Census Takers Want Partners After Death

(AP)  The manager of a part-time census taker who died under mysterious circumstances in Kentucky said Sunday that other workers are requesting to visit houses in teams rather than alone.

Wayne Hatcher, the regional director of the U.S. Census Bureau's office in Charlotte, N.C., was one of two people who participated in a makeshift memorial near a spot in the Daniel Boone National Forest that Bill Sparkman's body was found one month ago with the word "Fed" scrawled on his chest. He was tied to a tree with a rope around his neck.

Although an autopsy has concluded Sparkman died of asphyxiation and the coroner confirmed the word was written on him - likely in felt-tip pen - authorities are saying little else about his death, even whether it was a murder, suicide or accident.

Hatcher said census workers have heard little either, although several have been interviewed by police.

The Census has halted door-to-door visits in Clay County pending the investigation.

"We continue to just wait for more information on what really happened so we can know what to do in Clay County - whether to proceed with work or keep it suspended," Hatcher said.

Hatcher, who oversees five states including Kentucky, said he had only met Sparkman once a few years ago when he was in Charlotte for training. During brief remarks, Hatcher recalled him as a hard worker.

"All kinds of weather, all kinds of hours in the day, he was out there making a difference," Hatcher said. "The work he was doing was providing all that critical information so important to run our country. His memory lives on."

Bennie Smith, a Lexington entertainer and former data entry clerk for the Census in Indiana, had hoped to generate a crowd of people to honor Sparkman at his final resting place, but only Hatcher joined him.

The two made the 45-minute trip together from the Walmart near Sparkman's home in London, Ky., to the forest in the southeastern part of the state. They left a vase of flowers near Sparkman's final resting place, and Smith played the saxophone and read a Bible verse.

Smith said he organized the event in part to honor Sparkman but also as an effort to restore the region's image.

"I didn't like the negative connotations it was bringing to the area," he said. "I knew folks in general here are good, law-abiding citizens."

Sparkman had pending work in Clay County and four other Kentucky counties, Hatcher said, but it was unclear if he died while he was working. Police told census workers that the case for Sparkman's government computer was found, but not his computer.

[marynh]

To theskeptical1:

Very funny; surprisingly, my mind didn't make that leap to necrophilia, even though I grew up in a funeral home and should have, ha, ha!

I noted that my computer, when I click "send," sometimes drops in an extra word here and there (see the double "your" in my original comment). It must be the computer's revenge against copyediting, heh, heh!

Theskeptical1, your comment put me right on the floor, laughing my tail off.

[marynh]

Ah, ha, ha! As a copyeditor, I laughed out loud at the title of your your article.

"Census Takers Want Partners After Death." Where, pray tell; in heaven (or somewhere else less cool)?

Consider this: "Census Takers Want to Work in Pairs After Sparkman's Death."

Or even shorter: "Census Takers Want Partners After Sparkman's Death."

[theskeptical1]

You have a cleaner mind than do I, Mary. I thought that they were expressing a preference for necrophilia.

[debinok1]

Stuart,
There is a distinct sense of resentment in the south since November and even more so since January. There is a heavy undercurrent of mistrust of the government. The areas I have been to exhibit a strong anti-government sentiment. These workers and their supervisors have every right to be concerned, the suspension of their work makes perfect sense. We should all hope it was just an isolated incident and the person(s) responsible will be found quickly and brought to justice, until then extreme caution is justified.

[stuart-johns2]

"We continue to just wait for more information on what really happened so we can know what to do in Clay County - whether to proceed with work or keep it suspended," Hatcher said.
===========

You want to know what to do??? Get back to work taking the census is what you should do.

I believe you are over-reacting. While this man's death was tragic, your statement reflects that you suspect this problem is widespread. I don't believe it is anymore widespread than when three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi in the 60's.

The anti-black sentimemnt back in the 60's was rampant but the slaying of civil rights workers was not. People who hate the government to the extent that they will kill government workers are a very real minority.

[hologram5]

You are sadly mistaken. People all over the country feel the same way. I will not be answering most of the questions on this years census as it is violating my privacy rights. Some of the questions are downright invasive in nature. If you don't know then google it and you'll see. They want to know how much you make, how much you have in your back account, how much you paid for your car, do you still owe on it? There is a line and they crossed it. This doesn't mean that these people will be killed in every town, it just means that people are tired of Fed involvement in their lives. The Feds are getting a little too non-chalant with their personal privacy invasions and it needs to stop.

[hologram5]

Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT condone violence towards anyone as they are just doing their jobs. I just think that the idiots making up these questions need to back off a little. And debinok1 is right, there is a serious distrust of the Fed Gov't these days from many differents walks of life.