Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 47 • 750
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No blood drive
NO Red Cross Blood
Drive will be held in Novem
ber. Next drive will be Janu
ary 2024 and location will be
announced at that time.
Thank you to all donors faith
ful and 1st timers.
Teddy bears
The Kiwanis Club is col
lecting teddy bears for public
safety to give to children. The
bears are to help frightened
kids. New bears may be
dropped off at The Wiregrass.
Stray dogs
Ashburn residents are re
minded that pets must have a
collar and current rabies tag.
Animals without tags will be
collected by Animal Control.
A copy of the City's animal
ordinance is available at City
Hall and the Police Depart
ment. Animal control number
is 567-0313.
Separate debris
If you pile leaves and
limbs at curbside, please sep
arate limbs from the leaves
and pine straw. The City's
street vac can pick up the
leaves and straw. The boom
truck can pick up limbs.
When you separate the leaves
and limbs, pick up goes faster
and takes fewer employees.
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
No more repairs to Chamber floor
What was supposed to
be a 2 week remodel
turned into more than 2
months. And, just when
it was supposed to be
over, it was not.
The Chamber staff moved
back in to a remodeled build
ing that saw problems with the
floor. The original floor, dating
back to when the Chamber was
the Library, was dimpled with
high heel marks. The staff
moved back out while the
work was redone.
The company doing the ren
ovation work agreed to work
on the floor.
Chamber Executive Direc
tor Ashley Miller said the com
pany left gouges in the
hardwood floor. Ms. Miller is
not exactly sure what the com
pany did. The original hard
wood floor appears to be
painted a dark brown as well.
A floor in one of the bath
rooms also had gouges in it.
“They tried to tell me that
was already there. But, they re
placed the floor,” she said.
When the company started
working on the building, they
discovered the floor in that
bathroom was rotted out. It had
to be replaced.
Ms. Miller said she is not
willing to approve the work
because of the floor. So every
thing was moved back out of
the Chamber offices.
The walls and ceiling work
are acceptable, she said.
The Turner County Devel
opment Authority is paying for
the work. No taxpayer money
is involved. All the money is
from the Authority’s develop
ment account.
The chamber staff is work
ing out of office space at the
Ashburn Police Department
while the work goes on. The
Chamber Board has met at the
South Georgia bank meeting
room.
The building is owned by
the Turner County Develop
ment Authority and is shared
with the Chamber of Com
merce. Ms. Miller works for
both groups.
At the November Chamber
Board meeting, Ms. Miller said
the original hardwood floors
are “down to the nails” now.
Any future work on the floor
means replacing the floor or
covering what is there.
Burgess not sure why City collected debris
Drowning
An investigation into the
death of a Sycamore
man found in a pond in
Turner County tin Sep
tember is still underway
David Cameron Spears, 33,
of Sycamore, was found in a
pond off S. Railroad and Blan
chard Road.
Two other men present at
the time said a boat overturned
and they swam to the shore.
Sheriff Andy Hester said the
GBI was called to the scene
that evening and has taken
charge of the investigation.
It is not a murder investiga
tion at this time, the Sheriff
said.
“We are getting told by fam
ily members what they think
happened. We don’t go on ‘I
think.’ We have to have credi
ble information,” he said. “The
information we get from wit
nesses, it has to be credible in
formation we can use.
“We have been called by
people saying they thought that
(murder) was the case.”
The GBI has not released
any information and the inves
tigation is still underway. The
Sheriff said his department is
assisting the state agency
“We are waiting on the
GBI,” he said.
Coroner Jim Lumpkin said
the body was sent to the Crime
Lab in Macon crime lab for an
(See DROWN Page 8)
Someone violated a
City of Ashburn policy.
Who ordered that viola
tion, if it was ordered,
remains to be seen.
The matter at hand is a
home in Ashburn now owned
by City Councilman Johnny
Burgess. After taking posses
sion of the home following tax
sale foreclosure, Mr. Burgess
had a crew clean it out and pile
stuff at the roadside.
The City’s garbage policy
clearly states the City will not
pick up things like that. It says
in part, “Garbage created by
evictions. Once the renter’s
right to reclaim their property
has been satisfied by the land
lord, it is the landlords or his
appointed designee’s responsi
bility to dispose of the garbage
generated by this process.”
Other landlords in town say
they have either hauled off or
paid to have such matters
hauled off.
“Yeah. I heard the boys
from city picked it up. I did not
tell people them to pick up a
damn thing from me,” Mr.
Burgess said. “Johnny Burgess
hadn’t told nobody to pick up
a damned thing... I just bought
the house.”
As for anyone who says Mr.
Burgess ordered the City
workers to pick up the debris,
“anyone who told you that is a
damned lie.”
City of Ashburn Sanita
tion Policy (relevant parts)
Purpose: to establish an of
ficial policy regarding house
hold waste and yard debris
pickup.
Definitions: Normal House
hold Garbage - Garbage asso
ciated with normal household
purposes.
Normal Household Garbage
and Brown Good Removal
In regards to household
waste, the City of Ashburn
contracts with a private sanita
tion company to remove nor
mal household garbage.
Items not eligible for
Pickup: The City of Ashburn
will not pickup:
Any items associated with
home renovation or demolition
with work done by a private
contractor, renter, or the home
owner.
White goods containing
Freon
Garbage created by evic
tions. Once the renter’s right to
reclaim their property has been
satisfied by the landlord, it is
the landlords or his appointed
designee’s responsibility to
dispose of the garbage gener
ated by this process
Farmers, state officials discuss current ag concerns
Siren Test
The Turner County
weather warning siren is
tested the first Wednesday of
the month, good weather per
mitting, at noon. If weather is
bad, the system will be tested
at noon on the next clear day.
County website
The County Commission
has a website, www.tumer-
countygeorgia.com .
Obituaries
Bennie Hugh Metcalf, 72,
Sycamore
Sandra Dorothy
Wadsworth Muse, 76,
Ashburn
Lajuana Ann Branch, 64,
Denton
Thomas Monroe
McDaniel, 83, Brunswick
Complete obituary
information Page 5
by Sami Mastrario
Organized by their re
spective chapters, six
counties of Young
Farmers members
came together with sev
eral local and state
elected officials on No
vember 13 at Turner
County Elementary
School to eat a deli
cious seafood meal and
discuss current and fu
ture agricultural con
cerns for the state.
The counties that partici
pated were Turner County,
Wilcox County, Crisp County,
Tift County, Ben Hill County,
and Dooly County. In addition
to 100 Young Farmer members
in attendance, GA Rep. Clay
Pirkle (District #169), GA Rep.
Feesa Hagan (District #156),
GA Rep. Bill Yearta (District
#152), GA Senator Carden
Summers (District #13), and
GA Commissioner of Agricul
ture Tyler Harper were also
present.
According to Harper, these
kind of meetings are vital be
cause it helps the community,
and especially farmers, get to
know their government offi
cials.
With such a small number
of members of the assembly
being in the farming industry,
it falls on farmers and produc
ers to make sure legislators un
derstand the exact needs of our
(See FARM Page 2)
;v.
■ •«
Commissioner Harper, Young Farmer Chapter leaders, and legislative members.
Photo by Sami Mastrario
8 66670 00023
750 - tax included
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I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when I have room for it - Robert Brault
Thanksgiving: when the people who are the most thankful are the ones who didn’t have to cook - Melanie White
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