Newspaper Page Text
(Ununtg
Volume 124 - No. 4
© Early County News, Inc.
V
Ginn, Hatcher Carry Early Co.
Early Co. Jobless Rate: 11.8%
The jobless rate in Early County
rose by 1.2 percent in June, from 10.6
percent in May to preliminary 11.8,
Commissioner of Labor Sam Caldwell
said this week.
In June of last year, the unemploy
ment rate in the county was 8.0 per
cent. This past June 5518 residents of
the county were employed, but 740
others were jobless. In May 5502 were
working in the county and 654 others
were unemployed.
Georgia’s jobless rate climbed to a
preliminary 8.1 percent for June,
latest official month for which
statistics are available. This matched
the year’s high of a preliminary 8.1
percent recorded in January.
New Store Coming Soon
The Blakely-Early County Chamber
of Commerce proudly presents to the
Blakely area the Allied Department
Stores. Located in the former Western
Auto and The Shop building. Allied
plans to have their Grand Opening
Sale around the end of September.
The new store “continues the pro
gram of growth for the company and
further indicates our faith in the
economy of Georgia,” said Harry
Yellin, Vice-President of Savannah
Wholesale Company, which owns and
operates the department store chain.
Packer Teams Open Season
Saturday at Columbia, Ala.
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11 4 12 Year-old “A Team” Packers: Front row (L-R): Clay Cooper, Willie
"A T^nm" Brown, Irvin Graham, Buster Cushing, Joseph Lee, Jody Glass, David Floyd,
" ^SStSI Marvin Clarke, Bernard Sheffield, and Scotty Harris.
Second row (GR >: Marty Gray, Devin Daughtry, Vernon Curry, Terry Mosely,
Heath Fleming, Nathan Wimberly, Charles Bush, Lawrence Early, and De
rOCKCrS Wayne Booker.
Back row (I^R): Chuck Logan, James Walker, Marque Paramore, Mark Mid
dleton, Chris Jones, Jeffrey McFay, Al Hubbard, Cary Aiderman, Gant Dowdy,
and Phillip Hightower.
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9 4 10 Year-old “B Team” Packers: Front row (L-R) - Andrea Brown, Steven
..m m ■ ■ Moore, Jack Barron, Claudie Ceasar, Michael Middleton, Michael Jones, Bryan
g JQQ fTI Reddick, Steven Harrell, Kim Norris, and Thomas Bass.
Second row (I^R) - Billy Adams, Frederick Shorter, Stephen Lewis, Cedric
Tinson, Buddy Moore, Addonis Pittman, Jason Brackin, Jon White, Jay Dykes,
and Chris Sasnett.
lULI\UI 9 Back row (L-R): Euwakii Paramore, Brett Houston, Michael Higginbothem,
Adam Benton, Kim Collins, Byron Powell, Joey Cushing, David Hart, Max
Evans, Bob Hall, and Troy Aiderman.
G e ^e°on O / B°b Ca t S J° Urne y/ Visits / Packers Open
. _ To Donalsonville / Ravenwood /in Columbia, Ala,
Page * / / __
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Caldwell said that since Georgia's
rate is not seasonally adjusted like the
nation’s jobless rate, the state rate of
8.1 is “far better” than the U.S. rate of
9.8 percent, highest in 41 years.
“We have, as we’ve said before, bot
tomed out,” Caldwell said. “The trou
ble is that we are staying around the
bottom, and apparently will be bounc
ing around near the bottom, at least
for a couple of more months.
“At first glance, you would think
that we have rejoined the recession,”
Caldwell said. "But the fact is that
this is a seasonal situation. Tradi
tionally, January and June are our
bleakest months in a statistical sense.
The bad weather of winter causes
Yellin said that the Blakely store
will be a full time service facility in
cluding men, boy’s, and ladies’ wear,
children’s clothing, hosiery, shoes,
housewares, linens, handbags, and
women’s accessories. “It will carry
all of the items found in the other 66
full-line department stores currently
operating in Florda, South Carolina
and Georgia," stated Mr. Yellin.
Mr. Gus Coburn, District Super
visor, noted that Allied’s “tremen
dous buying power enables the chain
Thursday, Sept. 2,1982
Early County - Blakely, Georgia 31723
unemployment to rise, and we always
have a June jump because of the
young people coming into the job
market.
“And the fact is that Georgia, like
the rest of the nation, has not really
left this latest recession. It is simply
that Georgia and the rest of the South
and most of the Sun Belt, are better
off since we have an earlier recovery
from winter, have a more diversified
economy and the high cost of energy
continues to attract industry here
from the colder regions.”
Other counties in the area and their
unemployment rates for June in
clude: Decatur, 8.9: Miller 9.4: and
Seminole, 9.1.
to sell quality merchandise below
prevailing prices” and the low-price
policy for what he termed “better
quality merchandise’’ will be carried
out in the Allied Store.
Mr. Coburn will be in Blakely
September Bth at the Allied Depart
ment Store, to take applications for
store clerks and cashiers. He will be
available from 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
If you wish to apply for a position, ap
plications are available at the
Chamber of Commerce office.
