Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current, March 30, 1977, Image 1

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Griffin daily news., March 30, 1977, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextThe usual It’s long line time again at the Spalding County tag agent’s office in the cour thouse. With the Friday deadline approaching, hundreds of Griffinites will form lines like this one to get their car tags and pay taxes on the vehicles. People who miss the 5 p.m. Friday deadline will be subject to penalties. City casts eye to local option * Griffin City Commissioners plan to * talk about calling for a referendum on a local option sales tax when they meet t next week. • They touched on the topic lightly at Tuesday's administrative planning session. Commissioner Dick Mullins said he wanted to know how much revenue the .local option tax would bring in for the ’ city. Commissioner Louis Goldstein wanted to know how much garbage fees Violent . crimes decrease 4 WASHINGTON (AP) - Violent , crime declined in virtually every comer of the country last year, but a surge in thefts in some big cities prevented the over-all national crime ' rate from falling, the FBI reports. Preliminary statistics for 1976 show no change from the previous year in the * number of crimes reported to state and * local police. It marked the first time in five years that the crime rate did not f increase. , The number of murders across the country dropped 10 per cent, and a decline in the murder rate was reported * in every population category and in all geographic regions. The FBI issued the report today. » Atty. Gen. Griffin Bell called the ’ statistics “an encouraging sign for the criminal justice system and for the t public.” * But he added, “We must not ease our efforts in this struggle, because the incidence of crime still remains far too J high.” Though the over-all rate held steady and violent crimes declined, stealing , rose 5 per cent nationally and by much ■ higher percentages in some cities. In Houston a startling 42 per cent increase in larceny and theft was reported. a f .People ...and things ’ Man who pledged not to wait until last minute, waiting in tag line more than two hours. Small dogwood tree at 12th and Poplar streets in full bloom, .brightening comer, despite gray skies. IPre-teener to aunt: “I don’t want a chocolate rabbit this Easter. I’ll take '.the money.” GRIFFIN DAI LY N EWS Daily Since 1872 ■' ■ i _ " I t*' ■** i W-1 M I IF* X K ' ’// I jb Ml. ‘ *h MhiTlaß 9 111, Wrillt'W, fM V H.<J -9 31 L SV itS r \JSJI JO rSr 3 S i&ift JIP-iltj {J®® * MmT WamWii * fKk ww -.W a ■ 4m m?j3 WW’4 M Mi MLS O MbJmW IBSv^H^Kr‘ - - 4M^ mSW ;JR.xQI ■k J" ’' 1 J . y ■'■* ’ ' ■ H. I’ ■? ' ‘ - ■ - 'MMFwsm *’ • .>■*>-;> • <j4<laUr ■' ; x Kxe^:S-''WHVVVBSVSVSHVVVVSVVHMHMMHMM^^M«™^ww--*aM«i^CT^^ ! ... could be cut if the local option tax were approved by voters. City Manager Roy Inman planned to make a report to the commissioners next week on revenue estimates. Under Georgia law, cities and counties may set up local sales taxes as a means of offering property tax relief. Spalding County voters turned down the local option tax idea the first time it was offered. But some of the county commissioners have mentioned the possibility of bringing up the matter again. Coroner’s jury rules killing was justifiable homicide here A Spalding County coroner’s jury has ruled that 18-year-old Maurice Eugene “Bingo” Mann came to his death as a result of a gunshot wound to the left chest inflicted by Mrs. Avie Stallings and that the shooting was justifiable homicide. The jury, under the direction of Coroner Emmett Chappell, met late Tuesday afternoon in the City Hall courtroom and heard testimony for almost 2 hours. Witnesses included Keith Hurley, a friend of the victim who was with him the night of Feb. 25 when the shooting occurred; Dr. Virgil Williams, who performed the autopsy; Mrs. Stallings; and Capt. WaUace Pitts of the Griffin Police Department’s detective division. Hurley said he and Mann (both Griffin High students) got together that afternoon after work and because the banks were closed, they went to a liquor store to cash Mann’s pay check. He said the store operator refused to cash the check unless they purchased something, so Mann bought a bottle of wine. Hurley said he did not drink anything, but that Mann drank the wine and some beer. About 11 o’clock, Hurley said, Mann suggested they ride by a house on Melton street and shine the lights in the window. He said the woman who lived there “was supposed to be a witch and would make all kinds of faces at you.” “Everybody was afraid to go there. They were afraid she’d put a spell on them,” Hurley testified. He said Mann said he was going to knock on the door and he wanted Hurley to tell his friends he was not afraid. They drove by once, then Mann told him to go back again. He got out of the car and knocked on the door. “I didn’t like the idea; I called to him to stop,” Hurley continued. He said Maim started back and got Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, March 30,1977 The Country Parson by Frank Clark Sr® “Contentment comes from solving our problems —or being unaware there are any.” about 6 feet from the car when he (Hurley) saw the gunfire and his friend fall. He said he ran to Mann and Mrs. Stallings pointed the weapon at him and asked “if I wanted some of it, too.” He asked Mrs. Stallings to call an ambulance and she went back into her house. He said when he went to the house to get some water for Mann, Mr. Edward Stallings gave it to him and told him they should not have been there. Several police cars arrived before the ambulance and Hurley said he gave Mann mouth to mouth