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Peach County's Newspaper d
Vol. 126 Issue No. 15 500 May 4,8011
Legal Organ For Peach County. City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Leader
Tribune
Statement
on Death of
Bin Laden
The Leader-Tribune joins all
Americans and peace-loving people
around the world in congratulating
the military and intelligence personnel
whose long years of difficult, often
anonymous work finally brought A!
Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden to
justice last Sunday. His death is a vic¬
tory for the families and friends of his
thousands of victims both in the U.S.
and around the world.
We stand with Presidents Bush and
Obama in stressing that America is not
and has never been at war with Islam.
Our nation has no quarrel with peace¬
ful people or any faith, race or nation¬
ality anywhere in the world.
At the moment of a significant vic¬
tory, we caution Americans that the
victory does not end must the bat¬
tle against terrorism and all forms of
extremism is far from over. Those who
wish to harm Americans and anyone
that does not share their narrow-mind¬
ed and hate-filled views are even now
plotting more attacks. As we acknowl¬
edge justice served, let us continue to
be vigilant and ready to join hands with
any sincere partner in bringing greater
freedom to people around the world.
The Battle of
Byron is This
Saturday in
Downtown Byron!
This Theme: A Historic Festival of
Challenges
C< ' jy theCarSho w ***
iw *** Bed Races
*** ball *** Kids Corral
ianana Relay *** Ice
chum-Off*** Jail n Bail ***
■ ****Purty Feet Contest
*** Men’s High Heel Races *** Tug
Of War *** Pie Eatin* Contest ***
Arts & Crafts *** Tricycle Races
The festivities kick off at 9 a.m.
with the Patriotic Parade. Be
and show your colors 1
Whats
INSIDE
Peach In 8* Out 8
Police Beet...... 3
Opinion........... 4
Country Living, 8
faith Matters., 6
Sports....... 7
Local- *8*9
Legal* ...... 10
Classifieds a
• ««* 18
Serving Peach County l or Over 100 ) at t*s Publish in
2011 RelayforL^
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Candles spell out the word "HOPE" at last Friday's Peach County Relay for Life held at
Byron Elementary School. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
They walked and walked and
walked. They baked. They cooked.
They bought raffle tickets. Some even
hula hooped. When all the fundrais
ing was done, the 2011 Peach County
Relay for Lite had set a record.
This year’s event had a goal of
County Unveils Plaque to Honor Veterans
5 .
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L—
County Commissioner Michael Dinkins unveils the plaque for the Peach County Veterans Memorial last
week. Presenting the colors are members of the FVSU ROTC program, l-r: Andrew Harvey, Michael Bush
and Ashley Bond. Master Sergeant Washington is partially hidden to the left. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Although it could not have been
planned, a ceremony in Fort Valley
last week conveniently saluted the U.S.
military members who brought Osama
Bin Laden to justice earlier this week.
The event last Tuesday unveiled a
Veterans Memorial that sits in front
f V,
*
—
raising $53,000 for the American
Cancer Society, and as of Monday, the
tally had already reached $64,000.
“It was a phenomenal year,” said
Heather Gilbert, Community Manager
with the ACS. She said more teams
than ever participated in this year’s
Relay, about double last year (the local
web site says 25 teams signed up
online). Corporate sponsorship was
of the Peach County Commissioners’
Offices on Persons Street in Fort
Valley. The occasion was one of sev
eral events held to celebrate NACo
County Government Month in April,
the theme of which was “Serving
Veterans, the Armed Forces and Their
Families.”
The ceremony began with remarks
by Lt. Col. Terry Love, Professor
I |
Peach County conch 1
County Government JI I
an Employee Picnic I JLM
« ,iw
South Peach Park in
This year, departmei
teams with dif r
:
ing volleyball
22
IL:
ic
Gets Clean
By Victor Kulkosky
Newt Editor
If not cause for jubilation, the audit
report for Peach Regional Medical
Center showed a modestly better finan¬
cial situation.
it Last year was better than past
years,” Bill Cooling told the board of
the Peach County Hospital Authority at
last Friday’s regular meeting. Cooling
is a partner with the accounting firm
of Sculley, Ladsen and Cooling. He
said PRMC achieved a net income of
$191,000 for fiscal 2010.
In the language of accounting, the
accountants gave the 2010 audit an
I “unqualified opinion.” which Cooling
sa id means the auditors had not dis
agreements with management, did not
I consult with other accounting firms
and reported no problems with the
audit.
The 2010 profit of $191,000 came
despite falling revenue, Cooling said.
j He attribu,ed the improved bottom
j ine to management’s continuing cost¬
cutting efforts, which have reduced
expenses to more than keep pace with
gliding revenue.
M The main thing that management
can control is costs,” Cooling said.
“The revenue side of things is mostly
up to the public.”
In other business. Finance Director
Lisa Urbistondo gave the financial
report for March. Accounts receivable
(money owed by patients) were at $4.5
million, down slightly from the previ¬
ous month. Collections for the month
were $826,578. Urbistondo said
March collections were better than the
average of $600,000 in recent months.
The Business Office is improving its
collections but still needs to hire a
commercial biller.
PRMC had 50 inpatient admissions
in March, 37 observation admissions,
one extended-care admission, 761
Valley Medical visits, 1,238 emergency
room visits, 10.51 outpatient visits, one
inpatient surgery and 37 outpatient sur¬
geries. Medicare accounted for 63% of
March admissions, with others includ¬
ing Medicaid - 10%, Commercial -
10% and Self Pay - 17%.
Gross revenue for March was
$ 2.1 million with deductions of $ 1.1
million and operating expenses of
$835,789.28. Overall, PRMC earned
$117,328.51 in March. Urbistondo
year-to-date patient revenue at about
595 m j]jj on was below the budgeted
amount of $9.8 million, but operating
expenses were slightly below budget*
at just below $4 million versus about
$4.1 million.
In other business, the board unani
roously approved the following recom
mendations of the Medical Executive
Committee: Dr. Sarvepalli D. Jokhai,
2-year reappointment to the LLP staff
with privileges in podiatry; Dr. Jeffrey
Zatorski, 2-year reappointment to the
consulting staff with privileges in
teieradiology; Dr. Frank C. Powell,
1 -year reappointment to consulting
staff with privileges in teleradioio
gy; James “Marvin” Martin, CRNA,
1 -year provisional appointment to the
Allied Health Professional staff with
privileges in anesthesia.
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also up.
“There was just more excitement
around the Relay this year,” Gilbert
said.
Organizers have not been able to
figure out what made this year special,
she said.
The Relay for Life, which takes
C-Onunuea fnntinnril tn IO page naot> Z 7
of Military Science and commander
of the Fort Valley State University I
Wildcat Battalion. Lt Col. is winding
down his time at FVSU and preparing
to leave for an assignment in Traq.
Lt Col. Love said he graduated I
from FVSU with a B.S. in Electronic
Engineering Technology, before going I
Continued . to pagE 3