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£ Kackamt Jlrogreas-Argas Volume 102 Number 35 W. G. Preston, Educator, Buried Monda] Mr. William Gordon Pres ton, 89, of Jenkinsburg former Butts County schoo superintendent and widely known retired Georgia edu cator for over 43 years, diec early Saturday morning al the Griffin-Spalding Hospital following a short illness buts longer period of declining health. Mr. Preston was born ii Flovilla on June 4, 1886, th< son of the late Mr. Jacl Preston and Mrs. Sara Kell; Preston. He was a graduati of Locust Grove Institute and the University of Georgia > being perhaps the oldes graduate of the universit; from Butts County. He was s member of the Class of 1914 t Mr. Preston taught schoo in Butts County as well at other systems over the state for over 43 years, serving as superintendent of the Butts County schools. He was a member of the Sandy Creek Primitive Baptist Church. Funeral services for Mr. Preston were held Monday morning at 11 o’clock from the chapel of Haisten Funeral Home with Elder Paul Mann and Rev. Arthur L. Price, pastor of the Second Baptist Church, officiating. Interment was in Sandy Creek Cemetery with Hais ten Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. Mr. Preston is survived by his wife, Mrs. Florence Adams Preston of Jenkins burg; a sister, Mrs. Lizzie Gannam of Savannah; several nieces and nephews. Pallbearers were Edwin C. Lynch, Raymond Smith, Clay Saunders, C. W. Haley, Wallace Harkins and Ed Tate. IS Academy To Open Aug. 28th Sam Freeman, Headmas ter of Indian Springs Acade my, announced that classes for the 1975-76 school year will begin on Thursday, August 28th. Parents who are interested in enrolling their children should do so by Tuesday, September 2nd, since many classes are nearing capacity. Porter Cawthon, Chairman of the Board, stated, “We are expecting our best year to date. We have a sizeable increase in enrollment over last year. Our new gym is nearing completion and will be ready very soon. We are excited about the coming year’s sports activities.” Faculty members are: Mrs. Linda McClelland, first grade; Mrs. Marilyn Raynor, second and third grades; Mrs. Ronnie Johnson, fourth grade; Mrs. Nora Bankston, fifth and sixth grades; Mrs. Judy Washington, seventh grade; Mrs. Katie Kilby, English and Business Educa tion; Mrs. Gussie Cawthon, Math and Science; and Sam Freeman, Headmaster and Social Studies. ANTIQUE SHOW SET FOR MILLEDGEVILLE The Eleventh Annual Old Capitol Antique Show and Sale, Milledgeville, will be held September 3rd and 4th, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. respectively. Sponsored by The Quota Club of Milledgeville, the show will be held at Carl Vinson National Guard Armory on West Hancock Street, Macon Highway, Rt. 49. Admission charge will be $1.50. SPECIAL OLYMPICS CHAMPION Robert James Taylor, while representing the Butts County Day Care and Training Center at the 1975 Special Olympics International Games in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, won a gold medal in the 50 yard dash and a bronze medal in the softball throw. Taylor Places First In Special Olympics Robert James Taylor brought home the bacon this month from the 1975 Special Olympics International Games where he captured .first place and a gold medal in the 50 yard dash for 30 year olds and over and third place and a bronze medal in the softball throw. Taylor was the first and only entrant to ever repre sent the Butts County Day Care and Training Center. Robert (or “Cat” as he is called at the training center) of Route 4, Jenkinsburg, is the legal son of Joyce My rick. The games took place August 7-11 on the Central Michigan University campus in Mount Pleasant, Michi gan. The competition in cluded basketball, vollyeball, ice skating, bowling, swim ming, track and field, gymnastics and floor hockey. The floor hockey event was exceptional and will be presented for viewing on CBS’s “Sports Spectacular”, September 13. In the floor Recreation Dept. Sets Football Registration New director, Hollis Griggs, announced this week that registration for the upcoming football season will be held Aug. 28 - Sept. 6 at the Recreation Dept, on Main St. from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. (includes all day on Saturday). All boys, ages 8-13, are urged to pick up a permission slip at the Recreation Dept, to be signed by their parents or guardian and returned to the Dept, along with a $5 registration fee and birth certificate. Under the GRPS regulations, no one may participate in a team sport until a birth certificate is presented. This year will mark the first year that Jackson-Butts County Recreation Dept, will send a Junior League to participate in the 4th District GRPS Football Playoffs. The Pee Wee League, ages 8-10, will enter