to resemble a bomb, but didn't contain explosives or a detonator.
The investigation has been turned over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Jones said.
Reggie White, an All-Pro defensive lineman with the Green Bay Packers, is an associate pastor of the Inner City Church and helped start the community investment bank two years ago with $1 million out of his own pocket.
The church, with an interracial congregation of 400, was firebombed and sprayed with racist graffiti in January. There have been no arrests.
The investment corporation lends business-startup money to those with little or no access to conventional credit.
- Associated Press
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