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Volume No. 96, No. 39
election be called for tax officer
A special election may be called
sometime within the next 90 day's ro
elect a tax commissioner for Peach
County’.
"Buddy" Judge of Probate Court John W.
Smisson said this week that
he has received a letter from Tax
Commissioner Eloise Mathews'
daughter saying that Mrs Mathews
will resign from that post effective
September 30, 1983. Mrs. June
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Fort Valley Fireman Ray Anthoine directs water at through the roof of the mobile home at this point as
the source of the fire. Flames were beginning to burst Charles Bryan was inside searching for possible victims.
Arson is suspected cause of trailer fire
Arson is the suspected cause of a
mobile home fire that occurred in the
early morning hours of Friday,
September 23, on Georgia Highway 96
west of Fort Valley A kerosene lamp is
believed to have been used to start the
fire.
The fire was reported at 12:49 a.m.
by a neighbor. Jack Defore. who was on
his way home. By the time fire fighters
arrived, the fire was well advanced
The mobile home belongs to J
Hubert Hallman of Fort Valley; it had
State funds construction of addition to
Fort library; Byron next, says Smith
The addition to the Thomas Public
Library in Fort Valley has been funded
Representative Robert Ray of Fort
Valiev and Senator "Bud” McKenzie
Tax Meeting
with the county
commissioners is
set for 7:30 p.m.,
Thursday, at courthouse
Home Owned and Operated for more than 90 Years
Fort Valley, Peach County, Ga., Thursday, September 29, 1983
Ellerbee says in the letter that she has
power of attorney for her mother and
that her mother is a patient at Warm
Springs where she is receiving
therapy. Mrs. Mathews suffered a
stroke in mid-April 1983 and has been
unable to work since that time.
Judge Smisson said that his first
concern is whether anyone, even with a
power of attorney, can speak for an
elected official. That question will be
just been rented to Scott Smith and
Denise Glore. At the time of the fire
the electrical service had not been con¬
nected.
Because of suspicion surrounding the
incident, the Peach County Sheriffs
Department and the state fire marshall
are investigating Apparently the trailer
was being burglarized when the fire
was set, for a pane of glass in the door
had been broken and a black Husky
lawn mower with a silver cover has been
missing since the fire.
of Montezuma announced this week
that the State Board of Education has
given final approval to two grants for
the Thomas Public Library addition in
Fort Valley One grant of $321,955,
from the General Assembly’s 1984 ap
propriations for library construction, is
to matched with $160,977 in local
funds. A federal grant of $34,932, also
administered by the State Board of
Education, will provide additional ac
cess for the handicapped and make the
building more energy efficient.
Director of Peach Public Libraries
Jimmy Smith expressed appreciation to
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cleared with consultation with County
Attorney Sampson Culpepper.
Smisson said that if Mrs. Mathews’
resignation is effective September 30,
that he intends to appoint Mrs. Melba
Barrett to the post until a special
election can be held. Mrs. Barrett is
currently serving as chief clerk in the
tax commissioner’s office.
The judge of probate court said that
the Georgia election laws state that if
Denise Glore, at home alone,
reported that a man earlier had knock¬
ed on the door of the trailer and had
asked for Willie. After being told that
no one named Willie lived there, the
man announced that he would come
back later. Glore soon thereafter left
the trailer at about midnight.
The trailer was unoccupied at the
time of the fire
A total loss, the trailer was valued at
approximately $10,000. It was not in
sured at the time.
the members of the General Assembly
who made the grant possible^ He also
expressed appreciation to the many
library friends of the community who
gave time and money to raise the local
matching funds.
"This means that bids will be adver
tised November 1 with ground break
ing in December," Smith said. "This
year, Thomas Public Library; next year,
Byron Public Library!"
The Byron community has already
raised the necessary $85,714 to match a
state grant of $171,428 for that new
library.
there is at least stx months and one day
left in an unexpired term, that a special
election is required. He has the right to
appoint someone to fill that office until
the special election. elected the
Mrs. Mathews was to
office in 1980. Her term would have
ended December 31, 1984.
The special election will be
"sometime within the next 90 days,"
said Smisson. The next general
Deputies catch robbers in 25 minutes
Quick action on the part of Peach
and Bibb County deputies resulted in
the arrests of two men who at gunpoint
robbed Dunbar’s Chevron Station in
Byron at approximately 8:00 p m.
Wednesday, September 21.
As James Turner, station attendant,
was putting a can of oil into a
customer’s car, the customer stuck a .22
calibct pistol to Turner’s head and told
him to go inside. The armed man and
his younger companion, who held a
knife to^rurner’s throat, took an
undetermined amount of cash from the
register and drove north on Georgia
Annual UGF fund drive kicks off next week
The 1984 United Way fund-raising
drive will officially be underway with
the annual kick-off breakfast slated for
Wednesday, October 5, at 7:30 a.m. at
the Peach County Hospital cafeteria.
President Vernie Euber said the
volunteers hope to raise $42,500 by
the December 5 deadline.
Fort Valley Mayor C. W. "Pete”
Prirtxjn is fund-drive chairman and
Police Chief John Dankel is rhis year's
co-chairman. They will lead a large
contingent of volunteers who will
canvass the entire Peach County area
from homes to schools to businesses,
hoping to gather enough contributions
to meet their 1984 goal.
The annual kick-off breakfast signals
the start of the fund-raising drive. It is
Five three busy
Five DUI cases, three burglaries and
two thefts from cars kept Fort Valley
policemen on the run last week.