2,768 Students
Attending Schools
In 1982-83
Mr. Ray Knight, Superintendent of
Schools, is pleased with the opening of
the local schools for the 1982-83 school
term. Mr. Knight states that he is
aware there were some minor pro
blems* always associated with each
year’s opening, but that every pro
blem is being addressed and hopefully
all will be corrected in the near
future.
There are no teacher vacancies in
the system, and all teachers are cer
tified in their field by the State
Department of Education. All three
schools met all standards required by
the State Department of Education
last year: Early County Middle and
Early County High are certified by
the Commission on Secondary Schools
of the Southern Association of Col
leges and Schools.
The enrollment in the public as of
Tuesday, August 24 is as follows: Ear
ly County Elementary - 1,214; Early
County Middle - 741; Early County
High - 813. This is a total of 2,768
students.
Paper Chase
The 4th Annual Paper Chase 5K
Road Race will be held Saturday,
September 4, at 9:00 A.M.
located near Odum’s store on
Hilton Road, just west of Cedar Spr
ings, Georgia, the course is relatively
flat over mostly paved terrain and
promises fast times.
Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m.
EDT. Entry fee is $5.00.
For further information contact Joe
Lebrasseur, Great Southern Paper,
P.O. Box 44, Cedar Springs, Ga. 31723.
Sutton Requests Investigation
of State Retirement Board
State Senator Franklin Sutton, the
Republican candidate for Lt. Gover
nor, called for an investigation of the
State Retirement Board’s actions,
specifically into “involuntary separa
tions” over the last four years.
In a news conference held at the
capitol on August 25, Sutton cited the
example of Mrs. Shirley Spence, a
member of Speaker Tom Murphy’s
staff as just one instance of “favored
employee action” in granting involun
tary separations.
Mrs. Spence will retire at age 42,
with retirement benefits based on
more than 46 years of service. During
her first year in retirement she will
receive $17,820. Given the history of
cost of living increases, it is not
unreasonable to expect retirees to
Soccer
Registration
Soccer Registration - has started for
boys and girls ages 6-14. This is a
sport where everyone can participate
and have fun at the same time. The
fee for this year is $9.00, you may
register at the office above Corner I or
you may call and a form will be mail
ed to you. (723-3197). The last date to
register is September Bth. You may
also register at the Clinics for your
age group. Termites’ (6-8) will have
their clinic on Sept. 7th at 6:00 p.m.,
Midgets (9-11) on Sept. 9th, and
Juniors (12-14) on Sept. 13th at 6:00
p.m. All clinics will be held at the
American Legion Field and will start
promptly at 6:00 p.m. Make plans to
attend these clinics!
USPSI64O6O
PRIMARY
RUN-OFF RESULTS
- Governor -
Bo Ginn
Joe Frank Harris
- Secretary of State -
Max Cleveland 11 % $
David Poythress / 7
-Associate Justice -
Richard Bell
Jack Dorsey , ^i
SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL
PRIMARY
I ' it 1 ■ I.'
Charles Hatcher ^74
Dawson Mathis ^7
receive an annual increase of 6%. At
that rate by the time Mrs. Spence
reaches normal retirment age of 65,
her $17,820 per year will have turned
into more than $64,000 per year, and
will have cost the retirment system
and the taxpayers more than $837,000.
The brother of one member of the
Retirement Board retired with 27
years of service, which was computed
at just over 38 years. He is now paid
$29,980 per year, which is 82% of his
final $36,487 salary.
Under the state retirement system,
these people do not pay state income
tax on their benefits, they are still
eligible for health insurance which is
subsidized by the state, and they can
go get another job and not lose a pen
ny of their benefits.
Walter F. George Locks
To Be Closed For Repair
The Walter F. George Lock, on the
Chattahoochee River, will be closed to
navigation for maintenance and
repairs from 6:00 A.M. CDT Sept. 13
to 6:00 A.M. Oct. 14, according to
Lockmaster Johnny Hutto.
Hutto said that firms which normal
ly operate barges or boats on the
waterway will be notified well in ad
vance, so the shutdown is not ex
pected to have great economic im
pact.
Anyone who is planning to travel
that part of the river during the shut
down should make arrangements to
have the boat transported to the other
side of the lock, advised Hutto.
25H
“It looks like you don’t need to buy a
lottery ticket to make money, you just
need to work for the state and be well
connected,” said Sutton.
The loophole that allowed these
cases of early retirement is only par
tially closed. Any employee of the
state whose employment started
before March 31, 1972 is still eligible
for "involuntary separation” at the
taxpayers expense.
“The spirit of the law was to provide
retirement equally to all state
employees for their service to the peo
ple of this state and that is just, fair
and honorable. Continuation of
“favored” employee actions could
jeopardize the system for those
decidated state employees who are
(Continued To Page 12)
“There’s no way we could undo
anything and help them get across,”
Hutto said. He added that pleasure
boat operators will be the least likely
people to learn of the the shutdown in
time.
Hutto said that only 27 boats and
barges passed through the lock from
Sept. 13 to Oct. 31 last year. Only 327
vessels used the lock in 1981.
Every four to six years, the lock
must be closed for a few weeks to take
care of necessary maintenance. The
lock must be cleaned and equipment
replaced or overhauled. The gates
will be cleaned and painted as well.