Newspaper Page Text
— www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com —
VOL. 133 NO. 21 36 PACES 3 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 50« COPY
— Inside —
Area news:
•Jackson unemploy
ment rate hits 7.4%
page 2A
•Freedom Bank enters
cease and desist order
page 2A
•County's New Year's
Day programs planned
page 2A
Op/Ed:
•'Pat Bell: A "doer"
bows out'.... page 4A
Sports:
•Top Sports Stories of
2008 page 1B
Features:
• Did Doc Holliday
have county ties?
page 1C
Other News:
•School News
pages 5-6C
•Public Safety
pages 7-8A
•Legals
pages 9-20C
•Church News
page 7B
•Obituaries
page 6B
Q -R
— Newsmaker of the Year —
Whitehead
came home
as war ‘hero’
BY MIKE BUFFINGTON
AND ANGELA GARY
HE WAS not a politician or
government leader.
He did not set tax policies or
educate children or pave roads.
He was a young man, not an
experienced statesman.
Until 2008, his name was
not a household word here, or
anywhere else.
And yet, he gave more to his
community in 2008 than any
one reading these words.
People in Jackson County
will long remember his home
coming, the hundreds stand
ing in streets and waving flags
and saluting — and the silent
prayers.
Shaun Whitehead came
home in April 2008 to the
parades and salutes, but he did
not see them.
Whitehead came home to
Jackson County from Iraq in a
casket. He had been killed by a
roadside bomb.
It was the first death of a
Jackson County soldier in the
controversial war, which has
dominated international head
lines and played a major role in
the nation's political affairs.
And in a terrible, tangi
ble way, the death of Shaun
Whitehead brought to his home
community the meaning of that
conflict. He put a face on a
war that to many had seemed
distant.
In defense of the ideals that
this nation and this community
hold dear, Shaun Whitehead
gave his life.
That this newspaper names
him “Newsmaker of the Year”
seems like such little recogni-
SHAUN WHITEHEAD
tion for such great a sacrifice.
Whitehead attended
Commerce City Schools and
was remembered as “quiet,
polite and respectful.” At his
funeral, he was called a “hero,”
not only for his military ser
vice, but also for his actions as
a husband and father.
Remarks by his wife, Janie,
about Whitehead’s love for his
fellow soldiers were read at the
funeral.
“He loved all of them,” she
said. “He was so proud to be
fighting alongside you.. .Shaun
considered himself lucky to
know you all and to be a part
of something that was bigger
than all of us.”
The Army chaplain, Scott
McCosh, said: “Shaun under
stood that leadership is about
focusing on the solider. His
plan was simple: Be strong
and be courageous...whatever
comes to me, I will face.”
Whitehead, formerly of
FLAG TO WIDOW
Janie Moore Whitehead, widow of SSgt. Shaun Whitehead, is presented an
American flag at the funeral. Photo by Lyn Sengupta
Maysville, was killed by a
roadside bomb while on patrol
in Iraq in April. According to
Army officials, he was on foot
patrol in Iskandariyah when
an improvised explosive device
exploded.
He had joined the Army in
2003 and was scheduled to
return to the United States at
the end of May.
Whitehead’s body was flown
to Athens and from there,
slowly taken up Hwy. 441 to
Commerce and then to Evans
Funeral Home in Jefferson.
Hundreds of county residents,
including school children, lined
the route. Many were wav
ing flags and holding signs.
Veterans saluted.
In 2008,460 men and women
died while serving their county
in the Iraq and Afghanistan
Wars. Eighteen of these were
from Georgia.
One of those was Shaun
Whitehead.
