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Bible Toting Policeman Prepares to meet God ' W Ts 4*2 GEORGIA NEWS*APES PROJECT pqjj ^ 3q : illl •nil full | | , i >!'■ 5 - UNIV OF GA ATHBl/SGA 3O6Q2-O0C1 for services Set tips po§* 14 & l See page i 2 mt M jgtjm It rr £ Illf 1 ft r 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 — 1 m M - -. • itf i I | ► V < ! 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 $21.7 million in projects to begin in 2015. With all precincts reporting, unof¬ ficial results showed “yes” votes for the SPLOST renewal at 1389 and “no* votes at 889. br 68% - 32%. The 2,778 votes cast for the SPLOST represent - Coach Patterson's Upward Basketball r \ See page 7 students can thank the Peach County Board of Education. At their regular monthly meeting. the BOE approved an amended 2012- 2013 School Calendar that restores the pj m i\ > Vanessa Bowling-Hamblin and Mar hya Bowling from Byron try out some antique mirrors at Kaye Stieber’s booth at Peaches to the Beaches last Saturday. Photo by Victor Kulkosky turnout of 19.11% of 14,536 regis¬ tered voters in Peach County. The turnout was higher than the vote on the current SPLOST, which was held in September 2008. in that vote, there 1,438 "yes” votes and 616 “no” votes. Total votes cast were 2 080, or 1638% of 12346 registered voters in 2008. The SPLOST renewal will not begin until 2015, with the current SPLOST continuing through 2014. Officials Continued to oaoe 5 Why Shop Local? Vacant storefronts look depressing and discourage new business owners from mooing in. Shop local, and your hometown looks better and becomes mors prosperous. Spend a few dollars at your hometown business today! five-day school week :u*d mourn the first day of classes to August I$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