Newspaper Page Text
Now is the winter of our discontent.
William Shakespeare
AREA DUALS CHAMPS
In Sports
THE WIREgrass Farmer
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 2 • 500
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
fAround Town\
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Call 567-3655 for
information.
Chamber
banquet
The 58th Annual Ash-
burn Turner County Cham
ber of Commerce banquet
will be held on Thursday,
January 23, at 6:30 p.m. at
the Turner County Civic
Center. The meal will be
pork chops with all the
trimmings and will be
catered by David Hickman.
Motivational speaker, A1
Walker, will be the speaker
for the evening. You will
also be entertained during
dinner by Julie West and
The Jazz Element Band.
Tickets are $30 and can
be purchased at the Cham
ber office. Tickets must be
purchased by Friday, Janu
ary 17.
Blood drive
The American Red Cross
will be holding a Blood
Drive at the Turner County
Civic Center on Thursday,
January 16th from 2-7.
Park benches
The recent expansion at
Elrod Park has created
room for 15-18 more mar
ble benches. If you are in
terested in ordering a bench
in honor of or in memory of
someone who served in the
military, this is your chance.
Call Edgar Perry at 567-
3366.
Ashburn
election
Qualifying fees for the
coming Ashburn election
are $234 for mayor and
$126 for Council mem
bers . The election will be
held in November and
qualifying will be later this
year.
Legion
meeting
Post 98 of The Ameri
can Legion will hold its
monthly meeting at 7:00
pm on 14 January. New of
ficers will be discussed.
Obituaries
Mrs. Alcese E. Royal, Ash-
bum
J. W. “Jake” Lumpkin, Sr,
85, Ashburn
Mr. Sherman Burdett, 85,
Ashburn
Dura Eidson Smith, 95,
Ashburn
Mr. Calvin T. High, Ash-
bum, incomplete
Complete obituary
^information is on Page 5 ^
Serving Turner County Since 1902
New ranking could hurt county
by Ben Baker
Editor
Turner County is now a Tier 2
County in state economic rankings.
Local officials say this is wrong.
They say the data the state used for this
ranking is skewed and Turner County is
not a Tier 2 county.
Tier ranking has a direct effect on
how grant applications, tax incentives
for business and industry and other eco
nomic incentives for the county.
In short, it makes such help harder to
get. This is a major matter for new busi
ness and industry because Tier 1 coun
ties are able to offer
significant tax credits
to new industry and
business and expan
sions . Tax credits
exist for Tier 2 coun
ties, but the amount
offered is much
smaller.
Ashburn Mayor
Jim Hedges said in this region, Tift and
Turner Counties jumped into Tier 2
while the rest stayed at Tier 1.
“It’s crazy. I’m trying to figure it
out,” said Mike Geoghagan, interim
economic developer
at the Chamber of
Commerce. “I know
basically why it hap
pened. One of the big
figures [used to rank
the counties] is the
unemployment rate.
Our unemployment
rate dropped offi
cially way down.”
Mr. Geoghagan disputes the official
unemployment rate. Mayor Hedges
points to a report showing the Turner
County unemployment rate at 10.3 per-
Unemployment 10.3%
$30,277 ave. income
24.1 % poverty level
It’s crazy. I’m trying to
figure it out.
Mike Geoghagan
cent. The official rate in Turner County
has pretty much stayed above the state
average, reaching 15 percent in late
2009-early 2010. The current statewide
rate is about 7.7 percent.
(See TIER Page 2)
Hedges
Geoghagan
Ashburn submits
5 road projects
Ashburn has submitted parts of five roads in the City for resur
facing under a state program.
Ashburn will have to contribute 30 percent, $12,900, of the
cost.
City Manager Ben Taylor said the streets were submitted to
the Department of Transportation for review. DOT will consider
the list and decide what to pave.
Streets are:
• E. Monroe from Lamar to Whittle Circle. This stretch of road
has sunken utility lines. This is also found on several other roads.
• Harrison Avenue from Stevens to W. Davis. This road also
has crumbling pavement.
• Phillips from Monnie to McLendon.
•W. Madison in front of the public housing project.
• Carlos, also in front of the public housing project.
More details about
Eureka development
The Ashburn City Council
got a briefing about the com
ing Eureka Heights housing
complex at the Eureka Prop
erty in west Ashburn.
The apartments won’t be
available until 2015. Construc
tion is expected to begin this
spring.
The 56-unit apartment com
plex will be divided into 11
buildings. Apartments will be
one, two, three and four bed
room units. A community cen
ter and an office are part of the
buildings.
The property will have a
walking track around the
perimeter, a community park-
garden, but not a vegetable
garden and a small splash pad.
Mayor Jim Hedges ap
pointed Councilman James
Hall to head the community on
the park-garden.
The entire development is
expected to cost $6,850,000. It
is one of the most expensive
single-item projects in Turner
County’s history. Possibly In
terstate 75 resurfacing work
has cost more. While other
business and projects in the
county have spent more in
total, that has come in phases.
The project will be funded
through a program called tax
credits. Investors buy “tax
credits” amounting to $6.34
million. They can then use
these credits as a deduction
against their taxes for 10 years.
The $6.34 million in cash will
be used to build the apartment
complex.
The apartment rent will be
income-based.
(See EUREKA Page 2)
HOW COLD WAS IT?
Turner County and
most of the nation went to
bed Monday night with
below freezing tempera
tures or temperatures ex
pected to drop below
freezing. In Turner County
some people set up their
water system to drip all
night creating some natu
ral ice sculptures like the
peach tree at right. Above
the fountain at Elrod-Veter-
ans Park also froze over
creating a sheet of ice that
cover the waterfall and the
sidewalk all the way out to
the road.
Got ice pictures from
your house? Send them to
us at wiregrassfarmer@
yahoo.com and we’ll share
them on our Facebook
page
One flu death reported in South Georgia; nine reported across the state
The Georgia Department of
Public Health (DPH) has con
firmed one flu-related death in
South Georgia. This is the first
confirmed flu-related death in
South Georgia this flu season;
however, there have been nine
flu-related deaths in other parts
of Georgia. The local death
was an adult.
DPH is reporting increases
in flu activity statewide; how
ever, the increase is normal for
this time of the year, according
to Dr. Cherie Drenzek, DPH
State Epidemiologist. H1N1
appears to be the predominant
strain but that is also one of the
strains in this year’s vaccine.
Symptoms of the flu include
cough, runny nose, sore throat
and fever. One of the most pro
nounced flu symptoms is an
overall feeling of achiness and
discomfort that comes on
quickly.
“The most effective way to
prevent the flu is getting your
flu vaccine each year,” high
lights Dr. William Grow, Dis
trict Health Director. “It’s not
too late to get your flu vaccine
at any of our health depart
ments, many local pharmacies
or your doctor’s office.”
Frequent and thorough hand
washing also will help guard
against the flu. Alcohol based
gels are the next best thing if
there is no access to soap and
water. Cover the nose and
mouth when coughing and
sneezing to help prevent the
spread of the flu. Use a tissue
(See FLU Page 2)
HOLIDAY MEAL
Ashburn Fire & Rescue held a holiday lunch for everyone in Public Safety in Turner County. County and City
firefighters, EMS, police, sheriff and local elected officials attended.
