Newspaper Page Text
C'OMMl \ 1 I V UNIV. OF GA
. .....ATHENS,GA 30602
Todays, Yesterdays
Joyce Matthews talks
about life in Peach County
See Page 6A
(^Wednesday, April 2, 1997
®he Leatier -Irtbune
Vol. No. 108, Issue 14,14 pages
ownsizm
Peach school board its to
By Cindy Morley
The Leader-Tribune
Where is the money going to come from?
Peach County School Superintendent Dr. Billy J. Pack
wants to know.
The best idea he and the members of the Board of Educa¬
tion can come up with so far is to look at class sizes and pos¬
sible personnel cuts.
“We have to look at class sizes,” said Dr. Pack, during a
special called meeting Thursday to begin work on the 1997
98 budget. “Here’s where you are spending your money -- 85
percent. I’m not saying this is necessarily bad. We just have
to decide if we want to continue spending this much money
in this area.
“We need to make more informed decisions that will impact
the budget,” he added.
According to the Superintendent, Peach County will proba-
i We are
V"
coming
• City’s seed money pays off;
new business comes to town
By Cindy Morley
The Leader-Tribune
They’re coming....
At least, they’re in town, talking the
talk and walking the walk.
Last week, representatives from
Touchscreen Solutions,, Stone Moun¬
tain Applications and Interactive
Touch Application (ITA) were in town
to make a commitment to the city.
“We’ve come here to tell you that
the commitments made to this com¬
munity will be honored,” said Ralph
Williams, Vice-President of Stone
Mountain Applications (SMA). “We
are ready to put down roots here.
We’re coming. We just aren’t sure yet
where we are going to hang our sign.”
Their entry into the Fort Valley busi¬
ness community is the direct result of
the Fort Valley City Council’s recent
decision to plant seed money for new
business growth in the area.
Nearly $600,000 has been approved
by the council to entice businesses
into the county with low-interest busi¬
ness loans.
“It just feels good down here,” said
Williamson, who joined Jeff Jarvis of
Touchscreen Solutions Inc (TSI) in
making the announcement. “We hope
to have our presence felt here in the
next month or so.”
Williamson presented Fort Valley
Mayor Pro-Tern Jeff Holly, City
Councilman Norman Fitzgerald, and
several members of the business com¬
munity with a sign for ITA.
SMA recently purchased a large
portion of ITA. The three companies
will be working on joint projects
through their offices in Fort Valley.
“We’re aren’t exactly sure where we
in m
y
"1 V- v
■
■HI I
-
W.
:
Ftelph Williamson, front, right, presents a sign to Mayor Pro-Tern
Holly. Also at the announcement were Peggy Herbert, Jeff Jarvis, of TSI,
Councilman Norman Fitzgerald, Chris Khoury, Dot Crumbly and William
Khoury. (SUM photo by Cindy Mortoy)
• Trojan golfers Tee it up
• Peach Tracksters rolling
• Baseballers top Pke
See Page IB
Fort Valley, Byron and Peach County’s source for news and sports for over 100 years
'What the people don’t know will hurt them,.. '
‘We need to see if we
can continue with the
number of teachers
and be willing to place
more students in each
class 99
• ••
- Dr. Billy Pack
bly be facing a loss of local funds - approximately $323,000
-next year with the change in procedure for tag sales.
Pack also said the state is expected to pass a six percent pay
increase for professionals.
Members of the Board spent several hours last Thursday
looking at each school’s classroom size, student to teacher
are going to hang this sign in Fort Val
iey, but it will be hqyre,’' said
Williamson.
Jarvis said his company became
aware of Fort Valley through Fort Val¬
ley State University.
“We realized then there were a lot of
good reasons to do business here,”
said Jarvis. “Then we found out about
the aggressiveness of the city council
and there willingness to work to help
us locate here.”
Jarvis said he felt the University rep¬
resented a “lifeblood tap.”
“Those students have the energy, the
imagination,” said Jarvis. “There is a
lot of untapped talent out there and we
want to be able to take advantage of
this talented group of people.”
Williamson said SMA found out
about Fort Valley "by accident”
through Jarvis.
“The more we heard of Fort Valley,
the more excited we got about the
prospect of locating here,” said
Williamson.
Williamson said one major advan¬
tage of locating in Fort Valley was the
work force.
"There are a lot of well-trained peo¬
ple here, but the labor rate is lower
than in Atlanta,” said Williamson.
“We feel we can take advantage of the
talent here, train these people and in
essence, grow our own work force.
“It just makes good sense to do busi¬
ness here,” Williamson added.
“The attitude is very refreshing. In
Atlanta we can be a small fish in a big
pond. Here, we can be a bigger fish in
a small pond,” Williamson added.
Jarvis said TSI expected to bring in
about 35 jobs once the company has
become established in Fort Valley.
f
EGG-CEPTIONAL
« ’>■
.
WMl
■■
If 1 -
'
*'
m,
m
•- :
I
■M
wmm,
Look what I found... Adam Sanders, 10, checks out the basket full of Easter goodies his sister,
Courtney, 5, found in the Easter Egg hunt last Friday at the Thomas Public Library. The hunt
was sponsored by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, (st»« photo by cindy Mort«y)
Hospital still shows gains over last year
By C ' inpV MMLev
The Leader-Tribune
Despite a loss in revenues last
month, Peach Regional Hospital
is still showing an increase in rev¬
enues over last year.
Kim Childers, Finance Chair
man of the Hospital Authority,
reported Thursday, Peach Region
al $124,000 Hospital is showing a profit of
over the first four
Peach nude bar rebuffed by high court
Peach County’s nude bar has
come up bare again.
