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People
••• and things
Grown jogger clad in shorts with
stereo radio headphones making his
way through downtown afternoon
traffic.
Two young boys, one with a cast on
his left arm, tossing football under
street light on South Hill around 11 p.m.
Loyal football fan sweltering in 90
degree heat to watch B-team game at
stadium.
Lance says overdrafts
not matter of ethics
WASHINGTON (AP) - Insisting that
“I have done more than stay narrowly
within the law,” Bert Lance testified to
day that his conduct both as a banker
and as budget director meets the high
ethical standards set by President
Carter for members of his adminis
tration.
Pressed by a Republican senator
about his overdrawn checking accounts
in Calhoun, Ga., Lance replied — as he
has insisted earlier — that the issue
wasn’t a matter of ethics.
“In a place like Calhoun, where you
have a practice of overdrafts ...
overdrafts as such is not an ugly word,”
Lance told Sen. William V. Roth, R-Del.
"... To simply say overdrafts con
stitute an unethical situation, that is not
the case.”
No meter
first day
went well
Chief Leonard Pitts expects the
number of parking tickets downtown to
fall off after the first few days of the no
meter experiment.
He said some 65 to 70 parking tickets
were issued Thursday, the first day of
free street parking downtown.
When people learn they will get a
ticket for parking more than 2 hours in
one place, they will pay more attention
to the limits, Chief Pitts believes.
All in all, the chief said he thought the
first day of no-meters went well.
He expected the number of tickets to
be down today.
The city will run its no-meter trial
through Dec. 31. The city com
missioners will review the results of the
trial period and determine if the meters
will be reactivated or continued as they
are now.
People getting parking tickets may
settle them for $2 each within 7 days.
After that they will cost $4-
GRIFFIN
ijaiia#news
Daily Since 1872
“There was no attempt to hide, no
attempt to cover-up, no attempt not to
disclose anything,” Lance said of the
controversy over his Calhoun checking
account.
Roth began his questioning by
quoting Carter’s statement that staying
narrowly within the law would not be
enough to satisfy the ethical standards
of his administration.
Lance responded that he had met that
test and “certainly, I have done more
than stay narrowly within the law.”
During his appearance Thursday,
Lance said the question of whether he
had withheld information from the
committee, when his nomination as
budget director was before the panel
last January, was the most serious of
Reading
GHS grads all can read
Editor’s Note: This is the second of
two articles about reading and the
question parents and educators ask:
“Why Can’t Johnny Read.” Today,
Griffin High principal Tascar Williams
talks about reading in high school and
the “graduate who can’t read.”
Why Can’t Johnny Read? This is the
old cliche question to which parents and
educators have been seeking an answer
for many years.
Finally, they have agreed that there
are many questions about Johnny and
his reading and there are just as many
answers to those questions. They also
have found that the same questions and
answers do not fit any two Johnnies.
If Johnny cannot read, his problem is
not unique. Most likely, there are others
in his classroom with the common
problem, common, but not the same.
In recent years, reading has become
a primary target of federal programs
because of the charges made by some
that some students graduated from
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Friday Afternoon, September 16,1977
No children on bus
Three Decatur residents were injured this morning when
their car collided with a Griffin-Spalding school bus at
Eighth and Poplar streets. There were no students on the
bus and the driver, Mrs. Audrey Swain Maddox, escaped
injury. Mrs. Virginia Hunt Bryant, 39, of 2332 Tartan
drive, Decatur, failed to stop for a traffic light, according
to witnesses, one of whom was a Griffin hospital
emergency medical technician who was in his ambulance
at the intersection. He took Mrs. Bryant, her sister, Mrs.
Barbara Jones, 28, 2716 Ellen way, Decatur, and Mrs.
Jones’ daughter, Tracy, 5, to the hospital emergency
room for treatment. When the wreck occurred, the three
were enroute to the hospital where their mother, Mrs.
Emma Lou Hunt of Senoia, underwent surgery this
morning. Mrs. Bryant’s car was demolished. There was
some >1,500 damage to the bus, police said.
the issues raised against him.
Lance insisted he had told the
committee staff about his financial
dealings, including the overdrafts,
during his banking career.
Lance’s assertion prompted Sen.
Jacob K. Javits, R-N.Y., to say he
thought members of the committee
should testify about their interviews
last January with Lance.
In a packed hearing room, Lance
began his testimony Thursday, calmly
reading from a prepared statement for
close to two hours. He said he did
nothing wrong in building up a personal
financial empire, now seriously
troubled, and that no depositor “ever
lost a cent” in the two banks he ran in
Georgia.
high school and could not read.
Griffin High School principal Tascar
Williams says that Johnny has some
degree of reading skill or he will not
receive a diploma from Griffin High
School.
“There is no denying that we have
students who have reading problems.
However, much of this is their own
problem and not a problem in the school
system or the teaching techniques.
These students learn to read at an early
age, but do not put into practice what
they have learned,” he said.
Williams said those students who
cannot read or have little reading
ability are urged to get outside tutors to
help them with their reading.
“We are encouraging students to
read anything they can get their hands
on. The more they read, the more they
want to read,” he said.