On September 23 officers I-eon
Smith and Judson Montgomery
arrested Marlon Bernard Griggs of
Indian Oaks Apartments for DUI,
failure to yield the right-of-way and no
proof of insurance. He was released on
$687.50 bond.
Three DUI cases were reported on
September 24. Emmett Edwards of
Burnett Street was charged with DUI
and driving without a license. He was
jailed in lieu of $385 bond. Benjamin L.
Johnson of Americus was stopped on
New doctor, Chik Amechi,
looks forward to practice in Fort Valley
by Carla Hill
His job takes him away from his
home during late night hours. It almost
routinely requires him to leave during
the middle of a family meal, a
Christmas celebration or other special
celebrations. The weekends are no
exception. 1 And most often, when duty
calls, it calls with a particular urgency
commitment and concentration. You
get fatigued but when you see those
babies, it gives you a lot of joy. Even
with aching bones, it gives you a
special joy,” the doctor says.
That special joy is what led Amechi
to specialize in obstetrics and
gynecology. It is definitely not a
mne-to-five job, like some others in the
medical field often are. Dermatology
for instance. But I have no regrets. Any
baby I deliver gives me great joy and
every one I deliver is different, the
doctor said.
The young doctor smiles readily, ... ut
l Year (local) Subscription $8.84
election will be held in 1984 with the
primaries in August and the general
election in November.
Mrs. Mathews succeeded Walter
Tharpe as tax commissioner. She had
worked for him in the office for 14
years and was his apparent choice for
the office upon his retirment. Tharpe
"encouraged and endorsed" Mrs.
Mathews’ candidacy at the time he was
announcing his retirement.
Highway 49
Twenty-five minutes later Bibb
County deputies stopped the two male
suspects on Pio Nono Avenue at a
Kwickie convenience store. The
suspects then were returned to Byron
about 52 minutes after the armed rob¬
bery occurred. Most of the money was
recovered.
The suspects, Richard Pfeiffer, 24,
and Robert James, 44, of Acworth, are
now residing in the Peach County
Hilton.
Ed Dunbar, the owner of the station,
said that Turner was made to lie down
on the floor while the cash register was
the only chance citizens will have to
make one contribution to cover 16 local
agencies.
The money raided locally will help
support the following organizations:
Boy Scouts, the Kay School, Red
Cross, the Salvation Army, which will
soon have a Fort Valley location; the
U ; S.O., the Service League, the Peach
Area Child Care Center, the Houston
Speech School, the Peach County
Senior Citizens Center, Emergency
Relief, 4-H Clubs, the Byron
Community Center, the Central
Georgia Speech and Hearing Center,
the Civic League and several others.
Anyone interested in volunteering is
asked to contact Vernie Euber at
825-7721
Highway 49 north and was charged
with DU1 and running a red light. He
was released on $352 cash bond. David
Gray of Macon was arrested and
charged with DU1 at the corner of
Camellia Blvd. and Persons Street. He
was jailed in lieu of $650 cash bond.
On September 26, Charles James of
Canton Street was stopped on
Commercial Heights and charged with
DUI and a suspended license. He was
released on $980 property bond.
Two thefts from automobiles
occurred. One victim was Xaviour
Tucker, who was visiting a friend on
that smile broadens into a bright beam
when he talks of delivering a baby,
“No two are the same," he said. "You
follow them lor months until the
mother is in labor and then there that
baby is, in your hands. It is always a
joy for me.”
Born in Nigeria, Dr. Amechi moved
to the United States when he was in
high school. His parents remained in
Nigeria, and he lived with an aunt who
is a professor at Central Michigan
University, where he later earned his
Bachelor of Science degree.
Amechi says he knew as far back as
elementary school he either wanted to
be a pharmacist or a physician. That
same desire stayed with him through
high school. By then he found the only
job in a hospital he could, and for
several years he worked as either an
orderly or on the hospital house¬
keeping staff. "I would hurry up and
finish mopping so I could go to the
doctors’ lounge and talk with them,"
he said.
Those doctors took a lot of interest in
him and encouraged him to pursue a
medical career. "When you think
about it, it is hard to imagine a kid
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Tharpe had held the office since
December 1953 and his father had held
the office before him. Mrs. Mathews is
only the third tax commissioner in the
county's history.
Judge Smisson said that he knows of
several people who have expressed an
interest in running for the job . He
noted that salary for the position is
$14,000 per year.
emptied.
Dunbar had nothing but praise for
the law enforcement officers involved
in capturing the would-be robbers.
Further, he rejoiced that no one was
hurt in the incident. He remembered
that a year and eight months had elaps¬
ed since any trouble plagued his sta¬
tion. Before that, there seemed to be
some mishap every week.
Ironically, when the armed robbery
was occurring, Dunbar and others were
eating supper with Superior Court
Judge C. Cloud Morgan and Peach
County Sheriffjohnnic Becham.
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Vernie Euber,
President of UGF
September 22 when cash and personal
papers were removed from her car.
There are no suspects in the case.
Another theft was from Elaine
Barfield's car, parked at the Peach
Area Child Care Center on September
25. Mrs. Barfield’s purse containing
cash and credit cards was removed.
On September 23 a burglary
occurred at the residence of Clinton
Mitchell Jr., on Walden Street.
Mitchell reponed that a latched screen
had been forced open and a RCA black
and white television set as well as a .22
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
mopping floors and then rushing to talk
medicine with the doctors, but they
always thought highly of me and
taught me a great deal," Amechi said.
One of those much revered
physicians took a particular interest in
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Dr. Amechi
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