Attorneys for Cafe Erotica were
back in court last week, but were
that*b*ns block a
new state law patrons
under the aEe * of 2 1
Fulton Superior Court Judge
Bensonetta Tipton Lane denied
ratio per grade and the number of locally funded teachers
compared with state-funded positions.
“We need to see if we are able to continue with the same
number of teachers and be willing to place more students in
each classroom and let the other teacher handle art or music
classes,” said Pack. “We could expand programs that way.
“We then are left with the decision of which is more impor¬
tant to the school system,” said Chairman Mike Gilstrap.
“Larger classes or more programs.
Pack also recommended the Board consider their policy on
out-of-county students.
“I’m playing with the idea of not accepting any new out-of¬
county kindergartners in the fall, and begin phasing them out
each year,” said Pack. “We also should consider a tuition
increase for these students.”
Pack also recommended the Board look at summer school.
“We have to make sure the revenues from summer school
will cover the expenses of the program,” said Pack.
months this year. That compares
with a loss of $178,000 for the
first four months of 1996.
Childers reported that the hospi
tal showed a loss of almost
$15,000 for February, but blamed
the loss revenues on a “change in
accounting policies."
“The hospital experienced a
change in accounting policies,
and that accounts for most of the
losses in February,” said Childers.
the Cafe's request, stating that
Cafe Erotica had not shown “ a
clear and urgent" reason why she
should put the restriction on hold
- as is required when seeking a
preliminary v injunction.
Attorneys for the Cafe Erotica
argue that the law is unconstitu
tional and establishes two classes
! Editorials
From Capitol Hill
Fort Valley bridge will cany
Buddy Reddick’s name
See Page 4A
In other business:
•The Authority approved the 1
year mission statement and 5-year
vision recommended by the Exec¬
utive Committee.
•Heard a report from the Execu¬
tive Committee on possible plans
to build a clinic in Reynolds,
plans for finding doctors quarters
in Reynolds, and proposed reno¬
vations for the old rehab wing at
the hospital.
of adults by keeping people
younger than 21 years old from
viewing nudity,
Last week, attorneys for the
Cafe Erotica postponed an
appeals hearing for their beer and
wine license in Peach County.
-Cindy Mcriey
PEACH
THIS WEEK
Relay for Life set
for April 18-19 at PCHS
The Peach County Cancer Society
has announced that its second Relay
for Life will
be held
April 18-19
from 7 p.m.
to 6 p.m.
Walkers and
runners will
go around
the clock in
the battle
against
cancer at the
Peach
County High
School parking lot. Last year the
event raised over $42,000. The
Relay for Life concept involves a
team of runners/walkers competing
against each other to raise the most
money. Participants camp out
around the track and when not on
the track, take part in community
fun events. Teams from companies,
school, churches, banks, clubs and
organizations collect donations and
can win prizes for their efforts.
Registration forms for joining or
forming a team and information on
the event are available from Evelyn
Hunt at 825-3827.
Habitat tees off with
Auction, golf tourney
The Peach Area Habitat for
Humanity will have two major
events in April - an Auction and a
Golf Tournament. The auction will
be held Saturday, April 5, at 116 W.
Church Street in downtown Fort
Valley. Habitat will hold its first
golf tournament Saturday, April 19,
at the Waterford Golf Club on Hwy.
96 in Bonaire. Congressman
Sanford Bishop will be on hand to
strike a few blows for Habitat. The
format is a 4-person A,B,C,D
scramble and you may enter your
own team. Lunch begins at 11:30
a.m. and tee time is 1:30 p.m. For
more information, on registration,
call 825-2704 or 328-7533. The
auction will begin at 9 a.m.
Recycle, Reuse, Reduce
The Peach County Clean
Community Commission, which
directs the recycle programs for
Peach County, has a drop off center
located at Jail House Alley and
Church Street in Byron where
recycables can be dropped of 24
hours a day. There’s also a dropoff
site at the old Powersville landfill
site, located on Hwy. 49. This site is
open Tuesday through Friday from
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The second
Saturday of each month there is a
pickup in Fort Valley at the Piggly
Wiggly parking lot from 8:30 a.m. to
1 p.m.
Special Olympics coming
The Area 8 Special Olympics will
be held Saturday, April 26, at Fort
Valley State University from 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m. Over 500 Special Olympic
athletes from six counties will be
vying for medals. Fort Valley’s Kay
Center is asking the community to
get involved and help the event
become a success. Volunteers are
needed to help run the track and
field events, soccer, volleyball and
lunch. One of biggest challenges is
lunch for athletes and coaches.
Anyone interested, please contact
Todd Youngblood at 825-3124.
PACT HOLDS AUDITIONS
The Peach Area Civic Theatre
will hold auditions for its produc¬
tion of the musical “The Fanta
sticks” Friday, April 18, at 7 p.m.
and Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m. at
the PACT Auditorium. Perfor¬
mance dates are June 13 and June
14. Needed are six men, ages 18-
50 and a woman, age 18 -25.
Please come prepared with one
vocal selection. An aaccompanist
will be available. For more infor¬
mation, call Director Sue Jordan at
825-3450.
Daylight Savings begins
Don’t forget to set your clocks
ahead one hour April 6 at 2 a.m. as
Daylight Savings Time begins.
Remember, spring forward.
50 cents
RELAY it
* c l 4 0
A F
i 4
Wt CANCfP 0tCAN * "I
T SOCIETY
^HCANCER £»*£? * V * HT T °