resuscitation while waiting. Dr. Virgil Williams who performed a post mortem examination, testified that death came as a result of a gunshot wound of the left chest. A blood sample sent to the state crime lab in Atlanta showed the victim’s alcohol blood count to be .10 percent, which is considered an intoxicating level, Dr. Williams said. Mrs. Stallings who lives at 102 Melton street, next door to her mother, Mrs. Vester Ellis’s home at 104 Melton street, testified her mother had been Rural mail carrier awaits word on firing He ran for county commissioner and won race; lost his job under Hatch Act EVANS, Ga. (AP) - W. Dilliard Watkins sorted and delivered his mail Tuesday, waiting for official word that he had been dismissed as a rural mail carrier for violating the Hatch Act. Watkins, who ran as a Democrat and won a seat on the Columbia County Commission, learned Monday he will be dismissed from the U.S. Postal Service because he ran in a partisan election. “I got the letter yesterday,” Watkins said Tuesday, “but I went on down to Mayor Head called Grand jury plans drug abuse probe Mayor Raymond Head told fellow city commissioners Tuesday he had been called to appear before a special grand jury session next week on drug abuse. He asked the commissioners for their guidance. The grand jury has been called into session Monday morning. City Commissioner Louis Goldstein said he harrassed before on several occasions. “My mother can’t hear. Her windows had been broken twice and a screen tom off. Bottles were broken at the door and people would come by and say things,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “With her not being able to hear, I is concerned for her,” she continued. ' On Feb. 25, Mrs. Stallings said, she /nad retired for the night and was having trouble getting to sleep when she heard a car stop in front of her mother’s house. She said she woke her husband and told him to phone the police. She got a pistol from a bureau drawer and walked out the front door, she said. “I saw someone and called out ‘What are you doing at my mother’s door?’ When he turned I didn’t know what he was going to do. He took a step or two.. I raised the gun and fired into the air,” she said. She said she walked over to him and asked what he was doing there and if she had hit him and where he was hit. She then went back into the house to put on her robe and get a blanket for him, she said. the post office and asked the post master what to do. He said he hadn’t heard anything, so go ahead and deliver the mail.” The U.S. Civil Service Commission ruled Friday that Watkins was in violation of the Hatch Act, which bans federal employes from participating in partisan political activities. President Carter last week asked that the Hatch Act be revised to lift restrictions from those “not in sensitive Vol. 105 No. 75 Capt. Pitts said the police department first received a call of an attempted burglary at the house at 11:39 p.m. When officers arrived, Mann was found lying flat on his back approxima tely 20 feet from the front door of Mrs. Ellis’ house, near the sidewalk, Pitts said. The jury deliberated a few minutes before returning their findings. Mrs. Stallings was represented by Atty. Jim Owen. Mr. Emory Mann, the victim’s father, was represented by Atty. Larry Evans. “My son never harmed anybody in his life. The only thing, the boy was just curious and wanted his buddies to know he wasn’t afraid to knock on that door,” the father remarked after the session. He termed the whole thing just a teenage prank and said he has heard that hundreds of other boys have gone there. He has taken a warrant charging Mrs. Stallings with voluntary manslaughter. The incident may be considered by the Spalding Superior Court Grand Jury in June. positions.” Carter said more than 2.8 million federal employes “are now denied a full opportunity to participate in the electoral process.” Watkins, a mail carrier in this east Georgia area eight years, said he and others interested in his case had asked the Carter administration for changes in the act, but he said he had no way of knowing if their requests had con tributed to Carter’s decision to propose changes. Weather FORECAST: Thundershowers likely tonight, ending early Thursday. EXTENDED FORECAST: Fair and mild through Sunday. strongly urged the cooperation of the city and county in the fight against drug abuse. “Speed, heroin and cocaine—the harder stuff—are more prevalent in Griffin than I thought,” commented Commissioner Dick Mullins. Mayor Head brought up the matter Tuesday at the city’s administrative and planning session. Looking for woman of year The Griffin-Spalding County Jaycettes are asking for nominations for Young Woman of the Year. The nominees must be between the ages of 21 and 36. The winner will be selected by a nonpartial panel of judges on her contributions to the community, merit, worthiness and accomplish ments. All civic and religious groups, as well as private citizens, are encouraged to submit nominations. Nomination forms can be obtained from all 3 Griffin banks and their branches. They should be completed and returned by April 29. The winner will be honored at a special dinner meeting at Rogers II Restaurant on May 19. The public is invited and reservations will be taken at a later date. Mrs. Diane Irvine is the Jaycettes Young Woman of the Year chairman. He and his lawyer made an argument similar to Carter’s at a February hearing. They claimed the Hatch Act violates the rights of federal employes by denying them political rights guaranteed other Americans. The commission disallowed Watkins’ contention that the Hatch Act is un constitutional and said, “The violation warrants his removal from employ ment.”