--Thursday, 02 February 2006--

Civil rights leader dies

Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died Tuesday in Mexico. She was 78. Known as the "first lady of the civil rights movement," she died in her sleep.

She had been recovering from a serious stroke and heart attack suffered last August. Just two weeks ago, she made her first public appearance in a year on the eve of her late husband's birthday.

According to the Associated Press, Mrs. King was a supportive lieutenant to her husband during the most dangerous and tumultuous days of the civil rights movement.

After his assassination in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, she carried on his work while also raising their four children. "I'm more determined than ever that my husband's dream will become a reality," the young widow said soon after his slaying.

In 1969 she founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta and used it to confront hunger, unemployment, voting rights and racism.


Gov. at meeting

Governor Tom Macan will be away from the territory until Feb. 8 to attend a United Kingdom Ambassadors and Governors in the Americas Conference in Miami. During his absence, Deputy Governor Dancia Penn will serve as acting governor.


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