NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP)—Two men who worked at a South Carolina poultry processing plant had spent most of the day together June 1, hanging out late into the evening, maybe rehashing their long shifts.

By the next morning, one of the men—who was Black—was dead, shot to death and then dragged behind a pickup truck for more than 10 miles down a country road. The other—a White man—was in jail, charged with murder, and authorities were investigating the death as a possible hate crime.

ARRESTED—This undated booking photo provided by the Newberry Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina, shows Gregory Collins.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Legendary late soul musician Isaac Hayes may get a commemorative stretch of highway in his home state of Tennessee.

ISAAC HAYES

A measure to designate a section of Interstate 40 the “Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway” passed the state Senate unanimously June 3. The House approved it without opposition in April.

The commemorative stretch would be near Memphis, where Hayes had a home until he died of a stroke in 2008 at the age of 65. He was raised in Tipton County, north of Memphis.

by Karen Hawkins

GARY, Ind. (AP)—Michael Jackson’s father and Gary officials announced plans June 2 to move ahead with a long-delayed performing arts center to help revitalize the late singer’s hometown, drawing cautious optimism from residents who say they’ve heard this song many times before.

MICHAEL ­JACKSON

Work on the $300 million museum and performing arts center could begin as early as next year, said Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, acknowledging this isn’t the first time city officials have made promises about the project.

Jackson left Gary as a child and visited just once, in June 2003, to announce plans for the center.

Week of June 11-17

June 11

1963—President John F. Kennedy declares during a nationwide radio and television address that segregation was “morally wrong” and told the U.S. Congress it was “time to act” (pass legislation) to end all segregation of the races. That statement and similar ones endeared Kennedy to millions of African-Americans. However, a few months after making the declaration, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But most of his legislative ideas would be implemented by his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson.

ALABAMA GOV. GEORGE WALLACE

1963—Displaying the tenacity of the segregationist mentality dominant in the South in the 1960s, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, with the aid of state troopers, stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to block two Black students from integrating the school. But when the Deputy U.S. Attorney General returned later in the day with a force of National Guardsmen, Wallace stepped aside and Vivian Malone and James Hood were allowed to register.