[News] And speaking of bombs

[News at freedomarchives.org]

As I'm sure you are aware, this may 13th marks 20 years since the bombing 
and murder of me and my MOVE family.  We, as a people, can never afford to 
let officials get the impression that we take such a heinous act 
lightly.  It is urgently necessary that people continue to send the message 
that people will never accept or forget what government showed us that day 
in 1985.  Put a priority on being in Philadelphia for our commemoration 
activities on Sat. May 14th, or at least do something in your area.  It is 
in everybody's interest to make our voices heard on this issue.  See the 
flyer for more info on our  May 14th action on our web site 
<http://www.onamove.com>www.onamove.com .---Ramona

Needless to say the MOVE 9 remain in prison with horrendous sentences, 
convicted of ridiculous charges as they were the targets of police 
repression and assault.
claude

NU AFRIKAN LIBERATION
14 APRIL 2005

4/12/2005

ABOUT TIME: MOVE BLOCK RESIDENTS AWARDED $12.83 MILLION

MOVE block residents awarded $12.83 million
By Jennifer Lin
  4:47 pm

Inquirer Staff Writer

<http://playahata.com/hatablog/wp-trackback.php/404>http://playahata.com/hatablog/wp-trackback.php/404

Twenty years after the MOVE bombing, the price tag for the debacle keeps 
rising, with a federal jury yesterday awarding the last 24 residents of the 
West Philadelphia block about $530,000 each and handing a stinging rebuke 
to Mayor Street.

Of total damages of $12.83 million, the jury awarded the homeowners $1.68 
million for harm caused by Street's "arbitrary" behavior for canceling 
repairs to the rebuilt houses on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue.

The award to each homeowner amounts to more than three times the $150,000 
per house that Street wanted to pay residents in 2000 to move out
of their homes permanently. When the suit was filed in 2000, the city had 
spent more than $16 million to build and repair the houses, and officials 
estimated that further repairs would cost an additional $13 million.

The lawsuit is a lingering conflict from the May 13, 1985, bombing, when 
city officials allowed an entire block of West Philadelphia to burn to the 
ground, killing 11 members of the radical group MOVE and displacing more 
than 60 homeowners.

Residents sued the city on grounds that Street broke the promises of his 
predecessors to repair their shoddy replacement homes. Mayor W. Wilson 
Goode rebuilt the block, but the new homes had structural problems.

It remains unclear what will happen to residents now.

A jury of five women and two men took harsh aim at Street, who testified at 
the trial. The jury found that the mayor acted with "malicious or reckless 
disregard" and levied punitive damages of $1.25 million.

Street testified he decided in his first months as mayor to raze the block 
instead of spending more money on repairs. He said he personally determined 
what the city would offer, arguing that it was significantly more than the 
selling prices for homes in the neighborhood.

After the verdict, Street said in a statement that the city's offer to buy 
out homeowners was "an honest attempt to resolve this matter fairly after 
we determined we could not repair the houses to a livable level."

He added, "In light of our efforts, we are deeply disappointed with the 
jury's verdict today."

About two-thirds of the residents took the offer, but the others said the 
city had a contractual obligation to fix the homes - not remove the 
homeowners with an offer of money. Many of the holdouts were elderly 
residents who did not want to be displaced again.



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