Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Middle School Basketball SMAC Semifinals Saturday 11 a.m. Civic Center Ashburn man charged with murder Story inside ™ Wireorass Farmer Wednesday, January 22,2014 ASHBURN, GA, 31714 VOL 109 - No. 4 • 500 www.thewiregrassfarmer.com /Around Town\ Subscribe to The Wiregrass Farmer Delivered in your mail every week 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. 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. Rec basketball The Turner County Recreation Dept. Basketball signups will be Jan. 27-31 at the gym on Cleveland Ave. Time: 4-6 p.m. daily. Cost: $25 per child. Boys & girls ages 4-14 are encour aged to participate. For more info contact Mike Coker 229-567-5223. Serving Turner County Since 1902 Office charged after accident by Ben Baker Editor Board of Education member Mary Frances Of fice was charged with sev eral traffic offenses following a wreck Friday. Ashburn Police Chief Joe Saxon said pending charges are: DUI refusal, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, improper passing, im properbacking, failure to maintain lane and striking a fixed object. “That’s about where we’re at with it,” the chief said. “I do not believe it is alcohol related.” Friday afternoon, Mrs. Office (See OFFICE Page 6) CHARGES DUI refusal Improper passing Leaving accident Failure to maintain lane Striking fixed object No apology by Ben Baker, editor Sycamore City Councilman J.C. Harris believes fellow Council member Brenda McNair owes two people an apol ogy. When she’s done with that, he says an apology is then due to the residents of Sycamore. For her part, Mrs. McNair was noncommittal. At a called meeting last week, Mr. Harris called for the apology. Mr. Harris is known for being quiet and saying little at Council meet ings. (See McNAIR Page 2) Harris PICTURE PERFECT The full moon, a few clouds and a nighttime scene provided this amazing look at the Turner County Courthouse recently. Photo Geraldine Phelps Turner County EMS gets equipment grant EMS Director Robby Royal & Paramedic Dennis Higgins with trauma equipment purchased. by Robby Royal EMS Director Turner County EMS was selected to receive a trauma equipment grant in the amount of $4775.96 to provide our EMS with trauma related equipment. This grant has been funded by the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission and will be administered by the Georgia Association of EMS. This grant can be used as reim bursement for any trauma re lated equipment used on ambulances for 911 zoned am bulance providers. The total amount of this money for Georgia was $1,154,592 with Turner County EMS receiving $1193.99 for each of its four ambulances. This grant was awarded in equal amounts for each of the 967 licensed ambu lances used to provide emer gency patient care as part of a 911 zone in Georgia. EMS Director Robby Royal said this money has allowed him to purchase needed trauma equipment that initially wasn’t in the 2013-2014 EMS budget. We have purchased two EZ IO Drill Kits which provides the medical professional im mediate vascular(intraosseous) access in critical adult and pe diatric patients we are unable gain venous IV access on, in stead fluids and medications are given directly into large bones in the body. This as well as other trauma equipment/supplies purchased will allow Turner County EMS to give each patient the best care possible while at the same time saving tax dollars. Turner County was awarded a similar grant in 2012, but the amount per ambulance was only $504. Archery range Turner County Recre ation Dept, will open it's 3- D Archery Range beginning Feb. 1. The course will be open from 9am-2pm each 1st and 3rd Saturdays at no cost to the participants. For more info contact Mike Coker, 229-567-5223. Obituaries Mr. Walter O. Whitehead, 83, Ashburn Joyce Kennedy, 78, Chula Troy Nyles Brooks, 82, Ashburn Richard “Ricky” L. Tripp, 54, Arabi Mr. Charles H. Lunsford, Jr., 81, Sumner Betty Ruth Baggett, 66, Fitzgerald Donna S. Rogers, 63, Albany Complete obituary ^information is on Page 5 Jordan: Economic figures accurate DEFENSE! The recent economic news that Turner County has moved up in the state rankings is prob ably accurate, said School Su perintendent Ray Jordan. If Mr. Jordan seems an un likely expert on Turner County economics, consider his job for a few minutes. As the superin tendent of the school system, he has to keep an eye on the tax base, sales tax revenue and the economic status of the children enrolled the school system here. He has an other indica tor of economics - school en rollment. Last year some 66 chil dren left the Turner County School system because their families moved to another county to find work. He said that is a solid indi cator that Turner County’s un employment rate and the aver age income as reported by state officials is probably accurate. As people leave the county to find work, the unemploy ment rate drops. Add to this most of those leaving are not high income residents. As Mr. Jordan pointed out when someone who has no in come leaves, that does work to raise the average income of those who remain behind. Jordan HealthPlus expansion to begin in spring Tift Regional is expected to begin land clearing in the spring for a new medical clinic in Ashburn. The hospital has a clinic in Ashburn, but needs more space. After Phoebe closed it’s fairly new clinic in town, the HealthPlus facility here saw an enormous increase in patient load. HealthPlus is the local arm of Tift Regional. The new property will be on E. Washington at the site of the old Matthew’s Furniture build ing and what is called the Zorn House. This is just a bit west of the present clinic and on the other side of the road. City Manager Ben Taylor briefed the City Council on the project and attended a Rotary Club program about the new clinic. He said the new center will not have a triage clinic, but will have expanded hours. Rebel basketball fan Jason Cooper Jr, 18 months, tells the Lady Rebels to keep their hands up in their re cent home basketball game. An apology? Bah! Disgusting! Cowardly! Beneath the dignity of any gentleman, however wrong he might be. Steve Martin