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A ■ Tuesday, March 9,2021 HERE’S THE SCOOP Karen Martin dead at age 82 Lamar County lost a colorful character March 5 with the death of local attor ney Karen Martin. Graveside services will be held today at 2 p.m. in Green wood Cemetery. Prior to entering law school, Martin was an educator, coach and even public address an nouncer at Gordon foot ball games. She was the widow of Harold Martin. The pair operated the Martin & Martin law firm. Complete obituary information is published on page 5A. ★ ★★★★ VOTE ★ ★★★★ One more week of early voting This is the last week of early voting prior to the March 16 special elec tion. On the ballot are the ESPLOST referendum and the vote to choose a successor to late chief magistrate judge Karen Rhyne Henson. The candidates in the magistrate race are Ar thur English, Paul Kunst, Jeff Mason and Shannon Williamson. Advance ballots may be cast daily at the elec tions office in the court house annex through Friday. Hours are 8 a.m. -12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. As of press time Mon day, elections superin tendent Anita Reid and her staff had served 632 early voters and mailed out 74 absentee ballots of which 28 had been returned. Subscribe. Your name goes on the label in this box Wrong way driver crash critically injures local man WALTER GEIGER news@barnesville.com A Barnesville man is not expected to survive injuries he received Friday night when the pickup truck he was a pas senger in was hit by a wrong way driver on Ga. Hwy. 7 near Milner. Family members identified the injured man as Nathan Suggs. He was airlifted from the crash scene just north of Zebulon Road where he was on life support with severe head trauma at press time Monday. Suggs was a passenger in his Toyota Tacoma which was be ing driven northbound on the four-lane by another person when it was struck by a silver Honda being driven south in the northbound lane by Felicia Giacolone Whatley, 55, of 378 Colquitt Street in Thomaston. Whatley told deputies she had recently moved to Griffin. LCSO dispatch received multiple calls about the wrong way driver prior to the crash. Witnesses said Whatley began driving south in the north bound lane at the Griffin Ingles. Deputies later picked up a male who had been in the car with Whatley but got out of the Honda at some point. He was walking down the highway. Whatley was charged with DU1 (drugs/alcohol), driving on the wrong side of the road and reckless driving. More charges, including first degree vehicular homicide, are pending. Whatley made bond and was released from jail March 6. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the crash. Only very preliminary information was available at press time Monday. Monitor barnesville. com for updates. PHOTOS: WALTER GEIGER/THE HERALD GAZETTE Bystanders and members of Nathan Suggs’ family (top) pray along the roadside at the scene of Friday night’s wrong way driver crash on Ga. Hwy. 7 near Milner. Suggs sufffered severe brain trauma, was flown to the Grady trauma center and is not expected to survive. The alleged at fault driver Felicia Giacolone Whatley, 55, (middle) remained in her car on her phone following the crash. She was arrested on charges of DUI (alcohol/drugs), driving on the wrong side of the road and reck less driving. More charges will be forthcoming. The Toyota Tacoma (bottom) owned by Suggs was demolished. The driver of the truck in which Suggs was a passenger has not yet been identified by the state patrol. * ’H -V", / Hi> H. *£r School staffers get vaccine Teachers, staff and admin istrators within the Lamar school system began getting COV1D-19 vaccinations Monday after an order from Gov. Brian Kemp allowed it. “By the end of the day, we plan to have 160 staff members vaccinated with the first dose. That is over 41% of our staff. If we were to include those with antibodies, 1 suspect we are near 50% protected. Participation in the vac cination program is 100% optional,” school super intendent Dr. Jute Wilson said. Vaccines were admin istered at the high school with students in Jodie Kidd’s nursing class who are working toward CNA credentialing as sisting health department personnel. “We are using teacher planning time and the re mote learning day to avoid interrupting instructional time. We are grateful for Nurse Manager Sherry Farr and DPH for helping push this through so quickly,” Wil son concluded. WILSON Man charged with shooting deputy in court here March 16 A 38-year-old Milner man charged in the violent ambush of a Lamar County deputy last August is due for a hearing in superior court before Judge Bill Fears March 16. Donald Chan dler Gordy is to be arraigned on charges of aggra vated assault on a peace officer, criminal attempt to commit a felony, posses sion of a firearm during the commission of a felony and criminal damage to property. The arraignment was origi nally scheduled for Feb. 16 but continued. Dep. Justyn Weaver respond ed to the 100 block of Moore Street in Milner regarding a suspicious person call at about 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2020. He had been up and down the street several times when Gordy allegedly popped out of the woods and opened fire. Prosecutors say Gordy fired five rounds from a shotgun loaded with #4 turkey loads. He was so close, the wadding from one shell was embedded into Weaver’s patrol car. Gordy fled the scene and was arrested about 3 a.m. Aug. 9 along 1-20 in St. Clair County, Alabama near Birmingham. Weaver, who was hit by multiple pellets in the head and face, was released from an Atlanta hospital Aug. 13 and re ceived a hero’s welcome upon his return to the sheriff’s office that day. Weaver has since re covered and returned to duty. Bond denied in beaten baby case WALTER B. GEIGER news@barnesville.com One of two people charged in connection with severe inju ries suffered by a two-month- old girl was denied bond by Judge Tommy Wilson in Lamar superior court March 2. Phillip Luke Norman, 28, represented by attorney Scott Johnston of the Virgil Brown firm, sought bond but was de nied. Norman is charged with one count of first degree cru elty to children. More charges against he and codefendant Jessica Miranda Coffey, 30, are expected as the investigation proceeds. SEE BABY BEATING CASE 3A GORDY Jim Edwards attended the Washing ton summit March 16-17. Jim Edwards hosts ABA’s Washington Summit More than 2,500 bank lead ers from across the country will gather virtually to hear from top banking policymakers at the American Bankers As sociation’s annual Washington Summit March 16-17. SEE PAGE 2A ©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS