Newspaper Page Text
■UNITED
WE STAND
LOD*FAMILY~COUNTRS
NEWSPAPER,
A Textbook for the Times!
Issue 19 Thursday, May 7, 2020
The Voice of Crawford County Since 1921
also serving Byron and Peach County
Crawford Family Medicine is BOQ
r vi
.—*
Crawford Family Medicine nominated and voted by peers
as 1st Business of the Quarter 2020. CFM is first of our four
nominations for possible Business of the Year 2020, Dr.
Gaton has been in the community serving patients for 25
years...He and the staff have worked on many projects in
many years serving on committees areas of this community
including past president of the Roberta Crawford Cham
ber of Commerce. Dr. Freddy Gaton also serves as Chair of
Crawford County Board of Health. Many years the company
offered sponsor support for, Relay for Life as well as Spon
sor for many events - Jug Festival, Back to School, Annual
Meeting door prizes and many school projects.
Roberta mural project to be funded by Flint
Flint Energies announced
that the City of Roberta has
won the Co-op’s second
“Rural Murals” grant worth
$12,500. Flint will award the
funds to the Keep Rober-
ta-Crawford County Beautiful
as part of the matching grant.
Keep Roberta-Crawford
County Beautiful and its
partners, Crawford County
Board of Commissioners, City
of Roberta, Crawford County
Historical Society, Rober
ta-Crawford County Chamber
of Commerce, Dickey Farms
and Crawford County Farm
Bureau will invest approxi
mately $2,500 towards the
mural project.
The mural will provide a pic
torial story of Crawford Coun
ty history and will transform
the side of the building located
along South Matthews Street
in Roberta. The mural will be
68o square feet when com
pleted. Artist Chris Johnson
of Columbus, who has family
ties to Crawford County, has
been selected to be the mural
painter. Since 2017, Chris
has painted over 25 murals
throughout Georgia, North
Carolina, and South Carolina.
You can see examples of Chris’
mural work and community
projects at his website: chris-
jmfa.com
The mural will be dedicated
in memory of Dr. Billy Bassett.
Dr. Bassett was a true friend
to Keep Roberta/Crawford
Beautiful, our school system,
city government and this
community. As a great lover
of art and an artist himself, he
always desired a mural on a
Roberta city wall.
Keep your eyes on the
old railroad wall outside of
C&H Pipeline on the South
Mathews Street side. In a
few days the preparation for
the painting of the mural will
begin.
KRCB is responsible for the
Flint Energies grant match
and is seeking donations in
memory of Dr. Billy Bassett
to complete the project. If you
would like to donate to this art
memorial, please contact Jo
anne Hamlin at 478-836-4140
or send a check to KRCB, PO
Box 417, Roberta, Georgia
31078.
The Rural Murals Program
establishes a collaboration
between Flint Energies and
the local, rural community
to create murals that carry
lasting impact, sparks eco
nomic development and is
the focal point of community
discussion. The focus is to
celebrate the unique history
and diversity of our local rural
communities. It is vital to
establishing a strong sense of
place for residents by creat
ing suitable and recognizable
murals within a community/
downtown.
The Rural Murals program
intends to increase the num
ber of public murals across
Flint’s service territory, while
supporting the incredibly
talented artist community
within Middle Georgia. Flint
Energies will identify and
partially fund the projects
that highlight positive images
of the Middle Georgia area’s
history and culture through an
application process.
The program’s murals are
designed to bring travelers
off main interstates to travel
the backroads.. .off the beaten
path to discover the vast re
sources our area has to offer.
Money spent in the towns that
host the murals will directly
benefit those areas, as the
funds are given by visitors and
not long-time residents.
“It is our hope is to posi
tively impact the aesthetics,
activation, marketability and
perception of our winner’s
community; to increase
property values and serve as a
catalyst for continued private
sector investment through vis
ible improvements. We hope
that the mural will provide a
visually-friendly environment
for residents and visitors to
dine, shop, work and live,”
says Marian McLemore,
Flint’s Vice President of Coop
erative Communications. “We
are excited to partner with
the Roberta-Crawford County
community on our second
mural project and hope it
helps spur economic growth
for their community,” says
McLemore.
Flint’s first Rural Mural
project, located at too N.
Sumter Street in Oglethorpe,
was completed in Fall 2019
by artist Jackie Fontenot of
neighboring Montezuma.
Earlier this year, Flint En
ergies invited rural commu
nities located in the Co-op’s
service territory to apply
for the Rural Murals grant.
Flint Energies’ service area
encompasses parts of Bibb,
Chattahoochee, Crawford,
Dooly, Harris, Houston, Ma
con, Marion, Monroe, Mus
cogee, Peach, Schley, Sumter,
Talbot, Taylor, Twiggs and
Upson counties. In March,
the Cooperative received five
grant applications. A panel of
art educators and aficionados
served as judges and reviewed
the applications. The top scor
ing mural idea was funded.
There’s still time to fill out the census form
The 2020 Census percentage in Craw
ford County is low with most of its
residents not filling out their information.
The north and west sides of the county
are only at 32% of the total residents. The
east and south side are at 44% and 50%.
For those who are unsure about filling
out the 9 question questionnaire, the
census does not ask any personal infor
mation except for gender, age, address
and if you are U.S. citizen. That isn’t too
personal.
This information is used for many
federal funded programs and how much
money a school, health departments, fire
departments, city or county governments
can get to help fund their needs.
Do you have a child in school? If so,
you need to fill out the 2020 Census. The
Census is used for the school system in
the Title I funding, Free Lunch Program,
Parent Facilitators, Family Engagement
Coordinator, Head Start programs, and
helps with the number of children per
classroom. This information is to help
schools from having over populated class
rooms.
