Newspaper Page Text
Blood Drive!
f Thursday 2-7
Civic Center
General Assembly
Report
Rep. Jay Roberts
checks in
Shooting
sports
signups
See Page 9
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™ Wiregrass Farmer
Wednesday, January 14,2015
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 2 • 500
www.thewiregrassfarmer.com
(Around Town\
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Chamber
Banquet
Tickets are now avail
able for the 59th Annual
Chamber of Commerce
Banquet. The banquet is
Jan. 22. Call 567-9696 for
ticket information.
Give Life
American Red Cross will
be at the Civic Center from
2-7pm Thursday, Jan. 15th.
Please donate what only
YOU can give...lifesaving
blood.
Rec basketball
signups
The Turner County Rec.
Dept, will be signing up for
basketball Jan. 20-23 and
Jan. 26-30 from 4:30-6pm
at the old gym at Special
Services School. Boys and
girls ages 4-14 can sign up
at a cost of $25 per child.
For more info call Mike
Coker, 229-567-5223.
Test assistance
Turner County Special
Services is assisting anyone
that needs a diploma that
has not passed the GHSGT,
or if you passed all portions
of the test, but lack at least
two classes. Please come
Mon-Thurs 4-6pm at Spe
cial Services School and let
us help you. The time is
now!
Obituaries
Betty Frances Jacqueline
Powell Harris, 75,
Sycamore
Rayford Carroll Page, 74,
Ashbum
Laura M. Cushion, 62,
Ashbum
Complete obituary
information is on Page 5
Serving Turner County Since 1902
Mayor promises
open government
HOW COLD WAS IT?
I am going to make the best decisions I
can for the City of Ashbum.
Mayor Sedric Carithers
by Ben Baker, editor program will replace more
New Ashburn mayor Sedric sidewalks with stamped con-
Carithers promised to do what crete.
is right and to do it in open. • The new well and water
“I want to be as transparent tank on the west side of town
as I can to let the citi
zens of Ashburn know
what is going on,” he
said. “I am going to
make the best decisions
I can for the City of
Ashburn.”
In his brief speech as
the new mayor, Mr.
Carithers said he was
most disappointed that
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Or
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grandmothers were not present
to see him be sworn in. He
broke down when speaking of
them.
“It is a joyous day for me
and a bittersweet day,” he said.
That done, he gave the
standing-room-only crowd a
State of the City speech.
• A downtown streetscape
is still underway.
• New sewer lines
and a lift station along
MLK are on the way.
• A grant will bring
more repair work to the
historic Tabernacle on
the edge of downtown.
Carithers • The City has $6
million in debt. Most of
this is for the wastewater treat
ment plant. As of his report, the
City had $1.3 million in the
bank.
“These are some of the
things going on in Ashburn be
fore we took over,” he said.
He also read a letter of con
gratulations from City Council
member Sandra Lumpkin who
was not at last week’s meeting.
his
The City of Ashbum is in pretty good finan
cial shape, said auditor Brandon Montgomery
with the Herring PC firm from Tifton.
Mr. Montgomery handed out copies of the
audit report to the City Council but did not go
over the report as has been done in the past. He
said he will return next month to discuss the re
port in detail. He pointed to a lengthy agenda
and as the reason for the delay.
The City is in good shape. After his presen
tation, he said there was one item in the report
which he planned to address, but otherwise it
was good.
“Looking at the City and treating it as a busi
ness, the City ended up making money,” he said.
He encouraged the Council to look over the
audit report and come to the February meeting
with questions.
In other business, Ray Holland was reap
pointed Municipal Judge; Flynn Coleman pros
ecutor; John Sherrer indigent defense and
Tommy Coleman as City Attorney.
Greg Millette, executive director of Turner County Connections, snapped this pic
ture of his dashboard gauges on Thursday morning. 17 degrees is COLD!
Photo Greg Millette
Ashburn auditor presents report
HEADING TO STATE
The Turner County Rebel wrestlers cruised to an easy victory in the Area 1 duals, defeating Treutlen County 56-12. They are headed to the
state duals in Macon. Good luck Rebels!
School Board eyes contract with Moultrie Tech for Driver’s Ed
The Board of Education
must replace the Driver’s Edu
cation car. State law says the
car used for that class cannot
be used once it is 10 years old.
Interim Superintendent Joy
Gentry said Moultrie Tech has
offered a car and an instmctor
for less than what the school
system could get a teacher and
a car for. The present driver’s
ed instmctor, Scott McGuinty,
will be reassigned if the School
Board approves the contract.
Dr. Gentry said if the con
tract is approved, which will be
for next year, the school sys
tem could save as much as
$75,000.
In the meantime, Moultrie
Tech is offering a Driver’s Ed
car. Mr. McGuinty will con
tinue to teach that class.
In other news:
• The BOE bought a used
F350 from Parker Chevrolet
for $11,000. The track will be
used to pull the Ag Department
livestock trailer for students
who show animals as part of
their ag class. The 2008 truck
is a diesel and has 21 IK miles.
Dr. Gentry estimates 4,000 to
6,000 miles will be put on the
truck each year. She did re
mind the Board that buying a
used vehicle does incur some
risks. The truck will also be
used to pull the marching band
equipment trailer.
• Sycamore mayor Wayne
Woodruff was hired as a full
time substitute bus driver and
bus monitor. Some of the older
buses do not have video moni
toring equipment. All new
buses do. Mr. Woodruff will
ride buses where a driver has
reported a problem with stu
dent behavior.
“He will be assigned to ride
on those where we have con
cerns on a bus,” Dr. Gentry
said. “There are a couple of
buses we’ve had issues on. If
we had the money, we’d love
to have a monitor on every
bus,” she said.
Phillip Crawford said a bus
monitor could just be one more
voice in a “he said - she said”
kind of argument.
Cornelius Ball asked why
problems weren’t being han
dled by the driver.
Dr. Gentry pointed out a bus
can haul as many as 90 stu
dents, far more students than in
any one classroom in school.
She said Mr. Woodruff can
serve as a chaperone on the
bus.
“If there are concerns, he’ll
ride the bus for several days,”
she said. “It will be a start.”
Mr. Woodruff regularly
goes to the bus shop during
school to see if he’s needed to
substitute for a driver. Other
board members noted Mr.
Woodmff was reliable.
“I object. I just object to
that,” Mr. Ball said at the
workshop meeting last week.
“Most kids don’t care if there
is an extra person on the bus. I
don’t see how it will improve.”
“If there is a need, if you
think we need it, to head some
problems off, give it a try. We
don’t have to stick with it,” Mr.
Crawford said.
“Some systems are moving
to hire a monitor on all buses,”
Dr. Gentry said.
The board voted Monday
night to hire Mr. Woodruff as
noted above. Mr. Ball cast the
sole no vote against creating
the position.
Shop local
Put local people
to work and keep
your tax dollars
at work at home.
Si
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