Newspaper Page Text
Morgan Soccer Lady Bulldogs tied for first with Oconee County Jl] || |
ill! tli_ J
Lake Oconee News
J
Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia's Lake Country \ www.LakeOconeeNews.us
FRIDAY APRIL 15 2016
VOL. 18 NO. 15
75 CENTS
MORGAN
COUNTY RELAY
FOR LIFE NEARS
$40K GOAL
community » B1
APRIL IS
CHILD ABUSE
AWARENESS
MONTH
community » B2
STAY CONNECTED
facebook.com/
lakeoconeenews
@lakeoconeenews
@lakeoconeenews
index
Calendar B4-5
Churches B6
Classifieds D4
Community B1
Obituaries A6
Opinions A8
Recipes D1
Sports C1
FRIDAY
70/49
Partly Cloudy
WEATHER »D7
MORGAN COUNTY
LEE MURDER TRIAL BEGINS
Jeff Warren
jeff@lakeoconeenews.us
Attorneys for the state and defendant,
Donald Justin Lee, presented opening argu
ments Tuesday morning, April 12, and tes
timony began in Lee’s trial for the death of
infant Brantley Farmer. Lee is charged with
murder, felony murder, first-degree cruelty to
children, aggravated battery and aggravat
ed assault. Brantley Farmer was the son of
Kristen Farmer, Lee’s girlfriend at the time of
Brantley’s death.
As told by Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District
Attorney Stephen Bradley in the prosecution
opening argument, Lee had lived five weeks in
the home of Brantley’s mother on Aqua Road,
when Brantley’s untimely death happened.
Saturday, March 22, 2014 near 1:40 p.m., Lee
sought help from landlord neighbor, Dottie
Freeman. She was vacuuming her car inside
her carport when Lee showed up, holding the
child in his arms and asking for help, Freeman
testified. Brantley was not breathing.
Freeman said she did not know Lee or im
mediately recognize Brantley as her tenant’s
child but moved to her kitchen and phoned
911 using a cordless phone. Freeman testi-
SEE TRIAL » A12
Donald Justin
Lee at the
time of his
arrest, March
2014. Lee is
on trial for
murder and
other charges
in connection
with the
death of
infant,
Brantley
Farmer.
Contributed
Contributed
Lake Oconee Academy hosted the 4th Annual Titan Trot 5K and Fun Runs at the school Saturday
morning. The race, which benefited Relay for Life, started in front of the school, traveled down West
Lake Road and back again. Chris Dietrich, 38, of Eatonton clocked in the winning time of 19:05:9 at
Saturday's Titan Trot at Lake Oconee Academy. Fun Run racers, above, take off towards the front of
Lake Oconee Academy in hopes of getting the best time on their mile-long run.
PUTNAM COUNTY
Unde Remus Museum celebrates anniversary Sunday
Founded in 1963 by a group with free admission to the public County. It depicts a fireside setting
of citizens wishing to preserve on Sunday, April 17. typical for the period of Harris’
the writings of native son, Joel The original museum was con- youth, wood carvings of several
Chandler Harris, the museum will structed from the remains of
celebrate its 53 years of operation several log cabins from Putnam SEE MUSEUM » All
GREENE COUNTY
Southland
Jubilee is
Saturday
Stroll the streets of historic
downtown Greensboro at
the 18th Annual Southland
Jubilee this Saturday, April 16
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Since it’s beginning in
1998, Southland Jubilee has
been downtown Greensboro’s
premier event, developing a
reputation across the region
as a quality heritage arts
festival. Visitors from near
and far will parade the streets
of downtown Greensboro to
participate in an array of fam
ily-friendly festivities, packed
with arts and crafts, food, a
classic car show, agriculture
exhibits, children’s activities
and live entertainment.
SEE JUBILEE » A10
0
94922 87855 7
Published by
Smith
Communications Inc.
LAKE COUNTRY
Seven BOE candidates
introduced this week
The Lake Oconee News is
happy to provide space for all
of the qualified candidates
for the upcoming May local
election. Correspondence
was sent to all candidates via
United States Postal Service
and email and the deadline
was set for April 1.
This ongoing elections series will follow the following schedule:
April 15 edition: Board of Education candidates
April 22 edition: Sheriff candidates
April 29 edition: Coroner, probate judge, clerk of court and tax com
missioner candidates
May 6 edition: State elections candidates, including superior court
judge and state representative candidates.
SEE CANDIDATES, PAGES A2-3
PUTNAM COUNTY
Final season for PAPA pair
Contributed
Dottie and Dennis McClain are
longtime leaders of Putnam
Alliance for Performing Arts.
Lynn Hobbs
lynn@lakeoconeenews.us
It all started out of a desire for
something to do, and 26 years
and 52 drama productions later,
the McClains have decided to step
out of the spotlight.
Dennis and Dottie McClain,
who have worked in leadership
roles in all of Putnam Alliance
for Performing Arts’ productions
since 1990, announced this year’s
productions will be their final
curtain calls. They live in Eaton-
ton’s Historic District.
“But we still want to be active in
the community wherever we can
SEE FINAL » All
—/ v v /V v / V /’
1 st PLACE AGAIN!
IN SELLING ENERGY EFFICIENT HEAT PUMPS
IN OUR REGION FOR
mm
866 Harmony Rd. Eatonton, GA | Phone: 706-485-5456 | www.bryant-air.com
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
