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Inside
News 2,5,7,8
Obituaries 3
Opinion 4
Sheriff's Report 8
Legals 9
Classifieds 9
Calendar 10
Sports 12-13
The
Michael Fleming, who won the
Class AA 110-meter hurdles
last year, is part of a deep
contingent of OCHS track and
field athletes heading
to the Class A Division I
state meet this week in
Rome.
... Page 12
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Oglethorpe Echo
Volume 149, Number 32
May 11, 2023 ■ Oglethorpe County, Georgia
$1
Data: Victims of county’s violent
crimes know their assailants
More violent crimes committed by those
familiar with victims in Oglethorpe County
According to the Federal Bureau oi Investigation Crime Data Explorer, more
violent crimes were committed by offenders who knew the victims, compared to
those who wore strangers, i-i. ^Lai.
By Brooke Stewart
The Oglethorpe Echo
Local crime data shows that violent
crimes are mostly committed by those
who know their victims — at least in
Oglethorpe County.
Chief Magistrate Judge Megan
Coile confirmed the numbers.
“There's always a connection be
tween the victim and the accused,”
Coile said. “Somebody that they may
have worked with, know (through)
social media, live near (or) went to
school with.”
Violent crimes are homicide, rape,
robbery, aggravated assault, burglary,
larceny and motor vehicle theft, ac
cording to the FBI. Arson is only tak
en into account if it is associated with
one of the other crimes.
These crimes “involve force or
threat of force,” according to the FBI,
and at the national level, most violent
crime, 28%, is committed by strang
ers.
In Oglethorpe County, however,
most victims know their assailant. In
2021, only 3% of violent crimes in the
county were committed by strangers.
Sheriff David Gabriel sees this
while policing the county. He said
random acts of violence are not com
mon, unlike a family dispute.
See CRIMES, Page 2
( Uffo nses oem mitfEd Dy SEran ijrrs to rh e vi :ti mo
Oftrnses :om miffed by :hoit who knew the vicf.™
Oglethorpe County
BROOKE STEWART/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Building a map
into the past
Digital Atlas project
creates collection of
county s historic sites
MADDIE DANIEL/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
The Digital Atlas of Historic Oglethorpe County team of
Elaine Collier Neal (from left), Ashley Simpson, Greg Yoder
and Tom Gresham have been working together to map his
toric sites since 2020.
MADDIE DANIEL/THE OGLETHORPE ECHO
Tom Gresham (from left), Ashley Simpson and Joe Baughns look over historical documents about St. John AME Church and Spring-
field Church in Crawford last month while working on the Digital Atlas Project.
By Maddie Daniel
and Gray Jones
The Oglethorpe Echo
Between bouts of rain on a recent Friday
afternoon, the sun was out just long enough
for Ashley Simpson, Tom Gresham and
Joe Baughns to meet outside St. John AME
Chinch in Crawford.
They gathered around Gresham’s truck,
where black-and-white pictures, hand-writ-
ten deeds and aerial photographs were spread
across the hood.
This research session may have been a
strange sight to anyone driving by, but it was
just another day of work for the Digital Atlas
of Historic Oglethorpe County, a volunteer-
led project assembling a digital map of the
county’s historic sites.
Friday’s agenda included visiting two pro-
More Info
If you would like to be involved
with the Digital Atlas Project, you
can share photos and information
about places in Oglethorpe County
with Tom Gresham at tomgresh-
am423@gmail.com. Photos and
information about historic schools
and churches can be sent to Ashley
Simpson at asimpson23@aol.com.
posed former locations of Springfield Church,
a Black Baptist church in Crawford.
Simpson and Gresham are half of the
Digital Atlas team. Baughns is helping
them locate the church, as he remembers
when the second building was still stand
ing.
The team believes that in 1894, the church
may have been on land now owned by Rich
ard Dickens.
“I’m thinking maybe that was a ceme
tery in there, and there was a church right
in here,” Dickens suggested, pointing out a
clearing in his backyard. “I would love to
know.”
Gresham confirmed his suspicions, pull
ing out pictures of the old Springfield church
sites.
“You guys are going back a lot of years,”
Dickens said. “Somebody’s gotta get that
down!”
“That’s exactly what we thought,” Gresh
am agreed.
See ATLAS, Page 6
Paul: New
ordinance
is needed
first step
By Garrett Kicklighter
The Oglethorpe Echo
Commission Chair Jay Paul
and District 4 Commissioner Will
Brown said they believe the new
sludge ordinance is a step in the
right direction for sludge dumping
restrictions in the county.
The new ordinance restricts
sludge dump
ing 100 feet
or less be
tween prop
erty lines and
the right of
way, which is
allowed un
der Senate
Bill 260, Paul
said. The ordi
nance, which
was written
by attorney Chip Ferguson, will
allow the county to gain access
to properties and make sure the
owners are abiding by the new
guidelines.
“It’s not much, but it’s more
than what
(the state has)
given us au
thority to do
on the coun
ty level (than)
ever before,”
Paul said. “If
I’m broke and
somebody
gives me $10,
I’m gonna be
happy about that. Would I have
wanted a hundred? Yep.”
Paul said he doesn’t think resi
dents will be satisfied with this or
dinance.
“Odor doesn’t really stop at
property lines,” he said.
However, Paul said he hopes
that residents realize that this en
ables the county to not be depen
dent on state agencies that may or
may not respond to the county in a
timely manner.
“I think any step in the right
direction will make them hap
py,” Brown said. “Of course
we have a long way to go, and I
think all of us would like a little
bit more power when it comes to
(sludge).”
Paul added that if the county in-
Will Brown
See ORDINANCE, Page 5
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