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Serving the Peach County area since 1888
Volume 97 Issue 40 Fort Valley, Georgia Thursday, October 4,1984 30 pages in 6 sections 25 cents
Peach County Hospital Board
okays prompt-payment discount
On Thursday, September 27 the
Board of Directors of the Peach County
Hospital held their regular monthly
meeting. The agenda for the meeting
included seeking approval of patient
discounts for prompt payment of their
hospital bill and the passing of the
1984-85 budget.
The discount, which would amount
to 5%, will be available to patients
who pay their bill in full upon leaving
the hospital. Hospital Administrator,
Mickey Smith, feels that the discount
will cut down on the number of bad
debts the hospital has encountered in
the past. “The majority of had debts
have been incurred at the emergency
room. We turn them over to a
collection agency, but this is not
always successful,” he said. “I hope
this new system will encourage more
people to pay their bill promptly. It is
very difficult to collect after the patient
leaves.” Mr. Smith also stated that
" everyone is being treated the same,
very businesslike; this is necessary for
(the hospital) to survive.” The
discount will go into effect on
November 1.
In other action the board approved a
$4.5 million budget for the 1984-85
fiscal year. This is down from the
projected $1.7 million budget for last
year. A total increase per adjusted
patient day is budgeted at 4.3%. This
increase brings Peach County Hospi¬
tal’s rates closer to the average of area
hospitals. will Jpc both percentage by department rate
increase vary
and procedure.
Hospital Administrator Mickey
Smith also announced that a Medicaid
appeal had been approved. The appeal
was for a raise in the number of
patients admitted before a cut-back of
funds took place.
Plans were discussed concerning the
addition of a medical office building on
the hospital campus, but no decisions
were reached. The Executive Commit¬
tee will be checking into some
possibilities in the coming weeks.
Sheriff’s
The Peach County Sheriffs Dept,
reported a very active week with
burglaries and thefts topping the list of
crimes.
On Sept. 21, Madic Cornelius of
1500 Beverly St. was reportedly
robbed of numerous items.
The burglar apparently gained
entrance through a downstairs
window, which had been broken out.
No arrests have as yet been made.
Charles Collins of Warner Robins
was robbed of some building materials
on Sept. 22. The approximate value of
the property is $375.00. The incident is
under investigation.
An unknown person or persons
allegedly entered the residence of Mr.
and Mrs. Julius Williams, taking
approximately 3 television sets and a
watch. Exit was made through a
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Anderson honored
Ernest Anderson, superintendent of Peach County Schools far
40 years, was honored by the Georgia Board of Education last
wook for excellence in leadership. Board member John Taylor
Mr. and Mrs. Wilton Walton, (Ann)
and Mickey Smith attended the
Medical Fair recendy. The fair is
sponsored by groups for locations of
under 15,000 total population. This
gives the representatives from these
areas a chance to meet residents and
doctors who arc interested in opening
a practice in a small community. The
Peach County representatives spoke to
attend legislative
conference in Atlanta
Elected and appointed officials of
the City of Byron attended the pre¬
legislative conference in Atlanta
Thursday and Friday, September 27
and 28. Sponsored by the Georgia
Municipal Association, the meeting
attracted 120 city officials. They met
with elected state officials to discuss
matters of mutual interest.
According to City Clerk, Frances
McDaniel, local and state officials
attended six policy committees in
conference. Mayor James E. Williams
attended the conference on municipal
government, while Councilman H.C.
“Sonny * > Akins met with the
transportation committee. COOflCiiThan
Johnnie F. Barker attended the public
safety committee conference while
McDaniel met with the finance
committee.
One of the highlights of the meeting
that McDaniel attended concerned the
possible implementation of a one per
cent limited purpose sales tax. The tax
is subject to voter referendum, the city
clerk reported, and it can be used only
for capital improvements. After the
capital improvement is paid for, the
tax would not be collected. "This may
kitchen door. The indident occurred on
Sept. 24.
In other action, James Nobles of
Crystal Circle reported that *jn the
night of Sept. 25, his wife heard the
back door of the house shut. Upon
checking this out, she discovered some
items stacked up in a pile. Nothing was
taken, but the Sheriffs Dept, is
investigating.