a bowl game near Macon. Griggs plans to visit the local school and give more information about this year’s football season. He said that playing schedules will be posted for the eight teams at the Recreation Dept, and a hockey competition a team from the Georgia delegation placed third after Canada and California. A crowd of 16,000 spec tators was present to view the competition with 3,087 participants including ath letes from all over the U.S.A., Canada, France, Brazil, Philippines and San Salvador. The Georgia dele gation was made up of 78 participants and 30 staff members. Celebrities at the Olympics included the president and founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, William G. Milliken, Govern or of Michigan, Rafer Johnson, former U.S. Olym pic gold medal winner and T.V. star Sally Struthers. “We at the Butts County Day Care and Training Center all wished “Cat” well,” said Juan Lopez, Training Instructor, “We never expected him to do so well. We’re, to say the least, extremely proud of him.” player draft will take place Sept. 8-9. League directors, coaches, and officials have been selected. All participants are re minded to sign up during the designated times. No one may register after the player draft. Anyone needing ad ditional information may call the Recreation Department at 775-2404. Gingrich Is Unannounced Candidate Newt Gingrich, West Geor gia College professor, stated in Griffin last week he was not an announced candidate for Congress but he intended to run next year. Gingrich, a Republican, opposed Democrat Jack Flynt of Griffin for the Sixth District post in 1974. Flynt was re-elected. Gingrich said he was running now as much as he is allowed to under FCC and other Federal regulations. But he said he was not an announced candidate. Jackson, Georgia 30233, Thursday, August 28, 1975 Tax Suit Filed Against County Assessors and Butts Officials A civil action suit has been filed in Butts Superior Court by plaintiffs E. D. Briscoe, Lovett Fletcher, Jewellene Polk, Joe Brown and Howard Greer as officers of Tax payers Protective Associa tion against Butts County, Georgia: S. A. Washington, Byron Britt and Roy Staples, in their capacity as members of the Butts County Board of Tax Assessors; Mrs. Mary Will Hearn, in her official capacity as Tax Commission er of Butts County; and Barney L. Wilder, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Butts County; Nick Chivilis as State Revenue Commis sioner of the State of Georgia, Defendants. The petition alleges there is an actual controversy between plaintiffs and de fendants as to the tax liability of plaintiffs in Butts County, and to the State of Georgia as hereinafter set out and plaintiffs cannot act in the premises without danger of loss and damage without the benefit of a declaratory judgement in the premises. The petition further alleges that petitioners have no complete and adequate remedy at law, will be Patty O’Neal Wins First In State The 33rd annual 4-H State Congress was held last week at the Marriott Motor Hotel in Atlanta. This event was attended by 4-H district projects winners from all parts of the state. Asa result of the week’s competition, Patty O’Neal of Jackson was declared a state winner in the Housing and Equipment project. Patty is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James T. O’Neal. She has received many honors in her 4-H work. Her most outstanding achievements include Dis trict Junior Leadership and Exchange Club Leadership Awards. She was also Jackson High School’s salu tatorian for 1975. In Patty’s eight years of 4-H, she has carried several projects including Public Speaking, Home Furnishings and Art, and Leadership. When asked her feelings regarding the recent trip to State Congress, Patty said, “Of course, I’m very excited about winning first place in my project. There are many people who have helped me with my demonstration, and I’m deeply grateful to all of them.” For Patty’s tremendous success in her demonstration on fluorescent lighting, she will attend the National 4-H Congress held in Chicago this fall. Also participating in state wide competition were Ricky Long and Lee Duffey. Ricky is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alton P. Long. This was Ricky’s first opportunity to participate in State Congress, therefore, placing third in the Public Speaking project was a grqat honor. Ricky’s speech, which was entitled “The Sound of America” highlighted patrio tism among this country’s youth. In his sixth year of 4-H Club work, Ricky commented about third place, “Even though my goal was to place (continued on page 2) subjected to irreparable damage and multiplicity of actions will be avoided by this court’s taking jurisdic tion of this equitable proceed ing and action. The suit states the petition ers are