Newspaper Page Text
She makes children smile
Hundred of “Pinkies” are given away
each year at the Griffin-Spalding
Hospital and one Pink Lady is
responsible for them all.
Mrs. Frances Confehr has made
more than 1,700 of the pink puppets
since the project was first started by
the hospital auxiliary in 1971.
Each child patient, up to 10 years of
age, is given “Pinkie the Puppet” soon
after being admitted to the hospital. His
happy smile is enough to cheer up the
sickest youngster who can pass away
the hours animating “Pinkie”.
And no one would guess that he is
homemade.
The auxiliary purchases a gross of
“Pinkie” faces from a local merchant.
Also, 200 yards of material (the same
pink and white stripe worn by the
No false hopes.
Norsworthy signs,
McGee won’t run
R. L. (Skeeter) Norsworthy today
qualified to succeed himself on the
board of city commissioners.
He will be a candidate to keep the
Fourth Ward post on the 5-member
The Country Parson
by Frank Clark
SKj
•/,» -
“Money is what yon have to
have some of in order to borrow
enough to buy what you want.”
Bondsmen: they carry keys to jail in their pockets
ATLANTA (AP) — For hundreds of
thousands of Georgians it is not the
American system of justice, but the bail
bondsman, who keeps them out of jail if
they are accused of committing a
crime.
Bondsmen keep the “keys to the jail
in their pockets,” said Terry Walsh,
chairman of the criminal justice
committee of the State Bar’s young
lawyer division.
The bail bond system is not designed
to keep people in jail, it is designed to
make sure that they show up for their
day in court, said Helen Scholes, who
heads Cobb County’s pretrial release
program.
The system costs the accused, at the
least, a chunk of money. At the worst, it
costs him bis freedom.
Many of those in Georgia jails are
DAILY
Daily Since 1872
Griffin High School Candy Strippers) is
bought, along with the necessary cotton
and staples.
Mrs. Confehr stores it all in her South
Hill street apartment and when she has
a few spare minutes, gets out her
needle and thread and starts to work.
“It’s a lot of monkey business to
teach anybody to make one,” she
confessed,” as not only must one enjoy
sewing, but she must learn the knack of
making a ‘Pinkie’. And that’s not too
easy at first.
“It’s more than just cutting out and
sewing up,” she explained.
The hood must be stapled to the head,
then stuffed with cotton. It’s then sewn
to the body and a gathered clown collar
is attached around the neck.
Mrs. Confehr has mastered the job
Gov. Busbee
ATLANTA (AP) — Gov. George
Busbee says he is giving thought to
property tax relief and there is “some”
chance he will propose such a plan to
next year’s legislature — the last of his
present term.
But Busbee also cautioned that he has
made no decision about the idea, and he
added, “I don’t want to build up any
false hope that there’s going to be
something that will drastically reduce
property taxes for all people because
it’s not possible.”
The governor commented this week
during a 30-minute interview devoted
chiefly to the question of property
taxes, which he himself raised last
January during his State of the State
board.
Ernest (Twiggy) Jones earlier this
week qualified for reelection to the
First Ward seat.
Candidates have until Oct. 24 at noon
to qualify for the two posts.
Emmitt Cone, a Griffin Sales and
Service employee, said he plans to
qualify for the firpt ward seat. Don
Rainwater of Morrow-Powell also said
he is thinking about running for the
post.’
Jimmy McGee, Griffin business man
and civic leader, said today he did not
plan to be a city commission candidate.
In the county commission election,
there were no new announced can
didates. David Elder, Frank Gunnels
and Thomas Bearden all announced
earlier they would seek the seat which
Reid Childers vacated.
Jack Moss and Al Norris both have
said they are thinking about running.
The city commission elections and
the county commission election will be
held during the Nov. 8 general election.
poor and cannot put up property or cash
for bonds.
They appeal to the bail bondsman,
who collects a fee, usually 10 per cent of
the first SSOO posted bond and 5 per cent
of the rest, to post the bond.