Remember, these numbers are used
for 10 years. This means the money that
is allotted is for the amount the schools
will receive over those 10 years. If there
is a change within those 10 years, it won’t
be counted until the next Census count in
2030.
The 2020 Census is also used for the
city and county governments and to
calculate the dollars they receive in grants
and loans. Everything has to do with the
per capita (number of people within an
area) and without having a true number
of people to go by, the city, county and
schools will be hurt financially.
By filling out the 2020 Census, you
will help you and your family in the
future. Not only by helping the commu
nity during this day and time, but future
family members who will use the Census
to see where you lived, your occupation
and who lived in the home. People use
the Census across the world who wants
to know their heritage and who they are
related, where the relatives came from,
where the relatives lived, what was their
occupation, who was living in the home
and at what age. It also tells a journey of
those who came from other countries.
See CENSUS. Page 5
1 Section 6 Pages One Dollar
DA clears Owenby
in last week’s shooting
BY KRISTI WATKINS
The Georgia Post
Crawford County Lt.
William Owenby, the offi
cer involved in last week’s
shooting, has been cleared
District Attorney David Cooke
announced at a press confer
ence by Zoom on Tuesday.
According to Cooke, based
on his review of the evidence
gathered thus far and after
reviewing initial results of the
GBI’s investigation into the
April 27th officer-involved
shooting in Crawford County,
Owenby was cleared in his ac
tions of shooting Jamie Lamar
Darley, 33, on Richardson Mill
Road although the investiga
tion is still ongoing.
Cooke stated, “There will be
a complete and through inves
tigation, but in a case where
the facts are clear, there’s no
reason to delay getting this
deputy back to work during a
time when law enforcement
agencies are facing a shortage
of officers.”
Cooke gave a timeline of
the events that lead up to the
death of Darley. He stated at
6:15 p.m., Crawford County
Deputies were dispatched to
a disturbance at 2570 Rich
ardson Mill Road. The suspect
had drunk half a bottle of
liquor, kicking at the door,
threatening to cut the family
member’s throat and was
armed. A family member stat
ed he shot one or two shots in
the air.
Before deputies arrived,
Darley had left the premises
and while questioning family
members, deputies were told
his white Chevrolet truck was
last seen on Blasingame Road.
As deputies were heading
down Taylors Mill Road to
ward Blasingame, Owenby no
ticed a white truck matching
the description of the suspect’s
vehicle heading toward them
in the wrong lane. The other
deputy was traveling behind
Owenby.
Owenby turned on his lights
causing Darley to drive into
his lane who then stopped
with Owenby pulling in front
of the vehicle. Darley then
drove around the deputies
through the ditch and sped
off reaching speeds of 110-120
mph with deputies in pursuit.
Darley tried to block deputies’
path or run them off the road.
Darley then returned to
his parent’s home parking
in front of a shed near the
house. While getting out of the
vehicle with a revolver in his
right hand, fired a shot at the
officer hitting a vehicle on the
property. As Darley was run
ning toward the family with
the revolver, Owenby, who
was concerned for the family’s
safety due to the prior threats
to harm them, shot Darley,
wounding him.
Both deputies rendered aid
to Darley until the ambulance
arrived. Darley later died at a
local hospital.
Both Darley’s father and
brother attested Jamie Darley
pointed the gun at the Owen
by and fired one shot toward
him.
Cooke stated the dispute
originated with a girlfriend
who also lives on the property
with the family. He stated
several buildings are on the
property. He added Darley
was acting irrationally.
Cooke stated Owenby was
justified and the facts are clear
in the shooting of Darley. He
added he was thankful for law
enforcement and that every
deputy who responded made
it home safely.
“The outcome of this inci
dent was tragic and I’m grate
ful no victims were injured
and that every deputy who
responded to the call made it
home safely,” Cooke said.
URMC to participate in
COVID-19 research study
Upson Regional Medical Center has announced it has been ap
proved for participation in a research study to help in the fight
against COVID-19. The sponsor of this study is the Mayo Clinic,
a not-for-profit academic medical center based in Rochester,
Minnesota. Focus of this research is on the therapeutic value of
convalescent plasma to treat severe cases of COVTD-19 infec
tion.
Patients who have recovered from COVTD-19 have developed
antibodies in their blood that may be able to combat the virus.
Using recovered patients as the donors, plasma with these an
tibodies is harvested and then given to patients suffering from
active and severe COVTD-19 virus. There are strict criteria that
must be met for both donors and recipients of this plasma.
Participation in the study allows Upson Regional Medical Cen
ter to requisition convalescent plasma through the American
Red Cross—enough supply for each approved patient. Jeff Tar
rant, Upson Regional Medical Center CEO, said, “We are proud
to have been approved by the Mayo Clinic as a study site for this
research project, and are anxious for our physicians and clinical
staff to initiate this therapy for some of our patients. However,
without donors, this research really doesn’t go anywhere. We
need individuals who have conquered this disease to consider
paying it forward by talcing a small amount of time to work with
the Red Cross and donate plasma.”
Eligible donors must have been diagnosed with COVTD-19
and recovered. Donors cannot still be experiencing symptoms
of COVID-19, and at least 14 days must have passed since they
were first diagnosed. Testing to assure that donors are free of
active COVID-19 infection will be performed. Donors must be at
least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, be in good health,
and feel well. The Red Cross has some additional criteria for
donors, but these are the main eligibility requirements.
Interested donors should reach out to the American Red Cross
atwww.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/plasma-dona-
tions-from-recovered-covid-19-patients.html to complete the
donor eligibility form. For more information, contact the Amer
ican Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.
