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Peach 1 Newspaper rorau; 8,2018
Legal Organ For Peach County, City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Meetings:
•Byron City Connell: Every 2nd
Monday. 6 p.m.. 2nd Floor, Byron
Municipal Complex.
•Ft. Valley CUy Council: Work Session
6 p.m Tuesday before regular meeting.
Mayor's Office, City Hall; Regular
Meeting every third Thursday. 6:30 p.m..
Public Meeting Room. City Hall.
•County Commissioners: Every 2nd
Tuesday, 4 p.m.. Public Meeting Room.
County Courthouse Annex. Ft. Valley.
• Board of Education. Study Session.
Tuesday before Regular Meeting, 5 p.m..
Board Meeting Room. Regular Meeting
every 1st Tuesday. Board Meeting Room.
523 Vineville St.. Ft. Valley.
•Hospital Authority: Friday after 4th
Monday. 9 a m.. Conference Room,
Peach Regional Medical Center.
•Development Authority: Every 3rd
Thursday. 8 a.m.. Conference Room,
Troutman House. Ft. Valley.
•Ft. Valley Utility Commission: Every
2nd Monday, 6 p.m.. Public Meeting
Room, Ft. Valley City Hall.
•Water & Sewerage Authority: 3rd
Monday of month, 6:15 p.m.. Public
Meeting Room, County Courthouse
Annex, Ft. Valley.
•Ta* Asseavorv. First Thursday of
month. 4 p.m.. Public Meeting Room,
County Courthouse Annex. Ft. Valley.
• Byron Planning & Zoning: Every 4th
Thursday of month. 6 p.m.
•Fort Valley DDA Board: First Tuesday.
6 p.m., Troutman House Conference
Room
• Fort Valley Historical Preservation
Commission: Second Thursday at 6
p.m., Troutman House Conference Room
What's
Peach In & Out........... 8
Police Beat................. 3
Opinion...................... 4
Country Living............ 8
Faith Matter* • • 6
Sporta........... 7
School.......... .8
9-11
Classified*.... 18
Black History. 18
Tax Time....... 14
Local
Weather
Forecast
Surrey Wednesday, Feb. 8
HI: 69*
Lo: 38*
Partly Cloudy Thursday, Feb. 9
Hb 65*
Lo: 38*
Partly Cloudy Friday, Feb. 10
Hb 66*
Lo: 41 *
Sunny Saturday, Feb. 11
Hb 61*
Lo: 33*
Partly Goody Sunday, Feb. 12
Hb 62*
Lo: 33*
Si nimi Pau li Comity I O- /■ (h t r 100 I t r// v
7 Trojans Commit on Day
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HATS OH. Three of the Peach County Trojans who committed to colleges on National Football Sign¬
ing Day last week. L-R: Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Debarrariaus Miller signed with Southern
Mississippi, a Division 1 team that won its conference title in 2011 as well as the Sheraton Hawaii
Bowl. Running 8acfc Darion Howard signed with Miles College, the 2 Oil SI AC champions. Defen¬
sive Lineman Lamont Wray will stay close to home as an FVSU Wildcat, where he will join his cousin
and former teammate, Back Travis Richmond. Photos by Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Before introducing the 2012 Football
Signing Day crew. Head Coach Chad
Campbell _ ... summarized ...... their four
years of achievements. Their record
was 49-6. with a State Championship
(2009), a semi-final appearance (2010)
and a State Runner-Up finish (2011),
titles. It was a
Work Force
Alliance
Launches Job
Shadowing
Campaign
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
_ _
“There are immediate job needs for
GED graduates. Do you have any
current job vacancies that a GED grad¬
uate can fill?*’
The above is one question in a survey
that will soon make the rounds of area
businesses as part of the launch of Peach
L.E.A.P.s Ahead to a Brighter Future, a
campaign of the Peach County Work
Force Alliance. The alliance is a part¬
nership between Literacy Education for
Adults in Peach Inc., the Peach County
Chamber of Commerce and interested
community members. The alliance is
seeking ways to improve the quality of
the local work force in Peach County,
which would benefit local businesses as
well as improve the quality of life for
local residents.
The key piece of Peach LEAPs
Ahead is the job shadowing program,
which give GED graduates the oppor¬
tunity to experience how actual jobs are
performed in local businesses.
The first question on the survey
going to local businesses asks the busi¬
ness owner or manager whether the
company would be willing to host an
adult GED student as a job shadower
At a meeting of tire Peach County
Work Force Alliance, L.E.AJP. Board
member Carolyn Sampson reported that
a few businesses had already filled out
surveys, including Fox Valley Printing
and Tire Wire Shop.