If the bondsman refuses to take the
accused as a client, he waits in jail until
his day in court.
Long waits are not unusual. Accor
ding to a 1977 survey of county jails
made by the state Crime Commission,
the average pretrial stay in DeKalb and
Gwinnett counties is 30 to 40 days.
In Cobb County it is 40 days and in
Hall County it is 60 days.
So, if the accused is acquitted, he has
spent two months in jail without ever
having been convicted of committing a
crime.
If the accused can find a bondsman io
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Thursday Afternoon, September 29,1977
He moves cautiously on seeking property tax relief
griffin
down to about one hour’s time. She has
received a little help periodically
throughout the years, but apparently
none of the other Pink Ladies wants to
devote as much time to the project.
She and her late husband, Kimber,
moved to Griffin 11 years ago because
“we were disgusted with the cold
weather in Chicago”. That’s where Mr.
Confehr had retired from a position as
sales engineer with Westinghouse.
They had just returned to the north
after a visit in Griffin with the late Dr.
and Mrs. J. R. Thomas and finding 17
inches of snow around their Chicago
home clinched the decision. Then too,
Mrs. Thomas was Mrs. Confehr’s
sister.
Moving was nothing new to Mrs.
Confehr. The daughter of a South
address to the legislature.
In that speech, Busbee said that, as
part of a six-year effort to revise the
state Constitution, one of the questions
to be addressed should be whether “our
system of taxation, particularly our
methods and concept of ad valorem
taxation, (is) as equitable as any
system we can prescribe.”
But in the 10 months since that time,
Busbee has made few references to the
topic, and the taxation article of the
Georgia Constitution is not one of the
three undergoing revision for
presentation to the voters next year.
Busbee said in the interview that
economist Henry Thomassen, the
state’s chief revenue estimator, has
E/ -ft *fl
Cool, clear
post bond for him, he is still out that
bond fee — even if acquitted.
In Georgia, the county sheriff has
sole authority over bail bondsmen,
according to a DeKalb County grand
jury report. He may decide who can
and cannot operate such businesses in
his county — and there are cases on
record where those who donated to the
sheriff’s election campaign got the bail
bond business.
If the accused does not show up for
trial, the bail bondsman is supposed to
forfeit the bond — but a check of
records shows that seldom happens.
In Hall County, an investigation
showed that almost no bond forfeitures
had been collected in recent years. A
DeKalb County grand jury found that
about $400,000 was missing during the
term of one sheriff.
NEWS
Dakota Presbyterian missionary and
minister, she was used to that. She and
Mr. Confehr had lived in other cities,
including Milwaukee and Indianapolis.
“You name it. That’s where we lived.
I missed my friends at first, but I have
a lot of nice friends here and I’m so glad
to be in a smaller town where it’s quiet
and there’s not much hustling and
bustling,” she said.
In addition to “Pinkie”, she keeps
busy with other hand work and belongs
to a weekly sewing club made up of
friends in her apartment complex. She
does a lot of embroidery and has even
made dresses for her neighbors’
grandchildren. She has no children of
her own.
She also spends about two days a
month on other Pink Lady.
been at work since last October
preparing a study on the effect of
“circuit breaker” tax relief programs
in other states and their possible effect
in Georgia.
Under the circuit breaker concept,
persons who pay more than a certain
percentage of their income in property
taxes get a rebate or a credit on their
state income tax.
Thomassen’s final report on the
question is due in November, Busbee
said. And it will be sometime after that
before he makes a decision, he added.
“Very frankly, in a lot of the studies
we’ve seen from other states, there’s
been a lot of rhetoric as to what the
circuit breaker has meant,” said Bus-
LOVELAND, Colo. — Kyle Rehme, 2, and his dog “Snicker” enjoy a short drink from a
sprinkler in their backyard. Parts of Colorado have been under water restrictions for most
of the summer but here is an example of good water use planning. Drink of man and beast
along with watering the lawn. (AP)
The money not forfeited on bonds is
“probably the largest single slush fund
that’s unaccounted for in the state of
Georgia,” said Harry Geisenger of
DeKalb County, a former state
legislator.
