Newspaper Page Text
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Serving
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BES Book Fair
Fall Book Fair at Byron Elementary
School, October 5-13. Adult volunteers
needed to make this successful. Book
Fair will be from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Development Authority
The
for this month was rescheduled for
Thursday, September 28 at 8 a.m. and
will be held upstairs at the Troutman
House. Meeting was rescheduled due to
moving to the new location. I
County Change
The for the Peach
County
been moved from the 2nd Tuesday in
October to Tuesday, October 17th, 2000
at 6:00 p.m.The meeting will be held in
the Public meeting room In the Peach
County Courthouse Annex, 205 West
ChurchStreet, Fort Valley, Ga.
Get your flu shot
will begin Its annual flu campaign
October 2, 2000. Please call for an
appointment n i, | 1W , „ „i iinnrfau wionosy Ik....... inroiiyn noujfi o A
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a.m. to 4 p.m. Flu shots are $5.00 and
Pneumonia shots are $10.00. Fort Valley
Clinic, 406 E. Church St., 825-6939.
Byron Clinic, 200 Mosely Road, 956-
7679.
Fall Festival
The time la near for the annual
Fort Valley Uon’s Club Fall Festival. This
year the festival will be held on
Halloween night, October 31. Downtown
merchants will give out candy from 5
p.m. to 6 p.m. The Fall Festival will start
at 6 p.m. Anyone wishing to have a
booth should contact Felton Spinks at
825-7849 (a nominal fee of $10.00 will
be charged for each booth). There will
bo food, games, fun and more. Sonet
your costumes ready now tor a good
time in downtown Fort vaHey!
H0DAC Vigil
Please jols HODAC’s Victim
The Salvation Army
Safe House and RAFB Family Advocacy
for our Seventh Annual Day of Unity
Candlelight Vigil on Saturday,
September 30th, from 6:00p.m. •
7:00p.m. The Vigil will be held at First
Baptist Church of Gannon Street, 210
Garmon Street in Warner Robins. For
more information contact HOOAC’s
Victim Resource Center at 953-5675,
The Salvation Army Safe Houm at 923-
2348 or RAFB Family Advocacy at 327-
8415.
- beginning at B a.m., October 7th at
party
catered by Carrabbe’s 7 p.m. October
5th it Georgia Sports HaH of Ram. For
more information call 478-474-0000.
Tutors wanted
Fort Valley Adult Literacy Cantar
searching tar Tutors of EngMt, A
Reading. Located at 700 Spruce
Fort VaJfey. CaN Mrs. Jefferson at 825-
i People Perspectives and Places - 4A - 7A
Dr! Odessa McNair was honored in
Savannah by the Georgia Conference,
Sixth Episcopal District, African
Methodist Episcopal Church.
». Page 5B
Wat Heaber -Crtimne
Byron mayor sued for libel
By Jerry Murtagh
The Leader-Tribune
► In Short: “It’s all part
$1.5 million of the system
suit filed by it’s the
Fort Valley American way.
Attorney Jeff If the man feels
Liipfert slighted, I’m
willing to apolo¬
gize. Tm not rigid, I’m willing
to mend fences.”
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eveflrtutd Wilkinsnn^hae not decided about or
time to think
whether she will seek the posi¬
tion of superintendent once the
search begins.
. . —-■—
Attendance low to hear
system’s strategic plan
By Emily Nelson - The Leader-Tribune
The auditorium at Peach County High
School was so empty you could have heard
a pin drop from a purse. You could count
the amount of parents present on one hand
Thursday, September 21st, 2000 at the
Peach Countv Board of Education meeting
held at the auditorium.
The reason of this meeting was to discuss
the Strategic Planning Initiative of the
Peach County School System, with the
teachers and parents of Peach County
Students. However, almost all of the citi¬
zens present were of the school’s faculty.
One concerned parent voiced her opinion of
why other parents were not present she
said, the reason no one was present for the
meeting was because the board failed to
advertise the meeting well enough.
However, it is a fact that the Peach County
Board of Education advertises every meet-
Fort Valley mayor would like to blot out domestic violence
By Jerry Murtagh
The Leader-Tribune
The subject of domestic vio¬
lence topped the list of Mayor
John Stumbo’s announcements
at last week’s city council.,
Struggling at times to
hold backs his tears, Stumbo
spoke about the serious
impact that domestic violence
has on the lives of citizens of
Peach County and detailed
of the steps being taken
to deal with the issue.
“Some weeks ago we began
Sports
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Mayor Bob Wright of
Byron spoke yesterday in
response to a 1.5 million dol¬
lar libel suit filed against him
in Peach County Superior
Court by Fort Valley Attorney
JeffLiipfert.
Liipfert said he had no
further comment to make on
the suit filed last week.
The complaint alleges that
Wilkinson will be interim supt.
By Emily Nelson
The Leader-Tribune
Peach County has a
Wilkinson has newly appointed Interim
40 years Superintendent to step in
experience in when Dr. Billy Pack
education and leaves on October 13.
will take over Doris Wilkinson has
October 13 been with the Peach
when Ik. Pack County School system for
leaves. 13 years and with RESA
since 1975. Her title before her recent
appointment was Director of
Instruction and Director of Elementary
Education. Ms. Wilkinson’s term will
begin when Dr. Pack leaves for Polk
County. Pack was Peach County’s first
appointed superintendent after the law
change.
