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FOR ADC 301
m GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
UNIV OF GA
ATHENS GA 30602
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Vol. No. 119 ,ue 21 June 6, 2007 bHM.MM 2 Sections, 20 Pages 500
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Serving Peach County For Over 100 Years
pi
Local Weather
Thu 92/70 /Jk
6/7
Partly cloudy. Highs in the low 90s
and lows in the low 70s.
Fri 94/70
6/8
Partly cloudy with a stray thunder¬
storm.
Sat 95/70 A.. tU
6/9
Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 90s
and lows in the low 70s.
Sun 96/68
6/10
Times of sun and clouds. Highs in
the mid 90s and lows in the upper
60s.
Mon 94/66
6/11 »v\
Partly cloudy with a stray thunder¬
storm.
Raptors
presentations
take summer
readers on a
trek through
Georgia
Join “book travelers” partic¬
ipating in the summer “reading
takes you everywhere” pro¬
gram at Peach Public Libraries
as we “take to the sky” and
learn about Georgia raptors,
Two “Raptors; Hunters of
the Sky” programs, featur¬
ing the Hawk Lady, Mooteen
McCord, are scheduled for
Wednesday, June 6. The Fort
Valley program takes place at
noon at the Thomas Public
Library, 315 Martin Luther
King, Jr. Drive, and will be
repeated at 2:00 p.m. at the
Byron Public Library, 105
West Church Street.
The “Hunters of the Sky”
programs showcase un-releas¬
able birds of prey that can be
found in Georgia.
“All of these animals are
permanently injured and can¬
not survive on their own in the
wild, I use them for education
after they’ve been trained,”
said McCord.
McCord has licenses and
permits through the Georgia
Department of Natural
Resources and Federal Fish
and Wildlife Service in order
to handle the raptors and their
fellow sanctuary tenants,
Funding for these programs
is provided by a grant from
the Library Services and
Technology Act.
Groups wishing to attend
should contact Nancy Rairdon,
Youth Services Coordinator, at
478-825-1640.
Everyone is welcome!
WmsjlHsmi
World History .....2A
Opinions....... 4A
Faith Matters....... 7A
Sports. IB
Food 2B
Social 5A
Legals ... 3B
Classifieds 6-7B
2 » l IS
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Wins State
Houston
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Whatever your stance on the
issue, the wait is over.
Officials at Peach Regional
Medical Center received word
last Wednesday evening that
the Georgia Department of
Community Health had granted
approval of the hospital's cer¬
tificate of need to build a new
$25 million facility relocated
from its 53-year-old home in
Fort Valley to property lying
just outside of Byron, PRMC
administrator Nancy Peed
announced during the hospital
authority’s regular meeting the
following Thursday.
The department's final deci¬
sion on the highly debated appli¬
cation had not been expected
until June 6.
Winning the state’s nod to
relocate, PRMC moves on to
another matter: funding the
project, an amount the hospital
hopes to have secured by the
end of this year with construc¬
tion of the facility slated for
mid-2008: Peed said the hospi¬
tal projects to have the building
open by 2009.
According to plan, the fed¬
eral Department of Housing
and Urban Development will
see HOSPITAL,
pg. 6A
Humbled by gifts
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Photo by Brian Shreve
Fort Valley Mayor John Stumbo sits at his-City Hall desk with handmade gifts pre¬
sented to him by two Macon County inmates-- a drawing of the downtown gazebo
along with a wooden model of the structure. The mayor made a special trip to the
prison last Thursday for a speaking engagement.
FV gains covenant
with sod farm
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
The City of Fort Valley is set to enter an annex¬
ation covenant concerning a sod farm comprise.d
of more than 300 acres off of Ga. Highway 96.
During a called meeting held last Wednesday,
the city council voted to provide the area owned
by Patten Seed Co. with water and sewerage on
the condition of that property owners eventually
to be annexed.
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Hospital authority chairman Tom Green and hospital administrator Nancy Peed celebrate Thursday with sparkling
grape juice.
Under the covenant’s timetable, “all necessary
easements shall have been obtained within six
months” of the agreement with construction
water and sewer lines beginning “no later than six
months” from now, reaching completion approxi¬
mately 12 months following.
“I think it’s good for Fort Valley and for Peach
County,” said mayor pro tern Herman Light.
“Developers say this sod farm is one of the pri¬
mary sites in the state.”
SCLC inducts
officers in new
Fort Valley
Chapter
The Southern
Leadership Conference, the
rights organization
by Dr. Martin Luther King
installed officers of its
formed Fort Valley chapter
ceremonies held Sunday,
3, at the James Temple
Center in Fort Valley.
The addition of the new
ter is another step in
President Charles
aggressive program to
the famed organization,
focuses on education,
and equality.
“We are operating with
renewed spirit and a
agenda, and it truly is “a
day and a new way for
organization,” President
said. “Now more than
the SCLC is committed
bearing the torch in the
rights movement by
ing change through direct
and nonviolent tactics.”
The installation
comes only weeks after the
of Yolanda King, the eldest
of Dr. King, who
the organization 50 years
Steele calls Yolanda King
daughter of the SCLC.”
The Georgia expansion
consistent with Dr. Steele’s
sage of reaching out broadly
innovatively, said Rev.
Love, special assistant to
SCLC president. Six
'have been formed or
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Submitted Photo
Kelsey R. Johnson, new
President of the Fort Valley
Chapter of SCLC.
just in the state of Georgia since
Dr. Steele took office in 2004.
Currently the SCLC has 72
chapters in 14 states and is plan¬
ning major outreach for its 50th
anniversary Annual Convention,
Aug. 3-8, 2007, in Atlanta.
“1 am very, very happy and
honored to step in the shoes of
some great men who have come
before me,” said Rev. Kelcey
Johnson, who was installed as
Fort Valley chapter’s first pres¬
ident. “We are really geared
toward grooming our young
people.”
Rev. Johnson says he believes
in President’s Steele’s message
of addressing issues “in new
day in a new way.” “We want
see SCLC, pg 3A