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lIOSPIT ./%.M_JContinued from page 1 County gets paid for its indigent care, but Forsyth County doesn’t give us one dollar for indigent care here.” Northeast Georgia has funds to care for needy people who meet criteria for indigency certification. Lakeside must absorb those costs. “It’s a social problem and it just gets greater with more and more peo ple moving into the county looking for work,” said Hitt. New policies at Lakeside may in clude requiring a larger downpay ment, or prepayment like at North east Georgia, said Hitt. The Gainesville hospital has had problems collecting on insured pa tients as well. Bowers said that a large number of patients with 80 per cent insurance coverage feel no re sponsibility to pay the 20 percent bal ance. Now, patients with bad credit will be required to pay that percent NORTONcontinued from page 1 back after a steady stream of prose cution witnesses testified they had lied in written statements given dur ing the six-month investigation. The statements had described having heard Norton brag of hitting or killing a black man in Cumming. The major ity of witnesses who had earlier given THE GIFT THAT YEAR ■» TO THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS mmmm 887-3126 lALL 523-7303 age before being discharged. “A number of hospitals have closed because of bad debt,” said Bowers. Hitt is also aware of the hospital’s financial responsibility. “We have to insure that the hospital is financially viable,” he said. “It’s not fair to have some pay their bills and others get away with not paying.” “We want to be as lenient as we can, but keep our eye on the bottom line,” he said. Pre-admission payment policies vary at other hospitals. R.T. Jones Memorial Hospital in Canton requests a S3OO downpayment for non-insured patients wanting elective surgery. However, patients are not turned away if they cannot pay the S3OO. At North Fulton Hospital, patients are given pre-admissions financial counseling to determine insurance and estimated costs. Non-insured pa- statements against Norton said dur ing testimony that they had given false statements out of anger at the defendant. One witness who stood by his state ment, Dean Hollingsworth of Toccoa, testified he had heard Norton say he had hit a black man in the head with a i Steve Hitt tients are asked to pay a downpay ment, an amount which varies ac cording to the type of procedure. brick. Hollingsworth also said Norton had threatened him by saying “he’d do me like he did that black guy in Cumming.” The district attorney said after the trial that at least one witness had indi cated before taking the stand that fear of reprisal was the motivation for re Unlawful assembly trial this week for Hosea Williams and 4 others The Rev. Hosea Williams and four others charged with unlawful assem bly for protests during the racial dis turbances last January are scheduled to go to trial in State Court here Tuesday. Pretrial motions in the cases were being heard at press time Friday, but State Court Solicitor Terry Stringer said he did not anticipate any develop ments that would preclude the trial from beginning on schedule. Williams and six others, including his daughter Elizabeth Williams Omi lami, his son Torrey Kenydita Smith, William Henry Hollis, Jr., Eric Dale Terrell, Forrest Sawyer, Larry Platt, and the Rev. C.T. Vivian were arrest ed while picketing a local broadcast of the Oprah Winfrey show on Feb. 9. The group was among approxi- tracting her statement, but Mills would not allow her to testify about her fear. That witness, Billie Sue Cuerbow, and her husband Hugh Cuerbow, had to be picked up and brought to court by sheriff’s deputies when they failed FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1987- mately 20 protesters who came to demonstrate against the show, claim ing blacks were intentionally exclud ed from being allowed to speak during the broadcast. Winfrey said she want ed to reserve the show for Forsyth County residents only. During court proceedings Friday, two of the defendants, Forrest Sawyer and Larry Platt, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of pedestrian in the roadway in exchange for a suspended sentence. The provisions of that sus pended sentence forbid the two men from participating in any demonos trations in the county for one year. Vivian last month plea-bargained his orginal felony charge of obstruct ing an officer down to a misdemeanor obstruction charge, accepting a fine and 200 hours of community service in to show up voluntarily. Both were charged with contempt of court and had to pay a total fine of S3OO. During his own testimony, Norton denied having thrown the object that hit Edwards and contended that his remarks about the incident had been exchange for his guilty plea to the lesser charge. The cases of Omilami, Smith, Hollis and Terrell had been sent up to be tried in federal court in August after the defendants complained that they could not get a fair trial in all white Forsyth County. But U.S. District Court Judge William C. O’Kelley, pre siding over federal court in Gaines ville, last month reversed his original decision and sent the four cases back to be tried in State Court. O’Kelley changed his mind after Stringer filed a request for reconsid eration based on new case law. In the new order, issued Nov. 13, O’Kelley ruled that the charges against the de fendants are not covered by a civil rights statute that would bring the cases into federal jurisdiction. that “somebody had tried to kill a nig ger” not that he had done so. Banks expressed disappointment in the jury’s non-decision in the case, but said he remains confident he can win the case with a new trial. “I wouldn’t try it if I didn’t think I had a chance at winning,” he said. TATE HOUSE RESTAURANT & RESORT NOW OPEN TUESDAYS FOR LUNCH & DINNER THRU THE HOLIDAY SEASON. Please come try our new menus and weekly dinner specials. HOURS: Lunch 11:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M. T uesday-Sunday Dinner 6:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. T uesday-Saturday UPCOMING EVENTS 12/31 New Year s Eve Party We are now taking reservations for Christmas parties. Bring your office staff, school staff or church groups to the Pink Marble Man sion. exquisitely decorated for the Christmas season. Highway 53 Tate, Georgia 1 -800-342-7 515 □ SPORTS 0 SPORTS 0 SPORTS 0 SPORTS 0 SPORTS JUST A FEW OF THE REASONS TO CHOOSE THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS 11A