Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 142, No. 47 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, January 11,2023 - $1.00
Parker announces retirement
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
After 16 seasons as the Bears’ head
coach, Eric Parker has decided it is
time to step away from the sidelines.
Parker leaves behind an impres
sive resume that includes a trip to the
playoffs in each of his 16 seasons, 7
region championships and a Georgia
High School Association (GHSA)
AAA state title that Burke County
won in 2011.
Parker spent 10 years as Laney’s
head coach and has 208 total wins
in his 26 years as a head coach. Ac
cording to the Atlanta Journal Con
stitution, that ranked Parker with the
10th most wins for active coaches in
the GHSA. He is also one of the few
coaches to win a state title as both
a coach and a player. Parker was a
defensive back on the 1983 cham
pionship team for Mitche 11-Baker
High School.
Parker said he told school officials
last year that he was committed
for the 2022 season but he would
revaluate his mindset from year to
year moving forward.
That was before he suffered a heart
attack on the sidelines at Wayne
County on Halloween night how
ever. Medical personal used a deh-
brillator to restart his heart while he
lay on the held. He was then airlifted
from Jesup to Savannah.
“It was the hnal straw,” Parker said
when asked how that night affected
his decision. “The doctor said, ‘I’m
not sidelining you. I’m not telling
you you can’t go back and coach
but you’re going to have to hnd a
way to manage stress;’ and I didn’t
really trust myself. I only know one
way to coach and that’s really to just
get after it.”
Parker said once his mind was
made up, he let BCHS athletic
director, Wade Marchman, and Su
perintendent Dr. Angela Williams
know of his plans so the school
could move forward with hnding his
replacement.
“The last thing I wanted to do
was wait around where people got a
chance to move and we get left out in
the cold as far as hnding good folks.
I told them that I was at peace with
the decision and that I was going to
step down,” Parker said.
“Obviously, I want to continue to
see the program do well, continue the
progress. I’m excited about some of
the groups of kids coming up, down
in the lower ranks, so I think there’s
dehnitely continued success on the
horizon,” he added.
Marchman said he was not caught
off guard by Parker’s decision, par
ticularly after his health scare.
“I understood his deci
sion,” he said. “We’ve
worked together, side by PARKER,
side, for 16 years now. I 3
Field Trials winners
All Age
Championship
The All Age Championship
began on January 5th with
38 dogs entered and end
ed on Saturday, January
7th. The wnner was - Con
fident Nation (Trainer-Luke
Eisenhart) and the Runner
Up was Miller’s Blind Side
(Trainer - Jamie Daniels)
The Shooting Dog Derby
Championship will begin
Wednesday, January 11th
and will be followed by the
Shooting Dog Champion
ship
All Age Derby Championship
The Georgia Field Trials All Age Derby Championship began on January 2nd with 27 dogs entered. It
ended Jan. 4 with the winner being Rester’s Cajun Spirit (trainer - Judd Carlton) Runner up - Haney’s
All In (Trainer - Ike Todd)
Democrat Georgia House Rep. Gloria Frazier and Republican Senator
Max Burns put aside their partisan political affiliations January 5 to ad
dress teamwork in the City of Keysville.
Keysville articles inspire
legislative townhall meeting
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Democrat Georgia House Rep
resentative Gloria Frazier pulled
Republican Senator Max Bums off
the highway January 5 to attend a
legislative townhall in Keysville.
“She really did,” Bums said laugh
ing.
“We both have to work together,”
Frazier said. “I can look at Senator
Bums right now, he is a Republican
and I can’t hold that against him.”
“Not tonight,” Burns quipped.
Although the legislators started
things out on a light-hearted note, the
impromptu meeting was inspired by
several recent articles published in
The Tme Citizen, describing discord
within the local government. Frazier
used opposing political affiliations
to make a point regarding Mayor
Finda Wilkes and councilmembers
working in unison to decide what is
best for the city.
Frazier spoke about her fondness
for former Mayors Emma Gresham
and Maggie Cheatham Cartwright.
Concerned for how local authorities
are presenting themselves during
public hearings, Frazier urged the
councilmembers to conduct them
selves with more professionalism
and with a higher level of account
ability. She expressed frustration
and said she is disheartened when
she reads about chaos taking place
during the meetings.
“I know how important this town
is to you and it has my heart too,”
Frazier said. “The True Citizen
goes all over Augusta. So, we know
everything everybody is doing. We
can do better than these articles that
are in the paper.”
With Frazier’s urging, May or Wil
kes gave an update on the city’s proj
ects, stating that the constmction of a
second well, mandated by the Geor
gia Environmental Protection Divi
sion (EPD), will begin January 16.
With a cost of nearly
$400,000, funding
for the project was KEYSVILLE
secured through the ’
Preview summarizes the county’s crime
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams pre
sented a glimpse into the upcoming
Burke County Sheriff’s Office 2022
Annual Report during a Breakfast on
the Beat event January 4.
In the preview, Williams pointed
out that last year the agency hosted
its first in-house leadership class
for the entire office, seven BCSO
employees graduated from college
and for the sixth year in a row, crime
in the county was reduced. Specifi
cally, Part I and Part II (most serious)
offenses were reduced by 40%. Ac
cidents and accidents with injuries
were reduced by approximately 40%
as well.
The agency also served 500 fami
lies during the annual Thanksgiving
and Christmas giveaways.
Williams pointed out that the
Criminal Investigations Division
worked diligently to solve the Simon
Powell case, the thefts of catalytic
converters, the wanted mass-murder
er case which involved a robbery at
Taylor Bros Xpress and the wanted
convicted felon from Baltimore who
engaged law enforcement officials in
a five-hour standoff. The Criminal
Investigations Division was assigned
287 cases from January 1,2022 thru
November 30,2022. Seventy-one of
those cases were cleared by arrest,
while 163 cases remain pending.
During that same timeframe, the
highest number of crimes that the
Narcotics Division handled included
81 theft by taking cases and 44
burglaries. The department seized
more than 9,000 grams of marijuana,
2,000 grams of meth and94 grams of
cocaine. Forty-five illegal guns were
confiscated and more than $297,000
of drug-related money.
The BCSO issued 3,784 citations
from January through November of
2022. More than 2,000 tickets were
given for speeding, 411 were for
wearing no seatbelt, 128 were due
to distracted driving and 61 were
DUI related.
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams greeted attendees of the standing-room-only
Breakfast on the Beat event January 4.