Newspaper Page Text
If the city and county
commissioners do what
they should, both
governments would get
proportionate relief. If
they don’t, the people
should turn us out —
Frank Thomas.
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Father Timothy Ondahl (!) and the Rev. Charley Riggs.
Prison chaplains
serve ‘cafeteria’
ATLANTA (AP) - Father Timothy
Ondahl and the Rev. Charley Riggs
serve a walled parish of 2,200 captive
men whose religious affiliations run
from the Salvation Army to the Hanafi
Muslims.
They are chaplains at the Federal
Penitentiary in Atlanta.
“We coordinate 22 different religious
groups which meet a total of 79 times a
week,” said the Rev. Mr. Riggs. “And
we have as good a cafeteria of religious
styles as you will find.”
But the chaplains say their most
important work is meeting the in
dividual religious needs of the
prisoners.
“Most of the prisoners we see have a
religious orientation that is rather
magical,” said Father Ondahl. “You
holler ‘God’ when you’re up to your
eyeballs in alligators.”
“Many prisoners are out of touch
with any religious orientation,” the
Rev. Mr. Riggs said.
The two chaplains have offices up two
narrow flights of stairs in the prison
proper. An iron-barred door is shut and
locked to prevent theft when they are
not in their offices.
“Most of the prisoners we see,”
GRIFFIN
Daily Since 1872
City, county divided
on local option tax
Spalding County residents may get to
vote on a 1 percent local option sales tax
before the November school bond
referendum.
The city and county commissioners
discussed the matter at length during a
joint meeting Tuesday morning but
reached no agreement.
If a referendum passes county wide,
some $1.4-million income would be
earned by the city and county govern
ments. About SBOO,OOO would go to the
city and $600,000 to the county.
Under a state law, the county would
be obligated to roll back ad valorem
taxes on property outside the city limits
for the total amount collected each
year. County taxes on city property
would not be affected.
The city, however, would be required
to reduce its ad valorem taxes for the
first year only.
A referendum was held county wide
less than 2 years ago and was defeated
Father Ondahl said, “are filled with
anxiety. They haven’t been able to
cope. Most of them are genuinely aware
that there is more to life than what they
have.”
The most serious problem faced by
prisoners, the Rev. Mr. Riggs said, is
“they have sensed a lack of love in their
lives.
“We try to live out our own com
mitments and care for them. A number
of conversion experiences have cen
tered on the presence of another caring
person,” he said.
Many of the prisoners live in groups
of four in cell blocks piled five or six
stories high. The highest cells are
fenced to prevent inmates from falling
or jumping.
A program run by Father Ondahl—
“Genesis Two,”—aims at restoring a
background of love. “The program uses
scripture, common experience, mental
health techniques, to teach that if we
are trying to love, we must first see that
we are lovable people,” he said.
The chaplains do little overt
evangelism. “The product sells itself,”
said Father Ondahl, “and basically I’m
(Continued on page three.)
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, May 11,1977
by a vote of almost 5 to 1. If it's defeated
again, the city could hold its own
referendum. And if passed in the city,
city residents would reap all the
benefits, having some $1.2-million in
extra income, more than enough to cut
out all city property taxes, except the
2.4-mills for bonded indebtedness.
City garbage collection fees could
also be reduced $3 monthly, from $5 to
$2.
Residents who live outside the city
limits would pay a large share but
Vould reap no benefits. Some $200,000
annually would come from citizens who
shop in Griffin but reside outside of
Spalding County.
According to the state law, the county
has the first choice of holding a
referendum. Before the city can call its
own, the county first must either refuse
to hold a county wide referendum or the
measure must be defeated by county
voters.
People
••• and things
Men using street closed sign while
working on sidewalk in front of city
haU.
Boy about 6 years old taking nap in
back of pickup truck parked downtown
on South Hill street.
Three husky men struggling to put
big tank back on pickup truck at
Solomon and 14th streets intersection
while other drivers wait patiently for
them to clear the way.
Pike okays
school budget
for new year
The Pike County Board of Education
has adopted a $1,656,118 budget for the
1977-78 year. That figure only includes
state and local funds. The local effort is
$4,037 less than the 1976-77 budget.
Final budget approval was made
Tuesday night at the board’s regular
monthly meeting.
The board also approved a resolution,
approving the purchase of lockers by
the Pike PTA.
The PTA will borrow money to
purchase lockers and repay it through
locker rental and projects. The lockers
will be installed before the 1977-78 term
begins.
Board members also approved 3 new
teachers, a bus driver and a teacher
aide salary schedule.
The 1977-78 school calendar was
approved.
The school board called a special
meeting for May 17 to hear a report
from Bill Cody on Pike’s
comprehensive study.
The State Department of Education
recently submitted a written report to
the Pike Board of Education that
contains recommendations from the
study committee on facilities, program
and building needs of schools in the
county.
Mr. Cody, of the State Department of
Education, will meet with the board to
discuss those recommendations.
Dr. Jim Mullins, superintendent, said
the recommendations were very
supportive of the educational program
in Pike.
