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Scenes like this will be frequent during June.
Drunkenness won't be crime
Griffin is willing to try plan
City commissioners voted to
decriminalize drunkenness for a 12-
months trial period, provided the state
comes across with $115,000 to finance
an accompanying alcoholic treatment
program.
The vote was 3 to 2 with Commission
ers Raymond Head, Louis Goldstein
and Dick Mullins in favor and
Commissioners Ernest “Tiggy” Jones
and R. L. '‘Skeeter’’ Norsworthy
opposed.
Roger Scott who heads the state
financed alcoholic treatment center on
South Hill street came to the commiss
ioners’ Tuesday morning meeting to
discuss the program. City Atty. Bob
Smalley and Public Safety Director
Leonard Pitts also were present.
Under the Uniform Alcoholism and
Intoxification Treatment Act passed by
the Georgia General Assembly, public
drunks who commit no crime can
volunteer to accept treatment instead
of going to jail. The act does not apply
to driving under the influence charges.
The law has not yet gone into effect
and Griffin will be the first Georgia
community to try the program,
provided it gets the state money.
Under the act, when a police officer
spots someone drunk, he can offer to
Baccalaureate
to be tonight
Some 398 Griffin High seniors will don
japs and gowns this evening for
Mccalaureate at Memorial Stadium at
o’clock.
The Rev. Thurman Fountain, pastor
>f the First Assembly of God Church,
rill deliver the sermon.
He will speak from the subject,
People
...and things
Young homemaker, cautiously
glancing over shoulder to see if anyone
s looking, then counting lemons in bag
at supermarket to make sure she is
jetting the largest number.
Firemen enjoying shade of small tree
at city hall, after a long cold winter.
Young woman at wheel of compact
ar struggling along with trailer much
rigger than vehicle.
take him for treatment. If the drunk
refuses, the officer can offer to take
him home. And if he refuses that, the
officer can place him under protective
custody and put him in jail. He will not
be charged with any offense.
After being held for up to 12 hours, the
officer can again offer him treatment.
If he refuses again, he will be released
from custody.
Scott said he had asked for $115,000 to
finance the program for one year, but the
DHR indicated he could get only
$65,000, an amount which “would give
us a fair try," he said.
The money would be used to increase
the staff and expand the existing
program to 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week.
When the center on Hill street is not
open at night and on weekends, 2
members of the staff would be on duty
at the hospital emergency room.
According to Scott, about half of the
emergency room’s patients have some
type of mental problems, many alcohol
related. The staff could help with other
patients, too, he explained.
The city would lose some $15,000 in
drunk fines, plus the labor of convicted
drunks in the cemetery, according to
“What Do I Expect From Me.”
Others on the program include the
Rev. E. J. O’Neal, pastor of the
Springhill Baptist Church who will offer
the invocation. The scripture will be
read by the Rev. Elvyn J. McDonald,
pastor of the Hanleiter United
Methodist Church.
Following the sermon, the Rev.
Edward Sisson, pastor of the Crestview
Baptist Church, will offer the prayer.
Music will be by the Griffin High
symphonic band.
In the event of rain the ceremonies
will be moved indoors to the Griffin
High auditorium.
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA -
Fair and little cooler tonight with lows
in low 60s. Thursday sunny and warm
with highs in mid 80s. ,
LOCAL WEATHER - Low this
morning at Spalding Forestry Unit 68,
high Tuesday 90.
Other months crowd June
If the month of June is to maintain its
reputation as the month of brides, it is
becoming more and more evident there
will have to be a higher number of
marriages over those on record for the
first five months of 1977.
Records in the Spalding County
Judge of Probate Court indicate that
April has been the month with the most
marriage license applications in 1977.
There were 43 marriage licenses
issued in April.
Mrs. Jolene Taylor, probate
secretary, feels the June issuances will
have to surge to outdo the month of
April.
DAILY
Daily Since 1872
Chief Pitts. Pitts said many of the more
than 300 people arrested in the city last
year were not “just plain drunk on the
street, but were involved in family and
domestic problems also."
The program is in effect in Florida
where it is successful, Scott said.
“One out of 2 people treated are
helped and I am confident there would
be a savings both in police time in
dealing with drunks and in costs of the
city’s keeping them,” Scott said.
Commissioner Goldstein moved the
city go along with the program on a 12-
months trial basis, provided the state
puts in the full amount requested,
$115,000.
“If they are going to have a pilot
program, let the state give it all it has
and us do the same,” he said.
The motion was seconded by
Commissioner Mullins who said he had
“strong reservations” but would go
along if the full amount was
appropriated.
Mayor Raymond Head said he
favored the program even if the
appropriation was $65,000.
“Let’s try it for 12 months. It could be
a great savings to the city in years to
come and if drunks can get help, we
should give them a chance,” he said.
The Country Parson
by Frank Clark
“When the world finally to at
peace, it won’t be because it to
so well prepared for war.”
Digby gator
military
background?
That eight-foot alligator captured
between Digby and Hollonville last
week probably has a military back
ground.
The Griffin Troop of the Georgia
National Guard went to Fort Stewart
near Hinesville, Ga., for annual
summer training in 1955.
When the unit returned home it
brought several wild pigs and one pet
alligator which was two and a half feet
long.