Past Newsmakers of the Year
2007 Darren Glenn, Jefferson police chief
2006 Kathy Wilbanks, county BOE chairman
2005 Pat Graham, Braselton mayor
2004 Stan Evans, sheriff
2003 Concerned Citizens of Jackson County
2002 Scott Martin, IDA chairman
2001 Emil Beshara, BOC
2000 Jerry Waddell, BOC chairman
1999 Rep. Scott Tolbert
1998 Richard Cathey, chamber of commerce
1997 Pat Bell, commissioner
1996 Citizens United for a Better Jackson County
1995 Ronnie Hopkins, Jefferson BOE chairman,
and Andy Byers, Jackson County superintendent
1994 Jerry Waddell, BOC chairman
1993 Charles Segars, Arcade mayor
1992 Bill Mahaffey, BOC chairman
1991 Sandy Beem, concerned citizen
1990 Henry Robinson, BOC chairman
— News Story of the Year —
Nicholson kennel shut down after animal abuse reported
L.D. FARMS AND KENNEL
L.D. Farms and Kennel on Hwy. 334 in Nicholson was shut down in 2008 and its four
operators were arrested after animal abuse was reported and confirmed.
Photo by April Reese Sorrow
BYANGELA GARY
ALLEGATIONS OF ani
mal abuse and neglect at a
Nicholson puppy mill led to
the kennel being shut down
and the arrest of the four
operators of L.D. Farms and
Kennel.
The extent of the abuse of
the almost 300 puppies made
headlines throughout 2008
and angered and saddened the
community.
The issue is Jackson
County’s News Story of the
Year for 2008.
Kennel owners, Marie,
Jennifer and Ronnie Hughes
and Brandy Stone, were all
charged with misdemeanor
and federal animal cruelty
charges. The action came after
a former employee filed a
complaint about the conditions
at the kennel, including lack of
proper food, shelter and care
for the almost 300 puppies
and dogs on the 23-acre site on
Sanford Road in Nicholson.
“All in all, this place is a
puppy mill,” the woman wrote
in the report. “They breed dogs
until they die.”
The allegations include
neglect in feeding, water
ing and providing adequate
housing for the animals. The
woman who filed the com
plaint reported seeing dogs
in kennels with “mud, water,
urine and feces” and some
had “open sores covering their
bodies.”
“The evidence is definitely
there for criminal charges,”
said commissioner Dwain
Smith, who toured the site.
“I don’t think any judge will
throw this out — not with all
of the evidence. We have to do
whatever is necessary to take
care of the animals...I just
want to make sure Jackson
County doesn’t get known for
mistreating animals.”
Leaders of the Jackson
County Humane Society led
the effort to find homes for
all of the puppies. At a court
hearing, it was reported that
the medical and related costs
for the animals was more than
$200,000. The rescue groups
have paid these costs, but the
county was responsible for
reimbursing them.
At an earlier court hearing,
Ray Deluca, field supervi
sor for the animal division
of the Georgia Department of
Agriculture said conditions he
found at the kennel in February
included animals that were not
properly cared for, unsanitary
practices and inadequate food
and water.
Deluca also said animal
waste was not disposed of
properly and one area where
animals were kept “smelled
like a cesspool.” He said “fecal
matter was four to eight inches
deep” in one area of the ken
nel.
Deluca said inspectors
found dogs with open sores,
one dead animal that was not
properly disposed of, an ani
mal with a broken back and
one puppy that couldn’t walk.
“We found animals going
through unnecessary pain and
suffering,” he said.
Deluca said the animals were
not receiving proper medica
tion. He added that medicine
bottles were found at the facil
ity but that they were “covered
with roach remains.” Deluca
also said diseases were found
that should have been reported
to the state, but no reports had
been filed.
LauraBlanton, afieldinspec-
tor for the Georgia Department
of Agriculture, was the second
witness called to the stand.
She was questioned on wheth
er there had been a pattern of
complaints about the kennel.
She said the department has
received complaints in the past
several years from people who
purchased puppies from the
kennel. In 2003, quarantine
was issued due to one of these
complaints. Blanton said sev
eral violations were issued at
that time by the state.
At the year’s end, the trial
for the four kennel owners had
not yet been scheduled.
O