Peach L E A P'S Ahead is also offer¬
ing something to local businesses The
survey asks employers if they have
any aduh employees who need at least
a GED, and also asks if LEAP can
provide information to employees about
Continued to page 5
National High
School Oratorical
Contest
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group that appeared on numerous All
Stale and All Star lists.
“We feel very fortunate to have
coached these guys for four yofd$, but
they have to move on,” Campbell said.
With recent college football scan
da j s (he news Coach Campbell
noted that college recruiting is “a dirty
business," which is in part why the
job of the coaches is not just to teach
them football but “to teach them life
Still Smiling
Joe Ann Denning is seven months into
her new job y unfazed by endless challenges
and thankful for daily miracles.
i
VI
■ — m
Superintendent of Schools Joe Anne Denning on Signing Day
with Deborriaus Miller and Ryan Bowman. Photo by Victor
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Editor's Note: This story is the
first of a two-part series hosed on
interviews with Superintendent of
Schools Joe Ann Denning and senior
staff. This week's article focuses on
Denning’s personal experience in her
first months on the job; next week's
article will outline the work of the
Superintendent and staff to improve
the schools.
Joe Ann Denning became Peach
County’s Superintendent of Schools
last July about two weeks before the
school year started. There were teach¬
ers and staff to hire and prep, 4,000
mnsbk
VPby Shop Local?
Whan you hmy local, tho m/m taxes
collected support hometown terricet
such ms public safety, roads and
sewers, as well as the SPLOSTproj¬
ects you yourself noted for.
Spend a few dollars at your
hometown business today!
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lessons.”
With those lessons hopefully taught.
These seven young i nyittjjV&ldtox at
opportunity,” Campbe
The seven players will have their
„_ great opportunity in a variety of set
T —„ - Division II
tings, from Division I to
to community colleges with a chance
to move to four-year schools in the
future.
The players and their colleges
or so students about to barge in. and
reams of paper to feed to hungry fed¬
eral and state bureaucracies.
And that was just Day One. The
pace hasn’t slackened in seven months,
but Denning’s serene demeanor hasn't
darkened in the least. With the patience
only a veteran of a quarter century in
the trenches of special education could
muster. Denning kept smiling through
a two-hour interview in her office, pep¬
pering the conversation with optimistic
expressions.
She's been busy, for sure. “But it's
a good busy. When you know the
outcome will be something good, your
work will be better.” she said.
Continued to page 3
J Pauli PuNishim* (/>. Net %’spapet
are as follows (Peach County posi¬
tions in parentheses): Debarrariaus
Miller (WR/DB), Southern Miss.,
Hattiesburg, Miss., Cornerback; Ryan
Bowman, St. Augustine's College.
Raleigh, N.C.; Justin Jones (DB/WR),
St. Augustine's College, Raleigh. N.C.;
Darion Howard (RB), Miles College,
Fairfield Ala.; Lamont Wray (DL), Fort
Valley State University, Fort Valley;
Kernel Kendrick (QB). Coffeyville
Community College. Coffeyville.
Kan.; Cassuas Hall (LB). Southwest
Mississippi Community College,
Summit, Miss.
Debarrariaus Miller excelled for the
Trojans on both sides of the ball, as a
wide receiver and defensive back, took
an occasional handoff, and pitched in
occasionally as a place-kick holder
and QB. He will join the Southern
Mississippi Golden Eagles, who had
a banner year in 2011, winning the
Conference USA title and beating
Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
They finished with a 12-2 record.
"They treated me like I was home
away from home,” Miller said when
asked about his choice of Southern
Miss. He expects to play for the
Golden Eagles ns a cornerback.
Ryan Bowman was a four-year
defensive starter for the Trojans. He
was named the GHSA Region 2-AAA
Defensive Player of the Year for his
monster 2011 season, when he seemed
t o be in on or close to almost every
Continued to page 2
Boys & Girls
Clubs Put on
New Face
i 4
%
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
When the grant money goes away,
the tough get going.
As Director of the Boys & Girls
Clubs of Georgia Heartlands, Karen
Howell had some tough decisions
after losing $130,000 of an alcohol
and drug prevention grant that had
been a large part of the clubs' support.
The veteran of 20 years in the
banking business started running
some financial models The result:
"A complete reorganization, a new
look and a new structure,” Howell
said at the Kiwanis Club of Fort
Valley last week. First came mem¬
bership fees of $40 a month, a big
increase of the $25 a year fees the
chibs had charged before the finan¬
cial crisis.
“Here 1 come, charging $40 a
month," Howell said. “It didn't go
over well."
Still, compared to a typical cost of
$140 a week per child for day care,
the Boys & Girls Clubs are still a
Continued to page S