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Serving Turner County Since 1902
Wednesday, January 15,2014
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 3 • 500
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
{Around 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.
TCHS mini
cheer camp
TCHS will be hosting a
mini cheer camp sponsored
by the basketball cheerlead
ers Jan. 21-24 from 4-5
p.m. for ages 4-11. Fee $30
w/t-shirt. For more info
contact Coach Pierce 229-
256-1698 or
roshunda.pierce @ yahoo .co
m
Archery meeting
There will be a 4-H
Archery Meeting on Sun
day, January 19th at 2PM
for those students who
would like to participate in
the archery program for the
2014 year. The meeting
will be held at the Turner
County Recreation Depart
ment’s Holley
Pavilion. For more infor
mation you may call 567-
3448.
Report Cards
Turner County Elemen
tary School Open House/
Teacher Conference Thurs
day, Jan. 23, 2014, begin
ning at 3:30 p.m. ending at
5:30 p.m. Turner County
Middle/High School Parent
Report Card Pickup/Open
House Wednesday, Jan. 22,
4-6 p.m. Parents are encour
aged to attend to talk with
teachers and pick up report
cards.
Obituaries
Juanita Parks Malott, 81,
Sycamore
Calvin T. High , Ashburn
James Warren Nipper, 81,
Ashburn
Mr. Sherman Burdett, 85,
Ashburn
Mr. Walter O. Whitehead,
83, Ashburn
Complete obituary
^information is on Page 5
Probate Judge Penny Thomas (c) after the swearing in ceremony at the Sycamore City Council last week.
She delivered an oath of office to Mayor Wayne Woodruff (not pictured), Jim Galt-Brown (standing left), Odie
McNair, not pictured and Fred Eister (seated right). A second oath of office was set for Councilmen Friday
morning at the judge’s office because of some pre-meeting confusion.
Councilmen get oath twice
by Ben Baker
Editor
Part of the Sycamore City Council
had to take a second oath of office last
week.
Probate Judge Penny Thomas came
to the first meeting of the year to deliver
the oath to Mayor Wayne Woodruff.
Council members Fred Eister, Jim Galt-
Brown.
According to the Sycamore City
Charter, the oath of office must be deliv
ered by a judge. Judge Thomas said she
came prepared to swear Mayor
Sworn in: Mayor Wayne
Woodruff; Councilmen
Fred Eister, Jim Galt-
Brown, Odie McNair
Woodruff in. She said she was not to
tally prepared to swear-in the Council
members as she did not know that would
be required.
She did have an oath of office. The
Sycamore Charter also has an oath of of
fice.
“This is not the same oath I gave
them,” she said. “It is the same oath all
of us take. We take the same one every
four years.”
She briefly conferred with Sheriff
Andy Hester to make sure she was right
about needing to take an oath after each
election.
In years past the Sycamore City
Clerk delivered the oath of office to
newly elected Council members.
The Council members were sworn in
well enough to vote in the meeting.
Two more
flu deaths
ICE SHIELD
Sycamore mayor wants trailer park road paved
The people over there
need this. They deserve
it. Mayor Wayne Woodruff
The Georgia Department of Public Health
has confirmed two additional flu-related
deaths in South Georgia, totaling three for the
South Health District. Both of the deceased
were young adults.
Health officials said neither one was in a
traditionally at-risk category of the popula
tion. They were both young adults, a group
that is abnormally being hit the hardest in this
year's numbers.
So far in Georgia there have been 19 flu-
related deaths this flu season.
“Again, we stress the importance of getting
your flu vaccine annually,” states Dr. William
Grow, District Health Director. “This is the
most effective way to prevent getting the flu.
Those that have died in our district did not
have a documented flu vaccine, per the Geor
gia Registry of Immunization Transactions
and Services.”
Frequent and thorough (See FLU Page 2)
Calhoun Produce protected strawberries last week by running
the irrigation system. The running water kept the ice and plants at
32 degrees, which kept the plants alive. Photo Brad Calhoun
When campaigning last year,
Sycamore Mayor Wayne Woodruff said
he got a number of complaints about the
private roads in the mobile
home park on the south end
of Sycamore.
That was one of many
complaints he said he got
while campaigning.
“Some we can handle
without bringing it before the
Council. It’s stuff we do
every day,” he said, “The mo
bile home park (MHP), I was
disheartened when I was Woodruff
going over there. They live over there.
They pay taxes, pay water bills, pay
sewer, pay garbage. They’ve got a road
that’s like riding on Mt. Rushmore.”
The dirt roads in the MHP appear on
City maps and are named, but are pri
vately owned. This means
public works crews cannot
go down the roads. Garbage
and debris must also be
hauled out to the paved road
and the MHP entrance. The
Post Office also will not de
liver down the roads, mean
ing mail boxes are at the
MHP entrance.
“I would like to go to the
owners - there are three of
them over there. I would love to get that
right-of-way deeded over to the City for
the purpose of (See PAVE Page 2)
Private roads
No curbside garbage
or debris pickup
No at house mail
delivery
Woodruff proposes a
CDBG to pave and
improve sewer system
ID theft
cases in
works
I have met with IRS
agents and the Secret
Service. They are
prosecuting. It just
takes a long time to
put those together.
DA Paul Bowden
by Ben Baker
Editor
The ID theft cases in Turner
County are working their way
through the judicial system said Dis
trict Attorney (DA) Paul Bowden and
Sheriff Andy Hester.
“Most, the feds are taking,” Mr.
Bowden said.
Of those, some cases have been
prosecuted and the people so charged
are in federal prison.
“I have met with IRS agents and
the Secret Service,” the DA said.
“They are prosecuting. It just takes a
long time to put those together.”
Sheriff Hester agreed.
“The IRS has several cases they
are handling. I would like to see it get
done quicker and more speedily, but
the wheels of justice are slow,” he
said. “That’s the way they are doing
it.”
(See THEFT Page 2)
$94 per
vote in
Rebecca
Rebecca vote
cost $94.36
Sycamore vote
cost $17.79
Fast year’s election in Rebecca
cost taxpayers there $90 per vote.
The municipal elections in
Sycamore and Rebecca in November
cost taxpayers in those cities a com
bined $3,826.41, according to fig
ures from Elections Superintendent
Jan Winter.
Her report shows the Sycamore
election cost $1,939.29. The Re
becca election cost $1,887.12.
The race for mayor in each city
was the only contested race. If only
one person had run for mayor and the
Council also had no opposition, the
election would have been canceled.
In Sycamore, 109 voted for
mayor. That comes to almost $18 per
vote. The actual amount is
$17.79165.
In Rebecca, 20 people voted in
the mayoral race. That comes to
$94,356 per vote. Rebecca had 21
voters. With that figure the election
cost was $89.862857 per vote.
This is not the most expensive
election in the state to date. A few
years ago a state-wide runoff elec
tion was held. Wilcox County had no
one vote in that race
Mrs. Winter said the cost of an
election is fairly fixed because state
law requires a certain number of peo
ple attend the polls every day a per
son may vote.
In the municipal elections in No
vember, she used Board of Elections
members which saved money for the
two cities.
Rebecca has an election this year
with the passing of Ron Mangum,
she said.
Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do. Will Rogers