About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2016)
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