willing to and will pay when they become due such amounts of taxes as they are legally and justly liable for on the 1975 Butts County ad valorem tax digest, as determined by applying the appropriate millage rate to the values as returned by the petitioners on their property, as the same may be legally adjusted and equalized by taxing authorities. The petition further alleges that the assessed values of petitioners show their prop erty as returned by them has been arbitrarily changed and increased by said assessors as a result of an illegal and nonuniform scheme, plan and practice to increase tax assessments in Butts County. The changes made upon the plaintiffs’ returns have not been proportionate nor equal to the changes made upon the returns of other owners of property of the same class in Butts County, and in the State of Georgia, and such changes have Westbury Asks Southern For Warning Lights At Crossing Where Three Died Three fatalities in two separate accidents since May 2nd have prompted S. J. Westbury, administrator of the Westbury Medical Care Home, Inc., Jenkinsburg, to write the president of Southern Railway System requesting warning lights be installed at this dangerous crossing which leads directly from the nursing home to State Highway 42 about two tenths of a mile distant. The latest deaths occurred Tuesday, August 19th, when Roy Wise, 78, and his wife, Mrs. Jessie Lee Wise, 70, were killed when their car was struck by a southbound freight train. The Hampton couple had been visiting Mrs. Wise’s mother, Mrs. Haidee Stewart, at the nursing home and were enroute home when the tragedy occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Wise would have celebrated 55 years of marriage on August 29th. On May 2nd Mrs. W. H. Crowell of McDonough was killed when the car in which she was alone was struck by a train at the same crossing. By some strange coincidence all three victims were from Griffin-Spalding County To Make Bid for Solar Institute Griffin and Spalding County officials are making a solid bid to have a Spalding County site approved for the proposed Solar Energy Re search Institute. The committee was ap pointed last week to work on this project which includes Griffin City Manager Roy Inman, County Administra tor Lewis Leonard, and Bill Snowden, a Georgia Tech graduate student who is studying city planning and is employed by the county during the summer. The committee will com caused an unequal, nonuni form, inequitable, illegal and unconstitutional shifting of the burden of taxation to plaintiffs, contrary to Article VII, Section I, Par. 111, of the Constitution of Georgia of 1945. The same standards of valuation have not been used in assessing plaintiffs’ prop erty of the same class, and property of others owning the same class of property, in Butts County and in Georgia, in that the assessed values of real property have been arbitrarily established and raised by defendant assess ors by methods ill designed and implemented to establish fair market value with results bearing little relation ship to fair market value; and values of personal tangible property have been established and raised by a different and unequal method. All of said kinds of property are of the same class under the Constitution and Laws of Georgia. The property of plaintiffs’, real and personal, has been treated in an unequal, different, and discriminatory manner when compared to the manner and method applied by taxing authorities Henry County. Several years ago Mr. Westbury’s son, James West bury, was attempting to cross when his car was struck and cut into by a train. Fortunately. Mr. Westbury was not seriously injured. Concerned at the latest deaths, Mr. W'estbury wrote the following letter to the president of Southern Rail way System; “Dear Sir: “We have a 200 bed nursing home near one of vour railroad crossings at Jen kinsburg, Georgia. There is no warning light at this crossing. “Three people have lost their lives at this crossing in the past four months. “According to Mr. Byrd Garland, it is the responsi bility of the railroad to install warning lights. “How many more people must be killed before something is done to correct this situation?” Your very truly, S. J. Westbury Administrator pile recommendations about the community made during last week’s meeting and submit an application before September Ist. Some 35 persons attended the meeting, including repre sentatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Real Estate Board, Mclntosh Trail Area Planning and Development Commission, Griffin Tech, Griffin-Spalding County- School System, Griffin Engi neering, Kenneth Presley Associates, and the Georgia Experiment Station. The main problem con 56.18 Per Year In Advance to property of the same class owned by those persons and corporations