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Vol. 126 Issue No. 1 1 500 Peach County’s Newspaper MARCH 14,8012
Legal Organ For Peach County. City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Gingrich
Wins Peach
County
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
_ _
Peach County Republicans gave
Newt Gingrich roughly the same
margin of victory as fellow party
members throughout the state, as the
former Speaker of the House won
the Georgia Presidential Preference
Primary last Tuesday.
Unofficial results from the Peach
County Elections Office showed the
former Speaker of the House and
Georgia Representative with 1,026
votes out of 2,185 votes cast, or 46.%%.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick
Santorum was second with 541 votes
or 24.76%. Former Massachusetts
Gov. Mitt Romney was third with 462
votes or 21.14%. Texas Rep. Ron Paul
received 141 votes or 6.45%.
Other candidates were still on
the ballot despite withdrawing from
the race and received a few votes
in Peach County. They include
Michelle Bachmann. Jon Huntsman.
Gary Johnson. Rick Perry and Buddy
Roemer.
Gingrich did about as well across
the state as he did in Peach County.
Statewide, he received 424.918 votes,
or 47.2%. Romney finished second in
the state, with 233.177 votes or 25.9%.
Santorum was third with 176,159 votes
or 19.6%. Paul received 58,968 votes
or 6.5%.
The Georgia Primary was part of
Super Tuesday, a 10-state blockbuster
Continued to page 3
What’s
INSIDE
Peach In 6* Out 8
Police Boat...... 3
Opinion........... 4
Country Living. 5
Faith Matters.. 6
8porta....»....... 7
School............ .8
Local 9
10-18
Clauifiadf 18
Tax Tima... 14
Local Weather
Forecast
Sunny Wednesday, Mar. 14
Hi: 84*
Lo: 58*
Ooudy Thursday, Mar. 15
Hi: 86*
Lo: 57* t rAfi -
Qoudy Friday, Mar. 16
Hi: er
lo: 58*
Showers Saturday, Mar. 17
Hi: Lo: 81* 59* o
Cloudy Sunday, Mar. 78
Hi: 82*
Lo: 61*
rrnn Pi tv I or O r K i ar\ t Peach Publishing ( ( I, \ »1 spilf
BOE Approves 5-Day
Money Issues Remoin
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Music students from Byron Elementary School perform at the Board of Education meeting last
week, under the direction of music teacher Kristine Fleckenstein. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
JBy Vktor Kulkosky
News Editor
It's official: Summer vacation will be
II days longer this year. Parents and
Peaches to the Beaches
Out Shoppers
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
It's called The World's Biggest
Yard Sale, and until Guinness says
otherwise, well just accept the
claim.
The annual Peaches to The
Beaches event brought vendors
and shoppers out to Georgia
Highway 341 from Forsyth
through Peach County and all the
way to Brunswick.
The annual overdose for antique
and bargain hunters is the brain¬
child of the Golden Isles Parkway
Assoc., which seeks to promote
economic development in Georgia,
with focus on Highway 341, which
stretches from Barnesville in the
midstate to Brunswick on the
Atlantic coast. The Peach County
Chamber of Commerce is the
local member.
Past Peaches to the Beaches
events have attracted visitors from
as many as nine states. Visitors
had the opportunity to have maps
stamped at each official site along
the route.
in the Fort Valley area, vendors
reported good business despite
Continued to page 3
2015 SPLOST
Passes 2-1
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Two years ahead of schedule, the
renewal^ die Peach County 1-ceot
SRXlS'Ppassed last week by roughly
2-1. giving the green light to an esti¬
mated $21.7 million in projects to begin
in 2015.
With all precincts reporting, unof¬
ficial results showed “yes” votes for
the SPLOST renewal at 1389 and “no*
votes at 889. br 68% - 32%. The 2,778
votes cast for the SPLOST represent
-
Coach Patterson's
Upward Basketball
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See page 7
students can thank the Peach County
Board of Education.
At their regular monthly meeting.
the BOE approved an amended 2012-
2013 School Calendar that restores the
pj m
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Vanessa Bowling-Hamblin and Mar
hya Bowling from Byron try out some
antique mirrors at Kaye Stieber’s
booth at Peaches to the Beaches last
Saturday. Photo by Victor Kulkosky
turnout of 19.11% of 14,536 regis¬
tered voters in Peach County.
