Lcjjal Organ For Peach County, C ity of Fort Valley and C ’ity Of Byron
Your Local Weather See 6B for
page Myrtle more Festival coverage
on Crape in
92/68 96/72 98/73 95/72 92/72 Marshallville on June 30th
Times of sun Mix of sun Isolated thun- Scattered Scattered
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Vol. No. 119 tissue 25 ^ JULY 3, 2007 ufwvr.Mei4trtrihuM.Mm
Serving Peach County For Over 100 Years
Whats
World History .........2A
First successful cloning of
a mammal
Hi
Crossword 2A
Police Beat,., 3A
Opinion 4A
Faith Matters......—5A
Billy Powell
Angie Carr
Obituaries---------- 5A
Shirley Britt Cryder
Martha L. Keys Mathis
Food..................—., 7A
*
All Star Chili Dogs,
Ranch Burgers
Hot Dogs New Orleans
Style
Spinich Chicken Salad
Baked Tomatos
My Outlaw Peach Cobbler
Sports IB
f
I
:<•
With three wins out of
four games this week the
Trojans moved into the
championship game with
Outland High of Macon
at 6:30 on Friday, June
29 at the Western Little
League Field on Fulton
Mill Road in Macon.
Legals..—
Classifieds
301
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FOR
★*★★*★*★*+★★*** ALL NEWSPAPER GA 30602
GEORGIA OF GA
UNIV ATHENS
1
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Kelsey Johnson, president of the Fort Valley Chapter
the SCLC, walks into Peach Regional Medical
last Thursday to voice his concerns over the hospital’s
proposed relocation.
Happy 4th, Peach County!
V A it
-
A faded American flag r - X
overlooks the railroad *
crossing at Main Street t -
in the heart of Fort Valley.
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*— Love those
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\ crape myrtle $8P| c? W
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Photos by:
1 Gary Harmon .1
i
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Above: Ellen Vinson proudly carries her newly (/
purchased crape myrtle during Saturday's a
festival in Marshallville.
* .7
Right: Participating vendors at this past Y 1
1 1
*. i.** •1
weekend’s Crape Myrtle Festival. The annual 1 {
event—sponsored by the Marshallville Women’s ■ * 11 1 H *
League—was celebrated Saturday in downtown m
Marshallville. 4b
■s
\ i
Johnson takes fight
to
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Kelsey Johnson continued his campaign last
week against the relocation of Peach Regional
Medical Center, taking his cause to the Peach
County Hospital Authority itself.
As a scheduled guest speaker during the author¬
ity's regular meeting last Thursday, Johnson, pas¬
tor and president of the Fort Valley Chapter of
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
arrived with several SCLC members an^ other
supporters, forming what was an unusually
packed boardroom.
Johnson’s primary concern-one he first brought
before the Fort Valley City Council the week
prior-in vol ves PRMC’s promise to provide some
sort of healthcare facility in Fort Valley once the
hospital is moved.
“We will have an urgent care center here in
Fort Valley. Is that my understanding?” said
Johnson.
With that, hospital#authority chairman Tom
Green began to defend PRMC’s motives, saying
the hospital expected to be “much healthier finan
daily” by relocating outside the city.
“We’re not doing well.” Green said. “It will
probably be two years, conservatively speaking,
[before the hospital moves]. We re not there yet.
FVSU President: 'There is
hope in Fort Valley's economy.'
By Brian Shreve
News Editor
Despite the gloom of this year’s weather conditions and its impact
on the peach industry, Fort Valley State University President Larry
Rivers believes his school’s expansion may be just what the local
economy needs. r
In an interview last Tuesday, Rivers
said he wished to remind the com¬
munity that Fort Valley and Middle
Georgia have a “viable economic
engine in Fort Valley State” for a
number of reasons. “While our peach
industry isn’t doing well right now,
1 know that it will return,” he said,
“but 1 truly believe there is hope in
Fort Valley and the surrounding area
because of the things that are happen¬
ing at Fort Valley State.”
Due to this year’s drought and severe
frost, the state’s peach crop suffered __
see Economy pg. 2B
And we’re going to make our best effort to keep
this hospital open until we move to the new loca¬
tion, but we can’t guarantee that.”
"As for an answer to that question,” he contin¬
ued, “that’s subject to our overall viability as an
ongoing business.”
In June, the Georgia Department of Community
Health granted its approval of PRMC’s certificate
of need application to build a $25 million facil¬
ity located at Ga. 247 Connector and John E.
Sullivan Road outside of Byron. The hospital has
maintained it would leave Fort Valley with some
urgent care facility, though its location and other
details have yet to be announced.
Citing newspaper articles published over the
past year, Johnson argued that hospital admin¬
istrator Nancy Peed had been quoted as say¬
ing the hospital had been meeting its operating
expenses.
“If you move, why not move before you meet
your expenses?” said Johnson.
In response. Green said the hospital risked
being sued by creditors. Green continued to
defend the relocation by saying that yearly fund¬
ing from the Peach County Commissioners has
“basically kept us from going broke.”
Green further argued that between 50 and 60
see FIGHT pg. 3A
