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Vol. 126 Issue No. 14 500
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort Valley and City Of Hymn
National Day
i of Prayer at
Everett
Calling all people of prayer to join
us on May 5 at Everett Square at
a.m. to observe the National Day
Prayer. This 25-minute gathering will
be lead by local clergy and lay leaders
and include singing and prayer for all
levels of government asking God’s
intervention in the needs of the world.
All faiths welcome. No offering will be
taken. Sponsored by the Peach County
Ministerial Association. In case
rain we will gather at the Fort Valley
Presbyterian Church fellowship hall,
behind the couahou.se
Contributed by Peach County
Ministerial Association
Whats
INSIDE
Peach in 6 - Dot
5
4
(krantay Living .8
Faith Matters 6
Sports • •• 4. 7
School «♦•*»***«»*«#••**>•*« ***8
Lagals mmmhia*,*,. 8*11
Crossword fozzls ••••• IE
Classifieds.......... 18
Art Outside the Box... 14
S@ch aMother County of thg
f Year Contest
moment If you have share a with precious J
to our y
readers in hopes that a
special mom you know and
care for could be the next
gPeach County Mother of the
near, then please submit it by
p-mail to egriff@theleadertri
bune.net and place "mother of
the year" in the subject space.
You may also drop it off at
'The Leader-Tribune at 109
iAnderson Ave. in Fort Valley
ror at Malibu Maui’s Salon at
the Peach Shops in Byron.
All entries should include
the name, address, and phone
number of the person submit¬
ting Ification the of photo the and mother the identi- in the* £
photo and why you think\ Jf
she is special and deserving f
of this title. The deadline is
April 22, 2011.
This year’s contest is spon¬
sored by The Leader-Tribune ,
Larry's Flowers at 56 HarrisBn 478VS
-Drive, Ft. Valley, Ga.
.825^706. raton & Spa and in Malibu Byron the
Sfetch at ■
Shops, 478-654-6560.
Mother of the Year will
receive flowers, a salon gift 1
certificate, and her picture esB
and her story in the
.Ladies of Peach Count
Check
us out on
Facebook
ft
**»
Peach County's Newspaper
FVMS Students Sweep Art Contest
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By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
There must be something happening
in 7th grade art classes at Fort Valley
Middle School. As part of NACo
County Government Month, the Peach
County Board of Education held an art
contest for middle and high school stu¬
dents, and FVMS 7th graders won 1st,
2nd and 3rd place. ' —*«“•* •**•'*"*•
The contest was simple: stuclentshad
to produce a work using the theme for
this year’s County Government Month:
“Serving Our Veterans, Armed Forces
and Their Families.” A team of coun-
Fort Shows Off Services
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
First off, if you find yourself stuck
in the mud in Fort Valley, call Public
Works. That department earned the
privilege after beating other depart¬
ments in two tug o’ war contests at
Monday’s City Services display as part
of Geoigia Cities Week.
City employees faced off in various
friendly but spirited contests, as well as
manning booths and displays highlight¬
ing city services
The popular Fire Safety House was
on site. As Lt. Antonio Woodward
with the Public Safety Department
explained, the Fire Safety House, inside
a trailer, is designed to teach fire safety
in a realistic setting. It includes a fully
functioning kitchen, artificial fireplace
and a bedroom. Video cameras con¬
nected to a control room allow an
operator to see all part of the Fire Safety
House. The operator can release imita¬
tion (non-toxic) smoke to teach visitors
to get down low. A phone gives visitors
a chance to practice making 9) 1 calls.
Since having a meeting place in case
of fire is a standard part of any fire
safety plan, a mailbox is posted outside
Continued to page 2
Old Jail Needs More Fixing |
County Employees Help Combat Troops
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
With the new wing of the Peach
County Law Enforcement Center com
pleted and operating, attention has now
shifted to renovating the old section
of the jail. As often happens, when
contractors start busting down walls,
unseen problems start to show up.
That was the explanation Sheriff
Terry Deese gave to commissioners at
their regular meeting last week.
“We knew stuff would come up," the
Sheriff said.
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ty employees led by Administrative
Specialist April Howard judged the
entries.
1st Place went to Alyssa Skipper for
her depiction of a uniformed mother
holding two smiling children in a tight
embrace.
2nd Place went to Monique Williams
for her picture of a bald eagle against
an American flag.
3rd Place went to Venus Aikens.
Her entry also included an eagle with a
flag background, this one a flag swirl¬
ing in the wind, with the words of the
theme drawn in fancy, multicolored
lettering.
The winners have the honor of
display in the lobby of the County
Commissioners’ offices at 213 Persons
Street for a full year.