“There are suggestions for building
programs and expansion of several
programs,” the superintendent said.
Dr. Mullins also reported to the board
that every school in Pike County had
been evaluated and found in
compliance with all standards.
“Citizens of Pike County should be
proud to learn that all schools have met
all standards and accreditation
criteria,” Dr. Mullins said.
The city took the first step some 3
weeks ago when it asked the county to
hold a county wide referendum. The
county has 90 days to answer and if it
decides to go ahead, must set the voting
date within 45 days which would be
sometime in August or September.
County Commissioner Reid Childers
said if the city is determined to have a
referendum, the county will go ahead,
but “if it is left up to us, we would not”.
Terming the sales tax “the fairest of
all taxes”, Childers questioned whether
the city would encourage its defeat
county wide so that it (the city) could
hold its own referendum.
“If the county has no relief, it has no
recourse but to increase property
taxes,” he said.
The commissioners took divided
stands on the issue.
City Commissioner Louis Goldstein
opposed a county wide sales tax unless
its proceeds would be used to reduce
Pair of pants saved ’em
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) - A
man who spent 17 hours adrift with a
fishing companion, clinging to an in
flated pair of blue jeans, says he is
sunburned and bug-bitten, but alive and
happy.
“We beat the whole thing,” David
Beaufait said in an interview Tuesday
night, as he recounted his castaway
ordeal.
Beaufait said he, Dr. W. B. Walker
and Dr. Milton J. Arras, all of St.
Simons Island, were fishing from a
sandbar on the island Sunday when
their boat began to float away from
them.
“Jack (Arras) went after the boat
and Dr. Walker stepped off the sandbar
to retrieve our tackle. The tide got
ahold of him and it pulled me out when I
tried to help him back in,” he said.
“We lost sight of the boat quickly and
we figured Jack didn’t make it back,”
he said. “We were so low in the water
that I’m sure he couldn’t see us.”
Arras got back to shore in the boat,
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Curtis Riggins of Griffin led the pack in the 880 at Rockdale County as the
Bears aimed at the 6-AAA finals Thursday. Pictures and story page 18.
Vol. 105 No. 11l
property taxes of county residents
living inside the city limits. He said it’s
not fair to lower county taxes of
residents outside the city and not for
those inside.
Goldstein said he would like for the
city property tax rollback to be made
permanent and binding on future
commissioners and that it be voted on
as permanent in the referendum.
City Commissioner R. L. “Skeeter”
Norsworthy said he is opposed “to the
whole thing. . . It’s ridiculous, the
poorest piece of legislation I’ve ever
seen. The legislature ought to go back
and make a simple roll back equal for
the city and county," he said.
City Commissioner Ernest “Tiggy”
Jones said he would not support
spending money on a special called
referendum. It should be on the
November ballot, he said. He promised
not to work for or against the issue but
(Continued on page 3)
but was convinced his companions had
not, Beaufait learned later.
Sharks were in the water, Beaufait,
41, knew. “I had caught a four-foot
shark earlier in the day.”
He managed to inflate a pair of pants
he had been wearing after tying off the
cuffs, and he and Walker clung to their
makeshift water wings as they treaded
water.
The pair sighted a search helicopter
during the afternoon, he said, “but it
was going the wrong way. Another
came around at night when we got up on
a sandbar, but it turned away at just the
wrong time.”
When night fell, he said, “we kept
trying to talk it up to one another that
we would make it by morning. Both of
us were afraid we wouldn’t.
“We guessed the professionals—the
Coast Guard and rescue folks—had
given us up. But we were intent on
licking it.
“Hanging on to the pants kept us
together during the night,” he said. “At
one time we got our directions mixed up
Weather
FORECAST — Mostly fair with
slowly moderating temperatures
through Thursday.
EXTENDED FORECAST — Fair
Friday and Saturday. Partly cloudy
and a little warmer with a chance of
thundershowers northwest Sunday.
LOCAL WEATHER — Low this
morning at Spalding Forestry unit 44,
high Tuesday 78.
I’ll fight to get it passed
county wide. If it fails, I
would support it city
wide. I’m for the coun
ty getting benefits—
Raymond Head.
and tried to go in different directions,
pulling on the same pair of pants.”
He said they continued to drift,
hoping the incoming tide would bring
them to the land of St. Simons.
About 1 a.m. Monday, Beaufait said,
“Dr. Walker heard the surf in the dark,
and we guided ourselves by the lights
from Brunswick to the beach.
“We were two very happy guys when
we got there.”
Beaufait’s wife Darlene said she
never gave up. “Even after Jack said
he was sure they were gone, I knew we
just had too many people praying for
them. I knew they would make it.”
The pair snatched some sleep until
dawn, when they discovered they were
on little St. Simons, an island just north
of St. Simons.
“We had to walk about five or six
miles to get to a phone. That was a
beautiful walk,” he said.
“When we walked up on the beach,
we saw a bunch of buzzards circling
around, and you couldn’t help thinking,
‘Who are they looking for?”’