Ms. Wilkinson hopes to accomplish
ing through The Leader Tribune and also
through The Byron Gazette. The concerned
parent went on to say that she does not
read either of the local newspapers. It
seems that if a parent was concerned
about what kinds of programs the Board of
Education is implementing for the school
svstem and his/ her that thev
would read the local papers, it for no other
reason except to see when Board of
Education meetings are being held.
The Board of Education chairman, Rachel
Rumph made a rebuttle to the parent stat¬
ing that she, like all Americans, is in titled
to her opinion.
The concerned parent’s voice advanced to
the point of almost being a shout as she
proclaimed that everything Dr. Billy Pack
did was a bunch of political propaganda
and also Mumbo-Jumbo. The parent also
Please turn to
ATTENDANCE, Pace 2A
► in Short to be concerned
Mayor with the extent of
Stumbo out- domestic violence
I lines t--- ntrntnmi strategy in Poach County,”
to attack Stumbo said. “I
Domestic vio¬ really got con¬
lence here. cerned because
my feeling is that
the victims of domestic vio¬
lence are primarily women
and children. As a result of
that I asked for a group of vol¬
unteers to form the Mayor’s
Task Force Against Domestic
Violence.”
Stumbo noted that the
E:
Pete Peterson, a former mayor of Foi
Valley celebrated a birthday last
week. He says he is 39 again. Find oi
who helped celebrate.
WV +Page5A
11 s 11Itip11 i: Htyi i/i-V
Wright did “intentionally
publish false, libelous and
defamatory statements”
about Liipfert, that the state¬
ments “were used in reference
to the Plaintiff’s (Liipfert’s)
profession as an attorney at
law and were calculated to
and intended to injure the
Plaintiff in his trade, profes¬
sion, and business. The com¬
many things while she serves as
Interim Superintendent, such as con¬
tinuing the Academic programs, etc.
She has 40 years of experience in the
field of education and feels the system
con tinue to move forward.
Wilkinson expects to handle her pre¬
sent duties along with the new respon¬
sibilities. She did not say whether she
would actively seek the position.
When asked how she felt about her
recent appointment she replied,
“I’m excited but I hate to see Dr.
PacklLeave.” She said she hopes
that the team effort and support
from teachers, and faculty will con¬
tinue as it has been in tjje past.” She
also stated isf-willing to do
all she can for the Peach County
School System. Wilkinson also said
she appreciates the vote of confi
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Drugs recovered here
Middle Ga. Drug Task Force Officer, Cornelius Flowers, in
collaboration with the Peach County Sheriff’s
Department executed a search warrant on 201 Hampton
St., Fort Valley. Upon executing the search warrant
Officer Flowers and deputies recovered three lbs. of mar¬
ijuana, a 380 pistol and $1212 in cash. Subsequently,
Charlie Armstrong was arrested on charges of possession
with intent to distribute and po s s e ssion of a firearm dur¬
ing the commission of a crime.
task force is made up entirely
of women who have particular
expertise in this area. Mary
Oliver, a local attorney, Tterry
Adams, a nurse who spedal
invalving domes¬
tic violence, Carla Gowen from
the Fort Valley Police
Department and Maguarita
Morris, director of the
Department of Family and
Children’s Services, are a few
of the people making up the
taskforce
“These women came
together,” Stumbo said, “and
FV8U
►
plaint further alleges that
Wright “falsely and mali¬
ciously in his written and
printed defamation of the
Plaintiff accused the Plaintiff
of using his position as an
attorney at law of driving...
’the political system apart
between Peach County, Fort
Valley, and Byron’..."
In a letter addressed to
dence the Board of Education has
shown toward her.
Ms. Wilkinson has worked along side
many of the former superintendents of
this county and has enjoyed her job for
many years. She looks forward to the
new challenges the Interim
Superintendent position will bring and
feels up to the task.
The Georgia School Boards
Association made a proposal to the
local school board to conduct a search
for a new superintendent. If Peach
County chooses to let GSBA conduct
the search, they would have to pay a
fee of $10,000, double the cost when
GSBA conducted the search which
resulted in Dr. Pack being hired.
Narrowing down finalist for the posi¬
tion through GSBA could take as long
as six months.
we began to talk about our
goals and our concerns. One of
the results of that was that
very early on was that they
raised the money for three bill¬
boards in our city. One of those
billboards an 341 coming from
farcy into Put Valley is a pic¬
torial billboard,” Stumbo
noted, “but it basically says
real men do not abuse.”
The board provides a hot¬
line number that victims can
call to get information about
shelters and services.
Stumbo re vi ewe d some of
Religion - 4B, 5B
Legals/Classifieds - 6B-7B
i Right here
isn’t the only place
ou can catch the
:s. FVMS had their
jlympic.
Page 3A
50c
per
copy
Liipfert with a copy to the
Byron Gazette, Wright
claimed that Liipfert made
derogatory comments about a
prospective hospital authority
appointee.
Liipfert denies having
made any such comments and
notes that Mayor Wright was
not present at the meeting in
question.
the statistics concerning
domestic abuse in Peach
County. ithbins A safe house in
Warner received 179
crisis calls from citizens in
Peach County during 1999
concerning domestic abuse.
The safe house provided over
190 nights of safe haven for
women who were the victims
of domestic violence. Stumbo
added that 62% of males
under the age of 20 who are
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