Newspaper Page Text
Don’t forget to
REGISTER TO VOTE IN
THE NOV. ELECTION
Wed. Sept. 29, 2004
Peach ktW"" 11 ""
Sii ONIV GEORGIA
OF GA
PC Supt.
approved
in 3-2 vote
BY JERRY MURTAGH
The Leader-Tribune
Peach County has a new
superintendent of schools.
The Board of Education voted
three to two to select Tommy
Daniel as their next superin¬
tendent. Chairperson Bill
Gresham voted with board
members Jody Usry and
Wright Peavy to confirm the
appointment. Board members
Norma Givens and Evange¬
line Carson caste votes in
opposition.
Givens and Carson both
pointed to a preference for
Doris Wilkinson, the current
interim superintendent. “She
deserved this,” Carson said.
Interim Superintendent
Wilkinson said, “The board
has spoken and I think we
should move on. The new
superintendent is coming into
a good system with good stu¬
dents. It’s the students we
have to keep in mind.”
Wilkinson said she will
work with the Reading First
Project at least through the
end of this year.
Gresham said that Daniel
could make a longtime com¬
mitment to Peach County. “He
is only 48 years old, he comes
from Warner Robins and has
the potential for a long tenure
here,” Gresham said. “
Daniel graduated from
Cherokee High School in Can¬
ton and the University of
Georgia in 1978. He holds the
Masters Degree in Education
and Specialist in Education
degree from the University of
Georgia.
He served as principal of
Oak Grove Elementary School
in Cherokee County from
1900-1999. In 1998 he
received the National Distin¬
guished Principal award for
Georgia. He served as Super¬
intendent of the Wayne Coun¬
ty Schools and as interim
superintendent of the Brooks
County Schools.
Daniel said he plans to be
on board by this Friday.
Peach gets
FEMA $$
The head of the U.S.
Department of Homeland
Security’s Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
announced today that Presi
dent Bush has authorized the
use of federal disaster funds
for Georgia to help state and
local governments recover
from the effects of Tropical
Storm Frances.
Michael D. Brown, under
secretary of Homeland Securi¬
ty for emergency preparedness
and response, said the Presi¬
dent took the action under a
major dis¬
aster decla- Please turn to
ration FEMA, Page 2 A
1 Perspectives Op-Editorial - - 5A 4A
Go OUT AND SEE
the Trojans
THIS FRIDAY!
Peaclt County's source of local news, advertising, and sports for over 100 years.,.
w
p ROject
os—"
P7yV *■> *■ -Jut , 4
,v
j i
Hi * * 4
■2 /»! m |
7 Pro :v
*
&
■
Sis
«
%
3
WELCOMING
AUTUMN WEATHER -
The children at Little
People #1 and #2
enjoyed the beautiful
fall weather on their
respective playgrounds
last week. Pictured
(not in order) are Molli
Giles, Paola Diaz,
Plant, Iran Garcia,
Kennedy Finch,
Ra'Shun Baynes,
Eshaan Dhanak,
Caniya Williams, Chin
Farmer, Jr., Madison
Britt, Matthew Brown
and Dominic Jackson.
PHOTOS BY LINDA
SMITH
Rebuilding volunteers in demand
BY VICKY WHITEHEAD
The Leader-Tribune
Safe. Warm. Dry. Sanitary.
Four words which impact a per¬
son’s quality of life. Those four
words are also the underlying cri¬
teria for people selected into the
Rebuilding Together, Fort Valley,
part of the national Rebuilding
America program, formerly
known as Christmas in April.
One house was rehabilitated
last year on Peachtree Extension,
and in April 2005, the Rebuilding
Together committee has a goal of
five houses. The program repairs
the most prominent problem with
the house and goes as far as the
budget will allow.
Consisting of 13 people from
varied walks of life, the board of
directors have filed for 501 (c)
(non-profit) status and have
adopted the following mission
statement: “To rehabilitate homes
for !° w income elderly and dis
abled neighbors so that they may
live in warmth, safety and inde
pendence through volunteer
repairs of owner-occupied homes.”
Funding for the projects comes
from donations and all work is
done by volunteers. A budget has
been established of $5,000 per
house for 2005. All work will be
completed on all five houses in
one day which is the fourth Satur¬
day in April (23rd). If you would
.v- Sports News-Page
1 4
m
.
■
m
■fl
like to make a donation or sign up
to participate as a volunteer con¬
tact Martha McAfee at Fort Val¬
ley City Hall. Volunteers will be
divided into groups and assigned
to each home with a team captain.
Donations are tax deductible.
Where you can pick up an
application to have your house
considered and deadlines will be
announced later.
Fort Valley Mayor John Stum
bo expressed his appreciation to
Dexton Whitley last week for
chairing the project. “To get every¬
thing done we have to rely on vol¬
unteers and that is what makes
Fort Valley unique,” said Stumbo
about the ready pool of volun¬
teers.
Also on the board, Betty Rine¬
hart pointed out that all board
members also work on the project.
Members other than the mayor,
Rhinehart and Whitley, include,
Martha J. McAfee, Thomas
Palmer, Richard Rowan, Ezekiel
Harvey, Joy Moten-Thomas, Rev.
K. Daniel Dawsey, Jo Cobb, Paul
Scott, Jim McClarnon and Rob
Hunnicutt.
Volunteer today to make a dif¬
ference in your community.
m
■ — ■ □ -T—
Mayor John Whitley Stumbo, discussing Betty Rinehart, Rebuilding Martha McAfee and
Dexton plans for Together,
Fort Valley. Top right, volunteers working last year.
” At WILDCATS
• GO 5-0
READ MORE
V.' ON 8A
Crime
down
in FV
BY VICTOR KULKOSKY
The Leader-Tribune
It’s a down year for Fort
Valley’s criminals, thanks
to both the police depart¬
ment and the community.
According to the Fort
Valley Police Depart¬
ment’s monthly report
submitted to the Mayor
and City Council, the
totals for major crimes
through August 2004 are
358, compared to 605
through August 2003, a
drop of almost 41 percent.
‘It’s a real direct result
of the community part¬
nership we’ve developed,”
said Fort Valley Police
Chief Jan Cary.
Quick response and
community relations are
giving FVPD the street
level knowledge needed to
do its job, Cary said.
“It’s my guys and gals
doing their jobs and
catching the bad guys,”
Cary said.
Several times this year,
FVPD has observed
spikes in crime in a par¬
ticular area and immedi¬
ately increased police
presence in that area.
The Community Action
Tsana, of group of officers
riding bicycles, has
responded to several situ¬
ations.
The Strategic Response
Tsam, FVPD’s equivalent
of a SWAT team, has also
been used several times
“SRT enables us to get
specially trained people
into the field, people with
training above normal
officer training in
weapons and tactics,”
Cary said
FVPD’s focused
response earlier this year
led to the arrest of James
Owens, responsible for a
series of home invasions,
who pled guilty and is
now in prison, Cary said.
In 2004, through
August, Fort Valley had
two reported rapes, 11
robberies, 55 assaults, 83
simple batteries, 62 bur¬
glaries, 134 thefts, 10
auto thefts and one
arson.
At the same time last
year, the city had one
murder, two rapes, 23
robberies, 68 assaults,
144 simple batteries, 130
burglaries, 203 thefts, 30
auto thefts and four arson
cases.
FVPD has three offi¬
cers at the state police
academy. The depart¬
ment is also accepting
applications. For infor¬
mation contact the FVPD
at 825-3383.
Religion- 2B-3B
Legals-Classifieds 4B-7B