About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2016)
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