The part-time soldiers ate the pigs.
The alligator stopped eating, so it was
turned loose in the Flint River not far
from where the one last week was
taken.
Here come the brides
In 1976, June had to compete with the
month of March which posted 43
licenses.
June went on to beat that number in
1976 with 52 licenses.
Mrs. Taylor has hope for June this
year in anticipation of vacation time
when schools and colleges will be out
for the summer.
Marriages could very well be in the
works during the off-time.
To date there have been 171 marriage
licenses issued in Spalding County since
January.
There were 499 marriage licenses
issued in 1976.
GRIFFIN
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Wednesday Afternoon, June 1,1977
Norsworthy and Jones both opposed
the proposal.
“I would agree to forfeit the fine if
they would take treatment. There is
only 1 cure and that’s to quit drinking.
If doctors and scientists are so smart,
how come alcoholism has increased so
much during the past 20 or 30 years,”
Norsworthy asked.
“I’d like to see the program, but the 3
or 4 percent helped would not justify the
costs,” he added.
Jones said he was afraid “our police
officers would be put in the position of
being criticized. Thirty-five to 50
percent of the drunks arrested are
weekend drinkers who enjoy it. The
program’s not going to help them.
Besides, the program is already
available to those who want to use it,”
he said.
Georgia’s lawmakers are well aware
of the Florida law and if they did not
have strong reservations, they would
have made it effective throughout the
state, Jones added.
Scott said he was optimistic the
money would be approved. He set Sept.
1 as a target date to start the program.
A staff could be added and trained for
the hospital by then, he said.
Anita not in sight
Hurricane season begins
MIAMI (AP) - The 1977 Atlantic
hurricane season began today with
Anita nowhere in sight.
Anita will be the name given to this
season’s first tropical storm or
hurricane, if and when it appears.
There will be ample advance warning
before any storm makes its debut.
Forecasters at the National
Hurricane Center, located at the
University of Miami, will be watching
the eastern Caribbean, the Gulf of
Mexico and the open Atlantic for storm
formations.
“We’ll be looking for a change in
cloud structures,” said John Hope, a
hurricane forecaster. “Then we will
watch for circular banding (bands of
rain clouds moving in a circular pat
tern).”
The first system that could lead to a
hurricane would be a tropical
depression, Hope explained. That
would consist of a closed circulation
and a lower-than-normal barometic
pressure with surface winds less than
39 miles per hour.
“When winds reach 39 m.p.h., it will
become a tropical storm and be
The 171 figure, even with a good June
month, projectively will run less than
half the total number of marriage
license issued in 1976.
This year June will have a nice battle
to overcome the month of March in
which there were 36 marriage licenses
issued.
March of 1976 was the first contender
with June 1976 for the brides month title
with 43 licenses on record.
This year June will also have to beat
January and May which are running
close with 33 issuances each on record.
February of 1977 seemingly suffered
as a result of the cold weather for there
NEWS
-
LAWRENCE, Kans.—Bruce Silkey (1) and Pam Pool who are third graders at
Cordley elementary school hang on to the rope during a tug-of-war. (AP)
named,” Hope added.
Forecasters say that weather pat
terns may change this year and could
result in some vicious storms.
There were six hurricanes and three
tropical storms in 1976, but only one
tropical storm and one hurricane en
dangered the Americas. The others
remained at sea until they dissipated.
Griffin s biggest party
Griffin Moose Lodge No. 1503 pitched
its biggest party ever last night.
At one time or another, Manager
Roger Bevil estimated, a thousand
people were there. He and his staff
served an estimated 650 at a Hawaiian
luau which was complete with an
islands band and entertainers. The
affair was limited to paid-up members
and their female guests and was free
for them.
The feast table included a whole roast
hog dressed down to one hundred and
one pounds. All of it was eaten —
except, as several members
were only 22 licenses issued.
This is in contrast to a very good
February in 1976 for which there were
32 issuances.
In a comparison of issuances made
for other months in first half of 1976,
January recorded 40 licenses, April 39
and May a very slow, 27.
Probate Judge John Snider will be
working through his first June in the
office he was elected to during the
November elections.
He says there won’t be any special
measures taken for rush of June
licenses but the office will be ready to
handle those who come.
Eye strain
Missing cobra
found curled
in a cranny
ATLANTA (AP) — A cobra missing
for a month from its cage in the snake
house at Grant Park Zoo was found
Tuesday night — in the snake house at
Grant Park Zoo.
Ted Mastroianni, director of the
Atlanta Bureau of Parks and
Recreation, said a zookeeper, Kent
Bendict, saw the remnants of a cobra
skin and called other zookeepers, who
found the poisonous Asian Common
Cobra “curled up in a cranny.”
commented, the whistle.
The holiday-spirited guests ate 250
pounds of barbecued pork ribs, 900 fried
chicken legs, 200 pounds of potato
salad, an assortment of vegetables,
salads and island fruits, umpteen dozen
rolls, stacks of cookies and other
pastries. They drank over 50 gallons of
iced tea.
In the aftermath of the party today,
Lodge Governor James Chappell
praised Manager Bevil and his staff for
their efficient serving of the crowd.
Then he said, “We’ll have to do it again
some time.”
Vol. 105 No. 129