An exchange of pocket books is being
established at the high school to en-
(Continued on page 3.)
Tide turns against
fence for hospital
That fence may not be erected around
the Griffin-Spalding Hospital grounds
after all.
During a Hospital Authority finance
committee meeting Thursday, Dick
Hyatt announced that “due to all the
commotion about the fence,” he intends
to withdraw his vote for it at Monday
night’s authority meeting.
“I haven’t heard from one person
who favored the fence. I think it’s
needed for the patients’ protection, but
if they don’t want protection, then I will
withdraw my affirmative vote,” Hyatt
said.
Larry Ballard, chairman of the
grounds committee, said he felt the
same way.
“I’ve had about a dozen calls chewing
me out about it,” he added.
The fence was approved at the
August meeting by a vote of 5 to 3.
Hyatt’s change would tie the vote 4 to 4
and if Ballard also withdraws his vote,
the matter could be dropped.
Other members voting for the fence
were Otis Head, Bill Wesley, and
Chairman 0. M. “Pete” Snider.
Jerry Savage, Mrs. Jo Pollard and
Dr. Kenneth Reynolds voted against it.
A year-end auditor’s report of the
hospital’s finances was expected to
have been filed today in the office of
Superior Court Clerk John Lindsey at
the Spalding Courthouse where it will
be available for public scrutiny.
A balance sheet showing a loss of
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Bert Lance, Atty. Clark Clifford and Sen. Charles Percy (1-r) during break in hearings.
COST gears up to fight
A group of people who fought the local
option sales tax in Spalding County 2
years ago plan to do the same thing
against a similar proposal for the city
of Griffin.
The Country Parson
by Frank Clark
“Faith enables people to
believe in things which are
impossible.”
Vol. 105 No. 220
$53,792 for the year will also be
published in the Griffin Daily News.
Salaries will not be included in the
report, according to Executive Director
William Feely. •
Patient statements soon will be
itemized. Comptroller Vernon Baker
said as soon as “the bugs are ironed
out” patients will begin receiving
itemized bills on services.
Also notations on x-ray bills will state
that charges for radiologists and
physicians who read the x-rays are not
included.
The hospital has a $27,000 asset that
apparently nobody knew about.
Mr. Baker reported that some old
stock had been found in a safe deposit
box. It had been donated to the hospital
years ago and “we have no idea who
donated it,” said Administrator Carl
Ridley.
It was worth about S3OO to start and in
today’s market would bring some
$27,000, Baker said. The stock had split
several times, he added.
The finance committee voted to
recommend that it be sold. They did not
discuss what would be done with the
proceeds.
At Monday night’s meeting, the board
will be given the current quote on its
value and officials will check and try to
learn where it came from.
“Spalding County got off real cheap
The group called itself COST which
stood for Citizens Opposed to Sales Tax.
It led an active campaign against
passage of the proposal 2 years ago in
the county.
Jimmy Goolsby, a member of COST,
put out a press release against the
proposal this week. He said the group
plans to speak out at public forums
before Griffin voters cast ballots Sept.
27.
Goolsby refuted the claim that
property owners would get a break if
the local option sales tax passes in the
city.
Advocates of the local sales tax say
the money it brings in will be used to cut
property taxes in the city by that much.
City Commissioners favoring it have
stated they will cut property taxes and
lower garbage fees if the tax is passed.
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA —
Thunderstorms diminishing tonight.
Mostly sunny Saturday. Low tonight in
upper 60s; high Saturday in mid 80s.
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA —
Low this morning at the Spalding
Forestry Unit 70; high Thursday 90,
rainfall .39 of an Inch.
Also
Also in this story:
1. Audit report to show loss.
2. Bills to be itemized.
3. Hospital finds stock it didn’t know
about.
4. Ambulance service “real
bargain.”
5. Surrounding counties to be asked
to support their charity cases.
last year. It’s the best bargain”,
members commented about the
county’s ambulance service.
The county paid $33,766 for the am
bulance service which kept 3 am
bulances working 24 hours a day.
Officials thought the cost was so low,
the service will be reevaluated to
determine if the figures need updating.
The hospital authority will appeal to
surrounding counties to help pay for
their indigent sick who owe the Griffin
hospital money.
Many delinquent accounts are on
citizens who live in other counties.
Feely and Hyatt plan to visit boards
of county commissioners in at least 5
area counties to ask for financial help
with each county’s indigent.
Administrator Ridly expressed
pessimism about the prospects.
“We’ve tried it before and they
(Contlmied on page 2)
Goolsby said he understands that if
the city should approve the local option
tax, then there is a strong possibility
the Spalding County Commissioners
would have another try at getting one
passed county wide.
The county voters turned down the
idea 2 years ago.
Goolsby said COST pointed out in the
county referendum that if the tax
passed countywide, property owners in
incorporated municipalities such as
Griffin, Sunny Side and Orchard Hill
would not share in the rollback of
county advalorem taxes.
He said if the City of Griffin should
approve the local option tax, it is
reasonable to assume that the county
would not be far behind in calling for
another vote on the proposal.