JOVOUS nO£L • F£L1Z nRLJIDRD
HRPPV HOL1DRVS • m£RRV CHRlSTmRS
Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
ASHBURN, GA, 31714
VOL 106 - No. 52 • 500
/Around Town \
Subscribe
to The Wiregrass
Farmer
Delivered in your
mail every week.
Call 567-3655 for
information.
Birth certificates
Need a certified birth
certificate? If you were
bom in the State of
Georgia, the Turner County
Probate Court may be able
to provide you with a certi
fied copy. For more info,
call Probate Court Judge
Penny Thomas at 567-
2151.
Annex Holiday
hours
The Courthouse Annex,
Tax Commissioners,
Building / Zoning, Tax
Assessor and Executive
Office will be closed from
Dec. 24-26. Have a Merry
Christmas.
Be a mentor
Support the Youth of
Turner County, be a
Mentor! The Turner County
Connection would like you
to join us in providing one-
on-one support for at-risk
children in grades 4-8.
Please contact Garrett
Boone, Mentoring
Coordinator, at 229-567-
2524 or email him at
gboone@turner.kl2.ga.us
Girl Scouts
Shift supervisor, 2 others, charged in robbery at Zaxby’s from last week
SANTA CLAUS paid a visit last week to the elementary school and distributed toys
to the girls and boys. Photo Trish Mathes
Serving Turner County Since 1902
p i | |ii | I
-j- -
The reason
j for the season
By Matthew
Now after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea in the days
of Herod the king, behold, wise
men from the east came to
Jerusalem, saying, “Where is
he who has been bom king of
the Jews? For we saw his star
when it rose and have come to
worship him.” When Herod the
king heard this, he was trou
bled, and all Jerusalem with
him; and assembling all the
chief priests and scribes of the
people, he
inquired of
them where
the Christ was
to be born.
They told
him, “In
Bethlehem of
Judea, for so
it is written
by the
prophet:
‘“And
you, O
Bethlehem, in
the land of
Judah,
are by no means least
among the mlers of Judah;
for from you shall come a
ruler who will shepherd my
people Israel.’”
Then Herod summoned the
wise men secretly and ascer
tained from them what time the
star had appeared. And he sent
them to Bethlehem, saying,
“Go and search diligently for
the child, and when you have
found him, bring me word, that
I too may come and worship
him.” After listening to the
king, they went on their way.
And behold, the star that they
had seen when it rose went
before them until it came to
rest over the place where the
child was. When they saw the
star, they rejoiced exceedingly
with great joy. And going into
the house they saw the child
with Mary his mother, and they
fell down and worshiped him.
Then, opening their treasures,
they offered him gifts, gold and
frankincense and myrrh. And
being warned in a dream not to
return to Herod, they departed
to their own country by another
way.
The Flight to
Egypt
Now when
they had
departed,
behold, an
angel of the
Lord appeared
to Joseph in a
dream and
said, “Rise,
take the child
and his moth
er, and flee to
Egypt, and
remain there
until I tell you, for Herod is
about to search for the child, to
destroy him.” And he rose and
took the child and his mother
by night and departed to Egypt
and remained there until the
death of Herod. This was to
fulfill what the Lord had spo
ken by the prophet, “Out of
Egypt I called my son.”
Herod Kills the Children
Then Herod, when he saw
that he had been tricked by the
wise men, became furious, and
he sent and killed all the male
children in Bethlehem and in
all that region who were two
(See JESUS Page 2)
Do you have a talent
that you would like to
share? The Girl Scouts of
Southwest Georgia would
like to invite volunteers to
participate in troop leader
ship or service unit man
agement. Training is pro
vided. Time dedication
depends on assignment
selected. For more informa
tion call Sherri Girard at
229-242-5213.
Firefighters
needed
The Turner County Fire
Department wants you. If
you want to become a vol
unteer firefighter, no matter
where you live in Turner
County or what your abili
ties are, if you are 18 or
older, we have a place for
you. Call Randall Whiddon
at 567-3501.
Clarification
In last week’s issue
Ashburn Hardware and
Gifts and Heaven Scent
Christian Books was left
out of the Coloring Contest
list of sponsors. The hard
ware store contributed
prizes to the contest.
Story time
The Victoria Evans
Memorial Library hosts a
Community Story Time the
third Friday of each month
from 10-11 a.m.
Obituaries
Wanda Young McCurdy,
52, Ocilla
Complete obituary
information is on Page 5 J
by Ben Baker
Editor
Three people have been
arrested and charged with the
robbery of Zaxby’s in Ashburn
— including the restaurant’s
shift supervisor who was on
duty at the time.
Whitney Lynn West, 21, of
730 North St., Premethius
Rashad Mackey, 19, of
Ellenwood and Thadeous
Anthony Young Jr. of 369 S.
Grand St., Rebecca, are all
being held without bail by
order of Chief Magistrate Craig
Poole.
Ms. West is charged with
possession of a firearm or knife
while trying to commit a crime,
conspiracy to commit armed
robbery and giving false state
ments by phone.
Mr. Mackey and Mr. Young
are both charged with posses
sion of a firearm or knife while
trying to commit a crime,
aggravated assault with intent
to rob and armed robbery.
Michelle Wiggins, an inves
tigator at the Ashburn Police
Dept., said Ms. West made the
call to 911 at 10:47 p.m.
“She told the dispatcher that
she had just been robbed at
gunpoint by a black male,”
Wiggins said.
West told the dispatcher
that she was closing the restau
rant when the incident hap
pened. Reportedly, a black man
with a mask over his head
pushed her back into the door
at gunpoint and forced her to
go to the office area where the
restaurant’s safe was located.
Wiggins said that officers
responding in the area located
Premethius Mackey, 19, of
Ellenwood, hiding under a trac
tor trailer less than a block
away from the restaurant and
arrested him.
Also arrested in addition to
West and Mackey was
Thadeaus Young Jr., 19, of
Ashburn, whom investigators
believed assisted in the plan
ning of the bogus robbery.
Officers and investigators
recovered the mask and a large
amount of the stolen money,
which Mackey dropped as he
fled.
Investigators with the
Ashburn Police Dept, and the
GBI are continuing to work the
case.
Wiggins said Mackey has
family in Ashburn and he and
West are boyfriend and girl
friend.
SWEARING IN
Probate Judge Penny
Thomas (bottom right)
gave the oath of office and
loyalty oaths to various
elected officials last week.
Those at the ceremony (I-)
front are Tax
Commissioner Ranee
Gregory, Clerk of Superior
Court Mary Lee Green;
2nd row Board of
Education member Sam
Brown, County
Commissioner Daryl Hall,
Coroner Edgar Perry,
County Commissioner
Mike Geoghagan; back
State Court Judge John
Holland, State Court
Solicitor Steve Ivie, County
Commissioner Sam
McCard, Chief Magistrate
Craig Poole and Sheriff
Roy Wiley. Not pictured
Board of Education mem
bers Danny Godwin and
Phillip Crawford. All terms
begin Jan. 1
I know Jesus Christ died for my sins, and that's all I really need to know.
Ann Coulter