Bondsmen, however, say they fill an
essential place in government. They
help people out of jail — and they have
more powers than the sheriffs’ de
partments to put others back in jail.
Federal law gives bondsmen the
power to cross state lines to apprehend
accused persons, even without seeking
permission from authorities in the
other state, said Doug King of King
Bonding Co., Atlanta.
“If we go after a man we got a bond
on, they cannot stop us from getting
him and bringing him back,” King said.
A police agency would have to go
Vol. 105 No. 231
iW AW I
Mrs. Cunfehr: A lot of monkey business .
bee, “but I haven’t seen the property
tax relief going to those people that
would anticipate they might be helped.
“And then when it’s not reflected in a
reduced bill for property taxes, I think
there’s some frustration and dis
appointment in a lot of the states that
have adopted certain circuit breakers,”
he continued.
But he said that, if Thomassen’s
report is favorable “and if we can come
up with something that we feel would be
equitable, then I would be in favor of
this (1978) session promoting a Con
stitutional amendment (for tax relief).
“I would say there would be some
chance (of that happening),” Busbee
said. “But I don’t want to say there
through red tape and an extradition
hearing to do the same thing.
Atlanta bondswoman Celene Parham
said sheriffs may not have the time,
money or incentive to seek out defen
dants on the run.
“If I don’t chase ’em, I’m going to
lose money,” she said.
There are alternatives to the bail
bondsman.
In some states, an individual is
allowed to post a cash bond equal to 10
per cent of the bond set. If he shows up
for trial, he gets 80 per cent of his
money back. The county keeps the rest.
“On bonds written in the first seven
months of 1973, this would have netted
DeKalb more than $54,000 and saved
defendants more than $182,000,” a
county grand jury said that year.
Another system is a pretrial release
program — one of which is in operation
Weather
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA -
Mostly cloudy tonight with chance of
showers Friday. Low tonight near 60;
high Friday around 80.
LOCAL WEATHER - Low this
morning at the Spalding Forestry Unit
57, high Wednesday 84.
would be a great chance. Unless I have
some type circuit breaker or other type
legislation in mind that would
necessitate a change, I wouldn’t just
propose to amend the Constitution.”
Busbee stressed repeatedly during
the interview that he did not want to
raise false hopes of dramatic relief for
taxpayers.
The last such effort came in 1973
when the legislature appropriated SSO
million in rebates to taxpayers. As it
turned out, the average individual
rebate amounted to SSO or less, while
millions of dollars went to corporate
landowners.
The plan was vetoed in 1974 by then
(Continued on page 3.)
People
...and things
Sign posts at intersection on Highway
16 East covered with yellow ribbons.
City resident overjoyed that Ellis
road “is finally being paved after all
these years.”
Mother of Griffin High football player
telling friends how much her son eats
and that the coach wants him to gain
even more.
Cliff Roberts dead
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Clifford
Roberts, cofounder of the Masters Golf
Tournament, was found dead this
morning at the Augusta National Golf
Club, club officials said.
Phil Wall, manager of the club, said a
statement would be issued later
regarding Roberts’ death.
in Cobb County.
Prior to that program, 19 per cent of
the defendants failed to appear in court
after posting bond, said Mrs. Scholes,
the program operator. But under the
program, only 2.5 per cent have failed
to appear.
Atlanta has a similar program for
misdemeanor offenders, and only 5 per
cent of those defendants have not shown
up in court.
A candidate for pretrial release is
checked out by program officials, and
they call him regularly to be sure he
knows his court date. A person with a
job and family is a good candidate for
such a program, Mrs. Scholes said.
There is sure to be legislation before
the next general assembly to provide
alternatives to bail bonding, but sup
porters say it will be a tough fight to win
passage.