County Government Month activi¬
ties continued Tuesday night with a
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Port Valley firefighters participate in a tug o' war at Monday's City
Services Day. Photo by Jo Ann Dankei
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He said he had told lead contractor
Massee Builders that he wanted to
walk through the old section of the jail
and see everything before approving
any more change orders and the can
tractor complied. Most of the change
orders involve safety issues, he said.
A challenge far the renovation proj
ect that Public Works Director Paul
Scwhindler noted is that there original
plans for the old pul but no plans that
show the building as It was built. He
said it appeared the builders of the old
jail took shortcuts to save money.
The new orders range from
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Mock Commissioners meeting held
in the Commissioners meeting room,
complete with an agenda, motions,
debate and votes. See next week’s
paper for coverage.
At 1 p.m. on April 26, a ceremo
ny in front of the Commissioners’
offices will unveil a veterans com
memorative display designed by
Peach County Public Works Director
Paul Schwindler. Outgoing Wildcat
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Terry
Love will be guest of honor, with
participation from the FVSU ROTC
Color Guard.
Festi vities conclude April 29 at noon I
with the County Employees Picnic,
this year at South Peach Park, The
annual event switches between North J
and South Peach parks.
Fort Valley Firefighter
Rontavious Williams daps
his hands to indicate he's
finished first in the quick
dress competition at Fort
Valley's City Services Day.
Williams won three of four
rounds, suiting up each time
in just over one minute.
Photo by Victor Kulkosky
$1,440 to $53,860. Deese said the con- j
tingency budget for the project would
still have $81,000 after the current list
is completed. I
Commissioners unanimously j
approved the change orders,
Director in earlier of Hearts business, Heroes, Myra thanked Foskey, j j
to
commissioners and county employees
for 27 boxes collected for the program.
Hearts to Heroes sends care of pack
ages of donated items to troops serving j?
overseas in Iraq and The
packages usually contain i as I
Continued to 8
April 10,8011
Commissioners
Clash Over 3
Travel Spending
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
A presentation by a former County
Commissioner led to a clash between
two sitting commissioners at last
week’s regular meeting of the Peach
County Board of Commissioners,
Former Commissioner Jimmy
Walker addressed the board about his
concerns around about spending for
travel and training. He quoted from
the board’s mission statement posted
on the county web site: “Spend and
account for tax dollars in a responsible
matter.’’
Walker said he requested expenses
for travel and meetings for all commis
sioners for the past two years, and put
the numbers into a spreadsheet. He
presented each commissioner with a
spiral binder containing the results of
his inquiry,
—WMTfrsrjaid t& numbers show com
missioners Roy Lewis, Walter Smith,
Melvin Walker and Martin Moseley
spent in a range from about $1,500
to $4,000 in each of the previous two
years, while Michael Dinkins spent
$15,059 in 2009-2010 and $20,101 in
2010-2011. Last year, Walker said,
Dinkins’ mileage was over 13,000 and
auto expenses over $6,000 for travel UK
places around Georgia, Baltimore, Md.
and Reno, Nev. Dinkins’ travel days
totaled 90 in the same time period.
“I don’t know what job you have that
gives you 90 days off,” Walker said to
Dinkins.
He said Dinkins had requested and*
received approval for $300 to join!
the Georgia Economic Development*
Committee and had spent $6,100 at
two meetings.
“I’m all for economic development,
but we’ve got a full-time development
authority,” Walker said. “What are we
getting for our money?”
He said he found one travel voucher
that had been submitted and signed on
the same day.
Walker said he wanted to see poli¬
cies in place that would regulate com¬
missioners’ travel and expenses. He
said most counties require commis¬
sioners to submit a written request and
have a cap on such spending.
Commissioner Martin Moseley said
the board was aware of the situation
and is working on policies.
In response. Commissioner Dinkins
read from a prepared statement. In the
statement, Dinkins said he had earned
certification faster than any previous
commissioner in the county. He said,
a good commissioner must “think out¬
side the box,” which requires working. 1 !
with numerous committees around the
state. He said he spent one year doing
“nothing but submerge myself in coun¬
ty government. I stopped working to
focus on becoming the best I can be.”
He said work on organizations such
as die Georgia Economic Development
Authority allows him to ask “what if”
questions such as “what if Blue Bird
was gone.”
Dinkins referred to well-known quo
ration: “If you want to hit a borne run,
you have to step out of the dugout, step
out of the on deck circle and step up to
the plate.”
He said a good commissioner, “can’t
sit at home.”
“Yes, I’m out there.” Dinkins said.
“just trying to hit a home run for Peach
Dinkins drew an angry response
tonuaissioacr lcwis, who nas
Continued to 3