who make their returns to the Revenue Commissioner of the State of Georgia. Defendant assessors have discriminated against own ers of real property by applying “comparable sales” data to generally similar property without regard to the availability of a market for such generally similar property; and have applied assessment methods to land which unduly empha sizes speculative value and potential use of land and does not give due consideration to actual present use. Defendants have based assessments on records of transaction without verifying the transactions with a party to the transaction. Defendant assessors have discriminated against own ers of real property by the use of comparable sales data studies made by the Georgia Department of Audits of real estate sales without using comparable sales data from sales of personal property, and an insufficient and unrepresentative number of samples has been used. Plaintiffs further show that The above letter was dated August 20, 1975 and copies were mailed to the Butts County Commissioners. Byrd Garland, County Attorney, and the Jackson Progress- Argus. In response to an earlier letter from Mr. Westbury. County Attorney Garland responded thus in a letter dated May 13. 1975, shortly after the first fatality. “Dear Mr. Westbury: “In response to your request of May 9. 1975, I, as County Attorney, was asked to research the problem and advise you and the county commissioners as to what steps should be taken to place a warning light at the above mentioned railroad crossing. “I find the Georgia Law places the responsibility of placing and maintaining these warning lights upon the different railroad companies that use the tracks. In the case of the above mentioned railroad, this would be Southern Railway Company. I also find some authority that the Georgia Public Service Commission is res ponsible for telling the cerning the application ap pears to be finding suitable sites and ways to finance them in Spalding County is chosen. From 100 to 1,000 acres would be needed. Many states are competing for the $75-million facility which would have an area operating budget of $25- million. Some of the best known scientists in solar engineer ing and related fields and other highly educated and talented persons would work at the institute. Each state will "hoo<* its the following statute require the “fair market value” Standard to be the measure of value to be returned by each taxpayer in Georgia on their property tax returns; and that said statute requires the defendant assessors to assess , said property at 40 percent of “Fair market value”, to wit: Georgia Laws 1909, p. 72 (Ga. Code Ann. 92-5701) ..“All property shall be returned for taxation at its fair market value.” Georgia Laws 1909, p. 75: Georgia Laws 1968. P. 358; “The intent and purpose of the tax laws of this state are to have all property and subjects of taxation returned at the value which would be realized therefrom by cash sale, as such property and subjects are usually sold, but not by forced sale thereof, and the words “Fair market value”, when used in the tax laws, shall be held and deemed to mean what the property and subjects would bring at cash sale when sold in the manner in which such property and subjects are usually sold.” railroads what type warning sign should be placed at particular crossings. “In light of the fact that the responsibility is solely on the railroads. I feel that any action on the part of the county would be in violation of the trust placed in the commissioners by the public to spend their tax money wisely. This is especially true since I have been advised that a warning light for this particular crossing would cost in excess of $25,000.00 “I personally feel that warning lights should be installed at every crossing in Georgia, however. I realize this is not economically feasible for the railroad. I would suggest that you, in conjunction with the Mayor of Jenkinsburg and the county commissioners make every effort to bring what ever forces you can muster upon the southern railway in an attempt to deleviate this problem. Thanking you on behalf of the county for your concern as a citizen and a taxpayer, I am. Yours very truly, Byrd Garland” best site and submit one application. Final selection will be made by the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration in late Octo ber. According to criteria set by a site selection committee for the state, Griffin meets every requirement. Several sites throughout Spalding County with large acreage were discovered. Some were not suitable as sewerage could not be provided. It was also brought out that other communities in the area also are submitting applications. Henry County will show three 1,000-acre tracts. Peachtree City and Fayette County and Clayton County also are applying.