Two incidents were reported at the
Byron Days Inn. One involved
someone allegedly leaving without
paying for gas. Police gave chase and
the suspect wrecked and the
abandoned the car near Perry. No
arrests have been made. The other
incident involved the theft of some
television sets from some of the rooms.
The doors had been pried open and the
sets were pried loose.
presented a medallion to Andodrson as well-wishars looked
on. Anderson also received, in July, the Georgia Association
educational Leaders’ Distinguished Service Award.
approximately 12 doctors. Also
interviewed were two husband and
wife teams.
Mayor Pete Peterson was made
chairman of the Nominating Commit
tee, with Bruce Haddock and W. L.
Brown being appointed to fill the
expired terms of Bill Gourley and
Warren Greene.
be a way for Peach County to get its
jail built and paid for,” she ventured.
McDaniel expressed approval of the
spirit of co-operation that marked the
conference. “Cities and counties are
working closer together than ever
before,” she stated.
Prior to her attendance at the pre
legislative conference McDaniel went
to a certification program for city
clerks in Athens Monday through
Wednesday of last week. Describing
the meeting as a, "roundtable on
finances," she stressed the impor
tance of the meeting for city clerks,
who have to deal with a variety of
matters.
Federal regulations, voter lists,
licensing of financial institutions,
insurance premium tax refunds, the
ownership of surplus properties,
revenue sources for local governments
and other financial problems were on
the agenda, McDaniel reported.
"Proper time management and
techniques for working more efficient¬
ly with elected officials were helpful
subjects covered at the meeting," she
concluded.
A young, white female arrived at the
of Mrs. Sandra Barfield. She
stated that she had been
out by her boyfriend. When the
husband had taken the
to a residence, Mrs. Barfield
discovered that her wallet was
Officers are investigating the
A plane crash, which occurred on
20, resulted in minor injuries to
pilot. The crash occurred one mile
of 1-75 on Hwy. 96. The pilot
that he had noticed his oil
was low. After landing the
in a field, he attempted to take
and did not have enough height,
plane struck a fence and a hedge,
causing the plane to crash.
No other incidents have been
reported.
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Fort Volloy mayor C.W. Peterson affixes his signature to a to right; County Agent Joe Chapman, Program Asst. Ollle
proclamation lor a Consumer Education Day Program for the Russell, and Extension Agent Linda Early.photo by mim Lowora
Peach Co. Extension Service. Overseeing the signing are, left
Extension Service to sponsor
Consumer Education
The Peach County Cooperative
Extension Service and the Fort Valley
Cooperative Extension Program is
sponsoring a two day Consumer
Education Day. Program October 11
and 12, 1984 The purpose of the
program is to increase consumer
knowledge of resources available to
assist with consumer problems and to
help consumers develop skills needed
Piggly Wiggly to open Tuesday
The grand opening of the new Fort
Valley Piggly Wiggly will begin on
Tuesday, October 9, at 8 a m. The new
store, located on 200 Vineville St. will
be managed by the same capable
personnel with Rodney Vissage, Store
Manager, Gary Walker, Assistant
Manager, Gene Cook, Market
Manager, Murray Bawn, Assistant
Market Manager and Martha Gordon,
Produce Manager,
Grand opening festivities include
cash prizes of $1,000 free S&H Green
Stamps, gifts for the children and
special low prices in every department
of foe store.
The new facility contains approxi
mately 36,000 square feet of floor
space and has some of the most
modern supermarket refrigeration and
display equipment. The building is
designed with energy-efficient fea
tures such as heat reclamation which
uses the compressors throughout the
store to reclaim the heat and to cool.
Ten electronic Scanning Checkstands
have been installed for fast and easy
checkout.
New features in the Fort Valley
Piggly Wiggly include a delicatessen
with hot and cold take-out foods and a
bakery providing delicious home-style
cakes, pies, donuts, breads, and many
other varieties baked in the store daily.
It also includes a Seafood Center which
will stock fresh fish and seafood of
many kinds, cleaned and dressed for
the convenience of the customer. A
larger, more complete item selection
of perishables and frozen food, and
other departments throughout the
store. Also there is ample parking
space in a well-lighted area.
