Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Daily Since 1872 nrl- WBt W&, \ WaOlliiT A » «w-®LWbhp ■f/r Jr t< .w- ' V* ' % f T ip ■ JSr-* 4 - ** t*yiT> *it B Ut wMT A Ififlß HI IE *> -A wWAfl* a » 1 El •« ; T»JSi!fWBFBfIHr W> 1 ESSfI WW 7 m»» J ■ . *?XF\ I * v. x / JVnk z ' m s v» m|l W< > v ' < <. ■ ?LlSgßOMte^.' Mrs. Ethel Barnes of the Living Center shared a smile with Mrs. Norma Trotter of Decatur, dressed as a clown. i)/O'fault study Wreck victims sometimes have no motive to work ATLANTA (AP) — Employees in jured in automobile accidents have “no motive to return to work” because they can collect more money from workers' compensation and no-fault insurance, a panel created by state Insurance Commissioner Johnnie Caldwell reported Wednesday. “There are many instances in which an employee receives workers’ com pensation and nofault benefits,” the report said. “On some occasions, the injured party also collects through legal action.” The committee, made up of insurance company representatives and businessmen, was appointed by Caldwell to find out why premiums Georgia employers pay for workers’ compensation insurance have been increasing in recent years. “The total benefits received from workers’ compensation and no-fault give the employee no motive to return to work. In effect, the employee could be making more money from his in surance benefits, which are exempt Critics, backers agree food stamps in tangle ATLANTA (AP) — Whether they’re for or against some form of federal nutrition assistance, both sides seem to agree that the current food stamp program is an example of bureaucracy in its most tangled state. “It leaves people so frustrated and hungry they are almost tempted to eat the red tape,” Mississippi anti-poverty activist Rick Abraham told a regional meeting of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA meeting was one of a series of regional public forums on proposed changes in the program. More than 100 food stamp recipients, hunger-fighting organizations and state and local officials attended the hearing, which produced 12 hours of testimony Tuesday. Abraham, a spokesman for the Mississippi Hunger Coalition, told USDA officials there is only one food stamp caseworker for every 1,000 DAI WS Clowning around Griffin, Ga„ 30223, Thursday Afternoon, October 13, 1977 from income tax and Social Security, than he would make working and receiving a salary,” the report said. Meanwhile, a special state Senate committee said it is preparing legislation to abolish nofault insurance and return to a system of voluntary auto insurance cover ge. The Senate Motor Vehicles Accident Reparations Study committee said it could find “nothing good” in the no fault system, which requires all mo torists to carry liability insurance. The major problem with the two year-old system is that 40 percent of motorists do not carry the insurance even though it is mandatory, said Sen. Paul Broun, D-Athens, a member of the committee. Following a committee meeting Tuesday, Broun said that under a bill being prepared auto liability insurance would not be required but changes would be made to encourage such coverage and insurance companies would be required to offer broader coverage. eligible persons in his state. He said the lack of manpower coupled with endless paper work means it takes from two to six weeks to review an application, even if it is an emergency. He also accused food stamp ad ministrators of being “poorly trained, insulting and racist.” Qiyamah Al-Nur, a young Atlanta mother, testified she was “harassed and interrogated” by insensitive Georgia caseworkers. She also complained that bu-. reaucratic hitches in the program and late mail deliveries of food stamps had forced her to go hungry for more than a week and to turn to friends for the feeding of her child. Roy Lloyd, an official of the South Carolina Department of Social Ser vices, cautioned the USDA to write whatever new regulations it adopts in clear language “rather than in the vague and devious wording that is often employed.” GRIFFIN The visitor brought smiles to patients at the center and the Griffin-Spalding Hospital. More Pictures on page 24. Courts would be empowered to suspend the driver’s license and auto tag of a person not covered by in surance if he was at fault in an auto accident, Broun said. “The only way that person could get his license and tag back would be to make restitution to the innocent victim in the accident,” he said. BBBBk B B B II - B fl H H IB I I jf~3BKgJf I fl B I I I fl X «B •• . ,Bj -■ ■*-. ■ ' jflß |B ■ ■ r , . .. , r: ——-.w* Open house at this new Fairmont Community Center which had been scheduled Sunday had to be postponed. It will be rescheduled. At Williamson Ruling on curfew won’t stop patrol Judge voids curfew rule in Eatonton EATONTON, Ga. (AP) - A federal judge has struck down this city’s 13- year-old 11:30 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew as unconstitutional, saying that despite its intention to curb crime the curfew is an “infringement of individual liberties.’’ The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Wilbur Owens Jr. came in a suit brought on behalf of Michael Grant, a Vietnam veteran who was killed in an early-morning scuffle with an Eatonton policeman last November. “The city’s desire to nip crime in the bud may be accomplished by less drastic alternatives which do not sweep so broadly into the rights enjoyed by its citizens,” Owens ruled. “It is a fundamental principle that where government wishes to adopt regulations that may burden or infringe , on individual rights and freedoms, the' government must not only have some significant reasons for adopting the regulations, but must also tailor the regulations so that they meet the specific need without unnecessarily in fringing individual freedoms,” said the ruling, which was handed down last week. Attorneys for the Southern Regional Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit, contended the ordinance had potential for abuse and smacked of “police state” tactics. Eatonton Mayor James P. Marshall said the city would not appeal Owens’ order. “I’m pleased that it is over with,” Marshall said. “I’m completely satisfied with it (Owens’ ruling). Judge Owens certainly knows what he’s doing. I fought in World War II for the Con stitution. If this is not constitutional, we don’t want it. I think you’d find all the others (on the city council) feel the same way.” Vol. 105 No. 243 The Country Parson by Frank (lark mgy JWMy fl * M “A fellow should begin to question his position when some folks start to agree with him.” STAR teacher resigns HOGANSVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Mrs. Mildred Burdette, Georgia’s STAR teacher of the year, has resigned her teaching job after being cited for in subordination for remaining in the classroom instead of attending a seminar. “My time spent this year in the Hogansville schools has made me very much aware that the children in our schools were without the continuous presence of qualified teachers,” Mrs. Burdette, a teacher at Hogansville Elementary School, said Wednesday. “I found I could not spend three more days in activities which I deemed of little value.” Mrs. Burdette, who also was assigned to direct the city school system’s gifted student program, said she had received School Superintendent Louis Brum mett’s approval of her written request to be excused from the last three days of a weeklong seminar on “transac tional analysis.” Weather FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN AREA - Fair and cold tonight with scattered frost and lows in the upper 30s. Sunny and cool Friday with highs in the low 60s. LOCAL WEATHER - Low this morning at the Spalding Forestry Unit 40, high Wednesday 65. Pike County Sheriff Billy Riggins said today his deputies would continue to keep an eye on Williamson, at night, despite the ruling of a federal judge that seems to void curfew laws. The Williamson City Council had asked the sheriff’s department to en force curfew the city had had on the books many years. People who gathered in Williamson after midnight in what appeared to be drinking parties concerned the Williamson Council. Williamson Mayor Bobby Harrison told the weekly newspaper Reporter in Pike County: “Some things were going on that had to be stopped.” He said there was littering and ex cessive noise by groups of teenagers who gathered nightly in front of a local business. The mayor pointed out there was a report of vandalism to the Williamson United Methodist Church. Harrison said things have been quiet since the area has been under the watch of the sheriff’s deputies. Sheriff Riggins said he would con tinue to keep an eye on the situation, despite the ruling against the Elberton curfew. He said there were other recourses open to law officers to maintain peace in Williamson and in other county areas. Mayor Harrison, a rural mail carrier, could not be reached by phone this morning for comment. People ••• and things Old doormat of auto dealership still in front of city garage on East Solomon street: "Putting you first keeps us first.” One liner on message board at Presbyterian Church: “By not giving up, the snail made it to the ark.”