Newspaper Page Text
Walk-off win for baseball Patriots against Central Fellowship
juniafiMi
ill! tli_ J
Lake Oconee News
J
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia's Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
FRIDA\ MARCH 25 2016
LAKE OCONEE
FOOD & WINE
FESTIVAL
community » B1
GCHS TRACK
TEAMS TAKE
SECOND PLACE
sports » C3
STAY CONNECTED
n
facebook.com/
lakeoconeenews
□
@lakeoconeenews
©lakeoconeenews
index
Calendar
D2-3
Churches
B4
Classifieds
D4
Community
B1
Obituaries
A6
Opinions
A4
Recipes
D1
Sports
C1
FRIDAY
69/45
Partly Cloudy
WEATHER »D7
0
94922 87855 7
Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
GREENE COUNTY
Jackie Gutknecht/Staff
Rodricus Ward is transported from the Greene County Courthouse last Friday after he was found guilty
of the murder of Darla LaDavia Gibbons, a 27-year-old woman he once escorted to her senior prom.
PUTNAM COUNTY
Abused woman now showered with gifts; improving
Lynn Hobbs locked in a room in filth and not Assistant District Attorney
lynn@lakeoconeenews.us feeding her, appeared before Wright Barksdale told Judge
Putnam Magistrate Judge Ellen Pierce he opposed bond “because
Felicia Clements, the Eatonton Pierce last week for a bond this had to have taken place over
mother who was arrested for, hearing. The mother’s boyfriend, several weeks and months.”
authorities say, keeping her Galvin Evans, also appeared at
disabled 23-year-old daughter the March 16 hearing. SEE ABUSE » A5
Greene Co. man
found guilty on 6
counts of murder
Jackie Gutknecht
jackie@lakeoconeenews.us
Dressed in a red, white and blue
flannel button-down, Rodricus
Deuntey Ward, was quickly placed
in handcuffs in the historic Greene
County Courthouse after Ocmulgee
Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief
Judge William A. Prior sentenced
him to life in prison with no chance
of parole plus five years, as a result
of six guilty verdicts after a court
hearing that consumed much of last
week.
SEE WARD » A3
PUTNAM COUNTY
Police arrest teller for stealing $ 32,500
Staff Reports
news@lakeoconeenews.us
The F.B.I. and Eatonton
Police Department investiga
tors continued to search bank
records as of press time, inves
tigating alleged fraud or theft
by employees of The Peoples
Bank.
To date, only one arrest
has been made - bank teller
Jeanette Williams, 47, 190
Twilight Shores, Putnam
County, was arrested March
14, charged with felony theft by
taking $32,850, according to a
police report. She was booked
into Putnam County Jail and
released on $35,000 bond.
Officials decline giving any
other details, saying the inves
tigation is ongoing.
“Some things we can’t turn
loose yet - people are going to
have to wait,” Eatonton Police
Chief Kent Lawrence said. “All
I can tell you is somebody else
is going to jail.”
F.B.I. Special Agent Stephen
Emmett confirmed the F.B.I.
is involved, but “beyond that,
I cannot comment due to the
pending status of this matter,”
SEE TELLER » A3
Williams
LAKE COUNTRY
GREENE COUNTY
Wells concert benefits
arts education April 28
Jeffrey Wells will soon
be celebrating his fifth
year with the nonprofit
performing arts orga
nization, the Oconee
Performing Arts Society.
As Artistic Director
of OPAS, Wells prides
himself on enriching the
Lake Oconee commu
nity with amazing performing
arts experiences. He has deliv
ered with sell out shows like The
Atlanta Pops Holiday Spectacu
lar, The Swing Dolls tribute to our
Veterans, and most recently, TLC
family, The Willis Clan. But Wells’
biggest passion has always been
arts education.
Growing up in rural Louisiana,
Wells is proof that exposure to
quality performing arts
can be life changing.
It was an arts educa
tion program that him
saw in high school that
opened his mind to the
possibilities of a career
in the arts. Now coming
full circle, he is excited
to provide the local
students of Greene and Putnam
Counties with access to amazing
performing arts through OPAS
Education Programs.
OPAS has long been a supporter
of arts education programs and
is dedicated to bringing innova
tive performing arts to all of the
schools in Putnam and Greene
SEE WELLS » A8
Wells
Newspaper waiting
on records from GCSS
Staff Reports
news@lakeoconeenews.us
Greene County
School System failed to
complete Freedom of In
formation Act requests
from Lake Oconee
News, and among other Brown
things, cited an ongoing
investigation of “complaints
against public officers or employ
ees” as the reason.
However, by failure to reply in
a timely fashion to the Feb. 23
requests, GCSS may find itself
under investigation.
“We were very disappointed in
the school system’s response,” said
LON editor Dave Brown.
“We think the best
thing right now is for
cooler heads to prevail
over the Easter weekend
and revisit this unfortu
nate situation next week.
“We want it to be
crystal clear that the
attorney we contacted
via the Georgia Press
Association reiterated what we
already knew.”
The LON staff did receive
almost all of the requested
records from the Greene County
School System following several
Freedom of Information Act
requests filed by Greene County
SEE GCSS » A3
G11EENSB01E
\Spring Fling 99 SALE
20-50% off
all inventory including
John Medeiros, Seiko and Pulsar
watches, all diamond jewelry and
remaining Pandora
SALE ends April 30th!
118 N. Main Street * Downtown Greensboro * 706-453-9222