The meat department features Swift
Premium ProTen Beef, a leader in the
field of guaranteed tenderness and
quality in meats, along with a wide
selection of convenience items such as
sandwich meats and prepared salads.
The new Fort Valley Piggly Wiggly
is well-marked with department signs
to help customers find the items
needed and is engineered with high
lighting levels to make items and
information easier td read. Thc unit
pricing system will be used throughout
the store for added convenience of foe
customer. Thc comfort of the customer
and ease of shopping are primary
considerations in thc design of each
Piggly Wiggly Supermarket.
to make informed choices of goods and
services.
The theme for the Program is
“Staying Alive in 85," highlighting
one of Cooperative Extension's
programming thrust for the 1984-85
program year: developing consumer
financial management skills through
education.
The program will feature exhibits in
Piggly Wiggly Southern’s distribu¬
center and offices in Vidalia, Ga.;
over 600,000 square feet of
space with modern equipment,
and distribution facilities
make possible the supplying of
to the new Fort Vdley
and 81 other units in
and south Ga. Over 5 million
of food and related products
through the distribution center
National brand ( merchandise is
one
Piggly Wiggly’s most outstanding
Over the years many popular
regional brands have joined
Development Grant
for
More than $1 million in Community
Block Grants (CDBG)
approved for neighborhood
projects tn the middle
area this year.
The Middle Georgia Area Planning
Development Commission made
application for a total of 5 CDBG for
communities. Three communities
grants approved by the
Department of Community
Applications had to be
by June of 1984. Governor
Frank Harris announced Monday
of the total of 282 cities and
who applied for grants, 87
grant commitments. Grants
awarded through a competitive
process. It is up to the
j Department of Community
to decide how federal
of $36 million will be
among eligible projects.
Grants approved in the Middle
area include a $400,000 grant
the installation of sewer lines in the
area of Byron in Peach
a $173,583 grant for housing
for the city of Culloden
Monroe County and a $160,000
for the rehabilitation of the
Quarters neighborhood adjas
to Gray and Jones Counties.
The Peach County project will
installing 22,860 inear feet of
line and service tubing to serve
families in the Toomersville
a wide variety of areas, including food,
nutrition and health, auto repair and
maintenance, energy conservation,
personal and property insurance and
several others. Representatives from
trade and consumer groups will also
give short, informal presentations,
All program activities will be held in
the Spruce Gymnasium in Fort Valley
from 1-6 p.m. on Thursday and 9-6
p.m. on Friday,
national brands on the shelf, but
national brands continue to be
featured very prominently,
Much time and effort is devoted to
supplying the customer’s needs and
wants by the merchandising staff of
Piggly Wiggly Southern. Older
products are constantly being replaced
by newer ones as they appear on the
market and are requested by
customers.
Piggly Wiggly Southern is proud to
offer a wide selection of items and
variety of food and merchandise in
every department of the new Fort
Valley Piggly Wiggly.
community as well as pave more than
4,000 feet of streets in the community,
"It’s wonderful news,” said Byron
Mayor James E. Williams.Toomers
v illc is located in the Northern portion
of Byron Lmately and has a population of
appr 1,600 people, 89
which arc btack . i t is a low
: n ,. ornr neighborhood 8
of the 130 structures in the
neighborhood, only 62, or 48 percent,
are readily accesible to city sewer
facilities, the grant application states.
"Thirty-two of these dwellings are
public housing units. The remaining
structures are served by septic tanks
most of which are on undersized lots. ’ ’
In addition to the sewer system
improvements, funds will be used to
pave the neighborhood streets. At
present just over 2 miles of existing
roadways within the neighborhood are
paved.
"I’ve worked for three years on this
pro j cct> - sa jd Williams. "We’re all
happy about it ”
The city of Culloden, in Monroe
County, is the recipient of a $173,583
CDBG t0 rehabilitate 12 deteriorating
houses and remove 4 vacant
dilapidated buildings in the Main
c rrrrr neighborhood jv^n
The Street program area
contains 21 housing units, 3 churches
and 2 warehouse buildings. Of the 12
continued on page 2