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The Beacon Has Moved!
The Upson Beacon office will be closed Thursday, May 27 to move into new offices located at 219 Thomas Street.
We wil reopen Friday, May 28. The new location at the corner of Thomas and South Green Streets offers convenient
access and additional parking for customers, according to Beacon management.
Upson Newspapers, Inc. and Flint Biver Media, LLC operations also are housed at the Thomas Street offices.
Vol. 14, No. 21 Thursday, May 27,2021 .50
' Murder-Suicide
By Bridge Turner
bturner@upsonbeacon.com
An alleged domestic
dispute led to the murder
of a woman on Thurston
Avenue in Thomaston
Sunday and ended when
the suspect took his life
after a car crash in Atlanta
later that day, according to
a press release from
Thomaston Police Chief
Mike Richardson.
TPD officers received
reports of a possible shoot
ing at lio Thurston Ave
nue around 3 p.m. last
Sunday. After a forced
entry into the house, of
ficers found 32-year-old
resident Rosanna Smith
dead from apparent gun
shot wounds, according to
the statement.
Investigation deter
mined that the victim’s ex
boyfriend and father of her
infant child, 42-year-old
John Bussey, came to the
residence to return
Smith’s vehicle and a dis
pute ensued. Evidence in
dicated that Bussey shot
the victim and fled the
scene in her Ford Edge,
possibly toward the south
Atlanta area.
Bussey’s sister told
TPD dispatch that she “re-
Murder-Suicide, 7A
Photo Submitted
Audrey Norris reads letters of encouragement sent by the community.
Norris Airlifted After
Cardiac Arrest at Field Day
Local School Staff, EMS Credited
for Saving Seventh-Grader’s Life
City Nearing OK of
Intergovernmental
Sewage Agreement
Contract Requires County’s OK
By Bridge Turner
bturner@upsonbeacon.com
After discussion at a work session last
week, Thomaston City Council members are
expected to approve an intergovernmental
agreement for wastewater service delivery,
which then will be submitted to the Upson
County Commission for consideration.
The new document would nullify “any and
all” previous wastewater contracts, according
to City Manager Russell Thompson, including
a 1995 agreement for the city to service the air
port and Georgia Business & Technology Park.
Estimated cost for repairs and upgrades
necessary for industrial development, includ
ing a “transfer pipe” to benefit consumers out
side the incorporated area, is almost $10
million, with an unfunded portion of almost
$3 million, according to engineers.
The city currently operates two wastewater
treatment facilities, “Town Branch” located on
Goshen Road and “Bell Creek” located on DOT
Road, which have a combined permitted ca
pacity of four million gallons of effluent per
Sewage Agreement, 7A
BOE Approves
$41 Million
2022 Budget
The Thomaston-Upson Board of Educa
tion approved a tentative $41 million budget
for fiscal year 2022 at a May 20 work session.
Seventy-one percent of the general fund
revenue in the FY22 budget is covered by State
Quality Basic Education Funding, totaling
$28,293,861, a total reduction of $25,000 in
funding from FY2021. Local taxes cover 22
percent at $8,844,522; other state funding
provides one percent at $278,567; other fed
eral funding covers less than one percent or
$115,000; account interest is estimated at less
than one percent or $180,000; and other local
funding provides for two percent, or
$770,000.
BOE Budget, 4A
By Luke Haney
lhaney@upsonbeacon.com
Audrey Norris, a seventh-grade au
tistic student at Upson-Lee Middle
School, collapsed before going into car
diac arrest last Tuesday during field
day at the school. The quick response
times from school staff and local EMS
services are said to have saved her life.
Audrey Norris is well known in the
community for her unwavering positiv
ity and “go-getter” attitude. She loves
participating in sports, horseback rid
ing, and all things Disney related.
Norris, who is an athlete of the
school’s cross-country team, was
eagerly participating in a field day run
ning event when she collapsed and
went into a full cardiac arrest. The P.E.
teacher, school nurse, and physical
therapist ran to help. With no pulse,
Audrey Norris, 7A
Council Ponders
Placing Package
Liquor on Ballot
By Bridge Turner
bturner@upsonbeacon.com
City Manager Russell Thompson told
council members during a work session
last week that Georgia Senate Bill 145 has
opened the door for local government to
place package liquor sales on the ballot
without a petition.
Thompson said the bill recently
passed by the state’s General Assembly
modified previous law requiring 35 per
cent of registered voters sign a petition to
initiate action. New legislation reduced
required signatures to 20 percent “or” al
lows council to draft a resolution for an
Package Liquor, 7A
Photo by Luke Haney
Children Playing on the splash pad
at the 2019 Freedom Fest.
City OKs $i83K
for New Financial
Software System
‘Freedom Fest’Slated July 4
Council members voted unanimously
last week to authorize a $183,000 pur
chase of a new financial software system
from Michigan-based company BS&A for
the City of Thomaston.
Following a recommendation from
Finance Director Lonnie Joyce, council
chose BS&A over Tyler Technologies,
which submitted a lower bid of $171,000.
“But when you compare apples to ap
ples,” Joyce said, “BSA is cheaper.”
BS&A’s bid included travel for its staff
to provide on-site training for city em
ployees. New system implementation
will be completed in six months, whereas
Tyler estimated 18 months for comple
tion, and the new system should save the
city approximately $16,000 per year on
support, according to Joyce.
“After researching, I like the pro
duct,” Joyce told council members. “And
this company has no voicemail, and no
automated phone system - you call them
and you [speak with] somebody. They
have over a thousand customers and
have never been fired.”
City Financial Software, 7A
Happy Memorial Day
Photo by Kinsley Riggins
Over the pastfeiv iveeks, Eagle Scout Benjamin Smith has organized, directed, and ex
ecuted the assembly of neiv flags at the Veteran’s Memorial in Yatesville. See more, 8A.
Emancipation Program to Be Held May 29
The Emancipation Committee of Upson County
will host an emancipation program at noon Sat
urday, May 29 at the Lincoln Park playground,
“The Bottom.” Speaker will be Rev. McArthur
Childs.
Due to COVID-19 recommendations by the
Centers for Disease Control, there will be no parade
this year. Masks will be required and social distanc
ing is requested. For more information, please con
tact Brenda Hobbs on Facebook or one of the
Emancipation Celebration committee members.
The Emancipation Celebration in Upson County
is the longest continuously running celebration in
the United States. Last year’s event was cancelled
because of the pandemic, but did not change the
status of the event held locally.
(0 Griffin Ob-Gyn
NOW SEEING PATIENTS IN THOMASTON
CALL TO MAKE AN
APPOINTMENT TODAY:
403 WEST MAIN STREET
TUESDAY-THURSDAY 8:30-4:30
(770)227.5505
(706)646.2888
Leigh Ann Story, CNM; Bryan Krepps. HO; Jim Dunaway, MD; Lou Hameli, MO; Holly Harrison, PA*C;
Nadine Nolting, CNH; Enid Lofters-Jones, MD; Hegan Potter. HD; Katya Brickman. CNM; Ashley Johnson, PA