The turnout was higher than the
vote on the current SPLOST, which
was held in September 2008. in that
vote, there 1,438 "yes” votes and 616
“no” votes. Total votes cast were
2 080, or 1638% of 12346 registered
voters in 2008.
The SPLOST renewal will not begin
until 2015, with the current SPLOST
continuing through 2014. Officials
Continued to oaoe 5
Why Shop Local?
Vacant storefronts look depressing
and discourage new business owners
from mooing in. Shop local, and
your hometown looks better and
becomes mors prosperous.
Spend a few dollars at your
hometown business today!
five-day school week :u*d mourn the
first day of classes to August I$f20l2.
The current school year started classes
Continued to page 3
FVSU
Tightens
Belt Due to
Shortfall
Furloughs,
Hiring Freeze
Imposed
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
__ _
A budget squeeze has led Fort Valley
State University to impose furloughs
and take other measures to rein in
expenses.
In a telephone interview, Ronald
Stark, Vice President for Business and
Finance, said the university has experi¬
enced a budget gap of $900,000 to $1
million out of its roughly $65 million
budget.
The gap is due to overspending in
some departments, unexpected expens¬
es and expenses that were not budgeted
but should have lieen. Stark said.
To close the gap, FVSU imposed
three furlough days on all employees,
and two additional furlough days on
employees making more then $30000
a year.
The school has also temporarily can¬
celled all purchase cards, which allow
departments to make smaller purchas¬
es without prior approval, as well as
freezing all but essential travel. Stark
said the university is also questioning
more purchases to ensure their neces¬
sity. A hiring freeze has also been
imposed.
TWo of the mandatory furlough days
will be on March 15 and 16, when most
employees are away on Spring Break.
April 6 is the next furlough date for all
employees Faculty must choose two
more furlough days to take by May 1,
while administrators have until until
June 15, Stark said.
Chief
Anderson
Suspended, Due
Report
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
John David Anderson, Director of
Public Safety for Fort Valley, has been
suspended with pay pending an inves¬
tigation of violations of personnel poli¬
cies.
City Manager Martha McAfee said
she is interviewing potential witnesses
and other people about a complaint of
a single incident.
McAfee said she was trying to have a
report and possibly a recommendation
ready for the Mayor and Council by
their scheduled work session Tuesday
night, after this paper went to press.
The Mayor and Council are scheduled
to meet on Thursday evening at 6:30
p.m. at Fort Valley City Hall, which
is when they would take any official
action on Anderson's case.
McAfee declined further comment
about the case,
Anderson was hired as Chief of
Police in 2006 and named Director of
Public Safety in 2010, with responsibil¬
ity for both police and fire services.
A call to Anderson’s cell phone
resulted in a recorded message that the
number is temporarily out of service.
As of press time, Anderson had not
returned an email requesting comment.
AARP
Volunteers
Giving Free
Tax Help
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
__
The taxman giveth and the taxman
taketh away.
With the help of volunteers from the
AARP Foundation Tax Aide program,
Peach County residents can ensure the
taxman giveth the most (in deductions,
credits and refunds) and taketh the
least.
The volunteers will be available
each Wednesday at the Thomas Public
Library in Fort Valley, from 10 a.m. - 4
p.m , through April II.
One of those volunteers is "Holli”
Hollweg, a retiree from The Bronx,
N.Y., who sounds remarkably like Al
Pacino.
He said the Tax Aide program is
aimed at low- to moderate-income
people over 50 but works with taxpay¬
ers of any age. One client who came
last Wednesday was in his 20s.
As of noon last Wednesday, busi¬
ness had been a little slow, with five or
six people coming in. The volunteers
average 12 to 20 returns a day.
The volunteers take a week of class¬
room instruction and a week on com¬
puters and must pass tests at the begin¬
ner, intermediate and advanced levels,
but only those who pass the advanced
level are certified to work with people's
taxes. Hollweg said.
The Tax Aide volunteers are cer¬
tified to prepare Form 1040s with
Schedule A, B and D but not Schedule
E (rental properties). Schedule C (busi¬
nesses) with over $10000 in expenses,
or complicated Schedule D's without
adequate paperwork. A full list of
Continued to page 5