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iee so beautifully decorated with lights in honor of and in memory of our loved ones in Byron was van
st few days. Obviously, the idea that people put time, effort and money in to making this tree a special
A one was ignoreu uy people bent on destruction. Strands of lights were tom from the tree, and bulbs stolen or broken. If
you know anything about this crime, please let the Byron Police know. It is unfortunate that the season of love has been
m dampened by this unfortunate occurrence. Fortunately the lights were there for the beautiful serv ice and funds werejaised
T for the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind, but serious thought will have to be given to continuing this event in the hgnww
P the vandalism. Marlene Humphry, Byron Lions Club
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c vlirir OTr £* r mil fir
1
Vol. 126 Issue No. 38 500
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
School System's
Credit Rating
Wins Good
Interest Rates
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
The Peach County School District
has handled its money well enough
to deserve an average interest rate of
just over 1% on its latest bond issue.
At last week's regular meeting,
financial advisor Bill Camp told the
Peach County Board of Education
the school system's bond issue was
due to close on on January 15, with
payments to begin on February 1,
2012 and end on Feb. I, 2016. The
average interest on those bonds will
be just 1.14%.
“The silver lining of this economy
is that investor's are craving a safe
investment,” Camp said. In other
words, investors are willing to sac¬
rifice higher returns for the safety of
bonds with good prospects for repay¬
ment.
Camp said Moody's Investor
Services, one of the "Big 3” credit
rating agencies (Standard & Poors
and Fitch arc the others), gave the
school system's bond issue an A2
rating, which means the bonds are
"investment grade” with “low credit
risk.” “A” rated bonds are the third
tier of Moody's rating system, with
Aa the next highest and Aaa the high¬
est. Baa rating are the next lowest tier
that are still rated “investment grade.”
Camp said the bond issue would
actually be priced at a premium,
meaning the schools would actually
get about $400,000 more than the
$7 21 million face value of the bonds.
BOE Attorney Buddy Welch said it
is important for the public to under¬
stand how the school system earned
the bond rating. Superintendent Joe
Ann Denning, BOE Chairman Jamie
Johnson and other senior officials
had a lengthy teleconference with
Moody's representatives to earn the
Continued to page 2
_
Peach County Schools Teachers of the Year
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
_
The Peach County Schools Teachers
of the Year were introduced at last
week's regular meeting of the Peach
County Board of Education. Below
are photos of each TOTY with bios as
read by each teacher’s principal at the
BOE meeting.
Hope Giles
District Wide Teacher of the Year
Kay Road Elementary School
*
:
u
She is a third grade teacher at Kay
Road Elementary school. A graduate
of Shaw University and the Fort Valley
State University, she has had the privi¬
lege of educating diverse groups of
students for over 28 years. In her many
years of teaching, she has learned
that all students can learn and want to
learn. It is her job to develop strategies
to help the students succeed. Besides
being a teacher, she is the wife of
Leonard Giles Sr.. the proud mother of
two children, and she has three grand¬
sons. She is also an active member
erf Trinity Baptist Church and a proud
member (as well as her Principal:
Angela Ezell and the Superintendent
of Schools: Mrs. Joe Ann Denning) of
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sororit. Inc. Kay
Road Elementary School's Teacher of
the Year “Mrs. Hope Giles”.
LaKisha Bobbit
Peach County High School
V,
■T. ^
Mrs. LaKisha R. Bobbitt is a native
of Miami. Fla. She is the mother of
Regina, a Freshman FIducation Major
at Georgia Southern University and
Shone (pronounced Shawn), a 7th
grade basketball player at Feagin Mill
Middle School. She is the w ifetoalov
ing husband of more than 14 years. Mr.
Shone (pronounced Shawn) Bobbitt,
Sr. She is the daughter of Mary and
Willie Fonman and the granddaughter
of Dorothy and John Dixon. The oldest
of three, Mrs Bobbin has two younger
brothers Roy and John. She is in her
sixth year of teaching and her third
year at Peach County High School.
She is an ninth grade English teacher
as well as the school’s yearbook advis
er. She attended college at both Florida
A & M University in Tallahassee,
Fla. and Georgia Southwestern State
University in Americus.Ga. She began
her collegiate career as a Spanish
mayor, but later decided to follow her
Set ing Peach/ aunts t or Over 100 hears
Peach County's m Newspaper
Imperfect Ending
Second Half Surge Carries
Bears Over Trojans
- —
lift
fARM
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p.
L-R: Debarriaus Miller, Ryan Bowman, Cassuas Hall and Brandon Jones celebrate the Tro¬
jans' runner-up achievement with a wide spectrum of emotions. The Trojans finished the
2011 season 13-2. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
“This is the best football team I’ve
ever coached, the way they over¬
came adversity,” Head Coach Chad
Campbell said after the AAA State
Championship Game.
That puts the 2011 Peach County
Trojans above last year’s scoring
machine and even the undefeated 2009
state title winners. That declaration
probably took some of the sting out
of the Trojans 28-14 loss to Burke
County in the Tommy Guillibeau State
Championship Game at the Georgia
Dome on December 10.
“It was a story of two different
halves,” Campbell said.
The first half belonged to the
Trojans, who did all the things they
usually do well, to perfection. Their
opening drive featured hard-hitting run
plays sprinkled with passes. Demareus
Robinson took a Kentel Kendrick pass
and dodged and weaved his way inside
the 10. Kendrick himself scored the
touchdown, vaulting over the goal-line
behind the hard-pushing offensive line.
Peach County scored its second TD
in familiar fashion. Kendrick lofted a
pass to his favorite receiver. Demarcus
Robinson, who created the Demarcus
Continued to page 3_
Tenn. Tracey has a passion for learning
and translates that passion to her stu¬
dents. When her students were asked
"Is Mrs. Rouse a good teacher?" they
sang, in chorus "YES!" They added.
"She teaches us about numbers," "she
teaches us how to tell time," "she
doesn't yell at us, but sometimes she
gets us because she doesn’t want us to
stay a novice "
When her colleagues were asked
about her. they offered: lif you don't
want to know, don’t ask her," "she
cheers for the underdog." "she's
focused," "she's serious about teach¬
ing," "she's young at heart.”
Tracey shares her love for dance
throughout the community. She has the
HES dance team, the FVMS Golden
and the FVSU 3D's "Dancing Doll
Divas".
Tracey is a life-long learner and
teaches her children to strive to become
more than 'novice' and to never stop.
It is my pleasure to introduce to se
and present to others Hunt Elementary
School's Teacher of the Year in the
person of Mrs. Tracey Rouse.
Tina Smith
Byron Elementary School
Continued to pago 2,
heart and majored in English. Mrs.
Bobbitt has a clear vision of her teach
ing philosophy, taking pride in herself
for her ability to go beyond the books
and connect with her students. She
teaches from her soul and is passionate
about her craft.
Tracey Rouse
Hunt Elementary School
■ ■■ ■ ■
■
m
She is the wife of Kevin Rouse and
the mother of Kevin Jr., a student at
the FVSU and Kaylec. a junior at
PCHS. She is the third of four girls
bom into a home where education
was stressed and failure wasn't an
option. Kevin and Tracey Rouse serve
as Deacon and Deaconess at Central
Union Baptist Church. She is a home
grown educator, hav ing attended Peach
County Schools, and graduated from
the FVSU. She is a member of the
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority,
-Tracey taught at Hunt Primary
for 16 years and at Hunt Elementary
School for four years. For the last three
yean, she has had perfect attendance
Tracey is on the HES Better Seeking
Team. She is also dedicated to improv
ing achievement for all erf our children,
and to that end attended the Model
Schools Conference in Nashville.
December 14,2011
Byron ^ron $4.7 Proposes rrop Milli
ion
Budget
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
The Byron City Council faced a
minor challenge at their monthly meet¬
ing last Monday evening. With both
Mayor Larry Collins and Mayor Pro
Tern Michael Chidester absent, they
needed an official action to appoint
somebody to temporarily run the meet¬
ing.
All eyes turned to City Attorney
Joan Harris, who advised City Clerk
Betty Sims to call the meeting to order
and ask for a motion to appoint a pre
siding officer. The gavel passed to
Councilman Michael Chumbley, who
preceded to handle his duties without
incident.
Among the agenda items was pre¬
sentation of the proposed 2012 General
Fund budget. The budget, prepared by
the Budget and Finance Committee in
consultation with department heads,
projects revenues of $4,735.615.45 and
spending of $4.562.890 98, leaving
$172,715.47 projected for contingen¬
cies. The council previously voted to
leave the mill rate unchanged at nine.
Salaries and benefits are the largest
expenditure at about $2.4 million, up
about $47,(XX) from 2011. Other major
expenses include about $479,000 for
supplies, including utilities and fuel;
$383,459 in debt service and about
$473,000 in “other financing uses.”
Taxes account for about $2.7 million
in revenue, including about $1.2 mil¬
lion in real property taxes and about
$320,000 in sales taxes. Fines and for¬
feitures are the second biggest revenue
source at $1.1 million.
A public hearing and vote on he 2012
budget is scheduled for 5 p.m Dec. 14
at the Byron Municipal Complex a
vote the following Wednesday at 5
p.m.
In other business, Public Works
Director William F. McDaniel
addressed the council concerning the
planned Byron Streetscape project. He
said he had received two bids for
preliminary engineering work on the
project, which would include improve¬
ments to Main Street and sections of
Boy Scout Road.
Chumbley suggested the city first
get more input on the scope of the
work from the Mayor and Council and
other officials. The council voted to
table the issue.
In other business, Robert Smith
with the Middle Georgia Regional
Development Commission addressed
the council concerning a Community
Development Block Grant application,
for which the RDC is assisting the city.
The grant would fund replacing decay¬
ing asbestos-line pipes in several parts
of the city: Old Macon Road. New
Dunbar Road. White Road, Bassett
Road and Hamlin Street.
Smith said the Byron project fits the
federal government s recent emphasis
on water projects for CDBG s as well
as the requirement that 70% of the ben¬
eficiaries be low- to moderate-income
residents.
Smith said the council has to pass a
formal request for action for the grant
application to continue.
McDaniel said the five streets would
take care of most of the asbestos pipe
left in the city.
“It’s a good opportunity. We just
need to move forward with the applica¬
tion,” he said.
The council unanimously voted to
make the formal request.
In other business. Bill Browning
with Cane River Vineyards addressed
the council concerning the need for
clarification around the business's
alcoholic beverage license. Most of
Cane River’s business is retail wine
sales, with some wine served on the
premises at private parties. Browning
said he has had to turn down customers
\ Peach Publishing Co. New spaper